Chanie Pritchard Articles

You’ve got 50 milliseconds to wow me - Click To Read Article
How strong is your website’s immediate appeal? According to a Carleton University study published earlier this year in the academic journal Behaviour & Information Technology, web designers have only 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression.

What’s up with Personal Branding, and why you should consider it - Click To Read Article
In recent years, the concept of personal branding has been getting more and more attention. The basic premise of this is that over the course of your career, you would benefit from creating “Brand You” as a way to differentiate yourself from other jobseekers, business developers, vendors, and people in general.

Using Design in Business - Click To Read Article
Design in business is much more than just catchy ads. You can use design to generate new ideas and turn them into innovative and competitive products and services, improve your business processes and strengthen and deepen your marketing approach. If used systematically across your business, design can bring a range of measurable commercial benefits...

Two Small Letters, One Big Word - Click To Read Article
Over the years I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way, including contract and deposit policies to (at least partially) protect me from con artists and deadbeats. That said, one of the most important skills I’ve had to develop has been the proper and ample usage of the word “no”.

Tips for choosing the right design firm - Click To Read Article
If ever there were an overly competitive industry with little to no regulation, it would be the commercial design industry. Any child with a computer and some basic software can market themselves as a designer, while the true industry suffers wide scale devaluation and thousands of business owners are taken for a ride by unqualified or even unscrupulous “designers”. As a consumer, how do you protect yourself and your company? The answer is more simple than you may think… all you have to do is a bit of homework.

The Self Promotion Piece - Bringing a Graphics Standard into the Business World - Click To Read Article
All business owners are familiar with the corporate brochure, but rarely is it utilized in the same way by companies in non-creative fields. Most corporate brochures end up serving either as extended ads (too obviously self-serving, unless the ad is the purpose), or dry company profiles (which are, well, dry). I often suggest a more creative approach to my clients… a “show” rather than “tell”.

The creativity/business conundrum - Click To Read Article
The concept of creativity is an abstract one, at best. The dictionary tells you that when you ask for creativity, you can expect to see “the ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things, especially in an artistic context.” This is all well and good if you’re in the market for something astonishing to frame and hang on your wall, but in the context of business design it falls somewhat short of adequate.

The History of Business Cards: Four Centuries of Introductions - Click To Read Article
Today business cards are so ubiquitous that in some countries they are traded with no formality or consequence, serving as nothing more than an internationally recognized way to exchange contact information or a handy bit of paper on which to jot a note. In other nations, however, particularly in Asia, the cards are regarded as an extension of the individual to be treated with honor and respect. The exchange of cards is attended with great ritual and a breech of protocol can give serious offense. How did a simple card, 3.370 x 2.125 inches come to play such a central role in the business cultural of the world? Depending on the sources consulted, the cards may actually have originated in China in the 15th century.

Setting goals - ten steps to success - Click To Read Article
We all know that success begins with setting measurable and carefully considered goals. But setting goals is not enough - you need to devise several roadmaps to reaching those goals, and then follow through. Whether your goals are small or big, following these ten steps will help you on your way.

Responsible Packaging Decisions - How Green Can Keep You Out of the Red - Click To Read Article
An article outlining a few brief ecological and social issues surrounding product packaging, and some benefits and advice for companies considering more environmentally friendly packaging options.

Q&A: What does excellent trade show signage look like? - Click To Read Article
Your exhibit and trade show booth graphic elements must powerfully reflect who you are and draw visitors to your booth in the midst of a loud, crowded exhibit hall filled with distractions and competitors.

Postcard Marketing - Good Things Come in Small Packages - Click To Read Article
Postcards are a simple, inexpensive, and flexible direct mail marketing tool. They can be used to close sales, generate leads, cultivate return business, or introduce new products. In fact, the use of marketing postcards is really limited by nothing but your imagination.

Packaging: dressing your product in a fashion conscious market - Click To Read Article
Packaging. It’s something most people don’t necessarily think about, perhaps partly due to the fact that it is so overwhelmingly pervasive. Even just picking up groceries for the week, in a single forum we are subjected to the end results of thousands of individual design and branding endeavours; some good, some bad, and the rest forgettable.

Of All the Networks - Click To Read Article
The sheer number of social and business networks vying for our membership these days can be overwhelming. A quick search for “business networking” yields over 33 million results.

How to shop for a graphic design firm (be an educated consumer) - Click To Read Article
It is becoming more and more obvious to companies that design plays an enormous role in driving business. Successful business owners already know this, but for those who are just opening their eyes to the concept, how do you get started? What are the considerations when bringing on strategic design services?

How to compose an effective email newsletter - Click To Read Article
One of the key elements in building relationships with clients (and prospective clients) is constant contact. But as plain a concept as it is, simply keeping in touch can be a tricky feat. By now, surely every modern business has at least a basic understanding of the potential impact of electronic communication, but how effectively do they use it? This article will outline a few of the foundational elements of building a successful email newsletter campaign...

Holiday networking - Click To Read Article
Holiday networking is more laid back, less aggressive and more casual. You’re there having a nice time with other people who are also there to have a nice time… and if they happen to learn about a company relevant to them in the guise of friendly word-of-mouth conversation, all the better. The aim is much closer to friendly conversation than high-intensity deal closing.

Getting and keeping your key demographic’s attention - Click To Read Article
In a rich media environment, audiences are in an increasingly constant state of distraction. We’re all busy, and there is a lot going on in our lives - our attention is valuable and limited. Unfortunately for businesses, this means that in order to cut through the clutter, they have to constantly repeat themselves and draw their audience’s attention back to important items, refocusing them over and over again. It’s a frustrating dance for both partners. The business may ask “how can I get this person’s attention?”, while the audience is left wondering “what’s this person trying to tell me? and why should I care?”

Digital vs. Offset Printing: How To Choose? - Click To Read Article
Design is a complex and multilayered industry, and just as good design begins about ten steps before pen actually hits paper (or tablet, as it were), neither does it end when the final digital proofs are approved and delivered. The actual implementation of the design must be treated with considerable thought and care as well, if you’re interested in gaining maximum effect from the design itself. The most common implementation questions we come across are often in regards to printing… what finishes to use, what stock, and most often, should we use digital or offset printing?

Culture Conversion: Designing for Niche Markets - Click To Read Article
A niche market is a focused, targetable portion of a market… or a narrowly defined group of potential customers. In general, if your business focuses on a niche market, you should be addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. Unless you are in the community being targeted, it can be hard to tell upfront whether the design of your creative is going to be effective. But when you’re part of the targeted community, you get the message loud and clear. The trick comes in when you want to target a niche market to which you yourself do not belong. Bridging this gap between business and niche markets thus often requires a thoughtful cultural conversion campaign.

Compelling Brochure Copy - The Basics - Click To Read Article
Effective brochure composition requires more than (just) compelling design. In planning your promotional materials, you need to pay as much attention to content as you do to visuals - and vice versa. Just as you’re hiring a professional design firm to compose the visual elements of your brochure, so should you consider hiring a professional copywriter to assist in optimizing the verbal messages you want to get across. That said, nobody knows your business better than you, and if you are going to undertake your own copywriting, there are a few basic points you should consider.

Catalog Design - Using Product Placement and Page Layout to Maximize Sales and Catalog ROI - Click To Read Article
A catalog is a highly specialized marketing collateral piece that, when designed and produced correctly, will drive customers to complete their purchase with your company over other alternatives. By presenting a tempting display of appealing products in a clear, carefully considered fashion, your catalog can become one of the most powerful calls to action in your sales arsenal - particularly when paired with a niche marketing strategy.

Brand Revitalization - Click To Read Article
Building a strong brand takes commitment, time and hard work, but the result is one of the most valuable assets a company can own. That said, not all assets are static, and your brand image is no exception.

Building a Global Brand - Click To Read Article
In addition to taking advantage of outstanding growth opportunities, there are several factors driving the increasing interest in taking brands global… •economies of scale (production and distribution) •lower marketing costs •laying the groundwork for future extensions worldwide •maintaining consistent brand imagery •quicker identification and integration of innovations (discovered worldwide) •preempting international competitors from entering domestic markets or locking you out of other geographic markets •increasing international media reach (especially with the explosion of the Internet) is an enabler •increases in international business and tourism are also enablers

A Good Host is Hard to Find - Things You Need to Know - Click To Read Article
All hosts are not created equal. Of course, this goes without saying. But how are they different? This article reviews a few of the big points people should consider when sourcing a hosting company for their business site.

7 Ways To Improve Direct Mail Response - Click To Read Article
While print marketing should not be relied upon exclusively in today’s communications world, direct mail campaigns are still an important ingredient in an effective marketing mix.

A case for rebranding - catalysts for brand revitalization - Click To Read Article
Rebranding, whether a product or an entire brand, is a serious endeavour. The overall need for rebranding is based on the basic premise that just as people change their style of clothes, hairstyles and home decorating, so brands need to keep up with the times and changing market and consumer dynamics. At the same time, rebranding can be undertaken to fix errors made earlier in a product’s development, to create new consistency across products, or conversely, to take advantage of the benefits of product differentiation and market segmentation.

A Well Managed Suite of Business Materials - Click To Read Article
When you’re not around to make a personal impression, your materials are doing it for you. So naturally, you want to be sure that your materials are making the right impression. In this article I’ll go over a few specific bits of advice to ensure that your corporate identity materials are projecting an image of competence and success.


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