Thanksgiving is a great time to convey gratitude to your website viewers and align your business and brand with the positive connotations of hearth and home. Seasonal graphics freshen up your site and offer a great opportunity to run seasonal promotions. Holiday promos work by creating memorable, sharable moments for your audience.

A few days ago I met with a new client in need of help updating her logo and business cards. Although most of what I do is web work, I've been doing graphic design since 1997 and I still really enjoy it. Print work can be  wonderfully easy compared to coding (although not always!) and it keeps my design chops in shape. So, I happily began gathering ideas.
She explained that her business model was changing due to some advance training she was completing. This would also change her services and, really, the very things that make her business unique. I began to realize that what she really needed was a mini-workshop on her branding and marketing. We needed to look at her new offerings and clientele in order to update her logo and create her new cards in an effective, audience-focused way.
With this in mind, today I created a new design service I'm calling the Business Cards package.  Unlike simply ordering new cards, it includes a mini-branding consultation, fresh layouts, revisions, printing, delivery and even the master files. It is so, SO common to meet people who hate their business cards because they're boring, don't match their other materials, or just no longer represent who they are. Likewise, pretty much every small business owner I meet is interested in any help with marketing. While I still do simple updates and re-orders too, I'm really excited about approaching business card makeovers (and new cards too) in this more integrative manner.

I've vaguely wondered why October is Breast Cancer Awareness month but I think it's simply because breast cancer is scary. In 2009 I discovered a lump and subsequently had 4 lumpectomies and did 5 years on Tamoxifen. I am grateful to the high-res imaging at Moore's Cancer Center which found the issue and the specialists who aggressively treated it. I'll never forget my first needle biopsy with Dr. Blickenstaff - a pioneer in that technique - who offered both professionalism and a hilariously dry sense of humor. While it was scary, I feel blessed to have had the access and ability to fulfill the recommended treatment regimen - which came directly out of advances that have been made in breast cancer research. I often think of my dear friend Debi who's life was ended far too soon because of breast cancer, along with the many women I know who have fought it. If there's any way that you can financially support research or patient care programs, a great organization to donate to is the Susan G. Komen Foundation.