Creating good habits is pivotal to staying organized.  In order to change old habits, you have to consistently practice your new habits. Some good tips on creating habits include:

• Take 15 minutes at the end of the day to “clean up” and put things away.  That way your space is organized and ready for you to begin the next day.
• Keep your space clutter free.  If you are not using it, put it away.
• Keep a small notebook on hand or use your cell phone to write down your creative ideas, action items and important reminders as you think of them.  You will be less likely to forget something if it is written down.

And don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up once in awhile…it takes time to learn new habits.

Happy Organizing!

By: Melissa Stacey

How are those New Years’ Resolutions going for you?   Have you managed to exercise every day?  Cut out that mid-morning coffee-and-pastry break?

While most Americans make personal resolutions, as a consultant I believe it’s even more important to set tangible business goals each year. My favorite time to do just that is WIC’s annual Energize Your Business workshop.  We dedicate an entire morning to a holistic evaluation of our businesses, from the nitty-gritties of administration to developing sales objectives to evaluating our overall marketing strategy.

The good news is that it’s not too late to sign up to be part of this workshop!  But don’t wait—to ensure a positive experience for all we will need to limit attendance, so be sure to grab your spot.

The session will happen on Friday morning, January 27 2012 at the Biltmore in Santa Clara – right at the intersection of 101 & Montague Expressway.  While enjoying a sit-down breakfast, we’ll learn from experts in a handful of key fields:

• Jennifer Berkley Jackson, The Insight Advantage on Market Intelligence
• Michael Cannon, Silver Bullet Group on Sales
• Renee Daggett, Admin Books on Business Administration
• Laura Lowell, Impact Marketing Group on Marketing
• all moderated by Angel Rampy, Success Through Learning

After these presentations, we’ll have a chance to roll up our sleeves in smaller breakout groups to make plans and set business goals for the coming year – all while being mentored by the presenters.  With the knowledge I gain and the opportunity to bounce ideas and goals off of fellow business owners, I always come out with a clear vision of what I need to do to steer my business in a positive direction in the coming year.

Take that first step & sign up for this amazing workshop – your business will thank you!

By: Lisa Strand

Every year, WIC sends out 120+ holiday cards to the people who contributed their time to helping make WIC a success. Half of those people have regular, ongoing jobs with WIC. Yes, it takes that many people to make things happen, because no one on the team, save our association manager, gets paid to do the jobs they hold. So, we need to share the wealth, so to speak.

But it also takes this many people, because the team does in incredible amount of work. I never cease to be amazed at the accomplishments they turn out year after year. After six years on the board and nine years on the pro bono team in general, let me tell you—these women (no men have yet volunteered on the team) work hard.

That’s one of the reasons we call them the pro bono team instead of volunteers. This is real work, just as deserving of recognition and promotion as any client work we do. Hint: if you’re on WIC’s pro bono team and you haven’t highlighted that in your LinkedIn profile, you should!

So, it’s only appropriate as we end 2011 that I take a moment to acknowledge and thank the people who make WIC happen: our 2011 pro bono team. To see a sampling of the programs they did this year, scroll to end of this post.

With Much Gratitude

The following are the people to thank the next time you see or talk to them—warning long list:

• Melody Appleton, WIC marketing and PR director and president of Avicenna Marketing
• Kristin Baier, WIC webinar co-chair and creative director at Persuations eLearning
• Sandy Baldonado, WIC profile coordinator and director of marketing communications at Ekso Bionics
• Pamela Bender, WIC satisfaction and retention coordinator and president of Planning Showcase
• Beverly Bird, WIC YouTube coordinator and a marcom consultant
• Jubily Boy, WIC San Francisco satellite co-chair and graphic designer at Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
• Elise Brownell, WIC leaders network co-chair and founding partner at ZephyrBiotech
• Jen Berkley Jackson, WIC vice president of operations and South Bay satellite co-chair and founder of The Insight Advantage
• M.A. Brasted, WIC schedule coordinator and founder of Brasted Consulting
• Cheryl Chow, WIC blog coordinator and owner of Word2Word
• Renee Daggett, WIC new member chair and president of Admin Books
• Deborah Der, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Dear to Dream Coaching
• Leslie Derbin, WIC North Bay satellite chair and principal at The Derbin Group
• Candace Engelsen, WIC leaders network co-chair and principal at BioMed Marketing
• Sharyn Fitzpatrick, WIC webinar co-chair and principal at Marcom Gurus
• Deborah Frangquist, WIC San Francisco satellite chair and principal at Chosen Futures
• Sheila Fruge, WIC analytics coordinator and founder of Fruge Consulting
• Sue Hay, WIC partnership director and CEO of BeWhys Marketing, Inc.
• Kathryn Gorges, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and founder of Social Marketing Diva
• Michelle Gouldsberry, WIC workshop co-chair and principal at Resonance Creative
• Louise Henriksen, WIC survey coordinator and East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Plans2Reality
• Deborah Hoard, WIC pro bono coordinator and president of founder of Net Results
• Ann Iverson, WIC Peninsula satellite chair and principal at Iverson Marketing Communications
• Pirie Jensen, WIC South Bay satellite chair and insurance agent with State Farm
• Pat Johnson, WIC survey coordinator and president of Phoenix Collective
• Birgit Johnston, WIC Twitter co-coordinator and principal at Johnston Communications
• Judy Kane, WIC marketing co-chair and owner of I Write the Words
• Julian Klein Furtado, WIC Facebook logo coordinator and owner, lead pixel pusher, and head dog walker at Klein Design
• Kathy Klotz-Guest, WIC general meeting co-chair principal at Keeping It Human
• Maria Larcher, WIC Web content chair and owner of and market researcher at Larcher Consulting
• Kay Lawton, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and owner of MKF Consultants
• Desiree Lehrbaum, WIC mentorship chair and owner of Lumen Consulting
• Renee Maler, WIC PR agency of record, director and co-founder of Philosophy PR + Marketing
• Gabriela Martinez, WIC brand chair and owner of Texto Graphics
• Deb McClanahan, WIC secretary and principal of BroadBand HR Consulting
• Lou Anne McKeefery, WIC social media technical coordinator and founder of Be Found
• Rachel Melia, WIC online marketing director and an online marketing consultant
• Susan Monroe, WIC marketing co-chair and principal at Written Right
• Leslie Morris, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and a marketing and communications consultant
• Eve Murto, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and principal at Think and Win Marketing
• Kathleen Naganuma, WIC satisfaction and retention chair and president at Naganuma Consulting
• Kay Paumier, WIC newsletter chair and communications consultant at Communications Plus
• Robin Pieracci, WIC programs director and product marketing and pricing consultant at Pieracci Consulting
• Deborah Plumley, WIC offsite coordinator and principal at The Plumley Group
• Angel Rampy, WIC satellite director and South Bay satellite co-chair and founder and president of Success Through Learning
• Karmen Reed, WIC blog coordinator and a social media and online visibility strategist
• Krista Regendanz, WIC silent auction chair and a licensed clinical psychologist
• Jan Richards, WIC strategic initiatives director and president and principal consultant at J.G. Richards Consulting
• Angi Roberts, WIC association manager and CEO and founder of The Association Office
• Carol Rose, WIC general meeting co-chair and found of 6-Figure Breakthrough Mentor
• Tracy Sestili, WIC Twitter coordinator and found of Social Strand Media
• Kathie Sherman, WIC membership director and president at TenFour Marketing
• Deborah Siegle, WIC strategic audiences director and principal at Strategic Marketing Solutions
• Suzanne Skyvara, WIC leaders network co-chair and principal at Skyvara Communications
• Leslie Smith, WIC leaders network co-chair and founder and principal of Coronado Financial Group
• Lisa Strand, WIC workshop co-chair and principal analyst at Brookside Consulting
• Melissa Stacey, WIC finance director and owner and founder of Feeling Organized
• Danielle Terrazas, WIC hospitality chair and project manager/designer at ChaseVP
• Mandi Toutsch, WIC partnership chair and a program management professional
• Juliet Travis, WIC Facebook coordinator and PR, marketing, and a social media consultant at TrendPoint Sytems
• Leilani Yau, WIC social media chair (WIC online marketing director as of November) and associate director, marketing at Ingenio

Here’s just a sampling of what they accomplished in 2010:

• WIC member orientation held at 5:30pm every month before the general meeting and companion
  free on-demand webinar on how to maximize your invest in WIC
• Welcome to WIC (W2W): an ambassador program for first-time attendees at general meetings
• Process improvements that save us money and our sanity
• General meeting minutes available online to members 60 days post meeting
• Mentoring program: an intensive six-week program that covers a range of topics related to running a successful consulting business
• Amazing programs: roughly forty satellite meetings, eleven general meetings, six leaders network meetings, ten webinars, and three workshops—filled with speakers who are leaders in their fields
• 10^th Annual Best Practices and Compensation survey
• Numerous new partner discounts for members, includingAct-On-Software email marketing/marketing automation, Apple Computer, Chrometa billable time-tracking, Jigsaw lead generation, Office Depot, and TriNet HR services to name a few—taking advantage of just a couple of these discounts can pay for your WIC membership
• WIC Gives Back summer and holiday food drives that raised thousands of dollars for Second Harvest Food Bank—it’s not too late to donate to our 2011 holiday drive and help feed the Bay Area’s hungry

*Note: to access member-only content like general meeting minutes, you must be logged into the site.

By: Avery Horzewski

The 2011 WIC Silent Auction was a huge success! This year the auction was held during the October general meeting at Quadrus Conference Center in Menlo Park. Silent auction items included jewelry, books, handmade pottery, gift baskets and much, much more.  In total, 24 auction items were donated.

As part of our WIC Gives Back program, WIC donated 10% of the proceeds from the silent auction to Second Harvest Food Bank. This money will help provide over 300 meals to families in the Bay Area.

Thank you very much to our donors for generously donating such amazing silent auction items (we had some serious competitive bidding wars going on)! Without your donations, the silent auction would not have been such a huge success. We appreciate your support!

Our 2011 silent auction donors were:

Janet Bocek, Bocek and Associates, CPA: http://www.bocekcpa.com/

Liz Brockman, Silpada Jewelry: http://mysilpada.com/sites/liz.brockman/

Ellen Brook, Ellen Brook, Works on Silk: http://www.ellen-brook.com/

Elizabeth Clar, Vintage Fusion Jewelry: http://www.etsy.com/shop/vintagefusionjewelry

LouAnn Conner, STIZZiL, Inc.: http://www.stizzil.com/

Mary Hathaway, Dinner Diva: http://www.dinner-diva.com/

Donna Hills, HIgherFire Studio http://www.higherfirestudios.com/cgi-bin/DJmbr_showmbr.cgi?T=view-member.html&MBR=00035&EC=7&TN=Y&A=Y&NEXT=Y

Avery Horzewski, Ave Consulting: http://www.aveconsulting.com/

Anne Knudsen, Anne Knudsen Photography: http://anneknudsen.com/

Frances Larose, The Larose Group: http://www.prmagic.com/main/

Ingrid Mult, Massage Rescue: http://www.massagerescue.com/

Debbie Quintana, Gourmet Gifts: http://gourmetgifts.com/

Angel Rampy, Success Through Learning: http://www.coachangel.com/

Amy Renz, Goodness Gracious – Dog & Cat Treats: http://www.goodnessgracioustreats.com/

Poppie Rodriguez, Sashay Floral: http://www.sashayfloral.com/

Ashley Selman, Evolution Trainers: http://www.evolutiontrainers.com/

Kathie Sherman, TenFour Marketing, Inc: http://www.tenfourmarketing.com/

Deb Siegle, Strategic Marketing Solutions: http://www.marketingsolns.com/

Electra Skilandat, Urban Burp: http://urbanburp.com/index.html

Melissa Stacey, Feeling Organized: http://www.feelingorganized.com/

Danielle Terrazas, ChaseVP: http://chasevp.com/

Stacey Vulakh, Timestyle Coaching & Consulting: http://www.timestylecoaching.com/

Women in Consulting Board of Directors: http://www.womeninconsulting.org/site/c.jhLOK0PELoF/b.4496177/k.BF75/Board_of_Directors.htm

By: Melissa Stacey

Last year’s WIC Gives Back virtual food drive benefiting Second Harvest was such a success, that we’ve decided to do it again this year!

WIC is partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to bring hope, relief, and security to our neighbors struggling with hunger this holiday season and beyond. From November 1 – December 31, 2011, our WIC Gives Back Food and Fund Drive will help the Food Bank meet more of the growing need in our community.

Your support allows Second Harvest to continue providing 45 million pounds of food each year—that’s 35 million meals—to every zip code in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties! With one in four individuals at risk for hunger in both counties, your participation could not come at a more crucial time.

Even better news: once again, we have an anonymous donor who will match dollar for dollar donations made through the WIC Gives Back food drive up to $2,000. So, if we meet our goal of $8,000 that’s $10,000 worth of food donated—the equivalent of 41.7 barrels!!

HOW TO HELP

Donate funds: Visit https://donate.shfb.org/vfd/ to make a donation and see how Second Harvest can stretch your dollar.

• Choose “Community Group” for the Donor Type
• Select “Women in Consulting” from the pull-down menu for Organization Name
• Enter nothing for Team Name
• Click Next and then Donate Now
• Enter a dollar amount in the upper right corner or click a food from the list, if you prefer
• Follow the rest of the online instructions to finish the transaction

And you won’t believe how much more food Second Harvest can buy if they receive monetary donations vs. food! I was blown away! The average cost for donors to fill up one food collection barrel is $240. If donated to Second Harvest, that same $240 could fill up 2.7 barrels full of nutritious food, essentially tripling the impact of your gift.

Spread the word: Forward this email to friends and family or update your Facebook status to:

Help me feed local families this holiday by visiting https://bit.ly/wicgivesback and donating to Women in Consulting’s Virtual Food Drive! Together we can end local hunger in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

If every one of our 400+ community members gave $10, Second Harvest that would be the equivalent of 45 barrels from our organization. Please help us reach our goal!

A donation in honor of your clients would also make the perfect holiday gift. I know I love when I’ve received gifts like that.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday season!

By: Avery Horzewski

A Message from the Founder of OVERSTAT

I am pleased to announce a new WIC member benefit that could easily offset the WIC annual membership fee. It’s Overstat – the first on-page website analytics and conversion testing platform. It is the first tool that anyone can use to optimize online sales, leads, white-paper downloads—any goal—without any technical or specialist knowledge.

WIC Member Benefit: Overstat

WIC members can receive a 25% discount for a full year–for your own sites and/or for your clients.  You can pass the entire discount on to your clients or give a 10% discount to clients and keep 15% as a referral fee.  Contact me, Sue Hay – Director of Partnerships for WIC, to take advantage of this offer.  (shay@bewhysmarketing.com)

The base price for Overstat is $99/month after a 30-day free trial.  But subscriptions can go over $1000/mo., with generous referral fees.

For more information check out this short video on the Overstat homepage: http://www.overstat.com?os_p=wic

What is Overstat?

Overstat was created to provide any marketer with website analytics to improve user experience and to increase conversion rates. For example, in addition to knowing that the average visitor visited 2.6 pages on your site, you have the tools to enable you to improve engagement.

The tool enables you to concentrate your web marketing time on fixing the key sales cycle web pages. Plus it allows you to take a serious look at exit web pages:  Why are they leaving so early, is there something wrong with the messaging? Layout? What could be made more meaningful, engaging or helpful to keep them on your site longer? Or what call to action could be more persuasive? Overstat allows you to receive real data from which to make design and copy decisions. Without any programming or technical knowledge at all, you can create A/B split tests to see what copy, colors, images, placement, form fields, etc., will increase visitors’ engagement with your site and increase conversion rates on your goals.

Running a split test is like sending out a direct mail letter with multiple versions to see what lead-in sentence, call to action, p.s. and/or envelope/insert gets the highest response. Until now, it has been too expensive or time-consuming to have a programmer set up multiple versions of the same webpage and to randomize the traffic going to the various pages. But with Overstat, you can test web page variants, with a WYSIWYG editor, and get quick feedback on what performs best.

Often the data Overstat provides you enables more insight into web site visitor behavior to reveal new sales opportunities. For example, an Overstat client was surprised when reviewing a heatmap of their e-commerce site recently,  that links to the “store locator” were some of the most popular links on the site. They realized they could feature the stores where the product could be found more prominently around the site, and it also enabled them to sign up new retailers by featuring their partner support program.

Overstat installs with just a code snippet put onto each page (just like Google Analytics installs) and requires no other set up. It runs in the browser over the site, so it can be securely accessed from anywhere and can be used collaboratively. With Overstat’s heatmaps, top-click pins, WYSIWYG creation of A/B split tests, real-time analytics and more, any marketer can improve user experience, have access to highly actionable graphical analytics, and can optimize conversion rates on any web marketing goal.

The monthly subscriptions starts at $99/month after a 30-day free trial. Check out the short video on the Overstat homepage: http://www.overstat.com?os_p=wic

Too often, we have to guess how to increase lead-generation or sales on our websites without detailed information about what site visitors are actually doing on our web pages. Overstat takes that guessing away and provides realtime analytics and data to help you make educated marketing and business decisions that could increase your sales pipeline and return-on-investment.

By: admin

Sometimes one little letter makes all the difference.

This is a story about a typo. A simple typing mistake, that’s so wonderful – I have tears of gratitude in my eyes from the relief it’s brought.

Let me explain… it’s all about the difference between inciting and inviting.

I’ve been trying to be “A Marketer” for years. Instead of being a design innovator, a creative thinker, a break-the-mold genius like I’d set out to be when I started in on this business extravaganza, I thought I had to market and convince people to do business with me.

And, somehow, I thought I had to do marketing in the standard way. Because I thought that was the way that things had to be if I was going to be “in business”. Especially in “this economy”.

And it’s always felt icky.

 Because being “A Marketer” asks you to incite your ideal clients: meaning to goad an individual or a group to take some action or to express some feeling.

”To goad” means, literally, “To prod or urge with or as if with a long pointed stick.”

Ew! 

Seriously, that just feels kind of slimy.

Yet, I want to be heard. I want to be seen. I want to be understood. So that my thinking and my message can get out into the world. And in the world of business, that means marketing – in a different way.

I don’t want to get what I want by inciting. It doesn’t work for me.

I want to invite.

To ask my wonderful, perfect clients and future-clients to come over and play with me.

Just look at the gorgeous things that “invite” means:

1. To request the presence or participation of in a kindly,courteous, or complimentary way, especially to request to come or go to some place, gathering, entertainment, etc.,or to do something: to invite friends to dinner.

2. To request politely or formally: to invite donations.

3. To attract, allure, entice, or tempt.

I suspect that I’m not alone. Not by a long shot.

If you want to leave the icky energy of inciting behind, and start inviting your ideal clients to work and play with you, then please join me!

Stop goading and poking at your precious, lovely clients-to-be in your marketing. Start inviting and encouraging them to come.

Pretend your business is a party and ask your clients to come be your guest and enjoy themselves. Make sure everyone feels welcome and comfortable, and that you’re being charming and engaging. Talk “with” them instead of “at” them. You’ll see the energy turn around and I’d be willing to bet that you’ll all start having more fun in the process.

By: Erin Ferree

Most have undoubtedly heard that we recently lost a wonderful member of our Women in Consulting community, Kenna Mawk. Kenna passed away early August in a scuba diving accident.

I had the pleasure of working with Kenna in her pro bono role as Web content co-chair on my online marketing team. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. She was a great member of the team—generous with her time, talented, and always willing to help others. And she was a genuinely very nice person.

Kenna was a well-liked member of the WIC community and will be sorely missed. Here are remembrances from a few people.

“Kenna epitomized the can-do spirit that makes the WIC pro boon team such a great group that accomplishes amazing things. She was always happy, ready to help out in anyway necessary—and always with a great sense of humor. I received many wonderful notes from the WIC Community about Kenna that reinforced everything I believed about her. She is deeply missed and leaves a big hole in our Web team and in our hearts.” —Avery Horzewski, WIC President

“Kenna was not just another WIC Web content co-chair, she was a very special, gracious, always-willing-to-pitch-in WIC partner that helped to make the WIC website as complete, current, and user friendly as possible. Life is so very fragile, and I think of what a loss this must be for Paul, her husband, her family, and her friends. I know I will miss her.” —Maria Larcher, Kenna’s Web Content Co-Chair

“I worked for Kenna at Ciphergen about 10 – 12 years ago. Even then she was a ‘flipper dipper,’ always planning her next scuba trip. She was a woman who absolutely lit up with excitement at the thought of taking her precious vacation time to work as part of a volunteer group counting endangered sea turtles in the Caribbean. I once asked her why she quit being a vet, to which she replied, ‘I couldn’t bear it any more: so many people were asking me to put to death perfectly good and loving animals.’” —Tori Muir, WIC Member

“I had the honor of working with her at Knight-Ridder Information/Dialog, and I had a great deal of respect for her knowledge and passion.” —Sharyn Fitzpatrick, WIC Member

For those who’d like to attend, a memorial service for Kenna will be held on Saturday, October 1^st, 12 noon at Mariani’s Inn & Restaurant, located at 25000 El Camino Real, Santa Clara. A light luncheon will be served for those who’d like it. The food service will start at 12:30.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Kenna’s husband and family.

By: Rachel Melia

Today, we launched Women in Consulting’s (WIC’s) 10th Annual Best Practices Survey.

I’ve been here for the last nine surveys; and every year, I put the insights presented to use in my business. I’d be foolish not to—hundreds of consultants, many of whom are tops in their field, share what they do from pricing to closing deals to increasing productivity and more.

If you want the results from this 10th anniversary addition, you’ll need to either participate or be a member. If you’re a member, please still participate, because the survey’s value is at its best when lots and lots and lots—did I say lots?—of people participate.

So if you’re a consultant, set aside 15 minutes—yes that’s all it takes—between now and September 9 to take the survey.

Top 10 Reasons to Take Survey

1. You want more clients.
2. You want to increase your annual revenue.
3. You want to keep up with latest consulting trends and best practices.
4. You like to learn from top consultants with seven-figure incomes.
5. What other consultants are charging is of interest to you.
6. You’re exploring new industries.
7. You’re considering a new product/service offering.
8. You’re hankering for a Flip camera or one of several other prizes.
9. You’re a consultant. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, work in California or elsewhere, are a WIC member or not—if you’re a consultant, we want to hear from you.
10. You want the results and you’re not a full or leaders network member.

Take the WIC 10th Annual Best Practices Survey
Important Details

• The survey takes 10 – 15 minutes to complete.
• All participants who complete the survey receive the results and are entered into a drawing to win one of six prizes (whether or not they’re WIC members): a Flip camera (1 winner), a seat in any future WIC workshop (1 winner), or a seat in a future WIC webinar (4 winners).
• The survey asks some detailed questions about your business for the August 2010 – July 2011 timeframe, so be prepared with the following information:
• Total revenue for the past 12 months
• Average hourly rate (if applicable)
• Average retainer fee (if applicable)
• Average project fee (if applicable)
• Target hourly rate in project fees (if applicable)
• Number of subcontractors used
• Total amount paid to subcontractors and/or employees

Survey Results

In addition to the report that we send to all participants (an email address is required), we also present the results at a members-only meeting where we highlight insights and best practices from the survey. To attend this value-packed event, held at Quadrus Conference Center in Menlo Park on October 20, you need to join WIC as a full or leaders network member prior to the meeting.

If you’re already a community member and would like to attend this event, upgrade to a full membership, and we’ll refund the prorated amount left on your existing membership.

Take the WIC 10th Annual Best Practices Survey

By: Avery Horzewski

I went on a road trip with a friend recently, and even though I was “on vacation”, branding lessons kept jumping out at me. Here are the 3 most valuable lessons we learned about branding on our summer vacation:

1. The first lesson is about using your headshot in your marketing.

At Mount Rushmore, we overheard a little boy talking to his mom: “Those guys on the outside are on money. But who are the other two?”

Of course, he recognized Washington and Lincoln. Their faces are everywhere – and in his experience, they’re the ones on the money that he probably sees most often. More importantly, their faces are shown on the one- and five-dollar bills in a similar pose – so they’re recognizable.

Poor Jefferson and Roosevelt! He couldn’t recognize them because they appear most commonly in profile – on the nickel and dime. When he saw their full face, it didn’t look like the same guy. And, Jefferson does appear on the $2 bill – but that bill is pretty obscure. The kid hadn’t seen those often enough to be able to remember who Jefferson was.

The lesson here? Using a recognizable photo consistently in your brand makes you more memorable. And, being memorable is good for business! Make sure that you use your photo often in your brand, and that you choose a photo that looks like you do in real life!

2. Consistency and repetition stirs curiosity, creates familiarity, heightens suspense, strengthens hunger and desire and inspires loyalty.

And, this works even if the exact same thing isn’t repeated over and over again. For several hundred miles on Interstate 90, there are billboards making all sorts of claims, like:

• “Free Ice Water: Wall Drug”
• “Don’t Miss Out: Wall Drug”
• “Western Art Treasures: Wall Drug”
• “Dinosaurs! Wall Drug”
• “Homemade Donuts: Wall Drug”

I would say, “You get the picture”… but the truth is, you can’t. I could fill pages and pages with all of the messages from all of the billboards. There were literally hundreds of them, stretching over hundreds of miles. And every one repeated the simple phrase, “Wall Drug”.

This is what happened:

• After the first few billboards, we were curious. I got out my phone and Googled “Wall Drug” just to see what they were talking about.
• After a few more signs, we felt familiar with Wall Drug. After all, we’d seen about a dozen signs on top of Googling it. We were experts, and we liked feeling like we knew what the signs were all about.
• With every passing sign the suspense grew. We wondered… are we there yet? How much further?
• After a while, the signs awakened our hunger and desire (I’ll also admit that this was right around the time we started seeing the signs about the donuts). We found ourselves really wanting to go to Wall Drug.
• We went out of our way to go to Wall Drug. The signs had inspired our loyalty and we passed up opportunities to stop at more convenient places so that we could see what all the fuss was about!

Imagine if your brand could get all of those results from a bit of consistency and repetition! Best of all, consistency and repetition in your brand is easy – it just means that you have to use the same messages and designs that you’ve already created again and again. So there’s no new work for you.

3. Using whitespace makes you stand out, and makes your audience stop and really notice.

During our trip, the scenery was really quite green. Green corn. Green fields. Green forests.

Until we reached the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Suddenly, there was a whole lot of white out the window!

That white made the salt flats one of the most remarkable and stunning places we saw on our trip.They really stood out because they were so different from the green, green, green we had been seeing for days.

It made us stop the car and spend some time there relaxing and looking at the scenery – instead of just whizzing by, we really paid attention. Wouldn’t you like your audience to stop and spend more time paying attention to and noticing you?

See how you can incorporate more white space in your brand so that you won’t look like everyone else, trying to cram everything onto a page. It will make your designs look different from everyone else’s and make your clients stop and really look at what you have to offer!

By: Erin Ferree