Being a designer, I never know what might spark my next great idea and as a result, I love to save things. My file cabinet, home to my creative morgue is so packed with unique and inspiring design pieces that I can’t pull the files out. To make cleaning up these files fun, I’m creating my own version of the 30-Day Facebook Challenge. Over the next 28 days I’ll be going into my creative morgue and deciding which pieces are still inspirational and which are just old and outdated. I’ll share the keepers with you here and on Facebook daily. You can help me by letting me know if you agree, disagree or can suggest something better. Please join me tomorrow for Day 1!

If you own a business I’m sure you’ve been told that you need a Facebook business page. Do you? If you’re a retailer my answer is yes! If you’re not but can answer yes to the following five questions, then you probably DO need a Facebook business page. Otherwise, your time and money can be spent on better ways to advertise your business.

1. Are your clients Facebook users? Check out the age, gender and location demographics listed at Social Media Today.

2. Is there a reason your fans would want to interact with your business on a regular basis? Remember the average Facebook user has 130 friends who are competing for their time too.

3. Are you willing to devote the time and money? Your page will need to be monitored daily and in some cases hourly, to be effective.

4. Do you have a website? All serious businesses have websites to link to their Facebook page.

5. Will it help your business grow or are your fans just numbers instead of actual clients?

Thank you to all my readers, especially those who left comments on my earlier posts, for  giving me the encouragement I needed to take up illustration again. This Mother and Child drawing is the first thing that I’ve done in years! Just between me and you, what you see here wasn’t my first attempt — I had to start over a few times because I’m pretty rusty. It’s still not as good as I had hoped, but perhaps with practice I’ll get better and quicker too.

I plan on starting a series of similar pieces that can be used as clip art for events and holidays throughout the calendar year. This piece is my gift to you for being so supportive. Feel free to download it – just click on it.

Thank you to the bloggers who participated in the first “Blog Sharing Day” at the Komjati Design Facebook page. I had the opportunity to read and comment on three very interesting blog posts that were submitted. I’m going to give them a shout out and if you have time you can read them too. They are: It’s Hip To Be Square by AdTex Advertising, Sausage & Potato Packets by Helen’s Helpful Hints, The Wise Sage and A World of (Upholstered) Imagination by Furnitureland South.

Thank you Toastmasters Medina Club 941 for patiently listening to my speeches, for your compliments and especially for your kind suggestions for improvement. The speech that I gave last night has put me at Advanced Communicator Bronze level! Anyone interested in seeing Toastmasters at work should attend the Toastmasters Area 33 contest being held on Saturday, March 12, at the Medina County Library. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., it’s free and the public is welcome to drop in. I’m rooting for my Medina club’s president, Bob Moyer to win. Go Bob!

If you have questions about advertising, branding or graphic design, call me at 330.769.0344.

Recently I gave a prepared speech on advertising to my Toastmasters group. Afterwards, long time member Chet P. approached me with the following request: “If you see that guy at Marc’s, tell him to make the type bigger because I can’t read his sale ads.” Marc’s is a NE Ohio, locally owned, deep discount store, and Chet is one of a growing number of older folks who can’t read small type. And by older I mean over 40. I told Chet that I didn’t think it would do any good to contact the store owner because it’s a common problem in the industry.

Designers have been complaining for at least 20 years that the sale ads are too crowded. In the past, we would discuss the merchandise in meetings and the merchants could be persuaded to run less items. Today, the economy and the advertising industry are both in chaos and the merchants seem to have the upper hand. I also blame those young “whipper-snapper” designers who are still able to read small print. Just because 6 point type is available doesn’t mean you have to use it. As a matter of fact, advertising disclaimers must be at least 8 point type to meet the retail advertising regulations of some states.

Did you happen to see the “FREE Gift with $20 Purchase” offer that another Ohio-based chain store advertised over the Christmas season? The “free gift” was just an empty box—a plain, white gift box that stores like Macy’s routinely give away. The store’s Facebook fans discussed it at length and called it “CHEAP.” To quote Charlotte Beers (Advertising Hall of Fame 2009 inductee) “It’s not what you say [FREE] but what they hear [CHEAP].”

DOWNLOADS

Spring really is just around the corner, at least as far as the fashion industry is concerned. If you haven’t downloaded your “TOP 10 Colors for Spring 2010” bookmark, CLICK HERE to get yours now. Use it as a bookmark or take it along as a color guide when shopping. Graphic designers will find the CMYK values given for each color handy, too.

Looking for unique events to celebrate? CLICK HERE to download your very own “2010 Retail Promotional Calendar.” Never miss National Karaoke Week or National Bathroom Reading Month again.

LOOK OUT—the New Year is bearing down on us like a freight train—to borrow one of my husband’s wonderful colloquial expressions. Time to start making New Year’s resolutions. Number one on my list this year is to post to my blog once a week. What’s yours? I’ve asked many people this question recently and most say that they are setting goals of blogging more or getting more involved in social networking.

I’ve met lots of great folks through social networks, people like Michael Albany, of Aston, Pennsylvania for example. He is a photographer and the owner of Michael Albany Photography. We didn’t actually met, we connected via LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking site. I was impressed by not only his corporate photography but something special that Michael does. He takes photos for the unemployed, those who need a professional photo for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other social media profiles and he does it for FREE! He says it’s just his way of giving back to the community. Learn more at www.michaelalbany.com/blog.

Another very talented individual, also on LinkedIn, told me that he had tried social networking and not seen any results. He said that he has an incredible portfolio, amazing website (take my word for it he REALLY does) and he is on Twitter. I have heard this complaint before and have even said it myself. What I know is that social networking isn’t something that happens overnight and that it is a process that involves a lot of time and dedication. I started my blog in March 2009 and since then have gotten on Twitter, created a Facebook fan page, held a contest and really, really worked on my LinkedIn profile. All this while continuing to work and care for my family. I have begun seeing results this month, results that I hope will continue to snowball throughout 2010. Wish me luck!

My New Year’s wish for YOU is that you take time to celebrate each and every day of 2010 —  CLICK HERE to download your 2010 Retail Promotional Calendar. Now you can celebrate National Karaoke Week, National Bathroom Reading Month and many more unique events.

Have a blessed New Year.

Recently I read about a coupon that could be downloaded from a company’s Facebook fan page. Since I suffer from a  “keeping up with the Jones” mentality when it comes to technology, I wanted to distribute coupons, too.

After doing some research, I discovered Wildfire Promotion Builder, an easy-to-use web application that allows designers to create interactive Facebook campaigns. To add to my excitement, I learned that it was much more than coupons—it was also contests and sweepstakes! My head began to spin…the more I learned, the more I had to have it, both to draw traffic to my Facebook fan page and to offer promotions via Facebook to my clients.

I signed up for the free version and installed it onto my fan page. Now I had it and victory was mine! What to do, what to do… I know—what better way to work out all the kinks than to take it for a test drive? Thus, the “Komjati Design FRESH CASH Giveway” was born.

Today is the third day of the sweepstakes and it has had a few touch-and-go moments. Moments that made me glad it was my own personal project. Like the first day when the Promotions tab completely disappeared from my fan page. I removed the Boxes tab, posted the promotion again and all was right in my world, whew!