All too often, small businesses, musicians and freelancers fear spending a little money on advertising because they do not see it pay off. Instead, they want to either skip it or go the DIY route when they don’t have the skills or tools to do the job well. I know. I too have to fight this urge because I have been burned with expensive marketing that doesn’t work.

I want to dissect why this effort paid off and the steps taken to pull off the job.

1. The first thing is first. Realizing one’s strengths and weaknesses. My client came up with a brochure that was written all in Helvetica (not by good choice, but because it’s her default font). She came to me to take her words and make some marketing pieces with them.
2. Next we talked about how she intended to market. We strategized and came up with a multi-pronged approach:
   • Brochures: These are folded pieces that were to be handed out to past/current/prospective students and to be left in coffee shops/etc.
   • E-flyers: I made an e-flyer version of the brochure to be sent to her mailing list of past and present students
   • 11×17 Posters: These are more attention-grabbing and are to be hung on community bulletin boards, in co-ops, coffee shops, etc.
3. My client then assembled a street-team to bike around town and plaster everything with a flyer or poster, she sent out emails, and the word was spread.

Why did this work?

• It was very organized!
• The effort was concentrated to a specific geographic location and was highly attention-grabbing.
• Effective design played off of and flushed out current branding; very recognizable
• …and probably most importantly: She kept a detailed record of her past/present clients and gave them incentive ($ off a class) to bring people in.

This is how small business works. Regardless of the Economy. She used her good business sense, she trusted her weaknesses to professionals, she was well organized, and she got 10 new clients (on top of her current base). We can all learn from that!

I had the pleaseure of designing and printing a poster for Pizza Luce’s Cribbage Tournament (Selby Ave. –St. Paul, MN)… but I had a totally distinct-er pleasure of finding out that two of the 6 posters are missing! I must say, that is flattering. The bar tender notified me that somebody actually took the time to remove posters (at the risk of being caught) and take them home… I wonder if they got them framed?!? -haha

I printed a few extras with some silver ink mixed in with the black. It looks generally the same from farther away, but has an interesting effect up close.

Limited edition prints (with silver ink) available un-framed for $25. (6 total, signed)

Black-only are property of Luce and only available by request after they are taken down.  –or stolen I guess

Not much else to say. Just thought it was funny (and flattering).

The Snuggle Me Cushion (rest)

Originally uploaded by getcultstatus

This is one of a series of 3 product images I shot for the Snuggle Me Cushion, a product produced by Simply Mommy (Roseville, MN). This product was shot as part of a brochure I’m working on at the moment.

For any product-producing business, band, or organization that sells a product/merchandise, product photography is becoming a new standard.

In the past 10 years, printing and websites have not only become more accessible, they have become the gold standard of existence. No group, business or organization can expect itself to get very far without a print and/or online presence… and what good is an online/print presence if you can’t show the very products you sell? (be it merch, manufactured goods or otherwise.)

If you look at E-bay as the microcosm of free-range capitalism, it’s easy to see the role that product photos play. The items with the biggest images, nicest images, most number of images tend to win out with either higher bids, or faster sales. At the very least, they are the ones that catch our attention the fastest.

In the general print and web-store environment, a well-done product photo is really what does the actual selling. Sure, people read headlines and sales copy (sometimes), but they always see the picture and the pic is what does the talking first, the most, and the loudest.

The nice thing, these days, is that with the advent of Digital SLR cameras and Photoshop, product photography is fast becoming very accessible –even to the little guy. Everybody from a band with a CD and a couple T-shirts to a retailer or manufacturer with a full line of products can benefit from this.

My pricing is dependent on the item or image requirements, with a starting range around $65 for one image and tends to fluctuate with factors such as turnaround time, size/shape, and quantity.

One unique thing about Cult Status is that I am also able to offer discounts if a client wants a brochure or website AND wants me to shoot their products for the application. –and really, aside of the fact that selling one or two items will most likely pay for the product shot in full, you can’t put money on the polished image it portrays!

For the $50-$90/image (general industry standard) price range, a product photographer should include a Hi-res image, a web-ready image and will typically release the copyright to you. As a general practice, I often include a version with a transparent background just in case it’s needed for other applications. In the case of this cushion, I also made an animated .gif to show the cushion’s pantent-pending “snuggle” action.

There is a lot value in good product photography. It’s often what does the actual selling and it can really say a lot about your business or group.

(contact me for a quote!)

Though I do a lot of from-scratch design work, Photoshop Brush-making, and vectorizing, I’m not gonna lie. I do download quite a few stock images, vectors and brushes. Why? mainly because there is no sense in spending an extra 20min-5hours reinventing the wheel. If an image exists and it suits your purpose, use it.

This brings me to the subject of FREE vector, brush, and texture stock art. There’s a lot of it. Most websites use it as a means to get graphic designers and artists to spill traffic onto their website, becuase lets face it, free is free, right? –NO!

There are a TON of websites and other graphic artists that “give” free stock designer tools away, but the licensing is always “give me links and only use it for personal use” –I have two beefs with that:

1) 90% of people are going to ignore the License and never get caught

2) I can’t imagine there are that many people who know how to use Photoshop/Illustrator files too extensively that don’t intend to make money off of it –either as a designer, a screen printer, or even a fine artist. Nobody pours over images for hours on end with no hope to get fame and fortune… at least very few do.

THUS, only honest (or paranoid)  people are going to follow the copyright rules. As one who strives in that direction, it can be very frustrating to go through the searching, downloading and extracting process for handfulls of files, just to find the readme file being overly restricting.

Honestly… if you want money for it, charge. If not, give it away FREE AND CLEAR! Free files with uber-restrictions are usless, a waste of time, and ultimately say either,  “I’m dishonest for calling something free that is not free” -or- “I don’t believe in my design talent enough to sell my work for what it’s worth (so I “give” it away for free), but I think I should be compensated for my hours of work and don’t think the file should be used in public domain”… **waste of bandwidth**

As a printer/designer I know that it’s important to get paid appropriately for your hourly labor. It’s a real thing. Life is not a charity. I get that. But I also fully believe that the internet was founded on the ideals of “free” and “open source”. That’s not to say that everything has to be; but if you are going to give something away for free. Just do it and end it. People will come back for more! Go Media does a great job with this. They give a way literal TONS of brushes, textures, video, vectors, etc. (TONS). They also sell “complete” sets for a very affordable price and offer full service design and video work. They make the free thing work. You should too. (or stop calling it free)

What sparked this rant? This freshly honest TOC agreement for a brush I downloaded.  –for that… you get a link.

                    COMMERCIAL USE; LIMITATIONS:
——————————————————————–
How stupid is it to distribute a brush set then limit the way that
an artist can be creative with them?  I am not a genious, but I am
smart enough to know that if you really want to use them, you are
going to do that.  So there are no limitations on commercial use.
Use these brushes as you need to use them.  In fact, I would be
honored to know you felt my brushes were worthy enough to use in a
project were you got paid.
====================================================================
D U B T A S T I C   D E S I G N   L A B S

     http://www.dubtastic.com/ 

1. I hired a new sales/customer service/account rep/shameless promoter- Betsy. She has already been a HUGE help to the company and is here to help things run smoothly.
2. After a huge end of December/ Beginning of January push,  we are ready to get down to some rearranging in the spirit of the New Year. Cult Status is totally overhauling its website. Included in the new design will be more useful info, an updated portfolio, and some online order entry stuff for faster and easier order submission.
3. We are gearing up for the April Saint Paul Art Crawl. More info as that approaches.
4. We are extending our product offering in 2009 to better serve you. Expect some great deals to come!
5. Also, expect more blogging

That’s all I really have for now… it felt like more at the time I started writing. Oh well.

HAPPY 2009!!!

-Alex

We’ve had a pretty good response so far, so a big ‘thanks’ to all who have submitted their resume for review. I will begin interviewing shortly, so heads up to all who plan to apply.

-Alex

This position offers several great opportunities including a diverse, but very complimentary set of products and services to cross-sell, a very generous commission (up to 20%) and bonus/profit sharing structure, and a flexible owner that is willing to work with you to make you as effective as possible. As the company grows, additional benefits will be added and opportunities for advancement will arise too.

POSITION DETIAL:

• Full Time (part time available)
• Compensation: Full Commission with bonuses
• Options for additional benefits and/or promotions in the future
• This position allows for a high degree of autonomy in decision-making and a relatively flexible schedule.
• Relaxed work environment

BASIC JOB TASKS:

• Maintain and service current clients
• Work with owner to develop new clients by developing a complimentary marketing and sales strategy, both in the Twin Cities area, as well as out-of-state (via phone and email).
• Work with owner to provide incentives and/or promotions
• Other Biz Development tasks, such as flyering, canvassing, etc.
• Meeting with owner to discuss opportunities, performance, etc. on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

IDEAL CANDIDATE:

• Should have prior sales/biz development experience
• Is money-motivated and driven to succeed
• Should have experience and/or be comfortable with B2B and B2C selling
• Has great interpersonal skills
• Should be comfortable with various internet practices, including bloging, using and maintaining social networking websites, the basics of online advertising

OTHER SKILLS/REQUIREMENTS:

• Working Vehicle
• Cell phone & Laptop are a plus.

ABOUT CULT STATUS:

Cult Status focuses on serving the printing and promotional needs of small businesses, musicians, and other organizations.

Services we offer:

• Screen Printing (T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, aprons, etc.)
• Cylindrical Screen Printing (bottles, mugs, beer cozies, etc.)
• Pad Printing (Golf balls, Sunglass clips, other misc. objects)
• Indoor/outdoor vinyl banners
• 4-color offset/digital printing
• Envelope and letterhead printing
• 1” buttons/magnets

Other Services:

• Graphic Design Services
• Web Design (Including SEO, Shopping Carts,
• Promotional Product Sourcing (domestic and overseas)

 EMAIL RESUME AND COVER LETTER TO:

jobs[at] getcultstatus [d0t] c0m

www.getcultstatus.com

Be sure to vote!

Image via Wikipedia

This means BIG SAVINGS FOR YOU!

We have a bunch of extra American Apparel T-shirts, some Hanes Beefy-T 100% cotton shirts, and some miscellaneous colors and sizes of Fruit of the Loom and Jerzees.

We also have half a case of black “bistro style” coffee mugs for a band or business looking for a small order of mugs.

Contact us if you are interested in some GREAT DEALS.

I’ll post when the sale is over.

Image via Wikipedia

Saint Paul, as many know by now, is hosting the RNC this year. The Cult Status “compound” (as I call it –rather dorkily I might add) is but a mere stone’s throw from the Xcel Energy center -ground zero for the convention.  Despite the security measures and checkpoints, we WILL REMAIN OPEN AND FULLY OPERATIONAL!!

Actually, Cult Status is across the Mississippi from the convention in the former FOK building (Harriet Island), so security/traffic (*fingers crossed*) shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.

That said, we still have some extra press capacity from now through the convention, so if there are any last-minute graphic design, screen printing, or 1″button-making jobs that need to be done ASAP, give us a shout!