August 30, 2010

Sharing good (business) news

Filed under: Marketing & Promotion — Tags: , , , — lidia @ 12:09 pm

Your business won an award. You’ve been published in an upcoming book. One of your projects has been mentioned in the newspaper. Don’t be shy—now is the time to share your good news!

When one of my packaging designs was recently chosen to be included in a book (hooray), I realized I don’t have a plan of action for sharing good news with clients and other members of my network.

I jotted down a list for future reference and thought I would share with other small businesses.

Tips for sharing good (business) news

  1. Write a blog post: include an image if possible
  2. Tweet the good news: include a link to your blog post
  3. Post an image of the award or project on your flickr or Facebook page
  4. Post in the news or press section of your website
  5. Mention it in your e-newsletter
  6. Add the project to your online portfolio: include a sentence about the award or publication
  7. Mention it to business or networking groups you’re a member of: if they have a group page, post it there as well
  8. Send a press release to local small business writers or editors
  9. Send a promotional mailing, i.e. a postcard or one-sheet with details of the project and/or award
  10. Last but not least, send a handwritten thank you note to the publisher or editor expressing your gratitude for the opportunity

Read more small business tips on our Resources page.

August 20, 2010

Featured Project: Wedding Invitation

Filed under: Featured Projects — Tags: , , , — lidia @ 9:00 am

Wedding invitation, program & escort cards

When a graphic designer and copywriter get married, it’s pretty obvious who will design the wedding invitation and graphics. Being your own client can be challenging though—especially when you’re planning a large event such as a wedding—but there was no way I was missing out on this design project!

Our theme was an urban tropical wedding. Wanting to avoid tropical cliches, I created a simple, elegant orchid illustration in a dark coral and spring green color palette to be used throughout the wedding stationery.

Since I’m obsessed with paper, it played an pivotal role in the design process. With the help of my Mohawk rep, I used Mohawk Options for my Save the Date Postcards. This recycled, double-thick cover stock was heavy enough to assure the postcards would survive the mailing process unscathed.

Wanting to incorporate both of our cultures into the Invitation design, I used Canaletto, an elegant cotton paper made in Italy by Gruppo Cordenons, for the invitation suite and accented it with a wide green sinamay ribbon, a natural organza mesh ribbon made in the Philippines.

Designing our wedding invitation, graphics and décor while juggling client projects and wedding planning was a challenge, to say the least. But seeing the finished product and realizing I had captured our vision made it all worthwhile. Calling on friends along the way helped too. I was lucky to have a fabulous printer-friend, as well as helpful connections in the paper and gift industry, allowing me to find exactly what I needed to carry out our creative vision.

Wedding favors, table numbers & menu cards

Photography by Simply Jessie Photography (Chicago, IL)

vendor shoutouts:

August 18, 2010

10 years…already?

Filed under: Featured Projects — Tags: , , — lidia @ 1:56 pm

This November we will celebrate our 10th year in business. I feel fortunate and grateful to be reaching this business milestone—not to mention somewhat astonished that ten years managed to go by so fast.

To commemorate this special event, I will be featuring special blog posts and other anniversary goodies over the next few months—hey, maybe I’ll even throw a party. Stay tuned to the blog, website and twitter. We look forward to celebrating with you!

August 17, 2010

One of our designs is featured in The Big Book of Packaging!

Filed under: Featured Projects — Tags: , — lidia @ 9:00 am

We are thrilled to announce that one of our packaging design projects will be featured in the upcoming book, The Big Book of Packaging. Produced by Crescent Hill Books, the book will be published by HarperCollins Publishers in Spring 2011.

Featured in the book is product packaging and POP display that we designed for Justin Blair‘s new line of retail foot care products. We worked closely with our client and the printer to develop packaging that was both unique in the market as well as practical for the end user. Read more about the project here.

Get a sneak peek of the book on the Crescent Hill Books blog!

August 16, 2010

Social media + handwritten notes = great marketing strategy

Filed under: Marketing & Promotion,Social Media — lidia @ 9:00 am

Personalized notecards by Business Greetings by Lidia Varesco Design

I recently read an article in Deliver magazine about the company SimplySoles, who successfully combines their social media strategy with handwritten thank you notes to customers.

Being a graphic designer who uses social media as well a greeting card designer, I can completely relate to this—it’s the same approach I take with my business. I love being able to stay in touch and make connections via social media, but I feel strongly about using handwritten communications as well. There’s just something about a handwritten note that can’t be reproduced online.

Personally, I love receiving a card in the mail so I make an effort to send notes to clients and vendors regularly. Not only is sending a note to someone a nice thing to do, but it helps your businesses stand out from your competition and allows you to stay top-of-mind with clients and customers.

Get out your pen and stamps and start writing some cards!

Read the article here.

August 2, 2010

Featured project: scholarship fund self-mailer

Filed under: Featured Projects — lidia @ 9:00 am

We worked with the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) to design a self-mailer for a newly-created endowed scholarship fund.

Ensuring that their students are not left with excessive debt is important to CTS, so we created a piece that would highlight the importance of this new leadership fund, allowing potential donors to learn more and encouraging them to support this important cause.

Over the last year, we have been working steadily with CTS to develop their graphic identity and to design myriad marketing and promotional materials. See examples of other CTS projects here.

Printer: Vision Integrated Graphics Group (Tinley Park IL)