Hub You - Business

Presentation Folders for Corporate Marketing
Folders are normally used to store important documents. But the role of folders doesn’t stop there. A presentation folder has a great part to portray in improving the growth of a business. Though most people use it to organize documents still it has become a great marketing tool that any business should not ignore.Normally you can see that the presentation folders are used to deliver very important documents such as brochures and letters. Basically, the common term for presentation folder is pocket folder. It is labeled as pocket folder for the reason that it has pockets inside it. Sometimes it is referred only as folder.You see the significance of a presentation folder is undeniable. It can add an impact to your corporate identity whenever you have a meeting or there’s something you want to deliver to your potential customers. By using folders as a primary tool for your marketing campaign, it only implies that you really want to maintain a professional image for your company. Remember a professionally-designed folder is what people used to keep.There are many uses of folders. But you must take into account that a folder will not be effective if it’s not designed properly. In view of that the folder should have a very compelling design to attra

ts for printing and web. You will then have to pay another graphic designer or printer to create the correct files. Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask your logo designer what file types are included in their price.

The most common file types needed are AI (Illustrator) and EPS for most professional print jobs. These are vector format files. These files should be in a CMYK color format. Vector art allows you to reduce or enlarge a design to ANY size without losing detail or clarity.

For home use and some print jobs you will need TIFF and BMP files. These are pixel files and should have a DPI (dots per inch) of at least 300 dpi. 600-1200 dpi is best for professional printing. These type of files lose their detail when enlarged but can be reduced.

The last file types you will need would be JPEG and GIF. These are pixel files and are used for web design. They should be in a RGB color format. Be aware that not all colors translate well on the Internet, especially GIF files. Ask if the logo designer used web safe colors. You should receive crisp 72 dpi files for the Internet. A GIF file should be transparent if you do not want a white box around it when displayed on your page.

Be sure and ask your logo designer about your logo colors. Ask them for the Pantone PMS color numbers for each color. You will need this information each time your logo is printed. This insures that you get the exact same colors with every printer that you use.

Will you get your files over the Internet or will you receive a CD? Try to get a CD, it is much easier to take that to your local printer. Ask your designer how long they keep your logo on file in case you lose your versions later down the road.

You should also receive all rights

What Are Some Key Legal Aspects Of Starting A Business?
When starting up a business, there are some important legal matters that you’ll have to deal with, no matter how much you’d love to just dive in and get started. However, if you neglect these legal steps, you’re going to find that maintaining the business down the road becomes much more difficult, and in some cases, impossible. It’s in your best interest to take these legal aspects seriously and get them sorted out as soon as possible when starting a business.1) Develop a Strategic Business PlanThis plan will be the blueprint and backdrop for your business – the thing upon which all other aspects of starting your business are based. Also, having a business plan will make it much easier for you to receive financing for your new business. Very few people actually have the available funds to cover start-up costs, and a business plan is something you can present to family, banks, or other private investors to gain their confidence in your venture. It should outline in detail how you plan to operate your business, and exactly what this business is.2) What Kind of Legal Entity is Your Business?This will determine whether you can be sued for issues arising between the business and your customers. It is extremely important, and often neglected w

A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. For many companies, a logo is the only identifiable mark a potential customer may ever see, so it needs to be memorable, descriptive and easily recognizable. If a logo is the company spokesman, how much is it really worth?

Cheap logo designs are all over the Internet - logo designs under $150! $99 logo designs, $75 logo designs, $49 logo designs and even lower! You will easily find a wide range of prices for logo design on the Internet. Be careful of cheap logo design offers, some designers may be using clip art. A logo design that includes a royalty free piece of clip art cannot be copyrighted. That same piece of clip art could be used on dozens of other logo designs. A designers portfolio should be displayed and there should be a wide variety of logo samples. At $49 each, do all of the logos look the same? Do the majority of them have block lettering and a swoosh?

Some logo designers charge one flat fee for a logo with no questions asked. Can you imagine Coca-Cola purchasing a logo design for $99? What a deal! Or how about Bob's bait shop paying $750 for a logo. There goes the budget! All companies are not equal in size, budget and usage. All designs are not equal. Does a swoosh take the same amount of time and effort as creating a detailed motorcycle?

The confusion doesn't stop there. Some logo designers charge additional costs for extra colors, extra modifications and extra preliminary designs. You have to get your calculator out just to figure the final cost of your logo. Do you really know what you are paying for?

How much is a logo design really worth? Ask Coca-Cola, Polo, Nike, The Hard Rock Cafe, Hallmark or any other company that relies on their logo as their number one spokesman. Not every company is as large as these but every company should have a logo that is easy to identify and stands for the integrity of that business.

A logo design is more valuable to a company than a single spot illustration. An illustration is normally used once or used for a limited campaign, whereas a logo is used for years and is placed on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites, vehicles, buildings and products. Do you see the difference in value to a company? A logo has more value than just the hours spent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity.

With that said, shouldn't a logo be worth more than just the time involved in creating it? Professional graphic design rates average anywhere from $30 to $75 per hour. If you see a logo design priced at $125 and that designer charges $50 per hour for design work, do you assume that they spent 2.5 hours on your logo? That price would include the time spent to contact you, the research done on your company and competition, the preliminary ideas, the changes, the finalizing of the logo, the file prep for each different format, sending the logo, billing and allowing you to have all rights to the design. So how much time was actually spent creating your logo?

My conclusion is that a logo is much more valuable to a company than a standard illustration so the price should reflect the added value. Many professional graphic designers would be hard pressed to create a top notch illustration for under $150 let alone a creative, well designed logo. So beware of logos priced under $150, you may get what you pay for.

There's even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designers base their logo rates on several of these factors:

Logo Modifications - You could get charged for each time you want a change or modification to your logo. If a logo designer asks the right questions, does the research and stays in close communication with the client there should be no need for major changes during the creation of a logo design. Be a good communicator and explain to the logo designer exactly what you want your logo to be saying about your business. As a designer, you should get signed approval for each modification showing that the client was in agreement at the time.

Extra Colors - Printers charge more for extra colors. If a logo designer charges more for a two color logo than they do for a three color logo, get a detailed explanation as to why. It only takes the click of a mouse to add an extra color. In today's world there is very little need for color separations so there should be no need for a designer to charge by the color.

Preliminary Designs - A few choices is good, to many choices is overkill. A logo designer should be able to decide for you the correct amount of preliminary designs it will require to create your perfect logo. Be leary of eight, ten and more initial designs. How much time could actually be spent on each design? If you don't like your first two or three designs you can easily request two or three more.

If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you do not want to present ten logos to ten different people. You may never get down to a winning design.

On the other hand, if you need an additional presentation of logos due to a complete change in direction on the companies part, there should be an extra fee. An example would be asking for a yellow duck logo design and changing your mind to a red dog design once the logos are presented to you.

Adding an identity program to your logo is a legitimate cost. Designing the business card, letterhead and envelope layouts are normally a higher priced package. You should receive camera ready files for each design.

There is a standard reference for pricing graphic design and corporate identity projects. It is Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, published by the Graphic Artists Guild. Any logo designer can purchase the book. A professional graphic designer would have a tough time supporting a family and a studio designing all of their logos below $200.

I'm not writing this to give exact prices for a logo design because each logo designers circumstances are different. Amateur logo designers charge much less to get their feet wet, but slowly increase their rates as they gain experience and creativity.

The standard logo design rates are based on two major components, company size and application or distribution size. The majority of logo designs created over the Internet are created for small companies and individuals with limited application and distribution uses. Fortune 500 companies normally pay much higher logo design rates and use advertising agencies.

My conclusion is that the value of a logo should be based on a few important criteria:
1. Experience of the logo designer
2. Size & budget of the company using the logo
3. Scope and usage of the logo
4. Difficulty of the design

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design.

What's included with your logo? The worst part of paying for a cheap logo is finding out that you were not sent the correct file formats for printing and web. You will then have to pay another graphic designer or printer to create the correct files. Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask your logo designer what file types are included in their price.

You should also receive all rights

Trade Show Booth Staff Training
Seasoned exhibitors know that one of the more important elements in making your trade show investment a success is proper training of the booth staff. In order to project a concise and consistent message at the show, everyone working the show needs to be able to "walk the talk". It's a good idea to have several short sessions with your booth staff before, during and after the show.Pre-show TrainingNo trade show exhibitor should hit the show floor without having done proper booth staff training. Improperly trained booth staff can reflect poorly on your company, and cut down dramatically on the leads you receive at a show. On the other hand, properly trained staff will draw people to your booth, give them information about your organization that is relevant to their needs, and leave the conversation with some type of follow-up or appointment.Top 5 Areas of Pre-Show Booth TrainingIn addition to complete knowledge of your products and services (that's a given), your booth training should include the top 5 areas that are imperative to cover prior to show opening:1. Rules of Engagement – It is a good idea to come up with a list of do's and don'ts for the show and review those with your booth staff. Items to i

ark or any other company that relies on their logo as their number one spokesman. Not every company is as large as these but every company should have a logo that is easy to identify and stands for the integrity of that business.

There's even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designers base their logo rates on several of these factors:

If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you do not want to present ten logos to ten different people. You may never get down to a winning design.

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design.

You should also receive all rights

Materials Handling 101
Materials handling can be defined as the act of loading and unloading and moving goods within a factory, using mechanical devices. Materials handling equipment means equipment, including its supporting structures, auxiliary equipment and rigging devices, used to transport, lift, move or position persons, materials, goods or things. It also includes mobile equipment used to lift, hoist or position persons, but does not include an elevating device that is permanently installed in a building. Though the specifics of material handling would vary from industry to industry and from organization to organization, it broadly refers to the movement of materials (raw materials, scrap, semi-finished and finished) to, through, and from productive processes; in warehouses and storage; and in receiving and shipping areas. When we use the term ‘materials’ with reference to materials handling, it includes: apparatus, devices, implements, or methods for placing or displacing particular articles in a particular manner or with reference to a particular support.To give the reader a better idea of some practical environments where material handling is vital consider: Loading or unloading vehicles with materials or objects in general Charging or discharging furnaces, bins, chamb

on several of these factors:

If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you do not want to present ten logos to ten different people. You may never get down to a winning design.

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design.

You should also receive all rights

Tie Up Loose Ends or Find Yourself in Knots
The final step toward putting your past behind so you can reach for what's possible is tying up your loose ends. Loose ends are the unresolved relationships that keep you from sleeping worry free at night.Skeletons are hard to keep buried because they always have a bone to pick.You have a loose end, if there's someone you don't want to see at the grocery store or movie theater. You have a loose end, if there's someone you don't want to run into on a first date or at work. You have a loose end, if there's someone you don't want to sit next to at a holiday dinner. Loose ends are distracting and have an amazing way of biting you in the butt at the worst times.When loose ends are lurking in the back of your mind, they take your focus off doing what it takes to succeed. Loose ends bring you back to a place where you don't want or need to go. Loose ends must be tied up so they cannot run free to steal your confidence and concentration. Tying up loose ends allows you to totally focus on doing what you need to do to get where you want to go.For example, if you borrowed money from someone and never paid her back, you have to always worry about running into her at the wrong time, like when you're already late for a date or out shopping with your m

esign once the logos are presented to you.

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design.

You should also receive all rights

Coloured For Success - Subliminal Messages of Colour
How many of us consider the effect colour has on our prospective customers’ etc?Do you know what subliminal messages you are sending out with each colour you use?The effect of colour is immediate and if used wrongly can destroy the image you are trying to project.To project a sense of a solid, stable, trustworthy and powerful company use Royal Blue, think how government departments use Royal Blue on its logos & letterheads giving an impression of honour and power. Team it with red to add a hint of danger and excitement to the message.Pale blue and pale pinks remind us of childhood, babies and children and are ideal for businesses that want to create a more caring, sharing image of young families’ etc.Yellows can be cheerful and bright or brash and deceitful with undertones of cowardice – remember the play ground taunts of ‘cowardy, cowardy custard’. Use soft yellow tones and gold’s with strong colours like Royal Blue, Burgundy and Green for a fresh, bright image.Green is seen as peaceful, passive, restful but boring and dull unless mixed with warmer flower colours of apricot, orange and reds. Remember the saying “Green with Envy”!Avoid browns to express your business identity. Browns are earth colours, warm, solid, d

You should also receive all rights (copyrights) to your logo. Since a logo is a companies identity you will need to own all rights to get a trademark. Ask for this in writing if you have any doubts.

Ask for the background on the logo designer you choose, you should at the very least know their name. Do they have a degree? How long have they designed logos? Is this their profession or a hobby? Where is there portfolio? Can you contact their other clients? Can you speak to them directly? With the amount of software available today and the invention of the Internet, any sixteen year old kid can start his own logo design company.

In closing let me say that the information above is a personal opinion and is taken from years of searching logo design web sites and reading books on graphic design. The prices and information I have explained here only pertain to the work of graphic designers, not advertising agencies. An advertising agency handles logo design on a larger scale and incorporates an entire corporate identity service. Their logo design rates are many times higher than a graphic designers.

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This article gives advice to companies about to employ contract cleaners. What questions they should be asking the cleaners and not restricting their choice to price alone.

Technology has brought in considerable changes on how people print their documents and promotional materials. Several advancements were developed especially in the area of printing. One great product of these advancements is the online printing.

Every business can benefit from the cost effective advertising offered by a webpage. There is a webpage for every budget, and this article explains the benefits - cost vs profit.

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