Won Me

A hardwood floor is a flooring that is made of true hardwoods. The floor is made of nothing but planks of wood. They can be finished in any number of ways with a variety of stains. For many, there is nothing more beautiful and more natural to have than true hardwood floors in their homes. Yet, the purchase of these floors is expensive so, therefore, anyone doing so should make their decisions wisely.

When you are on the market looking for a hardwood floor, you’ll want to consider several things including these:

• Your first instinct may be to look into the cheapest options out there. But, when it comes to hardwood floors, you really should invest in quality, not inexpensive materials. They will pay off in the look, durability and long lasting qualities.

• You should consider the various types of woods first. Throughout the web you can find details about how strong each type of wood is, what grain pattern it has, and how well it works as a hardwood floor. Consider your options closely as there are many options to consider! Not sure? Request samples to be sent to you!

• You will also want to consider how rare the wood is as well. The more rare and exotic it is, the more costly it will be. But, if it is what you want, you would not need to worry about the price!

• You will also want to know what type of stains you will use and can use on the hardwood floor. You will likely want a specific color, but also you’ll need a number of protective coatings to be put on as well. These will help you to protect the floor from scratches, dents, and things that may happen to fall onto it. You may want to consider special waterproofing for areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

All of these things will help you to choose the right hardwood floor for your needs.

For more information please see www.hardwood-floor-deals.co.uk

When I interviewed Kevin Rosen of Junior’s Cheesecake here in NYC it was to ask him what he and his family want the Internet to do for them and their business.

I met Kevin when he appeared on a panel of business owners taking their companies online, sponsored by Crains Publishing Company at its annual Expo.

In fact I interviewed over 50 successful long established Main Street companies, asking many of the same questions that I asked Kevin. I was looking for the common denominator, the two or three reasons that all mentioned for taking their otherwise successful traditional company online.

And I got them!

Each of them told me that in one way or another in order to increase their market share. Junior’s, located since 1950 in Brooklyn had just opened a Manhattan outlet in Grand Central Terminal. While he was already reaching out into their existing geographical market Kevin had much bigger plans to extend their market reach nationally if not internationally.

Kevin is the third generation of the family to be involved in the business. When ex-Brooklynites, some living as far away as California, started calling Kevin and asking him to mail them cheescakes, he knew Junior’s was ready for national exposure.

And they want to use technology to help them grow their bottom line by enhancing the customer service, increasing productivity, reducing costs, and having at least a part of their business operating 24 hours a day seven days a week. He began by computerizing back office operations, and continues to champion state-of-the-art solutions for the family business, ultimately putting the company in cyberspace.

Kevin believes that the two most important functions of the web site are to generate sales growth and to increase brand awareness. In that spirit, the new site focuses primarily on e-commerce.

Twelve different specialty cheescakes are offered, as well as gift certificates and collectibles. Users have the capability of creating their own personal address book on the site, so repeat orders and gift-giving can be handled in a mouse-click, and orders can be easily tracked from the site.

Placing an order on their web site is as easy and perhaps more convenient than walking into the store or using the 800-number. This ease of entry is crucial to bringing customers back to the site again and again.

With approximately 5000 cheescakes selling every week, it is clear that they have the recipe for success.

We published their profile just over two years, they were early adopters in their industry. Now there are many people who have jumped on this bandwagon - yet Junior’s maintains its advantage by continuing to evolve its strategy.

In addition to having their story published on our web site, where it receives consistent daily traffic from Internet searchers, they were used as an example of “Best Practices” in the book, “Doing It Right, Realizing Your Company’s Potential” that we published in 2003 and have recently made available on our web site at no charge.

Now, we’re looking for another batch of business owners whose story to tell.

Were going to be asking some of the same questions, two years later, in order to complete our research on the adaptation of the Internet by traditional mainstream businesses. And there will be other questions designed to help us tell the stories of Main Street companies developing strategies for continued success in the 21st Century.

The new profiles will also be posted on our web site and some of them will be selected as part of the content in one of the two books we have in process.

Based on our experience doing these interviews we’ve dramatically streamlined the process for this next round. The process is straightforward and will require very little of the person being interviewed, beyond the time were on the phone together.

There is a page entitled Submit a Profile linked to every pay each of our web site (top right). If you or someone you know is interested in exploring the idea of telling their story, I believe you will find the information you need there.

Wayne Messick wants to interview business owners positioning themselves for success in the 21st Century. To be interviewed visit http://www.ibizresources.com/submit_profile.html And for cutting edge leadership strategies for your business visit http://www.ibizresources.com/doright.htm where you can also read the full story of Junior’s CheeseCakes.

Being in the graphic design business is very competitive - you have to learn to swim or you will sink fast. I’ve been a graphic designer for 12 years and I’d like to share the journey I took to owning and building a successful graphic design business.

One of the first things I recommend to help develop skills and learn tricks that you
would never learn in school is to get an internship. I got my first taste of graphic
design in high school and by my senior year I was working as an intern for a small
graphic design firm and also a print shop. I took an active role in my job to learn as
much as possible by asking lots of questions to the senior creative director and also
to the head print shop pressman. My skills and thirst for design blossomed from
there. I majored in graphic design in college and had landed a very high profile
graphic design internship and was taught a vast amount of tricks of the trade by
highly skilled designers.

The next thing I would recommend is to read. Read as many books as you can find
on graphic design and soak up as much of the industry as you can from the people
who know it best. A friend of mine always says that the only thing that makes you
stand out from your competition is the knowledge you gain from the books that you
read. I am a visual learner, so for me I like to collect books that are informational as
well as provide examples. I use design books as inspiration for a lot of the graphic
design work that I do.

Having confidence in your ability and being able to apply that to your business is
essential to your business success. When I first started my business, I was nervous,
but confident in my ability to run my business with class. I plunged right in with
both feet by developing a business plan, company name, web site and logo. Once I
had the logistics in place I began the tedious task of marketing. Marketing is the
hardest part of owning a small business and takes immense amounts of confidence
and strength of character to do well, but if done effectively it will catapult your
business to success.

Sell, sell, sell. Building a successful graphic design business is all about selling and
marketing yourself. You can never stop selling, no matter how busy you are, you
have to keep marketing in the forefront of your mind. Every person you meet is a
possible client. Every contact you make has a sphere of influence that might need
your services, and every vendor you work with might know someone who needs
your help. Some practical ways I have marketed my business is by: joining my local
Chamber of Commerce, building a strong web site that is correctly optimized,
adding numerous reciprocal links to my web site, handing out business cards that
function as a mini brochure, joining a leads group, joining special interest clubs,
attending business expo’s and conventions, and networking with other business
professionals. The key to marketing your business effectively is to become well
known in your community by attending any and all networking opportunities you
have. Marketing is all about building relationships with others and then capitalizing
on the opportunity to sell your graphic design services.

Customer service is key to your success. The clients you gain and the customer
service they receive from you is imperative to your success. I’ve learned from my
clients that they appreciate a quick response from me all the time. I recommend
that you be available to your clients by email, phone and fax at all times. I make a
special effort to respond via email to my clients within 2 hours 6 days a week. I try
to return phone calls even sooner if at all possible, even if it’s only to say that you
received their call and will get back to them a little later. Every client has a sphere
of influence and their referral will be dependant on the customer service they
receive from you at all times. A prompt response is a good indication of solid
design work and will give your client confidence in your services. If your client has a
pleasurable experience with you they will happily refer you on to all the people
around them. In the beginning, referrals are the quickest way to build your
business on solid ground and with minimal costs.

The last thing I’d recommend is to keep your costs to a minimum as much as you
can. I’ve built my business by starting out working from my home. The great thing
about graphic design is the ability to do the job from the comfort of your home and
this is a great way to minimize costs. Operate on a debt free basis, paying for all
your business expenses with cash. You can still use older versions of software to
build solid designs without your clients ever knowing the difference, and without
the constant cost of upgrading. While you are working from home, plan to meet
with your clients at a local coffee shop or their place of business. Send design
proofs via email instead of printing them out on costly paper. In fact most of my
business operates over email. I send invoices, proofs, contracts, and estimates via
email so I don’t have to pay for the paper, ink, envelopes, and postage. There are a
lot of corners you can cut in order to save money.

I hope this article has helped by giving you some practical ideas on how to build a
successful graphic design business with minimal costs.

Katrina Rauch is the President/Creative Director of KaTasidy. KaTasidy was founded
in 2002 and is operated out of Denver, Colorado. Visit http://www.KaTasidy.com
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