June

What happened to May?!! While lamenting its passing, why not download our desktop calendar for June?

May…something.

Gah! Whose responsibility is it to get these calendars up on time?!!

A Helpful Attitude

A friend of mine who is also a business owner was thinking of expanding her business and reached out to another individual, who has a lot of business contacts, asking for help. It was amazing to see how quickly this individual responded and contacted her network to put in a good word for my friend’s business.

It was such a great reminder that we do business with people, in the end, and how important (and touching) it is when help is offered with heartfelt care and concern.

It makes a world of difference and sets apart those individuals and businesses who operate from this mindset…building relationships, offering support whenever possible, and recognizing that, no matter what their end product or service may be, they are ultimately in the business of helping people…and it usually shows.

April?

Who let us get NINE days into April without posting a calendar?!! Oh wait…that would be me.

Building Perspective

We’re building a new closet at home…converting the end of one room into a combination closet and hideaway workspace the width of the entire room so we will, at last, have some storage space on our first floor. Since ours is an older home, we want to match the existing character by using older doors and fixtures. We found several matching used doors (on Craig’s List) that will work perfectly and now have been researching and thinking and planning and drawing out dimensions over and over again. Having never built anything like this before, I want to make sure that it is designed and constructed with the necessary support and the exact dimensions to allow the entire space to work the way I want it to.

In the midst of all of this, a friend stopped over. Her husband is a contractor so she has first-hand experience with these things. And it was amazing how many new ideas came up while sharing my project plan with her. Creative, simple ideas that could solve some of my closet/workspace dilemmas in ways I would never have imagined.

I was reminded (again) of how much better it is to gather ideas from more than one source when problem-solving or creating something new…and how many more unique ideas can be generated when I’m not tied to just one solution. I’m still not sure just exactly which design plan I’m going to use, but I certainly have a lot more working possibilities now than before.

News of clients and organizations close to our heart(s):

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) will be holding their Midwest Regional Summit here in Indy, March 25-27, drawing staff and board members from other NAWBO chapters across the nation. Scheitlin president, Barb Scheitlin Smith, is a NAWBO member and also serves on the board of the Indianapolis Chapter.

Cool kudos for the local NAWBO chapter!

Read more: http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=40667

Marketing Relevance

With today’s mind-boggling expansion of technology and its resulting commoditization of products and services, it feels as if it’s more difficult for business to find a compelling message that resonates with customers.

When asked what differentiates their business, many organizations respond with, “Our business is unique; we have great products/services and incredible customer service. The problem is that our customers just don’t understand how we can help them.” Businesses large and small seem to be struggling with the issue of being relevant.

One of the most unique things about business these days is the fact that these are uncharted waters—there is no historical basis for the times we are currently experiencing. We cannot look to the past for best practices for the future. Conditions are changing so rapidly that what was relevant in your customer’s mind even two weeks ago may no longer be so. It may, however, be the perfect time to re-evaluate the importance of your business products and services—and the resulting brand difference—from your customer’s perspective.

Using mind share to influence market share is always a great idea – but only if your product and promise are relevant. Seems like a good time to find out.

Techno-travel?

Over the holidays, my husband watched podcast after podcast where technology individuals (persons with whom I wasn’t the least bit familiar) discussed and debated the latest and greatest technologies available.

Amazed, I listened to the host and his guests review and debate everything technical–from Google to Kindle to iPad to Droid–and the subsequent impact on individuals, business and society.  Much of the consideration for new technical advancements centered on their ultimate relevance if they “didn’t do everything” that other technologies are designed to do. Obviously, it’s becoming more and more accepted for one instrument, i.e. your computer, smartphone, etc., to be able to do it all from that single source.

These experts seemed to change technologies like they might change toilet paper rolls which, by the way, several of them admitted to purchasing through Amazon.com. News to me, this topic evolved into a question about advancements in technology creating the future obsolescence of grocery stores.

I even learned that car technology has advanced to the point that, if made available, it would create safer driving conditions than are currently achievable by having human drivers. Most of us, however, are too frightened to relinquish that much control to a computer, preferring instead to be in charge of our own destiny — at least when we’re behind the wheel.

Besides, if the advancement in other technology means that we will ultimately be able to do everything from our computer or smart phone, will we even need to get into our cars to go anywhere? I wonder.

Inside out and upside down.

Interpersonal communications seem to be becoming less and less personal through asynchronous email, texting and Facebook. At the same time, audio and video are changing what used to be impersonal communication (i.e., newspapers, editorial commentary, news delivery) into something that feels much more personal.

The world of news reporting has radically changed, too, with everyday individuals submitting personal photos and videos of events as they happen (taken with cell phones) to the local news channels even before a reporter can arrive on the scene!

Who knows what is real these days…with almost everyone capable of offering their perspective through today’s online media options?

Just look at me!!!

In Print

“The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here! Page 72—Johnson, Navin R! I’m somebody now! Millions of people look at this book every day! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity—your name in print—that makes people! I’m in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.” —Steve Martin in The Jerk

So here we go with Scheitlin’s name in print! Stay tuned for our ongoing perspectives on marketing, design, clients and life!