CONTENTS Think Different! Design Spotlight: Ryan's Computer Services Product Feature: Presentation Folders Think about it

December 31, 2001 Welcome to Issue 003 of the Liz Roberts Design E-Newsletter! Can you believe another year has passed and here we are at the beginning of another year I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year. I would also like to say that this past year has been a year of growth for Liz Roberts Design and that would not have been possible without you....my clients and my friends! I thank you for your on-going business and referrals and I look forward to working with you in 2002. Enjoy the newsletter! - Liz Roberts

Think Different So what DID you do to promote your business this year? Did you hand out business cards - lot's of them! Did you advertise - in the newspaper, flyers, yellow pages? Did you get noticed because you did something different? Whatever you did, whether you got results or not, you should be planning to do something different for next year. Of course, a lot depends on the nature of your business but, if you haven't already done so, consider moving it into the 21st century! I am talking about the most inexpensive form of advertising - what you are reading right now, an electronic newsletter! Instead of paying for postal services, invest your money in a new look. Create a new brand or logo for your business and incorporate it into a web site and e-newsletter for all of your clients, past, present and future. It is easy to collect information from your customers or visitors and just as easy to enter them into a database. Simply decide on the image you want to portray to your public and let a professional create that look and market it for you. Then for a reasonable fee every month you can send your information to as many people as you want at no extra cost. You can include photo's and interesting articles as well as advertise 'specials' and new products and all in glorious colour! Think about it over the holidays and make a New Years Resolution to really make your business grow next year. I will be by the phone and checking my emails every day so feel free to contact me anytime, I will be happy to answer your questions or set up an appointment to talk about your plans. Ryan's Computer Services This month's spotlight is on Ryan's Computer Services. Ryan wanted a new look for his business card and specifically asked for computer chips in his design. He liked the colour blue so that is where I started. I found a number of cumputer chip images but didn't like the real busy ones, so I chose this one and decided to fade it back a little. My main focus was on the name which I wanted to look like silver solder. After deciding on a font, I applied a metalic filter and then a glass look which gave the appearance of liquid silver. I am quite pleased with the effect. To complete the "look" and to draw attention, I placed everything at an angle....just to be different! I look forward to handing out Ryan's cards and recommending his services. Presentation Packages Presentation Packages are becoming more popular with a lot of businesses. Rather than produce a full colour brochure which can quickly become dated, think about investing in a custom designed presentation folder and designing various inserts which can be placed inside along with your business cards, contracts, product sheets, agreements, advertising etc. This way, you can custom "fill" your presentation packages to fit the person you are giving it to. This can be done on a print-as-needed basis. You could include bio's on your staff, background history on your company, future projects and developments, various services etc and only use the inserts that are applicable. You could even include your latest company newsletter, a news flash and many other items. I can help you produce all these pages and put them on disk for you to print as you need on your own desktop printer or take to Kinko's or Staples. This may be a way for you to distribute information to your clients in an inexpensive and yet thoroughly professional way. Talk to me about it "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission" - Eleanor Roosevelt