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Everyone’s busy trying to stay afloat in tough times. But clients, please take sometime and focus on FREE (yes, some things in life ARE free!) and easy advertising. I know Social Networking is the most overused buzz word right now, but it is for a reason. Think of it as a process not an event. It’s much like branding. It’s a never ending ever improving process. I know we all get excited about events and you have a tangible end goal in mind. But Social Networking.

i heart VIA!

Starbucks has recently been getting alot of “crap” for their new VIA campaign. Branding experts have deemed it “cheapening and undermining” to the Starbucks brand. But, I completely disagree. I think VIA is fabulous. Not only is it a well designed and bold campaign with great packaging, it’s an incredibly convenient product. I think by tapping into the $21 Billion instant industry and into Americans’ need for speed and hyper-convenience actually makes them brilliant, dont’ you? And since I’m trying to do my part in reducing my carbon footprint by riding my bike to work, VIA is the only type of caffeine I can carry with me to work without spilling. So Starbucks, you get my props for re-inventing coffee…once again.

Looks like someone didn't follow rule #5

In a faltering economy bombarded with dropping prices and HUGE sales, sometimes the only thing that will set you apart is to go back to your roots and return to a good ole fashioned customer centric marketing and sales approach. People really need to feel the love and support in these hard times, so be a good experience for your customers, not a name calling phone slamming pain in the #$%$!

To keep you on track, here are 7 rules to follow to help you achieve the results you are looking for:

1. We have a promise to our customers, not just a mission for ourselves.
2. Our website is welcoming and easy to navigate with relevant content and not just for show.
3. We bundle our services with our products creating a one stop shop effect.
4. The customer finds it easy to contact us, by whatever method is convenient.
5. Our telephone system is “customer-friendly” and not just cost-effective.
6. Our customer has one main contact who makes everything happen.
7. Our customer service gives the service the customer really wants.

I want to commend a few of our clients for really making these points a part of their business, particularity AO Reed & Velasquez Maintenance.

Cedros Farmers Market

Looking for something to do this weekend? Look no further…

1. Red Bull Air Show - downtown san diego sat & sun.watch crazy pilots fly through an even crazier obstacle course around the bay. there’s no lack of excitement at this event.

2. Sake House - this tiny authentic japanese restaurant on the 101 in luecadia is always jam packed, and rightly so. the imported sake and japanese style tapas are well worth the hour wait. TIP - if you call after 1pm, sometimes you are able to make a reservation.

3. Spend time with your Mom - Yes, it is mother’s day this sunday. If you can’t bare the thought of endless motherly questions, take her to a bottomless mimosa brunch to help ease the pain. There’s pretty much one in every part of town. I recommend the new one at the Pearl Hotel in the gaslamp, it’s only $20!

4. Support Local - hit up one of the many north county farmer’s markets this sunday. I like the one on Vulcan (10am-1pm) or on Cedros (2-5pm). The bread guy has the freshest Olive bread around. And the hummus guy has at least 12 different amazingly delicious hummus spreads to dip it in!

5. Meditation Gardens - if you need to relax and gather your thoughts, take a stroll through the tropical gardens at the Self-Realization temple. I’m always suprised to find that people that have lived here for years, still haven’t taken advantage of this magical place.

See you Monday!

Word to our mutha

Adobe recently posed a few questions having to do with the sustainability movement in design. This inspired me to rethink my role as a designer and how I can personally contribute to this movement. Our role as designers has typically been to translate the thoughts and visions of our clients into real, tangible visuals which will communicate a message to their target audience. However today, we need to start adding in the  responsibility for “greening” those visions. Whether we can design a website instead of brochure, re-create a folder pocket to use less waste paper, or simply not print all of your client email correspondence, the responsibilty lies in our hands. So let’s get to it and start considering the planet as the client of all clients.

The Power of a Tee

Recently there’s been a trend in advertising which uses the always loved, but under-estimated real estate on a t-shirt. I’ve seen everything from the Walk-man to Fedex use this old (but new) medium for highly effective branding and advertising. These t-shirts also use a sense of humor that is often forgotten in traditional campaigns. I love the idea and hope I can get Nancy on board to let me create a Promar tee!

Check out artwalk this weekend

I know most of us will be hitting the beaches again if this heat wave continues. But if you want to mix it up there’s lots to do that doesn’t involve sweltering hot sand.

1. Artwalk - april 25-6th in Little Italy. Art, music, entertainment and lots of mouthwatering food

2. Encinitas Street Faire - april 25-6th from E Street to H Street. Always a favorite of mine, especially the brat stand

3. Berryhappy - Yum, this new yogurt shop is self serve with new flavors every week and all the toppings you could ask for. It’s on the corner of D Street and the 101. Support local!

4. Yoga at Lululemon - april 25th from 9-10am. what a great way to start off the day, with a free aroma yoga class taught by a local instructor

5. Head up to O-side - there’s a new side to downtown O-side. Check out the newest restaurant there, it’s called Pacific 333. Very cool decor, apps come in sets of 3 (3 poke taco’s, 3 kobe sliders, you get the idea) and martini’s are always $7 in the bar area with 180 vodkas to choose from. Check out their site for other fun specials, like 3-way thursdays!

Fly Fly Away

Have you ever heard of a more fun thing to do on a Sunday than a bike ride through Chinatown where you stop along the way to eat hot steaming dumplings? Well, it really happens! Every Sunday the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop hosts the dumpling tour from 10am - 1:30pm. Next time your in LA, hop on one of thier authentic Chinese-two wheelers and cruise some for dim sum.

so ergonomically correct it should be a mouse

The new perfect palm by Ambidexx has endless types of applications from auto to beauty. But don’t you think it’d be perfect as a mouse? The double click could be under the pointer finger and the scroll on the side where the thumb rests. I really think it would solve a lot of people carpal tunnel, including my own. I’m going to email them and see what they think of my suggested application, I’ll let you know how it goes!

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For some inexplicable reason, I have this strange aversion to using Twitter (though I love their adorable graphics). I don’t care if they’ve had a 1000% increase in visitors over the last 12 months and they’ve had as much press exposure as Britney’s meltdown in 08. I just don’t get it, why all the tweeting and following. Do people truly have nothing else to do but follow John Mayer’s tweets about what he eats for breakfast every morning. Come on people, get off your  butts (and your mobile phones) and save the planet or something!