0 1 THE REVIEWcandyrice design

A monthly newsletter of marketing ideas, photos, and fun.

taking advantage of the fresh start 2010 offers for active gratitude and business successa sweet thank you letter and its lesson for life and business Candy Rice Design’s 2010 goals and other thoughts from Candy fresh inspiration from unexpected places, like fabric swatches and Colorado street scenesmarketing tip for dressing your website for success and an odd photo just for fun

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a fresh startresolving to be thankful and successful

2010 is here and with it comes the desire to start fresh, toss out the junk from last year, and resolve to improve our lives and our businesses this year. I love the image on the front cover this month. The numerous dumpsters and the road leading past them remind me that as we journey through life and the phases of our businesses that we periodically need to toss out the things and beliefs that either 1) hold us back from success, or 2) that are no longer necessary on the journey.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so busy that I forget to notice and be thankful for the amazing blessings in my life. I’m posting little notes for myself this month that remind me to notice what’s good in my life and business, as well as to remind me to write little notes of thanks to others.

Active gratitude is so simple, and it’s something I intend to make a habit from 2010 onward. On the next page is a sweet reminder of how effective this can be.

January and February can sometimes be slower months in business, but that doesn’t mean we can’t grow our businesses through simple things like organizing ourselves, planning strategically for the future, and preparing our businesses for the influx of clients that is coming this year.

Here are a few things you and I can do during slower cycles in our business (from Karyn Greenstreet’s article):• Clean and organize your office• Take a mini-vacation from work• Get ready for tax season• Become goal-oriented and write them down• Go back to school or attend a seminar• Do some personal chores like doctor visits• Go shopping for necessary business items• Spend time with your family and friends

So let’s resolve to take advantage of the fresh start 2010 offers us...it’s going to be a fantastic year!

We love to help our clients! There are many ways we can help you. Want more marketing ideas or help with getting new clients? Call and schedule a consultation today!

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a fresh startresolving to be thankful and successful

This month’s featured project is a bit of a departure from our usual showcase. This is clearly not a project we worked on, but it made such an impact on me and fits so nicely with the theme this month that I had to share it with you!

Sometimes it’s easy to forget just what kind of impact a hand-written thank you can have on our clients, friends, and family.

This sweet thank you note was written by my 9-year-old nephew Isaac (who is really into reading, all things camouflage, and hunting with his dad at the moment). I especially love that it’s written in pencil, there are eraser marks, and that the envelope is handwritten as well. The fact that parts of it are funny (like his use of the phrase “dilly -dally”) reminds me that some appropriate humor in our correspondence can make it that much more endearing to the recipient.

I hope you enjoy this little note and that if you’re not already writing notes that you’ll consider the impact it could have on your business as well as on your family and friends!

Letter text:Dear Candy & Tim, Thank you for that ten dollars you gave me. I’m saving it up to buy a pump shotgun. How did you know I’ve been longing for it? I am enjoying being able to dilly-dally. I just finished The Incredible Journey. I really like math in school. For me it’s easy. Love, Isaac

FeaturedprojectClient: N/AHandwritten thank you note + envelope

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As always, we’d love to know what you’re thinking about. Have some questions? Feel free to email them to us at candy@candyrice.com and we’ll do our best to answer them! Photo by Sohi Photography.

What’s happening ::Well 2010 is here! I hope you had a great holiday season...we sure did! Tim and I both were able to take 2 weeks off and spend some time just doing nothing at home and around town. Then we caught colds from some little ones at Christmas and spent the second half of our vacation on the couch trying to feel better. :)

But the new year arrived despite our illness and I am thrilled! 2009 was a great year, but I believe 2010 is going to be absolutely fabulous!

Of course, it’s the time of year when many of us set resolutions. I have never been able to keep resolutions for very long, but goals are another story. For some reason, I’m much more disciplined when they’re goals! Isn’t that funny?

Have you set yours for the year? And

written them down? It’s so important to do! After all, once we know where we’re headed it’s much easier to actually arrive there!

In light of that, here are some of my professsional goals for 2010. Perhaps you can help keep me accountable!

I will grow my business through aggressive word of mouth and online strategies and by offering new services, such as social media management. I will add at least one more 12-month contract client to my roster this year. I will continue to keep evenings and weekends free. I will nurture The Collective Savvy and develop it into a second revenue-generating business by April.

I had hoped to launch a new service (Social Media Management) this month, but the timing isn’t quite right and I’m postponing it for a month or so. Thanks for staying tuned with me through the process...I’ll let you know right away when it’s ready to go!

This month’s inspiration came from a few unusual places. Several fabric swatches caught my eye as a friend was sharing ideas for re-upholstering her funky retro loveseat. Downtown Arvada, Colorado, also provided a few moments of inspiration, along with one of my favorite shots of Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Here’s hoping that your year is off to a great start! If you haven’t already done so, why not take a few moments to write down your goals for 2010? You can achieve them!

life going on

thoughts“All [people] are

created equal. It is

what you do from

there that makes

the difference.

We are all free

agents in life. We

make our own

decisions. We

control our own

destiny.”

~Glenn Beck

cover : Dumpsters in the alley, Coloradoa : Stained glass, Colorado

all photographs by candy rice1 : Cannon Beach, Oregon :: 2 : Valori Well’s FREE SPIRIT CURVES, imaginefabrics.com :: 3 : Denyse Schmidt’s FREE SPIRIT DOTTIE, imaginefabrics.com :: 4 : Shelter, Colorado :: 5 : Shadows on an orange wall, Colorado :: 6 : Alexander Henry’s SOFIA, imaginefabrics.com :: 7 : An old car by a mod building, Colorado :: 8 : Anna Maria Horner’s RECEIVING LINE, imaginefabrics.com

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my fresh inspiration

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Dress for Website SuccessThey say you should always dress for the job you want. It’s true–just ask the FreeCreditReport.com hipster. When it comes down to it, those who look the part usually get it. We live and work in a largely superficial world. As marketers, retailers and publishers, the perceptions others have of our websites and brands are inextricably linked to our ultimate success.

How is your website design holding up these days? Do you look amateurish next to your competitors? Are vital links easy to find–and do they all work? What about load time?

We do a lot of research around here. And while information abounds, trustworthy information is much harder to find. There are times when I might come across an interesting bit of information that warrants further investigation. But sometimes that nugget is buried in a pile of visual misery. Lime green backgrounds with yellow type, text that overruns the borders of the page, flashing ads all over the place...it all

adds up to lessen the value of the information on the page. It’s hard for me to trust what I’m being told when I feel like a sucker for looking at the website in the first place–not to mention terrified to click a link for more information. A site like Wikipedia isn’t exactly a beauty. But they have the luxury of being a valued, known resource. You don’t.

More and more, consumers expect to find your business in multiple places–Facebook, YouTube, and so on. Is your Twitter background conssitent with the appearance of your website? It should be. Take a quick look at every portal on which your company has a presence. Is your brand immediately recognizable, or do you have to look for similarities?

Appearances must be kept. Avoid that photo of you from college with the beer-can pyramid for your Twitter profile. Keep your personal Facebook profile far, far away from your business page. And set up separate YouTube channels–clients don’t need to see a trip to the family fishing hole along side “a message from the CEO.”

....read the rest of the article

marketing tip

303.947.5527www.candyrice.com : candy@candyrice.com

12304 north bannock street, #19103 | westminster, co 80234

We love puzzles, cartoons, and funny photos. Watch this section each month for something new to do or laugh at.

Excerpts from an article by Mike Phillips,senior editor of Website Magazine. Read the entire article.

Is your website dressed for 2010 success?

Surfer Mark Visser surfs a 36-foot wave in Australia,from Boston.com’s 2009 in photos.