About 36 hours before hosting a holiday party for almost 40 people from my business group Million Dollar Ladies, my hot water heater sprang a leak — of course, perfect timing right? When your hot water heater leaks there's no patching it up, you have to do a complete replacement.

Luckily, one of the members of the group is the owner of a plumbing company that does superior work and was someone I trusted. So I called them and they came to my rescue replacing the unit in a just a ... Continue Reading

Being choosy in a declining market can be tough, this just doesn't go for the design field but really any market. When you first build your business you take on any work you can to get the ball rolling, to get the clients in the door and do what you can to establish community rapport.

As your business builds, you start to release "C & D" clients so you can focus on your "A & B" clients. In this market however, just getting people to commit to a project can take ... Continue Reading

Twitter is all the rage, everyone is doing it, if you're not why aren't you? From big companies to people living in their basement are inviting you into their lives, their culture and meeting new people that share like interests is what Twitter is about. The down side of Twitter though are some of the people that do follow you.

We've put together a list of reasons we just will never consider following you back:

• You have not, will not or don't know how to change the default avatar (We'll also unfollow ... Continue Reading

We couldn't be more excited. Today we were contacted again by LogoLounge with some great news. Apparently LogoLounge is going to be publishing a series of niched Logo Master Library books in addition to their annual book of logo designs and their inaugural book is coming out Fall 2009. Two of our logos made the cut one for a custom jeans manufacturer called iD™ and the other called Cole Cober a luxury brand. You can view both winning logos below. You can also view our entire logo portfolio here.

There's ... Continue Reading

It’s fitting that this blog entry comes in December, the month when stores and homes are decorated with extra lights, garlands, and all kinds of shiny decorative objects. It’s a time when we put more glitter into our surroundings. Adding glitter in the form of great design is what Effusion Creative Solutions is all about. We call it making things look pretty with a purpose, and it’s a philosophy that started at an early age for our founder, Robert Pfeifer.

Apparently, when he was young he was in a boys group ... Continue Reading

In the design profession there are two distinctive types of clients. Clients that appreciate your work, customer service as well as take your pricing at face value AND there are others that take the dangling carrot approach to entice a better price.

Simmilar to spec work "carrot danglers" typically are new prospects that love your work, respect your process, and don't want to work with any other firm — but they are looking for a discount on your proposal as they are resistant to paying market value for your knowledge, ... Continue Reading

Have visions of sugar plums started dancing in your head?

Scheduling your next marketing project by Dec. 19 with Effusion gets your company at least three holiday treats:

• An additional tax write off for 2008 • A jumpstart on your 2009 marketing • An amazing chance to win an iPhone 3G or iPod Touch just in time for the holiday gift exchanges

The first 10 clients to start a project by December 19th are entered into an iPhone 3G/iPod Touch give-a-way. Odds of winning are 1 in 10.

Yes the odds are really that ... Continue Reading

It's the fourth quarter, the last month before the New Year. If year-end marketing budgets haven't been spent yet or you're anxious about getting started early for next year, this is the month to get serious about gearing up for Q1 2009. By having business in the pipeline now you'll be ready to go to kick-off the month of January.

This year more than ever, your marketing strategies should be offensive — instead of defensive. With the right creative moves set in motion now, this will help keep your business ahead of ... Continue Reading