Favorite Minutes Matter Fonts

Color schemes, graphics, and selecting the perfect words are important decisions when developing a marketing piece, but don't overlook the importance of the fonts you select. Just as the tone in your voice dictates a conversation, the font selection plays a crucial role in evoking emotions within your reader. The use of the right typeface will not only enhance the marketing material but will also help your readers to absorb the message you want to convey. There are a few guidelines to effectively mix and match fonts to create the visual appeal that your readers desire. Serif vs. Sans Serif Fonts: One easy way to create a successful marketing piece is to mix Serif and Sans Serif fonts. Serif fonts are embellished with little feet or a decorative line at the top and bottom of the letter. The use of these little feet are preferred for the body of the text since the serifs tend to distinguish each letter and help create a visual line for the reader to follow. Sans Serif fonts (the term comes from the French word sans, meaning "without") are used for the headlines and are plain block letters which do not have small decorative lines to embellish the font. Font Personalities: Just like people, fonts have personalities too! Fonts have different qualities and represent a variety of feelings such as friendly, traditional, cluttered, official, powerful, warm, or even scary. The wrong font can detract from your intended meaning so be sure to choose wisely. To eliminate confusion, it is best to limit the number of fonts used. I personally find that only using two or three varying fonts per marketing piece keeps the interest high yet maintains a uniform, pulled together feel. Serif fonts such as Garamond, Times New Roman, and Georgia represent formal, traditional, and refined qualities. Sans Serif fonts such as Arial, Tahoma and Verdana represent modern, uncluttered, and casual qualities. Script fonts such as Mistral, Rage Italic, and Hurricane are more fanciful, graceful, and should be used for embellishing since they compromise legibility. My Favorites: Sometimes the fonts installed on your computer aren't quite right for a particular advertising headline or maybe a special letter you are sending to a client. Fonts101, Dafont.com, or Abstract Fonts has thousands of fonts to choose from. Best of all they are free! On each of these websites, you are able to preview your specific text before downloading the font. I've included a few of my favorite fonts to help you get started:

Quick Links to My Specialty Fonts: Jayne Print Will & Grace The King & Queen Luna Bar Hurricane Rilo Damned Architect

Are You Likeable?

In this video Jeffrey Gitomer discusses my favorite concept. I seem to quote him in almost every seminar I present. A client must know, like, and trust you and then they may do business with you.

Are You Serious About Your Business?

I loved Jeffrey Gitomer's newsletter article today; thought I would share.

Quote from Jeffrey's article:
Yes, I’m serious about the economy, and our present state of affairs, but I am 1000% MORE serious about my business, my finances, and my sales. My focus is on success, not doom and gloom. There’s no bailout for entrepreneurs. And the only stimulus I have is the one I create for myself.

In good times or bad times, here are a few things we are serious about in my business: (How do you and your business compare?)

• We are serious about helping our customers. Many are in need, and looking for answers.
• We are serious about being friendly. It costs no extra money to be friendly, and it sets the tone for positive outcome.
• We are serious about being an online leader. Online is forever, and we are investing in our future.
• We are serious about NOW IS THE TIME. We are not waiting to see what happens, we are taking success actions on the opportunities that exist NOW.
• We are serious about error-free order processing and packing. We focus on delivery, not shipping. And yes, we do make errors. But our recovery is spectacular. The best email I get is one that says, “You walk your talk.”
• We are serious about getting every order shipped the day it’s received. Our customers expect “fast” and “perfect” and we deliver.
• We are serious about doing the right thing and the best thing for our customers. This is a true mission statement.
• We are serious about having fun while doing it. We kibitz, we wisecrack, we engage customers about them, and we do it with the serious intention of having a great time and being memorable.
• We’re a family, not a team. Maybe that’s why we’re serious about working together, staying together, and succeeding together.

I realize that many of my customers need help, and I am serious about giving it to them. Not selling – giving.

I realize that many companies are having tough times, and because our field of expertise includes attitude, sales, and loyalty, we have a genuine opportunity to help.

As a speaker, I’m serious about connecting with my audience. I want them to get my message and improve their sales, their business, and their lives – and to do that, I know everyone must laugh. And laugh hard. And laugh a lot. I’m serious about humor. I practice timing as I’m speaking to maximize audience laughter, pleasure, and learning. Over the years, I have come to the full understanding of the power and appeal of laughter.

These are times that call for different approaches and different actions. They challenge me to have a different mindset and slower expectations of victory. Not LOWER, slower.

New Studio 3.0 Update ~ Coming Soon!

We have a surprise for our Studio 3.0 users! Our Studio 3.0 users are thrilled with the break-apart designs however, several of our prior 2.4 users would like to see the components added back into 3.0 to give them even greater flexibility. As always, we listen to our customers and are adding many components back into Studio 3.0 (at no charge) in an update. We are adding Swags, Top Treatments and drapery components. The exact release date of that update hasn't been determined, but we are working hard to make it happen very soon. We will keep you updated. Be sure to subscribe to our blog so you don't miss the latest news!

We have also color coded all of Jackie Von Tobel images. This will make it easy to spot her designs. Everyone will be able to hover over them to view them but only those that have purchased JVT modules will be able to drag them to the workspace. Click on the screenshot above to enlarge the image to view a sample of the color coding.

Everyone that has Studio 3.0 installed on their computer will receive a pop-up notification window asking if you would like to install the new update. Be sure to say "YES."

We have postponed the release of Jackie's 2nd module since we decided to add components to this update. Would you like to see all the images in Jackie's 2nd module? Click here to visit "The Lounge", Anna has done a screenshot of all the images included in this module.

Remember, all Studio 3.0 users have the ability to save items to their Custom Tab. I absolutely love this new feature. Also, don't forget about our Search feature: right click on a main category e.g., Draperies and type in scallop as your search word. Boy, there is a lot of those. Do the same in Swags & Valances and search for empire. You will notice over to the right a gray index will appear, which indicates Studio is searching. The index will turn white and search results will be displayed.

Please feel free to post any comments or questions you may have regarding our upcoming update.

Jackie Von Tobel Module 2 Sneak Peak

Jackie Von Tobel Module 2 is almost ready to be released. I have posted all of the new images on "The Lounge." I have posted a few of my favorites below, you will see it was hard to just pick one or two. Click on the picture below and it will take you to "The Lounge." Be sure to scroll down there are several posts.

Enjoy looking at all the new images,

Get WFCP Cerfified with Minutes Matter Projects!

Minutes Matter & Window Fashions had a great turnout for our webinar on Tuesday!! Everyone was so excited about the new Window Fashions Project certification. If you would like to learn more about what it takes to become certified with Window Fashions, check out the FAQ forum on our Lounge. You can choose to take the Fabrication Specialist certification or the Design Consultation certification. Some people even take both!

During the webinar, Deb Barrett explained all the necessary steps required to move through their certification program and then I mentioned a new marketing technique. I won't spill the beans here, but you can view the recorded webinar to find out how this new marketing technique can help you close sales faster. I also I revealed an EXCLUSIVE NEW Studio Storyboard, which is given to each person who registers for either of the WFCP project certifications. (The storyboard above is an example of the completed storyboard included with the WFCP project certification.) During my Storyboard discussion, I mentioned a special font, "Damned Architect," that sparked multiple questions. Everyone loved it! To get this popular font, cllick on the font name above and download it to your computer today. Look for another blog post coming soon with more about downloading fonts and installing them on your computer. To ensure that you never miss out on valuable information, be sure to subscribe to our blog. Also, I would love to have you as a fan of the Minutes Matter page on Facebook!

If you missed the webinar, don't worry we recorded it. Click here to view the recording.

The Danger of Rash Clicking!

If you have ever heard me speak during a webinar or live at a seminar you have probably heard me warn against rash clicking. The reason I warn you guys about rash clicking is that I have succumb to that temptation many times myself.

I feel that I have to share my story and tell on myself. I don't want you guys to think I am perfect. Yesterday, I was doing payroll and paying bills; I thought that I would go ahead and pay my 941 payroll taxes. I am setup for E-Pay with IRS. So I can pay these taxes within a matter of minutes. Love those words "Minutes Matter." Here is what happened:

1. I was listening to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz on my iPhone, (mistake #1).
2. After I completed payroll I noticed that I had an upcoming 941 payment due by August 15th. I thought I would go ahead and pay it. (Seemed to be such a smart move on my part and I have paid it ahead so many times in the past.) So I clicked the View/Pay button. (no mistake yet)
3. Here it comes; I was singing with the music (so happy and feeling so lucky; no pun intended) I went ahead and clicked the "E-Pay" button without looking at all the fields. (Big Mistake #2)

Now because I didn't carefully look at all the fields my payment will be deducted from my checking account tomorrow instead of 8/15/09. I always post date the IRS payment and have funds withdrawn out of my account on the 15th of the month. I never like giving the government money before it is due and I am usually so careful about changing the dates on the payment.

I was so mad at myself, I turned my iPod off; I decided no more happy music for me for at least one hour. Sat there for a few minutes thinking of my options. My first impulse was to go and void the payment. Luckily, I had gotten hold of my rashness. I did a bit of research before I made what would have been the biggest Mistake OF ALL. E-Payments go instantly to Intuit, I checked my email and sure enough I had already received an email saying the payment was accepted. If I had of continued with my RASH CLICKING I would have been in a mess with my payroll taxes and that could have added another hour or more to my workload on Monday. I could have called Intuit and try to void the payment before it goes to IRS but I decided to let it go and not let it take "Rent any more space in my head."

The moral of this story don't try to sing like Jason Mraz when you are scheduling an E-Payment and look at all the date files before click the final E-Pay button.

If you have a "Rash Clicker" story you would like to share post a comment below. We would love to hear your story.