When our clients have a visual marketing emergency, as they sometimes will, they know they can turn to us. Well, last week was emergency central here at Visage Creative. It’s always a whirlwind in our office, but lately that wind’s been ablowin’ harder and faster than ever. While being ever so grateful to be engaged in creative collaboration with so many awesome clients, our coffee pot has really been getting a workout! It was clear we needed our A team on the job—someone on whom we could rely to have our clients’ best interest at heart, just as much as we do—our printer man, Dan. Dan is always up to a challenge and does everything he can to meet our needs, just like we do for our clients. It’s so good to work with someone who is on the same page as we are!

Finding a reliable vendor can be a challenge. But when you’ve got a good one, their support should not go unthanked. Someone like Dan, who goes out of their way to be an active part in your success, needs to be recognized. Getting the job done, after all, is always a team effort. And without vendors who push themselves for us, we wouldn’t be able to come through for our clients in such big ways.

So, in honor of all of the hard-working, team-playing, challenge-accepting vendors out there, Visage now deems today International Vendor Appreciation Day! Take a moment to say thank you to the people who make your job a whole lot easier, by doing theirs so well. Send them a note, bake them some cookies, anything to make them feel appreciated. And, thanks again, to Dan who last week was the butterfly flapping its wings to help us create our clients’ hurricane of success. Thanks for being a part of this journey with us!

If you’re reading this blog post you know that the name of our business is “Visage Creative.” “How did we come up with such an eloquent business name?” you might ask. Our articulate resident IT/Web man and all-around awesome team member, Chris tells me that he was playing around with the word “visual” when he came up with the name for the company eleven years ago. “Visual…visage…it was a natural progression from one to the other,” he said. “Here at Visage, our business is to make sure our clients succeed and we do that by helping to create the face of their business.”  Lori, owner and lead designer, told me. So Visage Creative was born. At least a third of the people we have come in contact with, however, don’t know the word Visage, or how to pronounce it. Go ahead. Say it out loud. I’ll give you a hint, it doesn’t rhyme with massage.

vis•age (vi’-zij) n.
1. The face or facial expression of a person. 2. Appearance; aspect

Now that you know how to pronounce the word and what it means, courtesy The American Heritage Dictionary, try using it in a sentence. I’ll go first: “We helped replace the conservative and somewhat-staid visage of their website with something truly vibrant and exciting.”

Go ahead and share your sentence with us via Twitter or Facebook for your chance to win a 16×20 poster print of our recent “Super Hero” desktop wallpaper. Individuals and business are both encouraged to participate. No purchase necessary. Get us your sentence by midnight on Friday, March 9, 2012. A winner will be randomly drawn (don’t worry, class, this isn’t for a grade) from all participants on Monday, March 12, 2012.

Click image to download as your desktop wallpaper. Enjoy!

Here’s to the self-starters,
to those who align the stars themselves.
Here’s to the pacesetters,
the rule benders, the pilots of their own path.
To those graceful globetrotters —
trotting to the tune of their own toot;
to the busy bees, the go-getters, the pistol-whips and firecrackers;
to those balls of fire
flying through life
with only the fuel of their own determination,
inspiring us all to greater heights —
to be our own superheroes.

© 2012 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

There are a ton of benefits to having a home-based business. To name a few: being able to set up meetings and run errands on a more flexible schedule, the ability to maintain the kind of environment you want— everything from the paint on the walls to the thermostat, you avoid some major overhead that a small business housed elsewhere would usually incur, and the commute is pretty easy on the gas tank, too! But, be careful not to make the mistake of getting too comfy-cozy when working from home, lest you come across unprofessional. Here are some details to keep in mind:

1. Set actual workday hours, communicate them to your clients and vendors, and stick to them! This isn’t to say you shouldn’t take meetings out, or run errands during those hours, but being consistent overall will eliminate a lot of confusion and runaround when people are trying to reach you.
2. Get dressed for work. Even though you can hang out in your PJs all day doesn’t mean you should. Studies show that if you look ready for work you’ll be more likely to come to the table, office, or laptop with gusto and get your work done. Your focus will be easier to come by if you feel put together.
3. Always answer your phone professionally. “Thank you for calling Business ABC, Inc. This is Margo, how may I help you?” -vs- “Hello?” or  “Hey, Name of Caller (because I have Caller ID and I think I know that it’s you.)” Starting off the conversation with your company’s name reinforces your brand — as does asking how you may help the caller. Taking care to answer professionally also helps to instill your caller’s confidence – and the more confidence they have in you, the more likely they are to do business with you again and again.
4. Don’t communicate your personal goings-on just because you are in a personal setting. If you just hopped out of bed, or out of the shower, or are actually still in your pajamas, your clients don’t need to know. Focus on projecting a professional atmosphere.
5. Know that sound carries. Don’t let a noisy household carry over the phone…washer and dryer running, TV, children playing, dogs barking… Be sure to communicate your office hours to those sharing your home so that they can respect that time and give you the peace and quiet you need to manage your company effectively.

Projecting a professional image when you’re working from home will help make your “home, sweet home” a “business, sweet business!”

Recently a good friend said to me “It’s the journey that’s important.” As a young woman attending a liberal arts university in Seattle I was immersed in this concept. Each moment was “the point,” whether I was attending a lecture or drinking wine and solving the world’s problems with my peers. As an English major I read the Odyssey and though I was not fond of almost any of the characters (I found almost all of them to be cranky or whiny), I came away with a profound conviction to live my life, not with my eyes fixed on some future prize but with my attention on the now, on the journey. As I get older I find that it is easy to lose that immediacy. As adults, with bills to pay and retirement to plan for and perhaps children to worry about, it is so easy to allow ourselves to stress about the future and have little time for today.

You may be wondering why I’m blathering at you like you’re one of my old friends drinking three dollar Merlot and posturing toward world peace. “What does this have to do with building a strong business?” But think about it a second. As business men and women, if we are constantly looking at the bottom line instead of focusing on the current project or fretting over what’s coming next our business will never flourish as much as it can. The journey is what is important. Each project deserves full attention. Each moment is an opportunity to put your best foot forward with a client. Each interaction or communication is the chance to build relationship and solidify a strong foundation within your network. So to pay it forward, hopefully this blog post will bring you back into the moment and set you back on your journey a little more awake to the now than you were before, like my friend did for me. Allow your attention to be drawn to what is in front of you with a glance here and there to what’s ahead instead of the reverse and you will find that your work comes out higher quality, your collaborations go more smoothly, your clients feel more taken care of, and you feel more fulfilled.

It’s the new year, and many of us have made resolutions. “This year I will be more organized.”  “This year I will be more efficient with my resources.”  “This year I will be healthier.” This article addresses health during the workday. It gives eight excellent tips on how to make it through the day and come out the other end healthier and happier. These are all tips that you know–I guarantee it–but sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the fundamentals. Here’s to a happy and healthier new year to us all.

Visage Creative is kicking off December with some great deals as we Countdown to the Holidays! These are special offers designed to help you find just the right something for your clients, staff, family, or even just to spoil yourself a little. With the holidays right around the corner, these offers will end soon so place your order today.

To kick things off, warm up this winter with a hint of chili and the loving comfort of chocolate with these Chris In The Kitchen Decadent Chocolate Chili Bites. These bites come eight to a container decorated with a festive personalized label designed by Visage Creative and topped with a bow. This holiday pack of 8-ish ounces of rich, gooey chocolate love is available exclusively through Visage Creative through December 12th.

Chris’s Chocolate Chili Bites are decadent homemade morsels of pure indulgence.

These deliciously-moist brownie bites are made with rich dark chocolate and a sneaky hint of Ancho and Cayenne chili – just to spice things up a teeny-tiny bit. Says Jerri K. of Mesa, AZ, “These chili bites are the best! The company my husband works for ordered eight dozen to give as employee appreciation gifts, and they were a big hit. They’re now a ‘must have’ for my holiday treat list.”

Made with eggs, sugar, dark chocolate, butter, flour, Cayenne and Ancho chili powder.

• $9 per pack+ $6 shipping (USPS Priority Mail) and handling
• Free delivery for orders of two or more holiday packs to the same delivery location within the Phoenix area.
• Orders must be placed by 7p (MST), December 12th.
• Local deliveries and shipments (via USPS Priority Mail) will be made on December 15th.
• Contact us at 480.471.6393 for special ordering and/or shipping requests.

Buy Now

1 Holiday Pack of Chili Bites with USPS Priority Mail Shipping • $15.00  

2 Holiday Packs of Chili Bites with Free Local Delivery • $18.00  

NOTE: Want more than one or two packs? Quantities may be adjusted upon checkout.