Today, the kitestring team carpooled into Burlington to visit our friend Rob at Battlefield Graphics Inc. Rob re-introduced us to the world of offset printing and some printing options that can help reduce our impact on the environment. Chris, Jenn, Meg and myself got to see, touch and smell all sorts of beautiful paper and varnish samples. We talked about responsible forest management and what to look for when choosing the best paper and ink for your project. For those who who haven’t heard, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an external certification that indicates that a product (paper or wood) has been managed in a responsible way – from forest, to mill, to merchant, to the printer and then to us (the end-user). Battlefield Graphics Inc. is a FSC certified printing partner of kitestring’s and also happens to use vegetable-based inks for offset printing (which is pretty awesome). We’re looking forward to sharing more of these eco-friendly options with you soon!

Yesterday at McMaster’s Communication Studies and Multimedia Career Networking Breakfast I was swarmed by armfuls of fresh faces wanting a glimpse into the kitestring world. Awesome! Thanks for inviting me to bend their young minds Mac! Just kidding! It was like speed dating, career style. Every fifteen minutes, my huge banquet table of Communication students switched and we started all over again. I asked each and every one what they wanted to be when they grew up. I ask myself that every day and I plan on doing that until the day I’m done.

Meet Karen, Leah, Kate, Nisa and Katie. Get ready, they’re smart as a whip and coming to a communications department of an organization near you. If you were at the breakfast and didn’t get enough face time with kitestring, email me: meg@kitestring.ca.

Chris and I had the pleasure of meeting with a potential client this morning. During our conversation, the idea of ‘building your business success on your own terms’ came up. I actually jotted this line into my notebook as it really stuck with me – what an important concept!

Often new entrepreneurs are faced with the necessity of taking on any work that comes their way in order to build the business – it may be outside of your area of specialty  and it may be for clients that frankly, aren’t fitting into the landscape of what you envisioned. You can’t turn it down, right? YOU NEED THE BUSINESS!

It’s easy to understand this logic and quite honestly, it is most likely necessary. It provides you with work, a track-record and most importantly, capital to keep building your dream. The important thing to remember as you’ smile and service’ your way through these projects is that all of these ‘experiences’ help you define and build your business – and your brand.

Continue to build a strong brand that clearly articulates what your business is and the experience that you promise to your clients. Most importantly, infuse all of this into the marketplace! Ensure that your unique brand is being consistently used in all of your marketing materials (both in print and online) as well as your social networking efforts, face-to-face interactions, your physical environment, the style in which you answer the phone, your business card…I could go on and on.

By doing this, you’ll have your first filter in qualifying clients. The right clients will be naturally attracted to you. Your cultures will align, the work will excite you and TA-DA – you’ll start to build ’success on your own terms’.

It’s a lovely place to be – you should try it!

- jenn

With Bjork and too Much Denim.

What are you going as for Halloween?

We are! Meg and Chris from kitestring will be at Supercrawl this Friday. We will be handing out big prizes. BIG prizes. Make sure you spot us in the crowd. We will be wearing our underpants so it won’t be that hard !

Check it out!

See you there!

kitestring is celebrating its second successful year of business in Hamilton. Thinking back to how much love went into our brand to launch it as the business we know today, we wanted to give something similar to small business entrepreneurs getting started around us.

Maybe you know someone who should enter. Like a new entrepreneur that doesn’t like to give out their business card because they were designed in some unlucky parent’s basement by a guy who swears by youtube tutorials. Or a new business owner who has gone though the branding, print or web design process and came out the other end with nothing but some dumb t-shirt or a really ugly tri-fold brochure. That is who should enter this contest. Maybe that business is yours.

The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation : In Our Lifetime

I’m a marketing guy. Marketing is my thing. I live it. I breath it. I had a bowl of marketing for breakfast this morning. (Actually, I did. Captain Crunch. And if that doesn’t scream marketing, I don’t know what does) When it comes to commercials I can be very critical. What works. What doesn’t work. What’s funny. What’s annoying. You get the picture.

Not very often does a commercial have such an effect on me as the one below. The message is clear, the people are real and the music choice couldn’t suite it more.

Nonprofit organizations sometimes find it hard to step outside the box when it comes to their marketing. I applaud the The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation for taking their communications to a new level. A level that makes people actually stop, think and reflect. By doing this it only helps in their mission to “conquer cancer in our lifetime”. That’s what they want. Isn’t that what all want?

I’m not sure why I like this new Cadbury commercial. It’s kinda freaky. But I think that’s part of it’s charm. The song is catchy and you’re just not sure how they got those kids to do that. All I know is I want some melt in your mouth goodness. What do you think?