I started my holiday shopping on Black Friday.  So far, all my shopping has been online.  Even though I haven’t had to deal with crowds or lines, that doesn’t mean my shopping has been uneventful.

The first gift I bought was some TV show box sets on DVD.  My goal was to buy all eight seasons of a sitcom.  Best Buy had an awesome sale online Black Friday.  The first season was available for $3.99 instead of the usual $8 or so, and seasons two-eight were $8.99 each instead of the usual ~$24.  Even though I had to pay sales tax and a high shipping charge (like $15 total), Best Buy was still cheaper than Amazon or Wal-Mart.  I was able to get seasons 1-7; eight was sold out.  I eventually got a message that season one was backordered.  My plan was to buy season eight elsewhere and wait until maybe the 10th for Best Buy to get stock of season one.

The next night, Saturday, I bought a PlayStation2 game from NewEgg.  Its price was a couple dollars less than GameStop (next lowest price), but what sealed the deal was no sales tax and free shipping.  I was nervous about free shipping, after some lackluster experiences with the post office recently.  However, NewEgg was offering free 3-Day Select UPS shipping.  I was ready to pay extra for non-USPS shipping.  My order was shipped on Monday 11/30.  I didn’t expect it to ship until the next business day, since I ordered on Saturday night.  As you can see below, the anticipated delivery date was 12/3.  Makes sense, since it is a 3-Day shipment.

I was surprised to see the delivery date change to 12/1 when I checked the tracking.  This meant the free shipping ended up being overnight shipping.  The game was delivered at my house the afternoon of 12/1, one day after it shipped.

On the other hand, the DVDs I bought from Best Buy were shipped via the Postal Service.  Shipping media like books, CDs, and DVDs is dirt cheap with the post office because there is a cheaper rate for those items.  The PS2 game shipped from near Cincinnati, Ohio.  The DVDs shipped from BestBuy near Louisville, Kentucky on 11/30.  However, I didn’t get the DVDs until 12/3.  The packages went about the same distance and shipped on the same day, but USPS took two days longer.

There was a problem with my package, though, and it wasn’t the fault of the post office.  My box was supposed to have six DVDs in it, seasons 2-7, but there were only five DVDs shrinkwrapped inside.  I counted the DVDs and took note of what I had received.  I was shorted season two.  I took photos of the package and sent an e-mail to Best Buy customer service.  I got an automated reply that night.  The next day I had time to phone Best Buy.  After waiting on hold 20 minutes, a lady answered.  She sounded like she was US-based, which was a good thing.  I explained what happened and gave my info.  Next thing I knew, the lady said the missing item would be shipped in the next 1-3 days.  I was dumbfounded.  I asked “Is that all?  I have pictures if you need proof I’m missing that DVD.”  My word was good enough, or perhaps they had other botched orders that day.  I’m glad I didn’t have to get into a throwdown.  Coincidentally, the backordered first season I ordered shipped the same day as the reshipped second season.  Now here is where it gets weird.  The reshipped DVD was sent via UPS, while the backordered DVD was shipped via UPS Mail Innovations.  UPS Mail Innovations is one of those services where the courier (UPS, FedEx, DHL) will do most of the handling, but the Postal Service will do the final delivery.

I also ordered a custom calendar from Vistaprint.  A friend of mine ordered stuff from there and got a good price.  I almost ordered some window decals from there a few months ago but decided to print them on my inkjet instead.  Today I saw they had a good sale on custom wall calendars, like 50% off.  I went through my photos and picked one corresponding with each month.  I then uploaded them to Vistaprint and customized the calendar dates, adding birthdays and such.  I went with the fancy paper, since I didn’t know how thick or glossy the standard paper was.  I cheaped out on shipping, though.  I went with the 21-day shipping option for $5 instead of the 14-day shipping for $10.  I didn’t feel like paying $10 to ship a calendar, and I figured they wouldn’t need 21 days to print and ship the calendar.  I gambled the 18 days between now and Christmas Eve would be sufficient.  A quick peek at my order status says “printing in progress.”  Assuming it doesn’t take too long for my order to ship and travel here, it looks like I’ll be OK.

My credit card bill is going to be huge.  All this stuff, plus those expensive tires I bought for my car.  At least those will come in handy when we get some snow.

There is one more thing I bought.  Remember how I was only able to get seven out of the eight DVD box sets I wanted?  I consulted my price comparison spreadsheet to see where to buy season eight.  Wal-Mart had the lowest price, but they had run out of stock since I did my price comparison.  I ended up going with Buy.com and spending ~$19.  For that price, I got two seasons during the Best Buy sale.  People rip on Buy.com, and I understand why.  Their site is disorganized and it is hard to find stuff.  Also, they have sneaky marketing offers on the page.  I’ve bought stuff from them before, but only cheap or unbreakable things because I don’t have good vibes about their customer service (NewEgg and Amazon have been excellent to me when I have had to call or e-mail them).  When I was checking out from Buy.com, I was surprised to see they didn’t accept Discover Card.  I ended up using the PayPal option, and charged it to Discover that way.  I get my Cashback Bonus, however minuscule it is in this case.  I’m reconsidering buying stuff from Buy.com now.  I mean, what reputable large retailer doesn’t take Discover?  One more thing left a bad taste in my mouth.  Since I paid via PayPal, I was charged right away.  Most places don’t charge you until your order ships.  My order is currently “in the shipping process.”

My next shopping stop is Kohl’s.  Brick and mortar store.  I’ve only shopped there once before, buying a blender for my mom a few years ago.  They were the only place that had the model I was looking for.  Anyway, my credit card company gave me a $10 off a $10 purchase coupon.  I plan on heading over there to see if they have any shirts I might like.  Gives me something to do during lunch, since it is kind of chilly to take a walk now.

Hello everyone! Back from a slight hiatus and ready to give you information on great deals.

Every Monday is Cyber Monday on the Savings Squirrel blog. Check out these great deals and coupons for extreme savings!

Target.com: Click here and you’ll receive $7 off your online order of $70 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 7.

Godiva.com: Enter the code MERRY and you’ll receive free standard shipping on your online order of $50 or more. Expires December 7.

SmartBargains.com: Click here and you’ll receive 12% off your entire online order PLUS receive free shipping. Expires December 2.

RadioShack.com: Click here and you’ll receive $10 off your online order of $85 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires January 15.

CrateAndBarrel.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $100 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 22.

TheChildrensPlace.com: Enter the code CABINB9 and you’ll receive 15% off your entire online order. Expires December 6.

Cabelas.com: Enter the code 9WINTER and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $99 or more. Expires December 16.

Nike.com: Enter the code GIFT and you’ll receive free shipping on your entire online order. Expires December 22.

Alloy.com: Enter the code DISC15A and you’ll receive 15% off your entire online order. Expires December 17.

AnnTaylorLoft.com: Enter the code 104000690 and you’ll receive $20 off your online order of $100 or more. Expires January 5.

VistaPrint.com: Click here and you’ll receive 50% off your entire online order (excludes shipping). Expires December 31.

Drugstore.com: Click here and you’ll receive $10 off your online order of $80 or more (non prescription orders only). Expires December 31.

Rugby.com: Enter the code HOL2009A and you’ll receive 25% off your entire online order. Expires December 7.

Kmart.com: Enter the code COUPONCABIN and you’ll receive $5 off your online order of $50 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 31.

Chadwicks.com: Enter the code CHAD234 and you’ll receive $30 off your online order of $90 or more. Expires December 31.

BrooksBrothers.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $200 or more. Expires December 23.

BCOutlet.com: Enter the code BC30CABIN and you’ll receive 30% off any single item. Expires January 8.

1800Contacts.com: Enter the code CABIN688 and you’ll receive $9 off your online order of $90 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (New customers only). Expires December 2.

BigDiscountFragrances.com: Enter the code CC15100 and you’ll receive $15 of your online order of $100 or more. Expires January 10.

E-ZRentACar.com: Enter the code CABIN and you’ll receive 7% off when you book any car rental. (Some exclusions apply; please see website). Expires December 30.

Budget.com: Click here and you’ll receive 20% off on your online rental. Expires December 31.

LeapFrog.com: Click here and you’ll receive 25% off your entire online order PLUS receive free shipping on orders over $50. Expires December 2.

Disney.com: Enter the code SHIP89 and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $89 or more. Expires December 17.

Dell.com: Enter the code G$J83T50BRX626 and you’ll receive $5 off your online order of $75 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.)  Expires December 31.

DicksSportingGoods.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $49.99 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 31.

NBAStore.com: Click here and you’ll receive 15% off any single item. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires January 15.

VictoriasSecret.com: Enter the code VSSAVE20 and you’ll receive 20% off your entire online order. Expires December 2.

Gap.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $50 or more. Expires December 15.

There’s plenty more; will post later!

Last week, while on a business trip, I put $3.33 into my HSA with the click of a mouse.  Whilst sitting in my hotel room, trying to be productive one evening I went to My HSA Rewards and through their website created a printed Christmas card of my kids through VistaPrint.  I had 100 cards printed which included 100 envelopes.  As a bonus they threw in a notepad with my kids picture on it for free as part of some promotion they had going on that day.  Sometime in the next couple of weeks, my cards will show up, we’ll address them and send ‘em on out.  The price was something like $33 for the cards including shipping, so I thought all in all, it was a great deal.

So what does this have to do with Santa and my HSA you are saying?  Well, in return for purchasing the Christmas cards through My HSA Rewards, I earned 11% toward my Health Savings Account for doing so.  So in addition to getting a great deal on printing, I also am putting away about $3.33 into my Health Savings Acount in the process.

But that is just the start of it.  In addition to printing, My HSA Rewards has way over 300 merchants in their program.  So, for example, I was looking at the HP Home Store for a computer for one of my kids for Christmas.  I found one I like, so when I pull the trigger on that, I’ll get 3% back on that purchase toward my HSA.

My wife wants a new comforter for the bed to replace the 1988 dust collector that’s sitting there now, so I am looking at Overstock.com.  If I purchase from Overstock through the My HSA Rewards website, I’ll get 4% back on that.  I already bought two de-humidifiers from them after the 500 year floods we had in Atlanta earlier this fall.

The point of all this, is that for every dollar I spend on family Christmas shopping through My HSA Rewards, I will get some portion of that back in the form of a contribution to my Health Savings Account.  I joined the program for free this past summer and I have already earned over $90 in contributions to my Health Savings Account.  That’s found money.   It’s like Santa putting money into my HSA.

These 100% canvas tote bags from Vistaprint can be customized with your name and message. Choose from 24 designs.  You pay shipping & handling.  Go here for more info.

Thanks, For the Mommas.

This image from http://www.americanbridal.com, where you can choose from a number of designs.

I planned a wedding recently, and let me tell you — it was fun!  I loved thinking about all the little details and how they would come together to create a beautiful day that is utterly reflective of you and your fiance (okay…..let’s be honest.  Mostly reflective of me).  What I didn’t love about wedding planning was multiplying all those little costs by 300 (the number of people expected at our wedding).  When you deal in this equation, things begin to add up quickly!!  Even though we really prefer beef, we ordered chicken because it was less expensive….but even this multiplied by 300 was atrocious!  I loved the look of chair covers, but the cost multiplied by 300?  No way!  Even when considering the centerpieces (one of my favorite parts), I had to consider the cost of each centerpiece, because there would be 30 tables at our reception.  So a beautiful centerpiece that costs $10 to assemble……guess what?  That becomes $3000 when done 30 times!!

We are a reasonably frugal couple, and extremely sensible — or so we like to believe! — so we entered into the wedding process with a budget that was well below what we could afford.  But in fact when we were deciding how much we wanted to spend on our wedding, it was just that:  what did we want to spend on our wedding?  Not what can we spend on our wedding? This is key, I believe.  Take it from me – your wedding is a wonderful day, but it is only a day.  And we’ve only been married for six months!  So it’s not like I’m an old cantankerous lady telling you that your wedding doesn’t matter.  I’m a recent bride, still in the midst of the ridiculously romantic honeymoon phase, and I’m telling you – no matter how fabulous your wedding day is, it will be over in 24 hours.  And that will be it. Do you really want to be paying money back on a loan once your one-day party is over?  Do you want to postpone the purchase of your first home because you spent your down-payment on a wedding?  I’ll let you answer those questions for yourself.  But I’ll tell you what our answer was – a resounding NO!!

So, I was very consciously trying to stay within a sensible budget when planning the wedding.  And it never failed, I would Google “wedding favors” and find absolutely gorgeous little boxes or photo frames or what have you that are a mere $3, $4, or $5 each.  However….let’s do that math again.  Do you want to spend $900, $1200 or $1500 on favors that likely the women will think are very cute, the men will ignore, and the children will destroy at your wedding reception?  And which no one will remember the next day?  Once again – our answer was NO!

So here’s a great idea for inexpensive favors for a wedding — or any other kind of party!  Personalized chocolate bars — DIY-style.  There are numerous websites that sell personalized chocolate bars, like the ones pictured above at AmericanBridal.com.  These are very beautiful, and cost around $2.25 each.  Not bad…but doing it yourself can be just as cute and cheaper!

Sam’s Club sells Hershey bars (full-size) in bulk for about 50 cents each.  Here’s what you do:  buy a bunch of Hershey bars and remove the brown outer wrapping, leaving the silver wrapping intact.  From here, you’ve got plenty of options.

*Use colored ribbon to tie bows.

*Make color, or black-and-white, copies of a favorite photo of you and your fiance and wrap around the Hershey bar.

*Design your own personalized stickers and place on the silver Hershey bar (you can print your own, or use a website like VistaPrint.com to create your own inexpensive return address labels — they don’t have to have your address on them:  you can type in any kind of message you like!

Let your creative juices flow!  But remember to consider the total cost of putting together each favor….you’ll be multiplying it perhaps hundreds of times!

Found at http://blog.social-advantage.com/2009/11/andrew-mcafee-enterprise-20-book.html

Read more at http://blog.social-advantage.com/2009/11/andrew-mcafee-enterprise-20-book.html

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• Collaboration and Enterprise 2.0 Study from AIIM (fastforwardblog.com)
• Peter Kim @ Enterprise 2.0, Social Media Marketing, and Social Business Design (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Enterprise 2.0: Culture Is as Culture Does (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Enterprise 2.0 is a Crock: Discuss (andrewmcafee.org)
• E20 Transition Strategies (slideshare.net)
• Read Bob Thompson’s Where is the Customer in Enterprise 2.0!! (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Social Web Design: Respond to human behavior. Don’t fight it. (socialmediatoday.com)
• Enterprise 2.0 Conference wrap up (cmswatch.com)

Now here’s something that’s sure to get a laugh out of friends and family! Just wait until they receive your holiday card with caricatures of your whole family in antlers and red hats (on the card, starting at $6.49 for 10, and the return address label, starting at $3.99 for 140), or you hand your neighbor that fruit cake (because you had good intentions of baking homemade coffee cake but then life happened so you went the smart & easy route and ordered them from Collin Street Bakery) with a gift tag, starting at $3.99 for 25, featuring you and your pets in your holiday get-ups!

Vistaprint can take care of all of this for you (well, except for those fruit cakes – that’s up to you). Right now they have all their caricature products at 50% off.  And you don’t have to do the winter holiday theme. All of their caricature products are at 50% off, so this is a great time to stock up for upcoming birthdays, celebrations, or just to keep your correspondence light. Heck, Dad can even have a mohawk if he wants!

(Just another thought… Pads of paper featuring a family with its newest addition – whether a baby or a pet – would make a fabulous personalized gift!)

Expires: Unknown

Go here to order your Holiday mailing labels.  You need to pay $3.00 for shipping, but you get 140 custom labels. This offer is ending tomorrow so order today.

Thanks, For the Mommas.

I just came across this great deal thanks to Money Saving Mom.  You can get 140 Christmas address labels for free! All you have to do is pay $3.00 shipping! ($3.59 for superfast shipping to Florida)  The labels are normally $7.99 so this is a great deal! 

All you have to do is click here and go to the left side of the page and choose “Holiday” under “Home & Family.”  Then you just design your labels and checkout! It is as easy and can be, and you can make them as simple or elaborate as you’d like! There is so much you can do to personalize them to match your family’s personality!  I made cute little caricatures of every member of our family. (Starbucks and Spicey included!) I can’t wait to get mine in the mail!! (I only have to wait 7 days!)

We are closing on our first home today, so I was so excited to use our new address!! It is going to be so nice having our first Christmas in our new home! Speaking of Christmas…I have so much to do!! There is an extra long checklist that must get done before the Christmas season arrives! Not only is Christmas hectic enough…I now have a little certain someone’s FIRST birthday to plan! 

So much to do…better get going!

I was looking for VistaPrint on Youtube just to see what they had for kind of the material there. I found these two videos; one is about how to order free business cards in three easy steps and is actually quite good – it explains very good what you need to do to order free business cards.

The second video clip is more a commercial from VistaPrint where they show their business. I think it is a pretty boring commercial, and I mean we are not in the 1980 anymore – whats up with style in the video?!. But hey – what could you expect from a company that is specializing in print?

Well that was what I found on youtube.

Intressant? Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om vistaprint, vistaprint business card, free business card, youtube

The first thing I ordered from was VistaPrint free business card . It goes so that you goes in to their website, click on the free business cards, enter the text you want, select the layout from the templates and continues.

Then you can make different kinds of options such as which paper you want.

You will ultimately come to the last page witch is the order and where you enter your adress och purhase for the chipping. If you want it fast – then it costs more.

This works really great and I am very happy for this option. The problem is that you have to have their logo on the back of the business card – but hey it´s free.

If you just want a business card and you don´t care about their logo – then this is a very good option. Beacuse it´s cheap, they have a good delivery system, considering that the business cards are for free then it is very good kvalité and they have quite alot of templates to choose from.

Intressant? Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om vistaprint, business cards, free business cards, visitkort, first experince

Save 25-50% off on custom printed products at VistaPrint. Order today!

If you saw us at the Pet-a-palooza at Enrichment Federal Credit Union, wearing our t-shirts with our dog, Baby’s, photo on it, you may be one of many who asked us where we got it … from Vistaprint! Click on the link above to receive special discounts on all kinds of printed items, including business cards and more.

caption id=”attachment_341″ align=”aligncenter” width=”288″ caption=”Baby My Doggie”][/caption]

Fröken Rödräv hade lite långtråkigt häromdan. Satt och kikade runt när jag snubblade över Vistaprint och deras visitkortsmaker. Kunde jag hålla mig? Absolut inte. Här är min otroligt vackra skapelse, för den dagen då jag behöver visitkort…

Spexigt va? Texten syns våldsamt dåligt här men det står i alla fall såhär:

____________________________________________

RÖDRÄV
kvalificerad zombienörd
& självutnämnd expert

Spexigaste nörden i stan bloggar om
livet som småbarnsmorsa till en töntig
vinthund, smygshopping, rolig zombiemisc,
fulsöta teckningar, satirisk humor och
förberedelserna inför ZOMBIE-APOKALYPSEN!

http://rodrav.wordpress.com

Remember kids:
Blades don’t need reloading! ♥

____________________________________________

Personligen tycker jag det blev fint. Fast ja, när jag behöver visitkort behöver jag väl knappast göra reklam för mig själv… Då kommer det väl stå typ:

RÖDRÄV
kvalificerad zombienörd
& självutnämnd expert

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU!

*kontaktuppgifter*

Remember kids:
Blades don’t need reloading! ♥

___

Underskatta aldrig vikten av FFFFUUU…

Anywho, jag vill ha åsikter! Fult/Fint? Bra text/Är du dum i huvudet ändra NU? Schysst bild/NOES BYT BILD? Shoot!

I would title this post Skull Candy, but that’s already in use :p
Gotta love Amazon – my new headphones arrived 5 days before the estimated delivery.
After a crappy day at college, I came home to find these waiting for me. Click through to the post for naked pics.

Slick black package. Why the French text?


Sexy sturdy carry case with a magnetic clip


The clip/cable shortener and ‘the other thing’. What is that called anyway?


The sexy beasts

Everything, including the relatively copious amount of paperwork.

I haven’t listened to them yet. It’s terrible, I know; I’ve turned into one of those people who gets a new toy and thinks “I must blog this” before I play with it xD. I’ve got to give them time to burn in, but I’m definitely going to use them at college tomorrow!

Amazon, along with the speedy delivery, sent me two vouchers: for VistaPrint and Naked Wines.

The VistaPrint is nothing too special or complicated. 250 Premium Business Cards for £1.29. I think there’s still a £3-4 shipping charge but it’s not a bad offer. The url to access it is: http://vistaprint.co.uk/discounts3.
My brother uses them for work and the cards seem fine quality, though last time I registered with them (a few years back) I frequently got emails from them which I’d classify as spammy. Hopefully that’s been improved now though.
On the other side, there’s a special clearance sale – 1 personalised printed t-shirt for 55p and a personalised photo wall calendar for 99p.
Url: http://vistaprint.co.uk/discounts4.
Presumably, there’s also a /discounts1 and /discounts2, but I haven’t checked and can’t be bothered to be honest.

The Naked Wines offer is a code and password which is valid until 30th November 09. It’s £25 voucher with a special URL and code. I went to the URL to see how it works, and noticed that it’s easily exploitable – just by incrementing the number at the end of the URL; but there’s some defense in that it only allows authorised digits which haven’t already been reclaimed to be claimed. I was able to access the one I was given, plus the two above.
But, seeing as I can’t drink alcohol, I’m giving it away to whoever wants it. I’d assume there’s a minimum buy, seeing as the voucher states:

Use your voucher to buy 6 bottles for only £24.99 – £4.17 a bottle.

But there is also the phrase “Choose your wines”. I don’t want it, anyone who comes across this can have it. First person to reply to this asking for it gets it – just make sure you put in a real email address in the box – (no one will see it except me, so feel free to use a dummy account from mailinator or something), and I’ll send you the code and URL… presuming somebody else hasn’t already discovered the same flaw in the website and used it with this voucher code xD.

Now, maybe I should do some work?

For months now I have been on the hunt for nice, “affordable”, properly themed save-the-date cards.

Today, I have finally found them!

I wasn’t looking for cards that were going to match my invitations. I wanted to keep it within my beach theme, but also a little more fun.

Last night I went to the craft store and looked for card stock and stamps and such to possibly do it myself because i wasn’t finding anything that i liked that was affordable. After searching for over an hour, it became apparent that it was going to cost just as much to do myself as it would to buy the pricier cards i found on line, and that didn’t include the time involved assembling them. Scrap that idea.

On my way to work this morning i decided that i was going on an internet mission. I WAS ordering these cards TODAY no matter what.

I “Googled” inexpensive save the date cards, and after visiting 3 different sites i came upon Vistaprint.com. I viewed their selections and found one that would be perfect. I edited the wording and font colors and then showed the finish product to my one Matron-of-honor (that i work with) and she agreed they were perfect.

I proceeded to the checkout, which was very easy, and received a total price with envelopes printed with the return address on the back, and shipping, $39.64. LESS THAN $40.00!!

The cards should be in on 10/8/09!

Now all i need to do before hand is make sure all the info on our website is accurate and current!

In follow-up to a DARTON post from last week, it is “high season” for networking in greater Charlotte.  The Queen City’s professional associations and networking groups are in “back to business” mode, and now is the right time to “tune-up” your networking game. 

Team DARTON offers the following top 3 tips for “tuning-up” your networking game.

1.  Achieve a “100% completion” rating on your LinkedIn profile.  Not sure how to get there?  Click here for some great tips:  http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=1009

2.  Create or Update Your Google Profile.  Haven’t heard of Google Profile?  Click here to learn more (trust us, you want to control your online presence with a Google Profile):  https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=profiles&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fprofiles%2Fme&ltmpl=landing

3.  Stock-Up on Your Supply of Business Cards.  Not presently working?  No problem – you’ll definitely want a business card and you can obtain great quality cards at low cost from a variety of sources (we recommend Vistaprint http://www.vistaprint.com or 48HourPrint.com http://www.48hourprint.com/.  Note:  DARTON consultants on engagement for us are provided business cards.

Article Source:  http://kevinliebl.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/personal-brand/

The past couple of weeks I have written about how corporate roles have changed and how we all must prepare ourselves for this new corporate world. Today, I want to discuss the topic of personal branding. With respect to the job market and your career, personal branding is a means of defining and promoting your skills, strengths and interests in an effort to raise yourself above the white noise.

Define your Objective – Before you do anything, sit down and determine what you are trying to accomplish. People create a personal brand for many reasons, but in this case, let’s assume you are trying to create a professional brand that will establish you as a leader in your chosen field. This seems simple, but remember that people are successful if they have both the ability and the passion to succeed. Make sure that the brand you want to promote is both of these. Be as specific as possible (e.g., public relations manager for small to medium sized technology firms). Think about what defines you and separates you from the pack. How do you want people to see you?

Discover your Current Brand – Next you need to understand what brand you have today. Remember that everyone has a brand. If you ask your colleagues to describe you, what would they say? I firmly believe that none of us “own” our own brand. The market owns the brand. The market determines what our brand is. I can say that my brand is that of a “Business Management, Marketing, Leadership and Social Media Expert”. The truth is that you, the reader of this blog will decide what my brand is after you read this (and hopefully other ) articles. All I can do is promote, and hopefully influence, your perception of my brand.

Define your Messaging – Once you know what your current brand is (e.g., mid-level marketing manager) and what you want it to be (e.g., social media expert), then you can begin to define your messaging. What will you do to change the market perception of you from your “current” to your “target” brand? What will you communicate to the marketplace to define your brand? Will you promote your skills in a specific area? Will you give examples of your knowledge? Will you position yourself as a resource to others?

Choose your Tools – There are an overwhelming number of tools at your disposal to begin to brand yourself. My advice is to choose carefully because each tool has a unique value. Talk to others who have used them and determine what value they provide and how much effort is necessary. Remember that some of them can be a huge resource drain. In my opinion, some of the best tools for building a personal business brand are as follows:

Social Media

• LinkedIn – This is the single best tool at your disposal to define your business brand. Fully build your profile and keep it current.
• Facebook – Determine quickly if you are going to separate your business brand from your personal brand. If you don’t want business associates seeing your college photos in Mexico, then secure your Facebook page or keep it professional.
• Twitter – The power of Twitter is only beginning to be defined. Create a Twitter feed and use it to define your brand and cross-link back to your other online sites.
• Blog – Your blog becomes your online profile. Make sure you cross-link between your blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other online sites.
• VisualCV – This is a powerful tool to create an online resume, separate from your LinkedIn profile.
• Email Signature – This is often overlooked. Create an email signature with hyperlinks to your LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, VisualCV, and blog.

Physical

• Resume, Biography, Transition document – These are all useful documents for different audiences. The transition document should be a single page targeted at people you will network with who may be able to help your career.
• Business Cards – Create a separate business card from your full-time job that defines your brand. Include all your social media contacts (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog, etc.)

Face-To-Face

• Never forget the importance of face-to-face communications. We sell ourselves best in person, not online or on the phone. Make sure that you attend networking events, find opportunities to speak on panels, and simply meet with colleagues 1-on-1 from time to time.

Implement your Plan – Now that you have defined your objective, messaging and tools, it is time to implement. My advice is to set realistic goals for yourself. It is easy to get overwhelmed. Start simple and build from there. Once you begin, listen to the feedback. Is your LinkedIn profile getting traffic? Are your blog postings resonating and getting comments? Learn from the feedback – both positive and negative. Create a two-way dialog with your target audience. Make sure you respond to people who take the time to comment on your blog. Always be sincere and helpful. You will make mistakes, but if you are sincere and helpful to your network, you should be fine. Finally, be consistent. The effort you put into building a brand will fade quickly if you do not continue the effort. By setting realistic goals, you should be able to continue your branding effort regardless of your workload. It simply becomes a part of your normal career.

Remember, your network and your personal brand are the two things you carry with you from job to job. With a little planning and effort, they will pay huge dividends. Good luck, and let me know how I can help…

In a recent post, I discussed business cards design, content, and sources. See the previous post here. Since I needed some cards, I decided to order from two different online companies I mentioned in the post.

First, I went to Vistaprint, found a new design that I liked and ordered 250 cards using the promotion code that I had received. Ordinarily, you get 250 cards free and just pay shipping. The free cards have Vistaprint’s ad on the back. The special promotion offered the premium cards (no ad on back) for free plus shipping. I managed to make it all the way to checkout without adding any features or buying anything else, although I was tempted by the alternate design that they recommended for the back of my card. I paid $5.79 for the cheapest shipping. I ordered on September 8th. The cards were shipped on September 15th, and I received them on the 17th.  I would have like them better if I had paid a little extra for the glossy finish, but they are fine for what I paid.

For the second set, I went to 123Print.com. After searching their designs, I found one that I really loved. On September 8th, I ordered 200 cards, the minimum number, and paid for shipping. The cards shipped on September 10th, and I received them on the 12th. Fast! They are beautiful cards with a glossy finish, great graphics, and a really quality feel. I paid about $15.00 for them, and that’s pretty high, when you consider it was only 200 cards. See my design here.

No matter what your budget, you can afford a professional-looking business card. Notice that I did not have my photo on either card, although I have always used a photo in the past. It would have cost me extra to upload a photo to Vistaprint, and I did not inquire about photos with 123Print.

I was happy with both transactions, because I felt that I got what I paid for.

There are several ways to advertise and get the word out about your business online and the best of them include f-ree search engines, pay per click search engines, writing articles, utilizing press releases, doing joint ventures/ad co-ops, and posting to message boards and forums related to your target market.

But one advertising method that’s neglected by most online marketers is off-line advertising.

There are several low/no cost ways to advertise off-line and I want to share 3 of them with you.

1) Business Cards

If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.

Also, whenever I visit a restaraunt, bar, or club, I’ll leave my business cards in all of the bathroom stalls. (Just make sure nobody is in there of course… lol!)

And don’t laugh at this! It really works. When I visit the bathroom an hour or two later, I’ll find that all of my business cards are gone and I’ll have a fresh new set of sales the very next day.

You can get free professional looking business cards at VistaPrint.com, all you have to pay is shipping and handling:

vistaprint.com

2) Flyers

With today’s technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)

Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meet on the street. Many bars and clubs don’t have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.

And don’t forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.

Here’s a site that lets you create and print flyers or brochures online for free:

mybrochuremaker

3) Automobile Advertising

What… ? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.

Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people everyday whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It’s fairly inexpensive and a great way to “drive” home your message.

Here are a couple of sites to check out for this very sort of thing:

iditplates

Magneticsign

Those are just a few of the ways to advertise off-line. I’m sure you can come up with other clever ways as well.

You’ve got a brain… use it!

So, I’m a poor infosec graduate student, limited in means and resources. Business cards at first seemed like an expensive luxury, but after meeting so many security professionals and fellow students in the past few weeks, and being asked “Do you have a card?” at least a few dozen times, I’ve realized just how useful the little buggers can be.

The solution? A friend recommended Vistaprint as a producer of FREE business cards. Obviously, I couldn’t pass-up at least checking into the site! I was surprised by how intuitive the design interface was, and the wide variety of cards offered for free (with professional designs a mere $4 more).

In the end, I went with a free, simple (read: not cluttered or gaudy) design and paid an extra $3 to have the back blank, as opposed to an advertisement for the site:

Where they do get you, though, is shipping: I paid roughly $10 for two-week delivery for 250 cards. Still, I’m pleased with the card and, at $13 for 250, or 5 cents a card, I could do a lot worse!

- David Oxley

“Don’t leave home without them.” This slogan belongs to American Express travelers’ checks, but it also applies to your business cards. If you’re seeking to have your work published or prospecting for clients, you are in business, and you need a business card to go with your Web site and/or blog.

Basics

Do NOT print your cards on your own printer. Have them professionally printed because you want your card to present a professional image. Home-printed cards look—well—home-made. There are ways to get them without spending too much money. But, first, make decisions about:

• Design: Creative people tend to go overboard with their designs. Keep it simple, and try to coordinate the fonts and colors on your card with your Web site design. Use color and graphics, if you want, but remember the purpose of the card—to give your name and contact information. These should be prominent.
• Photo or No Photo: There are mixed opinions about whether you should include your photo on your card. Some think the photo helps people remember you if they met you at a social function, while others think it’s corny.
• Content: Essentials are your name and/or business name, your tagline, and contact information. Contact info can be limited to e-mail address and Web URL. You can also include mailing address and phone number, but resist the temptation to fill the card up with text. It’s the mark of an amateur designer. Here’s an article discussing card content.
• Back Side: Many online sources now offer designs for the back side of your card. I don’t see the value of this, since it adds a good bit to your cost. However, if you have a number of Web sites or if you have too many services to list attractively on the front side, by all means, move some of it to the back. It’s better to have a good design than a crammed-full card.
• Quantity: Resist the temptation to order 1,000 cards. I guarantee you that you will want to change the design before you use them up. Then you will have a guilt trip about wasting the cards. Get 250 to start (unless you know you’re going to a conference with 250 attendees). At most, get 500. Especially if you include your photo, you will want to change your design at least annually.

Sources

A number of companies offer business cards online. Be sure to check with your local printing company, too, though. Sometimes they can offer you a unique design for just a little more than you would pay for the online cards plus shipping. Of course, the online companies offer a number of specials that you might find attractive. Be careful that you don’t waste a lot of time looking at designs, though. The information on the card is what is important. The design is secondary. The card must look professional and not cluttered.

I’ve used Vistaprint for the past few years. They offer a limited number of free designs plus Web sites and other promotional items to match. The Web site feature is fairly new, so I can’t comment on the dependability or effectiveness, but the designs are attractive. They offer a free one-month trial, so check it out. If you don’t like the free cards, look at the “premium” designs. You’ll pay for these, but it may be worth it to get a more custom look.

Vistaprint and some of the other online printers offer the option to upload a design of your own. You can create a design in MS Publisher or other design program. Here’s a how-to article on designing in Publisher. And there’s another one on Ehow. Once you upload your design, it’s likely that you’ll be offered other promotional articles to go with it.

Besides Vistaprint, I’ve used 123Print because their prices are reasonable, and I really like their designs for writers. Take a look. A more expensive option is Zazzle. I searched “editor” and got these results.

If you have a card already, make a note of ways you can improve it when you do your next printing. If you don’t have cards, order them as soon as possible.

Other Online Info about Business Cards:

Business card do/don’t

http://editorunleashed.com/2008/10/30/writers-business-cards-dos-and-donts/

How to use business card:

http://freelancewritinggigs.com/businesstips/do-freelance-writers-need-business-cards/

Article on card design (Warning: good content, but some of the language is questionable)

http://www.1099.com/c/ar/ta/businesscards_t010.html

Para crear tu targeta no hace falta que descarges ningún programa, porque para eso ya existe una aplicación online que se llama Vistaprint. Vistaprint permite diseñar tu targeta de visita muy personalizada ya que dispone de 40 diseños para elegir.

Para empezar a usar la aplicación dirígete al apartado Tienda Empresa y luego pulsa en el enlace Targetas de Visita Gratuitas.

Ahora siga estos pasos:

1. Escriba los datos que quiera para el anverso.

2. Cuando haya escrito todos los datos que quiera dale a Borrar texto de ejemplo para que borre los campos que no hayas escrito

3. Elige en diseño de la targeta.

4. Acepta las condiciones legales y pulsa siguiente.

5. Y por último rellera el formulario con tus datos y recibiras un correo con el PDF de tu targeta de visita.

Ir a VistaPrint