Take your business seriously...so THEY will

Entrepreneurship! LOVE IT!!!! I find myself surrounded by business owners and/or those aspiring to go into business for themsleves. I can respect that. I cannot respect. however, that I come across many individuals that try to take the cheapest easy way out when it comes to the presence of their businesses. Your presence is everything. Many times before people will patronize with you, they will first analyze your work, portfolio, bunisness cards, website, etc. It's important to be mindful that FIRST impressions are always LASTING impressions. When you opt to take the easy and/or cheap way out, It's quite noticable, and a lazy presentation can defintely BREAK your business and leave your list of clients at a BARE minumum. There should never be any point in time where anyone should look at your business cards, logo or website and know that you are a small business. Your look should be so clean and professional that they are SHOCKED to find out how "small" your business really may be.In order to generate the maximum results from your business, you must be willing to invest in it. Entrepreneurship is a ongoing learning process, and we are all in this together right? I'd like to share some pointers that I hope will enhance many of our businesses in regards to how we present it to others.

 Stay in your lane:

Many of us are on a "budget" when it comes to advertising and presenting our business to the world. Between a website, business cards, logo, and any other promotional materials needed it's quite possible to break the bank paying for all of these services.. So for the sake of saving money, we opt to do them all ourselves. REALITY CHECK: Just because you are an entrpreneur, that doesn't make you a graphic designer. Your graphics i.e your logo, website, cards, etc will be one of the first things that people notice and remember about your business, please opt NOT to try to design these things yourself if you are not in that field. Yes, you may very well be able to design everything on your own, but it's not about doing it, it's about doing it WELL. There are indivduals throughly educated in these fields who have an eye and a mind for graphics. Allow them to offer their level of expertise to enhance your presentation. That being said, don't go to them with all of these crazy demands about what you want this/that to look like and so on. Yes, you can offer your suggestions, but most time your suggestions are based on an opinion and an eye that TOTALLY does NOT understand the world and art of graphics. Allow the individuals you hire on to stay in their lane, and YOU STAY IN YOURS.

Logos:

Your logo has to be THE most important aspect of your business. It represents you when words and services cannot. It's the thing that people remember whether it's on a card, site,or at the bottom right side of a commercial. Your logo is the most lasting aspect of your business. That being said, it's quite worth the investment. So many of us try to create our own logos and they are WACK! Sometimes I glance at logos like "eww. that's so cheezy. i would never patronize with that business". Probably a bad attitude to carry. But I say that to say that if you don't take your business seriously, neither will others. Even people with a basic eye can tell the difference between a professional logo and a cheap, cheezy one. They may not be able to tell you how or why it's professional, but THEY KNOW. Invest in your logo. Shop around for the best rates, and just opt to hire someone because they can give you a cheap rate. Check out their portfolios. Get client feedback. Do your research. When you finally hire someone, ALLOW THEM TO STAY IN THEIR LANE. I deem myself as darn talented and intelligent individual. I am very much so capable to creating logos. I spent years creating my own because I could.. #FAIL. I look back at them now like "What the heck was I thinking?! Ewww why didn't anyone tell me that my logo sucked?!" The most "intelligent" thing I did was bring on eyes of experience and expertise. MASS difference. I allowed him to stay in his lane, I remained teachable and open-minded..and the clients? FINALLY took me seriously and not just as this young kid who thinks she's a business owner. Don't go barking out commands speaking on something you know NOTHING about. The infamous logo quote "That's too plain!". Sometimes less is more.. Actually most times. Do your research. Check out the logos of the world's most successful businesses. They are not these big, busy, colorful logos that look like a circus. They are quite simple. Generally no more than about 3 colors, and they in some way have some type of shape and order to them. YET they are successful, and their logos are memorable.

Business Cards:

The first things that we opt to give individuals that we meet are our business cards. Although I believe our digital savvy generation is slowly but surely straying away from the business card era, cards have still proven to be the first and one of the most essential aspects of your business. One of the most popular business card sites primarily known for their FREE business cards is vistaprint.com. Vista Print is freakin awesome! There are a plethora of options and materials to choose from. The special that they run for the free business cards with the "free business cards at vistaprint.com" banner on the back?? Leave them there! or at least pay the small fee to upgrade and have the banner removed. There are only a few designs to select from, and the colors/designs are rather..hmm..WACK!!! It's worth the $30-$40 extra bucks to select an advanced design. It's also worth the extra money to pay your experienced designer to design one for you. Think about it: when you hand your business card out, you leave people with the only memory they have of your company and your services. They refer to your business card for your website, contact info, and in some cases your services. Leave a memorable impact. If you truly want to STAND OUT from the hundreds of business cards scattered on their desk, invest the time and money to make your business card one worth keeping. Expand on other creative options such as digital business cards, business cards in the form of a credit cards, etc. In fact, do a google search for "creative business cards". You will see tons of options that still get the point across without the boring and cliche structure of a "business" card. Be innovative. Be willing to invest. Reamin open-minded.

Websites:

We are now in an age where social networking sites such as facebook offer business/public services pages. THAT'S NOT A WEBSITE. Don't use it as such. Register your personal domain name, "yourbusinessname.com". It's only about $10 a YEAR. That's more than reasonable. Websites are extremely expensive and time consuming. There are many site builders out there that have recent, creative and innovative designs. Many of them offer free site building, but you have to include their name in your web address, and they get to advertise other businesses of their choice on YOUR site.. The site that should be promoting YOUR business. For example, wix.com is a very popular site builder. The templates are great, and you can have a site for FREE right? Right, but your web address will remain unprofessional. Instead of computerfix.com, you now have to do computerfix.wix.com. That site name in itself already screams CHEAP. If I was a consumer I would think, "Man, they can't even pay $10 to upgrade their domain name?!" In addition, when your costumers visit your FREE site they will become annoyed with advertisements and probably won't make it to check out your services. If you insist on using a site builder, at LEAST make the samll investments to make your website and personalized and professional as possible. Ultimately, it is best to have one built. Regardless of the option you choose, remember to be mindful of your presentation and your content. Don't just put up a site just to say you have a website. If you're going to have a site, provide information that will be helpful to potential clients. Tell them about the company. The goal of the company. The services offered. Prices. Contact information. Provide some type of portfolio or repertoire of your work. When a potential client leaves your site, they should be well informed of your company, services, and your work as this is the purpose of a website.

We must all take necessary steps to ensure that our company is represented at it's greatest state at all times. Your business is worth the time, effort, and investment. Don't miss out on quality opportunity or clientelle because you choose to take the cheap, CHEEZY way out :)

~Aleshia

Understanding God vs.Hating Him

As a young child, I never understood why Atheism existed. I never understood how people could hate God or simply not believe in His existence. As I grew older, I still couldn't wrap my mind around this concept. How could you hate God?!..but then it happened.. I started to hate God..or at least I wanted to..but that time in my life showed me EXACTLY why people could hate God: People hate God most times because they simply do not understand Him...nor have they taken he time to get to know Him....OR what they have been exposed to has been a TOTAL misrepresentation of Him..Whatever the case may be, that lack of understanding has allowed room for emptiness, bitterness, and ultimately, hatred.

This generation has been brainwashed. We have the structure that society has built for us as the ONLY structure and the CORRECT structure. Anytime that structure shifts or negates what seems to be our logic, we deem it as WRONG and begin to blame God. Some of the most common situations that I have encountered from individuals who hate God are those who've encountered a different structure of parenting, those who have experienced deaths of someone extremely close to them, and/or those who have encountered extreme judgement from "religious" people. Let us analyze the above...

Damage from Parental/Family Structure:

There are sooo many different structures of family.. There are some of us who were raised in society's norm in a two parent househould..and then there is the majority who were not. These circumstances vary so much. There are those raised by the single parent. Those raised by grandparents and/or a legal guardian. Others who found themselves from foster home to foster home. Others who were adopted or raised by drastically older siblings. SOOOO many different circumstances, but many times these different circumstances generate some of the same impacts and questions: "WHY ME? Why do THEY have a mother and a father in a stable household, and I don't even know where I'm going to lay my head at night? And you say you love me God? And you say You have no respect of person? Why me? Why do THEY have a support system and I am struggling financially and emotionally trying to support myself? Why did I have to be the one with the dead beat parent? Why did I have to grow up without? WHY GOD?!"

Let me say this: JUST BECAUSE THE STRUCTURE PRESENTED TO US IS NOT THE ONE THAT COINCIDES WITH WHAT WE DEEM AS ACCURATE..DOESN'T MAKE IT WORNG..IT JUST MAKES IT DIFFERENT.

As "cliche" as it may sound, it is fact that God has a different plan for us all. A different plan. A different path..Otherwise we would have all been made the same with the same mind and the same circumstances right? But instead, God allows each circumstance, each conflict, each smile, to become a part of the unique journey that makes our very being. And this unique journey prepares us to become the parents, teachers, entrepreneaurs, etc. that we become. Yes, some journey's are MUCH harder than others, but I've always kept two things in mind. Number one: To who much is given, much is also required! Number two: God will NEVER put anything on us that we can't bare. Though every purpose is extremely important, some are more intricate and tedious and in return require a lot more preperation. Preperation through circumstances, trials, tribulations, people, etc.. Never underestimate any method of perperation. Embrace each season of your life. Learn from them, and take what you can. Don't resent the process.

Death:

So Painful. So devistating. What I'm learning is the reason that we dread death so much is generally for our own selfish reasons. WE hate the pain. The loss of a person. WE hate the fact that they are no longer tangible ESPECIALLY when a person meant so much to us. Death is a pain that never stops internally..But time heals. We learn to cope better and to move on. The question still remains, however, WHY? WHY did they have to go when they were so young?! Why did they have to get sick and suffer?! Why would you take the ONE person away from me that has ever loved me and been there for me? WHY GOD?!

I remember when I lost my aunt. It was the first death that I had experienced of someone that I was really close to. Was I in pain? Beyond words.. Did I question God?.. Not at all.. Partially because I had learned by that time in my life that His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours.. So there are things that I may never understand.. And also because God allowed me to see that her purpose was more than fulfilled. My aunt had not hit 50 yet and she was a victim of cancer. She left a dughter, a gandson, and a WHHOOLLEEEEE community of people who absolutely ADORED her and her dedication to people and the community. I read an article about her that was written years before her death. She said and I quote

"You know, we kind of talk about what do we want people to say about us. Just say I fought like hell. I worked like hell, and I believed in my community and my people. And that I was a good mother, I'm doing the best I can to be an excellent grandmother, and that I just keep it real." 

She sacrificed so much of hersef and life to ensure that people did not go without. She dedicated herself and her life to the dreams of others. It's kind of hard to explain. She was just a REMARKABLE person to sum it up. But I vented on that to say that the PRIMARY root of my healing was the fact that I understood that she had accomplished and fulfilled the calling that God placed on her life to serve people and the community.

I'm also reminded of Sam Berns, a kid who died at the age of 13 from a disease known as "Progeria" which makes you age fast internally and externally. At the age of 13, Sam's body functioned as a 90 year old man and he also looked as such. I wanched a documentary on him and his family. He was expected to die, but he lived such a jolly life full of love and adventure despite his disease. His parents, though saddened by his departure from Earth, were extremely grateful and joyful that they were allowed the opportunity to share 13 years with such an amazing individual.

Now, I'm not implying the only means of death are diseases. Some are sudden. Others occur in car accidents, murders etc. There are even those cases when death occurs in the masses. Bottom line, we're not going to always understand the reason of their departure, nor is it for us understand all the time. I know we would like to think so, but we are not put on this Earth for our own purposes. Sorry. Our lives are NOT our own. Though it may hurt, and though death can be quite devistating, we have to learn not to be so selfish minded and to understand that though we may not understand, once one'e purpose is fulfilled, God may see fit to remove them from Earth. Let's not view purpose

 Judgement from "religious" people:

This topic is a very sensitive subject, however it MUST be addressed.

Please see the following blog post:

 http://aleshiasworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-not-going.html

Thank you for hearing my heart on this matter. 

~Aleshia