The "Show Off" Blog

There's a Nap for that

2010-12-10T13:33:00.004-05:00

This post has absolutely nothing to do with Unique Business Cards. It's just the best quilt I've ever seen. A cool quilt? I know right?!

Link

Business Cards of Change

2010-12-08T11:39:00.009-05:00

Layoffs stink. No doubt about it. And then having stare at a mound of now useless business cards which silently mock you just adds insult to injury.

The website www.cardsofchange.com collects business cards and stories showing the positive change from people who have recently been laid off and connect them with new opportunities from potential employers, business partners and people who make the effort to look on the bright side of life. Sure, a little negativity sneaks into a few of the cards on the site but cut them some slack - they got laid off.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.showoffcards.com
Unique Business Cards

A unique gift? Unique Business Cards

2010-12-06T12:28:00.005-05:00

Business etiquette consultant Arden Clise thinks a business cardholder would be the perfect gift: "So many people hand out business cards that have been bent in their wallet or stained in the bottom of their purse. A nice business card holder helps your cards and you to look classy."

Good advise Arden. Nothing worse than receiving a business card that looks used. That's just gross. Well, there is one thing worse...receiving a business card that is boring.

As the card owner. Are you boring? Are you just like everyone else? If so, why should I work with / buy from you?

Instead of, or in addition to a business card holder why not give the gift of Unique Business Cards? Nothing says I think you're super than the gift of superhero themed business cards?

A perfect gift for the man or woman who has everything.

I lost my page one rank for "Unique Business Cards"

2010-11-12T16:02:00.006-05:00

I lost my page one rank for "Unique Business Cards" - and I don't like it one bit.

When I started ShowOffCards.com in 2005 I knew I would never get a page one ranking for the very broad "business card" keyword. Too much competition. Plus, since ShowOffCards are WAY MORE Expensive (and WAY MORE effective) than regular business cards I decided to focus on the keyword "Unique Business Cards" since anyone searching on that phrase would - I assumed - be more likely to pay more for something unique.

Long story short, I focused on that and used all the legal tactics I knew to get ShowOffCards.com associated with Unique Business Cards. It worked. I climbed to page one and consistently was floating around spot one through three. Sweet. And the customers were rolling in.

Fast forward a couple of years, throw in a recession, a loss of personal motivation (I kind of got burned out on card design) and a site move and now ShowOffCards.com is now on page three, 7th listing down. And let's face it - page one is where I need to be.

So today, I embark on a personal challenge to move back up in the rankings. Stay tuned for updates.

P.S. $100 off on a set of Show Off Business cards to the first customer to sign up and reference this post prior to payment.

P.S.S. Yes, this post with embedded links is step one in the quest to take back page one.

Business Card Throwing Champ

2010-04-02T10:15:00.004-04:00

Times Square at night in HDR

2010-01-09T19:59:00.008-05:00

After my first attempt at HDR, which I think turned out pretty well, I decided I'd follow the lead of all those already into HDR and get the appropriate software. Nearly everything I have read on HDR recommends to edit using Photomatix so I plopped down $39 bucks for the Light 1.0 version. This is not a review but my first impression is - it's worth it.

I am in NY for a few days and made a few quick shots in the Times Square. I went a bit more grungy and surreal but I like them.

Next thing I want to try are some portraits. Luckily I have 4 lovely models at home...

(Click images for larger versions. Contact me to purchase high rez)

(Not Times Square)

My First HDR-esque Photo Attempt

2009-12-30T17:16:00.018-05:00

Like many people I have been intrigued with HDR photography. I just think some of the HDR shots take a good photo and just make it pop. The effects run from subtle to dramatic so I thought I'd try my hand at it.

What is HDR photography. The best way to explain it is to show examples but basically you take multiple shots of the subject. One at "normal" exposure, one under-exposed and one over-exposed. You then take parts of each exposure to create a best-of-the-best image. Here is how I created my first attempt.

My camera has a bracketed shooting option which takes three quick shots in succession at three aperture settings. I shot Paw-Paws old ford truck as a test. Here are the three images.
PhotoShop has an HDR option that combines the images but I decided to simply make the three images into layers in PhotoShop file; Darkest to lightest, bottom to top. I then used a layer mask to erase parts of each layer to reveal a "better" portion from another layer.
As you can see, the grass at the bottom, the parts behind the letter "F" and the field behind the truck are all properly exposed. None of the three source photos had all those pieces correct. The final composite is not dramatically different than the medium exposure source image - it's just a little better all over.

Once you have a good composite you can take the image and do all sorts of things in PhotoShop. For the image above I think I turned up the contast, turned down the brightness and then I added some "noise" to make it a bit grainy. Lots of options once you get a good composite image.

Poster edges

60% Grayscale

100% Grayscale high contrast

Not bad for a first attempt. I think I'll try some more of these.

The making of our New Moon family photo

2009-12-03T20:54:00.050-05:00

I would like to start this post with two disclaimers:

1) Neither I nor any of my family believe in vampires or the undead. We have a Christmas card reputation to uphold and well, after a while you just have to push the boundaries.

2) If this post is viewed by anyone with any real graphic design training I encourage you to leave now. You will most definitely be offended by my ham-handed digital editing. There. You've been warned.

With that behind me, here is how we made some friends and family smile and some recoil in horror this Christmas.

The "inspiration" photo

Equipment:

Any decent auto-focus digital camera
Tripod. Or in my case a stepladder with a board between two rungs.
Great big halogen shop light
Ultra cheap trouble light

Software:

Photoshop if you have it but for this project I forced myself to use GIMP for the first time. Why? It's a long story but I recently switched my computer operating system to Linux Mint which doesn't run PhotoShop so I wanted to try GIMP which is the free open-source alternative to PhotoShop.

Step 1: Photograph the troops
My garage. After dark. Blinding halogen shop light shining in from the right. Softer trouble light pretty close to the subject giving a little light to the left side. This gives heavy shadowing for that creepy look. Take lots of shots because the ladies are PICKY.

Step 2: Crop the people out of the background.
I do this using the "free select" tool to outline the person and then create a new layer with just the person - no background. Because this creates a layer with a sharp edge I soften the edges a bit with the blur tool - especially the hair. Save and repeat for all your people.

Step 3: Create a very creepy background
Ok, create is a bit misleading. By "create" I really mean Google "dark forest" or "moonlit forest" until you find a high resolution that is at least 4"x6" at 300 dpi. Not sure how to tell? Open an image in GIMP and click on Image / Print Size. I found one that looks better than the New Moon background.

Step 4: Add people to the background
Open the background file. Open one of your people files where you cropped them out and just drag the cropped person layer onto the background.

Step 5: Make your people creepier
Next we need to whiten our people up a bit. Create two copy layers of the original and place them above the original. Take the layer directly above the original and desaturate it (Make it grayscale). The top of the three layers is a full color copy of the original layer.

So you have three layers
- Color layer to edit
- Grayscale underneath
- Original backup

Now, working on the top color layer only I turned down the opacity to about 80% which lets some of the grayscale come through and subdue the colors.

To further whiten the skin you can use the eraser set at about 20 percent and erase more color from the "skin" portions of the top layer.
Step 6: Rinse and Repeat
Finally, go through the same process for the other people. Scale down the people in the back a bit so the perspective looks correct, drop in a layer with text and there you have it. One of the creepiest Christmas cards ever. Hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. The Walgreens photo department questioned me about "copyright" issues when I picked up my prints - so I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

Bing Search Engine Gets It Right

2009-06-01T10:48:00.004-04:00

Well, at lest they got one search right. A search for "Unique Business Cards" turns up ShowOffCards.com in the number one (non-paid) slot.

Not sure I'd bet the farm on Bing unseating Google as the search engine king but it's fun to watch them try.

Beef Jerky Business Card (Yes. Beef Jerky)

2009-05-09T18:25:00.004-04:00

Beef + laser = Jerky business card. And I thought I'd seen it all.

Evolution of a Logo

2009-01-10T21:59:00.010-05:00

It's been 3 years since I launched ShowOffCards. I was also running rscottj.com which was a website design company which I rebranded to ShowOffStudios to build on the whole "show off" theme.

As with most start ups I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a logo design because A) I didn't know if the business would fly and B) my philosophy is to keep cost/overhead low to maximize profit. So I designed my own logo - a move that most experts will tell you is a bad idea. ("Experts" also said you can't sell business cards for $600 per 1000. Shows what they know)

As I thought about a new logo I wanted one logo that would work across the business card business AND the website design business. I wanted to develop an image/icon to represent "Show Off" and then use a text line to differentiate the two businesses - yet let people know they are from the same parent company.

As I kicked this around two things became apparent.
1) I couldn't come up with anything tha I liked to represent "show off"
2) I really like the simplicity of my current showoffcards logo

So, I ended up revamping the showoffcards logo by stylizing it a bit and by simplifying the font. Once I saw that, I started looking at the card shape and realized that if I rotated it 90 degrees and put smaller fingers on both sides it could be a computer monitor - perfect for a website design logo.

All in all I'm pretty pleased. Now I just need to implement the logos.
What do you think? (click for larger image)

Raises? For those bums?!

2009-01-06T07:56:00.007-05:00

"Despite the lousy economy, high unemployment and plummeting housing prices, U.S. congressional members get a $4,700 pay raise this week. The 2.8 percent raise of $4,700 a year will increase most salaries to $174,000 a year, the McClatchy newspaper group reported Monday."

If I'm not mistaken virtually every business in the U.S. is laying people off and in most cases freezing wages. If you're lucky enough to have a job - a pay freeze is not so bad, considering the alternative.

And here we have the congressional brain trust, who set the lending and banking rules that lead to this financial blood bath, voting themselves a raise.

Well technically, they didn't vote FOR a raise. they have such a sweet set up that the raises happen every year unless they decide to ask for a vote to NOT get a raise.

And let's not forget their pension plan which is something like 80% of their salary - for Life!

Contact your congressional rep and ask them why they deserve a raise.

Creating Logos - Harder Than It Looks

2008-12-28T09:28:00.005-05:00

I am in the process of creating a refreshed logo for ShowOffCards.com and create a first logo for ShowOffStudios.com The most difficult part is making it as simple as possible yet conveying the brand.

I am a fan of super simple logos that make you go "Ah-ha!" Here's one that has the ah-ha factor.

It's from the "Guild of Food Writers"
That's just incredible...
(Found via logooftheday.com )

Hot Rod Business Card

2008-12-27T13:12:00.003-05:00

I recently had a ShowOffCards.com client tell me that among other things he was into hot rods and that I had free reign to come up with a concept for his cards. (Ya gotta love clients like that).

The hot rod hobby reminded me of some bubblegum cards I remember from when I was a kid. They were illustrated hot rods with monster themes. I googled around a bit and found them - they were called "Odd Rods" and were drawn by the artist B.K. Taylor.

Long story short, I had my illustrator develop a card with that same look and feel (minus the monster part). I think it turned out pretty cool. You can view his entire card in our Show Off gallery.

Greensboro Website Design

2008-12-26T14:36:00.008-05:00

After the recent relaunch of ShowOffStudios.com I decided to put some effort into getting a front page google ranking for the key word "greensboro website design". After a bit of page design, key word seeding and other basic search engine optimization (SEO) techniques showoffstudios.com is now on page one (fifth place) when searching "greensboro website design".

Bear in mind that there is no guarantee that we'll stay there. Managing your ranking is an ongoing part of running a successful website but it's good to see my efforts pay off.

The good news for me is that this "organic" ranking is free. If someone google "greensboro website design" - there we are and hopefully they click through to my site - again, that click is free.

Prior to achieving the organic rank I was using google AdWords pay-per-click program to "buy" a front page listing. To show up on the home page is free but you pay whenever someone clicks your ad to visit your site. Each and every click - it can be costly.

The "cost per click" varies depending on the popularity of the search term. I was paying around $2 per click. Not bad if I convert to a website sale. You really have to watch the daily spend and see if you are getting a return on your investment - just like any advertising.

So there's my nickel tour on website marketing, search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. If you need a website, check out showoffstudios.com. If you have one but it doesn't rank well in Google, check out showoffstudios.com (The site for greensboro website design )

UPDATE: Three hours later we're at #7 on page one. As I said it's a moving target.

Click here to see where/if we rank right now

The web is a powerful tool. Do you have a website in your marketing arsenal?

2008-12-17T22:59:00.010-05:00

Headline: Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today announced that customers using its industry-leading TurboTax® desktop software products can now prepare and print multiple returns at no additional cost.

Truth: Intuit will rescind the controversial new $9.95 fee for each additional printed return, in response to angry customers online who, among other things, slammed TurboTax's Amazon rating to one star. (Ouch!)

Lesson: Never underestimate the power of the web. People research online. They talk to each other online. They can easily organize online. They talk things up online. They talk things down online. They post links to favorite sites online and they buy (or make the decision to buy) online!

Question: Is your business or organization online?

If you're not online but want to be. Have a look at ShowOffStudios.com .We offer affordable, professional, easily editable websites designed for use by REAL people, not computer people.

Greensboro Website Design

Where Are The Governmental Layoffs?

2008-12-16T21:57:00.004-05:00

VF Corporation "Economizing" Its Company Which Includes Layoffs

RF Micro Devices to cut 150 jobs

American Airlines plans layoffs at MIA

Thousands of layoffs by DHL, ABX Air

and on and on it goes....

EVERYONE is cutting back and laying off except the knuckleheads in Washington who are largely responsible for this mess. *sigh*

Christmas is a Gift Card Exchange

2008-12-10T19:18:00.006-05:00

The following is directed to the grown-ups in the crowd. (I'm 100% in favor of kids and Christmas presents!)

The headline is a bit harsh but it's not that far from the truth. Let's be honest here. For a lot of us, and I'm including myself, we are blessed with everything we need and more.

When Christmas rolls around we take our list and ask "What do you want?" and then we trudge out and spend money that we probably shouldn't. When we're asked "What do you want?" - we struggle to come up with a suggestion.

It's crazy.

My friend Michelle Shelton had a video on her FaceBook page and it said what I've been thinking for quite some time. This post may seem like I'm bashing Christmas but I'm not. Have a look and let me know what you think?

What are YOUR chances of being shot today?

2008-11-23T22:41:00.007-05:00

Probability of me being shot today: Zero.

I for one am thankful that our military men and women are willing to do what they do. God bless them all.

Read my Thanksgiving post from last year and to do a little something to support our troops.

iPower.com Still Sucks

2008-11-18T18:54:00.005-05:00

Nick Brown aka mystical Tech 2 has responded to my rant in typical iPower fashion. Let me dissect his latest response.

Hello Scott,
Thank you for contacting us.
Canned response but at least they said "thanks"

I have verified your issue and noticed that our software extensions are broken.
Really?! That's what I told the first guy you moron! I explained to him that it was the same problem that ipower first denied (sound familiar - see my last post) and then fixed in July and several times before.

I have to reinstall the extension.
I know. That's what I told the first guy!

So, could you please take the backup of your Website and get back to us with confirmation?
This is beautiful. When I was on with Tech moron 1 I told him that every time this occurred, the only solution was to reinstall the extensions. He asked me "Do you have a local backup of the site?" to which I said yes. So he says "I'll make a note of this in the log so they don't have to contact you prior to doing the reinstall." *Sound of me banging head on keyboard*

I can then reinstall the extension for the account. If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console.

Sincerely,
Nick (I am a robot following a script - facts be damned) Brown
Technical Specialist (Extraordinaire)

Stay tuned for more of the iPower Sucks saga

iPower.com Sucks!

2008-11-17T22:20:00.009-05:00

I can't begin to explain the frustration I have experienced with iPower over the last year (or more). A few days ago I began the process of moving all my sites away from these clowns. If, by some chance you are looking for a web host I won't send you to anyone but I will say never, ever do business with iPower.com

Here is their top notch response to my 45 minute wait and 25 minute call with their tech support:

Hello Scott,
Thank you for contacting us. We have checked your issue regarding you website and noticed that it is working fine from our end. We were able to connect and publish the test page without any issue. Could please check it from your end? If you still persist from the same issue, please get back to us with exact error message. So that, we can assist you further to resolve the issue. If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console.

Sincerely,
Nick Brown
Technical Specialist

Here is my recent rant in response to there latest slap in my face.

The problem remains. Exactly as described in excruciating detail to your tech support helpless line. It is the exact same problem you solved (on your end) in July and before that and before that.

You conveniently ignore the fact that I successfully update other sites hosted at iPower using the same computer and the same website management software.

Once again the top notch iPower "Level 2 techs" address the problem by sending a canned email stating "IT'S FIXED" when in fact they've done nothing. As usual.

Having been an iPower customer for years with multiple accounts and a VPS with iPower, I would think someone might have the courtesy to give me a call.

But once again iPower kicks me in the face.

You've worn me down with your customer disservice department so I will begin moving every account I can away from iPower. I only wish I could do it quicker.

P.S. Forward this to someone in your organization who cares. I realize the chances of you finding such a person at iPower is slim but since you're obviously not doing anything else - give it a try.

Volvo Asks "Am I a Failure :^( or OUTSTANDING!"

2008-10-11T15:17:00.007-04:00

Volvo's last forever.

Of course, the reason they last forever is that when you take them in for service, if there is the slightest problem with any component - they replace it. Granted, it keeps the car running like a top but it can get expensive. That's the Volvo plan and you should know this when you buy one. No problem so far.

Here's what frosts my flakes. After every service I get this handy survey form. As you will note, I am asked to rate Volvo on several topics on a scale of 1 to 10. That's fine but look closer. Options 1-9 are listed as "Failure" and option 10 is listed as "Outstanding". I received this one in the mail but if your service tech or service manager hands it to you in person they are quick to point out that anything less than 10 is a failure and reflects on them - personally.

Talk about a useless survey. They are rigging the results! It's not a 1-10 rating scale - it's pass fail. Now unless they dropped your car off the lift it's hard to imagine you're going to give them anything less than a ten. The average customer is going to give them a 10 simply because the only other option is to say "You are a failure".

I think I'll return this one with 9's and see what happens...

Dear Volvo,
You can do better than this cheesy pseudo-survey. Let your work speak for itself.

ChiefShowOfficer Test Drives MakeMeSuper.com

2008-09-22T23:29:00.006-04:00

UPDATE: Come on Kodak! My movie doesn't work now (It did last night). Here I am trying to spread the love and your system fails me...The press release stated a 9/22 launch and I noticed that the site wasn't up until the evening of the 22nd (not a good omen) - and now on the 23rd my video isn't loading. So much for going viral with this one....

***********************************************

Seeing as how ShowOffCards makes people into superhero's everyday, as I was flipping through a marketing magazine today the word "superhero" caught my eye. Turns out that one of the marketing wonks at Kodak decided to see if they could do an "elfyourself" knockoff and create some viral buzz around their online Kodak Gallery.

Pretty good idea actually. What with the whole "You used to put film in a camera Dad?" phenomenon, Kodak has a lot riding on digital pics, so developing a cool place to store them and do stuff with them is essential.

Of course I had to check out the MakeMeSuper.com site and see how they stack up in the superhero development category.

Not bad. Not a lot of personalization options (I would have opted for a pair of not-so-tight shorts) but it's quick and easy to use and the end product is silly and fun - and you can't have too much of that.

I will now leave you with my rendition of Super Scott - enjoy

Any jobs available at ShowOffCards?

2008-09-16T20:29:00.005-04:00

As a small business owner I still think it's funny when people email me to inquire about employment. Don't get me wrong, I am flattered. Amazed and flattered, so I usually try to send a personal "thanks-but-can't-help-you" email.

At the same time I get a little puffed up with pride too. I obviously have convinced someone that my small business is a lot bigger than it really is. And that my friends is the beauty of the internet.

You can be as big as you want to be on the internet!

But (You knew there was one coming), there are two things you must do first:
1) Get a real email address and
2) Get a real website.

Let's discuss both shall we.

Real email:
If you send business related emails using @aol, @gmail, @comcast, @netzero or anything other than you@yourdomain.com you will be summarily written off as a hack before they read the first word. I know for a fact *cough* IhavedoneitwhenIwasacompanycog *cough* that when companies are culling through leads from a trade show, email addresses as noted above do not get the follow up that "real" addresses do. It's the same philosophy when scanning incoming emails. Survival of the fittest, playing the odds, time is money, whatever you want to call it - contacts from those types of email addresses don't get taken seriously from a business perspective.

There are lots of places to get your own email so sit tight and I'll give you a recommendation later.

Real website:
You need to have one and it must be www.yourdomain.com. Never use a domain like freewebs.com/mybusiness. You can register a "real" domain name and host a site for around $60 per year. If your business can't afford that, you don't have a business. Ouch. How's that for some tough love?

Now. About your website. They don't cost $10,000 any more. They don't even cost $2,000 anymore - at least for what you need to establish a web presence. The reason you have to have a website is because if you send out emails using yourname@yourdomain.com some of your email recipients (the smart ones) are going to go to yourdomain.com and so you better have something there for them to see or you are back to "@aol" status.

"Ok, Mr. Smarty Pants, you've convinced me. How do I get a real email and a real website?"

Fair enough. Here's what you do.
First, come up with a domain name. You definitely want a .com domain. It should be as short as possible and it should be as close as you can get to the the name of your business.

Next, go to GoDaddy.com. I know. I know - you techno geeks who already have (and probably host) your own site can suggest 20 places that are "better" than GoDaddy and yes, you are probably right. But, I am directing this to the web owner newbies. I'll sacrifice some functionality and cost for simplicity, and based on my experience, the GoDaddy interface is easy to use and they actually answer the phone if you have questions. Sign up for the Website Tonight economy hosting plan and for less than $60 you get one year of hosting and email for the domain you selected.

Once you are signed up, log in and poke around your account. Pretty soon you'll have a working email, a passable website and you'll be saying "Hey, this ain't that hard!".

When you get your site up. Shoot me an email and tell me how the process went. I promise to open mail from you@yourdomain.com
(I still won't be hiring but I'd still like to hear from you.)

P.S. Gmail ROCKS - but only as a secondary email / back up account (That's a whole other post)

Vote for ShowOffCards in the Home Based 100 Contest

2008-09-10T22:25:00.003-04:00

Only looking for a minute of your time. Begging for votes. Thanks!

Dear Stephenie Meyer...I'm Your Number One Fan

2008-09-09T23:26:00.005-04:00

Dear Stephenie,
Thanks to a temporary lapse in available reading material, I picked up a book that my 16 year old daughter had been raving about. It was called "Twilight". What can I say - You had me at "Bella".

While I am currently plowing through "New Moon" I see that there are only a few more books before I finish the series. And THEN I hear that you have decided not to finish Midnight Sun. That is totally unacceptable. I have decided that I am going to help you write your new book.

There is nothing to worry about. You are going to be just fine. I am your number one fan.

The Power Of The Internet Reaches Poland

2008-07-14T21:14:00.005-04:00

Guess what? ShowOffCards has been written up in Money magazine! Thanks Anna Błońska

Now do not let the fact that this is the Money magazine in Poland rain on your parade. Because hey - it's still Money magazine and apparently Money magazine is big in Poland since it has a google page rank of 6 which rocks in anybody's book.

Now I don't speak or read Polish. And based on my scan of the article I am not sure ShowOfCards was actually mentioned in the article but we did make the accompanying slide show.

So what's the big deal you ask?

Here is the take away. I darn near own the phrase "unique business cards". At ShowOffCards my keyword target is "unique business cards". We strive to BE unique business cards all day, every day. I have "unique business cards" in my blog posts, in the web site copy, include it as the "alt text' on images an on and on. (Heck I just snuck "unique business cards" in five times in this paragraph alone).

When Anna Blonska googled or Yahoo'd or MSN "unique business cards" it's a pretty good bet that we popped up and that is how she came to contact us.

Guess what. That same technique works with paying customers too.

So. What phrase do you own?
What phrase SHOULD you own?

I'ts a lot easier to let customers find you than pay to find them.

Show Off Cards Affiliate Program Goes Live

2008-07-12T21:24:00.007-04:00

Make money selling the world's most unique business cards.
Here are the details on making millions* as a ShowOffCards affiliate.

*your results may vary by as much as -$999,950. But you can make a little "mad money".

The Price Is Right. Maybe The Value Is Wrong

2008-06-20T07:42:00.003-04:00

According to Seth godin

"Your sales force and your customers may scream that you need to lower your price. It's not true. You need to increase your value. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging.

You're not selling a commodity unless you want to."

As usual, Well said Seth.

I sell business cards. You can get all the free business cards you want. I'm not sure what business you're in but I doubt that you have competitors who give their product away on an everyday basis.

I absolutely did not want to compete for customers looking for free business cards (a commodity). So I had to develop a product with some sort of added value. The value I give my customers is:

1) A business card that NO ONE ELSE HAS

2) A business card tells you more than my contact information. It tells you about me. Who I am.

3) A business card that is fun (is your card really fun?)

4) A business card that in and of it self can spark a conversation

5) A business card that screams "I am not your garden variety *your profession here*!"

6) A card, that because they cost a lot of money, offer exclusivity.

Now. If I can take business cards out of the commodity arena. Surely you can do something to make you, your product or your service less of a commodity.

No Muppets Were Harmed In the Making of this Card

2008-06-12T21:59:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure what to say about this card. I can tell you that it involves drums, a decapitated muppet and Tony Lloyd. Check it out in all it's glorious gore.

Or check out Tony's mad drumming skills - That's right, he's got skills...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Muppet, Drummer, Tony Lloyd

Brilliant Bakery Business Card

2008-03-28T23:06:00.005-04:00

As you may have guessed, I am a fan of cool business cards and I have a soft spot in my heart for really good marketing. And my general rule of thumb for marketing is that "simpler is better" - assuming you get your idea across. If you buy my theory that simpler is better, then this business card is hitting on all cylinders.

You could hand this card out with nothing printed on it and most people would immediately think "bread". It's made in the shape of a plastic bread closer thing-a-ma-jig. Pure simplicity.

The natural inclination for designing a business card for a bakery would be a photo of bread - DUH. That is what I refer to as "blunt object" marketing. Never do it.

Give me something I don't expect. Something that makes me pause for a second. Something to make me smile. Something to let me know you are unique.

Nice work Mr. Bakery Man

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, bakery, simple business card, simplicity

Hey Realtors, Whatcha gonna do?

2008-02-26T21:36:00.003-05:00

Every day, as I see the troubles in the real estate market, I thank my lucky stars I am not directly involved in that industry. Sure, when home prices were growing like kudzoo up a telephone pole everyone was happy.

Homeowners just sat back and watched their equity grow. Realtors pulled in the commissions hand over fist. Life was good for realtors. Yep. Life WAS good for realtors. Now, not so much.

When listings and buyers basically fell in your lap, you thought "Why do I need to alter my marketing plan".

Now that every sale seems to take monumental effort you're thinking "I can't afford to alter my marketing plan".

Well guess what, a unique marketing plan can help you sell more in good times and maybe more importantly in bad times as well. I've preached this for quite some time. Have you listened? Nooooo.

Well if you won't take it from me, how about if Seth Godin said it?

He has a fantastic post directed right at the realtors in the crowd. It will be painful to some and eye opening to all. You must read the whole thing but here's a bit of a tease:

"...become the expert in what you do. Which means micro-specialization. Who is the single-best agent for condos in your zip code? Or for single family homes for large families? Who is the one and the only best person to turn to if you’re looking for investment property in this part of town?

"Some of you will stick with the standard business card with the standard photo, the standard office and the standard ad strategy and the standard approach to making the phone ring. It's going to be a long haul if that's your route."
The whole story

And when you're ready to "Become the expert" at whatever, call ShowOffCards and we'll develop an image that SCREAMS "I AM THE EXPERT"!

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Seth Godin, Realtor, Real Estate

Diggers and the Knitting Fetish

2008-02-12T22:29:00.004-05:00

First off, let me say I am a Digg fan and if you haven't visited, by all means, you should. I, on the other hand, visit it way more than I should.

One thing that just mystifies me is the fascination with knitting. More specifically anything knitted that relates to nerdiness or 70's and 80's video games. Mario, Space Invaders is hugely poular and someone even knitted a pair of Chucks aka converse all stars. I don't get it. I really don't.

In an effort to get into the whole "knitting mindset" thing I decided to knit a Digg blanket. Problem is I don't knit. But I do PhotoShop. Admittedly, not very well but I do PhotoShop so I proudly lift up my original Digg blanket as an homage to the real knitters out there. Keep doing what you do. Knit one, pearl two or whatever.

And will someone please explain the fascination...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Digg, Knitting, Space Invaders

"If a frog had a pocket he'd probably carry a gun."

2008-02-12T20:01:00.000-05:00

My dad gave me that nugget of wisdom when I was a hanging out with him at the Jones crib in Brookneal many years ago. I know, we didn't use the term crib back then except as it relates to infant beds but I'm trying to stay relevant. I don't remember what prompted him to say it or exactly how he explained it to me - but I never forgot it.

The way I read it, is it means not to worry about the "If's" in life, at least the ones related to "If I had done this..." because you can't change what's done any more than that frog can carry a gun in his pocket...man, that is profound. Nice work Pops.

Note: the above rambling has nothing to do with the below post other than the "If" word.

Scott (you know, that guy with the name tag) had a good post about the If Factor. The bullet points are below but you'll need to visit his post to get the juicy details.

I post this to prompt any of those ShowOffCard fence sitters to just do it. Think about your marketing efforts as you read the list below. Then sign up for your own set of ShowOffCards - 'cause dude, your marketing is BO-RING.

1. IF … everybody loves your idea, you’re doing something wrong.
2. IF … everybody says you’re crazy, you might just be onto something.
3. IF … you’re not pissing off (some) people, you’re not doing your job.
4. IF … at first your idea doesn’t sound absurd, there is no hope for it.
5. IF … nobody’s trying to steal, copy or parody your idea, it’s probably not that good.
6. IF … you can’t explain it to a five year old, it’s not simple enough.
7. IF … people aren’t talking about your idea, you're in trouble.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Scott Ginsberg, If Factor

I told you we ARE Unique Business Cards

2008-02-09T10:58:00.001-05:00

Now I'm not one to brag...
HA Ha HA hahaha
Ok. I thought I could pull that off. I really did...

Anyway, we've said it before but now we have official confirmation from the brain-trust over at Create Business Growth that ShowOffCards are not just unique business cards but we are INCREDIBLY unique business cards. (We send special love to the author - Christine O'Kelly)

Since finding our product on CreateBusinessGrowth.com I subscribed to their feed and I am now enjoying regular nuggets of markting gold. I highly recommend a visit.

Gotta run. I'm working up a rocking set of cards for Will Tyson over at Visual Designs.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Creating Business Growth, Will Tyson, Visual Designs

Business Card Innovation - We Love It!

2008-02-06T20:06:00.000-05:00

It doesn't happen often (except at ShowOffCards.com) but Chung Dha Lam has actually innovated in the all-too-often-boring world of business cards. How you ask? Animation!

Now I know you're thinking to yourself. "An animated business card. Yeah right. It's probably some fancy electronic thing developed by a socially stunted electrical engineering geek from MIT which just happens to be the size of a business card but costs about a bazillion dollars each and you could never afford to actually give them out as a business card is intended."

Well guess what? Aside from thinking in really long run-on sentences you would be wrong. W-R-O-N-G. No electronics required. Chung does it with printed lines and vertical openings and other such graphic tricks - but no electronics.

Chung's friend Tal Siach posted a great interview with Chung and they explain the whole thing so head on over to www.walyou.com/blog for the skinny.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, animated business card, Chung Dha Lam, Tal Siach

ShowOffCards Wins an Emmy!

2008-01-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, that's not quite true. But one of our most recent Show Offs won an Emmy, simply by handing out his Show Off Cards...You're not buying this are you? Ok, I'll come clean.

We have just finished up a set of Show Off Cards for a real life Emmy award winner - Mr. Jim Walsh! We feel honored just by association.

Jim is a 22 year veteran of the production industry. His client list includes everything from fortune 500 companies to sports teams to National Politicans. In 2007 Jim won the EMMY Award for Technical Achievement for his production entitled "Horizon".

Now I know zip about the production industry (I think that means he films stuff) but I can tell you one thing from first hand experience. The man has a vision and if you're working with him (or for him in my case) he will not rest until his vision is realized. Really. He WILL NOT REST UNTIL HIS VISION IS REALIZED. Great if he's working for you - not so much, if you're working for him ;^)

Seriously, it was a blast working with Jim.
Check out Jim and all our ShowOffs in the ShowOff Gallery

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Emmy, James Walsh, Technical Achievement

Branding via Caricature?

2007-11-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

Once again Seth Godin hits the branding nail on the head. Here is a tease:

"Worse than avoiding the negative, though, is the tendency for most organizations to resist creating a brand that can be caricatured. It doesn't feel safe or responsible or prudent. Coloring inside the lines and pleasing most of your customers most of the time almost guarantees you'll be bland." Seth's full post.

As you can tell from the "ShowOff" card to the left, at least one member of the podiatric community has decided that bland will not do. So, "Hat's Off" to Dr. Jeff Szczepanski for daring to caricature his brand - which in this case is himself.

And so, how's your "brand" working out?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Seth Godin, Jeff Szczepanski, caricature

How's this for being Unique?

2007-07-24T21:38:00.000-04:00

It's hard to come up with a totally new take on a product that has been around for a couple of thousand years - shoes (or business cards even). As a fan, and proponent of "Unique", my hat is off to the folks at vibramfivefingers.com. Oh, and if by some chance this post makes it's way to someone at Vibram, I wear a 10 1/2. Any color is fine - I don't want to be any trouble...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, vibram, fivefingers, shoes

A Unique business Card with 1/3 the Attitude

2007-05-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

I bet you were starting to wonder where I've been. I know, I know. I've been majorly slacking on the blog but I have been busy.

While the Original Show Off Cards are a huge success and continue to grow in popularity, there are some people who aren't quite ready for that level of "attitude".

So, not being one to sit around I decided to cut the attitude by a third and developed Show Off Cards Lite. In short it is a vectorized portrait (shown left) of you which is used in full color on one side of your card and as a subtle background on the reverse with your contact info.

Basically, you get the "That's Cool" reaction (hey, you just got remembered!) but you're not "pushing the envelope" quite as aggressively.

Take a look. It's time you did SOMETHING different.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
ShowOffCards.com

Surprise is Good

2007-02-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

Seth Godin had another great post that backs up my theory that surprise is a great way to be remembered and spread the word. Enjoy this excerpt.

"If you want the word to spread, if you expect me to take action I've never taken before, it seems to me that you need to do something that hasn't been done before. It might not feel safe, but if you do the safe thing, I guarantee you won't surprise anyone. And if you don't surprise anyone, the word isn't going to spread."

Here is the entire post from Seth

Troops Stabbed In The Back

2007-02-21T20:52:00.000-05:00

Agree or disagree with the war...your choice. But how about supporting those brave souls laying their lives on the line for us huh?

Crushing Car Prices

2007-01-30T21:41:00.000-05:00

Finally! I am very surprised that it took this long for someone in the car biz to decide to Show Off. Realtors caught on pretty quick that Showing Off pays and our latest Show Off, Todd Smith, will soon be enjoying a a jump in sales and income.

If Real Estate is competitive, the car business is Uber-competitive. Heck, your competitors in many cases are selling the EXACT same product in a dealership in the next town over. If that's not bad enough the guy in the next cubicle is waiting to pounce on your client. You better do something to stand out.

P.S. Somebody better tell Detroit to ramp up because Chevy sales are about to skyrocket! Go get 'em Todd.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Chevy, Auto Sales, New Jersey

ShowOffCards Goes Bi-lingual

2007-01-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we've finally done it. Our first non-English ShowOffCard!

Not a big deal for most but since the Chief Show Officer (Yours Truly) is painfully mono-lingual I was very excited to work with Pierre Tijerino on his unique Show Off business cards and personal Show Off Web Page. Luckily, Pierre very patiently provided me with all the translations needed.

If you're looking for a realtor in or around Santa Ana, California, give Pierre a call. And it doesn't matter if you speak Spanish or English - he's got you covered.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Pierre Tijerino, Realtor, Santa Ana

Look. It's "Sand"ta!

2006-12-25T15:25:00.000-05:00

Nothing much to say except Merry Christmas. Take a few moments and count your blessings.
I ran across this picture on TheCoolHunter.net and just wanted to share.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Merry Christmas, Sand Sculpture

Curves Are Good!

2006-11-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

The fashion industry has gone absolutely nutty. Case in point: One of the pictured models was reduced to tears when she was castigated on the reality TV show for not taking a food and exercise regime seriously. The other model was praised for having a "sensational" body for modeling despite having a body mass index of 16.1.

That's just twisted. Worse than the photoshopped magazine covers...
Link via dailymail.co.uk

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Size 0, BMI, thin model

Garage Organization Stands the Test of Time

2006-11-12T14:21:00.000-05:00

In my April '06 post titled "Master of My Garage" I showed you how I turned wasted space in the top of my garage into useful storage. Today as I pulled down virtually all of the totes containing Christmas decorations (What can I say - Mrs. ShowOff likes to decorate early) I thought I'd let you know that the project has survived the heat of a NC Summer without any failure. There was the possibility that either the totes or the supporting hanger rails could "wilt" enough in the heat to cause a failure but thankfully, all appears to be in tact.

For those of you who will soon be pulling down your Christmas decorations, remember that you will eventually have to rebox and store them. Go ahead and bookmark this so you too can join the ranks of the organized.

Note that I skillfully did not show you the rest of my garage because it is a disaster. Oh well, there's always 2007!

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Garage Storage, Organization

Vroom Vroooom

2006-11-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

Industry data shows that 75% of Americans have access to the Internet (obviously you are part of that 75%) and what is really interesting is that 45.15% of Internet-connected U.S. households (Almost half of your neighbors) enjoy a high-speed connection.

Being a bit geeky I have run speed tests in the past to see how "high-speed" my high-speed internet was. If you care to check your connection speed there is a really slick speed test at speedtest.net. I am on RoadRunner and clocked in at 3307 kbps down and 284 kbps up.

For those of you who are still on dial-up, I can only say don't try a high speed internet connection unless you're ready to pay the piper because once you try it, dial up just won't cut it.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Speed Test, roadrunner

Think "Thanks" this Thanksgiving

2006-11-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

With Halloween behind us we all start counting the days until Thanksgiving and the paid day off from work. Thanksgiving as we all know, and as the name of the holiday accurately conveys, is a time for giving thanks for all of our blessings.

I can't think of anything to be more thankful for, than the fact that I am blessed to live in America - land of the free and the brave. I consider myself "free" and want to take a blog minute to say "thank you" to all the brave military men and women sacrificing daily for my freedom.

If you feel the same I found a great way to send out a very personal thank you to our service men and women. It's called the Let's Say Thanks organization.

The mission of Let's Say Thanks is to provide a way for individuals across the country to recognize U.S. troops stationed overseas. By submitting a message through their site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women. The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, were selected from a pool of entries from children across the country.

All you have to do is click on your favorite design and either select the message that best expresses your sentiment or draft a personal note. The Chief Show Officer recommends a personalized message - If Xerox prints and mails it, the least you can do is write a personal message. The postcards are then printed on the Xerox iGen3Â® Digital Production Press (Don't begrudge Xerox their plug) and mailed in care packages by military support organization Give2TheTroopsÂ®.

So. You're sitting at your computer. Here is the link. I know you've got lots to be thankful for. Tell someone thanks.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Lets Say Thanks, Xerox, US Military

Hello Hokies!

2006-10-21T23:09:00.000-04:00

ShowOffCards.com will soon be profiled in the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Magazine so I would like to extend a warm welcome to any fellow Hokies who may be stopping by for a visit.

Having spent 4.25 wonderful years (there was that one Summer session) in beautiful Blacksburg Virginia I walked away with a diploma ('85 Bus. Mgmt) and lots of fond memories. It seems like only yesterday...doodlydoo, doodlydoo, doodlydoo *Wayne's World dream sequence sound effect*

- Move in day on the 7th floor of Lee Hall
- Thursday night at "Top of The Stairs" singing a rousing rendition of New York New York with Frank.
- Water Safety Instructor class at 8:00 Am during Winter quarter - with the pool heater on the fritz. By the way, it was Jim Z's fault that I only received my BSI.
- A snowstorm that actually cancelled classes, but didn't close downtown if you know what I mean
- Jill and Ed Hampton literally kickin' my ass in karate class
- The feeling of walking out of the final exam for the quarter (any quarter). Only to be topped by the feeling of walking out of the final exam of your college career.
- Resident Advisor pay of $49 per week
- Slusher Beach

So, what's your favorite VT memory? and please - this is a family friendly site :^)

P.S. Now that we've had our trip down memory lane, how's about you click on over to ShowOffCards.com and buy something - I've got three kids to put through college!

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Virginia Tech, Hokies, Blacksburg

Cheaters, Liars and Thieves Beware

2006-10-21T13:50:00.000-04:00

If you happen to be a cheating spouse, a deadbeat dad, an insurance fraud or any other sort of miscreant I sincerely hope that someone puts "Mr. Sting" on your case.

Our newest showoff is Mr. Lynn Griffith - aka. Mr. Sting - and while I can't show you his face, it's a distinct possibility that if you are up to no good in or around Tulsa Oklahoma, Mr. Sting might just be watching yours.

If you need a discreet and professional private investigator to help you find and document the truth, give Sting Investigations a call.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Mr. Sting, Lynn Griffith, Tulsa investigator

Cure For Stage Fright?

2006-10-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

No, I don't have a cure for stage fright but since just about everybody is afraid of public speaking I thought I'd give you a tip. My buddy Scott Ginsberg has just posted an e-book - Ok, it's more of a list, which is way easier to read than a whole book - listing umpteen things you need to know about giving speeches.

I realize that most of you aren't professional speakers (See point 31) but who can't improve on their public speaking skills?

P.S. Pay special attention to Scott's point number 63....No, I'm not going to tell you what it says - go read it yourself (and tell Scott I sent you).

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Scott Ginsberg, Public Speaking

Secret To The Universe

2006-10-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

I recently ran across a great article by Scott Yost of The Rhino Times. In this article Scott reveals the "Magi’s Amazing Double-secret Rule of Infinite Attainment".

While that is quite a tall order to fill I'd have to say - he nailed it. He wrapped it all up in a real life story that could apply to any and all of us with a tweak here or there. Read it. It's worth your time.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Scott Yost, Rhino Times, Rhino

24% Nerdy (Maybe more)

2006-09-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

My brother turned me on to the "White and Nerdy Quiz". I think the graphic pretty much says it all. Based on the quiz I took, I am only 24% nerdy - my brother is 44% nerd (hee hee).

Since I am pretty darn white I guess that means I'm not all that nerdy...of course I just made a blog entry about my nerdyness so... drats! I am a nerd.
AHHH I said "drats" *runs off screaming*

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, White and Nerdy, Sinanju

I'd Rather Poke Myself With A Sharp Stick

2006-09-19T22:28:00.000-04:00

I recently read a blog post that summarized my feelings on business related small talk:

"Not only do I dislike small talk, it actually makes me nervous. I am not the wallflower type but sober conversation for the sake of sober conversation, with people I would never encounter in day-to-day life, confuses me."

Odd for a ShowOff huh? But there you have it. At least there is one other person who feels the same as I do.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Company Bitch, Small Talk

Ford. Found On Road Dead?

2006-09-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

Growing up I heard the occasional Chevy fan claim that FORD stood for Found On Road Dead.
Juvenile? Yes.
True? Today, sadly, it seems as if it might be.

So what happened at Ford? I'll leave the gory details and possible post-mortem for the analysts but I think it boils down to a fundamental unwillingness to change - coupled with an inbred fear of unions.

Unions served their purpose decades ago (see Norma Rae), but over the years they became tools of the union bosses to gain power and line their pockets. If you care to argue the point, take a look at the non-union US auto makers who are eating FORD's lunch. I'd be willing to bet that workers at the non-union Toyota plant are generally a pretty happy lot.

A bigger issue is the unwillingness to change. Would taking a stand against the unions years ago have hurt? Oh yes. Big time. Would it have hurt as much as what is about to come for FORD and it's rank and file - I doubt it.

The poor performance from 5 years ago didn't get any better by continuing to do the same things, the same way with the same business model. Expecting different results from the same behavior is the definition of insanity.

So, has anything changed in your industry in the last five years?
Of course. What industry hasn't.
Now, what have you done differently in response?

Gotcha there, huh.
Go ahead. Shake things up.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, FORD, Labor Unions, Change

Can a Realtor Be Over Qualified?

2006-09-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Attention all real estate buyers and sellers in or anywhere near Alhambra, California. Stop what you're doing and call our latest Show Off - Anne Shaw. Anne is not only a top flight real estate agent but she is also sporting an MBA and if you need a notary at closing, she's got that covered as well. Oh, and three more things. Anne speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

If you can find a more qualified realtor, I'd sign them up; If not, call Anne.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Real Estate Business Card, Realtor, Alhambra Realtor

Are You Menger Sponge Worthy?

2006-08-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

Since I know that everyone has scoured every entry on the Show Off Cards blog as well as ShowOffCards.com I am sure that you are very familiar with my article entitled "How To Waste 5 Minutes and 6 Business Cards". In this award winning article (Hey... it could happen!) I show you how to take 6 of your old boring business cards and make them into a really cool cube. Stop laughing. Somebody out there probably thinks they're cool.

Anyway, Dr Jeannine Mosely created some...great big...thing... out of these business card cubes. To quote Dr. Mosely "The resulting object is comprised of 66,048 cards folded into 8000 interlinked sub-cubes, with the entire surface paneled to reveal the Level 2 and Level 3 fractal iterations." This is known as the Menger Sponge.

I can only assume that that means something to the mathematician community. As for me I just think it would be really fun to perform a "Fosbury flop" right in the middle of it.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Menger Sponge

No Place Like Your Home

2006-08-25T23:18:00.000-04:00

If you happen to be looking to buy or sell real estate in or around Albuquerque New Mexico - have I got a realtor for you! DeAnna Armijo of Pargin Realty ERA is standing by to wave her magic wand and get you into the home of your dreams.

If she is willing to promote herself with the boldness of a ShowOffCard then she is going to leave other realtors in the dust when it comes to promoting your property. Give her a call.

P.S. If you are a realtor who stumbled on this blog post you need to ask yourself this question:
"Is there anything about you that sets you apart from the sea of realtors in your area?"
If not, give me a call. We can go as mild or as wild as you want but let's do something about that boring business card you're handing out.

P.S.S. Book mark this site because I am about to post a "Wild" real estate Show Off that... well let's just say, you need to check back...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, Real Estate, Realtor, Armijo

ShowOffCards Is Awesome!

2006-08-06T17:51:00.000-04:00

I've been telling anyone who would listen that ShowOffCards.com was awesome for quite some time but now I can prove it - We're "certified" as awesome. Just click here for proof.

Ok, I'll admit that this is indeed a cheesy ploy to once again tout the ShowOffCards brand but who said I was above cheesy promotional gimmicks? I have to give the AwesomeMillion.com founders (Dave and Jim) credit for coming up with a unique "take" on the MillionDollarHomepage. I don't think I could stand yet another unimaginative copycat site.

So Jim and Dave, here's to you helping prove to the world that ShowOffCards is Awesome!

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, awesomemillion, milliondollarhomepage

Not In My Car

2006-08-05T11:27:00.000-04:00

I am not a smoker. Never have been. Don't see the allure.

If you choose to smoke that's fine, but please answer me this. Why is it that you find it perfectly acceptable to carry cigarettes with you everywhere, smoke them in the confines of your car but when you finish one you invariably throw the butt out of your car window?

I guess it's possible that you are simply an equal opportunity litter bug and toss out paper bags, bottles and gum wrappers but I have a feeling that it may be limited to cigarette butts - like they're somehow "not litter". They are, so please keep them in your car until you can dispose of them properly. Thanks - and go get that cough looked at...

In the interest of full disclosure I was once a cog in the great wheel of the tobacco industry when as a very young man I pulled tobacco for a few summers. Nothing like being dressed in long sleeve pants and shirt, hunched over in between four foot tall rows of tobacco in 90+ degree heat to crystallize your decision to pursue higher education.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags cigarettes, litter, tobacco, cancer

We Are "Unique Business Cards"

2006-07-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

Well people...as of today July 25th 2006, if you enter the term "Unique Business Cards" into Google, Yahoo or MSN, ShowOffCards.com is returned in the top 10 search results for all three! Yipee for us. Here are the Dogpile results for all three.

Based on the vagaries of search engine algorithms and the voodoo behind those algorithms it is possible that this may all change overnight but for right now, we feel pretty good about ourselves.

Granted we haven't captured the more generic "Business Cards" search term but then again you have to be looking for and be willing to pay for uniqueness if you are a potential Show Off.

So. Are you Unique or Indistinguishable?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique, Business Cards

Tags Unique Business Cards, SEO

Kevin Kerr (Brand New Show Off) On "The Daily Show"

2006-07-20T23:39:00.000-04:00

My new friend, favorite commodity trading guru and most recent Show Off (Kevin Kerr) was on the Daily Show tonight. He was interviewed by the lovely Daily Show correspondent, Samantha Bee. Kevin was asked to share his theories on how we can improve our hurricane preparedness. More specifically, how we can profit from hurricanes or as Samantha calls them "Hurricatunities". View the video clip entitled "Are You Prepared?? to Cash In".

Now I'm not saying that Kevin and everyone at ShowOffCards are hoping for any hurricanes...but if there's money to be made - who are we to stand in the way.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Kevin Kerr, Daily Show, Commodities

Get Chad Turner A Shredder

2006-07-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

Read the article then let's use the "six degrees of separation" thing to find someone in the blogosphere who has connections in the paper shredding machine industry and hook Chad Turner up.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Chad Turner, Shredder, Down syndrome

Mediocre or a Bit Scary?

2006-07-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

I Just read a great article on Seth Godin's blog that he titled "How to live happily with a great designer". Read it.

I have excerpted a couple of my favorite points that I think are very applicable to business card design:

1. If you want average (mediocre) work, ask for it. Be really clear up front that you want something beyond reproach, that's in the middle of the road, that will cause no controversy and will echo your competition. It'll save everyone a lot of time.

2. If you want great work, you'll need to embrace one simple fact: It's going to offend someone. If it doesn't offend them, then it will make them nervous. The Vietnam Vets memorial offended a lot of people. The design of Google made plenty of people nervous. Great work from a design team means new work, refreshing and remarkable and bit scary.

(In case your'e wondering about the image - I googled "Scary" and well...there was Hillary.)

So. Are your business cards mediocre or a bit scary?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Seth Godin, Mediocre, Scary

Wash Me! No wait - Don't!

2006-07-11T20:54:00.000-04:00

Here is the scoop. Scott Wade of San Marcos, TX lives on a dirt road and as a result, his car is perpetually coated with a fine coating of dust. A problem for most people but not for Scott. He turns lemons into lemonade or I should say he turns dust into Art. And when I say art - I mean ART. You have to check it out.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Scott Wade, art

Marketing Magic

2006-07-04T23:14:00.000-04:00

I love an original idea and Papa John's had one. Unique, clever and unforgettable.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Papa John's, Clever Marketing

Truly "Dynamic" Realtors

2006-07-02T20:01:00.000-04:00

Beverly Blankenship and Kristy Russell are sisters, realtors and if that's not enough they just became super heros.

Beverly and Kristy are two of the latest real estate professionals who have decided to add some "superhero" to their marketing efforts by letting us develop a set of customized Show Off business Cards.

According to Beverly "The Show Off cards are great. We have over 300 realtors in our town and these cards really separate us from the pack and that is exactly what we wanted". If you google the phrase "Jackson Tennessee Realtors" you will get to choose from 8,570,000 results as you search for a realtor. This type of market saturation makes "standing out" much more difficult and much more important.

"We've got a buzz going on in our office, everyone keeps coming by asking to see the cards they have heard so much about."

So, what have you done lately that created buzz about your business?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags real estate business card, Jackson Tennessee, Beverly Blankenship, Kristy Russell,

Handshake-Augmented Information Exchange

2006-07-02T18:55:00.000-04:00

The geeks...er I mean guys over at MIT have developed a high tech solution to solve the age old dilemma of needing but not having a business card handy. The iBand is, as it has been geekily defined, a "wearable device for handshake-augmented interpersonal information exchange".

Here is how it should work. In theory. If two people happened to meet who happened to have the iBand. The two people meet, have a one-to-one contact (e.g. shake hands), each person's information is transmitted via infa-red and stored for later viewing. Just like that no muss - no fuss.

Seems to me that the old Palm Pilots had a similar, but not handshake-augmented, "beam your info to another Palm" feature. Let me see...how's that Palm Pilot doing now...

Ok. I'm being hard on the MIT folks. I'm sure this is just a "Let's see if we can make one" project. And let's face it, the MIT crowd can build darn near anything to which they put their collective heads.

Time will tell if this item or components developed for this project take off but in the interim I'll keep using my ShowOffCards.

via i4U.com

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags iBand, MIT

You right terrible

2006-06-08T22:31:00.000-04:00

"If your reading this than hopefully you reed the page to. Its so annoying when i reed something and the writer didn't use they're grammer correct."

Ok. I'll admit it. I stole the quote above and the link to follow from LifeHacker.com
(If I confess is it really stealing?)
Here is the promised link to 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

P.S. No. That is not me in the picture...seriously.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags LifeHacker, Grammar

Barbie: She's Seen Better Days

2006-06-03T18:32:00.000-04:00

As you may or may not know I am a PhotoShop fan and love to see what talented folks (myself not included) can do with PS. I thought this picture of an aged Barbie was pretty well done but I also just like the fact that she finally doesn't look so...perky. Here is a link to some other good PhotoShop artwork.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Barbie, PhotoShop

Cranium Titles Rock!

2006-05-26T21:36:00.000-04:00

The board game "Cranium", developed eight years ago by two Microsoft stars who quit to become entrepreneurs, blends elements of Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit with word puzzles, sculpting, humming and charades. Can't say I've played it but apparently the game is pretty cool and very popular.

What I really like about Cranium is the titles that the Cranium crew use. For example, founders Tait and Alexander are, respectively, Grand Poo Bah and Chief Noodler. Other Cranium staff titles include Head of the Hive (creates a buzz about products), Keeper of the Flame (publishing), Chief Cultural Attache' (international division), Concierge (receptionist), Chief Culture Keeper (human resources), Edgar Allen P.O. (purchasing).

I now submit this blog post to the blogosphere to see if I get a response from the Cranium crew because that group is prime Show Off material.

Ok. I'm waiting.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Cranium, Board Game

Real Estate 007

2006-05-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

Muench. Mike Muench.
Agent Dossier
Mike Muench deftly guides clients through the bewildering, and some say dangerous, Northern Virginia residential real estate market.

Combining the latest in real estate gadgetry, a client-first attitude and a heavy dose of hard work, Mike always closes the deal. In his spare time Mike enjoys thwarting the governmental overthrow plans of various evil henchmen.

Agent Assets: Heightened senses, superb negotiator, formidable tactician and one of the world‘s foremost analytical minds.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Mike Muench, Realtor, Real Estate

Wicked Cool Bluetooth Business Card

2006-05-09T21:06:00.000-04:00

Ok. It's not actually a business card in the tangible sense but still pretty cool. The new technology, Toroblue.com, is a software program that automatically sends the company’s business card to a customer’s mobile phone as they enter the premises. The customer has the choice to either accept or decline the card. When accepted, the ecard is stored directly in the phone’s address book, ensuring that contact details are accurate, available and accessible. The ecard contains all the information found on a paper business card, including the company logo. Cards are sent and received free of charge using Bluetooth and importantly, never sent to the same phone more than once. Toroblue.com reports back to the sender, the number of ecards offered, accepted and declined.

Advantages? It’s the perfect way to ensure your contact details are stored accurately in your customer’s phones address book letting them contact you at the push of a button – and refer you to a friend or colleague just as easily. In effect, it’s a simple cost-effective tool that makes it easier for your customers to do business with you”.

A Lexus dealership initially piloted Toroblue.com back in August 2004. Since then, on average, 70% of ecards are accepted by customers and 36% make a follow up call using the unique number on the ecard. It works 24/7 so even captures window shoppers who visit the showroom after hours.”

All in all I'd have to give the concept a thumbs up. Your thoughts?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags bluetooth, Ecard Toroblue

Horse trading 101

2006-04-24T19:28:00.000-04:00

If you started with a paper clip and traded for something "better" and then traded the new something for another something "better" how far could you take it. Kyle MacDonald has so far parlayed his "One Red Paperclip" until at last check he has secured one year of rent living in a condo in Phoenix. How far will he go? Time will tell. Read more.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Kyle MacDonald, Paperclip

Are You a Black Suit?

2006-04-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

Seth Godin had a nice observation regarding the "Black Suit Phenomenon" in a (somewhat) recent blog post. He summed up the post by writing that "Everyone is so focused on not messing up, on not blowing it, on not standing out that they all blend together instead."

True.
So what are you doing to stand out?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Seth Godin, Black Suit

Master of My Garage

2006-04-08T17:32:00.000-04:00

Let me show you how you can store more useless stuff in the currently unused overhead space in your garage. I got his idea from my brother who got it from a friend of his who got it from an unknown source. I assume it's not a new idea but it's new to me.

What a waste of space

Find the joists and lag bolt in 2x4 runners spaced apart so that your totes just fit between them. You may need to stack a couple of them depending on the handle thickness of the plastic totes you plan to use. I used two, and drilled about half way through one of them so I didn't need a super long lag bolt.

Cut some plywood strips so they extend beyond the 2x4's by about 1.5" (depends on length of tote handle) and screw them into the 2x4's.

Fill your totes and hang them by the handles from the plywood.

I left space between every two totes so that I can remove any tote without moving another.
Label the underside of the tote for easy reference from the ground.

Disclaimer: Do not use for storage of unused free weights, large bags of lawn fertilizer or any thing else you wouldn't want dropped on your noodle.

So what have you done to get organized this year?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Garage Storage, Organization, Rubbermaid

Support Our Troops

2006-04-05T23:37:00.000-04:00

Anyone lucky enough to be living in this great land of America owes a debt of gratitude to the men and women of our armed forces (past and present) who sacrifice daily to keep us safe.

Now before you launch into the political correctness of this war or that conflict, let me just say "I Do Not Care". This is about people, not politics.

The fact of the matter is that there are thousands of underpaid, overworked soldiers who risk their lives daily so we can sleep soundly in our clean, soft beds in 72 degree climate controlled comfort (Feeling guilty yet?)

One of the soldiers who served proudly is William "Brice" King of Danville, Virginia. Having experienced the lack of basic amenities first hand, upon moving from active military to reserve status, he decided to do what he could to make life a little better for those remaining on the front lines.

Brice has just founded CharityTroops.org who's goal is simple yet vital; Providing our soldiers with care packages and or letters to make the rigors of military service a bit easier to tolerate.

Take a minute to drop by Charitytroops.org and see what it's all about and how you can do your part to support our troops.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags William Brice king, Support Our Troops

World Class Real Estate Business Card

2006-04-04T23:19:00.000-04:00

If you are a regular reader of the ShowOffCards blog (you are aren't you?) you may recall my blog about a world class auto responder by my friend, and Arizona realtor, Michelle Shelton. In case you're curious about Michelle's finished Show Off Business Cards I thought I'd give you a link.

If you're an Arizona realtor, you better watch out. If you're in the market to buy or sell property in or around Gilbert Arizona I know a very good "Pilot".

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags real estate, Keller Williams

Can You Be Too Professional?

2006-03-30T21:01:00.000-05:00

I'd like to refer you to a recent blog post My BizNik buddy and favorite "Wordsmith" Chris Haddad. Alright. to be honest I don't know a lot of wordsmiths/copywriters but I do know that I get a kick out of his writing. Anyway, Chris recently had a blog post entitled "The Myth of Professionalism". And I quote:

"I run into a lot of companies, both big and small, who have a strange and heavy addiction to "sounding professional." Unfortunately, what they usually mean by "sounding professional" is "sounding like everyone else" which really means "sounding boring" which really means "not saying much of anything at all." It's a sickness. A disease. An airborne pathogen produced by fear". - Chris Haddad

Well said. In many instances professional = boring = invisible
Are you too "Professional"?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Chris Haddad, Professional BizNik Copywriter

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2006-03-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

The mind of a five year old is a wonderful and mysterious thing. Allow me to share a recent Sunday afternoon moment.

I am sitting at the old computer working on my latest project when the doorbell rings. I do not answer since I am well aware that my 5 year old daughter and her neighborhood sidekicks are playing in the front yard. Ding Dong. I wait. Ding Dong. Alright. I'll bite.

I go to the door and look out to see the three stooges hiding unsuccessfully behind my car some 20 feet away laughing uproariously. Wise to the old light a bag of poop and ring the doorbell trick I look down to find a variation on the dollar bill on fishing line trick.

As you can tell from the photo there were any number of things wrong with this prank but I have to admit - it made my day.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags prank, cute

Real Estate Gems

2006-03-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

Attention all Realtors. Point your browswers to realestatehow.com if you are looking for a blog chocked full of Real Estate related articles. My buddy Steve is constantly scanning the web for Real Estate related content, filters out the junk and posts the gems for easy viewing. What a great way to stay on top of all things Real Estate.

Not a Realtor? Not a problem. Check out Steve's sister site inyourweb.com where he does the same thing but focuses on home businesses of all types.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Real Estate, Home Business

Why Your Business Card Looks Like Everyone Elses Business Card

2006-03-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

(Stay with me on this one)

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one.

The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well.

Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced.

Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here.

And that's why your business card looks just like everyone elses Business Card ...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags conformity, Company Policy

Yikes, I've been "profiled"

2006-03-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

I have just been profiled! but not to worry, in this instance it's a good thing. A couple of weeks I ago I joined Biznik which is a very new and ultra cool business networking group that "doesn't suck" - not my words. That's their slogan. I set up a quick profile and somehow the superhero headshot in my BizNik profile got me noticed (I told you that Showing Off works!) and I was interviewed for a piece in the BizNik Blog.

Biznik was founded by the husband and wife team of Dan McComb and Lara Feltin. From what I've seen so far they seem to have a very clear vision of what they want and don't Biznik to be. The Biznik vision has been clearly and cleverly outlined by Chris Haddad in the BizNik Manifesto. I particularly like the statement that "Biznik doesn’t suck. Biznik will never suck. If Biznik starts to suck, tell us. We’ll either fix it or we’ll burn the damn thing to the ground and dance barefoot in the ashes". You just don't see that kind of honesty and commitment to a vision in corporate America much anymore.

So, if you are interested in a little bit of "Radical Self Promotion" I suggest you stop by BizNik.com and tell 'em that the Chief Show Officer sent you.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags BizNik, Dan McComb, Lara Feltin

FeedBurner and Playing With Bubble Wrap

2006-03-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

New toy! I just signed up with FeedBurner and while I have to admit that I do not yet fully understand all it does I wanted to comment on simple but fun bit of marketing from the FeedBurner folks.

After signing up at FeedBurner I began furiously clicking thorough all the set up options and stumbled on the "analyze" section. Since I had set up my account literally seconds ago I obviously had no stats. Instead of a generic "No Stats Available" or a display with no useful data I was greeted with a clever message reading "Your feed is so new, we're still playing with the bubble wrap". Maybe it's just me but I find that to be a clever turn of phrase - because who doesn't like playing with bubble wrap. Someone took the initiative to take a mundane user message and make it fun. Nice work FeedBurner.

I owe my buddy Phil "Making It Great" Gerbyshak a "thank you" because he introduced me to FeedBurner a while back via a Blog Traffic Tips post on his site. I finally got around to acting on his advice.

P.S. Visitors to ShowOffCards.com are now treated (or force fed, depending on what you think of my blog) to a rotating and constantly updated list of my five latest blog posts.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags FeedBurner, Phil Gerbyshak

That would NEVER work...would it?

2006-03-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

You've heard about all the credit card scams, so being the smart consumer that you are, you always tear up those never ending credit card offers you receive in the mail. By taking that extra step you easily ensure that There is absolutely no way anyone could tape those pieces back together, change the preprinted address AND the phone number and expect to actually receive YOUR credit card at their address...

You guessed it. Take a look. (via Cockeyed.com)
Oh, and buy a shredder - a really good one.

(Bet you thought I was gonna try and somehow tie this back to business cards didn't you?)

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Credit Card, Scam

Your Verbal Business Card

2006-03-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

As you may have guessed I am very much in favor of unforgettable business cards - never leave home with out one. But you can't stop there. After you've crafted the perfect business card *subliminalmessageShowOffCard* you need to be able to verbally reinforce the message your card presents.

I ran across a great post by Lucy MacDonald who wrote about your "Verbal" business card. Among the good stuff in her post she describes how to create a great verbal business card:

Ask yourself these three questions:
1) What expertise do I have?
2) Who do I help with that expertise?
3) What benefits do my clients experience when they use my services?

Write down your responses to these questions It is important to prepare two verbal business cards - one for social situations and one for colleagues - as the language our use will be different. Try out your verbal business card on family, friends, colleagues. Ask them what they hear and understand and make the necessary adjustments. Get out there and use your message so that you can turn the question "What do you do?" into a golden marketing opportunity. Read Lucy's entire post

So there you have it. Your business card has it's own voice but you need to have one too. Are you ready?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Lucy MacDonald, Networking

Truly "Hot" Marketing

2006-03-10T07:14:00.000-05:00

If you think your product is boring and you have no way to innovate - Think again. Taco Bell is about to take you to school.

Some guy (or girl) at Taco Bell corporate headquarters is in charge of brand marketing and of course they handle radio and TV ads, print ads and in-store signage. But did Taco Bell stop there? I think not. Case in point; hot sauce packets.

Next time you are at Taco Bell (I recommend the Chalupa) ask for hot sauce. Then take a look at the packaging. Someone took the initiative to give those little guys personality and they throw out random little hot-sauce thoughts like:

"Bike tires scare me"
"My sauce is an honor student at Taco Middle School"
"Does a Grilled Stuft Burrito qualify you for the car pool lane"
"...tails"
"Open quickly...I'm burning up in here"

Hilarious? No.
Mildly entertaining? I think so, and for a packet of taco sauce that ain't bad!

So, what have you done lately to "spice up" your product?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Taco Bell, marketing

"Hello" Or "Step Right Up!"

2006-03-03T19:41:00.000-05:00

My buddy Scott (aka The Guy With The Nametag) Ginsberg wrote a great blog piece entitled "First Words Make (or Break) First Impressions". Below are a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite for the full article. While Scott is focusing on the words we speak as a first impression I couldn't help but think that written words *Cough*businesscards*Cough* have the same ability to make a good first impression.

SAD BUT TRUE FACT: the first impression window is narrowing. Consider these numbers:

In the 80's and 90's, NLP authors like Nicholas Boothman claimed you only had 90 seconds to make a first impression
By the time the new millennium hit, you only had four seconds, according to hundreds of articles
In 2005, Malcom GladwellÂs bestselling book Blink explained that people made first impressions in TWO seconds
This year, an article from The BBC quoted a study which explained that Internet surfers form an impression "in one 20th of a second of viewing a webpage".

I used to work at the Ritz Carlton. We were trained to eliminate the word "Hello" from our vocabulary. It was always "Good morning!" or "Welcome in!" What ever happened to phraseology like that? Have we become so rushed, so programmed, so unfriendly, so unapproachable and so robotic that we can't sincerely take the time to offer a customer a warm welcome?

Nevertheless, the following list of substitute phrases will make the first words out of your mouth UNFORGETTABLE: Instead of "Next" try:
"Step right up!"
"Come on down!" (that one's for you, Bob Barker!)
"Don't be shy!"

So in the style of HelloMyNameIsScott...LET ME ASK YA THIS...
What kind of first impression does your business card leave?
Is your business card a simple "Hello" or a hearty "Step Right Up!"

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Scott Ginsberg, First Impression

Stop! Don't Pull the Trigger

2006-02-23T07:46:00.000-05:00

As I've said before, the minute you start playing by the mainstream rules you become one of "them". Seth Godin has a great post titled "Pulling the Trigger" which compares successful viral marketing on a person to person basis to the traditional "throw money at it" marketing tactic. Have a look.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Seth Godin, Viral Marketing

3D Escher

2006-02-22T22:41:00.000-05:00

Just for fun. Link.
(Update: I just noticed that the link I added points to some super cool "3-d pictures on asphalt" on the same site. I liked the 3-d art so much I am going to leave the link as is. It is unbelievable!)

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags M.C. Escher

Magazine With Your Water? Yes thank you.

2006-02-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

Joanna Wojtalik, while studying for a marketing course came up with an idea that takes magazine publishing and distribution in a whole new direction. The idea was simple. Create a small (in the first instance this will be an A7 - 74 x 105 mm) magazine which fits onto a fast moving consumer product and distribute via grocery rather than traditional magazine channels. Joanna'’s idea is now patented and will launch in January as the first on-product magazine - a bottled water aimed at the female market with iLove magazine attached.

What I like about this idea is it's simplicity. There is absolutely nothing "new" here. She didn't have to create a new form of rocket propulsion. She took existing "stuff" - a consumer product (bottled water) and on package literature (I've seen that done with instructions on medication bottles) and combined the two to make a totally new and apparently patentable product.

I imagine that she was told numerous times that the idea was not unique enough or the world does not need another magazine. Luckily, she didn't listen to the naysayers.

Congratulations Joanna! Your new product will definitely be heard above all the other magazine noise because of your unique approach. Read the Gizmag Article.

So what have you done with your business lately to stand out from the crowd?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Joanna Wojtalik, Magazine

A World Class Auto-Response? Yep!

2006-02-17T14:40:00.000-05:00

I sent an email to a new ShowOffCards.com client the other day (see preliminary line art left) and received what I consider to be one of the best pieces of communication I've ever received - and it was an auto response! See for yourself:

Thank you for your email. The opportunity to earn your real estate business is valued.
Are you a current or past client? If so, THANK YOU for your continued referrals...YOU are the reason I can offer a higher level of service and don't have to do all the other things agents do such as telemarketing, door knocking and cold-calling! Yippee!!!

Don't panic! Your email will be answered as soon as I get back to my computer. For the fastest service, simply pick up the phone and call the HOTLINE 480-632-4258. This will let me know you need me right away and I will be paged. Today I am working with out of state buyers and will be working until late in the evening...please forgive the fact that I am not available today. I look forward to giving you the same attention in the future that they are receiving today!
Michelle Shelton
www.askmichelleshelton.com

Why do I find this so amazing? Let me tell you:
1) It is concise, yet says a lot - keep reading.
2) The first thing she does is thank me for my business - whether I have ever done business with her or not.
3) She thanks me again for my business and goes on to tell me why she appreciates my business.
4) She reassures me that even though she can't answer my email immediately, that she will - and soon.
5) She gives me an alternative to waiting. A phone number which will page here if the matter is urgent.
6) She provides a good reason for being unavailable - Showing properties.
7) She turns the negative of not being available for you right now into a positive by showing that when she is working with clients - she is 100% focused on those clients.
8) She provided a link to her website which might allow me to find the answer or property while she is unavailable.

I don't know about you but I have a sudden urge to buy some property in Arizona...

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Michelle Shelton, Arizona Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, approachability

Should Realtors Fear Zillow?

2006-02-14T00:10:00.000-05:00

The man who single handedly whipped the travel-agency business into submission is taking on the well established real estate industry.

Richard Barton, 38, co-founder of the Expedia.com self-serve travel Web site has just launched a real estate Web site called Zillow. Zillow is a home-valuation tool that spits out "comps," or comparable market analyses, for buyers and sellers who want to know the worth of their homes--or their neighbors' homes.

The response? Overwhelming. 300,000 page views in the first seven hours. The site combines satellite and traditional mapping with transaction data from county governments to create a "Zestimate"--a home's purported value, mapped side-by-side with neighbors' homes. Users can enter data about their homes' improvements--remodeled kitchen, finished basement, etc.--to get a more refined guess.

It is still very much in development - I found only "tax valuations" instead of the promised "Zestimate" but I have no doubt that more data is on the way. They already have a very impressive database of 60 million homes. That's 2 terabytes--2 trillion bytes--of information.

Is that bad news for realtors? It could be - I think we all know the days of an easy 6% commission are fast slipping away.

Is it good news for realtors? It could be. The California Association of Realtors has done a study [that said that] somebody using the Internet in the transaction spent 1.94 weeks with an agent before making an offer, versus a traditional buyer, who would spend seven weeks with a Realtor before making an offer.

Based on that stat, making something less than a 6% commission might be acceptable if you only need to spend 27% as much time with a client.

In either case, you better be (or become) a real estate stand out in your area.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags real estate, realtor, zillow

"CAR"d holder For Business Cards

2006-02-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

Having your company name, phone and web address on your vehicle is a solid marketing strategy. Did you know that the average service vehicle makes 16 MILLION visual impressions in a single year. (*Source: Independent study by the American Trucking Association).

The problem with this strategy is that people have short memories. Truth is, your name and contact information are forgotten within 15 minutes of viewing, even if the interested party has made an attempt to commit your details to memory.

Vehicle Card Pockets exterior business card holders turn business cards, an under-used but highly effective marketing tool (see, we told you!), into your ever present sales representative.

An interesting, innovative and inexpensive way to convert lookers into buyers.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags vehicle card pocket, Business Card Holder

Oh Sheet!

2006-02-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

I known people who claim to be able to fold a fitted sheet - but I never liked them. Flat sheets are a piece of cake but that fitted sheet always just gives me... well, fits. My technique is less like "folding" and more like "balling it up and squishing it flat". But not anymore!

Thanks to the good folks at Target I now present comprehensive and illustrated instructions for folding a fitted sheet.
The only down side is that you won't be able to tell flat from fitted in your linen closet.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags folding sheets, Target

Death By Risk Aversion

2006-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

Kathy Sierra of "Creating passionate users" wrote a wonderful blog entry concerning risk aversion. One line that really made me say hmmm was "if you're not doing something that someone hates, it's probably mediocre." Here is a taste of her blog entry:

Memo to Microsoft: you've got people doing some amazing things over there. If you could just get the hell out of the way, the world might change for the better.

Risk-aversion is the single biggest innovation killer, and of course it's not just Microsoft that's been infected. Taking risks is... risky. But if not taking risks is even riskier, then why wouldn't you?

Sure the big companies have it bad and may fall the hardest if they don't get a clue and a cure, but none of us is immune. You see the safe path everywhere. Today at lunch I had one of those conversations with a co-author about the cover of the next Head First book, and there I was suggesting a "safer" cover model than the one he wanted (complete with all the logical reasons why people could complain about his choice). I still can't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.

Blogging has not made this easier... if anything, the idea that a gazillion bloggers and commenters (or even ONE loud one) will seize any opportunity to find fault with your ideas and attempts can dampen one's willingness to be brave. So here's my quarterly reminder to all (me included) that if you're not doing something that someone hates, it's probably mediocre. (read the entire article)

So what risky thing have you done lately that someone might possibly hate? Or are you Ok with just being mediocre?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags Kathy Sierra, Risk Aversion

George Jetson's Business Card

2006-02-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

You've all seen CD business cards and USB memory sticks - both of which are very good ways to share information about you and your business. The downside is that you have to have a computer to use these devices.

Enter, the rCARD. Only 3mm thick and weighing only about 1.5 ounces, the rCard a business size tool designed to feature data, graphics and video about products and services. The rCARD features 32 mb of storage, a bright color display, and a USB connector for uploading and re-charging the rCard.

Like ShowOffCards, they're not for everyone but then again you really shouldn't be targeting everyone.

So, how do you imagine this card could be used?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags rCARD, Unique Business Card

"Blue Angel" Fast Internet

2006-01-30T21:48:00.000-05:00

Dial-up? Perish the thought.
DSL? Better.
Cable? Now you're talking.

You've all heard the pitches. 10x faster, 100x faster. Surf the net at breakneck speeds. Blah blah blah.

I'm not here to sell you on one service *cough*cable*Cough* or the other. I just want to give you a tool that will let you see if you are getting what you pay for. To find out what download (and upload) speeds you are really getting you can use the Speed Test at BroadBandReports.com. They also allow you to find the fastest ISP in your area, compare your speed to those in your area and provide tips on squeezing the most speed out of your ISP.

I just tested at 1341kbps down and 361kbps up - What about you?

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags speed test, broadband

This Business Card Can Get You In The Door - Literally!

2006-01-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

Via JeniMattson.
Thanks. We're always looking for cool business cards.

"A hacker, entrepreneur, and all around mischief maker, Melvin wanted something he could give to peers and prospective clients that spoke of this nature.

A lockpick concept was chosen very early on, and the post production results were excellent. The picks can quite easily be removed from the card and are entirely functional as lockpicks."

This card is a bit light on content but it more than makes up for it in "Gee Whiz" factor.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
www.ShowOffCards.com
Home of the World's Most Unique Business Cards

Tags lockpick, Jennimattson.com