| Information Content Archives
Crowdsourcing Book Excerpt:
The Canary in the Coal Mine
First identified by journalist Jeff Howe in a June 2006 Wired magazine article, "crowdsourcing" describes the process by which the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the province of the specialized few.
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QuarkXPress 8 Now Available
New version of QuarkXPress delivers a modern, intuitive interface for faster design with fewer clicks, precise typographic control, built-in Flash authoring, and global publishing capabilities.
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Pantone Unveils GOE System
Pantone, Inc., the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today unveiled the PANTONE Goe™ System (pronounced go), the first completely new color inspiration and specification system for the graphic arts industry since the introduction of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® 45 years ago.
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Get Creative: Your Inside Scoop on Leopard
Our intrepid reporter installed Apple's new OS, Leopard, the day it came out. She fought through the Firewire glitches, the network connectivity issues, and other problems and is here to give you an unvarnished, first-hand account of the best new features and what to watch out for.
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Review: Adobe Photoshop CS3
There are high-school seniors who have never lived in a world without Photoshop. Does this venerable application still have room for improvement?
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Review: Adobe InDesign CS3
Go ahead…make my layout. This new version facilitates design and production tasks across the board.
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Review: Adobe Illustrator CS3
The new Illustrator is faster, flashier, and more colorful, yes. But is it worth the upgrade? Read on to find out.
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Troubleshoot Font Problems
Learn how to identify and fix common problems on both Mac and Windows platforms.
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Review: Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
More for the Office, Less for Creative Pros.
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Review: Quark Print Collection
Its imposition and marking tools for QuarkXpress or Adobe Acrobat are top-notch, and its price is surprisingly low. Do you need this new bundle of tricks?
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Adobe Announces Availability of Acrobat 8
Adobe Systems Incorporated announces the immediate availability of Adobe® Acrobat® 8 software amid an enthusiastic early reception from knowledge workers worldwide who for months have tested and provided feedback to help the company fine tune the product line. The new Acrobat 8 provides business professionals with innovative tools for communicating and collaborating with confidence across the boundaries of operating systems, applications and firewalls.
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Quark Releases QuarkXPress 7 Update
Quark Inc. announced the release of QuarkXPress 7.02, the latest update to QuarkXPress 7, which includes the highest level of flexibility and reliability for QuarkXPress software users. The release will provide new, up-to-date functionality, including license-transfer features and typographic support for new languages as well as resolution of the most important issues reported by customers since the product shipped.
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The Fastest Route to Sales
4 quick ways to reach your hottest prospects.
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Shakeups to Adobe Creative Suite 2.3 Cast
When TV shows need a boost, they add new characters with wider audience appeal. See how the software industry is learning this lesson from Tinseltown.
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Keep Clients Coming Back
Certainly being talented and having good people skills is the base to build on for a freelance business. Today’s new marketplace for freelancers seems to need more than these basics to answer the big question: How do you keep your clients coming back?
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QuarkXPress 7 Review
How does the new QuarkXPress compare to Adobe InDesign CS2?
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Create Connections
Communication is key to getting the results you want. Do you connect with people or do you push them away?
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Break On Through
Are you ready to open the doors to a new industry? Here are some strategies for getting up to speed and winning sales.
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13 Proven Strategies to Create
High-Performing Copy
Whether you're using online or offline media channels to drive your direct marketing, copy significantly impacts your results. Direct is about getting prospects to read your message and respond right now. While you strive to build and support your brand using high-impact formats and images, you also must deliver copy that touches the heart and head of your prospects.
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How to Wow 'Em Like Steve Jobs
The Apple CEO is well known for his electrifying presentations. Here are five tips to make your next talk just as mesmerizing -- or close.
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Get Your Mitts on Illustrator's Free,
High-Quality Templates, Clip Art, and More
Adobe bundles 320MB of templates, clip art, stock photos, and sample files with Illustrator CS2. The trick is to first find where those freebies live, then create a catalog for easy browsing and selection. Here's how.
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9 Tools for Building Customer Loyalty
Don't let customers go after one purchase. Win them back with a follow-up program.
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Let Acrobat Organize You
Most people who use Acrobat 7 don't realize that it comes with its own free file browser and manager, called the Organizer. It gives you quick access to files anywhere on your hard drive, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. It can track locations of any PDF you've viewed in the last 24 months, show you the date and time a file was modified, let you group aliases of PDFs into virtual collections or make new combined PDFs, and a lot more.
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Review: Extensis Suitcase Fusion
The aptly named new version of this font manager blends aspects of two once-dueling applications: Suitcase and Font Reserve. Is Suitcase Fusion a successful mixture or a Frankenstein?
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QuarkXPress 7 Public Beta:
Not the Same Old Toolbox:
From the most modern laser level to the trustiest ol' hammer, we've got the facts about everything in the QuarkXPress beta.
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Take a First Look at Adobe's Lightroom
Photographers are getting a lot of attention these days. Adobe has just released a public beta of Lightroom, a new application for organizing, editing, and outputting images.
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Markzware Introduces
XPress to Adobe InDesign Conversion Plugin
The plugin provides a quick way to convert XPress files by simply opening them within InDesign.
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Check out Adobe Bridge
Adobe® Bridge software is the new navigational control center built for Adobe Creative Suite 2 software and its components. (Adobe Bridge is also available separately in Adobe Photoshop® CS2, Illustrator® CS2, InDesign® CS2, and GoLive® CS2 software.) Based on the File Browser introduced in Photoshop 7.0, Adobe Bridge goes a step further by providing centralized access to your suite project files, applications, and settings.
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Get Ideas from Your Own People
Only 41 percent of employees believe the average company listens to their ideas. No wonder, then, that the average American worker makes just 1.1 suggestions per year -- one of the lowest among industrialized nations. Compare that with the 167 suggestions per employee in Japan and you can see the untapped potential.
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Obsessive Branding Disorder
Corporate America is obsessed with branding. But minus the hype, branding is really just commonsense strategy, rebranded.
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Enter the Third Dimension with Embossing
How can you help your customers produce printed materials that capture attention in a world where people are distracted and have very little time to absorb information?
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Quark Adopts New Logo and Identity
There’s a friendly sign of change at Quark: a new logo and visual identity that signal that the company is leaping forward into the future of creative communications.
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Copyright Developments
You Should Know About
In 2001, the United States Supreme Court handed down one of the most significant copyright cases it had decided in decades. In that case, New York Times Co. v. Tasini, the Supreme Court confirmed what many of the lower courts had earlier stated, namely, that the copyright laws of the United States do apply in cyberspace.
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Subscribe to Photoshop Radio in iTunes
First make sure that you have iTunes version 4.9 or better...
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First Look at an Impressive QuarkXPress 7.0
Will XPress 7.0 be the upgrade that puts Quark back on top? Gene Gable spent two days at Quark's Denver headquarters to find out and emerged with this exclusive report.
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Printing Tips: Go From Hard Drive to Hard Copy
If you're new to print design, you may not know that jobs destined for a professional print house must follow very particular parameters. There are plenty of traps you can fall into, but we'll help you escape them all.
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Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and InDesign
Get a Little Help From Their Friends
We've got the scoop on the latest plug-ins for your favorite applications. Whether you want to quickly replace colors or reduce noise in photos, script anything in a publication, or typeset equations directly in your page-layout program, you'll find the info you need here.
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Creating Brand Standards for Your Business
You can set your business apart with consistently designed marketing materials. This branding expert shows you how.
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Logo Trends 2005
The word “trend” seems to raise the little hairs on the back of some designers’ necks. Everybody wants to be a you-know-what-setter; no one wants to acknowledge the aftermath. But as we march toward LogoLounge.com’s fifth anniversary, we’ve discovered that trends have become something impossible — and maybe unwise — to ignore.
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Implementation: The Key to Effective Marketing
If you don't buy a ticket, you can't win the lottery. Find out why the implementation is the most important stage in your marketing plan.
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Maximizing Your Trade Show Results
If you are looking for ways to maximize your marketing budget and if you are willing to conduct some advance research and planning, trade shows may be your best bet to significantly increase your business.
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Managing Your Studio
A well-organized, smoothly functioning studio that is profitable and turns out beautifully-executed design work rests on three primary factors: talent, set-up and systems.
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Adobe Photoshop CS2
The market leader continues to innovate while polishing features that have been around for a while. Ben Long takes you through the newly released program.
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Review: Adobe InDesign CS2
Should you buy the new InDesign? Here's the lowdown on the new features, who they benefit, and whether the price is right.
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Review: Adobe Illustrator CS2
Increased speed, dependability, and ease of use, and a handful of truly useful new features make Illustrator CS2 one of the most exciting updates released by Adobe in recent years.
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Tips for Mastering E-Mail Overload
If your e-mail inbox is threatening to take over your entire workday, this ultimate how-to will teach you to deal effectively with the information onslaught.
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The Lost Art of Listening
Listening is the most important communication format in organizations today, but it is also the format we are least prepared for when we enter the work force.
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Adobe to Acquire Macromedia
Adobe has agreed to acquire Macromedia in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.4 billion.
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CS2 Overview
Adobe’s Creative Suite 2 is indeed here, and we think it offers something for every type of digital media professional to get excited about. Digital photographers, video editors, and graphic and Web designers will all find a new group of goodies under the hood to feed their creative appetites. And all of these new goodies come with the added benefit of even tighter integration among all of the Creative Suite applications.
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Six Simple Steps for Turning Your Company
Into a Heavily Quoted Source
Ever wonder why your competitors keep cropping up in coverage - whether it be national dailies, on big-time TV broadcasts or even in local business magazines - while your company's relegated to the back of the trades?
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Top 10 Marketing Ideas - Part V
Here is Part V of Top Ten Marketing Ideas...designed to stimulate thinking about a wide range of marketing areas in your business. Read all five parts, print them and make copies for your co-workers and get those marketing juices flowing.
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Top 10 Marketing Ideas - Part IV
Here is Part IV of Top Ten Marketing Ideas...designed to stimulate thinking about a wide range of marketing areas in your business. Read all five parts, print them and make copies for your co-workers and get those marketing juices flowing.
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Top 10 Marketing Ideas - Part III
Here is Part III of Top Ten Marketing Ideas...designed to stimulate thinking about a wide range of marketing areas in your business. Read all five parts, print them and make copies for your co-workers and get those marketing juices flowing.
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Top 10 Marketing Ideas - Part II
Here is Part II of Top Ten Marketing Ideas...designed to stimulate thinking about a wide range of marketing areas in your business. Read all five parts, print them and make copies for your co-workers and get those marketing juices flowing.
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Top 10 Marketing Ideas - Part I
Here is Part I of Top Ten Marketing Ideas...designed to stimulate thinking about a wide range of marketing areas in your business. Read all five parts, print them and make copies for your co-workers and get those marketing juices flowing.
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Let Your Imagination Take Off
A successful guerilla marketing campaign takes effort, not cash.
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How to Craft Your Company's Marketing Plan
An effective marketing plan is an essential element of any business because it clarifies the 'road map' by which the business will achieve its sales goals.
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Lowering the Odds on Higher Sales
Some folks see success as no more than a matter of luck. To a certain extent, they're right - but consistent winners make sure to load the dice.
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Review: Adobe Acrobat 7.0: Faster, Better
Acrobat has become an indispensable tool for creating and distributing digital documents, but users have griped about its sometimes sluggish speed. Well, Adobe Acrobat 7.0 (which runs only under Windows 2000 SP2, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003) is finally as fast as it ought to be—and its startling increase in speed in loading and displaying PDF files is only one of many reasons to upgrade to the latest version.
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How to Impress Your Banker
Here's a top-five list of things you should do from Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann of Wells Fargo, America's top small-biz lender.
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Quark Beats InDesign
A Review of the New PSD Import Xtension
Last week Quark released the PSD Import xtension for QuarkXPress 6.5. Authored by A Lowly Apprentice, Inc. (ALAP), one of the most respected and detailed developers of Quark xtensions and InDesign plug-ins, the PSD Import xtension brings into Quark not only native Photoshop PSD files, but also a near mirror image of Photoshop’s own Layers, Channels, and Paths palettes.
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Adobe Beefs Up Acrobat Reader in Version 7.0
Adobe Systems Inc. looks to meld its document management platform more firmly into business workflows as the company announces the next version of its Acrobat document interchange solution.
Version 7.0 expands the exchange capabilities of its reader application and features tighter integration with Microsoft Corp.'s productivity and content applications.
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Home-Brew IPod Ad Opens Eyes
School teacher George Masters has the marketing world abuzz with a homemade ad for Apple Computer's iPod that is rapidly "going viral." To some experts, Masters' ad heralds the future of advertising. Homemade ads will play a big part in marketing, just like blogging is shaking up the news.
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Print Tips: Designing for Digital Presses
Designers appreciate the flexibility of digital presses that let them print shorter four-color runs. But choices of paper and preparation of files require special care. Find out what you need to know.
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Quark Announces Free English Technical
Support for QuarkXPress
In an effort to provide the best user experience to its millions of customers, Quark is proud to announce free technical support for its English-speaking customers starting December 1, 2004. Noting customer requests and a shift in philosophy, Quark made the decision as part of its new customer-centric vision for today’s creative productivity.
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Adobe Acrobat 7.0: First Look
With one of its fastest updates to the product family yet, Adobe this week announced the Acrobat 7 family of products, which includes Standard, Professional, and Reader versions. We turn to the PDF experts, Planet PDF, for a rundown of the new features.
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A Dozen Ways to Ensure Your Business Remains Strong and Viable
There are so many columns written on the subject "10 ways to ruin your business" that I thought it would be a good idea to change the perspective and let you know what many successful entrepreneurs are doing right.
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Think Before You Click to
Avoid Viruses & Scams
One phenomenon that has become quite obvious from the vast numbers of virus victims over the last year is that people click first and ask questions later. Maybe we're inspired by the false belief that firewalls, antivirus software, and anti-spyware programs protect us from all viruses, worms, and intrusive programs. But even the best of these shields can't always protect you from your biggest security threat: yourself.
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Search Your Own Computer
With Google Desktop
Google Desktop Search is how our brains would work if we had photographic memories. It's a desktop search application that provides full text search over your email, computer files, chats, and the web pages you've viewed. By making your computer searchable, Google Desktop Search puts your information easily within your reach and frees you from having to manually organize your files, emails, and bookmarks.
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Adobe and Yahoo!
Team to Deliver New Consumer Services
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and leading Internet provider Yahoo!® (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced a strategic relationship aimed at providing consumer services to Internet users. Leveraging the over half-a-billion copies of Adobe Reader® software distributed to date and the No. 1 Internet brand, Yahoo!, the two companies will introduce integrated products that feature Adobe services, significantly increase the reach of Yahoo! Search and expand the online utility of Adobe Reader.
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Quark Launches QuarkXPress 6.5
Quark Inc. has announced the forthcoming release of QuarkXPress 6.5, the newest version of the industry's leading publishing software. Version 6.5 expands the power, versatility, and creative possibilities of QuarkXPress software, with new features, increased stability and reliability.
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Ways to Make Sure Your e-mails Go Through
Our e-mail is not reaching its target. Even when we think it is, we are uncertain if it has. We wonder why a recipient has not responded to a specific request or issue. We become almost neurotic about following up important e-mails with phone calls or faxes. The value of the instantaneity of e-mail and its usefulness is diminished by the attack on e-mail's reliability. What are we to do?
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Ad Strategies: Sow Now, Reap Later
Budget constraints often lead to bad advertising choices. While the temptation is to skimp on preparation, the truth is that a larger initial investment produces better result.
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Are you an agent of change for your business?
It has long been said only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. However, in today's uncertain world, this statement needs to be modified. You need to add a third category to the list. This third item is "change," and it is as inevitable as the other two..
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7 Relationship-Building Strategies
for Your Business
Try these tactics to get customers to think of your company first.
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The Art and Science of Getting Noticed
An ad-industry veteran and entrepreneur shares his insights about the best ways for small outfits to get and leverage media attention.
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Your Business' Success Depends on Working to Attract New Customers--While Still Keeping Existing Clients Happy.
The startup phase of your business can feel frenzied and overwhelming as you set up your operations and market like crazy to get clients. And once you get that roster of clientele, your sole focus becomes providing them the best products and services. Of course, before long you'll have to find the right balance between serving your old clients and marketing to new ones.
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Mulling Mac OS Tiger
With applications such as QuarkXPress 6 and Adobe InDesign fully compatible with Mac OS X, content creators are finally embracing OS X 10.3 aka Panther. But are you ready for Tiger?
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Making Your Name Go a Long Way
When deciding how best to raise the profile of your business, a PR outfit is worth considering. Here are a few tips on finding the right one.
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Talk Back to Quark:
New Educational Discounts on XPress
The battle for the hearts and minds of students is ultimately where software wars are won, and budget-conscious students have reason to shudder at Quark's stingy educational discounts. That's about to change.
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Will Postal Reform Deliver for Small Business?
It's been 30 years since Congress tackled comprehensive changes to the United States Postal Service (USPS). A legislative effort to reform the beleaguered system is now picking up steam, but does any of this matter to small business?
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Quark Relaxes Single-User Licensing Policy
Quark Inc. today announced that it has revised its policy for single-user licenses of QuarkXPress. Under the new policy, QuarkXPress 6 users can install and activate their software on a second computer at no additional charge.
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How Fast Is Your Network?
Schlepping large graphic files across networks -- whether between machines or through a server -- can make or break a creative workflow. Is your network pulling its own weight when it comes to performance? Maybe not.
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Quark Customer Summit:
New Attitude at a High Altitude
QuarkXPress customers got a breath of fresh (but thin) air and a glimpse of QuarkXPress 7 at the recent Quark Summit. With new activation policies, new corporate partners, and a new attitude, the company is determined to hold onto its user base.
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Masters of Design
No matter what you do for a living, design matters. Meet and learn from 20 visionary men and women who are using design to create not just new products, but new ways of working, leading, and seeing.
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Plug-Ins and XTensions:
InDesign Labelers, QuarkXPress Tablers, Photoshop Bundles
This month's round-up of plug-ins and XTensions includes tools for creating tables in QuarkXPress, tracking production in InDesign, and checking usability in Dreamweaver. Plus the return of XTension developer Vision's Edge.
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Can In-House Design Departments
Be Respectable?
A large percentage of the design community works at in-house departments within large corporations. The designers and illustrators and photographers who choose to work in those settings do so for the opportunity, structure, benefits, predictable hours and because they enjoy larger settings.
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Sunny Times Ahead for Designers?
After the dot-com collapse and economic downturn, many designers were left puzzling their fate. Now the economy is on the upswing. What will it take for you to bask in the sun once again?
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Meet These 5 Challenges for Trade Show Success
If your business serves a regional or national sales area, a series of trade shows targeted to your niche market is historically the lowest cost per qualified sales lead for your business. Why? Because you have a captive audience of potential customers in your niche market walking by your exhibit.
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The Fine Art of Negotiation
Author and business coach Jim Camp explains why a willingness to say "no" is the sharpest tool for cutting a favorable deal.
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PDF and Panther:
The Hidden Role of PDF in Mac OS X 10.3
Apple's Mac OS X makes broad use of Adobe's PDF technology. It is the first example to date of an operating system that contains an actual Adobe Normalizer embedded as a system component. A careful analysis shows that Apple hasn't yet delivered on the exciting promise of an operating system built around PDF.
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Welcome to the Concierge Economy
Marketing based on price and promotion is so old school. For your business to be successful in the future, according to Elliott Ettenberg, author of "The Next Economy," you will have to master the four R's - relationships, retrenchment, relevancy, and rewards.
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Plugging PageMaker Into InDesign
Loyal PageMaker fans shed a tear when Adobe announced it was discontinuing the application. But PageMaker lives on as a set of plug-ins for InDesign. What do you get? Sandee Cohen takes a look.
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Give Customers Something Good to Talk About
Nordstrom has opened in Charlotte, N.C., and some merchants are shaking in their boots. Big mistake.The "known for service" retailer started as a shoe store in Seattle and grew into a retail chain. It has become known for great service as well as for its wide selection of shoes. But lots of department stores sell shoes. What's the difference if you have 25,000 pairs or 30,000 pairs? The difference is the way the shoes are sold, and especially the way the customer is served.
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Go Remote to End Data Backup Worries
Despite constant reminders about the importance of backing up your company's data off-site, away from threats like natural disasters and theft that can befall your office, the task remains daunting for businesses. One solution that can ease these backup pains is remote backup.
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The Old Order Changeth
After five years of relative stagnation, the industry has decided on the software of the future. Here's an overview of a snowball effect involving OS X, Quark, Adobe, Macromedia, product activation, and suite revenge.
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When Sales Meets Marketing: Part III
Collaboration and trust are essential if salespeople and marketers are to boost an outfit's bottom line. Here, laid out in simple steps, is a four-point path to achieving it.
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When Sales Meets Marketing: Part II
Think of your sales team as the athletes and marketers as their coaches. Put that concept into effect and your outfit will score a lot more touchdowns.
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When Sales Meets Marketing: Part I
Too many businesses view sales and marketing as oil and water. It's a separation that hampers efficiency and undermines the bottom line.
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Promoting for Pennies
Marketing costs weighing you down? Here are 20 creative ways to boost business without breaking the bank.
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Reap the Rewards of Paying Attention
"Pay attention!" Ever hear those words when you were growing up? Hundreds of times, right? And you probably thought you were being scolded. Actually, when you were told to pay attention, you were getting one of life's most valuable lessons.
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QuarkXPress 6.1 Update Resolves Panther Issues, More
Quark Inc. has released an update to its flagship desktop publishing software QuarkXPress, version 6.1. The new update, which measures 78.4MB, can be downloaded from Quark's Web site.
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Windows Tips: For Security Reasons,
It Pays to Know Your File Extensions
Computer viruses sometimes masquerade as harmless e-mail attachments. The fastest way to spot the interlopers is by their file extension--the letters (usually three) following the final period in the file's name. This extension is an essential aspect of nearly every file on your computer; without it, Windows doesn't know whether to open the file in your word processor or another app, to launch it as a program, or to let other programs use it as a system resource. Knowing a file's extension can also help you customize your system and clean out the dross.
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CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12:
Smart Doodling, Dynamic Snapping, Savvy Copying
Some graphics products may be flashier, but few offer the bang-per-buck of CorelDraw Graphics Suite. Just-announced version 12 of this illustration-imaging-animation package offers intelligent eyedroppers and smart drawing tools and withdraws Mac support
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The Quiet Revolution in Proprietary
File Formats
TIFF, EPS, and JPEG -- these file formats form the foundation of modern desktop publishing. Yet recently native file formats -- such as Photoshop's PSD -- are gaining favor. What does this mean for content creators?
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InDesign Adopts Orphaned PageMaker Users
Adobe Systems unveiled a conversion strategy Monday for customers still using its orphaned PageMaker page design and layout application.
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InDesign CS: Adobe Ups the Ante Once Again
Page layout these days is a high-stakes poker game full of bidding, bluffing, and raking in the chips. With the release of InDesign CS, Adobe adds new features that may make users of other programs throw in their cards. Should you join the game? Sandee Cohen has the answer in her review.
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The Cream of the (Marketing) Crop for 2003
It's time for some end-of-year musings about good marketing. Every now and then one sees a product introduction or a brand campaign that hits the spot. Every element comes together to produce a well-balanced campaign that captures the consumer's imagination and attention. The marketing may not always be admirable or in good taste, but it's distinctive and appealing and usually supported with a strong communications message. The product generally delivers against the marketing promise, in terms of product quality or value or both. For your consideration, 10 who did it right in '03:
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QuarkXPress 6 vs. InDesign CS: Taking Sides
With the release of InDesign CS, Adobe applies more pressure on users of QuarkXPress to decide whether to stick their old standby or switch to the new upstart. What to do? Page-layout expert David Blatner states his opinion
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Tools and Rules for Success in the Future
I love December. It's a wonderful time to celebrate a year gone by. It is also an important time to step back and re-evaluate life both from a business perspective and a personal perspective. In fact, in today's hectic, gotta-have-it-yesterday world, we absolutely need a time to step off the planet, think about the "why" of living, and evaluate what we're doing. Quiet meditation is not a luxury but a necessity in a frenetic-paced world.
In the midst of all that "busy-ness," here are some tools to help you achieve your goals and some rules that work in any environment.
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Illustrator CS:
Adobe Squeezes in More for Designers
Now in its 11th version, Adobe Illustrator is already jam-packed with features. But Illustrator CS manages to add new drawing and design tools. Is it enough? Sandee Cohen reviews the latest.
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Blogs: The Next Frontier of Biz Communication
Do you blog? According to Entrepreneur Magazine, blogs are one of the hottest and coolest Web-based communication strategies. Current estimates place the number of blogs at 4 million plus and growing every day.
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Should Creative Pro's Run with Panther?
With 150 new features, Mac OS X Panther sounds like the cat's pajamas. But is it right for content creators? David Morgenstern looks at some major productivity-minded additions and wonders if it's time for all Mac users to join the X-generation?
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Welcome to the Feelings Economy
Are you worn out by the frenzied pace of change in our new “whateveryouwannacallit” economy? Are you puzzled and aggravated by your suddenly impotent marketing and sales efforts? Do you spend sleepless nights wondering when the US economy will bounce back and raise your boat (along with everyone else’s)? Well, you can stop wondering. Fundamental shifts in commerce and consumer psychology have permanently changed the competitive landscape for years to come.
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Is Business-To-Business Marketing Really
Different Than Consumer Marketing?
When asked if he could write an effective direct-mail package or a complex electronic control system, a well-known direct-response copywriter replied, "No problem. It doesn't matter what the product is you are selling to people. And people are pretty much the same."
He's wrong.
Yes, there are similarities. But there are also differences in selling to business and professional buyers vs. the general public. In fact, here are six key factors that set business-to-business marketing apart from consumer marketing.
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All-New Adobe Creative Suite Now Shipping
SAN JOSE, Calif. — October 27, 2003 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) today shipped Adobe® Creative Suite. Adobe Creative Suite combines new full-version upgrades of the company's market-leading creative professional software — Adobe Photoshop® CS, Adobe Illustrator® CS, Adobe InDesign® CS, and Adobe GoLive® CS. It also incorporates Acrobat® 6.0 Professional, and introduces the innovative Version Cue™ file version manager.
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Adobe Photoshop CS:
"Creative Suite" and Cool Stuff !
There is no "Photoshop 8." This is "Photoshop CS" The CS suffix stands for Creative Suite. Adobe is bundling Photoshop with Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, and Acrobat in a mega-pack that fill most all creative needs. Here's a quick look at some of the new features in Photoshop CS:
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Advertising vs. Marketing
Their differences may seem academic -- until the impact of each intertwined element of a successful sales drive lifts the bottom line.
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Acrobat and PDF: The Hub of Adobe CS
With the inclusion of Acrobat 6 Professional in Adobe CS Premium Edition, Adobe underscores the importance of PDF in the creative workflow. Here's an in-depth look at some of the ways in which Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, and Acrobat work together.
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Adobe Changes Everything
Adobe is making a bold move. The company has radically reworked its four major applications: GoLive, Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. The fruit of its labor is the OS X-only Adobe Creative Suite, which includes all four revitalized applications. There are some great new features in these tightly integrated programs --here's what you can look forward to:
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Federal Figures at Your Fingertips
The U.S. government is a trove of economic statistics that can be incredibly helpful -- provided you know how to find them. Government agencies keep increasing the amount of free information available to the public over the Internet.
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Good Voicemail Demands Proper Etiquette
Unquestionably voicemail is one of the most effective communication tools of all time. Even though e-mail has become the new communications weapon of choice, voicemail often remains the first point of contact between buyer and seller, prospect and marketer. It's where first impressions are often made.
For entire article, click here
Is Your Logo Losing its Luster?
Then Maybe it's Time to Transform it With a New Look
Your logo is a visual representation of everything your company stands for. Has it become dated or taken a back seat to other images that represent your company's identity? When you survey customers and examine the competition, is there confusion about what you do? A good logo should communicate something about the nature of your business, product or service. So if this vital component is out of step with your message and customers, it's time to bring it up-to-date.
For entire article, click here"
Reach vs. Frequency
Is it More Effective to Touch 100 Potential Customers Once or 25 Potential Customers Four Times?
Reach and frequency are terms generally used when planning advertising campaigns. However, the concept of reach and frequency applies to any promotional activity you undertake: direct mail, direct selling, and even networking.
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A Marketing Campaign That Hits the Bullseye
As you prepare the next marketing campaign for your business, make sure it is as effective as possible. People do not want "things;" they want solutions. People don't want a refrigerator; they want to keep food from spoiling. They don't want a microwave; they want a speedy method to prepare food. They don't want a movie ticket; they want to be entertained for a couple of hours. If you want to pique consumer interest, focus your marketing message on them rather than on your product.
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Adobe Plots New Page-Layout Foray
Now that Quark Inc. has pushed its much-anticipated XPress 6 upgrade out the door, Adobe Systems plans to show its hand to the page layout market this fall with InDesign 3.0.
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Smart Ideas for Getting Out Your Message
It is a time of change. Many small business owners and mobile professionals are seeing that the old models of what worked before are crumbling today. They are not valid for today's world.
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The Art of Multitasking
Feeling overworked? Overwhelmed? The dirty little secret of the slow-growth economy is that most of us are busier than ever: We're doing our jobs, plus the jobs of one or two gone-but-not-replaced colleagues -- and doing it all with less support. How do we manage to stay sane in the face of such crazy demands? Action item number one: Follow the savvy, reality-tested advice of some of the most effective executives we know.
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Phone Headsets:
The Essential Low-Tech Investment
Readers often ask me to name the one office purchase I could not do without. My answer is rather mundane and low-tech, but I use it more than perhaps anything else in my office: my phone headset.
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QuarkXPress 6 vs. InDesign 2:
Grappling for Answers
It's the question on the lips of nearly every creative professional: Which is better, QuarkXPress 6 or Adobe InDesign2? In this no-holds-barred analysis, page-layout expert David Blatner gives his opinion on the relative merits of QuarkXPress and InDesign...."
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How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows
Its performance is the envy of executives and engineers around the world. For techno-evangelists, Google is a marvel of Web brilliance. For Wall Street, it may be the IPO that changes everything (again), but Google is also a case study in savvy management. A company filled with cutting-edge ideas, rigorous accountability, and relentless attention to detail. Here's a search for the growth secrets of one of the world's most exciting young companies -- a company from which every company can learn...."
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QuarkXPress 6.0: A Safe Upgrade
in Dangerous Times
QuarkXPress's perch on top of the page-layout heap has long been undisputed. But with increased competition from InDesign, the pressure is on Quark to produce an upgrade that secures its standing. Does QuarkXPress 6.0 deliver? Gene Gable reviews the Mac OS X version of XPress...."
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Tread Carefully When Investing in CRM System
Customers are the cornerstone of your business. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help you harness all customer communication, integrating it into one cohesive system to be used company-wide. But with implementation failure rates of 50 to 70 percent, a CRM investment needs to be made carefully...."
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Spam Winning the Battle, But Not the War
Not a day goes by that the press doesn't report staggering numbers on the volume increase in email spam. My personal experience reveals that the spam count is doubling every 90-180 days. However, the good news is that regulatory and technical help are on the way. The spam problem, which is now at its most acute, will lessen over time once effective safeguards are more firmly in place, most likely within the next 12-18 months. In the meantime, the advice to marketers is one of not throwing the baby out with the bath water. Permission-based email marketing remains a highly effective tool...."
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Creative Analysis: The Impact of QuarkXPress 6
QuarkXPress 6, long awaited but surprisingly not overdue, ships this week, according to Quark. With the world's leading page-layout application now available on OS X, things get interesting for Quark, for the industry, and for creative pros everywhere...." for entire article, click here"
Quark Announces QuarkXPress 6 for Mac OS X
CUPERTINO, CA - June 10, 2003 - At a briefing on the Apple campus today, Quark Inc. announced that QuarkXPress 6 for Mac OS X, the latest upgrade to the world's most widely used page layout software, will ship next week. QuarkXPress 6 gives designers and publishers enhanced tools for creating content for almost any media and the flexibility to thrive in a constantly evolving technology environment...." for entire article, click here"
Quark Enters the Land of OS X
Quark has moved cautiously down the road to OS X, but its journey will be over when QuarkXPress 6.0 debuts. The company won't comment on a release date, but I expect that you'll be able to buy the new version of XPress within six months...." for entire article, click here"
The Innovation Toolkit
Even in a tough economy, there's one thing you can count on to keep your business afloat: Innovation. We asked these entrepreneurs and experts to reveal the secrets of their success--and how you can use their experiences to your advantage...." for entire article, click here"
Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Product Line Now Shipping
Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in network publishing, today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe® Acrobat® 6.0 product line, a major upgrade and expansion of one of the company's cornerstone software applications and a critical component of its solutions for integrating documents into business processes. The new Acrobat 6.0 family enables workgroups, as well as business, creative and engineering professionals, to efficiently create, share, review, and archive files in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), a recognized standard for reliable electronic document distribution...." for entire article, click here"
How To Keep Good Employees? Hire Good Employees
The first step in keeping good employees is hiring well. Begin with the end in mind. What do you want? Specifically, what does an exemplary employee look like?...." for entire article, click here"
What Do Customers Think? Look to Online Surveys
Finding out what your customers think about your company's offerings can have an enormous impact on the way you shape your business. Although gathering this vital information comes with a price tag, online surveys can be quite the bargain and just as effective as other traditional survey mediums...." for entire article, click here"
How To Outsmart, Outmarket, Oursell And Outdistance The Competition
The top company executives and their advisors spent the day closeted in a hotel room. There were no breaks, not even for lunch. The telephone was off-limits. Because the intent was so serious, the leadership of this highly sales-directed firm chose to isolate itself completely from any distractions. One participant even complained about traffic noise.
Everyone had been asked to read a book, a current business bestseller by two management consultants, and then evaluate the company against the three standards set by the book's authors and determine which format best fit their operation.
As the hours went by, something seemed amiss. Slowly, the problem took shape...." for entire article, click here"
People Who Need People
Find out how to break the ice with your prospects and make that all-important customer connection a reality...." for entire article, click here"
Think Different' to Overcome a Tough Market
Getting business in a tough market is a challenge. Yet, even in the midst of that tough market there is a lot of opportunity. So, how do you get the business to come your way? What do you have to do?
You have to be creative...." for entire article, click here"
Everything You Need To Know About Acrobat 6
The Cliff's Notes: Three new Acrobats will ship by mid-to late May: Acrobat 6.0 Professional ($449 street/$149 upgrade), Acrobat 6.0 Standard ($299/$99) and Acrobat Elements (site license only, starting at $28 per seat for a 1,000-seat license). Acrobat Reader becomes simply "Adobe Reader"...." for entire article, click here"
Californians Swamp Anti-Telemarketer Site
Californians flocked to a state-run Web site launched Monday that allows them to make their phone numbers off-limits to telemarketers.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 180,000 people have registered on the the site, administered by the office of Calif. Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for Lockyer. The state is using the site to let California residents add their names and numbers to a national "do not call" list being compiled by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission...." for entire article, click here"
Effective Marketing Takes Time
Most marketing involves a noticeable delay between the work and the results. You have to design and pay for an ad, wait for it to come out, and wait for responses. Or, you write a script, telemarket to ten people, then make a second call and a third call before one or two of them spends money with you or invites you to make a bid.
Psychologically, this involves dealing with a "delay of gratification." In other words, you have the costs up front and the money later. If you have little faith in your own product of service, or hate marketing, this means that you are tempted to put it off in order to avoid the short-term pain. Unfortunately, if you put marketing off this week, you won't have any leads to follow up next week or next month...." for entire article, click here"
How To Overcome Resistance To Change
Change. We may not like it, but it is happening all around us. For most of us, it is uncomfortable and threatening. What are the best ways for companies to deal with the natural opposition to change?...." for entire article, click here"
Practice Cold (and Warm) Email Marketing
Learn how to send spam-free online communications.
If you target carefully, write concisely and approach people respectfully, you can use E-mail to begin a conversation with someone who may have never heard of you but whose need you can satisfy. How do you accomplish this?...." for entire article, click here"
Guerrilla Marketing Memes
The prehistoric man, Uba, spent all day in the rain trying to catch a fish because his family was very hungry and in dire need of food. But he was unable to grab a fish from the stream even though he occasionally got his hands on one. Frustrated and weak from hunger, he just couldn't grab any fish firmly enough because it would slither from his hands and return to the stream. Worse yet, the light rain turned to a heavy rain and Uba was forced to seek shelter in a nearby cave
Entering it, when his eyes became accustomed to the dark, he noticed a series of paintings in the cave. One depicted a deer. Another represented a godlike figure. But it was the third that captured his attention...." for entire article, click here"
Good Design Uses Customer's Perspective
As a marketer I admit to possessing a different, some would say warped, point of view about how I relate to my surroundings. A recent week on the road confirmed that admission. I could not help but notice how surrounded I was by bad design and how intimately and significantly that affected my perception of the situation and the offending cause...." for entire article, click here"
First Glimpse of QuarkXPress 6
QuarkXPress 6 offers a more convenient way to work
Quark Inc. today offered a first look at a few of the features of QuarkXPress 6, the forthcoming release of the world's most widely used design and layout software. Millions of businesses rely on QuarkXPress software to dramatically boost productivity, save time, and lower costs. Quark will reveal more of the powerful new features of the QuarkXPress 6 software over the coming weeks on its corporate Web site, www.quark.com...." for entire article, click here"
Don't cut quality from your promo budget
Thinking about cutting your promotional budget? Before you do, maybe you should think about spending it differently. With the right promotional marketing strategy, you can make sure your giveaway does not simply become lost in the shuffle...." for entire article, click here"
Technology Evolves, but People Still Matter
I got back from CES (Consumer Electronics Show) last week thinking about the industry and where we're going. It was good to be there with about 116,000 of my closest friends and to see the new toys.
Yet it was a solemn realization. That moment of thinking and being quiet quickly turned from sadness to that broadening, growing grin as I realized what is happening. The technology and computer industry is morphing...." for entire article, click here"
PhotoSpin Introduces New Image Content
PhotoSpin Inc. , a royalty-free content subscription site for business professionals, has a new series of images available, including those in the categories of Holidays I and II and Office Situation Illustrations, and Fruit and Vegetable photos objects...." for entire article, click here"
Adobe offers G4 update for Photoshop 7
Adobe Systems Inc. has released two fixes for Photoshop 7 and Photoshop Elements 2.0, both of which can be downloaded from Adobe's Web site now.
Adobe Photoshop 7.0.x AltiVecCore Update plug-in has been released to improve the reliability of Photoshop 7.0.x when used on Macs that sport a G4 processor. The software works along-side the AltiVecCore plug-in already installed by Photoshop, according to Adobe, and supports Photoshop 7.0.x working in all language versions. The 14K update is archived in Binhex format...." for entire article, click here"
Conducting Surveys and Focus Groups
Extensively researching your target market has long been viewed as a luxury-a perk available only to the corporate giants with deep pockets. But the past decade's surge of small businesses have made understanding and accurately targeting your customers a make-or-break means of survival. Market research comes in all shapes and sizes, and some forms certainly have high price tags attached. Of course, not every business has thousands of dollars to dish out on analyst reports and services from big-name market research firms. Luckily, there are quite a few effective options available that won't take a nasty toll on your budget...." for entire article, click here"
Use these tools, rules for a successful year
Uncertain about the New Year? You can get an advantage in your business and personal life with the addition of some key tools and learning about the rules. Today's environment requires continual learning, the right tools in place and, most important, the right attitude and mindset. Here are some tools that can help as you get started...." for entire article, click here"
Don't Let Technology Reduce the Human Element
Whereas today's office technology can make us more efficient at work, it also tends to have an alienating effect on employees in their jobs, creating more distance in relationships at work. Employees are spending more time each year interfacing with their computer than they spend in "face time," interacting with their boss or co-workers. Although an increasing number of workers are on "electronic leashes" (cell phones, pagers, instant messaging, etc.), the more "connected" we become, the less "connection" we seem to have to one another at work...." for entire article, click here"
Learning to Delegate
It doesn't make business sense to try to do everything yourself. Try these tips for getting others to help you--and creating more time for your important task...." for entire article, click here"
National Geographic Opens Photography
E-Commerce Site
The National Geographic Society is digitizing more than 10,000 of its hallmark images of culture, adventure and nature and making them commercially available worldwide. Based on IBM e-business software and hardware infrastructure technology, the new on-demand e-business solution will expand and enhance National Geographic's IT infrastructure through a new B2B Web site. As a result of the new solution, National Geographic is enabling customers worldwide, from advertising agencies, corporate marketing departments and international publishers, to view, select, purchase and download world renowned images directly...." for entire article, click here"
Keep up with the buzz on buzz marketing
This is a difficult time for marketers. Marketing communications, in most forms, particularly advertising, is both expensive and playing to marketplace increasingly weighted down with clutter. There are too many messages being broadcast too often, with diminishing impact on the consumer. This situation grows even more acute in the case of the Gen X and Y segments. While these groups are still highly susceptible to brand influence, they show signs of being more cynical in their response to the marketing message and are eager to acquire brand news and information from less traditional sources.
Enter buzz marketing...." for entire article, click here"
How to Jumpstart Your Sales Program
Sales is one of the most daunting parts of doing business--especially when you're new to the game. "You mean, I have to just walk up to someone and tell them they should buy my product? And I have to tell them why? AND I might not even know that person? Forget it!." But you can't forget about it because if you want your business to succeed, you've got to put sales at the top of your to-do list...." for entire article, click here"
The Process Of Marketing
Marketing is not an event, but a process. How long does the process last? An insight for you to embrace is that a guerrilla marketing attack is never ending. It has a beginning, a middle but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause in it. But you never stop it completely...." for entire article, click here"
The MS Decision: Is It Over Yet?
A judge's decision Friday to conditionally approve a planned settlement between Microsoft and the Justice Department offered the closest thing yet to a conclusion of the five-year antitrust saga. So long as the parties agree to minor modifications in the settlement -- and no one files another appeal -- experts say the never-ending legal battle could actually be winding to a close...." for entire article, click here"
Let mentors guide you on road to success
Need help? Consider a mentor. Mentors play a major role in the life of a salesperson who's trying to succeed. What is a mentor anyway? Mentors are role models of the type of person you want to become. They're people you admire for the amount of wealth they've gained or for the way they've risen to be the best in their field. A person you respect who can give you wisdom and guidance without prejudice. Someone who inspires you to greater achievement. Someone who provides a guiding light with words that stick with you over the years...." for entire article, click here"
Grow Your Own Success From Another's Wisdom
Who is Kemmons Wilson? The answer and some incredible information can be found below. Everyone reads quotes. They're short. They're insightful. They're inspirational. And many people adopt them for their own. What do quotes have to do with Kemmons Wilson? Known as the father of the modern innkeeping industry, Wilson is the founder of Holiday Inn. His biography, "Half Luck, Half Brains," is an incredible rags-to-riches tale about drive, self-belief and achievement...." for entire article, click here"
Getting the Most From a Press Release
Sending it out just once isn't enough. Here's how to really make that press release work for you...." for entire article, click here"
The 12 Most Common Direct Mail Mistakes ...And How to Avoid Them
Do you know what the most important part of your direct mail campaign is? It’s not the copy. It’s not the art work. It’s not even the format or when you mail. It is the mail list...." for entire article, click here"
The Eleven Commandments of E-mail
Do you use e-mail effectively? What is the proper etiquette? Three years ago, the Harvard Management Communication Letter issued the ten commandments of e-mail. This article revisits the topic—and adds a new rule...." for entire article, click here"
Everyone should get chance to learn, grow
Training and educational programs, along with the opportunities to build marketable skills they provide, can be particularly motivating for today's employees. Here are some ideas to use in your organization...." for entire article, click here"
How Often Do I Change My Print Ad?
Q: Is there a rule of thumb for how long you should run a new print ad in a magazine? My client wants to change ads every two months, and I have advised him to let the ads run for three to four months before we change them. We will maintain a similar look and feel, just change copy and colors (blue and yellow, blue and green, etc.).
A: As with most questions about advertising, the answer starts with "it depends." Ask yourself the following three questions...." for entire article, click here"
One out of five Americans find Internet 'essential'
If you live in the U.S. and have been surfing for a substantial time, you may fall into the ranks of one out of five Americans who feel that the Internet is the "most essential" medium to their lives, according to a new study by the Arbitron Inc. and Edison Media Research research and analysis groups...." for entire article, click here"
Don't Hide Behind e-mail
E-mail has changed the way people talk to each other in organizations. And while it has done many good things - given people quick access to one another and allowed for quick information exchange, for example - it has also created some problems. For instance, e-mail has made it easy for people to hide behind their computers when they should get off their chairs and go talk face-to-face with their colleagues...." for entire article, click here"
Adobe updates Photoshop 7.0
Adobe Systems Inc. on Thursday updated its flagship image editing application, Photoshop. Photoshop 7.0.1 fixes numerous issues, the most significant of which Adobe has listed on the Photoshop update page. For Photoshop 7.01 update downloads, click here"
Get over the competition
Don't you wish the competition would just go away?
By now, all the "there's plenty of room for everyone" and "competition is healthy" proponents have gone home, or they're broke, or both. So what's left are the fighting few. And they're fighting...." for entire article, click here"
How to Work a Trade Show
Whether you're exhibiting or attending, here's all you need to know to make any trade show a success...." for entire article, click here"
Under the Desktop: Master of your Domain
Now may be a good time to take stock of your Internet branding, suggests David Morgenstern, who offers tips on ways to unclutter the alphabet soup of your current e-mail address. The net result: up close and personalized domains...." for entire article, click here"
Defining Sales and Marketing
Build your business with the right combination of the two...." for entire article, click here"
Best of Today's Web: Greatest Hits and Hidden Gems
We do the digging so you don't have to: 50-plus Web winners, from new and little-known sites to powerful features buried in your everyday bookmarks...." for entire article, click here"
QuarkXpress 5.01 Released
Quark Inc. today released an update to its page layout software, QuarkXpress. The no-charge download is available as an update for any users of QuarkXpress 5.0...." for entire article, click here"
How to Create a Marketing Plan
What is a marketing plan and why is it so essential to the success of your business? Find out here, in the first section of our comprehensive guide to creating a marketing plan...." for entire article, click here"
Brands Are People, Too!
Unfortunately, most of us don't recognize the fact that we are a brand. Nor do we take the time or make the effort to think about how we communicate our brand personalities to others. What this means is that the best person doesn't always win; the best candidate doesn't always get the job or the promotion...." for entire article, click here"
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 5.2
Microsoft Corp.'s Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) today announced the release of Internet Explorer 5.2 for Mac OS X. The update includes a number of enhancements that make the browsing experience better for customers using Mac OS X, according to the MacBU. For example, using Quartz text smoothing, Internet Explorer 5.2 now provides smooth display of text, making Web sites easier to read...." for entire article, click here"
The Art of Business: Copyright or Copied Wrong?
If you create a work or art, when don't you own the copyright? If you alter someone else's work beyond recognition are you a violator? And what does Elvis have to do with copyright registration? Welcome to the tenuous world of copyright law, further unglued by the World Wide Web...." for entire article, click here"
Under the Desktop: What's Klez and Why Is It After Me?
A nasty worm and its siblings are working their way around the Internet and gaining strength. David Morgenstern says W32/Klez may have landed in your mailbox and you don't even know it. And that's a bad thing for all of us...." for entire article, click here"
Adobe Online – New & Improved!
If you haven't visited Adobe Online recently (or at all), take a new look. You'll need, as always, a working Internet connection and a Web browser. Adobe Online is a fine resource for users of any of Adobe's major products...." for entire article, click here"
Adobe Updates InDesign, Photoshop 7 Scripting
Adobe has released minor updates for InDesign 2.0 and Photoshop 7.0. For InDesign, the update--version 2.0.1--includes several bug fixes for Macintosh and Windows. The Photoshop 7.0 update fixes some problems with the scripting extensions. Both updates are available now free for current users...." for entire article, click here"
25 Super Sales Secrets
5 experts reveal the sales tips that'll help you close the deal.
For many entrepreneurs, making their first sale is a monumental task. A million questions pop up, such as: How can I make my product stand out from those of my competitors? What types of questions should I ask? How do I handle objections? How should I ask for the order? For the answers to these and other sales challenges, we've asked five nationally known authors of sales books and audio tapes to share their sales secrets. Here are their 25 secrets for sales success...." for entire article, click here"
Print Buyers Get Involved
“Suzanne Morgan is well-skilled at the art of buying printing. During the span of her career, she’s counseled more than 3,700-graphic-arts-community members on best practices in print buying. These days, Morgan wears two hats, print consultant and proprietor of PrintBuyersOnline.com, which hosted April’s Print Oasis 2002 conference in Tysons Corner, VA. It was there that Morgan addressed the broadening co-dependent (in a good way) relationship between commercial printers and their customers. Morgan is an adamant proponent of supplier-buyer partnerships...." for entire article, click here"
Attract More Business With Direct-Mail Postcards
“It's powerful--and affordable. So put direct mail to work for you now...." for entire article, click here"
Integrated Branding. Create a unified look for your organization with everything you do
"Branding” is one of those issues we picture the marketing VPs of Intel or Kraft Foods worrying about--hardly something for us to concern ourselves with. It’s easy, after all, to appreciate the value of a brand like Coca-Cola, but near impossible to see how the same principles apply to an organization with an advertising budget something less than 30 million dollars. Or is it?...." for entire article, click here"
Green Eggs & Scam
17 business scams--from telephone trickery to Web wrongdoing to avoid at all costs...." for entire article, click here
Advertising Good; PR Better
The dynamic marketing duo and prolific writing team of Al & Laura Ries have done it again in their soon to be published "The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR." This new book from the Ries team together, with its inflammatory premise, is sure to stir up the marketing communication masses...." for entire article, click here
The Entertainment Factor
People aren't content to merely shop or consume anymore, so the smart businessperson also gives them an experience...." for entire article, click here
QuarkXPress 5: Moving Ahead or Falling Behind?
The long-awaited release of QuarkXPress 5 includes a lot of nice new features, like a table creation, layers management, and beefed-up Web support, but is it enough to stave off upstart InDesign? Our reviewer takes a look..." for entire article, click here
In case of theft, your Mac (or PC) can PhoneHome
"Brigadoon Software, a provider of personal computer tracking and security software, is now shipping a new security software application called PC PhoneHome that, despite the name, also tracks and locates missing Macs..." for entire article, click here
It's high noon for US v. MS, and the stakes are enormous
"If you ask the proverbial "man-on-the-street," casual industry observers, or even those who claim to be industry pundits about what's happening in the case of the United States v. Microsoft, most will say the case is pretty much over--the Department of Justice settled and the outcome will be generally favorable to Microsoft. But that could not be further from the truth..." for entire article, click here
Finally, a Photoshop for OS X
"Photoshop 7.0, Adobe's latest version of its popular photo-editing application, features a few fine new tools to speed up routine tasks like portrait retouching and photo cataloging, but when it's released in April, its biggest draw will be that it runs, finally, on Mac OS X..." for entire article, click here
FTC prepares to bust spammers
"The Federal Trade Commission is training its legal guns on spam..." for entire article, click here
Being direct
"Direct marketing takes many forms based on the manner in which you engage the recipient. These forms range from mass marketing where every piece is the same, to target marketing where every piece is totally unique. Here are the options...." for entire article, click here
Adobe Systems announces InDesign 2.0 is shipping
"Adobe Systems has announced the immediate availability of its InDesign 2.0 software; the major upgrade is available immediately to customers in the United States and Canada....." for entire article, click here
QuarkXPress 5.0 arrives, but it's not Carbonized -- yet
"At long last QuarkXPress 5.0 from Quark has arrived. The long awaited update of the page layout tool "fuses" tools for print and Web design in a single application for media-independent publishing...." for entire article, click here
Thinking Green...How to Resell, Trade In, Donate or Recycle Your Old PC
"Now that you've bought a spiffy flat-screen display and the latest, greatest 2GHz desktop computer, that decrepit three-year-old minitower and ancient CRT seem destined for the dumpster, don't they? Here's a hint from us: Don't trash them...." for entire article, click here
Appeals court upholds anti-spam law
"Californians have new ammunition in their fight against spam, thanks to a court decision this week that could make it easier to drop off from unwanted e-mail marketing lists...." for entire article, click here
Microsoft plugs XP security hole "People very rarely make genuinely new mistakes--it's much easier just to keep making the same old ones over and over again. Case in point: the buffer overflow. A relatively common flaw that arises from sloppy code-writing practices, the buffer overflow has been a primary source of serious security vulnerabilities for as long as people have recognized the concept of computer security...." for entire article, click here
Microsoft rushes to close IE security hole "Microsoft released a security patch to plug a hole in its Web browser that could allow hackers to steal passwords and trick people into downloading virulent files..." for entire article, click here
Photoshop Freebies "Did you know that Adobe gave you some presents when you bought Photoshop 6?..." for entire article, click here
The top 10 Net scams of 2001 "Old favorites and a few new twists, all designed to rip you off. Here's how to spot them -- and how to avoid them..." for entire article, click here
Do your e-mails get results? If not, follow these rules for writing compelling communications "WHEN SOMEONE RECEIVES an e-mail from you they don't just jump, they ask for a specific altitude. You've never had to send a message twice or pester someone by phone because they haven't responded to you electronically. This column is not for you. The compendium of advice that follows is for people whose e-mails sometimes don't get the attention they deserve..." for entire article, click here
Online ad squabble nears resolution "A key Internet standards body is scheduled next month to issue new guidelines for counting online ad "impressions," a move that could affect hundreds of millions of dollars in contested annual payments from advertisers to Web publishers. At stake are the billing methods and ultimately the credibility of the tarnished online advertising market, where inconsistent data for years has led to conflicts between ad buyers and publishers..." for entire article, click here
Out of Gamut: Setting Up Color Management in Photoshop 6 "Color-management wizard Bruce Fraser kicks off his two-part article on color managing in Photoshop 6 with this guide to calibrating your monitor and optimizing Photoshop settings..." for entire article, click here
COLOR "Color is crucial to visual communication. It's a basic property of light. It captures your eye. Moves you subtly. International commissions debate it constantly. You can never learn too much about it. But if you review your basics (or discover the next hot trend!), you can keep your clients ecstatic - and your studio in the black..." for entire article, click here
Under the Desktop: Working Without Wires "The appeal of wireless networks is obvious: easy installation, mobile Internet connections, high-performance, and, for the aesthetically inclined, no ugly cables. But that vision may fade in light of the steep price tag..." for entire article, click here
Antispam Laws: Where Are They? "Nearly 6 million people in 24 states have registered to have telemarketing calls blocked under new do-not-call laws. But that doesn't mean similar laws for spam could ever pass ... or be effective, antispam experts say..." for entire article, click here
Proofing Makes the Workflow Work "As printers steadily make more use of a digital workflow, the role and importance of filmless digital proofing is taking off, becoming at least as critical as color management, instrument calibration, and production control tools in helping to produce a quality, customer-approved printed piece..." for entire article, click here
Fate and the False Profile "One of the best ways to improve a bad RGB image is also one of the most paradoxical. It's a change, but it's not a change, it's color management, but it isn't color management, and it's a misuse of technology, but it works..." for entire article, click here
The Science of Selling Images "SUVs are out. Hybrid cars, cell phones, Vespas and little folding scooters are in. Such trend-spotting may sound like fodder for psychics and fashion police, but it's also key intelligence for researchers at Getty Images (GETY), who analyze trends and fads to predict what images will sell to which markets in the next two years..." for entire article, click here
Developments in the Digital Camera "I have been writing about what's new in digital photography since early 1994. Back in those "old days" cameras were big, expensive, and required lots of computer horsepower just to handle image processing. Well friends, the world has changed—we truly have entered the new millennium of digital photography..." for entire article, click here
Jobs' Keynote Steady, But No Sizzle "There wasn't much in the way of news at Steve Jobs' Wednesday morning Macworld Expo keynote. Apple's CEO began by reviewing the status of the Apple retail stores, and rerunning the videos he showed at the fireside chat at May's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference...." for entire article, click here
The Elements of Style: Big Blue has actually been on the forefront of computing style for decades "Next month marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the IBM personal computer, a seminal event that helped speed the widespread adoption of the PC by businesses and consumers..." for entire article, click here
In Depth: Technology "Two decades ago, graphic artists created -- by hand -- everything from greeting cards to advertisements using drafting tables and writing utensils. Photographers took multiple rolls of film, developed them and chose the most outstanding shots from dozens of images. Technology has changed all of that..." for entire article, click here
As The Web Turns: The Experts Weigh In " The resounding irrelevance of the Webbys this year -- those hyped-up "Oscars of the Web" everyone keeps thinking will get really big one day -- attests to a general lack of excitement most locals exhibit when it comes to anything wired in these post-boom days..." for entire article, click here
Notes From the Epicenter: Que Sera, Sera "As I sipped my Kirin Lager, it occurred to me that this sentiment could describe the effects of a year (and more) of changing circumstances on my friend's life, but also on the life of the Bay Area and everyone in it..." for entire article, click here
Paranoid about Internet Privacy? "I certainly have it. I never enter credit card information on a Web site unless I'm positive I'm buying something. And even then I have this vague feeling that I'm doing something reckless..." for entire article, click here
Imaging without wires "The challenges associated with wireless imaging differ depending on whether you're pushing images up to the network from the capture device or pulling them down to the display device, but at the core of any transfer is a set of issues associated with the current cellular infrastructure..." for entire article, click here
Interactive TV: Ready, set, click "Forget about waiting for powerful cable TV set-top boxes, those computerized wonders that promise to deliver everything from instant video-on-demand to e-commerce into U.S. homes. Interactive or "clickable" TV is already here..." for entire article, click here
Is U.S. History Becoming History? "The workings of government in the first decades of the information era have been poorly recorded, archiving experts say. "The way it used to work is that when you created a document, it circulated with five carbons that were filed in different places, but once the PC came into common use in the early 1990s, things changed..." for entire article, click here
Top 10 signs that you are being spammed and scammed "The problem with email these days is it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between legitimate “offers” and a scam rip-off..." for entire article, click here
Looking for Art in all the right places "Fred Showker takes you on a visual extravaganza to help sharpen your creative edges, and introduce you to the pleasures of discovering art...." for entire article, click here
Joyce Evans reviews Adobe Illustrator 9 "Adobe claims that Illustrator 9 is setting new standards for vector graphic creation software-I'll have to agree. The changes made to Illustrator 9 have many of us novice users taking a closer look....." for entire article, click here
Expert Bruce Fraser shows how to soft proof files in Photoshop "There always has to be some conversion back to RGB to make a CMYK file display on screen..." for entire article, click here
Sandee Cohen shares her time-saving Fontographer tips "What was the first Bézier drawing program for Macintosh computers? No, it wasn't Illustrator. Nor was it FreeHand. The answer is Fontographer, created by Altsys (now part of Macromedia) in 1985..." for entire article, click here
Illegal colors in printing; what they are and how to avoid them "This is the Color Police!" We've got you surrounded! Put down your illegal colors and come out with your hands up!..." for entire article, click here
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