Finding the right partner businesses can be a trial and error task when running a small business, for us, the challenge is to find the right printers, tools and software that enable us to run our design studio more efficiently, so here’s a shout out to some of our favorite business finds of 2011.

Jak Prints - Great little print company based in Cleveland, they produce good quality print work, offer a wide range of options, and most importantly, offer affordable short run options.

Gilah Press - Gilah is a letterpress print studio based in Baltimore, we first came across these guys at the How Conference in Chicago and have since used them for printing short run wedding invites.

Shoutem - Design always has a learning curve, and while we’re still learning how to create android and apple apps from scratch, Shoutem provides a great, easy to use way to get an app launched straight away.

Sliderocket - I hate powerpoint with a passion, it’s one of those antiquated pieces of software that should never have crossed into the 21st century, so I was excited to find Sliderocket this year. This web-based presentation tool is easy to use, highly customizable and far more designer-friendly than Powerpoint.

Tumblr - Sure, we’re a little late to the game on this one, but we discovered just how awesome tumblr is as a micro blogging tool this year.

DuPage Credit Union – I switched from Chase Bank to my local credit union – DuPage Credit Union, a couple of months ago (to do my part in the Occupy Movement) and I’m impressed and how much better DCU is already. Really glad I made the switch.

Design thinking is still an unknown concept to many business owners, but the concept can be applied very easily.

Take a simple coffee sleeve for instance, this slim piece of card serves an important function – it stops people burning their hands on hot coffee cups. In the eyes of a store manager they may only see it as a functional item, and may order thousands of plain, brown sleeves to keep costs down.

In the eyes of a design strategist, however, the sleeve can be an opportunity to enhance a brand. If a cafe is trying to be eco-friendly, then using biodegradable or reusable sleeves helps re-enforce that brand ideal. Custom sleeves can be used for marketing opportunities, coffee art or seasonal promotions.

The art of design thinking, therefore, is to take ordinary, functional objects and maximize their potential through smart design.

in theory working at home should mean it’s easy to put the mouse to rest and go work out for an hour – but freelance workloads can often mean we’re sitting at our computers for even more than a nine hour work day. The Decemeber issue of Competitor magazine, however, has some suggestions on a few quick exercises to do at, or near, your desk if you can spare 10 minutes away from the screen. Check out the article on page 30.

While most of our clients are focusing on electronic marketing these days, there is still the occasional request for direct mail. When planning a mail campaign, however, the design of the piece will, of course, effect the postage cost.

Postcards are the cheapest form of direct mail, but the USPS has strict definitions on what can qualify for postcard mail rates:

You may think that your mailpiece is a “postcard,” because it is a single sheet of paper. But to qualify for mailing at the First-Class Mail postcard price, it must be:

• Rectangular

• At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick

• No more than 4-1/4 inches high x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick

If your mailpiece does not meet the dimensions above, then the Postal Service considers it a letter (and charges letter-size postage). With Standard Mail, there is a little more flexibility — there is no separate (lower) price for postcards, so you don’t have to worry about your postcard being too big — because you’re paying letter prices anyway. But make sure that your postcard is no larger than 6-1/8” x 11-1/2” x 1/4” thick. Mailpieces larger than any of those dimensions and you’ll have to pay flats (large envelope) postage prices.

So basically a postcard must be no more than 4”x6” in size to qualify for first class mail postcard rates (29c per piece), but can be up to 6.125”x11.5” if you’re mailing with standard postage rates as its considered a letter anyway. A minimum of 200 pieces must be mailed to qualify for standard postage rates, however, and standard mail cannot be sent to international destinations.

Postcards must also have a minimum thickness so that they don’t get caught up in mail room machinery when being processed.

It’s also worth noting that according to the USPS a postcard is sometimes a letter, and a letter is sometimes a flat. Figuring out postage rates is not an easy task!

It took a while,but Google have finally released pages for their Google+ social network – we decided to set up a Pretty Lethal Designs page to test it out, but it looks like there’s a few key features missing before pages will become really useful for businesses.

Like facebook, Google+ Pages feature an updates stream, and the ability to add photos, videos and links, but unlike facebook, it’s actually easy to edit an update if you spot a typo, and comments can be switched on or off for individual posts. Followers can also be grouped into circles, allowing you to write targeted updates for specific circles.

However, google+ is currently lacking a multi-admin feature, which forces one person to manage the page. Google have said they will be introducing the ability to add additional admins in early 2012, however. Google+ pages don’t have a built in events module yet either, or the ability to sync rss feeds ( no automatic posts from blog to page) and don’t offer the option of vanity URLs yet, which can be a hinderance to page promotion.

So there are a few extra features needed to make google+ pages really worthwhile, but its likely that they will eventually become another required social media outlet for businesses.

Cafe ‘N’ Play is a new kid-friendly cafe opening in Naperville in early 2012. The logo was developed to represent both the cafe – with the coffee cup, and the child play areas – with the bubble blower.

It amazes me how low some people will go for money. News stories on my recent trip to the UK, for instance, included thieves stealing the metal from war memorials to melt down and sell, and of course, there’s always a slew of online scams to be aware of.

Recently, we’ve helped save a few of our small business clients from scams, so to help others avoid these scams, here are the details of some of the common ones:

Fake Yellow Book

The Scam: A company with a name like Yellow Book America calls you and asks you to confirm the details of your business listing, as well as asking a series of rapid-fire and confusing questions. (The aim is to get a phone recording of you saying yes). Later you will receive an urgent and expensive invoice for your listing, if you try and dispute it they will threaten legal action and produce a (doctored) recording of you agreeing to the listing.

Be Aware: Inspect your invoices carefully, if anything looks dodgy, don’t pay it and search for the company on Better Business Bureau and on scam websites.

Fake Online Advertiser

The scam: A company (often outside the US) will email a blog or website owner asking for advertising rates to advertise their well known brand on your site. Once the website owner suggests a price they ask you to download their own advertising management software  - which is actually a Trojan virus.

Be Aware: Of companies asking to advertise a product or service that’s completely unrelated to your website. If the email arrived through a contact form on your site, check the IP address to see which country it actually came from.

Fake Awards

The scam: A company called ‘Talk of the Town’ (or similar) will email a small business claiming they have won a customer service award. To claim the award however, the company has to pay a hefty fee for the certificate or plaque.

Be Aware: Of any award company that asks you to pay for an actual award.

Can you ever have too many ideas? After returning from yet another excellent How Design Live conference this weekend, I’m beginning to think its possible – or at least have too many ideas with too little time to implement them.

Highlights at this year’s conference included a session on ‘design thinking’ by Method’s VP of brand experience, Matthew Lloyd; a session on turning creative obsession into a profitable enterprise by Armin Vit and a great panel session on creativity featuring Chris Chapman, a designer at Disney.

The result, of course, is a notebook packed with tips, sketches, new websites to visit and seedlings of ideas scrawled in the margins. The plan now is to lock those ideas into type, select my top three or four, and create an action plan to implement them.

Last year’s conference in Denver led me to my favorite design project yet, and the design education I received helped raise the standard of my general work tremendously. I have no doubt, that given some time to develop my new ideas, I will achieve similar results this year. So thanks again to everyone involved with the How Design Live 2011 conference, it was an excellent experience and I’m already looking forward to the 2012 conference in Boston.

Last week I gave a talk on social media to a group from the Illinois Parks & Recreation Association. One of the questions that kept coming up was how to deal with issues that effect government agencies in particular, such as freedom of speech and the freedom of information act. while there is no catch-all answer, these issues to highlight the need for a social media policy.

In fact, any business or organization with employees who use facebook, twitter, or other social media, should put some guidelines in place. These can range from a basic guidelines that let staff know what’s expected of them (such as those shown below), to a thorough document put together by  an HR department and approved by lawyers. To help get you started we’ve included a basic policy document that we’ve found useful below the fold. The guidelines are creative commons, so are free to use and adapt for your business.

Top 10 Social Media Guidelines

What is social media?

Social media includes blogs, social networks, wikis, forums, and comments on online media stories, and while we (COMPANY) encourage you to take part in social media, it is important that while you are an (COMPANY) employee, you follow these simple but important guidelines. These rules might sound strict and contain a bit of legal-sounding jargon but please keep in mind that our overall goal is simple: to participate online in a respectful, relevant way that protects our reputation and of course follows the letter and spirit of the law. NOTE: Mainstream media inquiries must be referred to the Director of Public Relations.

1. Be honest

Be honest about your employment at (COMPANY) when commenting on any matter related to (COMPANY). If you are writing about (COMPANY) or a competitor, use your real name, identify that you work for (COMPANY), and be clear about your role. If you have a vested interest in what you are discussing, be the first to say so.

2. Use your expertise

Stick to your area of expertise and do feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on non-confidential activities at (COMPANY).

3. Never be misleading

Never represent yourself or (COMPANY) in a false or misleading way, eg don’t post fake positive comments or reviews. All statements must be true and not misleading; stick to facts when commenting on (COMPANY). If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the facts straight and that you have the appropriate permissions.

4. Respond

Social media is about being social, if someone asks a question or posts a comment on (COMPANY), try to respond with an appropriate response in a timely manner.

5. Don’t post spam

Refrain from posting spam, off-topic or offensive comments. Remember you are representing (COMPANY) whenever you use social media.

6. If you are unsure, seek guidance

If you are unsure about whether it is appropriate to post on a topic related to (COMPANY) check with the PR manager first. Make sure your efforts to be transparent don’t violate (COMPANY)’s privacy, confidentiality, and legal guidelines for external commercial speech.

7. Be Polite

When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a situation online that looks as if it’s becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do not disengage from the conversation abruptly: feel free to ask the PR Director for advice and/or to disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner that reflects well on (COMPANY).

8. Be respectful of copyright.

Make sure you have permission to use images, art, music, etc before you post it. Items with a Creative Commons license are usually copyright free and safe to use.

9. Don’t comment in crisis situations.

Never participate in Social Media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your or (COMPANY)’s IP address. Refer all Social Media activity around crisis topics to PR and/or Legal Affairs Director. Please never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties (COMPANY) may be in litigation with.

10. Protect your privacy

Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and (COMPANY)’s confidential information. What you publish is widely accessible and will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully. Google has a long memory.

These guidelines are provided under a creative commons license, you are free to use and adapt as you need.

We’d like to say good luck to Sherman Oaks Dental at the Naperville Small Business Awards on Friday.

Dr Lydia Sosenko and her dental practice are competing in the professional services category at the awards, hopefully with an entry boosted by the award packet we designed for them.

This is the second year we’ve put together an award packet for the event – last year our packet helped Advanced Health of Naperville win the professional services category, so we’ve got fingers crossed that we can make it two years in a row with a winning entry.

The results will be announced at the award ceremony on Friday, May 13. The Small Business of the Year (SBY) Award is the highest entrepreneurial honor the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce awards its Members. It is the business community’s way of recognizing outstanding work done of, for and by the Members.

UPDATE – Sherman Oaks did win the Professional Category at the Small Business Awards on May 13, so congratulations to Dr. Lydia and her team, we’re happy to have helped another local business walk away with an award!