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Backup!

backup! Last week my hard drive on my iMac crashed. Died. Done.

When I called to tell my wife the news she said, “You sound much more calm than I thought you would.” That’s because the night before the crash my automated weekly backup (via the very nice iDrive) ran and all my client files were safe and secure in the cloud of the internet.

While I had always heard the importance of backing up your computer, that day’s calmness confirmed just how vital this task is to any business.  After using TechTool Pro I was able to boot the drive up for a couple hours and pull the few files that didn’t get backed up (of course, I back them up now), but all in all the crash was nowhere near the disaster it could have been.  Surprisingly the closest certified Mac technician is all the way down in Ellensburg, but in just a few days the awesome guys at CCS had me back up and running.  In the meantime I could keep working on my laptop and everybody stayed happy!

Two lessons from this story:

  1. Apple no longer has the shiny halo around it that it once did for me. (the hard drive was only 1.5 years old!)
  2. Backups are critically important.  The time they take (which, with automated backups is virtually none) is never wasted.
06/24/09 Comments (2) , ,

You Need a Break

Well, its just about summer again, which always has me wondering for a few minutes if I should have been a teacher so that I could take the next 3 months off.  Then I remember what teachers have to do for the rest of the year and I’m content with my job.

But I do think breaks are important.  There are two types I’d like to mention which are important for your business (whether you are an owner or an employee).

The Full-Day Work Breakredwoods-break

This kind of break lets you escape the normal routine and confines of the workday, just for a day, and can help your company tremendously.  The idea here is to get out of the office, away from your tasks and phone calls, but to still let your mind drift to work-related thoughts.

Getting out of your normal environment can help your brain do the same thing.  Not bringing email or a phone with you helps keep you distraction free.  Now you can have time to think of bigger-picture problems in a different way, and hopefully see new solutions.
Some sort of exercise helps stimulate thought as well.  As your body is engaged let your mind drift to work-related issues and you may see complicated problems begin to simplify and bound up topics begin to unravel.

Take along a piece of paper or a journal and record the solutions you think of during this full-day work break.  Make it like a brainstorming session for the general direction of your company – no answer is wrong.  Later you can go back and find the ideas that were completely off-the-wall and the ones that have break-inspired genius.

The No-Work Vacation

Sometimes the full-out vacation is the best medicine for both you and your business.  Take a huge break, get away from everything work-related both physically and mentally.  Get out of the office, out of the city, out of the state.

What a relief it can be to get away from everything and just do what you love to do best.  Immerse yourself totally in the enjoyment of camping, watching movies, playing with your kids, boating, or whatever.  The vacation can help you remember what you love in life and why you work in the first place.

What about now?  Why not take a quick break now?  Get up and look out the window and take a few deep breaths.  Come back renewed and ready to tackle problems from a different perspective.

06/01/09 Comments (2) , ,

Be Good

they're great!Remember when i said that people notice when you’re bad?  But that people notice when you’re good too?

Well, some people have been noticing Apt’s new websites are pretty good.  The new site I finished up for Leavenworth Summer Theater has been featured on some showcases of great web design, including:

And the new E3 website I created showed up here:

Our clients have been talking too.  Check out the new testimonials from Eric, Jason, Susan, Allison and Blair!

So get out there this spring and be awesome!  People will notice.

04/17/09 Comments (3) , , , ,

Don’t Be Bad

Don't get put hereWhy be good?

Why be good at what you do?  One reason is because people notice when you’re bad.

I was reading this article about Design Drop-Down menus and thought about how horrible it would be to have your website listed in the section of “Poorly Constructed Menus.”  Or, even worse, to have your logo show up on Your Logo Makes Me Barf.

In today’s world of people being able to instantly post reviews of your company on the internet for the world to see, word-of-mouth is more important than ever.  And though the two examples above are from the design industry there are certainly people writing about the bad in your industry as well.

People notice when you offer something sub-par, whether it be your customer service, your product, your communication, or the cleanliness of your retail store.  One reason not to be bad is so that people don’t notice anything bad to complain about.

On the flip side, they also notice when you’re good, and with word-of-mouth sometimes that’s all you need to keep your business alive.

04/09/09 Comments (1) , ,

Apt Design Co-Sponsors Seminar

On April 9th Apt Design is co-sponsoring an event hosted by the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, the 90-Minute Marketing Seminar.  The presenters are Bill Hoke & Patty Graf-Hoke from Washington State.  They will be talking about how businesses and non-profits can continue to market in a continuing hard economy by using cost-effective techniques.

From their materials:

90 Minute Marketing WorkshopMore than 5000 people from Wasilla to Walla Walla, have attended the 90 Minute Marketing Workshops and walked away with practical, common sense strategies to help grow their business or organization. In just 90 minutes (that’s a promise) you will learn the basics for writing your own easy-to-use marketing plan and dozens of proven tactics you can take back and put to work immediately. This fast paced, real-world, hands-on  workshop was created especially for small, local businesses and nonprofit organizations that are the backbone of our local economies and communties. For more information and testimonials, please visit www.90minutemarketing.com.

Staying on top of your company’s marketing is more critical now than in times of a booming economy (though you should remember to continue marketing even when things are going well).  With many years in the marketing industry under their belts, the Hokes are sure to present a program to help you find the best ways to promote your company or organization.  You can find more registration information on the Chamber’s website.  I hope to see you at the seminar!

03/30/09 Comments (0) , ,