You’ve probably seen my business cards by now, whether “in the flesh” or here on my website. These are custom laser-cut wooden business cards with red alder as the background and walnut for the logo part! Another fun thing about these cards is the logo is actually thicker than the background, making it stick out ever so slightly (this was on purpose) – giving it a 3D quality that not even “raised lettering” business cards can’t top!

JA Design Wood Business Cards - by NW Laser Image

These are the result of the highly creative, exceptionally skilled work from NW Laser Image! The business cards even got featured on their website (not to mention mine!).

If you have engraving, sand carving, dye sublimation, or CNC routing needs, this is who you want to see! To see more of Laser Image’s work and to contact them, visit the website here: www.nwlaserimage.com

Free 61-page Ebook: “Seek and Destroy, How to identify entrepreneurial obstacles and overcome them”

by Peter Shallard, a shrink for entrepreneurs.
Download: Seek and Destroy Ebook (PDF) (126)

Excerpt from the book:

“You have plenty of ideas – tons! – but you can’t figure out which idea to pursue. What if you choose the wrong one? Which is the right one? Which has the best chance of success?

You probably know what this roadblock feels like – it’s a big problem for many entrepreneurs. The ideas come hard and fast, from little ones that would improve the business to big ones that could nearly cause a revolution!

They come so fast that you might keep your ideas in a list, just so you don’t forget any. And you might start to think that your list is looking pretty long. Overwhelming, even.”

Peter Shallard has a great article on the psychological reasons why raising your rates is actually a good thing for both you and your clients; and it doesn’t matter what field you’re in for this to apply to you. Check out his article here: http://www.petershallard.com/why-people-want-to-pay-you-more-7-reasons-doubling-your-rates-doubles-success/

Here’s a taste before you leave:

1. Higher prices increase customer focus

When you charge more, your customers pay more attention. Trust me – I’m a therapist. I’ve often joked that a Quit Smoking therapist need only charge $7500 a session to guarantee success.

2. Big transactions will ignite your motivation

When you’re selling a big ticket item, you’re going to get fired up. When the unconscious mind knows that a single sale could have you in caviar and cigars for months, it flips the motivation switch.

3. Being expensive cultivates an aura of expert and elite status

When you have high prices, something magical happens. People assume you’re the bees-knees. You start to become known as the place to go for top-end, elite and awesome

4. You’ll make more money by doing less (aka “margin is everything”)

Overnight, he had cut his workload in half. His revenue was the same but he was making more money because he only required half the inventory. His overheads pretty much halved!

5. Big figures attract big spenders (your customer demographics will get exciting)

There are a certain group of people who will pay more for the little extras. These people will intuitively gravitate towards good customer service, style and speed. In other words, they want the best and they want it now.

6. As prices go up, customer issues and complaints go down

The more you charge, the less debt collecting, refunds and general hassles you’ll have to deal with. The customers who make the decision to shell out for your pricier product will take it upon themselves to be better educated about what you offer.

7. Big rates motivate you to over-deliver (and customers will thank you for it)

Increasing your rates overnight will make you sweat with the need to be more awesome. You’ll be petrified that you’re not “worth it” – that you’re somehow not awesome enough to have big prices. This fear is a good thing.

This is my first post on inspirational art from people like you! If you would like to be featured in a future article, submit your work via hosted link or use @Orkron on Twitter.

01 – Art by Chris Wilhelm:

Chris is a traditional artist who does amazing murals in somewhat unexpected places. His work can be viewed in restaurants, hotels, galleries, and many private homes.

02 – Art by Danny Glix:

Here’s some trippy abstract art by Danny. I don’t have the medium that’s used, but maybe drawn on paper and scanned – these are definitely different work for sure, but very nice!

03 – Art by Peter Huiras:

Peter has a lot of different forms of artistic talent; he’s a sculptor, jeweler, and photographer. I wanted to feature his amazing custom unique guitar customizations. Peter carves guitars into spectacular designs;  truly inspirational work!

04 – Art by Jeff Ballard:

Jeff is an amazing glass blowing artist. He does a very nice technique called Incalmo: A glassblowing technique used to create horizontal or vertical bands of color. Some of Jeff’s work is almost indistinguishable from the “real thing”.

05 – Art by Erin Schmucker:

Erin is a budding artist and likes to draw; I love how creative she is with her pieces. They range from surreal to downright abstract.

Final Word

I would like to do one of these articles once every month or two. I need you to submit your work to be considered to be included in following issues. Any kind of art is open for publication here: traditional art, photography, 3D, digital painting etc. Please email me your submissions today! Or include @Orkron in your tweet to submit your work.

If you’ve been to my portfolio, or you saw my recent article on Using Channels in Photoshop to remove backgrounds then you have probably seen my International Compost Awareness Week poster contest submission!

Well the great news is my design is a finalist in the final run; now it’s up for a public vote and I need your help in making mine the winner! What’s in it for me you ask? well unfortunately I’m just a poor graphic designer… I can’t offer monetary compensation – but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are part of why I won! That should be enough to hold you over with excellent karma for at least half a year! What a deal!

But in all seriousness: I put a lot of time and love into that design (even found a way to help others learn from it) and would really love to have it published and printed (nationwide too!).

Please take a moment and vote for my design here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ICAW_2011_Poster_Poll

I really appreciate it!

workawesome (http://workawesome.com) has a great article this morning, written by Bryan Thompson: “Why the First Hour is the Most Important Hour of Your Day”.

Here’s an excerpt:

Maybe you started off waking to find your clock blinking 12:00 AM. The power must have gone off in the night, and when you look at your phone or your watch, you realize you have just enough time to throw on clothes and head off to work. You throw on that outfit, hit the kitchen to pour a quick bowl of Fruit Loops, but the milk doesn’t even land enough for the bottom of the bowl to get wet. You throw the bowl in the sink and get in your car. 10 minutes to go before you’re late for your job that’s a half-hour away. But, as you ignite the car, you realize your car is on empty. You stop at the Flexi-Fuel and pour gasoline in before realizing you spent your last five dollars on curly fries the night before. When you get to work, your boss calls you in on account of your lateness, and there’s a client waiting at your desk ready to eat you alive because of a mistake the mail room guy made two weeks ago.

This post really appealed to me since I tend to have the “bad” mornings more than the “good” ones… Food for thought!

Read the whole article here: Why the First Hour is the Most Important Hour of Your Day