7 Signs That You are A Bad Boss and 4 Ways to Grow

              7 Signs That You are A Bad Boss and 4 Ways to Grow

If you haven’t had a frustrating boss in your life, then you are part of a slim minority.

Most of us have experienced a manager that’s driven us to frustration or brought us to tears. Here are some “Bonehead Boss” stories from CBS News to make you grimace:

1 - After months of hard work, I closed a deal for $7,000,000. My customer bought the equipment because of our strong personal relationship and my company's technical capabilities. Six months later they doubled the order. My bosses, thinking that they had closed the deal, limited my commission to a fraction of what it should have been. I found a new job and quit. A week later my customer moved the order to my new company.

2 - I had worked at a camp for five summers during college when my best friend unexpectedly died from heart failure. When I returned from the funeral, my grandfather was on his deathbed. Obviously upset, I approached my boss and explained the situation. She said "Well, you'll have to get over it and get on with your life. I can't let you go again." My grandfather died the next week. When I told my boss about his upcoming funeral she said, "You should have planned better, you have no bereavement time left."

Ouch.

What if the Bad Boss is You?

Whether its disrespect, micro-managing, or verbal abuse, bad experiences with a boss can make people dread going to work each day.

But what if the bad boss is you?

According to the 2017 “Bad Boss Index” from Bamboo HR, here are seven mistakes managers frequently make. They:


* Take credit for stuff they didn’t do
* Don’t appear to trust or empower their employees
* Don’t seem to care if their people are overworked
* Don’t advocate for employee compensation
* Don’t back up employees when there’s a dispute between staff and company   clients
* Don’t set clear expectations or provide proper direction on assignments/roles
* Focus more on employee weaknesses than strengths
 
How many of these characteristics apply to your leadership?

If you can relate, consider talking with your employees and asking how you can improve. Try to understand the impact of your faults and use this as motivation to change. People will trust you more when you are honest about your weakness.

Four Steps For Growth as a Leader


As you listen and implement change, here are four steps toward positive change:

1. Ask honest questions and listen without becoming defensive.
Even if only a part of the criticism is true, your ability to sift through exaggeration (without rejecting feedback entirely) will grow you in leadership and character.

2. Deal with feedback directly.

Don’t discount a complaint or place the blame on others. Seek accountability and ownership for how others perceive you.

3. Take immediate action.

Give affirmation to the feelings and requests of others and look for two or three quick changes you can make to remedy frustration.

Try to sow in the opposite spirit: if you micromanage, be more intentional about delegating. If you criticize too often, seek to encourage more.

4. Establish weekly leadership goals and share them with someone you trust.

Have someone (a neutral friend or respected co-worker) hold you accountable for necessary changes, and schedule check-ins for at least one month as you move ahead.

Remember, a person who feels appreciate will often do more than you expect. Take ownership over your leadership and your team will flourish as you grow!
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Reel in Prospects by Adding Print to Your Content Marketing

           Reel in Prospects by Adding Print to Your Content Marketing

Researchers estimate that in 1984 a person saw an average of 2,000 ads per day.

By 2014, they saw about 5,000. With the explosion in spam and social media ads, that number increases daily. But consumers are fed up with in-your-face advertising that seems disruptive or manipulative. Instead, they’re attracted to authenticity and friendliness in a brand.

How can you build that kind of culture in your business?

It's All About Content

Narratives and content marketing can bring fresh life to your marketing mix!

Content marketing is a strategic approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. It shifts your team away from a “message” focus to a more optimal “people focus,” building trust and driving more profitable consumer action.

Content marketing generates stronger leads, increases sales, and enhances customer loyalty. Consider these facts:


* 77% of internet users read blogs

* Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than small businesses without blogs

* Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about three times the leads

* A 2014 Brandshare survey found that the majority of consumers are suspicious of brands’ intentions, but 87% said they would like a more meaningful relationship with their preferred brands

Why Print + Content Marketing = Success


When people consider content marketing, they typically think of digital media.

However, true diversification means thinking bigger. The Content Marketing Institute suggests two out of three marketers don’t include print in their content marketing, but there is strategic value to including printed content elements.

Why?

1. The Information Factor


Nielson found about 56% of consumers rely on printed matter for sales information, and:

* 56% preferred mailed or delivered circulars

* 52% relied on newspaper circulars

* 37% relied on in-store printed pieces or store-generated e-mails

* 27% relied on store websites

Print is seen as a concrete, reliable source, especially by prospects nearing a decision. If you neglect printed content marketing you may minimize your chance of landing a valuable client.

2. The Trust Factor


With today’s “fake news” paranoia, trust in digital media has decreased.

A 2017 study showed that printed news magazines are the most trusted news source (72% rated them positively) while only 33% believed social media provided honest information.

Even print versions of national newspapers were regarded as more trustworthy than the websites of that exact same publication!

Because of the physical nature of the medium, print is naturally viewed as more informative and trustworthy than digital media.

So how can you add print to your content marketing strategies?

1. Use embedded QR codes in game-style promotions or in-store displays. Check some inspiring examples here or here.

2. Look for ways to get your business or product featured in magazine or newspaper articles.

3. Employ printed “how to” postcards or maintenance checklists with online coupon discounts included in the text

4. Print inserts for invoices or point-of-sale kiosks that highlight an excerpt of your blog to lead them online.

5. Consider generating your own quarterly or bi-annual niche publication.

6. Print custom thank-you notes with a snippet of your brand story or the first paragraph of your blog on the back.

Printed content marketing should be used as “bait” to generate nibbles from your potential customers.

If you don’t have a place to reel them in (like a “get started today” link) or a way to keep them in the net (a defined sales funnel or a customer retention program), all your time and energy will be useless. So be strategic, be customer-focused, and get out there and fish!
For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html  

How Typeface Affects Your Brand Expression

                     How Typeface Affects Your Brand Expression

Flavors have tangible effects on your body and your mood.
When you eat spicy food, your heart rate increases or your face may sweat. When you taste your favorite ice cream, reality seems to fade to slow motion as you prolong each morsel of delight. Is food really that powerful, or is there something more at play? More than likely, the foods you eat conjure whole streams of past experiences in your mind. The context or culture an individual brings to their experience will significantly affect their interpretation.

The same is true in design.
Whether it’s colors, photo filters, or layouts, every choice plays into a viewer’s experience with your brand. Often, we overlook typeface as an important design attribute but font is hugely expressive and making the right choice is critical. In fact, in 1923, when Poffenberger & Franken conducted research into how readers perceive different typefaces, people responded quite uniformly to typeface and product pairings and used similar adjectives about the fonts they observed. Fonts can give a sense of timeless style, of purity and simplicity, or a friendly human touch. The contrast of the strokes, how a letter is finished, or its proportionality can determine whether a design seems warm and friendly or cold and mechanical. Let’s examine a few fonts and the effect they have on viewers.

Serif or Sans Serif


Serifs originated from Roman Imperial carved inscriptions and this deep-rooted history brings an inescapable association with academic, thoughtful communication.

The internal density of serif fonts creates a straightforward, highly-efficient text row, but sans-serif fonts have a reputation for being more casual, informal and friendly. Although serif fonts dominate the world of print, the boom in screen-based technology has made the more legible sans serif a popular choice, especially for brands that are seeking a rational, industrial, or no-nonsense quality to their message.

Script Fonts

Script fonts are those that mimic cursive handwriting.

Formal scripts embody the ornate flair of old-school calligraphy, while casual scripts have a more home-spun friendly feel. Formal scripts are ideal for invitations, book covers, wall art, or anything with a vintage theme. Casual scripts can be modified to fit anything from logos, posters, pamphlets, or anything with an intimate, informal vibe.

Handwritten Fonts

Handwritten fonts have evolved over the last ten years, and embody the name they possess with scrawling, looped, or free-flow characters that people use when they put pen to paper.

These fonts are ideals for cards, book covers, posters, freebies and swag, or logo design as they bring an imaginative touch that sets your products apart.

Mix and Match

Can you pair different kinds of fonts in a project?

Of course!

Like all facets of design, contrast is key. A handwritten bold logo paired with a scripted tagline can make your welcome sign sing. Or an all-caps serif with an italicized sans serif may bring a subtle sophistication. Even if you use the same font through an entire piece, making a headline bold and condensed but the copy light with greater vertical space (or “leading”) can make a smart statement. Just remember to proof samples before you get too deep into a project. Some fonts look great in headlines but terrible on screen. Others are fun to read but fatigue the eye quickly. Test your font choices and pairings on a few willing volunteers or gather feedback from a design consultant.

While there are thousands of fonts, the right combination is essential to set the tone for your brand. If you want to brainstorm with our creative team, give us a call today!
For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html
 

Printed Gifts Are Perfect Any Time of Year

                         Printed Gifts Are Perfect Any Time of Year

Providing your customers with a small memento of your business is one of the best ways to keep your brand top-of-mind.

However, many business owners struggle with ideas about what they can use as gifts that are cost-effective, memorable, and useful to their clients. There are plenty of options on the market today in terms of promotional products, but a thoughtful printed gift may be the ideal option for your business.

Here are some of the ways that businesses are making themselves memorable in print!

The Gift of Humor


Knock knock. Who's there? Etch. Etch who? Bless you, friend.

There are few things that will put a smile on someone's face more quickly than a corny knock-knock joke. You know they are terrible, but you still have to smile! Your customers will feel the same way, so why not gift them with a little light and laughter in their life? A small printed joke book is the perfect way to let your customers know you're thinking about them. Humor has been shown to build trust and inspire creative thinking -- what better gifts could you provide to your best customers?

Giving Notes


Many organizations are clear and consistent with their message of helping others, so why not extend this concept?

A simple printed postcard or notecard showing your clients that you contributed to a specific charity on their behalf is a terrific way of showing your commitment to giving back to the community and the world. Prefer to have a more lasting memory for your customers? Printed magnets or labels will also help you share the message of generosity.

Office Supplies

Who "borrowed" my notepad this time?!?

Offices throughout the country hear this cry on a regular basis, so why not take away some of this pain? Printed pop-up notes or notepads are an inexpensive gift that will be appreciated for weeks -- or even months. Plus, you can add your brand in a way that not only are you sharing your message with the individual sending the note, but the recipient will also have a positive association with your brand, too. Instead of doing a simple blank note, why not print inspirational statements on them or create bold "Thank You" messages on the notepad? Your customers will love being able to share them with friends at work.

Desktop Prints


Motivational posters or prints are always a welcome gift, as they help clients stay encouraged even when they're going through a rough patch.

A simple mini-print is ideal for this situation, and you can even upgrade to a small matted display for your best customers. Help customers see how much they mean to you by sharing a heartfelt note that brings together your brand promise and shows how far above and beyond you are willing to go to provide top-notch service.

These are only a few of the ways you can share the appreciation that you feel for your clients on a daily basis. How do you show appreciation for your clients? For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html

The Enduring Impact of Print

                                            The Enduring Impact of Print

The 1960s gave us many iconic classic cars, but perhaps none is more legendary than the Aston Martin driven by James Bond (Sean Connery) in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.

A long list of tricks made it one of the most beloved movie cars of all time: machine guns, an ejector seat, smoke screens, and a futuristic onboard navigational system. Bond’s reputation as a suave man of action and a smart connoisseur of fine things rocketed Aston Martin to popularity as one of the most desirable automobile brands in the world. The car was so beloved it was later stolen from a Florida airport hanger and is reportedly worth nearly 10 million today.

Vintage. Classic. Irreplaceable.
 
Those are some of the words we associate with things that are original, things that set the “status quo,” and that just can’t be shattered or ignored. Today’s generation is manifesting a hunger for the authentic, and a desire for craftsmanship is at the forefront. In an age of identity theft, cheap counterfeits, and digital dominance, Carhartt clothing coined the call for craftsmanship as the “road home from a throwaway world.” 

The Original Design Format


Local printers believe in the beauty and craftsmanship of their trade, and in the hard-hitting, precise, flawless quality that hard copy printing can bring. As the original format for marketing impact, we believe print design is as essential as the ABCs – in ways as basic as these:

A = Attracting New Customers

Print is essential for attracting new customers in ways digital advertising never can.

Print products allow you to uniquely target the right customers by placing your work directly in before their eyes and in their hands. While digital ads are quickly forgotten, print offers a sense of credibility and real-time professionalism that engage consumers with an immediate, tangible impact. Printed pieces also have a greater opportunity to arouse passive audiences (like those viewing a banner, poster, or printed advertisement), to keep reader attention longer, to improve reading comprehension, and to improve the top-of-mind awareness your business desires.

B = Building Traffic Online

Online content requires a combination of above- and below-the-line marketing support to drive traffic online and increase profits across the board.

Hard copy print products can increase online engagement through a variety of marketing initiatives. Consider on-page ads with online coupon options. Feature your online calendar or offer VIP discounts for those who refer a friend or add social bookmarks to your business. Use printed inserts or brochures placed at the point of sale for invitations to educational blogs, webinars, or freebie giveaways you feature only online.

As you connect your online and conventional marketing strategies, aggressively seek customer feedback and look to solidify your niche in the collective conversation. Inspire professionalism, reliability, and consistency in everything you publish, both digitally and in print. Better integrated communication will bring more consistent, profitable results!

C = Cementing Brands Offline


Often, we overlook the power of print products to cement our brand in consumers’ minds.

A 2015 neuromarketing study revealed that direct mail simulated a 70% higher brand recall3, a dramatically more persuasive element than digital media.

And don’t underestimate the poignant response physical print brings.

Consider the emotions you experience when you see your favorite coffee logo adorning a steaming mug, or how you feel when a co-worker walks into the room wearing a T-shirt of your favorite podcast or band. Print products bring a palpable, concrete response that digital advertising just can’t match!

Whether it’s yard signs, car window adhesives, banner advertising, or just good old-fashioned swag, claim some real-estate for your image and you’ll find your brand developing staying power with a lasting return. 
For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html  

3 Keys to Build Better Workplace Morale

3 Keys to Build Better Workplace Morale

Did you know October 7 is “Worldwide Smile Day?”

Smile day is celebrated on the first Friday of October, dedicating twenty-four hours to smiling and acts of community kindness. Why? In a “bad news” world, a little dose of joy goes a long way. Gretchen Rubin certainly believes this.

From outside perspectives, Rubin lived a marvelously successful life. She had a good marriage, a thriving writing career (formerly a Yale graduate clerk to Sandra Day O’Connor), a warm relationship with in-laws, and two lovely daughters. But in 2006, Rubin realized something was missing. She had a mild case of “the blues,” a below-the-surface irritableness she couldn’t shake. While she was generally happy, Rubin struggled to enjoy happiness each day.

“Did I have a heart to be contented? No, not particularly. I had a tendency to be discontented: ambitious, dissatisfied, fretful, and tough to please . . . (It was) easier to complain than to laugh, easier to yell than to joke around, easier to be demanding than to be satisfied.”

Driven by curiosity, Rubin threw herself into a soul-searching experiment resulting in the best-seller, “The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.” Rubin chose monthly themes, like “energy,” “love,” “work,” and test-drove happiness theories. In the end, this created an entire cottage industry (blogs, videos, starter kits), driving people to aggressively pursue happiness. Rubin found a commitment to simple daily habits (like making the bed) brought a drastically cheerful increase:

“This is about ordinary happiness,” Rubin said. “I wanted to change my life without making major changes. I wanted to show that you don’t have to do something radical.”

Lighten the Mood, Lighten Their Load

Work is life, and life is work. As hard as you try to separate them, work affects your personal life, and vice-versa.

So, what if you could increase happiness at work? What would increased “ordinary” happiness do for an entire company? Statistics say employees who report being happy at work take 10 times fewer sick days, and 36% of employees say they would give up $5000 a year to be happier at work. Happy salespeople produce 37% greater sales and “happy companies” outperform the competition by 20%!

The Keys to Building Morale


Your brain works efficiently when you’re in a good mood. Forward-thinking businesses connect these dots, believing a better “company mood” brings a stronger bottom line. Here are three ways to build better workplace morale:

1. Cozier Spaces. The office layout, lighting, and aesthetics are a major part of employee satisfaction. Have discouraging cubicles or ugly paint? Throw a little money at this problem and harvest new energy from your team each day.

2. Parties and Perks. Whether its chair massages, goofy competitions, or summer snowcone festivals, everyone benefits from fun at work. Professional growth opportunities are also significant: in a 2013 poll, 84% of employees claimed the opportunity for advancement was very important. Encourage people to attend conferences, practice peer-to-peer training, or try workshops for growing specific skills.

3. Improved Communication. As you mobilize teams, tap into the foundational reasons people give their best, like self-improvement, societal impact, or ability to reach challenging goals. When Sandra Day O’Connor was asked what she thought made a happy life her response was simple: Work worth doing.

As you lead, give your team regular feedback. Without guidance, people feel deflated or unmotivated. Personal improvement areas should be private and actionable: explain to employees where to improve and give examples of change. Author Scott Halford says positive feedback is vital:

“Positive feedback stimulates the reward centers in the brain, leaving the recipient open to new direction. Meanwhile, negative feedback indicates that an adjustment needs to be made and the threat response turns on and defensiveness sets in. You don't need to avoid corrective feedback altogether. Just make sure you follow it up with a suggested solution or outcome.”
For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html  

Pure Happiness: How to Reduce the Impact of Negative People in Your Life

Pure Happiness: How to Reduce the Impact of Negative People in Your Life

It is practically impossible to completely cut negative people from your life, but there are some steps that you can take to help mitigate the damage that they can do.

When you're constantly surrounded by individuals who would rather see a glass half empty, it can begin to take a toll on even the most optimistic of souls. Over time, this wearing down of your positive exterior can grow and spread -- until you find that you're the one who has a negativity problem!

Fortunately, there are ways that you can reduce the impact that gloomy people have over your life and simply choose happiness.

Identifying Negative People


Some negative people exude a black cloud, while others may be a bit more subtle in their darkness.

The first step towards culling negativity from your life is by identifying those individuals who are causing your life to be less-than-happy. Stay on the lookout for people with these traits:

Constant worrying and fretting, often for no reason
Enjoy secrecy or spreading rumors
Always seem to be stuck in neutral -- no steps forward, nothing outside their comfort zone
Even the most exciting projects receive a "Blah" reaction
Every positive statement contains a "but", turning it right into a negative
Protect Your Time


Have you noticed that some people like to wander from place to place in an office or workplace setting, spreading gloom and doom wherever they go?

They truly seem to enjoy bringing others down to their level of bad attitude. Don't be afraid to block your calendars for 15 or even 5 minutes to recharge and meditate after an interaction with one of these individuals. It will help you reset your mood from down in the dumps to feeling like there's a more positive future on the horizon.

Focus on Your Goals


When you have a laser focus on accomplishing your goals, no one can stand in your way!

Isolate yourself from toxic relationships and find a way to work with people who nourish you mentally by challenging your thoughts in a way that helps you take leaps forward in cognition -- not those who make you want to hide in a corner and nurse your wounds. Few supervisors will notice that you're changing the subject if you take them towards a topic that is close to their heart, especially if you choose one that's going exceptionally well.

Choose to Behave Productively

While you may be stuck in the rut of listening to negativity simply out of a need to be polite, keep in mind that you have a choice.

When someone starts going down that same old road towards negativity, gently let them know that you are focusing on the positive aspects. You appreciate their viewpoint, but you don't feel it is productive. This can be a bit dicey if the individual sharing the negative elements in their life is your superior, but find a way to wrap the conversation back to a positive -- and productive -- bent.

Don't allow these energy vampires to suck the happiness from your life. Combat the negativity by staying relentlessly positive, and always finding a way to compliment others and help them see the brighter side of every situation. When you make these decisions, you are automatically reducing the impact of negativity in your life, and opening up a whole new avenue for happiness. 
For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html  

Magnets Remind Customers You Care

                            Magnets Remind Customers You Care

Keeping your business top of mind for your customers requires creativity and constant reminders that your goods and services are available.

If you've exhausted your ideas, why not try something that's worked great for pizza and fast food restaurants for years? Sheila M., a local car dealership office manager, decided to leverage printed magnets to drive interest in her business.

Focus on Community

Keeping the public's interest when there are lots of other businesses attempting to gain attention as well is difficult, to say the least.

Local car dealerships are always looking for a tactic that will place them above the competition in the view of the public. When you show that you care about your audience, you will subconsciously encourage people who view your marketing and advertising to think about your brand in a positive light. As part of her job as office manager, Sheila received a lot of questions about car seats and found herself often helping new parents understand the specific requirements in her state.

Sheila's Light Bulb Moment

When her sales manager asked Sheila for suggestions on what type of promotional product would be good to help promote their business, she immediately thought about the way so many customers asked her about car seat safety.

She would print off the car seat rules from the internet and send them home with families with young children, and she decided this was a great opportunity to expand that relationship into the community. Sheila visited her local print shop and worked with them to design a refrigerator magnet that included quick tips on car seat safety, such as the legal age for moving from rear-facing car seats to forward-facing car seats. Sheila also included the local number for the Sheriff's department in case parents had any questions. Once she added her car dealership's branding and contact information, she knew she had a winner!

Immediate Results


Passing out these refrigerator magnets in the community had an immediate impact on sales.

Sheila and her sales manager decided to do a wider mailing within their zip code and a few surrounding areas once they realized that the magnets were incredibly well-received. The dealership received calls thanking them for caring about the community, and several new customers came in the first week mentioning the magnets.

When you are ready to promote your business in a way that will resonate with your key audiences, give us a call! We will work closely with you to define the ideal printed items that will support your business goals. For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html

Presentation/Pocket Folders

Presentation/Pocket Folders "Don't Leave the Office Without One"

Show Your Potential Customers What Your Company is all About

Pockets folders are a great way to keep all your marketing materials organized and readily available, when showing a potential customer what products your company offers. They come in many sizes starting with the standard 9 x 12 with one or two pockets. Pocket folders are also great for meetings, keeping all your importnat information on hand and ready for you to pass out.

Pocket Folder Sizes

Besides the standard 9 x 12 size the Print Cafe of LI offers other sizes like the 8.5 x 14 legal size. Most of these are used by mortgage companies, banks, and law firms. Another popular folder is the reinfoced capacity folder which has a 1/2" spine in order to accomodate several pages of documents. The Print Cafe of LI, also produces custom made folders, as an example we have the Glove Compartment Folder we print for Competition BMW of Smithtown.

This Folder is designed to hold the BMW Car Manual and any other important documents. This folder size is 7" x 10" wide and opens on the horizontal side. All our folders come in various stock thickness, with a variety of finishes like high gloss UV or Matte coating. Other specialities like gold or silver foil imprinting and die embossing are available. For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html