Dear Friends –

There are a few times in life where the perfect job comes along at the perfect time. For me in 2007, etc!graphics, inc. was that job. I was growing up, getting out of the bar business, and going back to school. I needed a job where I could grow and learn while getting used to being a student again. And that’s exactly what this opportunity provided me.

It provided me with the ability to learn the science, no, the art, of managing the operations of a small business on a day-to-day basis. It introduced me to the “wild, wild west” of a burgeoning new marketing and branding frontier called social media. It gave me experience in managing the accounting systems necessary to not only effectively run a small business, but track and measure its progress. It gave me an appreciation for good design and made me realize the critical importance of this when building a brand. It provided me an income with which I could help support my family while being a full time student in the evenings and on the weekends.

Lastly, it provided me with the priceless opportunity to network within the Des Moines community. I’ve had the pleasure of developing relationships with many of you; relationships that will continue to grow and develop throughout the years to come. For this I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you that I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with over the course of the last five and a half years. The most rewarding experiences I’ve had here have stemmed from the ability to collaborate and create with each of you. So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

April 27^th will be my last day as a business development manager at etc!graphics, inc. It is a bittersweet moment for me. Sad, because I’ll miss the people I work with both internally and externally. Happy, because I’m approaching the finish line of my formal education and getting ready to jump into the next stage of my career. My new job, a contract underwriter position with Merchants Bonding Company, starts on May 1^st.  As I was going through the interview process, Merchants was my first choice, so I am looking forward to learning the surety industry under their apt tutelage.

My biggest disappointment in this transition would be to lose contact with you. Please update my email in your contact list to chris_seiberling@me.com. I’d love to hear from all of you, and look forward to seeing each of you again soon!

Most sincerely,

Chris

PS – It will still be business as usual here at etc!graphics, inc. If you are in need of any of the visual branding products and services that are offered here, now or in the future, please contact Geri or Kevin. They are excited to continue working with each of you!  Their contact info is as follows: by email (geri@etcgraphics.com or kevin@etcgraphics.com) or by phone at 515-244-4451.

 

 

Geri: The single most powerful tool in the marketing tool box is not just for the Fortune 500. It is within reach of the smallest of entities. We encourage every business we serve to develop and use this tool. We won't lie, so the bad news first. It isn't easy to R&D this tool. It was hard for us and we are in advertising.  The good news is that the relative cost is time. (And most small businesses have more time than money.)  

Why you need it:  This tool is a characteristic of every successful business we have served in our professional history. Should you need more reason to consider it, it also improves the effectiveness of every other tool in the box. So-you may be thinking- delay no longer. Spit it out please.

Bear with me. I do not pretend to understand macro-economics. But I do understand the law of supply and demand, as do most people who can balance a checkbook. Simply stated, product availability is directly inverse to its value. If a product can be obtained anywhere, it becomes commoditized.

Imagine an original vanGogh painting. The value is in the millions.  Now imagine that same painting printed on a gazillion tourist postcards. The same image is now worth one dollar.  

So what's the point? Answer the following question:  What does my business offer its clients that no other company can provide? Or, what can my business say about its services and products that no other company can say?  If you can articulate this difference, you are not a commodity.  If you don't know the answer and need help to find it, ask your best customers why they continually come back. Finding your real strength becomes the tool. Sharing this strength in your advertising is marketing dynamite. Using classic marketing lingo, the acronym for this tool is the USP- a Unique Selling Proposition. I personally prefer UVP- a Unique Value Proposition, because it isn't just blowing fancy sales smoke. If a USP  (or UVP) does not reflect actual reality, you will be torn limb from limb one facebook post at a time in the wild jungle of unhappy consumers.

Warning: Please do not imagine that 'we provide the highest quality product in the industry' constitutes a bona fide USP. (Tip- don't even use the word quality.) It must be something no one else can say. Until you can figure this USP thing out, you will have a hard time making any advertising work for you. And if your advertising is falling short of your goals, this could be the reason why.

 The USP is an essential tool for success. It is powerful branding. It is your piece de resistance, and a tool any small business can use to great advantage.

 

Joel: We Iowan’s do things a little differently. But just because we can read a pig’s ears doesn’t mean we’re too different. Just enough, in my opinion.

Ok, truth is, probably most of us can’t read a pigs ears. But darn it all if I didn’t get the “you didn’t know that?” face when my cerebral shortcoming was made known. Evidently I was the only uninformed one in the room that day.

So I set to figure this business of pig readin’ out.

Long story short: Two ears. Four quadrants on each one. Each has a point value. Maximum of two notches made per quadrant. Minimum ¼” apart. Combination of said notches and their values equals a number. Left ear is the pig’s number, right ear is the litter number.

So this little piggy:

is affectionately known as 92-7.

Iowans are the opposite of commodity. One could argue that we’re unique to a fault. But until I stop getting a friendly wave when I let someone into my lane, I’ll proudly claim every possible person of interest that has even the slightest trace of Iowan in them. We all do it. It’s pretty funny.

Doing things a little differently is a risk. But with it comes considerable economic advantage. What do you get when you shamelessly flaunt the unique (and sometimes embarrassing) qualities of our state for 11 straight days in August? A million people paying at least $7 bucks each just to see it.

etc!graphics loves the unique. We enjoy finding out why your business is different than the next. That’s what gets our brain juices flowing. Our idea of a good time? Delivering the finished logo concept that starts your company on a unique pathway to a polished Iowa establishment. We’ve been doing it since 1988, and we’re pleased as Hot Beef Sundae!

Joel: According to my favorite Belgian pigeon website Pigeon Paradise...wait. Actually I don’t know where this is going. It’s all in Dutch. There’s at least some English here, enough to broadcast “World's largest meeting place for pigeon fanciers”. I’m most alarmed by the use of the word “fanciers” (which I will now describe myself as when regarding things I enjoy).

And secondly, that there are hordes of people the world over who breed pigeons to do back-flips over and over in hopes of setting a new distance record (currently over 662 feet!).

To say such a thing is one of a kind, in this particular instance, would be shockingly incorrect. There are fanciers everywhere. Even the Iowa State Fair hosts an official American Parlor Roller Association Sanctioned Meet (that’s APRA for those of you in the know).

I kid you not, the single most gut busting laugh I’ve experienced in the last few years came from one of these events. I wasn’t making fun of anyone; I was simply entertained like I couldn’t believe.

As the breeders tossed their Parlor Roller pigeons, and as the judge chased them down with his official distance-measuring wheel, I thought, “this is the strangest thing I have ever seen.”

But it’s unique. I’ve looked it up online a dozen times since then because I’m so curious as to who/what/where/why this happens. At the Fair, I walked right past 500 cows, 700 sheep, countless horses, their corresponding piles of road apples and everything in between to seek out this puzzlement I had heard about. And because it was so unique, I brought my family out a year later to see for themselves.

That’s how unique works. It sells itself. You tell folks about it and spread information around because it’s interesting. APRA doesn’t pay me any money, I’m writing this because it was genuinely one of the most entertaining things I’ve seen at the Fair.

Your business will behave the exact same way. Whatever it does that sets it apart from the rest is your own little goldmine. A marketing potential that is ready to do back-flips for you.

etc!graphics is ready to help your business get rolling. Bring your fanciest pigeon, or your business brainstorm and let’s do this!

We love the unique, and the Iowa State Fair is full of it.

What’s your most unique State Fair experience? Answer below to enter to win a 4-pack of tickets and $40 in spendin’ money. Entries accepted until 4pm. We’ll pick our favorite and announce a winner at 5pm.

Oh, what’s mine you ask? Pigeon Rolling.