FREE Graphics! The following three 100% editable graphics are samples from BizGraphics On Demand. To learn more, click here. Your new graphics can be edited in PowerPoint 2007. Note: only those people that receive Mike's E-Zine in their email can download these graphics.
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4 Time Saving Graphics Secrets I recently surveyed business and design professionals about their biggest graphic challenges. The number one answer to my survey was … time. Either we lack time to make graphics or we spend too much time on tweaks, changes, and false starts. So to help my fellow overworked professionals, I have compiled four tried and true tips that streamline the graphic process and saves our most valuable commodity ... time. 1. Evolve the concept before rendering the final graphic. Rendering a graphic on a computer is too time-consuming. Instead, make a rough sketch of your concept first. You do not need to be Michelangelo to communicate your ideas with a basic picture. Boxes, circles, stick figures, lines, arrows, and labels sufficiently communicate anything. Look at how much is communicated by this simple pen drawing...
Ask a colleague to review your sketch. Ask them to explain it to you. Did they understand what you wanted your graphic to communicate? If not, make edits and ask again. Repeat this process until your reviewers agree that your graphic communicates the intended message. It is much easier (and takes far less time) to erase a few lines or scratch out a box or do a total redesign of a rough sketch than to do a final computer rendering for each change. 2. Leverage existing graphics. Create a library of graphics commonly used in your company's presentations, proposals, and marketing materials. These graphics are your foundation for new projects. It's much easier to start with an older, successful graphic and tailor it, than start with a blank piece of paper. If nothing else, your library of graphics will get you thinking graphically. You will be amazed how fast ideas come when you stimulate your brain with visuals. Another place to leverage graphics is the Internet. Click here for a library of business graphics (http://www.billiondollargraphics.com/businessgraphiclibrary.html). Also, search Google Images to see how others show similar information. 3. Make your graphics customer focused. Most graphics are trashed because they fail to connect with the audience. Give your future customers a reason to care. When reviewing your graphic ask, "So what?" If your graphic can answer that question, you are on the right track. Highlight any features, benefits, and discriminators that will appeal to your audience. If you don't know what they care about, you want to find out. Go to their website, ask someone who knows them, do your homework. Not knowing what your audience cares about means wasted time and certain failure. 4. Use a template. Reduce the need for last-minute formatting passes by using a template. Agree to and use a template that defines all variables of the graphics and layout at the beginning of the project: line style, font size, colors, etc. Quit wasting time and working too hard. Apply these four secrets to your next graphic project and be more successful with less work! Do you want to learn more time saving tips, tricks, and secrets? Click here for more information. The 2 Reasons Sales Presentations and Proposals Fail and What to Do About It by Mike Parkinson Assuming you have a good solution at a fair price, sales presentations and proposals fail for two reasons: 1.
Poor sales activity. Sales Sales activity needs to uncover this information and establish a connection (rapport) and create mind share. Own a space in your future client’s mind. (Think marketing and repeated exposure.) Your
sales professional needs to accomplish the following goals: Achieve these two goals, and you are much closer to a win. Communication You have very little time to communicate why your future client should care. Quickly give them an overview of your solution and show them how they will benefit. Most presentations and proposals bury the solution in wordy descriptions, mountains of text, and horribly complex graphics that mean almost nothing to your future client. What can you do? Place your energy into creating visuals that quickly communicate your solution and the associated benefits (and discriminators when applicable). Graphics communicate solutions up to 60,000 times faster than text, immediately enter into long-term memory, affect people’s decisions, and are proven to increase success rates. Use the right graphic and your solution is quickly understood and remembered and it will up your chances for success by 43%. Don’t get me wrong, clear, concise writing (or oration) is very important but many of your presentations and proposals are lost because your solution is misunderstood and the key benefits are fuzzy or lost. How can your solution and value be lost, you ask? There it is. Clear as day. It’s spelled out so a first grader can find it. However, what if it isn’t as obvious as you thought? What if it is hard to understand for your future client? What if your future client is distracted? What if your future client has an agenda? Without clear evidence of your solution’s superiority you will lose. Why leave it to chance? Turn your solution into a clear, compelling graphic and eliminate the chances for any misinterpretation. But you have great graphics in your presentations and proposals, right? Unlikely. Most graphics are confusing, poorly rendered, and fail to convey anything of value to the future customer. The issue stems from people with NO conceptualization or visual communication training turning their solutions into graphics. Oftentimes, writers are asked to conceptualize graphics. Without training, this can lead to a graphic that is too complex or doesn’t properly convey the solution. Other times, designers are charged with the task of developing graphics for your proposal. Surprisingly, many designers are not good conceptualizers. It is a misconception that all graphic designers are good visual communicators. Many are good renderers (they can use the tools available to make attractive graphics—which is extremely valuable) and some are good conceptualizers. All of us have our strengths and weaknesses. The same is true for every profession. Writers, engineers, accountants, lawyers, scientists, doctors, and business professionals of all types have specializations. You have your strengths and weaknesses. Designers are the same. Confirm that your designer or author is capable of conceptualizing and they understand the process fully before asking them to render graphics that could help win a proposal. (To learn how to conceptualize compelling graphics, click here.) In the end, most sales presentations and proposals ignore visual communication or ask an untrained author or graphic designer (who specializes in rendering) to conceptualize. That's like asking a plastic surgeon to do brain surgery. Assuming you have a good solution at a fair price, if you put forth the right sales effort and communicate your solution quickly and clearly (giving your future client a reason to care) you will succeed. New Graphics Added to Your FREE Virtual CD! Do you own Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Business Graphics? If so, there are more FREE graphics included on the Virtual CD that came with your book (found on the last page). Graphics and templates will change over time. Don't miss out. Get your book and your graphics now! FREE Graphics Library for Your Business Are you stuck? Do you need to find the BEST visual representation of your idea? For a limited time you can search one of Mike's graphics libraries for free and stimulate your creativity...
Ask a Visual Communications Expert! Do you have a graphics question? Visit http://billiondollargraphics.blogspot.com/ and post your question. Mike will be sure to answer or point you in the right direction. News and Updates 1. Click here to see if Mike is presenting in your area. Not all events are listed. Click here to inquire about your area. 2. Thanks to the success of Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Business Graphics, Mike's book was picked up by Partners Publishing Group who is shipping the popular graphics guide to book stores near you! 3. Mike continues to write a reoccurring article entitled "Ask the Graphics Guru" for the National Capital Area's business development newsletter, Executive Summary. Click here to read their newsletter. 4. Remember, there are free articles and PowerPoint templates available at Billion Dollar Graphics/Articles. Visit now for immediate download. 5. The list of companies that are benefiting from Mike's books, training, and graphic tools grow everyday:
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