Healthy, Wealthy, and DEAD?: 5 Reasons Why Getting Up Early Might be Harmful

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a late riser! But this also goes hand in hand with staying up late. I would say I get about %75 of my real creative and productive work done between 11pm and 3am. I don’t know why but this is just how I am. I find it very hard to get anything very productive done in the mornings.

I really have most of my ideas at night. I’m one of those people who just never wants to go to bed. I’d stay up until 5am every night except I make myself get to bed so I don’t sleep into the afternoon.

I know a huge reason for wanting to create my own business is for the hours. I want to work from 6pm-3am. I love that idea rather then being forced to be productive at 10am. Not that I can’t get stuff done early but the everyday grind of it makes me less productive in the long haul.

I also think that there is just so much to do during the day. Especially during the summer I want to be outside all day. Once midnight roles around everything quiets down and I am left to do whatever is on my mind.

Anyway what does everyone else feel? Are you an early or late riser? When do you feel the most productive?

Logo designing is the first activity any new business takes on to launch a brand image. Over the years, businesses have spent a lot to get unique identities which describe their nature of business, their goals and objectives. For that, they consulted different design agencies and freelance designers since online logo design companies were not that common those days. What difficulties did they face while getting their logos designed from a design agency or a freelancer and what were the benefits; we will discuss it in this article. Moreover, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of the three categories.

Design Agency

Many starting businesses have the budget to spend millions of dollars on a custom logo for their businesses and therefore they opt for renowned design agencies to design one for them. Going to a design agency has its pros and cons.A  logo is one of the basic tools to creating an impactful brand identity and if your design agency succeeds in creating something which gets instant recognition and fame, your money pays off, but what if your agency comes up with an awful logo. Your money and time would be wasted. In early days, when there was no internet, companies would hire graphic design agencies to handle their entire image building project, from creating a logo, to developing marketing and advertising campaigns, which included ATL and BTL activities as well. Fewer options were there to choose from as compared to today, where there are innumerable agencies to cater your needs.

Advantages:

There are obvious advantages of hiring a design agency for your logo project:

• Famous design agencies are professional and accountable

• Renowned design agencies are reliable to work with

• Handle large number of accounts

• Have a battalion of professional logo designers

• More designers signify more logo concepts

• More designers indicate broader skill set

• They are secure to work with. They won’t disappear anywhere

• Frequent face to face meetings with your designer

Disadvantages:

• Design agencies are highly expensive, their fee is usually fixed and not negotiable

• Logo design is one of the design services they offer, so they might not have the expertise in logo designing
• Their turnaround time may be too long since they handle large number of accounts
• They may run into delays

Freelance Designer

Apart from design agencies, there are many freelance designers, companies can hire these days for their logo project. It all depends upon the budget; even design agencies sometimes prefer having a combination of in-house designers along with freelance designers. There are countless online freelance designers to choose from for your custom logo design, but one has to be careful because of a number of factors. Since there was no internet in early times, there were offline freelancers unlike online freelance designers. They were usually considered starters or amateurs with less expertise. However, today, there’s a mushroom growth of online freelance designers to choose from at very low rates as compared to graphic design agencies.

Advantages:

The following are the advantages of a freelancer:

• Renowned freelancers are reliable to work with

• They focus on few projects unlike big design agencies

• They are cost-effective

• Minimum turnaround time

• Can be an expert in logo designing

Disadvantages:

• They may disappear for some time, they are less accountable

• Sometimes low price indicates low quality work

• You can’t have face to face meetings with your freelance designer

• One designer means less concepts or similar concepts

• Your freelancer can be a teenage amateur

• Credibility is one issue

• Can use a design template

Online Logo Design Company

Even small businesses have realized the importance of having a unique logo for them, so in order to cater them; many companies have started offering design services online, with a major emphasis on custom logo design services. However, there are so many logo design companies online, that it gets very difficult for companies to choose the best design company for them.

Advantages:

Online logo design companies are getting very popular each passing day and a lot many businesses are contacting them to get their logo designed.

• Cost-effective
• Expertise in logo designing

• Professional and accountable

• Renowned logo design companies are reliable to work with

• Handle large number of customers

• Have a battalion of professional logo designers

• More designers signify more logo concepts

• More designers indicate broader skill set

• They are secure to work with. They won’t disappear anywhere

• Fixed turnaround time

• 24/7 customer support

Disadvantages:

• No face to face meetings with the designers

• Not suitable for entire branding projects

However, what I think is, the advantages and disadvantages are all relative and restricted to what and how you want it to be done. But one thing is for sure, at the end of the day, every business wants to put up the best with minimized expenses. If you think I have missed out on something, feel free to put forward what you think should be there as an advantage or a disadvantage of a freelancer, design agency or an online logo design company.

But Can You Scale It?

Anyone can go out there and start a business. All that really means is you made a decision to sell something. You don’t even have to incorporate anything in the beginning if you don’t want to.

- It’s easy to start a clothing line there are a million places to get t-shirts made

- It’s easy to go on craigslist and pick up some web development jobs

- It’s easy to ask some neighbors if you can mow their lawns

- It’s easy to start a website/blog

There is only so much time in a day and with that there are only so many things you can get done. None of those examples above will allow you to live a comfortable life unless you have an idea of how to scale them.

Are you planning to spend your whole life surfing cragslist battling for development jobs or are you fine tuning your skills and slowly making moves on larger projects. You won’t find a $50,000 design project on craigslist. So do you know or at least have a plan to find out where that project is?

Are you building a website with the plan to make most of your money on advertising? Now are you building a niche site that is unlikely to ever have good traffic numbers because the niche is so small? Some niche sites can be great but again it depends on your model and in some cases it actually might be impossible to generate ad revenue with the size of your niche.

The point is make sure you evaluate how scalable your business is. It’s just fine to start small but make sure you have an idea of how you can take it to the next level.

Also make sure you aren’t trapping yourself in a business that literally might not be scalable. Again you can only do so much. Whether it’s a site that simply won’t get numbers or maybe your starting something thats based on sheer volume you can put out (lawns in a day).

Start small but dream BIG

Last month I was on Thayer St. in Providence Rhode Island with a couple friends and stopped into a restaurant called Kabob and Curry. At first it was just your average place to grab a quick bite. But then we realized all these weird prices $7.16, $8.54 and so on. Really strange had no idea why they were like this. Then we realized that it was because once tax was added the prices came out even $8 flat or whatever.

What a great idea! I loved this concept. I mean I still remember this place a month after being there…I didn’t even buy anything because I wasn’t hungry.

This is especially great in a college town because I hated having change at school. It was just a pain and generally ended up lost. I would honestly rather pay $8 then $7.85 or something where I end up with change.

One of the biggest things is it is just different. Honestly this could probably be called a marketing strategy rather then a pricing strategy. Creates word of mouth and is memorable just because its different.

Losing:

I spend a lot of time in Panera to get out of the house and get some work done. Really love it for the free Wifi and the atmosphere. However they just raised their prices on coffee. It was I think $1.84 for a medium cup now its $2.04.

Now here’s the problem. I do not want 96cents of change back for getting a cup of coffee! Most of the time I would just tell them to keep the change when it was 16cents but now I feel like I’m losing a whole dollar. I also don’t want to break a dollar bill to cover that extra 4cents.

To me this is really annoying and discourages me from getting some coffee when I end up at Panera.

My ideal price like the kabob place from above would be $2 flat. I would prefer that over the $1.84 and obviously the $2.04. Just to eliminate the change.

Now maybe I’m just being picky but its just the images these prices place in my head. I didn’t even eat at the Kabob place and I remember it a month later. The Panera price just puts a negative image in my head because the change comes across as annoying.

I wonder if Panera considered this before doing that? Do you think Panera would make more sales if their prices all ended up being on the dollar because of the word of mouth?

Or am I the only person in the world that this bothers? haha

You never want to fall into the “okay” zone as Seth Godin mentions in one of his posts Is Everything okay

What “okay” means in…

Weather – calm before the storm

Sports – less effort in practice – note #1UNC vs Boston College last week

Relationships – lacking excitement, getting dull

Job – going about the routine = not getting the promotion

Now I’m sure everyone has made new year resolutions and if you have a business I bet some of the resolutions revolved around that business. This is great because you most likely set a big goal or set out to do something that might have some great potential that you haven’t done before. This is KEY because it takes you out of that comfort zone. Making a resolution means that you now have to innovate and create that path that will let you keep that resolution. This gets the creative juices flowing again and it also gets people excited for the possibilities.

Unfortunately this only happens once a year for most people instead of monthly, weekly or maybe even daily which is how it should be for entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur you need to be constantly creating and innovating. Everyday you should be finding new ways to improve your business even if everything is “okay”.

You can never settle. If you look at your business and your not worried or excited about something then there’s something wrong. It means your in your comfort zone and not challenging yourself or your business.

If everything in your business or life is “okay”. How will it ever be remarkable?

Now I realize that part of this reason is that some people still don’t know what a blog is let alone how to make one. But you would have to think that they have heard of blogs. With a little online research into marketing or business promotion you can easily find many suggestions to start a blog.

In the end though I don’t think its the lack of knowledge or know-how that stops most people with businesses from starting a blog. It’s about the content.

The question – “What will I write about?” Or an excuse like “I don’t have the time.” These are the real road blocks that stop people. However I don’t think these are road blocks at all for a small business owner.

So you don’t know what to write about.

Well lets see you have a small business. This means that you probably have some knowledge in that industry or niche. Maybe some people even refer to you as a guru or master in that business field. You probably want to attract more customers to your products or services (I don’t know many businesses that are trying to get rid of customers). Well generally people buy things from people who they trust or consider knowledgeable in that field. Now maybe these people don’t really know that you are knowledgeable in your field and you wish there was just some way to show them how you think and what you know.Hmmm get where this is going?

So there you have something to write about. A successful blog has great content but that great content is there for a reason, there is a smart person behind it. Is there anything easier to blog about! Just focus on whatever your business is and write down all those tips and pointers that you spend your days explaining to customers.

But now you still don’t have the time.

Who said that if you want to become a successful business owner it was going to be easy? There is always time. Blogging is not something that takes a lot of time to do either. If you are passionate and knowledgeable in your field (which you should be because you started a business in it) then writing quick informative posts should be easy. Posts don’t have to be long or often, quality over quantity. If you find it hard to write quick posts because you just love going into detail or you find you get more response from well thought out detailed posts then add some filler to the blog. In between the technical posts give quick links to resources in your field. Or maybe you travel a lot to speak or promote your business. Make quick posts about where you are and what your doing.
It’s great to have unique and informative information in a blog but customers also like to know what you are doing. Those quick filler posts will also show people that the blog is active and that just because you really haven’t had a chance to make a long post in a couple weeks you are still there.

So there ya go. There is no reason a small business should not have a blog. A blog is a great place to show off your talents and how great your business is to an audience larger then you could ever imagine. It will take a little time to get used to blogging and to get your blog looking and feeling the way you want it to but if you start it will get there. The key is starting and in time you will see the benefits.

And this doesn’t apply to only small business owners. This goes for anyone with a business or who is looking to start a business. Think of the benefits if you haven’t started your business yet and you could create a dedicated following to announce your new business to!

So get out there and start a blog! No excuses!

Read this awesome post about setting up a blog over at Zaggededge.com

Remember 1 of the biggest keys is the very beginning. You need to grab the readers attention. Even though the summary might only be 1-2 pages long the person you give it to might not read past the first 1-2 paragraphs.

Also come across as friendly and open.  It may be a formal summary but don’t clog it with technical jargon and how perfect the plan is. Write it like your talking to a friend and know that the actual business is very likely to start in a different way then what you envisioned in the plan.

So check out Guy Kawasaki’s post The Art of the Executive Summary.

Good luck!

This applies to whatever your choice of careers is. Accounting, construction, finance, doctor, entrepreneur, it doesn’t matter you have to differentiate yourself in somehow to truly reach your full potential.

If you choose to sit back and disappear the system will take full advantage of you. It will get all the work it can get out of you because you were willing to do it without question. 

Those who fit in now won’t stand out later.

Of course, anyone who has started a company has their own rules and guidelines, so I thought i would add to the meme with my own. My “rules” below aren’t just for those founding the companies, but for those who are considering going to work for them as well.

1. Don’t start a company unless its an obsession and something you love.

2. If you have an exit strategy, its not an obsession.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

4. Sales Cures All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them. Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but are cheap

Read the rest at Mark Cubans Blog