Pitch Decks Publications Pumpkins Oh My

The trade show and fall meeting schedules are as abundant as the pumpkins in the patch.

• When was the last time you stepped back to REALLY look at your current presentation and supporting collateral?
• Are these key marketing tools outdated? 
• Lacking the solid connection to your current messaging?
• Has your visual branding evolved?

Pumpkin Chunkin' Round 1 

Slapping your logo on a stock template your assistant may have download for mere dollars is NOT the best path to creating brand awareness. The CEO of a point-of-sale technology and services company contacted me after viewing my pitch decks on Slideshare.net. He shared with me the current state of his presentation, frustrated that it lacked any connection to his company. The content needed to be tweaked and a template created for an upcoming sales webinar in a few days. Digging deep into the company's website and other supporting material, I created initial composite designs for the client's approval and went to work importing the content. The CEO would edit accordingly. The custom template included images, color palette and fonts which complimented the current branding. Also suggested that the CEO consider a customer-centric design for each of the three major market segments served. 

Pumpkin Chunkin' Round 2 

Another client was invited to present his company to a high-profile industry event, the catch NO POWERPOINT. The CEO of this technology services company, in the oil & gas industry, was confident in his ability to make the presentation without the slides, but wanted a "leave behind" (aka fact sheet) to highlight the investment appeals. We extracted key slides from the existing pitch deck, tweaked copy, updated data and designed an attract single page sell sheet. This high impact piece will serve as an extension of the speech...simple and elegant.

Whether it's an upcoming online webinar or in-person presentation, take a hard look at your materials and ask yourself how these will serve your goals. I offer a Free Consultation to review your pitch deck and assess how we can align it with your task-at-hand.

Self Publish a "Look Book" for a Competitive Edge

Presenting samples of your work is an important and making your portfolio stand-out can give you an edge in today's highly competitive (freelance) marketplace.

After viewing a short video about how a NYC photographer still uses traditional prints and cut sheets in the presentation cases or boxes because he had tremendous success getting a face-to-face meeting. Plus, the large format glossy prints SHINE. 

This got me thinking... could I take the best of a traditional portfolio and update using today's technology to produce a book (or magazine) that can be given to a client? 

YES, most certainly.

Ideal for architects & related, designers, photographers, illustrator and more. Self publish a book or magazine, customize content and self publish in hardcopy and digital formats. 

Tell Your Story

Have a vision of the end product? Good. Let's step back to begin with the big picture. Storyboard your book, focusing the message you want your client or prospective client to remember. Build to a crescendo–but leave them wanting more. 

Think About Format

A magazine format is excellent for case studies. Complete with descriptive copy to dig deeper into your approach to the project. Where were the core directive of the creative brief? Unexpected challenges and outcomes? The magazine could be produced on a quarterly or semi-annual basis and made available digitally (ideal for tablet!) and print-on-demand for small quantities.

A traditional coffee table-style book would the option when larger format images need to be used. Wouldn't this make a great gift to a VIP client? Or, a new product to add to your shop. 

Let's work together to resurrect the Look Book for an awe-inspiring impression. 

What kind of book (or magazine) do you want to publish?

Give New Life to Your Archives :: Self Publishing

Deep in the back of big walk-in bedroom closet are three (maybe four) large Rubbermaid storage tubs filled with my family's photo archive; dating back over 100 years. Old sepia-toned and yellowing prints, envelopes of negatives, newspaper clippings, letters, and more. After my parents passed, my siblings concurred that I would be the best steward of this precious archive by nature of my profession and also married to photographer.

Organizing the "stuff" can be a challenge. What do I keep? What can be tossed? How do I scan it? How should I organize it, chronologically?

Since my niece has been doing a bang-up job working on the genealogy including images on our Ancestry account aids her research. (Recently, a distant relative on my mother's side reach out to me and after sharing a picture of my grandfather we discovered that his grandfather was my great uncle.)

Successful Self Publishing: Family Archives

Here at Creative Aces, we have the resources to work with your photo archive to produce a book or series of magazines that could be a treasure – something that will be coveted by family and friends.

These also make excellent gifts!

Collaborate. Create. Publish.