The Weekend Blog

If you are in search of a nice drive this fall, may we suggest a drive up Scenic Drive in Muskegon and get yourself a look at the Muskegon Block House.

At one point, a "Block House" was a military outlook point and they were usually built high atop a hill to give armies a chance to look out to see if invaders were on the way.  We're not really planning on an impending invasion from Wisconsin anytime soon, so the Block House today is more of a place to take the kids to climb around and take a look out of.  It's a stop for motorcycle riders, it's a place for romantics and over all, a pretty fun place to get to as Scenic Drive is filled with lots of hills and twists as you make your way there!

The history of the Block House does have a checkered past!  It would seem some local trouble makers set fire to it back in 1962.  Originally built during the depression as a "make work" project, part of the probation for the offenders was rebuilding it!  Justice served!  You can click on the picture for the full story.

If you'd like, plug the address in your GPS and take the drive.  3560 Memorial Drive, Muskegon. You'll be sure to get a great look out and a fun, free place to stop to take a look around.

Photo Courtesy MLive

What's In a Sign?

I was scrolling down my news feed the other day, and I stumbled across this sign for Uncle John’s Pancake House in Toledo Ohio.  It got me thinking a little about signs and everything they say about you, your business and the connection between the two.

Photo Courtesy Uncle Johns Pancake House

In the case of Uncle Johns Pancake House, they have been serving Toledo since 1963.  Their menu is diverse, their décor is original and from what my friend who posted about Uncle John’s Pancake House said in his post, the food is delicious.  Great care has gone in to that old neon sign you see above making sure that the restaurant stands out as an original in a world of clones.  Not that a solid branding message isn’t important, but does anything truly reflect the uniqueness of your business better than what is probably someone’s first impression, or in the case of the Toledo locals, does anything say,  “We’re the tradition”?

We live in a world of constant bombardment of images, messaging, cookie cutters, branding, perceptual studies, market testing, standards, and identity.   Don’t let your identity take away from what your business really is.  It’s an extension of you.  It’s your brand, it’s your style and it’s YOUR personality coming through.  Are you sure you want to leave that up to an open/closed sign you pick up at the office supply store?  Can you see the value in the long term investment of making sure you stand out?  Can we help you build your brand and your image?  Could you please pass the syrup?

If ever you are in the Toledo area, stop in and see the good folks at Uncle Johns Pancake House!  Tell them you like the sign!

Lights, Camera - Action!

We’ve done the research, we’ve made the comparisons, we’ve invested, we’ve developed and now it’s time to get the cameras rolling!

We’ve always been known for our signs, banners, creative design and second to none customer service.  Now, we are heading the charge to give you the tools you need to be more effective with your online presence with video!

Who better to tell the story of your company than you?  A video profile is a tool that once you have, can give you almost endless return on your investment.   Your video won’t get thrown in a drawer like a phone book, it won’t be gone in a month like a billboard and a 30 second cable TV spot can cost you between $8 and $2000 to air let alone the production cost of the spot.

You, telling your story in a professional studio, with professional sound and video or at your place as we have everything mobile and ready to roll to just about any location. 

Statistics?  59% of executives prefer video content over text when both are available according to Forbes.  64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product according to comScore.  65% of executives have visited a vendors website after watching a video also from Forbes.  70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium from MarketingProfs and 80% is the increase in conversion rate when using video on landing pages!

Let’s do it! Let’s get the lights up….the camera rolling and YOU as the star!  We are keeping this really affordable for now….don’t sit around and wait…..let us help you tell your story!

The Weekend Blog

We'd like to leave you this week with a little special something.

We're very proud to be a Michigan based company, pretty much everyone in Michigan has a story or two to tell about Tahquamenon Falls nestled in the Upper Peninsula.  If you are from Michigan well, it never gets old and if you are not from Michigan, have a look.  You'll see part of the reason we love Michigan.  Here's wishing you a relaxing weekend. If you'd like more.....click on the picture!

The Importance of Your Job

It was last Friday, just before the long holiday weekend, and from my end of things as Director of Media Development and Public Relations there wasn’t a whole lot to do other than sit at my desk and read blogs and try and look busy.   I caught wind of the fact that one of our departments we kind of behind on a few things.   I didn’t want everyone there to have to work all weekend so I went down and told the boss I was heading downstairs to help out if anyone needed me.

I grabbed the production manager and said “Ben, I’m yours for the afternoon – what needs to get done around here?”  That was the beginning of a real eye opener. 

We had a lot of products to get shipped out and some were a real rush.  I was asked to gather and package a few posters that were to be packaged in tubes according to how many were needed for each retail outlet they were going to.  “Ok, I can do that”.  I had to stop and really set my mind to “order of operations” which if you are a “creative type” is really not the easiest thing to do.  I began to roll them up and get them in the tubes, sometimes forgetting to get a tube first….then sometimes having to re roll the posters as they were not quite tight enough…I’ll save you the minutia, but it was truly a fish out of water moment for me.  I was approaching the end, and at the last minute, there were some changes.  OY VEY!  We had to start all over from the beginning and luckily Ryan,  a guy who really knows what he’s doing came along to help.  We figured out a workflow and got it done and out the door on time for the customers.  Outside of the UPS lady who had to wait a couple extra minutes…..BAM!  We found a way and got it done!

It left me thinking over the weekend though.   What a way to learn the importance of every aspect of your business.  What a “leveler” if you will,  to remind you of the big picture of the importance of everyone’s role within your company.  Everyone matters.  From the top of the heap, to the guy putting address labels on everyone’s package is important, everyone along the way contributes to the goal,  and what an experience for me to have thought “Packing up some posters….who can’t do that?”  Well, I couldn’t really.  Not like the true pro’s downstairs do it.   I found my back hurting, my feet hurting and honestly my ego too because I thought it would be easier.  They all dwarfed me downstairs with knowledge, efficiency, speed and team work.  A good lesson to anyone, on the importance of everyone.

The War Room!

Every place has one!  “The War Room”.  Do you make the best us of yours? 

As seen here, it’s a strategic brand meeting.  There are some thinking about logo placement, there are some thinking about color patterns, yet others thinking about style and packaging.  Some are thinking fonts, some are thinking website design and content, and quite honestly, there are some thinking “Why am I sitting here?”

The age gap stretches from the mid 20’s to the mid 50’s and previous life experience is being blended with new ideas and thoughts.  It’s an area where some ways of “doing things the old fashioned way” meet with “no one does that anymore”.   Yes, there are occasional side bars, drifting topics and of course awkward moments of silence.  There are those who think in millimeters and those who think in the distant future of “long term”.

The best part of all of it?  The amount of different viewpoints.  The ability to share, learn and grow.  The power of an actual “brainstorming session” looking at a product or service from every angle and helping to decide what’s the best way to produce, market, print or talk about those products and services.  How does a 20 something see things?  How about a 55 year old?  How about the millennial?  How will these people see and use the product being discussed?  Who will leave excited about it and who will just feel like they were there.  Who at the last minute will have an idea pop that no one could come up with till just then?  Who’s going to be the one that sat silent….but then got hit with the winning idea in the shower that night? (That’s the one who was thinking “Why am I sitting here” earlier)

It’s called collaboration.  It’s called communication and it’s also called contact.  In an ever increasing world of emails, instant messages, texts, Instagrams, Snap Chats and Tweets, it’s important to come together in a room once in a while and catch up on things.   See people’s faces and learn their body language.  What makes them move, what makes them shrug their shoulders and what makes them lose attention and begin to doodle.

Collaboration leads to imagination, which leads to inspiration, which hopefully leads to a little perspiration and finally, the perfect presentation of your product or service.  If you are thinking for yourself, or working together to help a client, think of the value of what’s happening in this picture.  Foster it.

Do You Know Your Sherpa's?

In our weekly solutions meeting here at GH Imaging, we had a vendor of ours come in this week to show off some of their new clothing offerings by way of materials, fabric patterns, hot fashion trends for casual business wear, athletic clothing and oven some really nice outerwear items, one of which was called “Sherpa Lined”.  It got me wondering…..does anyone here know what a Sherpa is?  

So I asked.

Didn’t get a single response other than “a coat liner?”  Well, kinda, but not really.  So what is or who is a Sherpa?

Sir Edmund Hillary and his "Sherpa" Tenzing Norgay.  First pair to climb to the summit of Everest

A Sherpa is an ethnicity of people who live mostly in Nepal, China, Tibet and India and they are specifically known for their ability as mountaineers and living in the harsh climates of the foothills of Mount Everest and they are remarkably able to sustain at very high altitudes as their blood carries in some cases almost triple the levels of oxygen that a normal person does.  They actually have three teams of Sherpa People for climbers trying to make a summit attempt on Mount Everest.  One team for base camp, one for middle camp and the heartiest of the bunch are called the “Summit Team”.  They all go up in advance of the climbers to help them along the way as the actual “climbers” have to stop three times on the way up to “acclimatize” themselves to the thinner air, often for weeks at a time.  If a person were to go from sea level to the summit of Everest the simple fact is, they would lose consciousness in a matter of seconds and die within minutes.  The Sherpa guides are there to take care of their needs.  They are truly remarkable humans.

Everest climber Ed Viestrus and his "Sherpa" Jamling Norgay who happens to be the son of  Tenzing pictured above.

The reason for this blog and tidbit of info?  Have you looked around you lately for your “Sherpa’s”?  Do you recognize this among your employees who always come through in a clutch?  Do you stop to thank the people who help you reach glory?  Do you have someone who truly is able to carry a heavier load or lead the charge while everyone else take a little time to adapt?  They are the people who truly make up the life blood of your business.  Yes, just like the Sherpa’s on Everest, I am sure your Sherpa’s are compensated, but the key here is to always remember that without them….your climb to the top would be a disaster.

Thanks for the read!