DW's Blog

Learning Situations

by DW Green — May 31, 2017

Opportunity to learn and grow

It’s easy to react quickly to something someone says or does that’s annoying or out of line, over the top or under the bottom. And normally an instant reaction doesn’t improve the situation—often making it worse. I’ve learned to try to be still, relax, take some deep breaths, and regain my composure. I’ve learned that when coming from a place of stillness and silence, we are wiser, less reactive, less conditioned, more creative and more intuitive, so we are more likely to respond to life rather than have a knee-jerk reaction to it.Often these challenging moments require a difficult conversation with someone to resolve the issue. It helps me to remember that every difficult conversation I have includes someone who is teaching me something about myself. Every trying situation contains an opportunity for deeper self-reflection and learning. Every irritant, heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fearful moment and sadness is a teacher. If I look at the conversation as an opportunity for me to learn and grow then maybe the other person will learn and grow too.

Read More – Appreciation

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by DW Green — May 17, 2017

An ad is an invitation to shop your store.

The overall look and feel of an ad reveals much more about a retailer than the specific items and prices that are on sale. Does the store look like a friendly, fun place to shop? Does it look professional? Does it look like it offers quality products? Does it look trustworthy? Does it look welcoming? Authentic? Healthy? Or does it look busy, cluttered, and boring?Take an open-minded look at your advertising. Is your ad the best reflection of your store{s)? Is the ad providing benefits and reasons to believe in your store?In essence the ad is an invitation to shop your store. Does your advertising consistently attract new customers? For example, here are three recipe email blast approaches.

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by DW Green — May 10, 2017

The key to a great ad is a great headline.

We often have conversations with clients regarding the placement of their logo on print ads. Seems the supermarket industry favors placing the company logo on the top of the ad. We would disagree.The hierarchy of an effective ad from an advertising/design perspective:

Headline (consumer benefit)
Picture
Offer
Company Logo

Where should your logo or brand identity be placed so that consumers actually see it? Based on eye-tracking research, the best place is the lower middle part of the page or layout. At that point, the viewer will have engaged emotionally with the leading part of the ad, and will then have the opportunity to associate the brand with solving a problem or satisfying consumers’ wants.The key to a great ad is a great headline. Headlines achieve three important things:

They filter out non-customers (if the headline doesn’t appeal to

them, they move on. Fine, let them go!)

They tell potential customers what’s in it for them (that’s what

consumers most care about).

They hint at what action the customer can take

Strong headlines attract rea...

by DW Green — May 3, 2017

Markets are fluid

Complacency, noun:a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.In business, complacency is never a good place to be. Whether you’re first in the market or last, no one is exempt from complacency. Be humble and grateful for your successes yet remain focused and vigilant on improving yourself and your operation. Always ask, how can we improve our offerings…our product assortment, our merchandising skills, our customer service, our customer experience? How can we improve our relationships with ourselves, with our staff, with our vendors, with our customers, with our neighborhood and with our community?Remember, markets are fluid. Customers are choosing where they shop everyday. Nothing is certain or guaranteed. Today’s customer maybe tomorrow’s defection.How can we be better today?

Read More – What’s For Dinner

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by DW Green — April 26, 2017

Without whitespace, designs become crowded and chaotic.

Advertising design is very subjective. An ad that looks good or bad to me often provokes the opposite reaction to someone else. To each his own, but keep in mind that design is a skill, it’s a discipline, an art. Much as a musician seeks to understand pitch and rhythm, melody and tempo, a designer seeks a greater understanding and control over:UnityGestaltSpaceDominanceHierarchyBalanceColor Part 1: TheoryColor Part 2: How to Use ColorFor example, whitespace or negative space is the space between design elements. It’s just as, if not more, important than the space you fill and is one of the most neglected components of visual design.Day only exists in comparison to night and in much the same way your positive space (where design elements are located) only exist in comparison to the empty space around them. Without whitespace, designs become crowded and chaotic. There’s no flow of movement from one element to the next.Space is the context in which your message is perceived. Without ample space communication is difficult. Imagine a piece of music where every note in the piece was played by every instrument at the same time. The...

by DW Green — April 19, 2017

Attract new shoppers to your store

Why should I shop in you store? What are the reasons to believe in your store brand? If you don’t tell me, I will never know. Duh. It’s the retailer’s responsibility to provide compelling reasons for consumers (prospects) to choose their store.Some retailers do an excellent job telling their story. Providing reasons and benefits for consumers to choose their store. Pretty simple. But unfortunately, many retailers do not. The purpose of every ad, every email blast and every website is to attract new shoppers to your store. Look at the messaging in your advertising. Are you providing consumers with compelling reasons to shop your store?We’d love to assist you with your messaging!

Read More – The Price of Trying

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by DW Green — April 12, 2017

Make the choice for peace

Your higher self is always nudging you toward a resolution of the conflicts that you experience in your life so that you will have room for serenity and harmony. If you are living with inner turmoil, continually quarreling with yourself and feeling anxious and fearful, then you are allowing ego to dominate your life.In every moment, you have the option to choose peace for yourself. Your false self thrives on inner anxiety because that is what it thinks it needs to stay alive. The ego wants you in a constant state of turmoil. It convinces you that if you are not always on edge, you can’t grow. Keep in mind, though, that experiencing this inner turmoil is a choice you’ve made to allow your false self to dominate your life.When you make the choice for peace, you are literally allowing the Divine into your life. And rather than vegetate, you will discover that you can be busy, purposeful, blissful and still have peace. Just knowing that peace is always an alternative is a significant awakening. By replacing the turmoil, what you then feel is a simple matter of allowing your higher self to take over in any situation where you are about to allow turmoil to enter. Your ego will push you in the direction of the fight...

by DW Green — April 5, 2017

“In our response lies our growth and our freedom”

I read this quote yesterday. It’s a great quote, and one that I have read many times over the years. It’s a very profound statement, written by Victor Frank, a Holocaust survivor. Not sure why it is, that when one learns of a powerful life tool, one quickly forgets, filing it in a distant folder somewhere inside our brain.“Between stimulus and response there is a space_______________.In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”—Victor FranklThat “space” between stimulus and response is awareness. And it’s within that awareness we consciously choose a more thoughtful response.Coming from a place of stillness and silence, we are wiser, less reactive, less conditioned, more creative and more intuitive, so we are more likely to respond to life rather than have a knee-jerk reaction to it.