Recession, market torpor, companies downsizing, etc. I'm sick of it already. Over the next week, let's put as much of that aside as we can and focus on one of the most important things in life: spending time with people you love.

In an effort to help in some small way with that task, here's our Top 10 List of things to be grateful for (even when that seems unlikely):

1. There's always someone else who can cook. Even if it's the gold-toothed guy at Del Taco.

2. Overeating at Thanksgiving has been approved by the FDA. And the ATF, the CIA and the FBI. And just about everybody else.

3.There's always someone fatter than you at the dinner table. But please don't gloat, they may throw a drumstick at you.

4. Thanksgiving is a great time to spend as little time as possible with the most amount of people. What other time of the year could you get away with so little socializing?

5. Leftover Sherry makes a great pre-dinner drink. Just don't drink so much you start basting yourself.

6. Gas is finally cheap again. So now you can afford to drive farther to eat your fill and then be too tired to make the return trip home.

7. Black Friday is much more fun with a tryptophan-induced hangover. Yes, I said tryptophan, go look it up like I did.

8. You can fight over turkey body parts and it doesn't sound weird. Or dirty. Well, there's probably one teenager or pervy uncle that will chuckle like Beavis or Butthead.

9. Pumpkin pie, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. Enough said.

10. It only comes around once a year.

Our best wishes for a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Suggestions for Seasonal Marketing

Autumn is here and, depending on which part of the country you live in, the landscape around you is most likely changing as a result. This time of year brings many other different types of changes as well. In our personal lives, preparations for the approaching holidays often produce a flurry of activity, mental as well as physical.

In our work lives as professional marketers, we're often beset by the challenges that come with shifting consumer goals and thought processes. Holidays can mean target markets that are harder to reach of have less attention span. While these types of challenges may seem daunting, they provide unexpected opportunities for success. Take these following ideas into consideration while planning your seasonal marketing:

Seasonal messaging. While the average consumer may seem more distracted, they're actually very focused—on family. This time of year, our thoughts may ebb away from your product offerings, but it's not a permanent shift, it's merely temporary. Consider offering products with rich personal or familial ties. Another good idea is to pepper your marketing pieces with warm and emotional imagery and messaging that people can connect with.

Economic anxiety. With the roller coaster ride that is the current economy, some geographic areas may be slightly depressed while others may be much more so. Your messaging should be very optimistic and your offerings must be value-rich. Consider lowering your prices to an acceptable point or bolstering what you may consider 'good' offers to 'great' offers. Remember, whether your consumers are affected by a recession or not, value-packed offers and products are timeless. How do you know if your offer has enough value? The litmus test is whether you, as a seasoned marketer, would buy your own product.

Retail psychology. The potential upside of the seasonal market is the fact that most of your target market is geared to buy. But directing them to buy your product or service is what you want to address. Make sure your product or service is well-placed in retail venues or as close as you can get. If you're using direct mail, make sure you draw attention by selecting your colors and fonts appropriately.

Seasonal marketing can be very lucrative if you understand your consumers and are prepared to make the necessary changes in your marketing to get the results you want. Calculated risk is often a factor this time of year, so don't be afraid to take one. You may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome!

5 Useful Tips to Make Your Print Marketing Come Alive

A few months ago we did an article on making your web site SMART. It occurred to us that our clients and future clients could use some inspirational tips to help their print marketing as well.

So listed here are 5 tips for improving the response that your designed pieces get from your audience.

1. Color me impressed. Most organizations have brand style guides which map out which colors may be used on marketing pieces and where. A good rule of thumb is no more than 3 colors per marketing piece (not counting photos). Our suggestion is to step outside your brand style guide once a quarter and pick some colors for their impact, not for their adherence to the style guide.

2. No. 1 with a bullet. We know marketers love to use bullet points. They're short, punchy and to the point. But to a designer's eye, they are very blasé. To get the most of your bullet points, considering using odd shapes like triangles (not arrows), octagons or even small icon-style graphics to spruce up those yawn-inspiring bullet circles. You'll be surprised by the response you get.

3. Worth 1,000 words. If you guessed "a picture," you win! Your target market will react well to good photography, so use it! Be sure to illustrate your brochure/postcard/poster with photos that communicate a feeling or a message. Don't get bogged down in being too literal with what you're trying to say. Sometimes abstract is good.

4. What the font? In the world of fonts, it's great if you figure out what type you are (puns are always intended here). But what is more important that finding a font which is easy to read and has a little aesthetic is figuring out which fonts are, well, so "5 minutes ago." AGP's list of outdated fonts: Apple Chancery, Comic Sans, Gil Sans, Arial, Lucida, that "old English font" and Mistral. For a free font consultation, please email us. We'll be glad to give you a run down on what's hot.

5. Playing the angles. In design theory, "grid based" design helps designers fit elements into a composition. Sometimes that translates as lots of horizontal or vertical elements. In order to keep things fresh, try designing using different angles. You'll find this will give new energy and movement to your images and type elements. If you want a good example, go and check out some of Saul Bass' title work for Alfred Hitchcock and other great directors . He's also a great example of a world-class graphic designer that did some great work in several different mediums.

At the core of this article is the belief that you can marry style and substance. So, if you have a success story or an innovative trick that helped one of your campaigns, we'd love to hear about it! Email us with your story today!

AGP's Top Five Tips for Reaching the Youth Market

If you're interesting in reaching the youth marketing, this article is for you. Youth today is a very special niche with very specials wants (as opposed to needs). They're virtually impervious to direct mail and some forms of eMarketing, but you can easily reach them online and through TV and filmed media.

Here's a statistic that probably won't be a surprise: almost nine out of every 10 teens use the Internet, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project's report, "Teens and Technology." The surprising part is when you compare that percentage to their adult counterparts (a mere 66 percent). So how do you reach them? Here's our top five tips on how to do that:

1. Sarcasm is in! Snarky sayings, funny quotes from pop culture and iconic characters from Saturday morning cartoons (see www.hulu.com) are a force to be reckoned with. Get to know these things. Seriously.

2. Get a MySpace account. Now. Pull all your company tidbits on it. You may not get as many friends, but being listed on a site that popular will help your SEO efforts in a big way.

3. Get a Facebook account. Now. See #2 explanation above.

4. Give yourself a face or a brand advocate. Youth programs, Kids' Clubs and anything revolving around a certain age demographic is basically a way of creative a brand that kids can interact with. Different ages respond to different things, so speak to them accordingly.

5. Incentives work. It's hot hard to figure out what kids are into these days. Sports, movies, video games, anything to do with pop culture. Toasters will not sway this age group, but an iTunes gift card may work wonders.

7 Resourceful Tips That May Help You Hum a Different Tune

It's out there and everyone is talking about it. Unless you're a recluse, you can probably guess what "it" is. I'm talking about the recession. The questions abound: Whose fault is it, how bad is it and how does it affect me? All are important questions, to be sure, but what is more pressing is the underlying sense of fear and anxiety that seems to grip our nation.

But I'd like to pose my own question: does this recession own us? If you answer yes, then you'll likely be singing the blues for some time. If you answer no, then you'll see this scenario for what it is: a temporary economic downturn that will (as it has always done historically) turn into an upswing in a matter of time. When you look at it this way, the song doesn't sound so somber.

As our way of helping you feel encouraged through this time, we've put together a list of 7 Resourceful Tips to help you stay strong and focused.

1. Keep positive. Keep things in perspective. Economies have always gone up and down. It's only a matter of time before it goes up again. If you remember the lessons you've learned through the difficult times, you'll be happier and wiser the next time a recession occurs.
2. Don't commit to more than you can handle. The farther you spread yourself, the less time you have to devote to the projects that really mean the most to you and your customers. This is actually a great time to weigh what will give you the best long-term results.
3. Keep marketing. It doesn't matter if you scale back the amount of marketing you do or the number of demographics, keep placing yourself in front of your customers and remind them that you are there for them through thick and thin.
4. Plan ahead. Most companies do their planning about 3 months ahead, but if you trim some unnecessary projects from your to-do list, you'll have more time for long-term planning. This will save you so much time and headache come year's end.
5. Hire a consultant. This may seem counterintuitive, but hiring a consultant who can help you prioritize the types of marketing you do may save you hundreds or even thousands over the next several months. A good consultant will understand your needs and the unique needs of your industry and their advice will be strategic and valuable.
6. Get to know your customers better. Now is the time to really get to know your consumer base. When the economy is booming, you may not have the luxury of time well spent getting to know your customers, so invest some of your time wisely and take some surveys to find out what's on their mind.
7. Take a look around. Now may be a great time to look around and see what others in your industry are doing. Perhaps you will see something you can improve upon in your own company. Leverage some of the time you have and take a good look at your playing field...you'll be surprised at what you find!

We'd love to hear from you about what you are doing during this time! Please drop us an email so we can post new tips on our web site. If you have any questions, contact us today toll free at 866.731.7773 or email us.

Or, Five Life-Saving Elements Your Web Site Needs

As most of us know, having a web site for your company is one of the most important parts of your marketing arsenal. But just having a web site does not necessarily mean it's working for you.

Most marketers are content with a functioning and reasonably up-to-date site. Don't get me wrong, that's quite a feat in itself. But there is so much more than you can do which won't tax your schedule or your budget. Read on to get acquainted with the five life-saving elements of a SMART web site.

1. Strategic SEO. If your sites has the pages it needs, but no site map or effectively written meta data, you're not sending enough of the critical information to the search engine "spiders" so they can rank your page properly. Make sure your description is concise but keyword-rich. Likewise make sure you cover all demographics when writing your keywords as well. And don't forget that site map!

2. Motion. This can be one of the most overlooked aspects of web design. If your design doesn't "lead" the viewer's eye (and mouse), you have a motion problem. You can lead people to where they need to go through color, typography and well-placed ads or motion graphics such as Flash or animated GIFs. Make sure you consult with your designer and have them do a "walk through" from your viewers' perspective.

3. Analytics. Technology is a wonderful thing. So is the server-side software that tracks your visitors as they navigate through your site. Make sure you know how to access your analytics and check them often, especially surrounding events or important campaigns.

4. Relevant content. Not only does the meta data need to be relevant to the site as a whole, but so does the page content. If you have a site about sharks and a page on buying a new car, the spiders may think you have a site that is not "legit."

5. Targeted design. Know thy market. One of the first commands of marketing is also one of the first commands of design. You must know who you are speaking to and design for that audience. Everything should work together as a cohesive whole...your logo, your color palette, typography and layout...all of it should send a clear message to the intended recipient.

Once you have these five elements under control, you'll begin to see major differences in the way people interact with to your site and react to it. With a healthy understanding of SMART web site marketing, you'll be well on your way to surpassing your marketing goals!

Don't have a SMART web site? Do you have a site you think is SMART but not SMART enough? No matter the situation, contact us today and we'll be happy to perform a FREE consultation to determine the effective of your site. Visit us online or call us today toll free at 866.731.7773.

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Targeted mailings are the best way to reach a specific audience. No credit company should be without a communications matrix that speaks clearly to that audience. If you need to penetrate more deeply into your target markets, our mailing program is perfect for you--regardless of your company's size.

With Matrix Plus^TM, we'll analyze your data and present you with a comprehensive communications program that will deliver your target market timely messages. We'll carefully craft direct mail letters to appeal to different demographics and arm them with compelling reasons to respond. Lastly, we'll pair the targeted messaging system to our eye-catching designs to make the direct mail pieces stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Don't sit and wonder if there's better ways of reaching your market-email us or call us today toll free at 866.731.7773 and let us help you increase your response rate.