By Andrea Norman on Sunday, September 27, 2009

My son made up another word today...blurvy.  It's a cross between blurry and wavy.  Here's how he used it.  "Mom, your voice on your new bluetooth sounds blurvy."  After arguing that blurvy was not a word, I decided to just go with it.

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By Andrea Norman on Friday, September 25, 2009

We just submitted a proposal to become a consultant for Business and Technical Management Services for ADOT's DBE program.  Of course, we spent a great deal of time on the content and approach to the project.  But we also spent a great deal of time making sure the "look" of the proposal and the overall layout was appealing, contemporary and readable to a wide variety of reader-types. 

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By Andrea Norman on Sunday, September 20, 2009

Mind the Gap Marketing Solutions is moving into a new location next weekend.  It is simultaneously exciting and a little sad. Our current location is where we were "born."  With some nostalgia, we are packing boxes and preparing to move to our new location.

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By Andrea Norman on Thursday, September 17, 2009

We are simultaneously writing proposals for three separate projects.  The key to keeping them aligned, focused, and separate is the proposal management system.  If you haven't already, I highly recommend using a checklist for your request for proposal response.

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By Andrea Norman on Tuesday, September 15, 2009

What I love about owning a marketing firm is the opportunity to support people's vision and goals for their life and their business.  When the client's vision is clear, when the company has integrity, when everything clicks, the relationship is a true joy.  The value is clear to everyone.  However, sometimes client relationships aren't that consistent.

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By Andrea Norman on Saturday, September 12, 2009

There is a phenomenon I am beginning to recognize as I meet an increasing number of clients and we mutually evaluate whether or not there is a good "fit" between us.  The phenomenon is this:  some clients are small fish that want to feel like big fish so they unconsciously but deliberately SHRINK their ponds.  They are not really open to new ideas, experts or plans for growth because they desperately want to maintain or shrink their pond. Sometimes that pond becomes polluted or uncomfortably small and then, they are forced to seek new waters.  Often, they are just looking for another small pond so they can be a big fish again.  Small fish in shrinking ponds will always work against a growing fish seeking deeper waters. 

Growing fish on the other hand are curious, eager, and optimistic.  They know that the next bigger, deeper body of water will provide better food, more fun, and yet another opportunity to go to an even bigger body of water.  When evaluating clients, the decision is this, are they a small fish that is shrinking their world in order to feel like a large fish or are they a growing fish seeking deeper waters?

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By Andrea Norman on Thursday, September 03, 2009

You know the person.  They always look perfect, have the best of everything, and are always at the front of every classroom and at the top of every list.  Now, we have social media that feeds their desperate search for respect and legitimacy,  because these people are "Top Linked" or have more friends and followers than anyone else.

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By Andrea Norman on Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Our September newsletter has a lot to offer, including a micro lesson about Search Engine Optimization, news about Mind the Gap, and examples of our most recent work. 

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By Andrea Norman on Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Most people when asked about Google know it’s a search engine. After all, to “Google” something has become a verb in our lexicon. Most people know Google as the clean white search box they see when they visit www.Google.com.

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By Andrea Norman on Saturday, August 15, 2009

More and more we hear about people who promise fantastic website and don't deliver on their promises.  Some of these people have the best of intentions, others don't.  Developing a website seems easy but there are hidden components some people don't realize exist.  So, here is a primer and questions to ask your web developer.

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