Hey, folks. I’m still not done with my doctor’s office rant. While I was waiting around, thumbing through the terrible magazines and trying to avoid making eye contact with the people who were also waiting, I noticed something very strange about the doctor’s office.

All over the walls – every single wall, in fact – were hundreds of business cards like so many little pieces of advertising wallpaper. I was puzzled, to say the least, and had never seen anything like it. But my interest was piqued and, being a marketing and ad buff, I had to investigate.

There had to be over two hundred cards in all, attached to the wall with the help of a wall mount business card holder, something I’d never actually seen before. Let me rephrase that – I have seen business card holders before, but never used to create a wall-mounted mosaic of adspace. And in a doctor’s office, no less, which makes it even more impressive.

After talking to the doctor about it, I came away extremely impressed at his business acumen and sense of civic duty. The man supports local businesses by agreeing to display all of his patients’ business cards on the walls using the wall mount business card holders at absolutely no cost. He charges nothing for this service, and judging from the steady flow of happy, satisfied patients in the office, I somehow imagine his own business doesn’t suffer at all for this gesture. On the contrary: it’s apparent that this gesture has proved to be mutually beneficial for all parties involved.

Seeing the way that doctor used the wall mount business card holders made me hopeful, but it also made me a bit sad. As much as witnessing his example of civic goodwill that really paid off puts a smile on my face, its rarity – the fact that I so seldom happen across a positive example of good business practice – can be disheartening.

Like it or not, a very large percentage of us spend a large amount of time in a rather mundane and inherently stressful place every day. For some, it’s a 15×15 foot corner office; for most, it’s quite the opposite. Though, no matter what the dynamics of your work space, clutter will always be one of the major factors keeping you from enjoying your office experience.

Eliminating clutter through the use of innovative computer software, efficient placement of electronics, and various plastic office supplies can be beneficial to a less stressful, more successful day at work. Sounds like a good idea right? Well, you’d be surprised to find the hardest part of this transformation is simply getting the motivation to start. Here’s all the motivation you need: Go to your desk then take a look at that IKEA magazine sitting in the recycling bin.

Feeling motivated yet? If so, let’s get started. If not, try coming to the realization that a total renovation of your desk could cost less than a pizza, and less time than it takes to deliver it. You can now successfully check off the first task, the rest is a cake walk.

So there’s your desk; a large collection of completely unrelated paper items (receipts, magazines, newspapers, forms and expense reports), fifteen copies of your one favorite pen scattered about, colored files everywhere, your cell phone, mp3 player, headset, desktop or laptop, and your prized monitor laden with Post It notes.

The best place to start is the monitor, the one place you’re looking most often (and subsequently, the one place frequently reminding you how disorganized you are) – get rid of those Post It notes!

There’s a fantastic web tool available for free by the name of Remember The Milk that allows you to input your tasks, select due dates, set up notifications, and create groups for your department.

Another innovative and free application comes from the guys at Google. Google Desktop makes searching for files on your computer just as simple as searching on the internet. Also, you can easily eliminate magazine and newspaper clutter and become more sustainable by getting more of your news and information from internet sources. The next step might be organizing your office supplies. One of the best ideas is to find plastic office supplies that are aesthetically pleasing and part of a collection. It’s a great idea to have all of your supplies share the same color, but having two or three different colors could be very refreshing and could supplement organizational patterns.

Another recommendation would be to recycle or bring home any extraneous supplies – things you don’t use daily. Try to find office supplies that clearly define what the compartment is for. You don’t want to get caught throwing random items into oddly-shaped compartments, thus adding to your clutter. Lastly, take a look at your numerous electronics, and imagine having access to the same functionality without ever having to look at them. First and foremost, if you have the budget to go wireless, do it. Virtually everything you use at your desk can be wireless – charged by rechargeable batteries to save money and the environment. There is a fantastic guide to methodologically organizing your various electronics behind or under your desk, which involves a couple of zip ties and some patience. The final product will be phenomenal and inviting.

There you have it, a few simple, quick, and cheap ways to keep your office space from being a mundane area you dread visiting daily. With the use of free web tools, sleek and colorful compartmentalized plastic office supplies, and some zip ties, you’re on your way to having a better day at work.

Can you honestly say you’ve never made a last minute purchasing decision? I doubt it. But you’re in good company: research shows approximately 66 percent of all purchase decisions are made in the store. And 53 percent of those in-store purchases are made on impulse.

So how can you capitalize on this last-minute purchasing trend? It’s called Point of Purchase (POP) advertising and it’s highly effective in persuading potential customers to buy your product now. With an attractive and well-placed acrylic POP display, you can nudge your customers into that 53% who make impulse purchases.

Here are some tips to make your business POP display friendly:

Know Your Business

In theory, you know your business. Do your customers? Choose a display that’s going to show your customers what you’re offering in a clear and easy manner. Make your sign dynamic, and the product accessible.

Keep It Simple

Sure, you’d like something elaborate that really speaks to people. But you have to remember, a POP display is about impulse. Your display will have to be simple enough for clients to notice without being too garish or complex. A clear, enticing sign in an acrylic holder will deliver the right information directly to your customer.

Field Trip

Visit other businesses to see what works and what doesn’t. You’re a customer too! See what you like and what you don’t like, and remember that when you are setting up your own POP display.

Get More For Your Money

You want to make your advertising dollar go as far as it can. Use a permanent display system for you POP advertising to stretch your resources. Acrylic POP displays will protect your advertisements and create an alluring backdrop for your product. A highly durable POP display makes you look credible, and your product worthwhile.

No matter what type of display you choose, remember not to skimp on creating the advertisement to place inside it. Do so and your customers will notice. Go for quality and they will notice, too.

Select the right POP display and you have a good chance of creating some excitement around your advertising, and, ultimately, increasing your profits Make a hasty, uninformed decision about your POP display and your customer’s excitement will fizzle. Do your research - and get creative!

Just as quality of food and service is important to a restaurant’s success, so is the restaurant’s representation of those foods and services. Ambiance and attitude may be elemental in the design of a restaurant, but at the end of the day, patrons are there to eat. A restaurant menu is the most obvious tool in exposing the customer to the culinary experience they want. Just as important as lighting and table settings, however, are the few pictures of menu items placed on restaurant tables and in the menu itself. These select photos give the diner an expectation that sets the tone for the entire meal.

Playing To Your Strengths

Have a great halibut? Make killer mac and cheese? Show it off! There is nothing greater for a restaurant than a new loyal customer. To get a new loyal customer, you have to give a great first impression. The best way to do that is to play to your restaurant’s strengths. Put pictures of your restaurant’s most well-known and well-loved menu items on display on menu covers and signs on tables. When a new or indecisive customer can’t decide between many appealing menu items, looking at a picture often helps the customer choose.

Be Consistent!

There is nothing more disconcerting than getting a meal that looks different from its picture. I have a spectacularly picky friend who once sent her chocolate chip pancakes back to an IHOP because they didn’t look like the pancakes on the sign (for the record, it’s the authors opinion that it’s pretty absurd to send chocolate chip pancakes back because “in the picture they have sprinkles”. And no, my friend isn’t an eight-year-old. This happened while we were in college). A lesson can be learned from my high maintenance friend: it can be upsetting to get a meal that looks different from the picture. However, the conflict surrounding her missing sprinkles is very easily avoided. As we all know, getting a meal that is EXACTLY what you wanted is wonderfully satisfying. A customer that sees what they want in a picture is the easiest customer to please. They won’t get their meal and be disappointed, because they knew what they were in for when they ordered it. The customer is pleased, and the restaurant doesn’t have to worry about meals being sent back because it’s not what the customer expected.

Creating Customers for Life

Customers may or may not choose their meal based on your menu pictures or restaurant signs. They will take the pictures of your food into consideration, whether it’s conscious or not. Be smart! Take pictures that make your food look delicious. There are companies who specialize in photographing only food. It’s their job to make your food look supernaturally good! Take advantage of their expertise. Your patrons may not order the food in the picture, but they will appreciate seeing that what you offer is high quality. Even having a small number of photos placed on tables and in menus can do wonders for a restaurant. Displayed prominently and tastefully, mouth-watering photos of your restaurant’s offerings can enhance the dining experience, and when you create a positive dining experience, as long as your customers’ orders looks like they do in the photos, they will enjoy coming back for more.

Five years ago, I decided to take a big risk and follow my life-long dream of opening a restaurant. I wanted it to specialize in the home cooked, southern comfort food my momma always made for me as a child. After a large investment of time, energy, and money, Mamma’s Kitchen finally opened six months later. I could not believe it, but it was an immediate and unexpected success! We were barely able to keep up with the influx of new customers and the hordes of first-timers who were fast becoming regulars. Although I was overjoyed with the success of the restaurant and the wonderful feedback I was receiving from patrons, a few months after opening the place I wanted to try something new.

I thought it would be fun to change up the menu every week by offering weekly specials. Here is where I ran into an unexpected challenge. When I first began offering weekly specials, I simply wrote the specials on a chalkboard that hung on the wall. The problem was nobody bothered to look up at the board and most customers were unable to see it from where they were seated. It was a complete failure! Next, I tried including paper inserts inside the regular menu we pass out to each customer upon seating. I assumed this was the method used by most restaurants so I thought it was worth a try. Little did I know how ineffective it would be! Since the specials were printed on paper, they were often torn, spilled upon, ripped, crumpled up, or simply thrown away by accident. This means we were passing out a new insert for almost every patron that came in the door! Not only was I wasting paper, I was wasting money. The weekly printing costs became exorbitant and I couldn’t keep it up. There had to be a better way to handle it.

After spending weeks of exploring different marketing options, I decided to look online to see if anything jumped out at me, and right away I found great tabletop sign holders. They were inexpensive, easy to use, and overall, seemed like the perfect solution. Now that I have started using them to display my menu specials, I am noticing the benefits they bring to my restaurant every day. First, using sign holders to feature my menu specials make it much easier to replace the special each week – all I have to do is change the paper inserts. The cost is minimal and I am able to try out am new designs and layouts all the time. I’ve noticed the sign holders look great with bright colors and lots of pictures – and people are actually reading them and trying new options on our menu! I have had the same gentleman come in for lunch every Wednesday for six-months and order a vegetable potpie every time. Now he orders a new special whenever he comes in, and he is here three or more times a week.

Regular customers look forward to sitting down and reading what is new for them to try, and I have had several people comment on how the new sign-holders do a nice job of displaying our specials. One regular patron said, “Great idea! I would have never tried your roast beef sandwich if it wasn’t for that mouth-watering picture.”

What is more, these sign holders have six sides to them, allowing me to fit everything I need to without a problem – so I can include several different “specials.” It really works out for my customers and me – they enjoy more options, and I enjoy more sales. Occasionally I notice a customer will pull out the paper, and write a message about how great the food is. I love it! It makes me happy to see these little notes and it makes other customers confident in what to order. Overall, I am so grateful for having discovered this way to promote the delicious weekly specials at Mamma’s Kitchen.

Without these sign-holders, I don’t think I would be experiencing the recent boost in business!