March 30th, 2011
Do you have a special occasion or milestone celebration coming up, where you’d like to honor someone special with a video montage? There are many reasons why you might want to celebrate someone with a collection of photos or videos from their life – retirement parties, memorial celebrations, the matriarch or patriarch of the family (at family reunions, for example), graduation, golden birthdays or anniversaries, major accomplishments, wedding nuptials, or other significant accomplishments in the person’s life. No matter the reason, this simple guide will give you tips and creative ideas for making the video montage memorable, tasteful, and delightful for the guest of honor as well as all who view your montage.
Begin with the End in Mind
You’ve likely heard this famous saying from bestselling author Stephen Covey, but it certainly holds true when it comes to creating the perfect video montage. Imagine what kind of reaction you’d like to see from the honored guest or from the other participants or attendees. Are you going for surprise? Nostalgia? Would you like them to feel appreciated? Honored? Revered? Appreciated? All of the above? Understanding this desired end result will help you craft the length, style, mood and overall feel of the montage, so it makes sense to start here.
/>Consider the Personality
Next, you’ll want to consider the person and their personality. Is this a fun-loving person, or someone who is easily embarrassed? Are you honoring a modest person, or someone who loves to “ham it up”? The montage should reflect the guest of honor’s personality (not yours) and showcase them personally. This will help you in choosing what photos or video clips to include, and which to omit.
Less Is More
Particularly if the guest of honor is someone near and dear to your heart, you may find that there is a lot that you want to include in their video montage. However, keep in mind that the average person’s attention span is short, and a long or drawn-out video montage will not go over as well as a shorter, more impactful one. Try to keep your video montage to less than ten minutes in length (six minutes, or two songs, would be even better) and you’ll keep your guest and your audience enraptured for sure.
No matter what kind of video montage you create, you’ll certainly want to rent a projector to help you showcase your final masterpiece. An LCD rental projector from Projector123.com is the perfect way to display your montage, whether in bright sunlight or a dimly lit room. Click here to visit Projector123.com online and reserve your rental projector today.
March 28th, 2011
We recently came across this article– and although it’s not newly written, it all definitely still applies. If you’re beginning to feel that spring fever and wanting to get your home ready for spring, check out these helpful tips from an article found in the Seattle PI archives.
And of course, you’ll want to treat yourself and your family or friends to a little reward after all that cleaning, so pop on over to Projector123.com and reserve a rental projector today. From movie weekends to gaming tournaments to romantic evenings at home, rental projector uses are virtually unlimited. Click here now to learn more.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The Design Files: 10 projects to get ready for spring
By ROBIN DALY AND CHRISTIAN URSINO
Here is a list of 10 things you can do in your home to get ready for spring.
Cobwebs — Where did they come from? Make them go away.
Exterior — It’s time to start getting bids if you want to have the exterior of your home painted this year. Good painters book early. To receive the best possible bid, know how many colors you will be using, the amount of preparation required and the quality of paint to be applied. Not all bids are equal, and it’s up to you to understand what is being specified. It’s not unreasonable to ask for a written contract outlining the scope of the project and payment details. Request references.
Closets — Now that you’ve spent an entire winter pushing things to the back of the closet, it’s time to face the music. Two bags: one to stay, one to go. (Remember our mantra: be cold, cruel and heartless and let it go!)
Carpets — You no longer can get away with flattering candlelight to hide the traffic patterns ground into the carpets. Get them cleaned!
Unfinished projects — Complete interior projects because pretty soon your focus will change to the outside.
Windows — Nothing brings in more light than getting rid of the winter grime.
Window coverings — Pay particular attention to those that involve light control. If you’ve put this off until “next year,” news flash — it is next year and your furniture is that much more faded!
Winter accessories — Rejuvenate your space by introducing lighter and fresher colors and textures. It’s time for those darker candles, throws and pillows to go back into the newly cleaned out closet!
Spring splurge — Start thinking about what your one spring splurge might be. New bedding perhaps? New table linens? Fresh towels?
Give the joint a good scrub — Think of this as a spa treatment for your home.
March 25th, 2011
As we round out the first quarter of 2011, you may find yourself looking for ways to boost your sales in a hurry to reach your quota or beat last year’s results. Never fear – there are plenty of ways to increase sales, and you won’t have to spend a fortune on advertising to do it.
Create a Buzz
One of the easiest ways to increase sales is by creating a buzz of some sort. You can do this via social media outlets (by running a promo for Facebook fans or Twitter followers, encouraging them to spread the word), inventing a contest (name our newsletter, give us your feedback, etc.), offering a reward for referrals (refer three friends and your next visit is free) or giving people some other reason to talk to their friends, family, and colleagues about your product or service.
Get Competitive
If you’ve got sales staff, it definitely pays to create a sales competition and offer a killer prize to the winner. This helps to motivate your sales folks and thereby increase sales. It can be as simple as a one-week closing contest, a one-month highest new sales contest, or even a one-day sales contest (depending on the nature of your business and how sales are conducted).
/>Incentivize!
One of the easiest ways to boost your sales fast is to give people a reason to buy today. Rather than relying solely on scare tactics (limited time offer, limited quantity available, don’t miss out, etc.), you can use incentives to give people a real and compelling reason why they must by today. Even if you conduct outside sales for a company and have no control over the prices or special offers associated with that company’s product or service, you can give prizes of your own (every new customer who buys today gets a free massage, lunch, consultation, car wash, Starbuck’s gift card, etc.) The prize should make sense both in terms of your product/service (don’t give a restaurant gift certificate if you’re selling a weight loss product, for example) and with regards to your commission (don’t give away a $100 gift card for a sale that only earns you $20 in commissions).
While you’re getting creative and implementing new ways to create more immediate sales, remember to count on Projector123.com for all your rental projector needs. Making a sales presentation? Trust the professionals at Projector123.com to provide a reliable, affordable LCD rental projector and put your best foot forward. Click here to learn more.
March 23rd, 2011
If you’ve got small children, you may find yourself accumulating a large amount of papers, drawings, practice writing, and more. While this may not prove to be much of a problem with just one child, having more than one child can mean mountains of paperwork to store and file away. But do you really need to keep it all? How can you decide what to store and what do discard? Will your child be crushed if you toss out the picture they are most proud of? Here are some alternative ideas for storing the memories without racking up boxes in your basement or filling up your storage space.
Go Digital
If you (or your child) can’t bear to part with each and every piece, why not go digital? You can pick up an inexpensive scanner for under $150 (or borrow a friend’s) and scan each image, to store a digital copy. That way, you won’t have to keep all those papers, but you won’t discard any memories.
Make a Montage
Once you’ve scanned all the images, you can create a photo montage to drop onto a CD-ROM or DVD as a keepsake for you and your child. Depending on what resolution you choose to scan your images at, you can fit a ton of images on a single disc. Perhaps you’d like to create one disc per child per school year. Or one “best of” disc for all the children for each year of schooling. There are many ways to organize your files once you go digital. Once you have a montage assembled, this would make a great slide show at a graduation party, birthday party, or other milestone celebration.
 Keep the Best
A different alternative is to keep only the best artwork and most impressive schoolwork from each year. There are several ways to conduct this logistically – you could keep it all and pick out the 5 or 10 best at the end of the school year, or you can keep just a month’s worth at a time, then purge all but the best one or two at month’s end. Additionally, you can get your child’s input as to which pieces are the most special to him or her.
Frame It!
You may choose to display some of the best artwork from your children, either on a bulletin board, in frames on a single “gallery” wall, or hung with decorative accents from a metallic stylized clothesline or other type of structure. You can actually purchase magnetic paint (as well as chalkboard paint) that can be applied to a wall, cabinet or other structure, which allows you to use magnets to display artwork and other mementos. Why not make it fun and festive?
With so many fun and easy ideas, there’s no need to feel as though you are drowning in artwork and paperwork from your children’s school age years. Got tips of your own? Post them here in our comments section!
When you’re ready to showcase that montage of artwork and school accomplishments, remember to rent a projector from Projector123.com. We provide fast, affordable, professional-grade LCD rental projectors for all occasions. Click here to visit the website and learn more about our projectors for rent.
March 21st, 2011
Welcome back to part 2 of our two-part series on planning a fun and exciting family summer vacation. Summer will be here before we know it, so now is the perfect time to firm up plans for a family getaway. In part one, we looked at getting input from family members, performing some pre-planning research, and prioritizing what kind of experience is most important to the family.
Step 4: Book Early
Yes, it’s true that there are many last-minute deals to be had, but the trouble with last-minute travel is you’ve got to be extremely flexible – not just in terms of when you’ll travel, but where and for how long. When planning a family vacation, part of the excitement is in the anticipation of your summer trip, and if you’re looking to nab a last-minute deal to a mystery destination, this might not go over as well with your school-aged children (although teens might find it rather exciting!) By booking early, you have time to share the anticipation together, shop for what you’ll need for the trip, and dream about what lies ahead. Plus, you’ll typically save on airfare, lodging and package deals as well.
 Step 5: Prepare and Save
Another advantage to booking early is that it gives you time to save for your trip. Some packages will need to be prepaid in full, but others (especially if you book through a travel agent) will allow you to simply make a deposit and then pay over time before you leave town. Either way, you’ll want to have time to save for souvenirs, meals, clothing and accessories for your trip, excursions and incidentals that you’ll want to have funds available for. It’s far easier to save a few hundred dollars per month than to feel like you need to fork over a big chunk of money (or worse, use credit cards) just before or during your trip. Preparing and saving allows you to feel far more relaxed just before and during the trip together.
Step 6: Take Lots of Photos
You’ll be making tons of memories together, so remember to pack your cameras and plenty of extra batteries (or chargers) and memory sticks and storage devices. Don’t mind any eye-rolling from the kids – when they’re grown, they’ll be delighted to review countless pictures of their childhood vacation.
If scrapbooking is not your thing, don’t worry – a much more modern approach involves creating a photo or video montage of your event. A rental projector from Projector123.com is the perfect way to share your memories with each other, or with other friends and family members who want to hear all about your exciting trip. Click here now to reserve your rental projector or learn more today.
March 18th, 2011
Here we are in the middle of March and in some parts of the country, it’s still snowy and freezing, but it’s never too soon to begin planning your summer vacation. Here are some easy tips for turning this elaborate planning into a summer’s breeze.
Step 1: Get Some Input
You might already have an idea of the perfect destination for this summer’s family vacation, but do yourself a favor and talk to your family about it first. You never know what you might discover – your family might prefer to stay closer to home, revisit an old favorite spot, or they might even choose something far less elaborate and less expensive. Have an open conversation, share your thoughts and opinions, and get input from everyone. While it’s true that most families are not run in the same fashion as a democracy (where everyone gets to vote), make sure that each person feels heard and understood, even though the parents will likely have the final say.
Step 2: Do Your Research
Research might involve a visit to the local travel agent, or it might involve extensive online searching – either way, it pays to be informed. Many people are under the mistaken belief that travel agents are now too pricey to use, but this is not always the case. Yes, your travel agent will likely charge you a surcharge for booking your airfare, but if you’re choosing a complex destination (such as Disney) where many factors must be booked and handled in advance (lodging, airfare, park tickets, ground transportation, etc.) or an all-inclusive location, you’ll often save money by going through a travel agent or booking service, who can get much better deals than you can find online. That’s why it’s important to have a ballpark idea of what you want to do, where you want to go, and approximately what it will cost before you speak to a travel agent or start booking anything online.
 Step 3: Prioritize
It’s possible that you might not be able to do absolutely everything you’d like to do on this trip, either because of time or money constraints, and that’s perfectly OK. But you’ll certainly want to prioritize what is most important to you, and focus on making time and budgeting funds for that. Consider the input you got from the whole family – for example, if you are a group of foodies, then you may choose lower-priced lodging in exchange for a higher dining out budget. If your family consists of thrill-junkies, you may prefer budget accommodations and dining (or you may even drive instead of fly) in order to have more available funds for entertainment and activities. The key is to focus your resources on the highest priorities and look for other low-priority places to cut corners.
Be sure to come back next time for the final installment in our two-part series on planning the perfect family summer vacation. In the meantime, you might consider that once you’ve returned from your exciting family excursion, you’ll have a ton of photos and memories to share, and what better way than with a rental projector from Projector123.com? Click here now to visit our website and learn more about our affordable, professional-grade rental projectors.
March 16th, 2011
Whether or not you’re actually Irish, you may choose to celebrate St. Patrick’s day tomorrow (March 17th). Here is a dear little poem about the shamrock – may it inspire and delight you.
St. Patty’s Day is a perfect day (like any other) to celebrate with a rental projector from Projector123.com. Here are some seasonal movie selections for your enjoyment: “Waking Ned Devine,” “The Commitments,” “Far and Away,” and “The Field.”
/>The Shamrock of Ireland
There’s a dear little plant
that grows in our isle,
‘Twas St. Patrick himself
sure that set it;
And the sun on his labour
with pleasure did smile,
And with dew from his eye
often wet it.
It thrives through the bog,
through the brake,
through the mireland;
And he called it the dear
little shamrock of Ireland-
The sweet little shamrock,
the dear little shamrock,
The sweet little, green little,
shamrock of Ireland!
Andrew Cherry, Irish Playwright (1762-1812)
March 14th, 2011
Welcome back to the final installment of our series on creating powerful action plans. If you’ve been following our steps, you are already well on your way to having the key to successful accomplishment of your goal. In this segment, we wrap up a few loose ends and prepare you for leaping into action.
Schedule out Your Accomplishments
Now that you’ve created your action plan and shared it with your team, here is a simple tip you can use (and you can share with your organization) as an added measure to ensure that milestones and tasks get accomplished on time. Have each person grab their schedule or day planner or smartphone and schedule out their accomplishments.
For example, the person who is in charge of creating and overseeing the employee sales contest would take their specific action items and tasks and schedule them out in their planner. If the sales contest is scheduled to begin on April 1, the responsible employee would schedule an action item like this on the morning of March 31: email sales staff with an enthusiastic reminder about tomorrow’s sales contest. If each responsible party does this, you will be amazed at the success rate of your action plan.
/>Work Your Plan and Don’t Stop Until It’s Complete
Once your plan is established, shared with the team, and accomplishments are scheduled, the next step is simple: take daily action and follow up with responsible parties to ensure that everyone is doing their part. This step is absolutely critical to the success of your project and the achievement of your goal. Without follow-up, too many things can slip through the cracks and get missed. In some cases, missing just one milestone can be enough to set your entire project behind, which means missing the mark for your goal. Regular follow-up is essential in order to prevent this.
Change the Date if You Must, but Never Give up on the Goal
Occasionally, circumstances or unforeseen events can arise that throw a wrench in your ability to meet deadlines, complete tasks and achieve your goal. If this happens, do not get discouraged – revise your plan and continue working to meet targets and move forward. This is the key to maintaining momentum! Remain solution-focused and find a way to get there, no matter what. If you absolutely must, you may want to extend the target date for your goal, but never give up on the goal itself. In many situations, things shift in the final hours that create the possibility of a miraculous eleventh-hour achievement of the goal, but unfortunately, many people miss out on these “miracles” by giving up too soon. Stick with it and keep your team motivated!
We hope you have enjoyed this series on powerful action plan creation. Be sure to share your results with us – we love hearing from you!
Remember to reserve your rental projector from Projector123.com. This is perfect for sharing your vision, and for celebrating the achievement of your goal. Click here to reserve a projector right now.
March 11th, 2011
Welcome back to part two of our three-part series on creating effective action plans. In this segment, we give specific tips for choosing the action items in your plan, keeping everything relevant and manageable.
Once you’ve created measurable milestones, the next step is to create a list and accompanying timeline of specific action items or tasks to complete in order to hit those milestones. This can be accomplished quite easily by starting at the end (the accomplishment of the goal) and working your way backwards to present day and circumstances. Just as we did with our prior example, we looked at the total goal of $200,000 in sales, and we evaluated our current progress thus far ($20,000) and then we calculated how much more we needed in sales, and allocated that monthly to figure out what we’ll need to accomplish each month in order to hit the target. This can be done with any project or goal, over any time period.
Break Large Tasks into Smaller, More Manageable Chunks
Some tasks or milestones may seem more daunting to achieve than others. That’s when it makes sense to break larger tasks down into smaller, more manageable chunks. For example, let’s look at how we would achieve sales of $20,000 per month (when so far this year in our example, we’re only averaging about $7,000). We might consider some of these options:
- upselling existing client base on complementary products or services that would benefit them at this time
- preselling future contracts at a discount or with some other benefit or incentive attached
- creating a powerful sales contest to motivate sales staff
- rolling out a new product or service
- etc.
Any or all of the above may or may not be feasible, and may or may not be the best course of action to dramatically increase our sales. Once this brainstorming session is complete, the next step is to select the most feasible ideas and put the corresponding action items into your plan. For example, if you choose to create a powerful sales contest to motivate sales staff, then the next step is to plan the contest, decide on the prizes and the rules, get approval from upper management, decide on the start and end dates, call a staff meeting to announce the contest to the sales staff, etc.
Put Timelines on Everything
No matter what action items you choose for which phase of your action plan, it is essential that a time frame be attached to absolutely everything. Without specific time frames and deadlines, work will definitely expand to fill the time allotted, and some tasks may never get completed.
Create a Visual Representation
Once you’ve created your action items and set a specific timeline, the next step is to create some type of visual representation of your plan. You might use a flowchart, a Gantt chart, a spreadsheet, or some other type of business tool to accomplish this. Then you’ll want to share that visual display with your team and ensure that each person understand their role in the accomplishment of these milestones.
Be sure to return for the final installment of our series on creating effective action plans. In the meantime, it’s not too soon to reserve a rental projector for the rollout of your vision. Click here to visit Projector123.com and reserve a projector for rent today.
March 9th, 2011
As we begin to close out the first quarter of the year, many business owners and working professionals are evaluating their goals and estimating whether or not the pace is on track to achieve their year-end targets. Here we will detail a step-by-step guide for creating an effective action plan – with a well-designed plan and daily action, you can achieve virtually any goal you set out to accomplish.
Know Where You’re Going
Successful leaders and professionals understand a simple core concept: if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re likely to wind up anywhere. Creating a powerful action plan always begins with having a clear purpose, vision or goal in mind. In fact, the action plan is designed to take you from wherever you are right now directly to the accomplishment of your stated goal.
Be Specific
Not only must your goal be specific, but you must also create a specific intention as well as very specific tasks or steps that will move you toward the completion of that goal. Here is an example. Let’s say that your year-end goal is to double your sales over last year’s figures. Suppose that equates to $200,000 in sales. As this first quarter comes to a close, you can see that you are approximately at $20,000 year to date. This means you’ve got to pick up the pace significantly in order to hit your $200k year-end target. Specifically, $200,000 minus $20,000 equals $180,000. April through end of year equates to nine months. Thus, we divide $180,000 by 9 and get a target monthly sales goal of $20,000 per month (or approximately $5,000 per week). Now we can specifically see what we are working towards each month in order to achieve the year-end goal.
 Create Measurable Milestones
Once you have a clear picture of what you’re out to accomplish, as well as what targets you will need to hit throughout the time span of the project or period, the next step is to create measurable milestones. This might include net or gross earnings, sales volumes, number of units sold, new product rollouts, employee training, incentive programs, etc. The point of creating measurable milestones is to give you and your team smaller, more tangible goals and targets to work towards. This way, it’s easier to stay focused and to be encouraged by tangible results (especially if your goal is massive, like doubling sales over last year). Using our example above, measurable milestones might include $20,000 per month, or $50,000 in total sales year to date, etc.
Be sure to return next time, where we continue our three-part series on creating an effective action plan.
Once you’ve created your action plan, you’ll certainly want to share it with your team, your superiors, and anyone else in your organization who can assist the group in hitting their designated targets. What better way to present your vision than with a rental projector from Projector123.com? Click here to learn more and reserve your rental projector now.
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