What do you think of when you hear the word cheesy? It's hard to define, but we know it when we see it. And when we see it, we think unprofessional, small, out of date. Whether you are a small business, leading a small church, or are a small anything you know that to compete you can't present as unprofessional or small. how do you look unprofessional or small? By using stock clip art that comes in your PowerPoint software to create your signs or by using your sister Edna's son George to design your website because he just finished website design 101 at his junior college.
Understand that there is nothing wrong with being small. If you are small you can make changes quicker, you can turn around quicker, and you can be more flexible. You can offer personal service. But to often people equate small with not professional enough. And the last thing you want to present as is unprofessional.
Often small businesses or small churches present themselves as unprofessional, because they don't have the right resources to unleash their inner creativity. As a small business owner, or small church pastor, you rely on what you can afford or on what has worked in the past. You think you don't have the money or time to spend, accurately communicating who you are to others because you are to busy running your business. Yet part of running your business entails communicating who you are in a world that is constantly changing. Even a traditional institution like the church needs to be able to communicate its timeless truths in a manner that will help them reach people.
But I don't have as design team and I can't afford Adobe Photoshop, or Apple Final Cut, and if I did have them, I wouldn't know how to use them. So where can you go to find the inexpensive or free resources that will help you communicate yours business or church in a professional and up to date manner?
Well it's said that imitation is the best form of flattery. So if you want to see how to design an ad for your business, or how to develop a look for your next sermon series, then go see how others are doing them. We all have hero's we want to emulate, businesses that we want to be like. So look at what others are doing. Look at how ads are designed in the various magazines, watch commercials and see how they are edited and what they highlight to catch your attention. Don't look at business that are failing, or churches that are shrinking. Look at the ones that are growing, the ones that are making a difference in their communities. Why try calling them up and ask them for advice.
Now you don't want to copy what they are doing exactly, because you aren't them. And you don't want to get into any copyright infringement issues. But take what you see, how they use color, the fonts they use, the images they portray and develop your own message based around those key indicators. And since you don't have or can't afford the creative software tools they have, as my Christmas present to you, here are some websites that offer free or inexpensive resources that will enable you to improve how you present yourself in 2011.
filehippo.com - Free software available for you to download to include Photoshop like clones, such as paint.net or Gimp. You can also download openoffice.org that will provide you with a free clone of MS Office.
creativemyk.com - Free graphics for churches, that come in a variety of formats depending on what you need.
dafont.com - free fonts to download to your computer.
sxc.hu - free professional stock images.
adobe.com - you can download functioning versions of all their design software and use it for free for 30 days. also many of there software is available at student rates which you can get by taking inexpensive classes at your local community colleges.
brusheezy.com - Free photoshop brushes.
vecteezy.com - free vector silhouettes.
all-silhouettes.com - free vector silhouettes.
Psd.tutsplus.com - Photoshop tutorials. Some free.
movieclips.com - free clips of popular movies to help you find that moving image that will illustrate what you want to say.
creativity-online.com - a website that you can watch the newest commercials that are being created.
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