At NLC we finally put a title to the method that we have been using for quite some time. A mix of marketing genius from the minds of the plethora of leaders in the market.

​The Heart Principle© combines the base of Story Branding, the depth of Jasmine Starr, the common sense of Vanessa Edwards and the concepts of Simon Sinek, Allan Dib and many more.

Each has so many strengths and is inspirational but few give us a proven step by step on how to implement. The Heart Principle does just that. Give us a call, we'd love to share it with you.

Every company has the potential to be a good one.  With the development of technology in the workplace, it has become easier to manage and grow a company's presence;

but good does not = great.

Greatness is something that exceeds expectations. Something, well, great. Ultimately, what the success of a company boils down to People.  Your customers are the foundation of your product and sales. Respect them, listen to them, and cherish them.
​

• Product- Take pride in the quality of your product or service. Great companies make great products.
• Purpose- Start by asking yourself why you made your product. Whatever your answer is, ask why again, then repeat. A great company asks and understands all the why's. Then ask your customers the same so you can align their message into their design/service.
• Passion- Adopt your client's passion and work as a partner in their success. Value and recognize the services they provide to their customers and be their biggest cheerleader.

These three points are the foundation of every great company. Learn to embody these traits and never fall for just "good" again! 

Although Neon Lizard is primarily focused on visual communication, being able to read body language is critical to success in almost any career. Only 7% of communication is actually verbal, meaning the other 93% comes from visual cues. Based off these traits and non-verbal communication signals, humans are able to predict intentions and personalities in under seven seconds. First impressions are everything.
 
Body language is a physical transcription of all our subconscious thoughts and emotions.
Body language is essentially how we feel, but visible. Though a lot of nonverbal communication is subconscious, it can be controlled by the communicator to influence social situations. 
 
The number of people who can effectively interpret and project body language is shrinking as our world relies more and more on digital communication. A great way to change that is by putting yourself in social situations that allow you to follow these tips. 
 
To better understand body language, we need to understand animals. It may seem silly, but in many ways, human body language mirrors animal behaviors.
 
When animals want something from us, they will point with their nose in the direction of their focus and will periodically look back at us for approval or to make that they still have our attention. Say your dog wants to go outside. Likely he will nudge the door with his nose. Admittedly, it would be weird if a person did this, but humans communicate directional attention with their feet rather than their noses.  In social situations, your feet point to the person you are most comfortable with. Perhaps you are uncomfortable, in which case you may notice that your feet are instinctively pointing towards the door as you subconsciously desire to leave. ​

If you can’t leave and you are still uncomfortable, you may make a subconscious effort to distance yourself by building a barrier.  Crossing one’s legs, crossing arms, or zipping up jackets are all ways of showing social discomfort.  On the other hand, standing with your legs slightly apart or using more open body language will communicate that you are comfortable and confident.
 
Humans typically identify body language subconsciously, but unless we know the person in question, it won’t always be accurate.  This is because there are over 700,000 signals and visible expressions; 250,000 of which are facial expressions, 5,000 distinct hand gestures, and approximately 1,000 different postures. The best way to improve your body language reading skills is to read more body language. Analyze people (In a non-creepy way) and get to know them better in order to discern habits and traits from the relevant signals.

Here are some key common signals that you can watch out for while reading people:

• Palms out and open hands show honesty and trustworthiness.
• Nose scratching indicates lying.
• Eyes brows slightly raise when uncomfortable, both socially and physically.
• Inflection shows interest.
• Read the eyes. They show positive and negative reactions.  When they shift, they may be trying to hide something, looking up shows they are trying to recall something, looking down shows guilt

• If they are mirroring your body language, the conversation is probably going well.
• Fake smiles can be detected because they don’t use the same muscles. Real smiles will give the skin around the eyes a crinkle.
• Toes pointing up reflect good mood.

 
Here are some tips to give off positive and confident body language.

• Good posture - head held high, this is scientifically proven to boost your confidence after 5 minutes.
• Smile - after all, happiness is contagious.
• Personal space- Americans have an average conversation distance of 3-5 feet, this varies in climate: people in colder climates tend to have smaller conversation distances, likely as a social evolutionary trait to keep us warm.
• Eye contact - Use your eyes to communicate. Look around AND be engaging by making eye contact while speaking and listening!
• Lean forward - Another way of showing interest and engagement.
• Don’t touch your face - Covering/touching your face or neck is a bad sign in body language. It shows disagreement, anxiousness and or distrust.
• Mirroring - We are programmed to like people like us. Copy a person’s body language if trying to gain their approval.
• Sit slightly angled - sitting at an angle communicates being on someone’s side.

Colorful Character 
A large portion of the Hindu religion is based on the concepts of Chakras and that different colored energy fields (aka auras) emanate from our bodies and reflect our emotions. 

Many psychologists chalk it up to evolution, but our mood is indeed tied to colors. For instance, red is exciting because blood is red and blood usually implies an exciting situation or violence. Likewise, the Hindus believe red is tied to sexuality, aggression, and passion, which are also commonly associated with red in Western culture.

Meanwhile, the color green is associated with grass, growth, nature and creativity. This isn't always the case, but most cultures link certain colors to the similar emotions and ideas, reinforcing the idea that this is evolutionary, or at least hardwired into our subconscious experience. 

If you are working with people or have clients, then you have an opportunity to use color and color psychology to your advantage. Seeing these colors in the brand alongside a message that supports the idea will resonate with consumers longer and have a deeper impact.

We made it a tad easier for you too:

Choose 2-3 qualities you want your business to embody then have NLC design your logo with these colors in mind.

• Orange - playfulness, friendly, vitality
• Yellow - happiness, optimism, warning
• Light Blue - tranquility, trust, openness
• Dark Blue - professionalism, security, formality
• Purple - royalty, luxury, richness
• Pink - femininity, youth, innocence
• Brown - rugged, earthy, old-fashioned
• White - pure, virtuous, healthy
• Gray - neutrality, gloom, subdued
• Black - power, intelligence, dangerous

Want to make a statement? Color psychology is a good way to do it.

The Big Picture
Ethics and shock value aside, there is a lot that can be learned about how humans are influenced from these psychological studies.  By using consistency and repetition, positioning yourself well, and employing color psychology, you can slightly change your marketing approaches to have a more effective impact on your target market.

Conditioning & The Little Albert Case
In 1920, one of the most important and controversial psychology case studies took place at Johns Hopkins University. It came to be known as the Little Albert case. A brief explanation:

Behavior psychologist, John Watson, attempted to instill a certain fear in one of his nurse's children, 11 month old Albert, by giving him a white fluffy rat to play with. However, every time little Albert reached for the rat, Watson would bang metal pots and pans as loudly as he could next to the baby, startling him. This was repeated several times over several days with different items. Through a process called conditioning, Albert eventually began to associate anything white and fluffy with the banging of the pots and pans, making him terrified to see ANYTHING resembling the rat. Allegedly, this fear was permanently instilled in Albert and was not able to be reversed before he was removed from the program, although no one can verify this as Albert's true identity was kept a secret.

​On a recent click, I took a look at some of the websites of the most prominent design agencies in Minnesota. As creatives compete with one another, they often fall into the trap of trying to “out-create” one another. Their websites have sliders and motion graphics, video backdrops and layers upon layers of imagery and moving parts.  Some of them are effective and captivating, but others are overstimulating, clunky, and absurd. 
 
When it comes to design as a tool for marketing your business, it’s important to work with an agency who is designing for you, and not for themselves. If your design team is hung up on creating assets for your business simply because they look cool or because they’re trying to be experimental and out-create neighboring agencies, you will be left wasting your marketing budget and with a finished product that may not serve the purpose that your business needs.
 
So, as a business owner, what can you do to ensure that your design agency has your best interests in mind? At Neon Lizard, we recommend consulting with your design team and making sure that your voice is heard. The Neon Lizard team focuses on giving clients what their businesses need, every time.

​At Neon Lizard, you can rest assured that your marketing budget is being put to great use and that we will design for YOU. 

News from the Rock-Published 8/30/2019

If you are an entrepreneur and want to take your business to the next level, how do you know where to start?

 Learn about social media and the power of "share" is a good start. But, where is one to begin? 

1. Do a deep inventory of yourself, business, motives and desires. What do you bring to the table?
2. If you have not already, create a BRANDED media campaign that serves a purpose, even if only to entertain.
3. Monitor, be sure to engage and respond to posts in order to learn, not just sell. Respond to appreciation and commentary in a personable way, not just "like".
4. If you don't have time to stay on top of it, hire it out. 
   ​

In many instances a firm’s social media is the first place of contact with a customer. First impressions are everything.
​
But like all first impressions, the charm wears off after a while. Social media is a great place to communicate, but a lack of response will leave the audience feeling unengaged. Eventually you will need to find a new audience or they will wander to more interesting pastures.

Know that you are selling an experience at the expense of their time. If you want your social media to inspire people to return to your website, give your audience something worth their time. If there is nothing that will benefit them, why should they spend time on your page?

A huge part of providing value is the convenience offered by your website/platform. In modern society, consumers have many needs and they need them NOW. The lay out of social media and its efficiency is almost as (if not more) important than the service/content/etc itself. Do NOT underestimate it.  ​

"You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all"
                                                                                                 - Jonathan Lethem

Everyday, we witness history unfolding, but being able to recognize what is a passing trend and what has true importance is a valuable skill, especially in the technology-propelled society that we live in today. 

In 2010, QR codes made their first big appearance in the marketplace, and to put it bluntly, failed miserably. Even big companies like Coca Cola and Procter and Gamble were sinking dollars into QR code campaigns. Despite generating some brand awareness by incorporating an emerging technology, the campaigns ultimately failed to create enough traffic to get a significant return on investment. 

This of course sparked some prejudice towards QR codes, but there’s a reason why QR codes failed in 2010. At the time, QR code reading technology was not developed or widespread enough for the codes to be an effective method of marketing, but a lot can change in ten years. 

Today, almost everyone has a smartphone, and the technology surrounding QR codes has greatly improved- reviving their use. With social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, the use of QR codes has become more and more prevalent. Other companies have even expanded the technology to allow transactions across their platforms with QR codes. Several countries like Japan and Switzerland are moving towards being cashless societies, slowly switching to the use of QR codes for payments, licensing, and more. Even big names like Target and Walmart have already incorporated QR method payment systems at some locations in the United States.

QR codes may just be another trend that will come and go as technology progresses, but for now, they have reached a peak in popularity.  Don’t sit back and miss out on history- consider using QR codes as a marketing tool for your business the next time you evaluate your marketing strategies. 

What is bleed?
A bleed is when an image extends beyond the trim edge of the product. If your image is not white on all four sides, you will want to include bleeds in your files. Add 1/8" (.125") to each side of the file. For example, for a 2" x 3.5" business card with full bleed, the image size should be submitted at 2.25" x 3.75".

Why do I need a bleed? 
When a printer produces a product, they generally print designs onto larger sheets of paper before cutting them all to size.  If you do not use a bleed and your design uses colors that extend to the edge of the page, when this trimming occurs you will be left with a white "hairline" on the edge of your product.  Adding a bleed combats this by extending graphics and colors beyond the edge of where the 

What is the safe zone?
The safe zone is the 1/8" margin that we require between the trim line and the text closest to the trim line.

What is CMYK?
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). This is the industry standard process colors used in full-color offset printing. The combination of these four colors can produce a wide spectrum of colors. Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow combine to create the color, while Black is used to change the shade of the color.