Get a New Logo
Posted by: queensboro on: November 10, 2009
If you’re reading this blog post, you might have a small business. You might have a logo, but need a new one. You might have designed your own logo using clip art. Your kid might have designed your logo. If you’re reading this blog post, you might need a new logo.
You might also think: There’s no WAY I can afford a new logo.
For starters, because your logo is one of the most important aspects of brand identity, using a less-than-professional, clearly clip art logo isn’t putting your best foot forward. If you’re worried about spending $5,000 or even $1,000 on a logo, and can’t do that, don’t despair. CALL QUEENSBORO.
A little-known aspect of our business (we’re working to make it more prominent) is our logo design option. We have various logo design and logo-editing packages that cost between $10 and $35. A simple logo creation-text and a very simple image could be as low as $10. For just $35, though, you can have help from our logo design team which will create you an ENTIRELY NEW LOGO.
No, you did not just read that wrong. You can have a WHOLE ENTIRE BRAND NEW LOGO for just $35. (Wow, that just sounded like Fred!)
If you’ve been stuck with a clip-art logo or something similar email or call us today, tomorrow, or soon! We’ll help. Here’s an example!
3-2-1-CONTRACT
Here’s an example of the logo design process.
After the logo has been created, it will be available for embroidery and printing at Queensboro. Customers can elect to purchase the high-resolution artwork of their logo, for use on stationary, advertising, or other uses for $50.
All in all, an affordable option for small busineses and organizations to project a professional image. Contact Queensboro today for help!
2009 Chili Cookoff Photos
Posted by: queensboro on: November 6, 2009
Friday, October 30th, was the annual Chili Cookoff at Queensboro. Competition was stiff, with several former winners competing for the grand prize.
Below, everyone lines up to try a bite of each chili.
Each chili is labeled regarding spiciness, meat content, etc.
Grand Prize Winner, Jenn E. serving up her Chili! (remember, last week we shared her recipe!)
Fred, President of Queensboro, sampling the chili.
Fred with second place winner Charlotte. She’s dressed as “vacation girl” for Halloween. Apparently, she’s the only one that dressed up! I stand corrected. See Jen B’s comment below. HOWEVER, because she was a participant, maybe people didn’t think hers was a costume.
Fred is wearing his “Better off Thread” admin team shirt. Queensboro has new “teams” for various events/activities, and each team shirt was debuted on Friday.
Charlotte’s excited about winning an MP3 player!
Fred with Jenn E, the big winner!
Congratulations to all of the competitors!
Fantastic Business Blogs
Posted by: Kate on: November 2, 2009
Because so many of Queensboro’s customers are businesses, and because I spend a fair amount of time combing the web looking for business blogs and ideas, I thought I’d share some of the resources that I’ve found. Hopefully you’ll find some useful nuggets of info in these blogs, and one or two that speaks to your individual business.
I only put blogs on this list that I think are interesting, and contribute something new and valuable. No boring blogs here! Also, I’ve focused on the communication aspect of small business marketing, as opposed to the “techie” side. You can always hire someone to do “tech.” It is harder to find people to market without sounding like robots. (Whether we do that well is entirely in the eye of the beholder. But, we try. To sound human, not like a robot.)
Duct Tape Marketing: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/
Blog by leading Small Business Marketing Coach John Jantsch, full of practical and easy to implement marketing strategies.
Church of the Customer: http://customerevangelists.typepad.com/blog/
Fantastic blog about word-0f-mouth marketing, the impact of customers on brand success, and other topics that should be common sense, but, unfortunately aren’t always.
Seth Godin’s Blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Some people say Seth Godin is the master of communicating the obvious. Some people hang on every word. I enjoy his daily tidbits, which almost always help me see business related issues in different ways. And to his detractors, I say–well, then why aren’t you a ga-trillionaire like Seth if you already know everything he has to say? Why didn’t you publish it first?
Bookmark his blog and take a minute to read it daily. You will find fresh inspiration and new things to try.
All Things Workplace: http://www.allthingsworkplace.com/
Primarily a blog about leadership. Fairly basic stuff, but presented in an easy to read format.
Presentation Zen: http://www.presentationzen.com/
Garr Reynolds’ blog about creating dynamic presentations. Ideas for graphics, timing, and other factors that go into a great presentation in almost any media.
Work Matters: http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/
A fascinating blog that primarily reports and comments about workplace related research. More cerebral than action-oriented. People who like to read and analyze will appreciate this blog.
Copy Blogger: http://www.copyblogger.com/
Primarily focused on business blogging, this great blog has tons of wonderful marketing tips, and writing tips. A lot of bloggers start blogging without much writing training. This site gives some good tips for improving your writing, making it more engaging, and converting more customers.
Ted-Ideas worth Spreading: http://www.ted.com/
Video casts about almost every topic under the sun. New ideas, ways of looking at things, etc. “Brain Candy” for the business person.
Last updated 10/28/09
BREAKING NEWS: Chili Cookoff Winner!
Posted by: queensboro on: October 30, 2009
CONGRATULATIONS Jenn E for your CHILI COOKOFF WIN!
Pictures forthcoming. . .
Veterans’ Honor Tour
Posted by: Kate on: October 29, 2009
One of my privileges as the Social Media coordinator for Queensboro is to work with donation requests and recipients. We receive hundreds of letters and requests, many of which have heartbreaking stories attached. We are never able to fill all of the requests we receive, but I wish we could.
Here are some pictures from the recipients of one of our recent donations: A World War II Veteran’s Honor Tour. This tour is led by Rob Callahan, and included several days of sightseeing, events, receptions, visits to a local school, and, of course, seeing the World War II Memorial. Here’s an article about a DIFFERENT honor tour, but will give you more an idea of how much the opportunity to visit the memorial means to the Veterans. I literally started to cry when I read the article and looked at Rob’s pictures.
Queensboro provided the shirts for the Ron and his other two guides, so that they would match each other and be easy for the trip participants to pick out of a crowd. (Note-Queensboro did not embroider the hats in these pictures.) I’m thrilled that they all had such a great time!
Arriving at the Baltimore Airport
At the Reception at the Local School
The Tour Bus
Bob and Elizabeth Dole met the Veterans at the World War II Memorial
Rob and Donna in their shirts. They were BUSY during the trip! I don’t have any “posed” pictures of them wearing their guide shirts! A big thank you to both of them, and their additional guide, for taking the Veterans on such a wonderful trip.
Chili Cookoff Posturing
Posted by: Kate on: October 28, 2009
The annual Queensboro Chili Cook-Off is a highly anticipated event here. Last year was my first year at the event, and it was probably the most fun day at work, ever. You can read blogs about last year’s event, including the pumpkin carving contest here, here, here and here.
Already, the competition is heating up, with each chili cook trying to get other cooks to spill the beans about their recipes. (Ha ha! Puns intended!) Fierce marketing is ensuing. Here’s what we’ve got going on so far:
Spill the Beans Blog
My fellow marketing team member, Jen B, also the winner of last year’s cook-off, has started her own chili marketing blog. Read it here.
Chili Campaign Posters
Kit, one of our graphic artists, has gone the visual route by creating a poster to advertise his Chili around the ‘boro.
His hair really looks like that.
The Un-Marketer
Jen E has taken the un-marketing stance, sending this email to all of us this morning. (I asked her if I could put it on the blog, which I guess sort of defeats the un-marketing purpose.)
Blah Blog leads to blah chili?
I was once of the mind that the better chili would win anonymously. After all, my chipotle chicken chili did two years ago, with Didi leading a word of mouth campaign through her family network. (Okay, she told her kids to vote for me, but hey, when you’re talking to a marketer, you’ve got to speak their language.)
With a loyal fan base still here, I’m confident that the return of my chili will make a good showing, without needing to plaster the warehouse or the splash out on the Internet. I’ll be marketing with aroma, and upselling on taste.
May the best chili win!
-Jenn E
She also included her prize-winning chili recipe from a couple of years ago, minus a few “Secret Ingredients” which she says makes her chili the best.
Jenn’s Chipotle Chicken Chili
8 chicken thighs
10 cloves garlic
6 – 10 strips of bacon
1 large / 2 medium yellow onions
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 28 oz cans tomatoes (one with green chilies, one plain)
1 6 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
1/8 – 1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 -2 T Texas Pete
1 28 oz can preferred chili beans (optional)
Peel and roughly chop all but one of the cloves of garlic.
Lay chicken thighs in a 9×12x2 inch pan. Scatter garlic on top.
Place strips of bacon over chicken to cover.
Roast chicken at 375o for 75 minutes.
Mince onion and cook in olive oil over medium low heat until soft. (6-8 minutes)
Add 1 clove finely chopped garlic, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 t black pepper and cook for 2 minutes more.
Stir in both cans of tomatoes and beans here. (All undrained.)
Mix all spices (chili powder to cayenne) in a small bowl or jar and stir.
Add in approximately half of the spice mix and Texas Pete.
Roughly chop 3-4 of the canned chilies; add these and all the adobo sauce to the mixture.
Allow sauce to continue to cook over medium low heat until chicken is finished.
When the chicken is done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel off skin and excess fat.
Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to sauce. Pour in the remaining half of the spice mixture.
Allow chili to simmer on low/medium low heat for 30 to 60 minutes.
Serve hot with cheese, crackers, corn bread and/or sour cream to taste.
At the Trick or Treat Trot
Posted by: Kate on: October 27, 2009
Last weekend was the “Trick or Treat Trot” 5K and Fun Run put on by Communities in Schools, Cape Fear Chapter. Natasha, the Finance Manager for CIS, won one of the first Queensboro Re-Tweet contests recently, for a gift certificate. After she won, I saw her at the first Wilmington Tweetup I went to and we talked about shirts for the event.
While the shirts were being printed here last week, I sneaked a peek at them, and thought the design was super cool! And, I wanted one. So, since the event was here in town, I emailed Natasha to ask her if I could volunteer. She was gracious enough to let me help her at the registration table. I had an absolute ball! Kudos to everyone who dressed up and ran in the 85 DEGREE HEAT (in October, no less!). I was supposed to dress up, but my costume would have killed me. It was a fantastically fun event and one I can’t wait to volunteer at next year! Here are some of photos from the day.
One of the CIS staff members in her Bat Hat!
Me (Kate), left and Natasha, right. Wearing our awesome shirts printed by Queensboro! The Wilmington Design Co created the front graphic. It was super-cute! Picture is from Helen’s (pictured below) Facebook page.
Helen from Helen’s Scrapbooking Studio and More dressed as a Scrapbook. She actually did the fun run in that. Impressive!
One of the 5K winners dressed up as “Octomom” with the hair, sunglasses and babies! Her husband was a paparazzi, with three cameras strung around his neck.
This costume was tops! Recycle Girl won one of the Best Costume prizes, and I’m sure you can see why! She also actually RAN the 5K in this outfit. You can see her in the picture of the race start, below.
The top Costume Prize went to this “Grand-Mummy” and her little “Mummy.” Completely adorable!
New Hanover High School’s Cross Country team came out and ran the 5k, and helped volunteer.
All in all, it was a fantastic event, and I can’t wait to do it again next year. Perhaps, I might even train so I can run. . .
Queensboro’s NEW Referral Program
Posted by: Kate on: October 22, 2009
It is easier than ever before to refer your friends to Queensboro, and get some credit while doing it! For every new customer you refer to Queensboro, you’ll receive a $20 Queensboro credit.
To refer a friend, log into your Queensboro account with your email. Then, scroll to the bottom left corner of the screen and click the “refer a friend” link. You’ll see the screen pictured above. It lists three easy ways to tell your friends about Queensboro: an email, a link and some banners for your website.
Start referring and start earning!
Where the Wild Things Are
Posted by: Kate on: October 21, 2009
There’s been quite a ruckus, or rumpus about the Where the Wild Things Are movie. I was one of the first people in the theater seats last Friday when it came out, because I thoroughly enjoyed the book, from the time I was pretty little, according to my Dad. In middle school, we did a theater production of it in The Lilly Theater at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. I sewed monster costumes for the play. And, when my nephew arrived four years ago, one of the first books I bought him was Where the Wild Things Are.
The book hit the shelves in 1963 and was considered fairly radical then. The major cause of angst for both the book and the movie: they each portray real, messy, human emotions. Perhaps that’s while the movie has resonated so well with current 20 and 30 somethings. I’ve read a bunch of reviews and comments from parents who were dismayed that the movie didn’t have an obvious positive message, or that Max was angry and violent. (I’ve personally never met a kid that didn’t have their angry and violent moments. Perhaps they exist. If so, I would like one. Thank you.)
I found the movie to be interesting and uplifting. Especially as a just barely 30-something who has gone through plenty of ups and downs and emotional upheaval. Sometimes, when I feel a certain way, I am embarrassed about it. Or, I feel alone, like nobody else has those feelings. Watching a piece of art, which is what I really think Spike Jonze’s creation is, that reflects the turbulence and love that is life, makes me fee hopeful and better.
Do the Wild Things live at Queensboro?
Hm. That really depends upon your definition of “Wild Thing.” Here’s why I started thinking about Where the Wild Things Are in terms of Queensboro: stumbling upon some fantastic shirts from Urban Outfitters.
These t-shirts aren’t geared toward four year old children, they’re for 18 year olds or 25 year olds.
When I was little, my Mom told me to always wear solid colors, like Princess Diana. Unfortunately, I love printed tees: with quotes, interesting art, etc. How lucky am I that 1) I work at a printing company and 2) artistic printed tees are in, especially for the young(ish) set? Very lucky, I say to myself.
Wear your Cool
At Queensboro, we can’t re-create Where the Wild Things Are shirts. We don’t have a license to do that. We can help you create your own interesting and artistic designs, and with our new printer, we can print them on pigment-dyed tees, organic tees and more. If you love the WTWTA t-shirts, and you love expressing your own brand of interest on your shirts, look us up. We can print company logo shirts, but we can also print your own creations. Brand YOURSELF! And, wear that to your next rumpus.
Corde-de-Roi?
Posted by: Fred on: October 20, 2009
The time has come to defend corduroy from charges of elitism. A while back, some folks got the notion that corduroy was a French fabric originally worn by royalty.
This theory hinges on the premise that the word corduroy is an English corruption of the French phrase “corde de roi” which some people will tell you means “cloth of the king.”
Upon closer examination, the charge that corduroy was a blue blood fabric falls apart. For starters, “corde du roi” translates to “cord of the king.” or “rope of the king.” The king’s rope may have had many purposes but wearing it might not have been the best way to make a positive impression at Versailles.
The theory takes an additional beating when you realize that the French tend to call the cloth we call corduroy “velours A cotes.” Not a cord or a roi in the whole phrase.
Actually, the word corduroy first made its appearance in American English in 1787. Some word smiths believe that the “cord” part of the word was borrowed from the term we use for a specific quantity of cut wood. Duroy was the term for a thick, strong, cotton cloth. The stack of raised ribs on the sturdy fabric is said to be responsible for the name.
Then again, other folks think that some enterprising merchant named Corduroy just decided to name the cloth after himself.
Whatever the origin of the name, this durable fabric has a character all its own. We took advantage of that fact when we created our new cap. It has a unique, friendly look that highlights your embroidered logo a whole new way.
I’m pretty excited about this newest addition to the Queensboro lineup. For a limited time, I’ve also put it on sale. Dress like a king (or queen) in the new Corduroy cap!
Best Wishes,
Fred Meyers
President and Founder
