Perhaps you have noticed lately how many business opportunity sellers are promoting their businesses as recession proof? This ought to be against the law, but no government regulatory agency as of yet has made a note of it. The reality is that no business is recession proof, as there are different types of recessions and different challenges in each business cycle.

Just because a particular industry does better than others during recessionary periods is no guarantee of it being recession proof. Thus, this notion and these types of advertising proclaiming such are falsely enticing business and franchise opportunity buyers to purchase these opportunities. This is wrong, and unfair and deceptive advertising.

Media outlets ought to put an end to this nonsense. And those franchise and business opportunity websites that allow such ads need to wise up also. Everyone that is in the loop has to take responsibility. Franchisors need to watch their marketing departments, ad writers, and master franchises. Businesses offering self-employment owe it themselves to do the right thing. And newspapers, radio, television, and websites need to be aware of this problem.

Further, those would be entrepreneurs who are considering a business of their own need to understand that there are many industries and niches that are recession resistant, but nothing is recession proof. There are far too many factors involved and the business and franchise sellers ought to come clean on this reality when offering their deals.

Perhaps, you were not aware of this problem, well, you are now, and if you'd like to see just how bad it is, check it out yourself, use the Internet search engine, and see. Please think on this.

One of the most efficient ways to build the graphics for your company is to start with the seed of an idea, and expand it from there. When you are looking for a starting point, write down the smallest of ideas in a portable notebook or paper pad. For those of you who are e-savvy, create a file on your blackberry, and keep these important tidbits in it.

Some ideas will hit you with force, and others may just float in on a cloud. As you write them down, review some of your older ideas. You may come across a past idea that doesn't seem to hold the weight that it used to when you were in the moment. Cross it off and move on. When your list is substantial enough, say 20 ideas, schedule and commit to a think-tank session with yourself only, or add a few or your associates to bounce these ideas around.

Choose people that you can take honest criticism from, and decide beforehand that you will not take their comments personally,since theses tidbits of info are your captive babies. Plan a barbeque with your buddies over a few beers - or a wine & cheese with the ladies. Whatever suits you the best.

Once you have narrowed the finalists down to no more than 3 ideas, create some rough sketches or doodles based on them. Even though you may not be a professional artist, this gives your design a good starting point from which to work.

You may even add a tag line at this point. Be reasonable and be brief with it. This is a short sentence which you can choose to emphasize characteristics regarding your product or service. It is usually used to reinforce brand recognition, de-emphasize competitors negative aspects, or just restate the obvious.

Remember not to get too crazy with the development of visual concept, at least not in the initial stages. There is such a thing as too much information. Your designer will thank you (maybe in not so many words), for not overloading them with concepts in the, well, conceptualization stages of designing your corporate ID.

Bring your open mind to the table when your designer is ready to present. You may have designated them to develop all 3 of your concepts. Sit back and let their creative juices flow as you take in their influences on your concepts. Being honest with them at this stage will be appreciated. If you are not direct, time could be wasted on a design less desirable plan.

As a last resort, for those of you who are not afraid to admit you do not have a creative bone in your body, leave all of the design work up to your graphics professional. Meet with them to share your vision and ideas. Don't be afraid to discuss colours and influences. This process may cost a bit more due to the extra time that your design has to designate to your project in the development stages, but it may very well be worth it in the end.

If you build and honest relationship, it will reap beneficial rewards on you both, as client and advisor!

Cyndy Robinson is a Communications Consultant and Graphic Designer. She operates her own business at http://www.webdocdev.com which is interactive and informative. Here you can sign up for her monthly newsletter "Blerbb!" and voice your communication by communicating your voice.

She is also employed for the business consulting company BizXcel which publishes Generating Greatness, the bi-weekly ezine for business professionals. You can access her articles here under the name Cyndythia Robinson.

If you are ready to push your business to new heights, make more money, save time and improve productivity, then get your FREE tips now at http://www.bizxcel.com Join the CFBE Network!

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When I was a much younger man, a college professor warned me against the use of clichés in my writing. The problem with clichés, he said, is that they are by definition "hackneyed" and "trite" he told me. Leave it to a professor to send me back to my dictionary to figure out what he was trying to say.

Being worn out, however, seems to be a matter of opinion. After all, how many people drive cars with more than 100,000 miles, especially in today's economy? How many patch the knees of their kids' blue jeans? Who discards a dull knife?

To me, clichés become clichés because they succinctly bundle a truth into a few memorable words, which become used to the point of exhaustion because they so aptly describe something. To "reinvent the wheel" with an original phrase might leave you "looking for a needle in a haystack," requiring you to become "busier than a one-armed paperhanger" when a simple cliché would have conveyed your point without the fuss.

The media in general -and digital signage specifically- have their own clichés, "the mother of all" which is: "Content is king." (By the way, isn't it odd that Saddam Hussein would have coined a phrase that fast became a cliché in the United States? Or, was he simple the gateway for a cliché from his culture to ours? "But I digress.")

The kingship of content is easy to understand. If you want someone to read your newspaper, listen to your radio show, watch your TV program or look at your digital sign, you'd better give them a reason. That "tried and true" reason is content. It better be fresh; it better be interesting; it better serve your audience's needs; and it better look just as professional as the competition's presentation.

Those who are successful in the media understand these truths instinctively. However, the same can't be said for the digital signage universe. Sure, there are digital signage ad networks being put in place by megalithic media groups. Professionals in these groups understand the importance of content, but there is another vast group of digital signage users who aren't professional communicators. They run independent retail stores, car lots, local restaurants, bars, and any one of a thousand other small enterprises. These people "first and foremost" are business people concerned with all of the things that got them to the level of success they've achieved so far. Adding digital signage adds another responsibility, the implications of which may not be fully understood.

Obviously, these small business owners are adding digital signage because they understand the importance of promoting their goods or services. But they likely don't have the time, understanding or expertise to develop the content that fully exploits the potential of the digital signage medium.

For small business owners, this raises a critical question: If digital signage is king, who's doing the coronation? In other words, how does a small business owner with limited resources create -or afford to hire someone to create- digital signage content that attracts the attention of viewers, holds their attention and influence the process of making a purchasing decision? How do they make their content king?

While there's no simple answer that meets the needs of all small business owners, there are some straightforward, logical steps to make clear, effective, professional digital signage messaging possible. In my next blog, I'll review some of those steps to help small business owners put together the messaging they envision for their digital signs. Till then, at the risk of using a cliché, "stay tuned."

David Little is a digital signage enthusiast with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to more effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. He is the director of marketing for Keywest Technology in Lenexa, KS, a software development company specializing in systems for digital signage creation, scheduling, management and playback. For further digital signage insight from Keywest Technology, download our Six Basic Digital Signage Applications white paper and case studies. Or, visit our website for many helpful tips and examples on how digital signage can benefit your business.

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