Crazy about Packaging

Packaging makes a world of difference. It could be the same product, but with a different packaging and consumers go wild! Freelance Graphic Designer and Writer who normally strategizes such branding and packaging designs finds herself a victim of her own trade.

Keywords:

packaging,package,design,branding,brand,sell,selling,marketing,advertising,advertise,promotion,promote,promotes,designer,designs,graphic designer

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“It’s the same old tissue, honey, it doesn’t make a difference, ok? It’s still going to work the same way”, my exasperated husband hissed into my ear as I grabbed cartons after cartons of some ‘designer’ tissue. DESIGNER TISSUE! Hah, can you even hear me say that? I can’t believe I actually wrote ‘designer tissue’. So, yes, for a graphic designer and writer who knows all about the kind of effort one puts into packaging and branding products, I sure fell for it. All the hoopla. The shenanigans. The ‘suck ‘em in with good copy and fab color combo’. Hey, I am still a consumer, remember that. I am entitled to fall for nice packaging, I have a prevailing right to be human.

But they are so pretty…the packaging. I swear!

They have the ‘nature lover’ packaging, the ‘fruity’ packaging, the ‘woman on the go’ packaging, and then they have the ‘kids’ packaging. I grabbed 4 of each design packages and made a run for the counter with them with my screaming kids and exasperated husband running after me in slow motion. It was definitely a ‘die-hard’ moment. You know, when the hero is running away from a bunch of wild bad men with machine guns, and they’re shooting at your feet or something…and there’s an explosion behind you…and everything happens in ssslllloooowwwww mmmmooooottttttiiiioooonnnnn.

Well, in this case, I was running for checkout with boxes of tissue paper with fancy packaging designs on them. If I didn’t like the packaging designs so much, I would find it comical enough. But I am dead serious. In fact, I loved the packaging designs so much, after using up all the tissues in the boxes, I would cut out the designs and place it into my ‘must keep for reference’ clear folder. I don’t keep a lot of stuff in there because I am pretty selective about the designs that I like, but these packaging designs made the cut. They definitely did.

You see, this is the kind of thing that happens when you put some effort into making your packaging design. Yeah, we all have this in the back of our heads…. “Hey, it’s PACKAGING! It’s what’s INSIDE that count. They’re going to THROW the PACKAGING away. So, why spend so much money on the packaging?” Maybe you’re also thinking that the money should go towards developing better quality products…for faster shipment options…or maybe the money should go towards spending potential clients to expensive dinners in Italian restaurants. It’s your call, really.

But this is what I have to tell you, as a graphic designer and consumer. The more effort you put into designing your packaging, more customers will stop and take a look at your packaging or what’s inside the packaging. Now, does it make sense for me to say now that when they stop and take notice of your packaging, your chance of getting them to buy your product increases? Exactly.

You see, the role of packaging is to grab the consumer’s attention. And without an electrifying packaging, consumers are going to walk past the heaps and heaps of other competitor products…and yours…without even knowing you’re there! Your product is sitting there on a shelf, for goodness sake, and the only weapon you have is to have a nice packaging. Once they stop and take a look, you’ve won the first round.

Think about it!

Crazy Money Making Ideas

Here are some of the wilder money making ideas that came out of my last brainstorming session. Cabin rentals in the air and more...

Keywords:

money making ideas, money making, money, ideas

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Sometimes new money making ideas are immediately usable. However, sometimes you just have to let your imagination run wild and be impractical. This is a way to get that creativity going, and no matter how crazy the ideas may seem at first, there is usually a way to bring them down to earth, as in this first example.

Rental Cabins In The Air

I started with a crazy thought: "What if people could rent a cabin up in the sky for the weekend?" Right away my mind tries to make sense of the idea, and because the over-all goal is to have profitable innovations, it looks for ways to make it into a money making idea. I first imagined cabins which are suspended under large hot-air or helium balloons.

As much fun as it might be, this didn't seem very practical. When I explored the idea further, though, I wondered if existing balloon-ride businesses could tap into other markets. If, for example, the gondolas were outfitted properly, and the balloons tethered, so they could be allowed to float two thousand feet overhead, would meditators then pay for a peaceful meditation retreat in the sky?

Another thought came to mind. Balloons could be high in the air, but easily cranked back in on a line. This might be simpler and cheaper than traditional rides, which involve chase vehicles and unpredictable landings. Perhaps this could be another way to make money with the balloons, charging a lower rate for simple up and down rides, and so getting new customers that couldn't afford the usual rides.

This is how a crazy idea comes back to earth. Perhaps even the "weekend cabin in the sky" idea could someday be a money making idea, but if not, that's okay. The point here is to get the creative flow going, and then find more practical ways to channel the output.

More Crazy Money Making Ideas

The following are pure imagination. I leave it to you to find a way to make these ones into potential money making ideas. Good luck and have fun!

- Put seats on the wings of an airplane and sell rides to thrill seekers.

- Sell advertising scratched out on the face of the moon.

- Rent out the animals at the zoo.

- Start an underwater school.

- Make a roller coaster course people pay to take their personal cars on.

- Sell pets genetically engineered to die young, for those who hate long-term commitments.

- Rent out children to undecided prospective parents.

- Have marriage insurance policies that cover the cost of a divorce, just in case.

- Have a swimming pool restaurant; diners sit in floating seats and eat off floating plates.

Scan the list and stop on any of the crazy ideas that catch your attention. Chances are good that you can find some way to transform it into a more practical idea, and that is the point. This exercise in imagination may be fun, but it is also a profitable technique for generating money making ideas.

Crazy Like a Fox, Persuasive Like a Weasel

How use certain special phrases to make someone's mind open to receiving hidden suggestions.

Keywords:

sales, selling, persuasion, influence,hypnosis, NLP,small business, home business

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Copyright 2006 Danek Kaus

In earlier articles we wrote about the power of using hidden commands in normal conversation to increase sales, convince others to do something or to accept your ideas. This is often done by separating out a simple command or suggestion by pausing, stating the command in a different tone of voice, then resuming normal conversation.

For example, when selling a car you might say, “This car gets 30 miles per gallon on the highway, which you’ll notice when you (pause) take it for a test drive. You’ll also notice that ….

Another way to insert a command into conversation is to use what are called Weasel Words. These phrases are based on the one of the techniques used by Milton Erickson, who was one of the foremost hypnotists of the last century. Erickson had a way of talking people into trance without giving any direct commands to close their eyes or relax. Instead he would just sort of talk around the idea of going into trance and people would naturally do it.

These Ericksonian Phrases are also known as Weasel Words because they allow you to weasel in a command without it being so direct or authoritarian. For example, you might say to someone, “Consider why you want to do this.”

With some people, giving a command can create a great deal of resistance. A percentage of them just do not like to take orders so they won’t respond to direct suggestion.

But what if your were to say, “I’m not entirely sure how well you can consider why you want to do this.” Here, you’re not trying to force them to consider why. You’re just asking them how well they might be able to consider why.

Now, in considering and interpreting that statement the mind has to actually consider why they want to do this, to some degree. When you use Weasel Words the listener does not have something to object to. In order to employ these phrases you first determine your outcome.

In a hypnosis setting, one outcome would be for the client to relax. You might say, “A friend once told me, you know, it’s entirely possible to just get relaxed.” You’re not telling the client to relax. You’re just repeating what a friend once said.

If you’re selling computers, you might say something like, “I wonder if now is the time that you might buy this computer. There are hundreds of Ericksonian Phrases that can be used for just about any outcome. Here are a few below. You can probably come up with your many of your own.

WEASEL WORDS

After you come to … After you’ve … As a whole new way of thinking opens up … All that really matters … All that’s really important … Allowing yourself to just naturally … And as that occurs, you really can’t help but notice … And I’d like to have you discover … And then, now you’ll discover … And you can be pleased …. And you can really use it … And you can wonder … And you will be surprised at … Give yourself the opportunity to see if … I wonder if you’ll be pleased to notice … I wonder if you’ll be reminded … I wonder if you’ll be surprised to discover that … In all probability … If you could … It is easy, isn’t it … Perhaps you wouldn’t mind noticing … So now’s the time …