Long over due but finally on its way the new Zella Design site is set to go live this February! We cant wait to show your our new style so check back soon!

Until than here is a little taste of our new brand identity.

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As entrepreneurs and small business owners we are closely tied to our enterprise. More often that not our enterprise defines who we are, we put all of our self into our business. We infuse our ideas, and cling to our ventures. We live it and breath it. Because of this it is hard to separate your life, from the life of your business.

Your business personality is important and often times for small business and solopreneurs the presence of the owners personality is a vital part of its success but therein lies the problem. In standard office and corporate environments people are reminded to leave their personal life, problems, worries etc.. at home but for the passionate entrepreneur this can be troubling how do you leave theses things at the door when their is little separation between your work life and home life. You constantly take your work home and your personal life to work.

So what happens when personal troubles seep into your business? Making your personal troubles and drama present in your enterprise can be shockingly detrimental to your business at times even crippling. It is important to remember that often times the professionals your business services or works with are not prepared to deal with your home life and they don’t want to.

Building that work life balance we often hear reference to is crucial to preserve the integrity of your organization even if you are a solopreneur. Bringing toxic negativity to your work is a simple way to destroy your brand and alienate your patrons. Your first rule should always be to never make your personal problems the problems of your associates, patrons or customers. Everyone has their own problems and although your transparency of character has served you well in business it will not do you justice to tarnish that with a infiltration of personal problems.

We have seen how the recent marital dramas of the Los Angeles Dodger owners the Mccourts has had a troubling effect on the organization as a whole steaming all the way down to the club house.

Just remember don’t be a toxicpreneur, keeping your positivity up even during the down times will server your organization right and lead to continued loyalty amongst customers and employees.

Your business is you but your business should always be the best face of you, just like any brand, consistency of character is key and if you show inconsistency and draw too much negative attention your brand will suffer.

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Do you every wonder how your city stacks up in terms of entrepreneurship? Our recent economic woes and layoffs have encouraged many to look into entrepreneurship and historically we see a rise in both innovation and new market entrepreneurship during down economies.

So how does Orange County fair in the world of Entrepreneurship? The bright minds over at California State University, Fullerton are posing that very question.

To help collect data I would like all my Orange County entrepreneurs out there to take the survey below so we can see just how entrepreneurial our county is!

Take the how entrepreneurial is Orange County Survey by California State University, Fullerton

Thank you

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Happy New Years!

It has been a great year here at Zella Design and we can’t wait to see what the New Year will bring! May the New Year be full of life, love and prosperity! We have a new year to push forward and continue to explore new ideas and new adventures.

Cheers to all of our loyal customers and readers. Drink in the New Year as it brings fresh experiences and fresh ideas! We look forward to see you in 2009!

Drink Up!

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The “cheap chic” marketing machine of target has come out with a novel idea for this holiday season. Instead of just giving a thoughtless gift card how about giving a gift card that is a gift it’s self! Sound confusing?

Target recently introduced the new Target Digital Camera Gift Card ($50-$1000). This is the Hybrid of the retail world. The gift card features a 1.2 mega pixel camera that holds 50 pictures. The camera / card comes with a USB cord, driver disc and voucher for 40 free prints at Target.

The gift card works the same as all other gift cards you chose how much store credit you want to load on to the card ranging from $50 to $1,000 of store credit.

This is a great idea to help spark lagging retail sales during the holiday season. The camera is fairly useless but it offers a fun cool factor that is sure to attract attention to the otherwise boring gift card.

From a marketing standpoint this move makes a lot of sense for the retail chain.

1.) It is a novel concept that is sure to attract attention and excitement.

2.) Encourages shoppers to purchase gift cards and it will also entice gift card purchasers to up their spend to a minimum of $50 so they can get the camera.

3.) It empowers the lazy gift givers, it is a simple holiday gift solution that keeps the giver from looking like a thoughtless shopper.

4.) It is cool ideas that will attract lots of word of mouth and positions target as a hip creative innovator in their market further differentiating Target in the minds of consumers from the relic Wal-Mart. This is a strong move since Wal-Mart has attempted to re-energize their brand with a more positive, youthful look. Their new logo looks remarkably similar to Targets. And their new tagline: Save money. Live better seems inspired by Targets tagline: Expect more. Pay less.

We will see if this gift card campaign is successful as we approach the holidays.

But it feels like this trend of incorporating utility into gift cards is going to carry on. I could see a company like Apple jumping on this trend with an IPod gift card hybrid. With the high priced items in an apple store they could justify the cost of a music playing gift card. With a minimum spend starting at $300 dollars or so.

I am sure Jobs is already on this and if not Steve better give me a shout out on this one!

Tags: Apple, Digital Camera Gift Card, Retail Sales, Target one ups Wal-Mart, Targets New Gift Card.

If Internet marketers are running out new global markets to tap there might be a solution on the horizon. The Internet is truly a global medium now it will be a universal medium. In an article in Time magazine’s best inventions of 2008 ”The Orbital Internet” has been listed as the 9th best invention of the year. 

A new protocol titled the ”The Orbital Internet” is being developed for use in space and will allow e-mail to be sent and received in outer space. Is there any one out there…? Check you’re in-box.

The system is not flawless and it is hard to maintain a stable connection in orbit, so the interplanetary Internet will have to be especially tolerant of delays and disruptions. In September, a satellite used the new protocol to relay an image of the Cape of Good Hope back to Earth.

I can just see all the spam being forwarded from an intergalactic IP address. I guess ET wont need to phone home he can just send an e-mail.

Tags: 4, E-mail, Orbital Internet.