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Chris Tomlinson

Chris Tomlinson's Blog (7)

Social media - Creating stronger communities and ties to each other

I live in a very small town of about 1,600 people in northern Indiana and have been a volunteer firefighter for almost two decades. Yesterday afternoon we responded to a very tragic accident where two teenagers lost their lives. Within hours word spread, people were calling family and friends and then something interesting started to unfold. The local people I have listed as frien… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on July 17, 2009 at 9:01am — 1 Comment

Business, YouTube & Creativity

Whether you run a small business out of your home or work for a large corporation, you can use YouTube to promote your company. And unless you've been living under a very dark rock for the last few years, you know that YouTube is a video sharing website where anyone, including yourself, can upload videos for others to view. I'm well aware of this and I'm sure you are too. At this very moment I am seriously considering using it for my business, but as I sifted through some of the business videos… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on February 18, 2009 at 9:41pm — 11 Comments

The Ups and Downs of Business (Part Three)

I’ve been up. I’ve been down. But nothing prepared me for the exciting events that took place early 2007. Successful businesses usually start off the new year with fresh ideas. Putting pen to paper, they come up with plans to make that year better than the last. I was no different. In my first year I went through the experience of slow times. I felt the panic of no money coming in. I also suffered through sparse, grueling and uncreative projects, just to keep the cash flowing. The reality of t… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on January 8, 2009 at 1:35pm — No Comments

The Ups and Downs of Business (Part Two)

In Part One, I was happily living the creative dream life with a full time business of my own. Being my own boss, I could and did make my own hours. Work came to me so no more chomping at the bit waiting for the phone to ring. I didn’t have to market every day, because, by golly, I had work coming in! I’m figuring this is a piece of cake. I felt like I was on the top of the world with the perfect business … a dream busines… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on December 15, 2008 at 9:28am — No Comments

Social Media Creates A Better 'User Experience'

In 2004 I was quite the late comer to web design and development. I mean, let's face it, the web was really taking off at that point and I was a bit behind. Be that as it may, even back then (yea, as if 4 years ago was SO long ago) we were constantly taught about 'user experience'. The user had to be in control and you should not control them. When they visited it had to be their choice on what to do, when to do it and how to do it. In the last several years social media has put that control b… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on December 11, 2008 at 9:37pm — No Comments

The Ups and Downs of Business

Every business goes through its ups and downs. The graphic design business is no different. The best way to survive down times and live life to the fullest is to plan ahead. But, even the best laid plans can get disrupted by unforeseen events. That’s where contingency planning comes into play. They can save your business In the next five posts I’ll walk you through a real life business situation. Mine. Hopefully you gain insight as to how running your business can be fun, frustrating, scary and… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on December 6, 2008 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

My Recovery

This little blog post really has nothing to do with design, Indiana or even being creative, but I thought it would be interesting to at least mention it. I'm a volunteer firefighter and have been since 1991. On February 12th this year, I was fighting a house fire and we had things well under control. The most dangerous parts of the incident were taken care of and we were in "mop-up" mode. As I stood in the kitchen with another captain, the ceiling suddenly… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on March 1, 2008 at 2:15am — 1 Comment

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