Terry Noel, Motivational Speaker, Founds Central Illinois Entrepreneurs Meetup Group

Terry Noel, a motivational speaker, founded the Central Illinois Entrepreneurs Meetup Group in December 2009 because he saw a need. No groups dedicated to this specific purpose exist in the Central Illinois area. Terry says other people interested in starting or growing a business would find this a terrific group.

At the first meeting of CIEMUG held January 5, 2010 four members attended---Jason, Bhabani, Barbara, and Terry--and spent time getting to know one another and discussing possible directions the group might take in the future.

Ideas ventured included:

1) Sharing specialized knowledge with each other. Each of us knows something others don't and we would all benefit from teaching each other.

2) Bringing in advisors and "experts" in various fields to teach us.

3) Finding out what resources and groups are available in or near B/N for entrepreneurs.

Eight members attended the second meeting on January 25, 2010. Terry shared his goal setting exercises he uses when conducting workshops on motivation. By the end of the meeting, each member composed a solid action plan for 2010.

The last meeting, February 18, 2010, a professional graphic artist, Dena McDonald, presented on the topic of graphic design for small businesses to 12 attendees. Attendees learned why having a great logo is so important and how graphic designers work with entrepreneurs to send just the right visual message.

1) A great logo sends a message of professionalism and power. A mediocre logo leaves your audience bored or worse, thinking you don't know what you are doing.

2) Graphic designers, at least the good ones, will work with you to bring out the "rock-bottom" truth of your business. If you know what message you want to convey, they can help you send it with an image.

3) Be sure to trademark your logo if you plan to grow your business substantially (and who doesn't)? Otherwise you may find yourself either infringing on someone else's intellectual property or having yours stolen.

4) Expect to spend at least $500-700 for graphic design work. Sometimes investing more than that is well worth it, especially if you want to "lock in" your logo specs so that do not get watered down over time.

Brett Cooper hosts CIEMUG at his coffee shop, Coffee Nation. Brett provides great coffee,and tasty snacks. Add an enthusiastic group of entrepreneurs for an evening well-spent.

Some of the resources for printing follow:

STOCK PHOTOS
The following are sites that offer stock photos and illustrations-most of them for a fee. Be cautious with the word FREE or "prices as low as..."-most graphics that are "free" or very inexpensive are of low-to-medium resolution, which may be just fine for your particular need, but just be aware of it. Most also allow you the option to buy a subscription of some sort (X number of photos for a flat rate for 3, 6 or 12 months, for example) or a "pay-as-you-go" option. The pay-as-you-go option will usually result in photos that cost a little more each, but that may be cheaper for you in the long run if you only need an occasional image. Note: there are almost always some licensing restrictions when you purchase graphics, and a standard license that automatically comes with the image purchase will usually cover anything you want to do, but if you're planning to do a huge marketing push, you may have to pony up extra to cover licensing.

• IStockPhoto.com (for selection, this is my personal favorite, but on occasion, it can be a tad pricey) On average, I've found that to purchase some of the largest files, it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-40 each (these would be for large-format items like signs and banners). Graphics for magazine-size ads or other marketing pieces will probably be more in the $15-30 range each.
• Shutterstock.com (another good site). The graphics end up averaging around $10 each, but sometimes it's hard to find an image of good enough quality for really large-format needs. That being said, I've had a lot of good luck with this site.
• PhotoXpress.com This site offers 1 free photo per day and 6 if you complete their profile. Personally, I've had trouble getting the extra 5 freebies, and others have, too. But you can still get a freebie a day. Selection is pretty large, but the quality of some images isn't up to par with the first two sites.
• FreeDigitalPhotos.net This site has some good options, but as mentioned before, be cautious of the word FREE. Usually the graphics that are free are of low-medium resolution. If you need a higher-quality image, there's almost always a fee somewhere between $7-10, which is still a pretty decent price, but not if you're expecting it to be free from the start.
• Other options are Dreamstime.com, BigStockPhoto.com, StockPhoto.com, StockVault.com, PhotoSpin.com, Veer.com. I have personally used BigStockPhoto before, but it's been a long time. I have not used the others.

  PRINTING RESOURCES
  There are a lot of good printers out there. There is also a lot of variation in what they charge. If you need just a few nice laser prints, any FedEx Office (i.e. Kinko's) or Office Depot will do it for about $0.50 each (black and white) and $1 each for color. However, they are not generally cost-effective for larger print jobs.

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• AlphaGraphics, 716 E Empire St.-Suite B, Bloomington (in the Constitution Plaza). Phone 309-664-7844. Web: www.alphagraphics.com. I usually work with Mark Kent. Mark will bend over backwards to give you the best price he can and suggest other options if they'll save you a little money.
• Heartland Printing, 606 IAA Drive, Bloomington (near Colonial Plaza). Phone 309-662-6325. Web: www.heartlandprinting.biz. Don Leventhal is the owner and a nice guy to work with. They also do $0.25 color copies (great if you need copies rather than professional printing).
• VistaPrint.com. VistaPrint has done great work on several projects, and they are always running a special of some sort. Have them print a small quantity of some items before having them print large quantities-just to ensure the quality before ordering and paying for large quantities. Vista requires pay upfront, unlike most local printers who will charge on the back end.
• Other good printers in the area are Bloomington Offset Printing (BOPI) and The Copy Shop. They do good work, but they can be a little more expensive.

  Shop around for prices anytime you need a large print job. Some printers are typically less expensive, but others will surprise you from time to time, especially if business happens to be on the slower side.

The next meeting of the CIEMUG will be held at Coffee Nation, Suite 6, 3907 General Electric Road, Bloomington, IL 61704. Phone 309-662-6370. Terry says to find us, "I will be the one sniffing the coffee beans in the back."

At this meeting each member will chip in to help a member with his/her set of issues in growing a business. Everyone who thinks he/she would benefit from a group brainstorm send Terry some basic information on your company and the issues you think would be relevant. He will pick out one of the members for this first go-round. Terry will facilitate the session and others will contribute in whatever way makes sense.

To join this group, go to meetups.com and search for Central Illinois Entrepreneurs.