Tip # 203:Create Eye-Catching Graphics Without Hiring A Graphic Designer

So, you’ve got a Facebook page. You may even keep pretty active at posting photos, but you don’t have a graphic designer on staff to design interesting and engaging graphics to make your social space really pop. Don’t break the piggy bank to hire a designer just yet!

There are plenty of FREE tools available that allow you to create the very images you’ve been dreaming of, and with no graphic design degree required. All you need to get started is a stock image or a photo shot from your smart phone and a little creativity. Read on for reviews of three recommended design tools and a graphic for National Lollipop Day - each graphic was created in less than five minutes.

Graphic created using Canva

#1: Canva

This free tool helps non-designers create social media graphics in minutes by adding text, filters and your own color scheme. Their library of over 100 professionally designed layouts for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and more makes it quick and easy to design elaborate graphics in just a few clicks. Upload your own photos or choose from over 1 million stock images (most only $1 each).

In addition to templates for social media graphics, Canva also has design templates for flyers, infographics, photo collages, letterheads, gift certificates, business cards and more.

#2: Adobe Spark

Graphic created using Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is a free tool for creating beautiful graphics for social media as well as various printed materials. Like Canva, Adobe Spark Post has many professional design themes making design quick and easy, however, it also has a fun, time-saving feature which allows you to use a cursor to preview multiple pre-designed text, design and color themes all at once. Stuck on creating the perfect color scheme? Adobe Spark also offers a feature where you can browse hundreds of suggested color palettes to polish off your look.

What really stands out about Adobe Spark is the ability to animate your graphic from the iPhone or iPad app version, Adobe Spark Post, (Click here  to view a tutorial from Beth Ziesenis of YourNerdyBestFriend.com).

#3: PicMonkey

Graphic created using PicMonkey

If you like to share photos of your products and the day-to-day operations of your business, PicMonkey is a great option for you! Another free option to create attractive social media graphics, its capabilities are more focused on the photos and, currently, doesn't offer design templates. The free version equips you with basic photo editing tools and a large selection of frames, collage templates and other special effects, including fonts and overlays. Or for just $3.33/month annually, you can take advantage of some pretty impressive upgrades, like advanced photo editing tools (say goodbye to unwanted wrinkles or blemishes), over 1,000 graphics, double the effects and filters and premium fonts through PicMonkey Royale.

In summary, each of these tools will save you the cost of hiring another employee or taking up design courses yourself just to create graphics for your social media posts. Depending on your time and skill level, it is recommended that you test each one to determine which best fits your needs. You may even discover that you like to use more than one tool for different purposes. 

Stay connected with RCI through Facebook for more tips and inspiration dedicated to the retail candy maker. Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Tip #199: Make Lemonade: Fresh-Squeezed Merchandising Ideas

Photo credit (bottom left to right):2015 RCI Fall Candy Clinic,Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates,
 DIY Lemonade Stand, LilLuna.com, Lemonade Sign, Burton Avenue

Every kid knows that setting up a lemonade stand in the front yard is an easy way to earn some added spending money for the summer. Why can’t the same idea be incorporated into your retail shop to increase sales this summer?

Draw inspiration from this iconic summer enterprise for your next merchandising theme. First, brainstorm ideas to display your lemon-flavored treats. Something as simple as draping one of your existing display table with a swatch of lemon-clad fabric and accessorizing with fresh lemons and a pitcher can set the tone for your lemonade-themed display. If you, or someone you know, is handy with a hammer and nails, erect an actual lemonade stand with scrap wood or old pallets. Don't forget, a hand-painted “lemonade” sign is a must! Click the following links to view DIY tutorials for the Lemonade Stand from LilLuna.com and the Old-Fashioned Lemonade Sign from Burton Avenue.

Take your lemonade stand to the next level by inviting a local children’s organization, like the Girl Scouts or Boys & Girls Clubs, to actually sell lemonade at your shop as a fundraiser, alongside your lemon candies, of course. Maximize the opportunity for PR, but submitting a press release to the local media and encourage the kids and their families to invite relatives and friends to visit your shop and support their cause.

RCI member, Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates of Evansville, Indiana shared this great idea, including the products they incorporated into their lemonade stand, at Candy Clinic during the 2015 Fall Regional Conference in Maine. Members can click here to login and view a video of the presentation by Marjorie Libs of Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates on our website.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business. Stay connected with RCI through Facebook for more tips and inspiration dedicated to the retail candy maker.

Tip #198: 4 Things to Consider Before Succession Planning

Successful business acquisitions for both parties are often the result of strategic planning and preparations made many years before the business goes up for sale. Financial advisers will recommend the planning process starts at least two to five years prior to listing the business for sale, with the intent to make your business appealing to potential acquirers.

In this excerpt from Building and Selling a Successful Business, an education session lead by Andy Charles and Erin Collins of Haven’s Candies during RCI’s 2015 Fall Regional Conference, Charles outlined the following four areas to evaluate when molding a successful business in preparation for acquisition.

• FinancesThe financial picture of a business being groomed for future succession will look much different than a business that is operating to sustain itself and grow. It is important to position your business in a way that you are able to offer the best possible financial picture to future potential buyers. 

• Staffing
  A self-sustaining operation is more appealing to potential buyers. Begin training and nurturing your staff to operate the business, whether you are there or not – which, by the way, allows you to take a vacation now and then too.
  
  
• Facilities & Equipment
  A business that has been in operation for any length of time is likely to have less than ideal facilities or outdated equipment, which may have been tolerated through the years because the business was focused on other areas. This doesn’t mean you should build a new manufacturing facility or replace all of your equipment, but consider how these elements of the business will appear to an outsider. Then evaluate what is worth the investment to update and what’s not.
  
  
• Customers and suppliers
  When preparing your business for an acquisition, assess what opportunities and risks exist? What impact does a transition in ownership, both negative or positive, have on those relationships and how will you manage that?
  

Time and preparation offers the opportunity to position your business in a way that allows for the highest return, as well as the ability to focus on what’s important to you. For Charles, it was crucial to find a successor who would be a good steward of the business, take care of the employees and customers and play an active role in the community. Thanks to the due diligence performed years before the acquisition, Charles was able to find the right fit for his business and complete a successful transition between himself and Collins as the owner-operator of Haven’s Candies.

RCI members: Click here to login and view the complete presentation from Charles on topic of succession planning, as well as Collins’ take on the acquisition and transition process on our website.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business. Stay connected with RCI through Facebook for more tips and inspiration dedicated to the retail candy maker.

Tip #180: Celebrate American Heart Month in February

As if we needed another reason to “heart” chocolate, the scientific journal Heart published a recent study linking “habitual chocolate consumption” to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Read it here.

This isn’t the first study to link chocolate to heart health. Other studies have also led scientists to believe that the plant compounds found in cacao beans, known as polyphenols, seem to improve the health of our blood vessels. Polyphenols cause blood vessels to expand, reducing blood pressure. Individuals with healthy blood vessels and healthy blood pressure are less likely to develop heart disease.

Unfortunately, there are no claims that chocolate is by no means the end-all, cure-all when it comes to heart disease or health in general. It is a good excuse to educate customers on the health benefits of chocolate next month and encourage trial of dark chocolate (65% cocoa or above).

Check out this fun video on the health benefits of chocolate, perhaps worthy ofsharing during American Heart Month.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business. 

Announcing 2012 Convention Location

We're so excited to be heading west for the 2012 Annual Convention & Industry Expo! Link up with us June 11-15, 2012 for the convention and then reconnect in Hawaii June 17-20.

Want a taste of San Francisco? Watch the video below:

Annual Convention Videos

Did you miss any of the daily recap videos on our YouTube channel?

Check them out here!

2011 Convention: Tuesday Recap Video

We're so excited for the great turnout at our 91st Annual Convention & Industry Expo. Watch the video below to see just a peak of all the great things happening here in Pittsburgh.

And don't forget, it's not too late to visit the tradeshow. From 9:00 a.m. to 1:0o p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), confectionery industry professionals receive complimentary entrance into the tradeshow and make some great connections.

Welcome to Pittsburgh!

Welcome to RCI's 91st Annual Convention & Industry Expo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tradeshow set-up begins tomorrow and we are so excited to meet the 300+ confectioners coming by to see us. Check out our first convention video below as RCI Incoming President Terry Hicklin of Candy House welcomes YOU to Pittsburgh: