If you bought a house, would you let your real estate agent manage the only set of keys so you had to ask for permission to enter the front door? Or if you got a sweet new ride — would you let the car salesman take a joyride whenever he wanted to?

Nope, I bet you wouldn’t, and this makes sense because these are tangible items of which we can easily define ownership.

Here’s my point: treat intellectual property like you would physical property and make sure you know what you own. So, whether you’re buying a website, a logo, a professionally designed Twitter or Facebook page — whatever it is, make sure it’s clearly defined in the contract who owns what and who just has usage rights. And if you own it (like you should your logo and URL), put it under lock and key like you would any valuable item. Ask for all original files, passwords, and login information from your designer or subcontractor, keep them in a safe folder, and make a backup (or two) should anything happen to the originals.

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been asked to do a recon mission to figure out who owns www.whatever.com, or to dig the original logo design file out of the archives of some design firm.  It can be a lot of work, and sometimes we run into the unfortunate situation where our client (the business owner) does not actually own something important like his logo or URL, and now has to start from scratch.

So, moral of the story: make sure you know what you’re signing up for when you purchase design work, and be responsible for safeguarding everything you own.

For me, being independent and entrepreneurial is something I’m genetically predisposed to. It’s as common in my family as delicious jam recipes (mmm… Aunt Sylvia’s peach jam…), and it’s an opportunity I take very seriously.

Partnering with Anne and Mark has afforded me the ability to do what I love, for clients I believe in, in a town that’s going through some fantastic changes. Because it’s just the three of us, we can stay quick and nimble to respond to the changes that happen every day in small businesses. And on the flip side, because there are the three of us, we know a great number of talented professionals, artists, and freelancers to hire for jobs that require a larger staff. We’re scalable; we can be as big or as little as a client needs, depending on the budget and scope of work. For me, that’s key; we’re able to get any job done as well as a big firm, but because we don’t have the constant overhead costs, we’re able to do it at a lower cost.

So ultimately — why Kinectiv? We’re local, talented, passionate about what we do, and super flexible. I actually get excited about going to work every day. And let me tell you, that’s something I don’t take for granted.

Buying local and thinking about your community is so very important, thanks to Ken and the others who make sure to highlight this fact. There are so many great local shops, restaurants, markets etc in it’s really hard to pick a favorite but I’ll try to name a few.

If you want to shop local this holiday season there are many options downtown, one being the  POP UP MARKET at the central market mall. 20 local vendors selling handmade items perfect for the holidays. I’m doing most of my holiday shopping there this season.

One of my favorite restaurants, Annie Bailey’s who supports the community in so many great ways and the food is amazing.

I also want to mention some of the wonderful local businesses in the professional service industry and non profits that are doing some amazing things here in Lancaster. Some happen to be members of the Candy Factory :0) (shameless plug here – The Candy Factory, Lancaster’s coworking community, where working together is sweet)

Like Dave the Tax Guy and his File for a Cause campaign, Assets Lancaster, helping to grow our local business community. Lancaster Buy Fresh Buy Local ,working hard to spread the word about buying local. All the wonderful shops and businesses on the 300 Block of Queen, they are such a great group of small business owners who collaborate to make that block the best it can be! Lancaster Arts and all they do for the local art community. Landis Homes who makes community and thinking local part of their mission.

The list goes on and on and I wish I had the space to list more but the fact we have so many to list just shows us all how wonderful Lancaster really is.

I’ve realized over the last 13 years that making connections and building relationships are the key to personal and professional success.  As a Kinectiv partner and Candy Factory owner, I live and breathe it!

The more connections you can make with the marketing tools at your disposal, or with good old one-on-one networking, the greater the chance your service or product will succeed.

Of course, your first impression is key when working to build a strong network base. Yes, this is a very simple concept, yet so many of us fail at it.

Why? Not all of us are hardwired to connect with others. We might be great at what we do but getting that message across can be at times difficult, time consuming, and even distracting.

That’s where Kinectiv can help. We will help you build a strategy, refine your message, brand it, and spread the word to your audience.

The companies I’ve seen thrive, especially in a down market, are those that understand that investing in themselves and building their network should be a priority. It is a misconception that good design and marketing are out of reach for small businesses. It does require an investment, but many of our clients are surprised that it’s not as expensive as they thought.

Word of advice: When searching for a creative team, make sure you connect with them and they connect with you. How can they help build a voice for your business when they don’t connect or understand it?

At Kinectiv, we know great visuals and cutting edge marketing tools are extremely important but can only take you so far. We understand that building long lasting connections and relationships with our clients and their market is the real secret.

Why Kinectiv? Because our mission is to help our clients develop their message and make it connect. It’s our passion. We get excited about our clients businesses and in turn our clients get excited about the possibilities. Some even get a renewed interest in what they are doing–now that’s cool.