Quality sleep has numerous benefits, from reducing work-related stress and anxiety to helping you look your physical best. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, getting good sleep can even reduce the potential for developing some types of diseases. Despite the many positives of regenerating sleep, most of us don’t get the quality and quantity our bodies need. Fortunately, there are ways to optimize sleep habits to look and feel better from head to toe. If work worries are keeping you awake, try to decompress before hitting the sheets, and consider the benefits of utilizing a resource like Pilcher Creative Media to help you solve your most pressing business challenges.
What’s Eating You?
While we all enjoy the occasional bedtime snack, eating before sleep can lead to acid reflux that can impact your slumber. Your system also has to try and digest the food while you’re sleeping, which isn’t ideal. A nightcap might help you fall asleep, but it can also wake you up when the effects eventually wear off. Too much caffeine before bed is another sleep disrupter. Try limiting your food intake in the evening, and if you need a beverage, try a caffeine-free herbal tea.
Did You Hear That?
Try to sleep in a room that’s insulated from too much sound, or impart a noise moratorium in your home after a certain hour. White noise machines, fans, nature sounds, and even music can help drown out uncontrollable ambient sounds that disrupt slumber. You can find all kinds of tech products to help in this department, from eye masks with soft built-in Bluetooth speakers to earbuds.
Is the Light On?
Many people get more restful sleep in a dark environment. If you’ve been struggling with sleep issues, turn down the lights and consider installing black-out curtains or using a sleep mask and see if there’s a noticeable difference in your sleep patterns. If you work a different shift from a bedmate, get into a schedule in which the early-rising partner gets prepared for the day in another part of the home, if feasible.
Who’s Snoring?
Snoring and sleep apnea can be major sleep disruptors, both for the person snoring and anyone sharing a bed with the noisy offender. Snoring isn’t actually something to be laughed off – it has the potential to underlie a serious condition and should be evaluated by a physician. There are various treatments available to treat chronic snoring and sleep apnea, including weight loss, if it’s a factor, and utilization of a C-pap or B-pap machine to help prevent airway restriction during sleep.
Must We Have Devices?
According to Sleep.org, watching television or using phones or tablets can interrupt your circadian rhythm and impact your ability to fall and stay asleep. Try to restrict device usage in the evening hours. Having phones in the bedroom can also disrupt sleep if there are pings and alerts going off during the night. While you may be unwilling to turn your phone off, you can change your settings to only allow nighttime calls from specific numbers, like kids or senior parents, who may need to reach you in an emergency.
Is It Hot in Here?
Temperature plays a big role in how we sleep, with cooler environments offering better slumber. Experiment with different bedding fabrics to find what best suits your body temperature needs, and consider layers rather than single heavy quilts or bedspreads. Cooling pillows can also make you sleep better. Mattress firmness and quality can play a major role as well, so consider adjustable-setting beds if you and your bedmate have different physical and temperature requirements.
We all need adequate sleep to function well at work, at play, and at home. Solid and rejuvenating rest truly is “beauty sleep,” and getting the right amount of snooze time can help ensure you look and feel your very best!
Worrying about building a comprehensive media strategy for your business is nothing to lose sleep over. Reach out to Pilcher Creative Media for a consultation!
Pilcher Creative Media has been working with the local chapter of the ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs non-profit organization for over 5 years now managing both their social media and website on a daily basis. At their annual ChefConnect in Minneapolis this year, the ACF KC Chefs won the award for 2019 Central Regional Chapter of the Year!
The ACF KC Chefs won many Chapter Achievement Awards at this event, which honors those that strive for the highest level of excellence in all areas of chapter life: serving their members and their communities well while supporting AFC’s programs.
Due to all of the work put into organizing events and the entire membership’s effort, including social media and the website, they were awarded with the 2019 Central Region Chapter of the Year!
Congratulations to the ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs! We are so proud to be a part of and working for your organization!
Established in 1929, ACF is the premier professional chefs’ organization in North America with more than 17,500 members in over 150 chapters nationwide.
Dr. Lindsay N. Gallion, DC recently moved her practice from Kansas City to Russell, KS, her hometown. In order to stand out with a focus on Sports Therapy, we designed this modern website to help clients find her. Her clinical focus is on the treatment of soft tissue injuries through myofascial release, improving body biomechanics, and correcting muscle imbalance. See more: www.russellchirosportstherapy.com
CAMREN Healthcare group needed a new umbrella company logo to encompass all of the facets of their chiropractic businesses. As they continue to grow, their brand identity needed a cohesive image and message to relate their professionalism and dedication to chiropractic care and wellness.
A new flyer has been designed for Dr. Lindsay Gallion of KC Core! She is an amazing sports chiropractor located in Overland Park, KS. Dr. Gallion needed a flyer that was consistent with the KC Core branding. Visit their website here: http://kansascitycore.com/
A new website for Cool Carvings, located in Grandview, MO! Our goal was to keep the site modern and clean, but also fun to browse through. Let us know what you think! http://coolcarvings.net/index/
This logo was designed to be more modern and reflect their growth, and focus on the beautiful sunsets and amazing homemade gourmet meals, from produce grown in their own garden. If you like fishing, they also have many ponds to go fishing in, along with hiking trails. See more: http://www.cedarcrestlodge.com/
A new website has been created for A & M Home Furnishings in Overland Park, KS. We’ve updated the look to be more modern and contemporary with sleek galleries, an event calendar and blog! www.amhomefurnishings.com
It was such a pleasure to work on this site with Community Action, Inc. in Topeka, KS. Our focus was on a modern and clean website, well branded and easy to update. Take a look and donate to our community: www.wefightpoverty.org
A new logo was created for startup business, Strut Your Pup! With an eye for cute and simple, we designed this logo to be memorable and to make you smile.
by Laura Pilcher, MBA, Pilcher Creative Agency President & Founder
Are you struggling with a way to market your business? It is typical for startups and businesses in their first year or so to struggle with a marketing budget. There are many ways to get your business name out that are relatively low in cost and sometimes even completely free.
We’ve compiled a comprehensive list to help you get started:
1. Email marketing through Mailchimp.com
2. Get listed on Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo Small Business, and many other online directories.
3. Put your client testimonials on your website and social media pages.
4. Write a blog and ask others in your industry to share it.
5. Visit networking groups in your area and select one to be a permanent part of.
6. Reach out to online industry groups through LinkedIn and other social media sites.
7. Offer your services at low cost to nonprofits.
8. Google AdWords offers a small budget to help you get started with online advertising through Google.
9. Create a business page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. Consider having a Pinterest and Instagram account as well if it is relevant to your industry. Update your pages with new posts several times a day.
10. Offer incentives for referrals.
11. Start a blog for your business and blog every week.
12. Run a Facebook contest through woobox.com
13. Create a partnership with someone relevant to your industry that can send you referrals on a regular basis.
14. Write press releases and submit them through PRLog.org
15. Get creative with affiliate marketing on your website.
Bulk It is a unique health food store that is focused on supporting local businesses, located in Old Town Lenexa. The rebuilding of the store used repurposed materials and local contractors. They are a local food source, complete with smoothie & juice Bar, spices & herbs, sustainable & green, local vendors, gluten-free foods, organic foods, and non-GMO foods.
Pilcher Media LLC created their logo and branding for their printed materials seen below. The idea behind the branding is to keep it clean and simple to reflect the modern, healthy, and sustainable “green” image.
by Sarah Koci Scheilz, Pilcher Creative Agency Blogger & Copywriter
We can all make a list of things that are mission-critical to our businesses. Invoicing? Check. Customer service? Check. HR management? Check. Make your list. But there’s something you’ve likely forgotten: blogging.
Just why does blogging matter to your business? Let us count the ways . . .
Set yourself apart from your competition — you’re the expert. Blogging allows you to share knowledge, insight and expertise, demonstrating just how much of a star you are in your field. Consider your blog a forum to showcase why you’re different and just how well you know what you’re doing.
Spread the news. There’s always something exciting taking place within your business or your industry. Your blog is the place to share this. Get stakeholders just as excited as you are about the growth, changes and expansion!
Three letters: SEO. How search engines generate their results changes constantly. But one metric doesn’t change: updates. Adding blog content is the most consistent, time-tested, proven way to enhance your SEO. Blogging consistently brings your website to the top of search engine results, right to the eyeballs of future customers.
Build content you can use elsewhere. Content from your blog can be used elsewhere! When clients or potential customers ask one of those FAQs, pass along the link to a blog post where that’s answered. Build a brochure from previous posts. Include blog links in your e-newsletter. Or print posts for your office’s waiting room, for your clients to catch up while they wait.
Blogs are a gateway to sales. New offering? Need to remind potential buyers of a favorite product? Blogging about this is a fantastic way to get it to the top of their minds and remind them of their intention to purchase.
Empower your evangelists. Call them what you want, but your business likely has evangelists: those who refer frequently, sing your praises and spread the word about you. Every blog post is another opportunity for them to spread the word. It’s something they can email to others and post to social media; at the very least, a well- crafted blog reaffirms their commitment to you and revamps their enthusiasm.
When we’re busy putting out business fires, blogging can fall to the bottom of the to-do list. But for your business’s prosperity, make it a priority. Blogging really is mission-critical.
A new logo was created for Dr. Nick Prater of Pediatric & Laser Dentistry to reflect the professionalism, friendliness and growth he and his staff inject into every client. Different shades of blue were selected for the professionalism and trust, while green emphasis the growth and health at the forefront of each one of Dr. Prater’s young clients.
A new WordPress website has been created to match Green’s Exterminating branding, full integrated with blogging and social media. www.greensexterminating.com
Pilcher Media had the pleasure of visiting the new office in Waldo of McGarvey Chiropractic. We received a quick adjustment (Dr. McGarvey is amazing!) and took some pictures for their website while there. We highly recommend you make a visit soon! For more information, visit their website: www.mcgarveychiropractic.com
New flyers were designed to match TREKK Design Group’s branding image for use as a template for their many different events throughout the years.
TREKK Design Group is a 60% female owned company who believes in the combination of technical expertise, a commitment to fiscal responsibility, and a thorough understanding of client, stakeholder, and community needs to find project success.
TREKK Design Group was founded with the primary objective to provide quality civil engineering design services while meeting the budgets and scheduled deadlines of our projects. Through the combined efforts of our project team, quality control issues will be given the highest level of emphasis through the duration of the project. We have a quality minded staff whose dedication gives personalized attention to each project. We offer a full range of water/wastewater design, traffic engineering, transportation design, surveying, engineering field support services, project management and land planning services. We strive to develop and maintain long-term relationships with our clients.
A new website has been designed and developed for The Getaway Massage Therapist, Ryanne Newton, to reflect her beautiful logo branding and professional massage services. This website is fully responsive for tablets and phones. Let us know your opinion. Do you like it?
A new logo and branding was created for KC Whole Nutrition to be simple and elegant while reflecting the idea of “whole foods” as a lifestyle choice in Kansas City.
A new website has been designed and developed for R. Craig Hensley of Naturally Yours Photography. Focusing on keeping the look natural and sleek, the website is a fully integrated e-commerce website.
Pilcher Media has created new social media pages for C&R Sight and Sound. This includes creating and branding Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and YouTube pages, while also linking them together for easy updating.
Pilcher Media has designed new business cards for Piggyback Hwy! These cards were designed using navy and blue to symbolize the trust and sophistication of doing business the piggyback way.
Pilcher Media has designed new business cards for Alysa Rushton to be sleek and informative. Following the branding of her logo and taglines, these cards look fantastic in high gloss!
Pilcher Media has designed a new website for Allaman Homes. This website was designed to follow the current branding of Allaman Homes using hues of blue and red from the logo to make a clean, modern website that is inviting and informational.
New logo for Naturally Yours Photography, with business cards and new website soon to follow! We created this to be a simple, yet artistic and scientific nature-based logo design with a focus on earth tones and the detail of the dragonfly.
