HALO Design Group to hold Results Revolution PRO series seminar

The first "12 Steps to Revolutionize Your Business - PRO edition" seminar will be held at the Mississippi Association of Realtors Buildling in Flowood, Miss. on Tuesday morning, November 15, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. The seminar should last about 90 minutes.

This seminar is a free service open to professional office owners and managers, including medical, legal, financial and other professional business types. Topics will include maximizing return on investment, getting more for less, saving time on marketing tasks, how to market your business in a professional manner, measuring success, marketing plans, and more. Space is limited to 40 attendees. Registration is required - click here to register.

Thanks to our event sponsors: Merrill Lynch and Harvey Dallas Printing & Graphics.

HALO Design Group unveils ResultTrack PRO

HALO Design Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of a new service to our Results Revolution mission to bring real marketing results to small businesses, including professional offices and practices. It's called ResultTrack PRO, and it's based on HALO's exclusive ResultTrack marketing system, but on a schedule that better meets the needs of the professional offices we've polled. Following are some of the details of the new ResultTrack PRO marketing coach program:

· Coaching and advice based on HALO Design Group’s Results Revolution marketing system, which is based on lean thinking and systems business methods.

· Help creating a feasible and productive marketing plan for your business.

· Accountability and guidance to assure you stay on track and achieve your business goals.

· One-hour monthly meetings with you and your implementation team.

· Unlimited access to your ResultTrack coach via e-mail.

· Feedback on new opportunities that come your way.

Marianna Hayes, HALO President, said, "We are excited about the success of our mission to help small businesses achieve their goals by getting real results from their marketing. We hope that this new service is an appropriate answer to feedback we received from our professional office/practice clients."

HALO Design Group receives "Best Image Promotion" for second year straight.

At the June 16, 2005, Mississippi Main Street Association's Annual Awards Luncheon, HALO Design Group took home the "Best Image Promotion" award for the second straight year. This year, HALO won the award for design, development and strategy work on the Lexington Main Street Assocation's Promotional Brochure.

"This is such a huge honor to be recognized for our work. And it is almost overwhelming to have it happen two years in a row," said HALO President, Marianna Hayes, who was on hand to receive the award.

Hayes also serves on the Board of Directors for the Lexington Main Street Association as well as the Promotions Committee. In addition, Hayes has presented her "12 Steps" seminar to more than ten Mississippi Main Street communities in the past year free of charge.

Hayes said, "We are dedicated to the Main Street model for downtown economic revitalization. I have seen the benefit it brings to small business owners, and HALO will continue to support that organization however we can."

The award was presented by Mississippi Development Authority CEO, Leland Speed.

Marianna Hayes announces late summer seminar information.

Marianna Hayes, HALO President, already has plans to bring the Results Revolution to more communities and small business owners in late summer and early fall 2005.

Hayes will bring the "12 Steps to Revolutionize Your Business", the flagship of the Results Revolution campaign, to a joint community group in Amory, Miss. on Thursday, August 18. Sponsoring cities include Aberdeen, Amory (host city), Houston and Okolona.

In addition, The Kosciusko/Attala Chamber of Commerce is scheduling an October date when Hayes will present "Finding Your Niche in the Gen Y Crowd", her newest seminar presentation, to small business owners in that community.

Finally, HALO is pleased to announce that plans are in the works to present the "12 Steps" workshop in Jackson, Brandon and Merdian in the fall of 2005.

Hayes adds June 16 workshop date to speaking schedule.

Marianna Hayes will present the flagship seminar of the Results Revolution campaign at the historic Train Depot in Canton, Miss. on June 16, 2005.

Each workshop is open to the public, with small business owners, managers and prospective business owners encouraged to attend. Attendees at each spring workshop will be entered in a drawing to receive $500 in free graphic design services. For more information on attending these workshops or to find out how to bring a Results Revolution workshop to your town, e-mail Marianna. HALO Design Group has extended the application deadline for "Beat the Crisis" program.

"The Arts are very close to our hearts. We had a large number of applicants to our program this year, but a noticeable absence from what we consider 'arts and humanities' organizations," said Marianna Hayes, HALO President.

Because of this, the deadline to apply for the Arts and Humanities Award has been extended to June 15, 2005. Services valued at $2,000 have been reserved for this award. Details and application are available online at http://www.halodesigngroup.com/nonprofit.asp.

Results Revolution adds menu of marketing services tailored for any small business budget.

April 13, 2005 - In response to customer requests and feedback, HALO Design Group's Results Revolution program has added a series of marketing services with something to fit any budget.

"Our mission is to bring a Results Revolution to EVERY small business," said HALO President Marianna Hayes. "To do this, we had to find ways to make all of our information accessible to every budget - from the one man operation to the super-sized entrepreneur."

The new services include "Personal Marketing Coach," "ResultsTrack Marketing Coach," and "Results Revolution Master Class." Fees start at $385. Download an informational flyer by clicking on this link (PDF document, 61 KB). Classes are forming now, so request more information about dates or details on our contact form or e-mail Marianna Hayes.

Applications now available for HALO's 2005 nonprofit marketing grant program, "Beat the Crisis."

March 7, 2005 -- HALO Design Group will help at least four worthy non-profit organizations "Beat the Crisis" with services donated through their 2005 Marketing Grant Program.

Marianna Hayes, HALO President said, "Funding shortages in the nonprofit sector make it critical that nonprofits develop a strong communications capacity. But it's those same shortages that limit their ability to publicize services, events and successes and retain donors and members. From this reality came our theme for this year's marketing grant program, 'Beat the Crisis.'"

HALO Design Group hopes to help those most in need overcome this hurdle when they announce the recipients of their donated graphic design services later this spring. This year, available service grants are valued at $10,000.

Applicants must clearly be not-for-profit in character, although one need not be classified as a 501(c)3 organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Applicants must be regional, state or local in nature with organizational reach inside of the State of Mississippi. From the pool of applicants, at least one economic development project and one art and humanities project will be funded. Remaining projects will be awarded at the discretion of the selection committee. The application deadline is April 29, 2005. For more information or to download the application, click here.

HALO announces Spring Results Revolution workshop dates.

March 1, 2005 -- HALO Design Group kicks off its spring Results Revolution™ Workshop Tour next week when Marianna Hayes, HALO President, presents the Results Revolution flagship seminar, "12 Steps to Revolutionize Your Business," to a delegation of Hattiesburg, Miss. business owners and managers. The breakfast seminar will be held at [insert location here] at 8:30 a.m. on March 11. The event is sponsored by the Downtown Hattiesburg Association.

The flagship seminar covers twelve important steps to bring a Results Revolution to a business or organization. The steps offer attendees a simple process to gain freedom from the waste of traditional marketing and bring positive results to their own organization.

Additional spring dates include 6:00 p.m. on March 22 in Booneville, sponsored by the Booneville Area Chamber of Commerce and a date later this spring in Senatobia, sponsored by the Senatobia Main Street Partnership.

The Fall 2004 Results Revolution workshop tour visited Cleveland, Kosciusko, Tupelo and New Albany.

Each workshop is open to the public, with small business owners, managers and prospective business owners encouraged to attend. Attendees at each spring workshop will be entered in a drawing to receive $500 in free graphic design services. For more information on attending these workshops or to find out how to bring a Results Revolution workshop to your town, e-mail Marianna.

The Results Revolution™ is a service of HALO Design Group that brings results-based consultation, seminars, training, articles, e-newsletter and customized marketing services to small businesses and enterprises, as well as non-profit organizations, all in an effort to help them eliminate waste from their organization and increase profit and productivity.

Lexington Main Street Association presented HALO with 2004 Main Street Booster Award.

LEXINGTON, MS, October 28, 2004 -- At their annual meeting on October 26, 2004, the Lexington Main Street Association surprised Marianna Hayes, HALO President and Lexington Main Street Board Member and Promotions Committee chairperson, by presenting HALO Design Group with the coveted Main Street Booster Award. This award goes to the business or individual who, over the course of the year, provided the organization with morale, support and encouragement.

Hayes said, "We are humbled to be presented with this award. It is quite a high honor. This is a terrific organization that is doing great things for my hometown. We are happy to be a part of what they are doing!"

To learn more about the Main Street Program in Mississippi, visit www.msmainstreet.com.

HALO received Best Image Promotion award at Mississippi Main Street Awards Luncheon.

Jackson, June 10, 2004 - HALO Design Group was recognized at the 15th Annual Mississippi Main Street Association Awards Luncheon at the Jackson Hilton Hotel today. Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA) President Phil Hardwick presented HALO with the "Best Small Town Image Promotion Award" for their development of the Lexington Main Street Association logo and web site, www.lexingtonms.com. Accepting the award for HALO was Marianna Hayes.

The logo and web site are all part of Lexington Main Street Association's strategic plan to attract outdoor enthusiasts, their families and related business investment to the town. The web site navigation is based upon the organization's slogan, "Where Outdoor Enthusiasts Live. Work. Shop. Play."

Lexington Main Street Association is a three-year-old affiliate of the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA). Lexington Main Street Association president Debbie Kimbrough stated, "It is rare that an organization as young as Lexington Main Street would be selected from among multiple statewide nominations for this achievement. I'm very gratified that the panel of judges for these awards affirmed our nomination - that the LMS web site is one of the most refreshing and useful Main Street sites available."

HALO kicks off Results Revolution™ with Cleveland, Miss. retail merchant workshop.

CLEVELAND, May 5, 2004 - HALO Design Group kicked off its Results Revolution™ this week when Marianna Hayes, HALO President, presented the Results Revolution™ flagship seminar, "12 Steps to Revolutionize Your Business," to a delegation of Cleveland, Miss. business owners and managers. The breakfast seminar was sponsored by Team Cleveland.

Hayes said, "We are pleased to be able to offer the seminar at no cost to our home-town Mississippi communities for a limited time. And to kick off our Results Revolution™ in Cleveland, the homebase of one of our owners, made it very special for us."

The flagship seminar covers twelve important steps to bring a Results Revolution to a business or organization. The steps offer attendees a simple process to gain freedom from the waste of traditional marketing and bring about results for their own organization business giving them a competitive advantage over all other businesses.

The Results Revolution™ brings results-based consultation, seminars, training, free articles, e-newsletter and customized marketing services to small businesses and enterprises, as well as non-profit organizations, all in an effort to help them eliminate waste from their organization and increase profit and productivity.

Megan Pritchett joins HALO staff as graphic designer.

LEXINGTON, January 10, 2004 - Megan Pritchett, a Mississippi College honor graduate has joined the staff of HALO Design Group as graphic artist specializing in print design. Prior to joining HALO, Megan worked as an intern at Hederman Brothers Printing Company. When she's not designing effective designs for our clients, Megan enjoys painting anything she can get her hands on - like store windows, children's furniture and ceramic tiles.

Mississippi Business Journal, December 8, 2003 - HALO using lean marketing approach to help business clients.

LEXINGTON---You've heard of lean manufacturing. But lean marketing? HALO Design Group uses an approach to marketing called "Lean To Your Market" that focuses on a combination of skills including writing, public relations, business analysis and planning, and psychology-all designed to provide maximum results on any size budget.

Marianna Hayes is president of HALO Design Group Inc., located in Lexington 45 miles north of Jackson. Her background is in journalism and marketing. When she meets with clients, she is looking for "the story" in their business. What about the business would be interesting to other people?

Her business partner is a manager in a lean manufacturing quality assurance program at a Mississippi manufacturer.
HALO's innovative approach combines marketing consultation with design and PR work.

"We're all about numbers, but we also take in the human element a lot in our strategies," Hayes said. "It is basically a lean manufacturing concept blended with a relationship element. The idea of lean marketing is to spend the least amount of time and human resources for the greatest amount of profit. It is definitely a unique approach. We're not about spending the most we can on advertising to get a good commission."

Designing business success is the focus at HALO. Hayes said their projects are based upon understanding that growth is created by having a smarter, leaner strategy than anything the business or its competition has had in the past. There is a major focus on knowing that building customer relationships is vitally important to long-term success.
A big part of HALO Design Group's efforts include building web sites for clients.

"We have a huge dedication to building Web sites that are easily updated by the business in-house using standard office software requiring no previous knowledge of web design," Hayes said. "We do that by developing customized back office databases. Pretty much anybody, if they can use a word processor, can update the Web site under our system. It allows them to get away from the cost of having a Web company on contract all the time. We want to empower clients, not make them dependent on us. Webuild web sites that produce profits, return on investment, and that they can maintain themselves."

An example of how the company uses business analysis combined with marketing is its work with client Yarber's Flowers and Gifts, Greenville. Hayes said Greenville is a very saturated market as far as the florist market goes.

"When the economy is down, everybody goes into the floral business because it is seemingly easily to get into," Hayes said. "Historically Yarber's Flowers has been around since the 1920s. They do well, but they can do better. To compete we have created a new image for the business: Yarber's Floral Café. Now it is not just another florist, but a florist with a gourmet coffee shop inside. You can go in, have coffee, read a newspaper, and watch the floral designer work.

"It was totally a business owner personality issue. The owner, Mike Boyle, loves to design things the everyday person wants. He has a great personality, and enjoys interacting with customers."

Normally florist shops don't have a lot of walk-in traffic because most people order flower arrangement on the phone or Internet. Adding the coffee shop as part of the marketing strategy increases foot traffic. Yarber's is also providing events such as Cookies with Santa, and story time for children. Parents can shop at the florist and gift shop while the kids are entertained.

Hayes said the ideas grew out of finding the part of the business that the owners really loved.

"I've always held the perspective that if you love what you are doing, you will do well at it," Hayes said. "We try to find the part of the business the owners really love, what they really like doing, and then help them excel in that area."

Hayes said HALO's marketing approach is about setting goals and having a strategic game plan for achieving those goals. HALO's marketing planning services includes at least two consultations which result in a thorough document giving an objective picture of the business, its market, its position in that market, and, most importantly, very aggressive business goals.

"But that's only half the plan," Hayes said. "The bulk of the plan walks a customer step by step through the process of achieving the business goals using a healthy combination of conventional and unconventional marketing and public relations tactics.

"Small business owners usually personally own most or at least part of the business. They often are responsible for one area in which they are greatly talented, and many areas where they, admittedly, aren't so talented. Marketing is usually one of those areas where our customers lack the confidence to succeed. To compensate, many small business owners try to mirror their competitions' visible marketing. When it fails, and it usually does for a variety of reasons, the owner feels discouraged."

HALO's plans focus both on the business and the business owner. What works for one business doesn't always work for others. Personalities, preferences and management styles of the owner often inspire the strategy and approach outlined in their HALO marketing plan.

Hayes said one advantage of the plan is that the owner can implement them alone. "Of course we'll help if they want, but every plan we write is designed to be self-explanatory, to educate and equip each business owner to work the plan and achieve success on his own," she says.

The company specializes in startup businesses, new service or product launches or businesses that need a boost because profit levels are lagging. Primarily HALO works with small to medium sized business and corporations, usually privately owned. Most of the work is for Mississippi clients, but the firm also does work out of state.

"We're not at all confined to Mississippi, but I love Mississippi and love to work with our business owners here," Hayes said. "It is my personal mission to bring economic development to our state, and I think small business is an overlooked area for potential economic development. We have worked with a lot of Mississippi Main Street communities, and believe that small business development can breathe life back into downtown areas. I really feel that a small number of small businesses can create as many jobs, many times, as bringing one big out-of-state industry into the community."

Contact MBJ contributing writer Becky Gillette at bgillette@bellsouth.net or (228) 872-3457.

The rest of the story: it's not lean if it doesn't draw a crowd.

HALO Design Group focuses on your business. The result of that investigation? That "thing" about your business that will make your customers swoon.

You see, HALO Design Group isn't an everyday marketing firm. We use a technique called Lean To Your Market.

Acclaimed "Lean Thinking" mandates that businesses eliminate all waste from their operations. This mandate doesn't exclude the Marketing and Sales Departments from the magnifying glass.

But it doesn't stop there. It requires that customers pull products or services through the operation aiming for perfection using kaizen, or continuous improvement.

How can your lean operation be called lean if sales and marketing continue to produce waste? (And, really, if we're honest, it all does.) And how can sales and marketing achieve lean status if your customers aren't begging to do business with you?

An efficient, aka lean, business knows its customers, fulfills their needs quickly and efficiently, and maintains a relationship that keeps them coming back for more.

That's where HALO Design Group comes in. Using our Lean to Your Marketing approach, we help our customers know their customers. We make sure that they know their customers' needs and desires. That they are equipped to meet those needs and desires quickly and efficiently in order to beat out the competition. And that they aim for perfection by nurturing customer relationships, encouraging feedback and measuring constantly.

You see, you can't be lean unless you draw a really big crowd. Call HALO if you want to draw a crowd.

HALO client wins national award.

Cleveland, Mississippi (September 15, 2003) – Document Imaging Solutions, LLC (DIS) has been awarded third place in the Annual LaserFiche Blue Ribbon Web Site Contest, winning over a strong field of other national and international value-added resellers of LaserFiche document imaging and archival software.

The web site (www.documentimage.com), which was designed and is maintained by Mississippi based HALO Design Group, was reviewed by a panel of judges focusing on aesthetics, search-engine characteristics and content.

Marianna Hayes, Partner at HALO Design Group, said, “We are very pleased that our client received this recognition. The judges have reaffirmed our dedication to provide all of our clients with strategic, results-oriented web functionality.”

DIS has been a LaserFiche Value Added Reseller since 2002, delivering electronic archiving and retrieval solutions based on LaserFiche software to the Mid-South. DIS solves customers’ paper problems in government, legal, accounting, medical and other paper-burdened environments.

Mississippi Delta Advertising Federation makes awards in annual competition: (photo)

GREENVILLE, MISS. (February 24, 2003) - HALO Design Group made its first splash a big one by taking home seven Addy's at the Mississippi Delta Advertising Federation's 2003 Addy Awards Banquet held at the Greenville Golf and Country Club on Saturday, February 22. After three years in business, HALO's partners decided to enter a few of their favorite projects from 2002 in this year's competition "just to see what happened." We think it was an overwhelming success.

Entries were judged by a panel of American Advertising Federation certified judges from the advertising industry outside of the regional area. Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDY® Awards honor excellence in advertising and cultivate the highest creative standards in the industry. The ADDY® Awards are the nation’s largest advertising competition.

"We are pleased to be a part of this organization that promotes excellence in our industry and challenges our business to achieve new levels of growth and success for our clients," said HALO partner Marianna Hayes.

HALO took home Gold ADDY's for Inspirspectives 2002 web site, Inspirspectives stationary package, and Inspirspectives logo and Silver ADDY's for Document Imaging Solutions Filing Cabinet Cartoon Illustrations, Bracken Construction Company's web site, Inspirspectives 2002 Holiday Greeting Card, and Green Works Group's collateral package. Each of these winning pieces will now compete at the AAF 7th District (Deep South) ADDY competition. Winners from this competition will be announced at the 2003 Spring Conference in April. We'll keep you posted!

Downtown revitalization is one way to strengthen small business:

LEXINGTON, MISS. (January 15, 2003) - HALO Design Group has announced it will provide a 15% discount on their services to all members of the Main Street Lexington Organization, a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalization of the downtown and surrounding business district of Lexington.

Marianna Hayes and Roane Logan, both native residents of this area felt a need to show a commitment to the area's small business owners and their support for Mississippi Main Street Association's downtown revitalization plan. "Despite our own business growth, our passion remains with small business, and small business development is the heart of Main Street's mission," said Hayes. "We have enjoyed success affecting change and bringing increased profits to many small businesses outside of Lexington using our aggressive approach and unique marketing methods. Now we'd like to do the same for our local businesses."

"We want to reinforce Main Street's mission as we work individually with Lexington's business owners to help them look at their businesses differently and attain a new level of success for themselves, and ultimately for Lexington," Hayes said.

To take advantage of the Main Street member discount, you must first be a current member of Main Street Lexington. Please call Nancy King at 662.834.0053 for membership information.

Hayes also serves as an active member of the Main Street Lexington Promotions committee having recently chaired a February retail promotion entitled "Chocolate Lover's Month." In addition, HALO designed the Main Street Lexington's logo and collateral material during 2002 and is currently designing a local business directory for the non-profit organization.