{Click here to view in your browser} {Share this with a friend}

This Issue...

Welcome to The Grain. 
It's our way of sharing recent projects, helpful tips, and other fun stuff with you.

You’re receiving this email because we’ve met, worked together or you’re a friend of Luke Mysse or CROSSGRAIN. If this isn’t your thing, feel free to unsubscribe (link at the bottom) at anytime – we promise it won’t hurt our feelings.

We hope you’ll enjoy hearing from us as much as we enjoy hearing from you! 

New CROSSGRAIN Site

Did you notice? We quietly launched a new and improved CROSSGRAIN website late last year and figured it’s about time we talked about it.

We've simplified the home page to give you access to the majority of the site in one place. Want to view a recent project? Click one of the images in the slider. Need more info about CROSSGRAIN? Click the “Pull” tab at the top. Want us to contact you? Fill out the form that magically appears when you click “Contact Us”.

You can view any of the projects in depth just by clicking “View All Projects.” There you can sort by type and even subscribe via RSS feed to see the latest and greatest work as soon as its posted.

Tech-stats.
We created a custom back-end to make it easy for us to quickly post new projects. The new site was programed in Ruby on Rails and uses several Ajax/JavaScript techniques. We had the privilege of working with programmers from the SDRuby group in San Diego. Special thanks for Dominic and Patrick for all your hard work on the site! 

Does Your Marketing Need a Stimulus Plan?

The sluggish economy seems to have hit everyone on some level. But with all the doom and gloom out there, it’s easy to forget that the current slowdown is actually a great time to be out marketing your services.

CROSSGRAIN is offering its own stimulus package to jumpstart your marketing initiatives. We are giving a FREE 30-minute strategy session to the first 10 new or previous clients who email us. Let’s chat about your current marketing efforts and see if CROSSGRAIN can help kick it up a notch. Contact us today – no obligations.

Know someone else who could benefit from CROSSGRAIN services? Feel free to email us their contact info and we’ll take it from there.

Luke's Bookshelf

Originally published in 2003, "Purple Cow - by Seth Godin” has been on the bookshelf for awhile but I’m just now getting around to reading it.

Seth discusses the changes we’re seeing in advertising and how great marketing/branding just doesn’t take you as far as it once did. Instead, we need to focus on doing something or building something “remarkable.” It’s not just marketing anymore; it’s having an incredible product or service that makes people stop and look – like a ‘purple cow’ in the country side.

Even though it’s a few years old, it’s a short read and it contains the great marketing insight we’re used to getting from Seth Godin.

Read any good books lately? Drop us a line and share one of your favorite titles. Click here to view Luke's Bookshelf online.