Our Story | Live Work Dream | RVing Lifestyle Design Blog

Truth be told…

February 20, 2019May 13, 2007 by Jim

OK, I might’ve jumped the gun a bit with that last post. Needles to say, we’re just a bit excited. The truth is: We’re currently working our way back to Eureka with our new Fifth Wheel trailer to wrap up the sale of our graphic design and production business – Marcom And POP. We have sold our home based business (and home) and plan to …

The cat’s out of the bag…

February 20, 2019May 4, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

It’s hard to keep a secret in a town like this. Especially when an ad for another local sign shop appears on the the same website advertising this business for sale. We can only assume that owner discovered our ad and helped get the rumor mill going about the sale of our operation. But it was bound to happen soon anyway, considering our new owner …

Long time no blog …

June 12, 2007April 25, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

Who’s got time to post blog entries while training the new owner on all the multi-faceted aspects of this turnkey design and production business? Not to mention all the packing, coordinating of storage, planning our next big adventure — more about that later — and increasing excitement of things to come! I’ll tell you one thing though. Having a yard sale these days is more …

The shape of things to come.

December 2, 2007April 17, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

I just gave this blog a major overhaul in preparation for what it shall become. What will our next live/work dream be once we sell this business? There is no way to tell, but you’ll be sure to hear all about our search here. After a well deserved sabbatical, that is…

Be sure to check out the new Gallery page where we’ve integrated the interactive photo album and embedded video from LiveWorkDream.com. There is also now a contact form on the About page so you can let us know what you think! How do we find the time to do this while marketing our business for sale and keeping it profitable? It’s easier than you think with the WordPress 2 blog platform.

Eureka’s Waterfront Becoming a Reality

June 12, 2007April 13, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

The first shop in the new retail space along the Eureka Boardwalk, Sea Breeze Candy and Tees, just opened up. A fabulous candy and gift store with a huge selection. This is a great shot in the arm for development along Eureka’s waterfront, and it’s so terrific that we can walk there from our location. More great things will follow soon, that’s for sure.

Great People & Good Times with the RTC

June 12, 2007April 13, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

Went to a networking mixer sponsored by the Redwood Technology Consortium at the Sea Grill Restaurant in Eureka last night. It was one of the funnest affairs the group’s ever put on. Mmmmm, good food. And someone made a great use of old floppy disk labels…we used them as name badges. How geeky is that?! We’ve been involved with the RTC since we moved here …

The lights are always on.

June 12, 2007March 27, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

This morning I awoke to a gnarly rain and wind storm. The lights flickered all morning, but nothing went out. Meanwhile all across the county, power lines were dropping like flies. One of the perks about living here is that despite our wild winter weather in Humboldt, the power always stays on in our building. What makes us special? Well, we are on the same …

Getting our ducks in a row

December 18, 2010March 27, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

The comprehensive online storefront, client intranet, and gallery that is the core of this business’ success resides at a dot com domain. (If you’d like to know what domain, please return our Non-Disclosure Agreement.) When we completed our trademark registration for the business name we also registered .net, .biz, and .info domains which we currently have set up to auto-forward to the .com website. We …

Every day is so different…

June 12, 2007March 26, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

In 9 years, not one single day has been boring. In this business, every day is so different from the next. As long as you’ve got it in you to take each day and make the most of it, you’ll find that there’s never and end to things that need to be done. The biggest quality an entrepreneur needs is discipline, and motivation. Ok, that’s …

This one goes out to Don.

June 12, 2007March 26, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

Here’s a sad but interesting coincidence … as if all coincidences aren’t interesting enough:

Last week we printed a 7′ Magic Pak banner display for the National Brain Tumor Foundation. They placed their order by phone after reviewing our website and approved the artwork I designed for them on Monday. As it turns out, just the day before my friend Don Wolski passed away after a long battle with brain cancer. We’ll miss you Don.

Don was the long time host of our local NPR radio station’s Bayside Hayride — a hokey yet enjoyable mix of old-time string band, bluegrass, folk and country tunes that airs every Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. He was also a founding member of the Redwood Technology Consortium — a local non-profit group serving as the primary information and educational resource on issues related to the technology industry on California’s North Coast.

What touched me most about Don’s struggle with cancer was the way the community turned out in full force to support him and his family. Once this tight-knit town was aware that Don’s treatments were financially challenging for his family, a benefit tamale dinner was coordinated with all the proceeds going directly to them. Hundreds of people showed up. Local businesses donated food, drinks, and services. And everyone had a great time dancing to the musicians who played pro bono.

The beauty of this business

June 12, 2007March 24, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

Or, I should say one of the beauties … is that the bright idea we had one day a few years back for an online storefront full of graphic solutions has proven itself to be successful. Here’s just one example:

When I got to my desk this morning, one of the first emails I downloaded said “Thank you for your order”. I just love it when that happens, especially when it’s unexpected. When customers place an order on our webiste they receive an acknowledgement email and we receive a copy. So I immediately logged into the shopping cart admin area of our site and clicked on “check orders” to view a new job ticket complete with payment infmration and all the materials required to produce a new order for shelf talkers. The comments field included clear instructions for artwork we would be receiving from the customer.

While they could have chosen to submit artwork through our Client Intranet or via our FTP site, this customer chose to provide a link for downloading the files from their site. We will preflight the files, contact the client if there are any concerns (of which rarely there are), produce the job, ship it, and charge the card they provided. This usually happens without ever talking to the customer. Such is the beauty of e-commerce.

Learning from the Geese

June 12, 2007March 23, 2007 by Co-Owner 2

I just love this time of year in Eureka… Throughout February and March, literally tens of thousands of once endangered Aleutian Geese stop by on their migration back North to Alaska. I understand the annual Morning Fly-Off at the the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is quite a sight to see as flock after flock take flight from the grassy fields. While I have not …

Bicycle Deliveries: Paid Time Off!

June 12, 2007March 22, 2007 by Co-Owner 1

Went on A Bike Ride on this Sunny Spring Day Went to drop a job off at a local print shop. We print ‘em, they cut ‘em. We’ve got a great arrangement going on. They bill us at the end of the month for the variety of bindery service they help us out with. We’ve known the owner of this shop for years. He’s the …

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