INTRODUCTION TO ODYSSEY DESIGN
(A sole proprietorship since 7/28/05)

In the ever-evolving world of business, there has been a trend over the last ten years:  more and more small businesses or home-based, cottage industries have come into being as people have moved away from working for large corporations and cutting-edge companies where they had to deal with the stressors associated with them, as well as commuting to these jobs.  I learned from my at-the-time National Sales Manager:  "People buy from people, not companies.  That's why often times when a sales rep leaves a company, and goes to work for a competitor, his/her customers often follow the sales rep, because they like dealing with that person."

Small businesses and other ventures need to be marketed, and the dollars may not be plentiful to sink a lot into marketing and advertising budgets - the two necessities to get a business off the ground floor.  It can be a difficult task in depositing advertisements into the hands of the consumers who are needing the services or products that are being offered by a multitude of smaller businesses.  Companies of a smaller nature need brochures, business cards, mailers, sell sheets, letters - tools to help promote customer awareness, and to be a competitive player in the marketplace.

My intent with Odyssey Design is to present a more personal approach in my business, and interacting with my clients.  I am not a fly-by-night store front on the internet - here today, gone tomorrow.  I don't have a "shopping cart" to purchase goods or services from me.  This Odyssey Design & Marketing site (within the www.alawebpages.com site) is merely to inform, advertise and educate my clients or potential customers about the "how's and why's" of my services.  I plan to meet with you.  I intend to be made aware of you, your business and how I can assist you.  This  is how we operate here at Odyssey Design.

My focus with Odyssey Design is to offer quality tools to you [the small business owner], without you having to become a PC expert in graphics design, a Marketing guru or a Webmaster.  I work with a local printer in Indianapolis who handles all of my printing needs.  I have been working with marketing tools since 1988, as I promoted myself and my employer [at the time] to my own customers within my commercial selling field. 

Something to remember:  almost every household has a computer, and companies are very dependent on the efficiencies of all that a computer can provide in organizing, record-keeping, marketing, advertising, paying the bills and payroll, planning, and researching.   The key word here is efficiencies.  A small business relies heavily on one to three key players for the daily operations.  My niche is to be that invisible, yet much-needed person who "puts the image of your business out there for the world to see", or assists you in doing so.