If you missed our January specials… Valentine’s Day brings them back!

• 5000 Business Cards two sided $80.
(Regular price $99)

• 1000 4×6 Flyers full color + 1000 Business Cards two sided $99.
(Regular price $169)

Not valid with any other offer. Valid until January, 29th 2012. Printing takes 4 days.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

Vitagraphics is having a New Years’ special for all our clients during January 2012.

•  5000 Business Cards two sided $80.
(Regular price $99)

• 1000 4×6 Flyers full color + 1000 Business Cards two sided $99.
(Regular price $169)

Not valid with any other offer. Valid until January, 31st 2012. Printing takes 4 days.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

Vitagraphics is having a Holidays special for all our clients during December 2011.

• 15% OFF all Greeting Cards!

Not valid with any other offer. Valid until December, 23th 2011. Printed on 14pt or 100lbs cover paper.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

Vitagraphics Special promotion 11-11-11.

Get 11% discount in all design and printing jobs Today!

Valid only on 11-11-11. Promotion cannot be combined with any other offer. All orders must be paid and  placed  before 6PM.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

Vitagraphics is having a Thanksgiving special for all our clients during November 2011.

• 15% OFF all Calendars!
• 15% OFF all Greeting Cards!
• $50 1,000 Business Cards, Full color on both sides, UV coated or matte!

Graphic design not included. Not valid with any other offer.
Valid until November, 30th 2011. BC printed on 16pt glossy paper.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

• To make the top 1  percent, a household must have AGI of $343,927 or more.
• The top 1 percent  contributed about 37 percent of the taxes paid in 2009.
• Roughly 44 percent of  New York City residents made the top 1 percent in 2007.

It’s usually considered impolite to ask how much money someone makes, but  that question is at the forefront of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Protesters announce they are among the 99 percent of income earners who  aren’t getting the financial and tax benefits the top 1 percent receives.

So just how much do you have to earn to be part of the elite 1 percent?

That depends on whose figures you use.

Based on 2009 tax year filing data, the Internal Revenue Service says an  adjusted gross income, or AGI, of $343,927 or more will put you in the top 1  percent of taxpayers.

How much must you make to be in the top 50 percent  of U.S. earners?

Source: IRS, Statistics of Income Division,  July 2011

The income thresholds are for the amount of AGI on a return, not per  taxpayer.

That means a single filer who made $343,927 or more in 2009 is in the top 1  percentile. A married couple with two kids and combined earnings of $343,927 or  more also was among the top earners in the country. The 2009 figures are the  latest the IRS has tallied. Filing of returns for tax year 2010 didn’t  officially close until Oct. 17.

The 1.4 million Americans in the IRS’ top taxpayer category in 2009 reported  nearly 17 percent of all the country’s taxable income. From those filers, the  IRS collected $318 billion or almost 37 percent of all the individual taxes paid  in 2009.

Where the top isn’t that much: For most  Americans, making more than $340,000 a year does feel rich. But for residents of  high-cost areas, such as much of California, New York or major urban areas, that  amount, especially for dual-income families, is not that unusual.

In New York City, where the Occupy Wall Street movement began, the richest 1  percent of households saw their share of all income in the city rise from 12  percent in 1980 to 44 percent in 2007, the last year for which data are  available, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute.

Part of the reason for the disparity is that the Big Apple is home to a lot  of executives, doctors, lawyers, managers and supervisors who work outside of  finance.

Those professions are among the most represented occupations of taxpayers in  the top 1 percent of earners between 1979 and 2005, according to a November 2010  academic study of “Jobs and Income Growth of Top Earners and the Causes of  Changing Income Inequality.”

Other studies, higher incomes: Some other  tax calculations require higher incomes before a person can be classified as  part of the top 1 percent of earners.

The Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a joint venture of the Urban  Institute and Brookings Institution, runs an economic simulation model that  shows the top 1 percent of earners in 2009 made $503,086. TPC projects $516,633  as the cutoff for the top earners in 2010 and $532,613 for 2011.

Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center,  says his group’s income figures are larger because it “takes a much broader,  more comprehensive look at income. We look at income regardless of the source,  not just adjusted gross income.”

Across-the-board recession: But one trend  upon which most income analysts agree is every income level has been affected by  the recession.

U.S. Census data show that from 2000 to 2010, median income in the U.S.  declined 7 percent. And the outlook for recouping lost earnings isn’t good,  according to a recent Wall Street Journal survey of economists. The economists  told the newspaper they expect inflation-adjusted incomes to rise only 5 percent  over the next decade.

“The State of Working America’s Wealth,” a study by the Economic Policy  Institute, or EPI, produced similar bleak income results, especially for  lower-income earners.

The Washington, D.C.-based think tank found that from 2007 to 2009, average  annualized household wealth declined by 16 percent for the richest fifth of  Americans and 25 percent for the rest of the country.

But even with the across-the-board income drops, EPI researchers found that  in 2009 the wealthiest 1 percent of U.S. households had net worth that was 225  times greater than the typical median household’s net worth.

That disparity, according to EPI, is the highest ratio on record.

And that information might just prompt the Occupy Wall Street participants to  add 225 to their 1 percent numerical complaint list.

This story originally published on Bankrate.com here.

Dave Toliver is the Director of Corporate Marketing at Angel, a leading provider of cloud based customer experience solutions. By developing innovative IVR, call center and voice applications that put the customer first, Angel is changing the way enterprises serve their customers.

There’s bad news and good news about the way consumers interact with brands on social media.

The bad news? When customers complain on social media, those complaints can tarnish your brand’s name for a wide audience faster than ever.

The good news? Just as complaints travel at light speed thanks to social media, so do compliments.

If you think you’re not “on” or “doing” social media, you’re wrong. Your company may not be active, but I guarantee your fans and your non-supporters are there. Because of this, it is the brand’s responsibility to create a social media experience that can turn a dissatisfied customer into a raving fan.

To help your brand do this, here are seven ways to create a memorable customer experience on social media.

1. Give Your Customers a Place to Talk

Some companies are afraid to set up Facebook pages because they allow customers to comment, which means someone might write something negative. It seems counterintuitive, but you should actually want customers to complain on your company’s Facebook page. If your customers are complaining about you on their personal, privacy-protected Facebook profiles, you have no way to know if they’re complaining, much less reach out to them and make it right.

When customers complain on your brand’s Facebook page, you can respond and resolve issues. If you do it right (and get a little lucky), unhappy customers will turn their opinions around and recommend you to friends because of your fantastic customer service.

2. Integrate Social Media Into Your Customer Service

Neglecting your social media properties when they’re full of customer complaints is suicide for your brand. It’s like publishing a customer service hotline phone number that no one ever answers. (Except worse, because the whole Internet can see your negligence.)

Don’t open up the floor for complaints without a plan to handle them. Predict the complaints you may get and construct policies for replying to them. You should also plan on responding to fans who compliment you. At the very least, you should thank customers for the compliment. But if you really want to make customers happy, show happy customers your appreciation with coupons or other rewards.

3. Activate Your Existing Customer Base

Most brands have more customers than they do Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Start building your social media fan base by reaching out to your current customers — after all, they already “like” your brand in real life.

Think about how you currently contact your customer base and how you can use those communication channels to draw customers to your social media properties. For example, you could run a contest or promotion on Facebook and then include that promotion on your product’s packaging, in your next email, and in any touch point you have with your customers.

4. Be Proactive

Don’t just wait for someone to post on your wall or tweet your account. It’s especially easy on Twitter to monitor for mentions of your name and reach out when someone has a problem, even if they haven’t mentioned your account. Set your brand apart by proactively interacting with customers who are talking about your brand, whether you’re thanking them for a compliment or helping them solve a problem.

Think about why your customers use social media sites like Twitter — it’s because they want to “connect” and to have a voice out there. Make them happy that someone, most importantly your company, is listening to what they have to say.

5. Reward Influencers

Find the social media influencers for your audience and give them extras. This could be as simple as giving them advance notice of a special promotion, or complex as giving them a free trip and tour of your facilities. For example, check out what Musselman’s apple sauce did for its blogger network. Making people feel special will help turn them into advocates for your brand. Reward your brand ambassadors when they least expect it and you’ll see some pretty phenomenal results.

6. Create Compelling Content

Give your fans something of value on your page. For example, Nordstom’s “Beauty Central” on Facebook provides a ton of relevant, useful content. You can do something similar to this in every industry. If you’re a movie producer, post behind-the-scenes photos, and if you’re a bank, write money saving tips. It’s hard to get people to engage with your brand when you don’t have anything interesting to say. Every brand can (and should) create quality content.

Social media can be a channel to make customers or followers feel special, like they’re in an exclusive club with your brand because they follow you. Make them feel this exclusiveness whether you have ten social media fans or 100,000.

7. Stand Out From the Crowd

Some of the most memorable social media experiences are created by going beyond text. This can be as complex as Starbucks’s Pumpkin Picture app, or simple as using voice applications to let your brand’s spokesperson actually speak to your fans. The more interactive and engaging your social media presence, the better. In part, social media is a little anti-social because there can be a lot lost in plain text. By giving your fans a true voice on social media, or encouraging participation through photos and videos, you humanize the experience that much more. You’ll be doing so when most of the other companies out there aren’t really participating effectively this way.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

• 25% OFF all Notepads!
• 15% OFF all Non-UV Stickers!
• 15% OFF all 100lb Gloss Cover!

Graphic design not included. Not valid with any other offer.
Valid until October, 31st 2011. Printing takes 4 days.

Contact us for more information at 305-470-1420 or info@vitagraphics.net

Have a spooky Halloween!