What colors attract people to you?

Visual presentation and appeal, whether in your marketing materials or what you wear, can turn on or turn off what you people you attract. It does not matter if it’s on paper matter, Internet, like a web site, or in a presentation.

If you do any time of speaking, writing, or design type of work, this article is for you.

I'm not just talking about visual color, I'm also talking to you about audio and writing or language color. Each affect our relationships -- friends, family, prospects, clients or customers.

It is a fact that companies with large budgets spend billions on color market research -- usually in product or packaging development.

Solopreneurs pockets aren't as deep, thus, they need to use results of research of deep pocket-ers.

Colors tell someone if you are approachable. In same way they will affect whether someone will continue clicking through your web site.

Colors will determine if someone will start reading your article in a magazine or posted on your web site. Color also helps to keep people involved on your web site (it’s not just about content) and how long they stay.

Colors also influences how people will respond and behave. A black background on your web site now represents s*x-type of web sites. It is important that if that isn't your focus that you don't use a black background.

Let’s take a few minutes and play with this concept. The next time you go into a fast-food restaurant, look closely at colors. Do they decorate with vivid reds and oranges because they encourage diners to eat and leave quickly like many of fast food establishments. That is exactly response they want.

1. Slide Transitions And Sound Effects. They become focus of attention, which in turn distracts audience. Worse yet, when a presentation containing several effects and transitions runs on a computer much slower than one it was created on, result is a sluggish, almost comical playback. Such gimmicks rarely enhance message you’re trying to communicate. Unless you are presenting at a science fiction convention, leave out laser-guided text!

Leave fade-ins, fade-outs, wipes, blinds, dissolves, checkerboards, cuts, covers and splits to Hollywood filmmakers. Even “builds” (lines of text appearing each time you click mouse) can be distracting. Focus on your message, not technology.

2. Standard Clipart. Death to screen beans! Powerpoint© is now so widely used clipart included with it has become a “visual cliché.” It shows a lack of creativity and a tired adherence to a standard form. First, make certain that you need graphics to enhance your message. If you do, use your own scanned photographs or better-quality graphics from companies such as PhotoDisc (http://www.photodisc.com) or Hemera’s Photo Objects (http://www.hemera.com). Screen captures can add realism when presenting information about a Website or computer program. Two popular screen capture programs are Snagit (http://www.techsmith.com) for Windows and Snapz Pro (http://www.ambrosiasw.com) for Macintosh. Both are available as shareware.

3. Presentation Templates. Another visual cliché. Templates force you to fit your original ideas into someone else’s pre-packaged mold. The templates often contain distracting backgrounds and poor color combinations. Pick up a good book on Web graphics and apply same principles to your slides. Create your own distinctive look or use your company logo in a corner of screen.