Rules are made to be broken. Just like in any printing job- brochure, catalog or poster printing- rules are there for us to break and bend and go around it. If not for the rules, we wouldn’t know that we were actually creative and not so regular after all.
In poster printing, there are a lot of rules for designers and printers. Some of the rules may seem to be made of stone, but most often than not, there are ways to debunk them.
Sending your catalogs through mail, fax, or even email, is one effective tool in getting prospective clients to notice your business. In order for direct catalog mailing to work for your business, you need to have your very own database listing names and addresses, as well as the social, economic and lifestyle data of your target clientele.
Often, direct catalog mailing is seen as an invasion of privacy and security. Hence, direct mailing is considered by many as somewhat offensive and insulting. However, done the right way, catalog mailing can become a cost effective marketing tool for product promotion. By targeting a specific type of your potential audience, you can narrow down your list for a more cost effective catalog printing project.
As catalog printing strategists, one must be able to identify five ways that catalog mailing can help you: (1) get new clients, (2) maintain your current client database, (3) upgrade customers to another level in your business, (4) cross sell additional products and services, and (5) develop new products and services to offer your clients, existing or otherwise.
By delivering the catalogs directly to the homes of your target clients, you are able to provide your business with a much better chance of getting your products and services read and noticed. This way, your catalog mailing ensures that the consumers appropriate to your business would be able to receive your print materials.
Marketing your real estate through postcards is like getting new recipes- you need secret ingredients to make your dish more attractive to the appetite. Similarly, with postcard printing, you also need certain factors to be able to compete in the real estate industry.
One, you have to trust technology to work for you…NOT! You can rely on technology to help you come up with quality postcard printing; however, you need to understand that technology alone won’t be enough to get you your sought after success.
Two, you have to identify your target market to be able to create quality postcard marketing strategy for your business. What kind of customers are you targeting for your products? Who are your clients? What are their needs and wants? How will your business benefit them? How do you offer your products to them?
Three, when you identify your audience, you will then have to find out the objective for your postcard printing campaign. Best to remember as real estate agents to make realistic objectives for your postcards. Don’t give too much burden on your postcards by making them the be-all and end-all of your marketing strategy. Aspire for a more simple response like getting a phone call or an email from your target clients. Not what you’re aiming for exactly, but a more practical reaction nonetheless.
Three, aim for a lasting first impression by offering something new and something your target audience needs. This is the ultimate objective of consumers considering real estate agents- they need to know the benefits. A postcard without clear value to them is fated to go to the garbage bin, fast.
I am a voracious reader. I always believe that books can let me wander to places I’ve never been to; places that are only alive in my imagination. Books also let me in to trade secrets that are otherwise hidden in the real world. They also give answers to otherwise unanswerable questions. Books, to me, are everything. If I have questions, I turn to the pages of books. If there’s something I do not understand, again, it’s the books that provide me with new perceptions.
Ultimately, books are also wonder workers when it comes to getting help with your brochure printing projects. I found a site where the author suggests a list of books that can inspire and share new ideas and choices to help you with getting the kind of brochure that you want and need. (http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/books1/tp/brochurebooks.htm) Advice from these books, according to the author, range from innovative ideas, to a choice on paper, type, paper folds, cut, color, as well as binding to get the ultimate brochure from the resources that you have.
Creating Brochures and Booklets (Graphic Design Basics), by Val Adkins;
Brochures 4, by B. Martin Pederson;
More Brochures, a compilation by Rockport Publishers;
Creative Edge Brochures, by Gail D. Finke;
The Best of Brochure Design 5; and Design 6 (the first one is published, again, by Rockport Publishers; while the latter is authored by Cheryl Cullen).
I hope you get the time to browse any one of these books. It sure as heck beats going to a brochure printing company you don’t know, and haggling with every penny you got for your marketing brochures.
I found a novelty idea in the Internet. I was browsing through a lot of blogs these days and one of the sites that I was really happy to have found was the one that gives a step-by-step instruction on how to make your own Life Poster. You could even finish in just 30 minutes max.
First, you have to make an album in iPhoto. The writer said to use 98 photos and get those with lots and lots of colors.
Second, edit the photos by cropping it to “4 x 3 (dvd)”. Also use the “Adjust” button in the iPhoto5 for contrast and color.
Third, well, the writer did go on and on about the instructions that you just have to find out for yourself. You could google “Life Poster” if you want. I might get sued for plagiarism or something so I’m stopping now.
But what got me interested was the novelty of it. Imagine creating a life poster from pictures of your loved ones then giving them out as gifts. It totally rocks!
If you find it a little bit taxing, you could always go online for a poster printing company. Send them your design and layout and they’ll do the rest. For a certain fee, of course.
I really have to share this site with you guys. If you are really really really interested in graphic design and the arts you might want to check out this website: www.fullsail.com
The site is all about Full Sail, a school for film, art and design. They have a wide variety of degrees. The list include computer animation, digital arts and design, entertainment business, film, game development, music business, recording arts, and show production and touring. And you get to meet as instructors professional recording engineers, filmmakers, computer animators, game designers and live production personnel who are well-known in their fields. You can now get the full deal on what is going on inside each of the types of media production.
They recently announced a new Graphic Design Associate’s Degree that will concentrate on graphic art and corporate branding. Attention to all you graphic designer and color printing companies, you might want to check out this new course. The program is expected to provide students a more focused curriculum to improve their skills specifically in graphic design.
Full Sail is offering a special introductory price for those students who apply by July 10. For more details on the special associate’s degree and other degree programs, you may visit their website.
Now before you read further, be assured that I am not going to be discriminant towards any online printing company I have dealt with in the past with whom I had either a pleasant or worse experience. This posting is reared towards an insight on what to look for when searching online.
First things first, what product are you looking at printing? Is it a poster, a business card order, set of postcards with different designs, custom labels? To cut the chase, know what you want before you even go to Google.
Next, what keyword should you type in? Some searchers are stubborn and, sorry to say, narrow-minded such as to type the exact phrase of what they’re looking for. For instance, a person looking for a 9 x 4 catalog with 64 pages might type in “print 9 x 4 catalogs with 64 pages”. On a bright note, it’s good to be specific when searching for something. But on the other end, ask yourself, what are the chances of me getting more options with a very specific search term than with a more general one like “catalog printing“? I recommend you do a more general search to widen your options and then narrow it down as to if they provide your printing specifications as you go down investigating the online companies you find.
Third, don’t order yet! If your time affords you, request for a sample. Get ahold of a CSR or an agent if possible. Would also be helpful if you could get an agent on the line since this would also tell you how they value a customer. Once you get your samples, look over them carefully as these are forecasts to how your print job will turn out to be.
Now that you have the samples, check back online on their pricing. Notice how the price comes last. You consider the price lastly since by this time you should’ve already considered the other factors involved in choosing your printing company. Bear in mind, cheap price is not far from being equivalent to cheap quality. So make sure you have your samples at arm’s length. There ARE online companies out there which provide outstanding quality prints with uber-friendly prices. So just be on the lookout and I wish you a happily ever after with your printing job!
I’m in a rut today and all because my half-wit of a brother left the house with my PDA in tow. Bugger! And worst of all, I have this nagging feeling that I have to do something on a certain day but I just can’t seem to remember. Think, think, think! Woe is me with a feeble and overused mind! Argghhhh! I need my PDA!
But what do I see peeking from my bed covers? As I bend over and investigate I was surprised to see a calendar there on the floor. Dumped and forgotten, I pulled it out and rolled it slowly to see if it’s still worth using. Lo and behold! It still has the same quality as if it was just yesterday that I had it done by this online printing company. I remember that I had calendars printed last Christmas to give away as presents. Thank God for Christmas. Better yet, thank God for these primitive yet still-useful print calendars.
As I went back to the basics and struggled to extract dates and appointments from my chaotic mind and onto the grids, I realize how much PDAs, or technology in general, has made us so dependent and almost incapable of simple tasks we used to be so able to do ourselves. A simple notepad or a calendar or the concentrated strength of a human mind, these are all capable of keeping dates and tracking appointments. But the existence of such gadgets that make our life “easier” eventually renders us weak and less reliable to our own selves. It’s cool to have cellphones, laptops and playstation but there are some things we can make do without and instead go back to basics with. With this thought, my brother can keep that cursed PDA while I make my way to get me Ginkgo Biloba. 
Hi, I am George, I am an addict.
I always wanted to say that. But I guess I am addicted to a different kind of stuff than most AA participants are. I am a movie addict. That is an understatement. Some people prefer a specific genre of film: action, romantic comedy, sci-fi, etc. But me, I just love movies in general. This is how I escape the confinement of everything that is banal.
I have transformed my house to be like a museum of sorts. You see, I have a collection of memorabilia, costumes, and posters of movies I love. In the second floor bathroom, I proudly hang my latest acquisition: a Spiderman 3 poster. So cool! The red and blue Spidey sticking to a building façade with those round hornet-like eyes, arms outstretched, ready to spew out his ultimate weapon, is a sight to gaze at while I relieve myself of the sins of always munching on a burger. I have a ‘Gone in the Wind’ poster in my living room – that is a classic!
While looking at them I can’t help but wonder how it is like to make well designed posters like these. How did the poster printing companies come up with something totally awesome? I guess you really have to be very artistic and creative to capture the essence, the entirety of the film in one picture and at the same time entice the movie-going public to spend their hard-earned dollars to be entertained for a couple of hours. That is a work of a demi-god I reckon– a demi-god poster printer. But as for me, I will just be contented in filling up my house with everything that would remind me that life has its highs!
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