For Web-only designers, you know what platform you’re going to be working on. You know that no matter what you do, it’s going to be on the Web. In the print world, you need to first decide what kind of print material you’re going to design. Does the company need a direct mail postcard, brochure, poster or flyer?
Selecting Your Printing Pleasure One thing you have to consider with print design is portability. What will make people pick up this piece of paper and take it with them? Print does encompass including URLs, but you need to gauge where exactly the best place to put the URL is on the printed piece. And with no search engine or reviews to guide people to pick up a brochure, your design is that much more important. It has to follow the same design idea of the Web to grab someone’s attention in precious few seconds (the most time you get to capture attention is 5 seconds according to research).
You also need to consider what you want the printed piece to accomplish. What is your goal, or objective, for the direct mail postcard? To drum up new business, to announce a sale or to direct people to your Web site? All of these objectives lend themselves to different types of design and could be achieved by multiple paper sources, like flyers, postcards or sales letters.
Your Natural Competition
Once you choose what type of printed material would work best for your objective, you have to think about where people will be viewing your printed material. If you’re sending a postcard to people’s homes, there’s not much to think about there. But an item like a poster outside your building has natural competition, such as weather ruining your print job or trees blocking the view of your billboard.
Depending on if it’s the rainy season or if your item will be in direct sunlight will influence your choice in paper and ink selection. UV- and water-resistant paper and ink will help weatherproof your work and will keep it fresher longer, but it might also change the way your colors look. That, in turn, could affect your design. Another factor is finish: a high gloss finish will stand up to weather conditions better than matte, so you’ll need to design accordingly.
You’ll also need to drive by the location your printed item will be hung – are there tree limbs in the way? If you’ll be hanging it on a red brick building, you won’t want to use rust red as a background color for your poster. Also, look at the location at night to figure out how street light will affect your printed material at night.
Another biggie is that in print design you have to catch people’s attention from everything surrounding your item; on the Web, people search you out and you convince them to stay. Be sure you use colors and an eye-popping design that stands out from surrounding elements.
As long as you take into account what will get a human’s attention, rather than a search engine crawler’s attention, you’ll have success going from Web design to print.
Are you proud of your business card? Do you think it’s the best designed card in the world? How many people have commented on the design of your card when they received it? If you’re like most people, no one has said a word. Although good design means different things to different people, designers can agree on the following 4 business card design mistakes. You should avoid these in designing your business cards and if your printed business cards contain one of these faux pas, seriously think about redesigning and printing new ones.
1. A cluttered business card: Appealing cards don’t use up every inch of the cardstock. People get overwhelmed when they see a lot of info in a small space. Too much print looks unprofessional. Keep the vital info – name, your title and company, address, email, Web site and phone numbers. If you have room, you can include a tagline. Use the back of the card if you’d like. Just be sure to leave some white space, which is a design term for empty space.
2. Small print: If people need a magnifying glass to read your name on your business card, it’s too small! Obviously, people aren’t going to take the time to squint their way into understanding your text. Don’t sacrifice readability just to get a tagline or extra info on your card. A good rule of thumb is to make your name 9 points in size, your company name 12 points, and the rest of the type no smaller than 7 points. Using a hierarchy of sizes will also help your design look clean and uncluttered.
3. Having a plain white card: White cardstock with black printing. How original! So many people use this format for a business card that if you do, yours will be hard to find in the sea of white. Make your card a nice cream cardstock, or gray, or go crazy and go for black or some other color that still fits your brand’s image. I love the colors of this card and the design is still simple with the bright blue.
4. Crazy shape: I actually like creative business cards that aren’t rectangles. They look good. But it can be a big design problem because then where do recipients put your card? If it doesn’t fit in a wallet, your business card has a much higher death rate (e.g., being thrown away). Rounded corners are okay because the card will still fit in a wallet or Rolodex, but beyond that you’re pushing it. This business card is almost pushing it, but I think it would still have a high “keeper” rate because it’s the traditional size with rounded corners.
If you wait to redesign and print new cards when your current stash runs out, will it be worth it to lose a few new clients along the way? Clients that you might have gotten if your business card had been more impressive? I don’t think so. Business cards are one of the cheapest marketing tools you’ll ever use, so think of new cards as an investment in your business.
In a time of dwindling budgets, many people go back to what has always worked. And business cards are one of those marketing tools that always work because they’re simple and people know how they work. Techies might disagree and think email and contact info on a computer is better than a business card. But you have to have a computer to access your email and your contacts’ info. A business card can be carried with you everywhere and no one needs special equipment to read it.
Business Card Design Basics Less is more is the mantra of good business card design. You don’t have much room, even if you use the back of the card. That means you must use clean font that is easily readable, colors that don’t make people’s eyes hurt and a design that is logical. People should immediately know what to look at first (your name) and what to look at next (usually your title or your company; it’s up to you which you’d rather focus on next). The basic info you need:
Name
Title
Company Name
Address
Logo
Phone/fax numbers
Email address
Company URL
(Optional: tagline)
I put tagline as optional, because in my opinion, it’s not a deal breaker when it comes to business cards. And, I don’t think people will really remember your tagline from seeing it on your business card. Plus, if it’s longer than a few words it could really take up some prime real estate on your card. If it’s short and people know the tagline, though, I would include it. Everything else is essential.
Design Ideas Now, the reason I’m bringing up this topic is to share some interesting business card design ideas. Anymore, white cardstock with black ink just won’t do it. That’s boring. Black cardstock with white writing, now that’s more interesting. If you want people to keep your card, it’s best if it’s interesting. You’ll seem more innovative, as will your company and brand. If you have a boring card, your company and brand will seem boring. Your business card is a direct reflection of the personality of your business.
A simple turn of the direction of card to vertical could be all you need to make an impact. I love this card, not only because it’s turned, but because it’s also clear. That’s different. That’s something people don’t expect. It could possibly cause confusion if it’s laid on top of a dark surface, but I’ll bet that whoever takes this card will keep it in their wallet or somewhere organized so that they can reference it.
If there’s a way for you to capture the essence of your business with your card design, by all means do it! That could mean a carpenter creating a card made out of a thin piece of wood, or cardstock colored to look like wood. For a photographer, it could mean using film, such as this card. Film is an integral part of a photographer’s life, and the design is still simple, clear and effective.
Another one I like is this envelope supplier’s card. It’s simple, yet effective because it represents a part of her job, and makes it look professional and innovative. If she has a great card like this, what else can she do?
That’s the kind of thinking you need when designing your business card. You need to impress people into wanting to contact you for more information and to find out what you can do for them. Use interesting textures, fonts, and shapes, but keep it clean, simple and clear. A confusing business card or a card with bright colors that don’t coincide with your brand will just confuse people. Think about your brand’s personality first, and then design from there.
If you choose the wrong color for your marketing materials or Web site, it’s possible you could be turning potential customers away before they even read a word. There’s much psychology behind color, and knowing how to use colors to get the feelings you want people to experience will help you get the marketing results you want.
Understanding Color All color comes from two basic colors: red and blue. Browns come from a mixture of both. Purple, indigo, green and others on that side of the color wheel come from blue. Orange, yellow and pink all stem from red tones. The eye focuses on blue colors in front of the retina, which means blue tones move away from the eye. This makes them seem non-threatening and can make people feel drowsy or relaxed. The eye focuses on red tones behind the retina, which means red tones move toward the eye. This makes red tones seem energetic, aggressive and excited.
Color Psychology
So, from how we see color, it’s easy to speculate that blue tones will make people relaxed and red tones will energize people. And that’s exactly what color studies have found. In one study that was featured on the ’70s show “The Human Body”, colicky babies in a hospital room lit by red lights cried more often and more intensely than when the same room with the same babies was lit by blue light. The researchers switched the lights of the room from red to blue and back again, and when the lights were red, the babies cried more than when the lights were blue. The blue lights actually quieted the room.
Blue shades and tones emanate feelings of stability, logic, relaxation and professionalism. A spa or a doctor’s office would do well to create a blue motif in their marketing materials. Since red tones get people excited, red would work well in marketing materials created for a sports items, money, motivating products and cars.
Of course, each color on the color wheel can produce different feelings. For instance, black is seen as a color of authority and seriousness. White implies cleanliness, which is why surgical gloves, and doctors and nurses wear a lot of white. (Notice white, blue and green scrubs and items in many hospitals? This combination produces a feeling of cleanliness and calmness.) You can check out more color meanings at InfoPlease.com or do an Internet search for “color psychology.”
As you can see, colors can mean all the difference in whether your marketing materials are read with an open calmness or a distrusted aggression. The right color for your marketing materials depends on your brand message and what you want consumers to feel. There is no right color for everyone, but there is a right color for your brand and your product.
When it comes time to map out a new ad, whether for a billboard, brochures, a magazine spot or any other multitude of media, it’s hard to come up with something creative that people can just look at and instantly “get it.”
And creating a creative ad doesn’t automatically mean success. If your target audience doesn’t understand it, or if the content isn’t relevant, no amount of creativity will bring in sales. It’s easy for designers to forget that the purpose of the ad is to bring is sales when all they want to do is be creative. Likewise, it’s easy for the ad account managers to see the positive attributes of a really creative ad if they don’t see the sales potential right off the bat.
But, a creative and effective ad can be done. There are plenty of successful, creative ads out there that prove it. Get inspired by this Exposed SEO blog post that showcases 23 interesting, creative ads that don’t need to be contemplated to be understood. Many of these use the environment or an existing venue to play the ad off of (check out the bus exhaust coming out of a person’s mouth like cigarette smoke). Creative, clear and motivating.
And creative ads don’t only come from pros. Students show just as much, if not more creativity, in these ads on Advertnews.com. These feature an ad for Toblerone using what looks to be a bike rack and an ingenious, yet so simple, Windex ad.
To get a creative idea, you have to look outward, I think. Yes, inward is where the creativity flows, but you have to look outside yourself for ideas. And not stealing other ad ideas, but just looking at a tree and seeing it as a palette for something bigger, like a landing spot for a blown piece of gum (see the Exposed SEO blog).
There are four key elements of making an effective, yet creative ad:
1. It must be relevant to the customer.
2. It should contain a promise to the customer.
3. It should be well understood by the customer, yet not talk down to the customer.
4. Always put the product in the center of the ad.
Many creative ads get the creative part down almost too well, which means the product gets ignored. A number of studies have shown people remember a certain TV commercial, but they can’t remember what product the ad was selling. This is referred to as vampire creativity. If your ad is too entertaining or too involving, it obscures the product.
As you can see, there’s a fine line between being effectively creative and obscurely creative. By having your creative mind(s) working with the business-oriented mind(s), you have a better chance of achieving the right balance for a great ad. Teamwork is what it’s all about, just as in any other business.
What is it about certain ads that make you remember them? A great jingle? “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!”
Or is it a great saying: “Whassup?” The Budweiser commercial featuring the Whassup guys has been updated and remade by 60Frames, who makes original Internet programming.
Now though, it’s turned political (surprise, surprise!). The commercial shows the same guys, but the economy has gotten to them and one guy is watching a political commercial or speech on TV. It’s a sad update of what’s taken place since the commercial aired 8 years ago. The thing is, even though I haven’t thought about that commercial for years, as soon as I saw “Whassup” I knew exactly what commercial was being referenced. So the first thing to make your ad memorable is to make up a word or someone change a word so that everyone wants to copy you.
There were no cute animals, like in the other Bud commercial with the talking frogs. Now, I’m not a beer fan, but Bud seems to have some pretty good commercials. The Bud-Weis-Er frogs came on the scene during the ’95 Super Bowl and ranks at #5 on the MSNBC list for best Super Bowl ads ever. So, include talking animals. That almost always works!
The Federal Express commercial featuring fast talker John Moschitta Jr. is ranked #1 on New York magazine’s list of “The Most Memorable Advertisements Madison Avenue Ever Sold.” And isn’t Moschitta Jr. lucky – his fast talking got him at least 10 spots on VH1’s “I Love the ’80s” show. This is memorable because it still applies today to everyone’s “hurry up and wait” mentality. Plus, it aligns quite well with Federal Express’ brand. So, pick an idea that brings your brand to life. (If only it were that easy, right?)
And we love little old ladies who don’t act like little old ladies. Maybe you should add one to your next ad for some memorability. I’m sure you remember the old lady asking “Where’s the beef?” in the 1984 Wendy’s ad. I was just a little kid then and didn’t even know what Wendy’s was and I know that saying. “It’s arguably the best line in a commercial over the past 25 years,” says David Apicella, a vice-chairman at Ogilvy. When Homer Simpson repeats your slogan or quotes your commercial, you know you’ve got a winner!
Even though this is a logo and not an ad, I couldn’t leave out the “I [heart] NY” logo. And what about the “I [heart] NY” T-shirts that are still all the rage? I didn’t know the logo was over 30 years old, but believe it or not, it was created in 1977. And, it was created for free. That’s right, Milton Glaser created the logo for New York tourism for free. New York magazine says the logo “is among the world’s most recognizable, initially concocted to boost tourism to New York State as the city teetered on the brink of insolvency.” So that goes to show you that you don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to create a great logo. Just give it a simple design with lots of meaning. You can do that, right?
According to an Advertising for Peanuts blog post, ads should be entertainment. The author, Jim Morris, even comes up with a new definition of advertising: “n. Entertainment with some commercial message or agenda of some sort in there somewhere.” Morris believes that the advertising industry should stop trying to fight the fact that ads have to be entertaining first.
But I say, if advertising is firstly entertaining, how does that translate into higher sales? Isn’t the point of advertising to get info out about a product, and to sell the product? I’ll agree that entertaining people is a good way to help them remember info about a product, but I think that selling a product should be the first goal of advertising, not entertaining people. That’s what sitcoms, drama shows, books, magazines and movies are for!
In a CNNMoney.com article, Paul R. La Monica states “It’s a disturbing trend for many large corporations, who may find that instead of boosting sales, they are wasting millions of dollars on advertising campaigns that simply boost the egos of marketing executives and ad agency types who dream of being the next Martin Scorsese or Woody Allen. Advertising is increasingly morphing into another form of entertainment, and not as something that effectively conveys a company’s brand message.”
Why Advertisements Need to Be Entertaining
In an age where people can TiVo their favorite shows and skip the commercials, people need a reason to watch the commercials, and entertainment is that reason. Others argue that people see all kinds of media on the Internet and on TV, so to really stick out, you have to be funny, which is what “entertaining” translates to in this conversation.
But some people take it too far in this YouTube era where all entertainment all the time reigns. “There are some spots on TV where people say, ‘Gee, that was really cool. But what was the product?’” Neal M. Burns, professor of advertising at the University of Texas at Austin, told CNNMoney.com.
Why Advertisements Need to Be Informative Ad agencies are taking the entertainment factor too far that their message is totally lost. If there was even a message at all. After the 2007 Super Bowl, CareerBuilder’s new entertaining, funny TV ads were poorly rated. For the sake of entertainment, CareerBuilder’s ad agency, Cramer-Krasselt, changed CareerBuilder’s lovable monkey motif ads to a jungle themed ad. The ad flopped and was poorly rated in many Super Bowl commercial reviews. CareerBuilder put its ad account up for review, which angered Cramer-Krasselt, which also created the monkey ads. Peter Krivkovich, president and CEO of Cramer-Krasselt said he was disappointed with CareerBuilder and told CNNMoney.com: “People have gotten confused between what is entertainment for entertainment’s sake and what is actually smart marketing messaging. The YouTube generation of advertising has forgotten that,” he said. “You can have a brilliant, unique, funny ad, but if it’s not coupled with insight it will be forgotten.”
We Need a Balance of Entertainment and Info
All entertainment ads don’t work because people don’t know what the ad is for. All informative ads don’t work because they’re too boring for people to pay attention to. So, as with just about anything in life, moderation is key. Add a moderate dose of entertainment and a moderate dose of information that people can use about your product, and there’s your magical dose of the “just right” ad.
For you to be able to achieve success in business, 4 things must not be neglected:
A great product/ service
A decent ad copy
The right targeted market
Repeat!
When you are out to explore avenues in marketing for your business, one of the core basics is to have a good ad copy. Once you are sure that your product or service has been perfected for a release in the market, it is vital that you put up an ad that is “unmissable”. Most businesses already know this, right? But do they know the ingredients for an excellent classified or ad copy that can show results. NO! The following tips shall give you insight as to how wonderful classifieds can be created for a deeper impact on your audience:-
Any classified in the world has to have 3 basic things in it:-
The Heading
The Body
Call to Action
Let’s take a closer look at how all of them can be effective!
The Heading: This is the single most important factor in an ad. Headings are the first thing that will strike your audience’s attention. Ether it will grab enough attention that they go ahead and read the rest of what you have to say or just step out of it without bothering at all. So make sure your heading has some strong words / symbols depending upon the space you have. Only if there is a spark between the ad and the customer, will he move forward to take an action. It should be strong but also believable. Some examples:
“Earn $5000 from your home, now!”
“Save $X on daily shopping”
By the end of your heading, you must have created enough interest in the customer that he reads the rest of your ad. Once you get this done, have the work is over!
The Body: This part will explain and expand on what you have offered through your headline. Make sure you don’t stuff it with a lot of heavy nerdy terms and words. This might take off the interest of your potential customer. Try not to exceed more than 25 words. Apply the KISS rule: Keep it Simple, stupid! What makes it worse is the use of abbreviations. Try not to use them as your message should come across very clear. If our ad has been designed well, it will provoke the customer to make the next move.
Call to Action: This is the final stage of your ad. It is the last line of your ad where the basic motive is to provoke the reader into taking an action. This can be achieved easily with coupling your contact information with action words. To get a solid response, you must put some use some action words like “call now” along with your telephone no. or web address. It has been researched a no. of times and has been proven, that for customers to respond or react to the ad, they must be enticed with the help of words. Some foolproof examples like these can really work :-
“For FREE information, call now! 1-800……”
“Call Toll-Free! 1-877….”
“Visit our website for a free demo of….”
Remember the purpose is to invite your potential customers to try out what you are offering if not ordering at all. To achieve this, you can also apply one of the oldest strategies of all, which is to give out a special offer or a discount. When people realize that NOW is the best time to call, they will do it, at least pay a visit of not much. For better results, make the offer a “limited time” one or a “week only” offer. Mission accomplished!
Apart from having great content on your classified ad, it is vital that it is published at the right time and at the right place. Make sure you use your local directories well. There are plenty of options available. Buying a space in the local yellow pages in bulk can save you a great deal of money. Following these tips before printing your ad can double your response in no time.
The world has gone digital. Everyone loves technology – even kids! It amazes me how much kids know about technology when they are only toddlers. I think having a toddler computer is a little ridiculous, but that’s just me. My point is the world is going digital in all facets.
I don’t remember the last time I wrote a check. Read the “real-life” newspaper – the offline version? Not recently. Went to the movie store to rent a movie? Got Netflix for that.
With everything, including marketing, going digital, the best thing to do is to adapt print marketing to the digital realm. People still like to read printed items like magazines and newspapers. It’s much easier to tote around a brochure or postcard instead of sitting down at a computer to print out the brochure info while you’re shopping. Then again, there’s nothing that says you have to even leave your house to go shopping anymore.
Expert Opinion #1
Two experts weighed in at DMNews.com about the subject. Pamela Girardin, President of Q2 Marketing, says the print industry has many advantages – notably, the touch-and-feel advantage. That’s part of the reason why I like my magazines so much – I like feeling the pages. I like smelling the perfume samples. I like being able to take my magazine on the plane, to the beach, or wherever I want without having to worry about Wi-Fi access or a laptop battery running low. Plus, looking at a computer monitor all day would hurt my eyes. She says the biggest hurdle for the print industry is rising costs.
I agree with her that rising costs are a factor. I would also note that as more consumers are becoming more “green” and concerned about the environment, the print industry needs to take note and offer more green options. Many printers already offer recycled paper and soy inks, which is a great start. I think a key to integrating print into digital is to offer people a choice: do they want the online version of a brochure or a print version? Do they want to get their bank statements by email or by regular mail? I think that giving people a choice will help to integrate print and digital.
Expert Opinion #2
The other expert that gave his two cents at DMNews.com was Jeremy Knauff, CEO of Wildfire Marketing Group. He says that technology has reduced the need for print jobs, but marketers can use printed materials to follow up with people that clicked thru to your Web site. He also mentions that people love customized products geared specifically for them. He advises to use short-run printing and customize marketing materials for specific clients.
I think that he has a good point of using both digital and print to market to the same people. I don’t think people will see a postcard and an email as being too “in your face” because they are different media. You could follow up sooner with an email or postcard than you could with another email or another postcard the following week. I think using all the different media available could really be successful when integrating print marketing in a digital world.
Many companies are taking advantage of the fact that catalog printing can reinforce and boost online sales while reducing other costs across the company. Catalog printing puts your products and services in front of your customers while the internet provides ease of access for ordering and further research. This one-two punch of catalog printing while also making your catalog available online has been generating increased online sales for companies who use both catalog formats.
But there are some important pitfalls to avoid. Both catalogs have to be tightly integrated across a number of levels. How can you avoid these potential catalog catastrophes? Read on for an overview of some areas where your online and printed catalogs must be closely connected.
Product information
The information you provide in your printed catalogs must be identical to the information you provide online. That is not to say the words have to be exactly the same, but there should be no contradictions. This is an especially easy mistake to make with technical specifications. When catalog printing, take extra special care to maintain this equivalence across your printed and digital catalogs.
Product pricing
When including prices in printing catalogs, you must be careful as your customers may also check your online catalog. If there is a price discrepancy, then this can cause confusion for your customers. One way to avoid this issue while catalog printing is to put a “call us for pricing” note instead of an actual price. This can be especially effective if some of your products and services are subject to volatile pricing.
Branding
Finally, your branding efforts must be similar across your physical and digital catalogs. Branding includes logos, color schemes, font types, and page layout, to name a few. Branding across both physical and digital catalogs works to reinforce your brand and reassure your customer that they are working with the same company.
Greeting card printing is a fairly easy process because of the simplicity of the layout. A greeting card has only a few parts to it, but taking the time to put the elements together correctly will provide for engaging greeting cards that connect you with the recipient. Whether the purpose of your greeting card is to connect with customers, employees, or family and friends, make sure that your design contains the necessary elements.
On the front of the greeting card, include either a photograph, text, or a combination of both. Spend the most time on the front of the card to make sure that it sets the mood for the rest of the message. The greeting can be serious, witty, funny, or romantic.
You can leave the inside blank for writing a personalized message or you can include a reply to the message on the front of the greeting card. For cards that open vertically, typically the text is printed on the bottom flap. Horizontal greeting cards contain the main text on the right flap. You might also decide to include a poem or joke on the top opposite flap. Including an electronic signature is necessary when mailing the cards directly from the print shop.
On the back of the greeting card, you can print your logo, company name, and contact information if your purpose is promotional. Or for personal use, create your own personal mark, print your name, the date, or simply leave the back blank.
Even with the many online greeting cards available, printed ones are still widely used and appreciated. Nothing shows someone how much you care better than a simple greeting card containing a short handwritten note. Just be sure to order a large quantity from a greeting card printing company so that you have enough and at a discounted cost.
A logo is one of the first things you should design when you start a new business. Your logo is what customers look to when they remember you or identify your business. Your logo also gives customers more faith and trust in you as a business. A business that doesn’t even have a logo is not yet a business in many people’s eyes. That’s why you gotta get a logo first!
A logo contributes to your credibility, memorability and visibility. You might want to put off designing your logo until you get more money, but the longer you wait, the longer you’ll have to wait to create marketing materials, including your Web site. That’s because your logo needs to go on every piece of marketing material and your product packaging too. That’s how important it is.
Your logo should be unique and heaven forbid, please do not use ClipArt! ClipArt screams amateur and unprofessional. Besides, if you use ClipArt, your logo could end up looking just like your competitor down the street.
The first step: design or text? The first thing you want to decide on is whether you’ll have a design represent your company, your company’s name as your logo or a combination of both. There’s no right way to design a logo: all of these choices are equally good. It all depends on what’s needed for your company.
Design
If you decide on design, try to think of a way to incorporate your industry or your product into the design. I saw one clever logo for an airline called Peace Air, and its logo looked like a peace sign – the plane’s body was the vertical line that makes up the middle of the peace sign and the plane’s wings made up the two smaller lines that go out to the side of the peace sign. That’s pretty clever if you ask me.
Of course, you can’t always incorporate something from your industry into your logo. But it’s always nice if you can!
Text On to text. If you decide to use purely text as your logo, here are some font tips:
1. Choose a font that fits your business’s personality. Serif fonts, the ones with “feet” give off a mature and established feeling whereas a sans-serif font (without feet) looks more modern and young.
2. Use a font that no one else uses. You can buy fonts online and download them, and some you can even download for free. I’d advise against the free ones, because those are the ones everyone else will be using. Buy a good, wide-ranging set of fonts so that you have less of a chance of looking like some other business. You can also create your own font by hiring a designer or buying software that lets you create fonts, like CorelDRAW. There are plenty of other software options out there, so just Google “create fonts software.”
3. Modify the font if possible. If you choose a font that looks similar to others, or if you just want to add a little bit of flair, modify your font just a bit. You could add longer serif “feet” or stretch the font to make it look wider. You could even just modify one letter of your logo to make it look different. A slight modification can make your logo look unique and add visual interest.
Marketing materials look better with photos. Period. “A photo is worth a thousand words.” From the beginning of the first printed photograph in the 1820s, people have known the value of a good photo. But with megapixels, color and photo effect jargon floating around everywhere on the Internet and in photo studios, how do you know when you have a good photo? It all depends on the lighting, the megapixels and the photographer.
When you create a brochure or flyer that has an intriguing message and a blurry photo, people are only going to remember that blurry photo. “What was in that photo? Was it supposed to be like that?” A photo can make or break your marketing materials. And the most important factor of the blurry photo is the number of pixels.
Pixels – The Building Blocks of Photos
To have a clear photo, you need to take the picture with a digital camera that has a decent amount of pixels. A decent amount means at least 2MP (more about MP in a minute). Anymore, it’s hard to find a low-end digital camera with 2MP – most start at 3MP or more. This is good news for you that digital cameras are getting more affordable.
What is a Pixel?
A pixel is a dot of information, a dot of color, in your photo. Photos today are made up of millions of these dots, or pixels. Mega means “million” so whenever you talk in megapixels (MP) you mean X million pixels. So, a 2MP camera will provide 2 million pixels when a photo is printed from that camera. That may sound like a lot, but really 2 million pixels will only get you as far as a clear 4×6 photo.
If you are printing a poster and need to take a photo, you’ll want to take the photo with a camera that can produce a print size of 12×16 or maybe even 18×24. The bigger the MP of the camera, the more expensive it is. A 12×16 print, to be printed clearly, needs to be taken with a 10MP camera. An 18×24 print, to be printed clearly, needs to be taken with a 14MP camera.
Now, with a 10MP camera, you can make photo sizes up to 12×16 clearly. Anything smaller will come out equally as clear.
Camera Quality
Most amateur digital cameras on the market today, the ones you can get at Target or Best Buy, range from 5MP to 8MP. The largest clear photo you can print with a 5MP camera is 8×12. With an 8MP camera you can get up to 11×14. This is good enough for most people and most small businesses as well.
If you print photos larger than the maximum sizes given here, you’ll end up with a blurry, pixilated photo. So check out the MP size of camera before you buy, keeping in mind what you’ll use the photos for. If your photos will just be for regular-size flyers, brochures and postcards, you can get a great 5MP digital camera for an affordable price, between $100 and $300.
1. Use colors wisely. Colors emanate a feeling – blue can mean calm, black is associated with dread or sadness, and red is associated with love. If you are designing your own marketing materials, be sure to use the right colors that evoke the kind of mood or feeling you want customers to feel when they see your marketing piece. Be sure to look up the color wheel so you know which colors complement each other, and which should not be used together under any circumstances! Complementary colors help each other stand out; non-complementary colors will help each color fade into the background. Choose wisely.
2. Use white space liberally. Eyes get tired. If you fill every square inch of your brochure or flyer with text or graphics, readers’ eyes will get tired. Once the eyes get tired, the brain doesn’t want to read anymore. That’s bad news for business. Be sure to include plenty of white space, or empty space, in your design to give people’s eyes a rest. Think that’s boring? Look at the most popular search engine’s Web site – Google – plenty of white space and it’s still going strong after 10 years.
3. Start with a template. If you aren’t a designer, starting from a template is your best bet for a professional-looking brochure or catalog. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little design help. You can find templates at Microsoft Office Online, HP’s Business Templates and Images Web page, or StockLayouts.com. You can find basic templates for free, which you simply download from the Web site, or you can pay for a more complex template. You can expect to pay about $100 per template.
4. Match the paper to your printer.Inkjet printers need to print on inkjet paper. Laser printers need to print on laser paper. Each type of paper is specially formulated for each type of printer. Laser printers use a fuser to dry toner particles on the paper; this requires intense heat. Laser paper is made of this type of heat.
Inkjet paper is created to absorb ink because inkjet printers spray liquid ink onto a page to create an image. Using a laser paper, which doesn’t absorb ink, on an inkjet printer would result in smearing or streaking.
5. Match the paper to your purpose. If you’re creating a brochure, you’ll want a heavier, more opaque (not see-through) paper than if you were creating a flyer. Your paper needs to match your purpose. Sales letters are generally printed on lighter weight paper, about 20 to 24 lbs. Greeting cards are generally printed on heavier paper, about 60 to 79 lbs.
You also need to refer to the brightness of the paper. A brighter paper will help your images and text look clearer because more light is bouncing off the paper.
You can also choose the type of paper finish you want: matte, glossy or something in between. Colored photos look better on glossy finishes and black-and-white photos look better on matte.
6. Ask someone to proof your work. Your work might look perfect to you, but it never hurts and always helps to get a second pair of eyes on it. Ask a colleague (or two or three) to look over your marketing piece. Ask the person if the colors look right, to make sure there are no typos, to suggest a different layout and to make sure you have enough white space. Another set of eyes can make the difference between an amateur-looking brochure or a professional-looking brochure.
Booklet printing and design can be tricky because of the amount of written words and information often involved. Most companies cannot avoid booklets, though, because they are needed in almost any industry. Your company may need instruction manuals, company reports, catalogs, or magazines, all of which are types of booklets. The tone, images, and layout are all determined by the purpose. For instance, it may include graphs or charts if a manual or report, while a catalog will contain photographs of products.
You may already have some page ideas for your booklet printing, or maybe you don’t even know where to start. Both problems have a solution. You might want try first perusing similar booklet designs for some ideas, but if you still run into a block, maybe the list of booklet pages below will help.
1. Introduction, Preface, or Foreward – Each of these terms refer to a different type of introductory page. An “introduction” includes company background, goals, or objectives. The “preface” would contain a summary of the booklet itself along with the main highlights. The “foreward” is any written piece by an expert in the field, often with references to the booklet.
2. Dedication – When you need to thank those who have contributed or inspired your booklet, put these on the dedication page. You can also include a “Dedicated to” list.
3. Table of Contents – Sometimes booklet printing needs to include a table of contents in the front so that readers can easily flip to the information they need. This page is especially important when your booklet contains chapters or long sections.
4. Appendix, Glossary, or Index – All of these pages are included at the back of the booklet. The “appendix” is any extra reference information needed, for instance a list of stores that donated the information or products. A “glossary” is a list of terms and definitions contained within the booklet. An “index” often replaces the table of contents because it contains a list of terms and the page numbers on which they can be found.
5. Interesting, Fun, or Educational Information – You may want to include a page filled with tips, hints, facts, or anything else that would interest the reader. Customer reviews or testimonials are an excellent selling tool as buyers trust the satisfaction of other consumers. This page should be advertised either on the cover or in the beginning pages to encourage readers to flip through the booklet.
If you are still stumped on page designs, incorporate the help of a professional. Often, you can find more cost-effective designers provided by your booklet printing company, so check with them before searching for an actual graphic designer or design company.
1. The headline: Use words that catch readers’ attention in the headline and that will pull them into the rest of the copy. Words like “free,” “save” and “secret” work well to intrigue people into finding out more about what your print marketing has to say.
On average, the headline is read five times more than the body copy. That means people have read the headline and it wasn’t good enough to motivate people to read on. Don’t become part of that statistic! Include a clear benefit to the reader in the headline and you’ll draw them in. If you can pair a benefit with an eye-catching word like “free,” your headline will have real stopping power.
2.Use white space. Any space in your design that isn’t filled with text or graphics, or is in other words blank, is considered “white space.” Don’t feel like you have to fill every square inch of your print marketing materials. Whether it’s a flyer, postcard or brochure, a simple, uncluttered design will look much better and will draw people into your marketing piece than a cluttered design.
3. Limit yourself to two fonts. Any more than two fonts will make your design look cluttered. Unless you have a huge poster or a big marketing piece that can handle the extra fonts, stick with two. You should use a sans-serif font for your headlines and subheads (sans-serif means “without feet” in French; examples are Arial and Century Gothic) because sans-serif fonts are harder to read when they font size is small. Use a serif font for all of your body copy, or your smaller size copy. Serif fonts have “feet,” which make them easier to read. Examples of serif fonts are Times New Roman and Garamond.
4. Address your audience. Make sure you talk directly to your audience – say “Attention CEOs” or blatantly ask “Are you a stay at home Mom?” By talking directly to your audience there will be no mistake who your message is for.
5. Use before and after ads when possible. People have an above average understanding of before and after ads, and I think many women like them because they are like makeovers. When you can give proof in a photo format that your product works, there is no contesting it.
6. Use photos instead of line drawings when possible. Photos are more believable than line drawings. Photos are better at drawing people’s eyes in because the colors are generally more saturated than in a graphic.
7. Test your ads again and again. Readership increases with repetition. Keep testing new ads against old ones to see which ones are more effective. There comes a time when repetition gets boring, so be sure to switch up your design to keep consumers interested.
The purpose of your newsletter may be to keep members of a club updated on current events, to promote your company and keep up a connection with customers, or to generate sales. Whatever your goals, there are a few things that you need to consider before designing and printing newsletters. Deciding on layout format beforehand will save you from timely setbacks that can cause you to miss your deadline.
1. Some newsletters are printed in black-and-white to cut costs. While considering cost is necessary, you need to weigh money saved against the quality lost. Full color newsletters are much more appealing. Don’t be fooled by the term “full color,” though. This term refers to commercial printing, which involves using the four color (CMYK) method of printing. A stunning newsletter uses color in concentrated, select areas rather than scattering small bits of color throughout.
2. Choose the type of fold for your newsletter. Generally, most newsletters use only one of two fold types: the French fold or the double parallel fold.
French Fold
The French fold involves folding the paper in half, then in half again perpendicular to the first fold. Often, the purpose of the second fold is to merely make it less bulky for mailing. Therefore, the layout is set according to the standards of a half fold. This creates a newspaper feel.
Double Parallel Fold
Double parallel folding also provides a “news” feel because the layout can also be based on the first fold only so that the second fold is to provide for easier mailing.
Of course, you may decide that you want to lay out the newsletter according to the full folding technique. Play around with the folding by sketching a layout on a piece of paper to help you decide what works best for your newsletter image.
3. The type of paper used in newsletter printing can help to reduce costs. Most newsletters use a lighter, uncoated paper, such as #70 text, which costs less than a heavy gloss paper. Although a heavier paper is not necessary since the idea is to copy the image of a newspaper, you might decide that yours needs the durability of a heavy, coated paper text.
4. The size of the paper refers to the final size when the newsletter is opened flat. Avoid delays in printing by designing your newsletter for the appropriate size. If you want an 11×17 tabloid size but design the layout based on an 8.5×11 letter size, then your final product will either have margins that are too large or its also possible that valuable information will get trimmed because of the size error.
5. When you are ordering newsletters from a commercial printer, you may not be able to find a template specifically for newsletters. If this is the case, simply choose a template from the flyer list, or brochure list if flyers are not offered. Both of these provide folding and paper options needed for newsletters.
It’s no secret that many marketing venues are online that were once exclusively offline. Everything from television to brochures are online now. But does that mean that print marketing is dead? Hardly. It might not be as big as it once was because people now have multiple outlets, but that just means print marketing has to share the spotlight with its online counterparts.
People typically do their initial research about products online by checking out forums, review sites and the product manufacturer’s Web site. Some people do all their research online, but many still request brochures, catalogs and other printed materials from the manufacturer. People like to be able to relax on the couch without a hot laptop on their lap and just look through a catalog. The glare from looking at a computer screen all day is not appealing.
All of this means that you must integrate your print marketing strategy with your online marketing strategy.
Here are a few ideas on how to do that:
Use your print marketing to direct people to your online marketing. If you use postcards to draw people’s attention to your product and then direct them to your Web site for more information, you’ve just drawn people in with the information that would have been on a brochure for the price of a postcard. Since Web site hosting is cheap, you can put as much info on your site as you want and not have to worry about paying for an extra four pages of content like you would a brochure.
You can also cut back on catalog printing costs. Send out a 40-page catalog with your best products instead of your usual 56-page catalog and direct people to your Web site for more catalog selections. You save money on printing and people can still see all of your products on your Web site. You can focus your catalog on your best moneymakers and feature the not-so-popular items on your Web site only.
Create an e-newsletter. Include info that your customers crave, like how to save money on products in your industry and info on the best products on the market. If you already have a print newsletter, include a link in the newsletter for consumers to sign up on your Web site to receive the e-newsletter. You can build your email database this way and also keep in touch with consumers in the way that they prefer. Older consumers prefer to get their news in print while younger consumers would rather get their news online.
Include an interactive copy of your brochure or catalog online. Make it searchable so people can browse to exactly what they want online. Many people will note what they want from your print catalog and then get on your Web site to make their purchases. Make it easy for them by including a search box for the online catalog and making it easy for people to find what they’re looking for.
Posters connect as an advertising tool where many other advertising mediums cannot. No matter how or where your posters are working for you, there is an ideal paper choice which can serve to protect and enhance your posters.
Card stock The strongest paper type, poster printing on card stock is ideal when your poster may need to stand on its own without any support. Images typically are vibrant and rich. Card stock is excellent for poster printing when you expect to display your posters outside or plan to keep your posters on display for long periods.
Satin paper Satin paper is still considered a heavyweight paper, but is the lightest duty that you would want to use for posters. Pictures and graphics are typically stunning. Satin paper is fine for indoor use and is a great value for your dollar.
Matte paper Not quite as strong as card stock, matte paper is known for being ultra UV-resistant. In some cases, matte paper is said to be able to resist fading for over 100 years! Poster printing on matte paper will produce images of fair quality and your costs will be middle of the road for poster paper.
Glossy paper Of the same thickness as matte paper, glossy paper has a shinier surface. Glossy paper also has incredible UV-resistant attributes. While slightly more expensive than matte paper, images look much more brilliant and vivid. Glossy paper is one of the most expensive poster printing paper choices you can make but also the most appealing.
Watercolor paper For a more artistic approach, watercolor paper blends the best of card stock and matte paper. While still not quite as thick as card stock, watercolor paper has the same UV-resistant appeal of Matte paper with the strength of card stock. Images are fair quality, not as good as satin or glossy papers. Watercolor paper is typically one of the more expensive poster printing options, but allows for indoor and outdoor use.
If you are looking for a marketing method that puts your brand in front of your customer day after day, then look no further than a calendar. Calendars are useful giveaways that you can use to promote your company. Not too many promotions will garner a “Thank You” from a potential customer! When you give your customer something they will use daily and that will keep your corporate identity in front of them year-round, it is win-win for everyone.
Not all calendars are created equally, and that’s not a reference to the leap year. You can waste a valuable opportunity to reinforce your brand if you do not carefully consider the elements of a successful calendar: the right size, the right look, and the right branding method. Besides missing a golden opportunity, you will be wasting money on a marketing tool that is ultimately ineffective. The key to a successful calendar campaign is to understand your customer, and the following ideas illustrate several elements that will ensure you give your customer a calendar that they will actually use.
The Right Size
Calendars come in all shapes and sizes, but what does your customer need? Would a full-size desk calendar be the most helpful, or would a miniature calendar with a magnet that can be affixed to the fridge in the break room be better? Calendars can also be designed to be put on the wall of the office or cubicle. Maybe you need multiple sizes so your customer can make their own choice. Whatever size or sizes of calendar you choose to print, keep your customer’s needs in mind.
The Right Look
The calendar has to have an appropriate look and feel. If your customers work in a professional office, make sure the photos and the content you use are appropriate for this environment. Peaceful scenes and landscapes are standard fare. If you have customers that work in an industrial environment, high energy posters may be better. Think about using sports scenes with figures in motion. Your customer wants something inspiring that will complement their environment. So, give them what they want and you will have a customer advertising on your behalf.
The Right Branding Method
It is easy to get greedy at this stage. Of course, the natural temptation is to put your logo or other branding tools all over the posters. But keep in mind that your brand influences the look and feel of the calendar. Nobody wants to feel like they are promoting for another company. Be careful with how you integrate your brand into the calendar. Subtlety goes a long way. Consider a simple logo in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture or even along the bottom of the dates. Do not compromise the calendar by plastering your logo all over it as the result will more often than not be that the customer simply will not use it.
It is easy to ruin a good calendar campaign. Keep your customer’s needs in mind and design calendars that are the right size, the right look, and are branded carefully.
If your business could use some more customers (and whose business can’t?) it’s time to put the customers first. This means in all the marketing you do, from brochure printing to answering your phones, you need to focus on your customer rather than your business.
When you are designing your brochure printing pieces, think of what information your customers would like to know and in what order would they easily understand your brochure’s message? When you answer the phone, would it behoove customers to know about your current sale? “XYZ Corporation, where we now have all our in-stock merchandise 20 percent off.”
Nowadays, consumers are so used to advertisements that they often ignore them, unless the ad really speaks to them. Consumers have been schemed in the past, which puts them on guard for any kind of advertising you aim at them. Sometimes the best marketing is the cheapest. To do your best marketing and expand your client base, follow these no-cost and low-cost tips.
Ask your customers for their opinion. You can do this informally, while they are checking out with their purchases or while they peruse your store, or you can do this formally, with an email or phone survey. The point is to ask your customers their opinions about which products are great and which products are flops. Also, ask for suggestions on what you can do better. Oftentimes, what you can do better is something your competition does better than you. By asking for your customers’ honest opinions and letting them know that their suggestions will be taken seriously, you can not only improve your business, but you’ll also build a relationship with your customers.
Expand your target market. After you’ve sufficiently tried to reach a certain target market for a period of time (at least a year), you can try expanding to other markets to bring in new customers. It’s quite possible to tap out a target market, especially if that market is small to begin with. Take a look at your current offerings and figure out who else would like or need your products. Send out a small test advertisement through direct mail or take out a small ad in a magazine or newspaper directed at the new target market. Don’t waste money on unchartered waters; just spend a small amount at first and then spend accordingly depending on the feedback from the test market.
Follow up with current customers. Genuinely show your interest in how your customers are doing and whether they’re happy with their recently purchased product or service. The conversation about the product or service is just a small part of the follow up. Ask how things have been going and ask if you can help them with anything else. Treat your customers like friends and they’ll keep coming back.
If someone called inquiring about a product, make sure you get back to that person within 48 hours. Don’t let customers get away with bad customer service.
None of these tips will break your bank; if anything, they take more time than money. If you follow these tips, you’ll pleasantly surprise your customers and they’ll keep doing business with you to see how else you can surprise them.
When designing a catalog, many companies end up spending more money than they intended in the first place. Choosing a format for catalog printing affects the cost greatly, and often the more creative layouts can be the most expensive. The list below gives some of the common choices available when printing a catalog and separates the economical ones from the budget breakers.
1. Paper Stock Two choices that need to be made for the paper of a catalog are for the cover and inner pages. The cover of a catalog can be either the same as the text pages or heavier. Lighter paper text will cost less, as a will uncoated vs glossy. Choosing a different cover stock than the regular text paper will also raise costs. Some choices for text include 100# text, 80# text, or 70# text. A cover stock is usually 10 pt weight.
2. Page Count
Because of the way that conventional printing presses work, choosing 8 page increments is much more cost effective than four page increments for catalog printing. For a self-cover design (the cover paper is the same as the inner pages), the best count is 8, 16, 24, or any other 8 page multiples. For plus-cover formats (the cover is different from the inner pages), the page count is separate from the cover: 4 page cover + 8 page text, 4 page cover + 16 page text, and so on are the most economical choices.
3. Trim Sizes
Offset printing presses offer standard catalog sizes along with trim options, which can be costly. The cheapest trim options are 5.5×8.5 up to 6×9 or 7×10 to 9×12.
Keeping catalog costs low enough to make it a profitable venture is always important. Although, when choosing the different options available for catalog printing, a company should always keep in mind that sometimes the extra cost is worth the unique design, especially if the catalog advertises common products and needs to stand out from competitors.
Before you send out direct mail advertising or general correspondence, make sure you think through some basics. I have received a number of letters lately that left a less than positive impression on me. Cheap looking, incorrect, and presumptive letters leave a negative impression on potential customers or even current customers. It’s never worth the few pennies you will save anyway.
· Use good paper – The statement quality stock can make is worth far more than the penny or two you will save per sheet. Cheap paper says you don’t care.
· Use quality labels – Nothing says “cheap” like a poorly printed label. You know the ones where the ink is smudged or only part of your name made it on the label. Using professional labels and labeling systems can go a long way to improving the way your labels look.
· Use the whole name or a salutation – If you are sending a mailer to Suzy Cue but don’t have her first name in your list, make sure your system doesn’t send her a letter starting with “Dear Cue.” This feels very impersonal. Instead, use “Dear Ms. Cue” as this feels much more personal.
· Use the surname in the salutation – Unless you know the customer personally, use the last name of the customer in the greeting. For example, unless you know Suzy Cue personally, use “Dear Ms. Cue” or “Dear Suzy Cue” and NOT “Dear Suzy.”
· When a response is needed, include a pre-addressed envelope – Yes, this costs more, but the odds of actually getting the item you need back improves exponentially!
· Use security labels – This mostly only applies to correspondence that includes personal information. For general advertising and general correspondence security labels would be overkill. Use the golden rule here: if it were your information, would you want it falling into other people’s hands?
So, think twice before skimping on direct mail advertising and correspondence. Sure, you might be able to save a little money skipping some of the steps, but the poor impression you leave on your customers will probably far outweigh any cost savings you may have made.
Is there such a thing as green marketing when so much marketing is still in printed form? Yes, actually, green marketing can exist. More and more environmentally friendly inks and papers are being made all the time.
People might think that going all electronic all the time is one answer to greener marketing practices with e-newsletters, marketing emails and other electronic forms of marketing, but the carbon footprint of keeping up this constant access 24/7 isn’t doesn’t make it much better, if at all better, than green printing methods.
Richard Romano went into greater detail about electronic newspapers versus print newspapers in his blog post “How Green is my Media” on Expert Business Source. Romano cites some studies conducted by the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) of Berlin, Germany, which found that the electronic newspapers have a bigger environmental impact than print newspapers. The studies found that “the environmental impact of the hardware required (that is, mobile devices) is much less than with conventional PCs or laptops, but the energy consumption that individual data transmission requires for the energy-hungry UMTS network more than compensates for the energy savings from end devices.”
It boils down to using paper versus using energy. The argument that electronic newspapers are more harmful to the environment stems from the fact that fossil fuels that create energy are not renewable, while paper (trees) is renewable.
Although these studies were about newspapers, they can be adapted to any kind of printed medium, including marketing materials.
So how can we print more environmentally friendly marketing materials? By using sustainable paper and good-for-the-environment inks.
Sustainable paper Eco-friendly papers are recycled, processed without chlorine, are synthetic or are made from renewable fibers other than trees (like bananas and lemons!). Neenah Paper has an Environment line of paper and a Green Paper line as well as an environmental savings calculator so you can see how many resources you save by choosing green paper. You can get synthetic-free papers from companies like Polyart and Yupo. There are also companies that only product sustainable paper, like EcoPaper, which uses recycled paper fibers and fibers from bananas, coffee and cigars.
Sustainable ink
Traditional printing inks contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are thought to produce health problems and are known to produce air pollution. Alternatives include soy ink and waterless printing.
Soy ink uses a soy base instead of a petroleum base like traditional ink. Soy has much lower levels of VOCs so it doesn’t create as much pollution as petroleum-based ink. Paper printed with soy ink is easier to recycle because the ink comes off the paper more easily. Soy ink is brighter than regular ink as well.
Waterless printing is an offset printing process that doesn’t use water to dampen the ink like in traditional printing. Not only is water saved, but VOCs are eliminated in the printing process. The waterless printing process removes the need for solvent-based press solutions and blanket wash solutions, which are typically where all the VOCs come from.
These are just a few choices in sustainable ink and paper options. More and more are being discovered and hopefully soon, all printing can be less harmful to the environment.
Once you’ve decided to work with a design agency, you might feel excited but a little doomed. You’ve just signed on to let someone else design your precious marketing materials and you have to give up some control.
Maybe you’ve even heard nightmare stories from other companies that have worked with design agencies where everything was late, looked horrible and they overcharged. You don’t have to meet with that same fate! All you have to do is build a good relationship with the agency to have success.
To have a relationship with anyone or any company, it has to be a two-way street. You can’t treat the agency like your puppet that must do your bidding. You’re paying these people for their expertise. Here are some considerations to keep in mind to keep the harmony and get the best from your design agency.
1. Respect each other Value your agency and treat it like your marketing partner. In return, your agency will respect you if you treat them like team members and not just people you pay. Ask for opinions and share your honest opinions with them.
2. Make sure you’re on the same page with your goals
Meet with the agency to let them know your goals for your marketing materials. Bring a copy of your goals so they don’t forget and don’t have to take notes while you’re chatting. Make sure everyone is agreed in terms of the project’s objective.
3. Set limits (if you have them)
If you need this project to fit within strict brand limits or any other kind of limit, say so. If you have any ideas of what you do or don’t want done, say so upfront. Stress the importance of staying with your brand’s look and feel or let them know if you are willing to go off-kilter with this project.
4. Talk about the background of the project The agency specialists can be especially helpful if they know what thought process has gone into this project already. If you’ve come up with ideas and rejected them, the agency won’t waste their time or yours coming up with those same ideas. Clarify the budget and timeline during this background talk.
5. Talk about money Make sure you know what they charge per hour or per project and let them know what your budget is. That will dictate what kind of plan they put in place for you and can affect what design elements they choose. A $250,000 custom printing project wouldn’t be proposed if they know you only have $100,000 to spend.
6. Communicate openly Call or email each week or every few days to see how things are going. Tell them to contact you any time they have a question. Work with the agency to solve any problems that come up. Support the agency in any way you can.
When you review their work, start with positive feedback to set the tone of the review session. Give negative feedback in person, never by email, so you can gauge the reaction and make clarifications when necessary.
7. Do a postmortem review of each project Talk about what could have been handled differently to make the project better. Write down what worked for future reference. Congratulate each other and celebrate the big victories – a working relationship doesn’t have to be all work, all the time!
The newest version of QuarkXPress makes it easier than ever to create PDF files. This is a very useful ability to have, because many commercial printers want you to send your designs to them in PDF format. Quark allows you to create all kinds of products – brochures, postcards, etc. – into PDF with just a few steps.
Here is a rundown of how to create a PDF file in QuarkXPress 7:
1. The first thing you have to do is to QuarkXPress’s Resource Center (on quark.com) and download the ICC files. You have to have these to download the PDF style that you want.
3. Now you have all of the files that you need downloaded. From here, you can do all of the needed steps from within the Quark program. From inside the program, choose the File menu, and select Output Styles.
4. From this point, there will be more options from which to choose. Select Import.
5. Here, you have to choose the PDF style that you want to use. Here are your choices:
6. Once you select the style you want, click Open.
7. If you want to input more PDF styles, simply repeat steps 4-6 for each desired style.
8. When you are down importing all of the styles that you want, click Save.
This process is actually much easier than it looks. Once you have done it, it will be a piece of cake. However, if you import all of the styles you want on your first session, you will not have to do it again.
Do these 8 simple steps and start creating PDF files right from QuarkXPress 7!
I have been looking around the internet lately for unique business card designs, and I can tell you that there are plenty of them out there. I have been amazed by what some people have done to their cards. But I’m not complaining; not at all. I think it’s great to have unconventional cards to get attention and to make them stand out from the millions of others out there.
I want to share some of the best ones I’ve seen on a few different sites.
From Dotcommogul.net:
This site has a nice collection of crazy business cards. One such card was designed in the form of a cardboard cut out. The customer could cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a car.
Another interesting card I found on this site was in the shape of a box of over the counter medicine. Get what kind of company designed that one? You guessed it: a prescription medicine company.
I saw another card that had a big bite taken out of it, quite literally. It was designed (by a restaurant, no less) to look like a piece of paper that someone had taken a bite out of.
And perhaps the most unique of all the business card featured on this site was one designed in the form of a blood bag. It looked just like a bag that would be attached to an IV in a hospital. And it was used by a designer, no less.
From http://static.iftk.com.br/mt/2007/11/coolest_business_cards_ive_eve.html:
This blog post listed a lot of very unique business cards as well. One of them looked like an x-ray showing a broken thumb. It was designed and used by a debt recovery agent! What a poignant message to get across, is it not?
Another business card was designed in the form of a very small piano. This innovative card was used by a piano repair company.
And a locksmith had a business card designed in the shape of lock picking tools. How fitting is that? I love it when people find ways to make their business cards fit right in with their business.
And yet another business card featured on this site was in the form of a fully functional balloon. I’m not sure what kind of company was using that one, but that sounds like a great idea to me. If a customer blows up the balloon, they could end up looking at that business card for a week or more.
With the fourth installment of Indiana Jones out in May, it’s an appropriate time to see what we can learn from Indy about being an entrepreneur.
The great movie heroes are great because they don’t follow the rules, according to Mark Stevens, self-proclaimed movie lover and author of Your Marketing Sucks and God Is a Salesman. “Nobody wants to see a movie about someone who simply abides by the rules.”
Let’s take that rule-chucking theory and apply it to entrepreneurship. What can we learn?
Indy does his homework Indy’s whip and gun get lots of play in the movie, but it’s his smarts that save the day. Without a Dr. Jones, Indiana Jones would have ended up dead a long time ago!
In the same way, entrepreneurs need to do their research – before they start their business, before they launch a product – generally before any kind of large undertaking. Going into a situation feet first instead of brain first will generally backfire. Make sure to do homework on your target market before you begin marketing to them and do homework on the market itself. Adding another similar product to a crowded market is not the road to a successful business venture.
Adventurous – take business risks, but not stupid risks
I believe these are referred to as calculated risks. You need to calculate the risk potential of business ventures, whether that’s to take a risk introducing a new product or trying to target a new market. Indy is adventurous, but he is also sensible. He takes risks where the outcome is more likely to be in his favor. Not a bad characteristic to try to copy.
Show your human side
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” moans Indy. This one line shows that Indy isn’t a robot – there’s something that shakes him up! In the same way, you need to show your customers that you are human. Don’t talk like a corporation in your marketing materials, talk like a person. Use “you” a lot and “we” or “us” when you talk about your company. Starting headlines with “you” on postcards will grab people’s attention because you’re talking right to them.
Entrepreneurs find creative solutions
Indy would tell you as well as anyone else that no matter how much planning you do, you need to be ready for the unexpected. This includes setting up a plan B, but also being able to think on your feet. If you can’t come up with a solution to a problem, try brainstorming with colleagues to come up with something off the beaten path. Don’t strike down any ideas because oftentimes one idea that is way out there will spark the right idea later.
Don’t forget your hat Indy always has his hat with him. When it gets punched off, blown off, however it gets off his head, he always manages to get it back to him. In much the same way, you can’t forget your hat, which is your brand. People know the Indiana Jones movies by a silhouette of Harrison Ford in the fedora – it’s the trademark of Indy. Whether you’re working on marketing materials, your annual report, producing a new product – don’t forget to include your brand on everything.
Lastly, don’t give up. Indy never gives up – once he’s found one artifact that’s not enough – he needs to find the next one. And the next one. If you have a roadblock in your way, find a way to get around it. Indy keeps forging ahead despite setbacks, and you can too.
I know what you’re thinking … where can I get a fedora?
There are so many different ways to communicate to customers through marketing – you’ve got everything from postcards to billboards to television commercials. Generally, companies divide themselves into who they sell to – businesses or consumers. Business-to-business (B2B) companies reach their customers differently than business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. Here’s an outline of which kind of marketing mix is best used for each type of business.
In B2B selling, customers are reached through the following channels:
• Mass media: print, fax, email, Internet, broadcast
• One-on-one: presentations, email
• Trade shows
• Customer referrals
In C2B selling, customers are reached through these channels:
• Mass media: commercials, Internet, print
• Display: building, signage, billboards, location, counter or shelf displays
• One-on-one: door to door, letter, telephone, email
• Follow up: in person, email, letter, telephone
You’ll notice that there are some overlaps. That’s okay – when it all boils down, you’re still selling to people. Businesses are made of people and the people are who make the buying decisions.
Let’s talk about a few of these options in greater detail:
Mass media: Many marketers think mass media is the end all and be all of marketing. And don’t get me wrong – mass media is one of the main marketing channels for B2B and B2C companies. But, mass media is generally reserved for sales (meaning discounts) and to introduce new products or services.
Display marketing: This works best for B2C marketing because most consumers will travel to your store to buy your product. Many businesses will not. Businesses are too busy to travel from store to store to pick up goods, which is why they generally have everything shipped to them. Displays also encourage impulse buying, which businesses are somewhat immune from because everything they purchase is preordered.
One-on-one marketing: One-on-one marketing works for both types of companies because it’s the most personal way to build a relationship with customers. You talk with them and there’s rapport there. You can also personalize your presentation or lineup of products for each consumer or business. This tactic is most time-consuming, but it can pay off in ways that impersonal marketing can’t.
Speaking of impersonal and personal marketing, these broader categories can also determine your marketing mix:
Personal marketing
• One-on-one: presentations, email, letters, telephone, direct mail
• Your selling environment (your store atmosphere)
• Networking
• Trade shows
Impersonal marketing
• Mass media: print, broadcast
• Display: billboards, location, signage
• General email
Generally, personal marketing is aimed at current customers and impersonal marketing is aimed at prospects. You don’t want to get all up in a prospect’s personal space (real and virtual) because they don’t know you yet and aren’t comfortable with you. If you send an email that has the prospect’s name on it, like “Dear Molly,” Molly’s going to think “You don’t know me so don’t call me by my first name.” However, Joe who is your customer already, will welcome your email opening of “Dear Joe.” He’ll think nothing of your personal greeting.
Now that you know the categories of marketing, you can make your own marketing mix based on whether you want to go personal or impersonal, or based on your type of company. If you’ve already used mass media to reach your customers, you can try some one-on-one marketing to mix it up. There is no right way to market to a group of customers because each group is different. But you can find your own effective marketing mix from these lists and tweak it as you go along.
Drip marketing is a direct mail strategy that means you send out many direct mail pieces for weeks or months to a portion of your sales leads list.
The phrase “drip marketing” comes from a farming and gardening term called “drip irrigation.” When gardeners do drip irrigation, it means the gardener waters plants using small amounts of water over a period of time. Drip marketing is a deliberate and planned sequence of marketing messages set out over a set period of time.
What’s the need for drip marketing?
Well, it was created in response to the “Law of 29” which states that an average prospect won’t turn into a client until he or she has viewed a marketing message a minimum of 29 times. Not all marketers believe in this magic number, but all marketers agree that you need to stay in touch with prospects over a period of time to gain their business. Statistics show that between three and 30 repetitions are required for a message to be remembered.
What are the advantages? You get a steady cash flow from a steady rush of business. By consistently sending out brochures, flyers, letters and other direct mail pieces, you end up getting new customers throughout the drip cycle, instead of all at once, like at Christmas.
You are always promoting a right time to buy. For realtors and other businesses, like car dealers, whose services or products are only purchased when it’s the right time for the consumer, drip marketing works well because it’s always the right time to buy. You build recognition and awareness over time, and when your product is needed, you’re there. Most people take a few months to buy a car, and they start to slowly pay more attention to car sales ads. Since car dealerships are always promoting their product, they’re ready for whoever is in the frame of mind to buy a car. They do this year round. Consider Toyota – the Prius is selling like crazy right now – there are actually wait lists to even buy one and to test drive one – but Toyota hasn’t pulled all their Prius ads. Not everyone has jumped on the Prius bandwagon, so they keep putting out Prius ads to catch the next wave of people who want it. When you use drip marketing, you’re riding the waves and you take the new customers as they come.
You’ll have a plan in place to follow that can be easily adjusted. By creating a plan, you’ll be consistent with your marketing. But, with drip marketing, it’s easy to change your plan depending on the results of your last mailing. You’ve already got the marketing materials printed, so just change which type of direct mail piece you’re going to send next.
What kinds of direct mail should you send? Postcards
Newsletters
Sales Brochures
Flyers
Letters
Anything else that can be sent through the mail! (like free samples, for instance)
Your plan of action
Decide on what niche of your target market you want to send direct mail to
Develop your timing plan (how often you’ll send out your materials) in conjunction with what kinds of materials you’ll send out at which interval (postcards every two weeks? Brochures every other month?)
Execute the plan Evaluate your results after each mailing, or after a few mailings (if postcards aren’t working and brochures are, alter your plan to send out more brochures)
Your drip marketing plan should be a way for you to foster relationships your current and potential customers. You can keep them updated on your products and services, and you’ll gain great memorability.
Small business owners are finding that brochures can be easily created nowadays in their office on their own computers. With desktop publishing software on the market like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher, it’s easy to design your own brochures and only use a printing company to do the actual printing.
Here are a few technical considerations that business owners who aren’t savvy graphics developers need to know.
Design for your print size
One of the most frequent errors do-it-yourselfers make when designing brochures is to design for the wrong print size. If you are planning on printing on 8-x-10-inch paper, don’t build your layout on an 8.5-x-11-inch palette. Many printing companies will return your file to you if it’s not sized correctly.
This is one of the hardest errors to correct at the printer – if they stretch or shrink the design to fit the paper size, your graphics and images will look funny and your text will be hard to read.
Allow your brochure to bleed No, I’m not saying to torture yourself or your brochures for that design epiphany to break through! I’m talking about your print bleed. Print bleed is expanding your brochure design to go slightly past the page borders in your design program. When brochures are printed, they are printed in sheets, and are then sliced into individual brochures. The blade that cuts the sheets is usually right on, but sometimes veers just a bit outside of the established border. When that happens, you can end up with a white border on some parts of your brochure. Not cool if you have a great picture on one corner of your brochure, or if a picture takes up the whole front panel. Design your brochure with an extra 1/8 inch beyond the established borders to avoid any printing mishaps.
Your images and photos should be at least 300 dpi To create a professional-looking brochure, you need professional quality photos. If you print a photo or image that isn’t high-resolution, your image will come out blurry or even pixilated.
The images that look good on the Web are 72 dpi (dots per inch). This is not enough for printing on paper – these low quality images would hardly be recognizable in a brochure. Your photo files should be at least 300 dpi to print sharply and clearly.
Choose a high quality paper to print your brochures on
Many printing companies offer 80lb or 100lb stock paper. Papers also come with a variety of glossy and matte finishes. 100lb paper is much more substantial than 80lb paper and doesn’t cost that much more. Paper weight is calculated by stacking 500 sheets on a pile. A heavier paper will make your brochure seem more professional and your images and text will look better because you can’t see through to the other side of the paper!
You can add varnish to the paper if you want it to look glossy and shiny, and varnish also helps prevent fingerprint smudges on color-heavy brochures. If you have a lot of ink on your brochure, it will look glossy anyway, so you may not want to spend money on making the small, inkless parts glossy.
Whenever you’re ready to send out a brochure to new customers or existing customers, there are some key tactics to use to make sure you get a good response. After paying for a copy writer, a designer, the printer, mailing costs and everything else that goes into creating a brochure, you end up spending about $1.00 per brochure.
Make sure you don’t waste your money by following these tips:
1. Get to know your customer
You need to understand your customers’ wants and needs. You need to know what motivates them. What problems they have. And most importantly, what can your product do to help them? Do some research by simply asking customers or sending out surveys. Knowing what your customers’ wants and needs are will shape everything about your brochure – the text and the
design.
2. Use the AIDA marketing technique to writing brochures
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. For your brochure to be successful, it needs to get people’s attention, get your prospect interested enough to read further, elevate their desire for your product or service, and get them to take action, such as calling you, making an appointment or visiting your Web site.
3. Don’t waste space talking about yourself
Your customers don’t give a lick about your company’s history and your variety of products. All they care about is how you can help them. What benefits can you offer them for doing business with you?
4. Use eye-catching headlines and graphics on the front panel Studies show that readers take between 5 and 7 seconds to decide whether they want to keep on reading your brochure. If your headline or graphics on the front panel of your brochure are boring or bland, no one will bother opening it. You need something that will interest them and catch their attention. Use bright colors as accents for your headline text and use photos and graphics that will get people wondering what else is inside the brochure.
Use interesting, benefits-laden headlines all through your brochure – every panel should have a headline. Most people skim before they read smaller print, so using headlines will keep their attention and intrigue them to read on.
5. Include a call to action
Once you’ve gotten the reader interested in your product, tell them to contact you. You can’t assume that the reader will take the next step on his own – you need to tell him what the next step is. Whether that is to call you or visit your Web site, tell them what to do, and give them the info they need to do it. (Not a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the phone or the computer of course! Just make sure you give them your phone number and Web site address.)
6. Make it urgent! Give readers a reason to take action sooner rather than later. Generally, putting some kind of time limit on an offer is enough to get people off of their couches. Offer a free gift, or a special coupon that must be redeemed by the end of the month – just put some kind of date on your offer. If you don’t, your brochure is likely to get lost under a pile of mail or items to look at “later” (meaning probably never).
If you’re finding yourself running into writer’s block or if you can’t come up with a new and innovative idea for your marketing materials, you might just need to tweak your thinking a bit. Below are five tips to help your right brain take over your marketing ideas and to pump out some creative ideas.
1. Change your question. If you change the question, you’re going to get a completely different answer and a different perspective on the goals of your marketing materials. If your question is “How do we to sell more products?”, you’ll craft your message in a way to sell your products focused on quantity. You might even lower your price to up the number of products out the door. However, if your question is “How do we bring in more profits?”, you might up your price or emphasize the quality of your product in your message.
2. Don’t use the first idea you think of. In the book A Whack on the Side of the Head, the author Roger von Oech says to take the time to think of a second, third or even 100th idea. When you’re trying to think of a new idea, the quality of your ideas don’t count in the brainstorming stage, it’s the quantity that’s important. The more ideas you have to pick from, the more likely you are to pick a great one.
3. Paint a press release. What would you use to paint a press release? Sounds odd, but thinking of combining two unrelated acts can give you a creative answer you never would have thought of otherwise. What about thinking of how you could dance out your billboard design? All of this may not give you a feasible idea, but it will get your creative juices flowing.
4. Talk to your product or service. That’s right – ask your product or service how it would like to be sold. This is a more mind-bending technique that might seem a little weird at first. But it can be valuable to think of how your product would answer the following questions: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Who can you help? Why should someone pick you over your competitors? Does it look best in catalog printing or should it be sold in person?
5. If your brain isn’t working, don’t force it. If your brainstorming session isn’t working, stop. Do something else for a while. Take a walk or do some exercise. That gets the blood flowing and your brain time to sort out ideas. Your subconscious will keep thinking and you might have your answer the next day. Take a break until the next day – there’s a good reason why people say to “sleep on it” – sleeping lets your subconscious brain work out problems that your conscious brain can’t during the day.
For those in the world of graphic designs, the time will eventually come to show your work to other people. This is going to be particularly true for those who are just starting out in the industry.
If you’re going in for a job interview and you have to bring in a number of your different design projects it can be a very nerve wracking experience. Really, for any kind of job that relies upon an artistic talent of any kind it can be difficult to let other people see and judge the work that you did.
This is an almost purely subjective thing that you’re handing to them. There is no definitive right or wrong way to do something like design. Sure, you can stand by the industry standards, but maybe people are going to be looking for something different. You might give them something different only for them to say they prefer what is already being done.
Each person has their own opinion on what looks good and what doesn’t. No single brochure design is going to be universally accepted as the best way for brochures to be done, just as no postcard design will always be able to get the sale.
There are really only two things you can do to help make meetings like these go a little smoother: be prepared and have thick enough skin to take whatever is said. The latter of the two is the hardest to manage, but the first can be accomplished with relative ease.
I’ve still seen plenty of people who don’t come prepared, though. This is the one thing you can make sure is done right, and yet many fail to do so.
The most obvious thing to me is making sure that you know what type of advertisements that they want to focus on, if they have one, and only bring in samples that reflect something similar to it.
People have come in before to a company that primarily uses brochures and all they brought were sample flyers. When informed that the company preferred brochures, the person exclaimed that they had some sample brochures already made up, they just hadn’t thought to bring them in.
Had they done the needed research it wouldn’t have ever come up. Figure out what a person is looking for, and make sure you have as close to an example of it as you can.
Presentation is another key aspect of it. Take the time and money to get a great presentation folder to hand to people. The way material is presented is just as much an artistic statement as the material that’s being presented.
It shows that you’re aware of how things are going to look when first handed to people. A presentation folder will look a lot better than a packet stuffed with your material.
If you do have a proper presentation it can help increase your confidence, and better your chances of getting the job.
If you’re an entrepreneur who has decided it’s time to take a crack at writing your own copy for your marketing materials, this article is a great learning tool to help you write that first great marketing piece. There are certain basics that are common to every great marketing piece, from postcards to brochures to your Web site.
Here’s a quick mini-lesson you’ll want to print out and use when you sit down to write your first marketing copy.
Lesson 1: Write directly to the person that will be reading the copy
Although you are marketing to the masses, each mass is made up of individuals. Other than grade school, people don’t read in unison with each other as a group. Ads are seen by only one person at a time. The individuals that make up your target market should share many similarities, so it shouldn’t be hard to write to that individual.
Imagine you have your best prospect sitting across from you at a table. What do you need to say to get that prospect to shake your hand and make a deal to buy your product, right then and there? This is how you should approach writing your marketing material – talk directly to the prospect. The most obvious way to talk directly to someone is to address her with the word “you.” Ask “Do you have XX problem?” Talk right to them.
Lesson 2: It’s not all about you
Don’t talk about yourself and your company in your advertising copy. Take out all of the “we” and “our” instances in your first draft and rewrite those sentences with “you” and “your.” For instance, the sentence “We can deliver our product in 24 hours” is more effective when rewritten to “You’ll receive your new product in 24 hours.” Using “you” and variations of the word is known as “outer-directed” language. You are indulging people in what they like to do best: watch out for themselves and try to get the best deal.
Lesson 3: Talk about benefits, rather than features
This is somewhat of an extension of Lesson 2. People pay attention to messages that tell them something they want to hear. They want to hear how a product or service can solve a problem for them or make their lives easier somehow. And with so many ads directed at people through all kinds of media – newspapers, magazines, television, billboards, the Internet – you need to grab people’s attention immediately before they move on to the next thing.
The best way to grab attention is to tout a benefit right off the bat – at the top of your flyer, on the front of your brochure, at the beginning of your TV commercial, etc. Use benefit-ridden headlines in all of your print materials and make those headlines bigger and a brighter color than the body copy (that’s the smaller copy).
Lesson 4: Keep it short
Good copywriters don’t use a longer word when a shorter one will do. And oftentimes, the shorter word is the more common word in a language so you lessen the risk of alienating anyone who might not know what a longer word means.
Get straight to the point and use words that evoke mental images or sounds. You won’t have more than 20 seconds on average for your marketing materials to be deemed worthy of further reading so you need to get as much info (meaning benefits) as you can in that short of space and time.
Lesson 5: Ask a question or give a command Many marketing pieces open with a question to get people thinking. Questions intrigue people and get them engaged with your message. Including a command, like “Call now” persuades people to take action when they otherwise wouldn’t. Commanding people to do what you want them to in marketing copy is known as a “call to action.” You tell them what they should do next and make it as easy as possible for the reader to take that action.
Think Like a Customer
If you were a customer, what kind of brochure would make you take notice? Keep that in mind when you are designing brochures for your business. If you try to think like a customer, you might just find new ways to market yourself.
Use Enticing Information
The front of the brochure is where you need to convince the reader that he needs to look inside. Don’t be afraid to use some non business stuff there. For instance, you can say something like, “Coldplay’s new record just broke the record for downloads,” to try to interest the reader. Of course, you have to be able to tie that in to your company in some way, or else the customer will see right through your ploy.
Keep it Organized
Keep your brochures nice and neat. Don’t let them get too cluttered or text heavy. And if your brochures are quite long, you might want to include a table of contents to help readers find what interests them.
Information is Key
Don’t forget to include information about your company or product, or both. Your brochure cannot be completely full of enticing information without including something of substance. If it is, it will not generate any profit for you.
Throw in Something Valuable
Try to include something that will make the reader consider keeping the brochure. This can be information that does not deal directly with your company, but relates to it indirectly. The point is just to provide something that is valuable outside of the marketing aspect.
Think Outside the Box
You do not necessarily have to print a conventional brochure. Be willing to use some unique techniques to really get the customer’s attention. Change the shape of your brochures, or use a bold color (only if your business is not serious in nature). You could use humor extensively on your brochures, or anything else that will make them stand out from the thousands of others out there.
Use Story Techniques
Try to put the reader of your brochures in a relaxed mood. Try to take them away into a different world, of sorts. Use storytelling techniques to change the customer’s frame of mind as they read your brochures.
Focus on the Needs
The bottom line of any sales pitch is that you need to tell the customer what you can do for him. As early as you can in your brochures, tell the readers how you can solve a problem that they have, or fill a need that they suffer from.
The Call to Action
This is a vital part of any advertisement. You need to tell the customer exactly how to act, and why he needs to do so in a hurry.
Not every brochure is the same. There are several different types of brochures, each of which has a different purpose in life. To be specific, there are 5 types of brochure. You should become familiar with each so you can produce the right kind for your company.
Here is a rundown of each type to help you plan your next brochure project.
1. Support Brochures
If you give presentations as part of your sales approach, you may want to print some support brochures. These brochures are designed to help you get your message across. You should design these brochures to coincide with your presentation, so that the participants can follow along as you speak to them. This can be a tremendously effective technique, because if reinforces the things that you are telling them.
2. Direct Mailing Brochures
This is a very different type of brochure that you send directly to a prospective customer. Obviously, this type of brochure will not be meant to accompany a sales presentation. Instead, you will design this brochure to introduce your company to a customer, and tell him why your company is the best at what you do. You need to tell them a little about your product, and how much care and detail you put into creating it.
3. Response Brochures
When someone shows interest in your product or service, you should have some information to give to him. That is where this type of brochure comes in. Design a brochure that drives home the best features of your company, like why you are better than any other similar type of business. You will be giving this brochure to someone who is already interested in you, so design it to close the sale.
4. Check out Brochures
Putting brochures next to the check out area of your store is a good way to bring customers back for repeat business. Make sure you put a really enticing headline on these brochures, because it will take a little extra to make these customers (who have already bought something) look more closely at your information.
5. Drop Off Brochures
There will be times when you are around a lot of potential customers, but you can’t speak to them. That is a good time to have some drop off brochures at your disposal. These are different from response brochures, because they are not necessarily for people who have shown interest. They are simply there to pass out to a mass of people that you cannot communicate with directly at the time. These brochures should be designed as sales tools; you need them to persuade people that they need the product or service that you provide. Of all the types of brochures, these are probably the least effective, because you are usually giving them to people who know little about you and may have no interest in your services.
Above all else, the goal of the poster is quite simple: you want people to look at it longer than they will any of your print ads. Sure, this goes for almost any kind of advertisement, but your poster is going to embrace this mentality like no other form of advertisement will for the simple fact that, unlike all your other print ads, posters are way bigger.
Remember this also: people don’t take posters home with them, they don’t stuff them in their pocket, and they don’t look at them from the comfort of their home. A poster is only going to be seen at the location you put it and it needs to convey its entire message as fast as it can, because people won’t be looking at that poster for very long.
The question I ask now and I’m sure a lot of people are thinking is how do you get the most out of your posters then? Even more than that, why even bother to use them if they have such a limited scope of effectiveness?
The charm of large format posters is that they can grab someone like no other kind of advertisement can. Every other form of advertising simply takes more time or can’t stack up when it comes to the quality of the image.
Take for example a postcard or flyer. Now, like a poster, both are going to grab someone’s eye right away and both don’t have room to really say too much. But both are going to be on lower quality paper and both aren’t going to be able to support the kind of visual flare a color poster can achieve.
Think about photo poster printing. A poster can support a high quality picture unlike anything a flyer would lay claim to. This is what will really make someone look over at your poster. It’s always the picture that grabs my eye first, and your poster stands as the best style of advertising to get that high quality image out there.
Given that you know people aren’t going to tear your poster down and take it home with them, or you hope they won’t, you need to make sure you can tell them what you have to say as quickly as possible.
Get to the point and only focus on the point. Is it a sale? Tell them that and be done with it. Maybe you have a grand opening or new product release. This is the key point of your poster and all you should have to worry about mentioning.
The more your poster has to say the less likely it is people will care enough to read it all. I’ve seen all sorts of posters that only have six or seven words on them total. I can tell you this, I read everything those posters had to say. The more complicated your poster starts to get the less likely it is people will bother reading any of it.
I’ve designed many posters myself using all sorts of different designing programs. With a program like CorelDRAW you can pump out some truly marvelous looking posters from the comfort of your own home.
Compared to other forms of advertising, designing flyers should be a breeze, right? After all, the flyer is one of the most basic forms of advertising there is. You have a single sheet of paper to worry about and nothing else.
I won’t try to claim that a flyer is as complicated as a brochure to design, but there are some important details to be aware of before you go off and start designing them yourself.
These days I see a lot of flyers I just know people are making at home using something like QuarkXpress. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this, but I think you’ll be better served knowing more about flyer design before you go off and start making your own.
The first and most important thing about a flyer is the primary message you’re trying to convey. If your goal is to make some nightclub flyers than you want to decide what it is about the nightclub that you think will be your best selling point.
Let’s say you have a certain night that has great drink specials. This is the main point you want people to be aware of, which means this should be the biggest thing on your flyer. You want to grab people’s attention right away before they can throw that flyer on the ground, and we all know that’s what most people are going to do.
I see a lot of flyers that seem to have no particular point it emphasizes. Nothing is bigger than the rest, and so nothing really jumps out at me. Those are the flyers I drop in the first trash can I happen to pass.
A flyer needs to jump out and grab a person’s eyes. It needs to make sure they don’t look at anything else until they’re done looking at your flyer. Whether your flyer is for a nightclub or your plan on making some business flyers, you have to make sure your selling point is prominent.
Along with a strong message you need to have some strong visuals. A person is likely to see the image before they see the message, so give them something they’ll stop to look at. You could go for the extreme out of the ordinary kinds of images or the more colorful, flashy look. What you plan on selling will be what will decide the best kind of image to pair up with your message. Only you can know what that is.
And of course, make sure you have plenty of flyers made up. The cost to print flyers is cheap compared to almost any other form of advertising. Take advantage of it to get as many flyers as you can. The more people you hand them to the more opportunities you’ll have to find those people who will take your message to heart.
If you want to design your own flyer, by all means, go right ahead, just be aware of what all goes into them rather than waste your time on something people like me will just dump in the trash.
Brochures aren’t always for the faint of heart or for those who don’t have enough time to adequately design something that will work.
Brochures also aren’t the cheapest form of marketing. You can get plenty of great advertising for your buck if you do them right, but you still have a larger initial investment when compared to other kinds of marketing.
But one thing you can do to help ease the financial burden is be aware of what goes into designing an effective brochure. If you have the right kind of software like In Design, you might even be able to start designing brochures yourself.
The first thing to look at is the brochure layout. How many pages do you plan on having and how do you plan on having your brochure folded? There are all sorts of different methods for folding brochures, and each carry a certain advantage. I won’t list every kind of folding method here given how many there are.
Once you do know what kind of folding method you plan on using decide the right progression for your information. A brochure should have a strong linear feel to it. Make sure yours flows along a single line of thought from beginning to end. You can have several points that you’re making, just don’t jump around from topic to topic. People will get confused before they bother to finish reading your brochure.
After the writing is decided on, pick up some good visuals to go along with it. A color brochure will always be more appealing than a plain black and white one. Think about the brochures you’ve seen, and I’m guessing most had a strong visual appeal. They had bright pictures and images on the cover to get people interested in reading what else the brochure had to say.
The brochure design will be a combination of the writing and the images. Some topics are simply going to have more that you need to say about them whereas others will center on the images. Most travel brochures are loaded with pictures because this is the most important selling point for them: letting people see where they’ll be going.
Think about the reason you’re writing your brochure and you should know exactly how much writing you’ll need and how many pictures will best compliment it.
Designing a brochure can be a rather daunting task, especially if you’ve never done one before. Make sure you take things one at a time. Do your writing first, pick out the style of folding you want next, and then decide on the number of images that will work best.
So long as you don’t let all of it bog you down, you can write brochures that are more than worth the money it took to make them.
It seems as if the law of the land in the world of business is expansion. You want to always be growing, which means increasing the number of customers you have and the areas you work in.
Of course a company is going to want to generate more customers. The thing I take issue with is how quick people seem to be to forget about their loyal customers in that quest for new customers.
The fact is most of your business is going to be coming from your loyal customers, not your new customers. That’s why it’s best to be sure to keep your eye on those that helped you reach the area that you’re at right now.
There are several ways you can both honor your existing customers and help generate more sales. Think of different ways to generate new marketing that focuses primarily on them.
You might consider using catalog printing to design a catalog meant specifically for your loyal customers. Put specials deals in it that other catalogs wouldn’t have. Track the kind of products that seem to be most popular with your loyal customers and have those be the emphasis within your catalog.
Most of all make sure they’re aware that these deals are being given only to them for being loyal. Someone who just started shopping with you isn’t getting these kinds of deals. People like to know that they’re loyalty is appreciated, and that they can get better savings for being loyal.
If your company doesn’t have anything like catalog printing than try to figure out other methods for honoring them. You might have a special batch of booklet printing made up that accomplishes a similar goal.
Design booklets dedicated for your faithful customers that actually talks about them. Ask to interview some of your customers and put those in the booklet along with special coupons and deals.
This helps you foster a closer sense of community with your customers. You’re showing them that you’re more than just a company but a place they can feel comfortable at. They can get to know their fellow customers and maybe be featured themselves some day.
These are just two suggestions. There are going to be several methods well beyond booklet printing or catalogs for you to show your dedicated customers that you care about their service.
Ask yourself what would work best for your customers. Each company is going to have a method that will work particularly well for their industry and you’ll be in the best position to know what will work for you.
Just keep these people in mind the next time you start your marketing. The worst thing you can do is throw aside the people who made you big in your effort to become bigger.
In this age of email, personal Web pages and BlackBerrys, you’d think business cards don’t have any place in this era. But business cards are still considered the essence of a professional. Think about it: what kind of professional doesn’t have a business card?
So, if you are in the market for some business cards of your own, watch out for the following mistakes people make when creating business cards and avoid them at all costs:
Using big, ugly font. Okay, so ugly is in the eye of the beholder, but try to stick with fonts that are popular and easy to read, like Times, Arial or Garamond. Your name and contact info should only be big enough to read and not much bigger. If you use big font that takes up most of your card, you’ll look unprofessional.
Not using your logo. Your logo represents your brand and your business’s personality so it should be on your card.
Don’t use a photo unless you are in real estate. Many people (realtors included!) don’t think it’s a good idea to have photos on their business cards. It’s considered unprofessional, except in real estate for some strange reason. Supposedly a photo makes the realtor more memorable, but the jury’s out on that one. Anyway, don’t put your photo on your card.
Using general picture business cards. This isn’t the same as the previous mistake. This means don’t use a picture of the ocean or a really nice mountain scene as your background to your text. The color of your cardstock should be white or off-white. That’s not to say not to use color at all – color business cards look professional and tasteful if just an accent color is used on your logo or on just your name. Too much color is overkill and doesn’t look professional.
Sometimes change isn’t easy. People like to keep things the way they’ve been. It can be comforting knowing something’s always going to be the same.
But at the same time our society keeps changing. I understand the shaky ground this can put a business on who wants to keep up with the times without turning away those who have stuck with them for years. I’m afraid there isn’t any easy answer for how best to approach the subject.
I guess one of the most important things is keeping your current customers informed about what’s in the works and what might be coming soon. I don’t think it would be much of a hassle to print out some full color flyers to advertise the upcoming changes, whatever they may be.
At least this way people aren’t going to be caught by surprise when they happen. This also allows people a chance to voice their concerns ahead of the change, whatever they may be. Flyer printing is an inexpensive way to get the word out.
Change simply has to happen. I’m aware of that. I just like to know what the changes are going to be.
Congratulations on deciding to include testimonials in your marketing materials! Now, you need to make those testimonials as effective as possible. Follow these three tips to ensure your testimonials work.
1. Use specific details instead of general comments. Using details will make your testimonials seem more credible. We’ve all seen the commercials on TV that say “This is a great product” or “XYZ product worked for me!” That just screams “fake”! Anyone could have said those words and they aren’t very effective. Build trust by using details that people will want to hear like “XYZ product helped my pimples go away in less than a week!” Also, don’t polish or edit the customer’s testimonial – the testimonial is more convincing when it’s not edited for style (editing for grammar is okay though).
2. Attribute the quote to a real person that has a full name. When you get a postcard mailing piece that has a testimonial from “A.T. in Boston,” what do you think? I bet you think that A.T. doesn’t exist because that’s what I think! To increase credibility, attribute the testimonial to the full name of a person. If you can get permission from the person, include their city and state, and job title and company (if you’re using a client). The more information you have about the person, the more believable your testimonial will be. To cap it off, include a photo of the person – then there’s nothing to leave to your readers’ imaginations!
3. Group all of your testimonials in one spot in your marketing material. The other option of displaying testimonials is to scatter the quotes throughout your brochure or whatever marketing pieces you’re using. If you group them, you can put them in a text box or on one panel of your brochure. Both methods work, but when people read many testimonials at the same time, they have more impact.
Direct mail marketing is one of the most difficult types of advertising because most people just throw the envelopes away. It is even more difficult when postcard marketing techniques are used because everything is visible to the eye right from the start. How economically feasible is it for companies to use postcard printing if no one is going to read what they send anyway? Weighing the potential success of either method depends on a number of factors including the product line the representative is attempting to sell.
After all, most people are not going to be interested in a product that is no different from what they can buy at their local store. In order to sell a prospect on what you are selling it must be different from anything else on the market or you must be able to convince your prospect that he or she must have what you are selling. That means you have to make them want to open their letter, and the easiest way to do that is to use only your name on the envelope and not the name of your company. You can also use personal information such as a birthday or anniversary to attract their interest.
Staying in touch with your customers is one of the easiest ways to make sure you retain their business. There are a number of ways you can do that including postcard marketing and printing greeting cards. That certainly doesn’t mean you have to invest in postcard printing by any means, but if you are very busy in the sales end of your business and don’t have the time to sit down and write a letter or email you can save time if you have something already prepared that you can simply sign, address and mail. You still want to take the time to write a short note even if it’s only one sentence.
The idea of postcard marketing has become very popular as the competition throughout the nation has become stiffer. Sales staffs are looking for new and innovative ways to make sure that they do not lose their customers to someone who has a better personality, shows more interest, or has a better marketing plan. Each person has to look out for him or herself and that means finding the best way to let their customers know that they understand the meaning of an importance relationship between a company and the sales staff that represents its vendors.
There are so many things that can change the way a graphic looks. I find it amazing how much a simple adjustment in the resolution on my computer screen can alter the color scheme of an advertisement.
What one person’s computer shows them isn’t always going to be the same as what the next person’s does. So what does this mean for color printing?
If something as little as a computer screen change can alter an image so much try to imagine the vast differences the kind of ink and paper used will change things.
Be aware of all the factors to take into consideration when you use color printing. Talk to the people you’re working with to find out what might alter the image. Better to know before than to find out by accident after the fact.
When you think of “real estate” you probably think of a house or maybe a condominium. However, in the marketing world it can take on an entirely different definition. The real-estate marketing post card variety relates to the size of the space upon which you can put your message.
As postcard is obviously small real estate. This comes with obvious benefits relating to costs saved on mailing and full color postcard printing. However, it forces the sender to creatively convey their message without voluminous text. All key points of the pitch need to be included on both sides of the card.
If you only have a given piece of information on one side of the card you face the reader missing it entirely. The recipient of the card may very well only read one side. If this happens the text on the reverse side is about as worthwhile of putting text on the sticky side while label printing.
Color is critical with postcards. They must immediately grab the attention of the reader and entice them to continue perusing the remaining text. Inclusion of your web site address is very helpful towards taking full advantage of limited space in a real-estate marketing post card. This enables to transition to a much larger parcel of “land”. Don’t leave postcards out of your overall marketing plan.
Sorting through the mail is rarely a particularly exciting point in my day. Unless I know something is coming I typically don’t put any thought to what I might find, which is the very reason why a colorful postcard can be so successful. I’m not prepared for it, not expecting it, and it can be nice to take a moment to pause and absorb it. The fact that I wasn’t expecting it is part of what makes it so nice to see. I kind of like having the routine of my day momentarily put on hold, and few things can make me appreciate a company more than the ability to put a smile on my face when I least expect it.
Finally, you’re marketing ad such as your advertising booklets are about to be completed. But there’s one thing you have to decide on – what kind of binding method should you apply? For your booklets, your numerous pages may be a bit too much for ordinary paper clips and staple wires. When they do, you might want to consider professional binding for your advertising tool.
There are several methods you can choose from. For starters, there’s the saddle stitch binding that is actually very common for booklet binding, especially small ones. What it does is to bind together your pages after the sheets are folded with staple wires. The folded portion provides the spine to make your booklet sturdier.
Then there’s the ring binding method, where you use metal or plastic rings to put together your document. What makes this method helpful is that you can update your pages every time you need to. All you have to do is to add your pages to your document by removing the rings from your booklet, not to mention that you can lay it flat on a surface.
Perfect binding on the other hand, attaches all your pages in your document with the use of a flexible adhesive. This is so durable and less expensive that most advertisers use this to cut on costs. However, it may only be applied on documents that are not too thick such as your paperback.
Your custom business cards can be more than just keepers of your name and contact information. More than that, your full color business cards can become effective marketing tools that can get you leads for your business.
In addition to providing that concrete representation of you and your business, your cards can be used for other purposes. Indeed, your card can be designed into something more with the help of technology that we have today.
A few ideas made by some of the advertisers include offering a promotional item or bonus to keep your clients and prospects coming back for more of your cards. You could also make them loyalty cards with something like this written at the back: Call us and get your first consultation for free.
Another great idea is to make your print cards frequent buyer cards. Stamping the card each time the client goes to your shop to buy a product or avail of a service provides the opportunity for your clients to do repeat business with you. Stamping all the space available in the card can mean a free service or a bonus gift which your clients would definitely look forward to.
So the next time you plan on getting into business card printing, go out of the box and provide your target clients with more than just a contact card. Give them a marketing tool that works hard to promote your business.
In addition to your brochure design, brochure printing is the next element that would make your marketing campaign effective to your target audience. Your design would be the thing that would attract your readers to your ad; but it’s your copy that would make them stay and get to know more of your business. Hence, it is very important that you provide information that would appeal to the interest and values of your target market.
And it all starts in your headline. Your ad can be considered hot if your headline can get your readers hooked to what you have to say. The shorter your headline, the more interested your target readers would be in your message.
So what else do you do to make your headline attractive? You focus on one thing only – your target clients. It’s all about them anyway. Your ad should talk about how your target clients can benefit from your products and services, and not about you or your company.
And more than anything else, stick to short, clear, and simple copy that need not bore your readers to tears. Remember that your ad is not a journal or a thesis which you have to provide a lengthy discussion of your business. All you got to do is to give them your benefits and they would most likely decide whether to try you out or not.
To create your own advertising style, it takes three steps to do it:
Collect.
Collect as many information as you can, and from as many people and organizations as you can reach. Learning is a constant process that you can’t do without when developing your own marketing campaign. New skills and strategies can be had when you meet with other people and look at experiences that have made them a success in their own fields. The bottom line is to keep your collection as fresh as possible so you can get new ideas every time you need to come up with a new marketing campaign.
Discard.
It’s easy to collect information. It’s harder to discard them. The best way to have an effective advertising campaign such as when you engage in color poster printing is to know when to keep your information and discard the rest. You have to learn to let go of what you can’t use for your strategy. It’s a two-way process actually – when you add information you also have to remove some of them. This is to avoid cluttering your process, as well as keep your collection fresh everyday.
Create.
Finally, when you’ve collected all the necessary information, and discarded those that are not needed, it’s time for you to create your own unique style. Based on the information and knowledge you have, develop an ad that works for you. Your style will help you be different and stand out from your competitors. And most importantly, your ad style will encourage loyalty among your clients.
One way to get your target clients hooked to your ads is to provide them with an ad copy that is clear and straight to the point. It should be 100% clear in describing your business. And, your ad copy should be able to make it simple and easy for your target audience to understand what you can actually do.
When reading your ad, does it take your target clients a lot of time before they can understand what you’re saying? Do they need an interpreter or a dictionary perhaps before they could even make heads or tails of your booklet printing ads? Or they consider your advertising material as junk because they don’t understand what you want to tell them?
Remember that in marketing, an ad that doesn’t make sense is a lost opportunity to make a sale. A clear and concise description of what you do can be your most valuable tool in your advertising campaign.
Don’t miss out on business. Make sure you proof-read and edit your ad copy before you have them printed out. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of misspelled words and grammatical errors. It will definitely gain for you profits in more ways than you can count.
Let’s face it. Who doesn’t enjoy the entertainment and amusement of looking at striking images, dubious headlines or witty (sometimes incredibly unthinkable) punchlines, whether in the form of postcards, flyers, booklets or especially in magazine ads? We’re subliminally always in the lookout for distinct sometimes controversial ads whenever we go through any printed material that lands in our hands.
It is a fact that a good print ad is a delight to behold. There’s no doubt about it. If you have a print ad that appeals to your target audience then they will find that browsing through your advertising materials is worth every minute and second of their time.
So the fastest way to capture their attention is with print ads that stun, humor or even intrigue them. Do you make your target audience think, consider and grasp your message that they would want to take a closer look and get more information on your product? It may even lead to an eventual sale if you’re really good at it.
Do you create ads that stand out and offer a different experience than those of your competition? Do your ads make your target readers want to sit up and take action? Do your ads delight and encourage your prospects to want to know more about your business?
If you say no to all these, then it is time for you to change your print ads. Don’t let your clients be disappointed in your print ads. Make them want to clamor for more. A good print ad is a delight to behold; a bad one ends up in the shredder.
People are ordinarily attracted to marketing collaterals such as your full color brochures that have humor and laughter incorporated. They pay more attention to print ads that provide them laughter instead of an aggressive sales pitch.
This is also the reason why the most memorable commercials and print ads are those infused with humor. In fact, boring and regular ads just donʼt stick. Theyʼre easily forgotten.
Nevertheless, it also doesnʼt mean that you just put humor in your print ads without carefully planning what youʼre going to say. As we all know, thereʼs a very thin line separating humor from the obnoxious; and you definitely wouldnʼt want to become the latter among your clients. When it comes to humor, you should also learn to provide the appropriate amount in your brochure printing ads.
Humor should be appropriate not only for your business but significantly, to your customers and prospects. You have to consider that what one finds amusing can be totally annoying to another. Thatʼs why you have to know your target audiences first before you incorporate humor to your message.
Humor in your print ads can help you generate leads to your business. But be sure to plan what would be appropriate to include in your message. You wouldnʼt want to incur the irk of your clients with print ads that is not entertaining at all but rather exasperating on the point view if your audience.
I can’t emphasize this enough – your marketing brochures should be all about your customers and prospects, and less of yourself. Again, I’d like to emphasize this fact: your clients don’t give a hoot about you or your company. They are only interested in what benefits you can give them. They are interested in how you can fulfill their needs, wants and desires. So don’t take it against them if they don’t pay attention when you go on and on about yourself. When you focus on your clients then you’ll get your just rewards.
2 – Be distinct and show them that you’re different.
As long as you’re there to give the benefits, why not present a firm case making them understand how your offer is better than anybody else. And be specific. There’s nothing more irritating than a vague and ambiguous message where you can’t make heads or tails of what you want to say. If your product is better, tell them why and what that means to your clients.
3 – A special offer for a special marketing tool.
A special offer that is only good with your marketing brochure can go a long way in making sure that your target clients keep your print ads. It can be a special gift, a discount, a free booklet, or whatever might attract your prospects and clients to your business. With an incentive, you provide more value to your collateral especially in the eyes of your clients.
If you want your target clients to take you seriously, don’t give them vague messages in your full color postcards or any other print ads you create for your business. Vague messages just don’t cut it. If you want to be successful, you better invest in specific and clear messages.
For one, to ensure that your messages accomplish their task, you have to identify your target audience. You need to be very clear about it. You need to ask yourself who you would want to reach out to and who would you like your marketing messages to focus on. Are you targeting household moms or working dads? Teenagers or young adults, or the young-at-heart? Or are you focusing on mostly females who are working? The key is to be clear about who you’ll have for your target market.
Second, be an expert in your field if you want your postcard’s message to be specific. People usually give more attention to an expert rather than a generalist. Would you rather want to be known as a jack-of-all-trades but expert to none, or someone who knows what he’s talking about and would be able to provide valuable information to your target readers.
Lastly, a message that is geared towards your target clients should talk about them and not about your business. Sure, you have to tell them about your business and what you do – but in relation to the benefits that your target clients can get if they buy your product. Marketing is all about your target clients, so give them what they want to hear and they’ll gladly give you their undivided attention and eventually their buying decision.
I was watching TV the other day and saw that there are certain species of deer that actually freezes up every time they feel danger lurking near. So much like when I try to talk to people and introduce to them my business.
Letʼs face it. Oftentimes, we tend to scare our prospective clients with our sales pitch.
When we try to get potential clients in a conversation so we could tell them of what we do, it is very common to see that scared deer-like eyes every time we give them our business cards. It seems as if they feel trapped and that they would best have an excuse to get out of the situation.
Well, I was finally able to get my prospects to hear me out. I finally learned to communicate what I do in a way that my business comes out as the solution to their problem.
The key here is to get them to understand that you are the solution. Itʼs how you get yourself in position that spells the difference between your target clients accepting your message or not.
Getting your clients to get to know you is actually very easy. You just have to let them know what you can do to make life better for them. Thatʼs whatʼs positioning is all about. It can help you turn a suspicious and wary prospect to an interested person that craves for more information.
A follow-through can easily provide you with the distinction you need to rise above the rest of the competition. After every sale, make sure to follow through with your customers with either a simple phone call or a thank you postcard perhaps just so youʼll know if they liked your product or service.
A quick phone call after you delivered their order makes sure that they were satisfied with your services. Similarly, a thank you note in your postcard or advertising flyers can go a long way in making your customers and potential clients feel important and appreciated.
Initiate a follow-up even if itʼs the initial contact. Youʼll never know who would be interested in what you have to offer, hence, increase your chances of getting leads to increase your return.
And when you say youʼre going to call or visit your clients to see how your product or service solved a problem for them, you better be able to do so. Promising is one thing, but to actually take action on your promises is another thing. The latter can definitely increase positive response from your customers which can very well equal to increased chances for repeat business.
The key is not to wait for your clients to call you. Take action and call them as soon as you have delivered what youʼve promised
A trade show exhibit is the most likely place that you can waste your time, money and effort in just a snap. Why? Because trade shows are venues for people to hoard so much free stuff and then forget about them when they go home or go back to their places of work.
As a business owner, you simply cannot afford to have your promotional materials go to waste, for the simple reason that you’ve spent not only a bulk of your budget on postcard printing for example, but also dedicated most of your time and effort to get them printed in time for the trade show opening.
When you want your promotional giveaways to be effective messengers of your business, be sure to provide a promotional item that targets your message repeatedly. Don’t waste your time on trade show giveaways that are not repetitive senders of your message. If you want your color business cards or postcards to do their job well, make sure that they are used by your target audience again and again. This is for easy retention and recognition of your company and your brand.
Don’t invest on ‘throwaways’. Instead, put all your time, money and effort in creating a promotional giveaway that can give you the greatest return – an item that has value to your customers.
When you have something to offer your target clients, a postcard printing project is the most simple, the fastest and the most cost effective tool to use. It is also the easiest to distribute especially if you’re going to send your postcard printing pieces to your target clients by mail.
And if you’re looking at making your postcards extremely attractive, you should always present your product or service as an item of value and significance. One of the most popular techniques to increase your business’ value is to offer something for free.
That’s right. The most attractive word in any advertising or marketing campaign is the word “free” – free item, free consultation services, free gift. In fact, many believe that the word “free” gives your business the importance that is otherwise missing if you don’t use it in your postcard printing copy.
So when you’re offering something for free, don’t be content in just putting it haphazardly in your postcard printing project. On the contrary, place your “free” where it would be easily seen by your target readers – the headline would be the best place for starters. Always start your headline with the word “free”. It would definitely increase response as well as generate more opportunities to make a sale.
Use “free” often when designing and printing your postcards and see the difference it can make for your business.
Some of the most common means of getting the word out about your business is through print and media advertising. Here are some of the strategies you can use to optimize your marketing tools:
Print Media (via newspaper, magazine and marketing collaterals)
1 – When you’re using newspaper and magazine ads, be sure to get a page that emphasizes power and control for your business.
2 – Choose half-page, two-thirds page, and junior-page advertisements rather than small ones. This ensures that you get exposure without having to pay for the more expensive costs of a whole page ad.
3 – Integrate color when designing your print collaterals such as your catalogs, booklets, and flyers.
4 – Make your print flyers and business brochures stand out with unique images in full color instead of the usual black-and-white.
5 – Always ask for extra treatments especially during your brochure printing, booklet printing, or even in your flyers. You’ll never know how much you can get for less if you don’t ask.
TV and Radio Advertising
1 – For radio ads, it is better to buy ‘commute’ times for its captive audience. It may cost you more but it will be worth it.
2 – Take advantage of the captive audience during the airing of news, weather, sports and traffic reports especially on primetime. This is true for both radio and TV ads.
3 – As for both radio and TV, make sure that you have the right audience listening or watching your ad. If your prospects are not the regular audience of your radio or TV spot, then you’re just wasting your time and money. There’s no sense for you to place an ad if you’re going to be ignored anyway.
Beyond your marketing efforts, you also need to make sure that your most significant element in your business is attuned with the brand of service you would want your clients to remember you by. And I’m talking about your most valuable asset – your people.
Your promotional efforts would be wasted if your people are not equipped with the training and skills to make your brand work. Can you imagine having spent so much on your brochures and flyers or even your business cards, and have it all go down the drain just because you don’t deliver what you have promised?
Branding is not mere advertising. It is most of all, the actual service that you and your people provide when the time comes that your clients make you walk your talk.
You have to make sure that you train your people well. They should be able to communicate and deliver the kind of service you have promised your clients. This is particularly important if your business provides customer service rather than concrete items.
When your people don’t deliver the brand that you have promised in your marketing collaterals, you will lose your clients and that would be the end of your career in the industry.
On the bright side, when you do have employees that can reflect your brand clearly and impeccably then you’ll surely have one successful business indeed.
So how much budget should you spend on advertising?
One expert says that 20 percent of your resources should be put in advertising, including your time. And then you increase your investment by 20% on a regular basis.
Others will tell you to lessen your amount of marketing especially when your business grows. Still some would suggest that you continue to market to the old and loyal clients as well as the new ones.
But when youʼre on a tight schedule, you got to make your money work at the fullest. You need to have business card printing items that can provide you with the best marketing tool for your business.
Again, how much budget do you need in order to have an effective marketing campaign?
And Iʼd answer that it depends on what medium youʼll use to work best as your marketing tool. Will it be in print, internet, radio time, commercials, or even tv slots? The most important thing is to test the medium youʼve chosen to see which can perform and provide you with the best results.
Learn to mix and match your marketing activities and try to cross-match your strategies. When put together, your marketing tools such as your full color business cards can be put to work along with your brochures or catalogs to bring in the success you need.
Even if you think you don’t have time to market your business, or that you’re too busy completing one job and the next, you’ll need to promote your business when the dry season comes.
Marketing your business through collaterals such as flyer printing can bring about growth in your business. You can always rely on promotional flyers to help you advertise even if you do it while completing such mundane tasks as answering the phone.
Here are a few ideas to help you enjoy marketing your business:
While sending your invoice. When you’re about to send your invoice to your clients, why not insert a flyer or two, or add a couple of lines to advertise your service. Your flyers can be placed inside envelopes and boxes, along with your letters and outgoing packets.
While recording a voice mail. Include a few lines on how your clients are “guaranteed” the best service when they get your answering machine. Even with misdialed calls, you can catch a few prospects that might just need your particular service.
While asking your clients for referrals. You might want to try to market your business and ask for referrals from your current clients. You can always offer a free gift or special discount as an incentive. The more clients they can refer to you, the bigger the incentives. Send out a letter or a postcard and tell them about your referral incentive. Your clients may just need a little push if they haven’t already done referring you to their relatives.
Marketing your business need not be a bad experience for you. You might be surprised how enjoyable it can be, especially when you see the outcome of your marketing campaign.
Well it’s like this. I had a major migraine when last week I was in an office where I was supposed to give my brochures to some of the executive officers of one of the companies in the city.
So I was met by this guy who was supposed to be the executive assistant of the vice president, and he took my packet. I took off then, but I turned around because I forgot to give a letter. It was then that I saw the executive assistant opening my packet and when he saw that it was a brochure he proceeded to put it in the trash can.
What nerve! It was later explained to me by an officemate that this is the way with most big companies. The executive assistants often screen the documents and letters before they ever go in to the executive’s office. She said that I’ll just have to find a way to make my brochures sent straight to the big guys.
She proceeded to tell me what she herself did with her own promotional materials. She got her president to write a personal letter to the head of the company. And voila! Her brochure was read by the president himself.
So yesterday, I did the same. Today, we got a call from the executive assistant asking for a presentation from us. The strategy was a hit.
So if ever you are in need of a tactic to get your promotional ad sent straight to the highest officials, get your letter signed by your president. It’s a president-to-president thing. Who are we to argue?
To complete your holiday preparation, here are some of the trends in color that you can consider to have yourself a Christmas marketing campaign through your postcards, posters, greeting cards and calendars:
According to trend setters, there are 3 statements that would be very popular this season. These would be apparent in the design, color and material that would be used to create fashionable and up-to-date giveaway products and materials.
Blue –
It’s the color that links the classic theme of Christmas with springtime celebrations such as marriage, christening and confirmation. The mood is dictated by what is traditional and conventional, with elements of the classic included. Cool materials would be very much apparent such as glitter, silver, mirror glass, steel, chrome, and ice crystals.
Green –
This color links summer with Christmas. For a bolder look, use white fir trees and snow to decorate your design. Unembellished and modern shapes, as well as glass materials, plastic, rattan, silk, reed and wool would be the order of the season for decorations.
Gold –
It’s autumn and Christmas all together. The choice of materials for decoration is velvet, leather, with combinations of brass, gold and brocade.
With 3 colors to help you create a visually appealing promotional ad to your marketing collaterals (i.e. postcards, posters, greetings cards, and calendars), we hope that your Christmas this season would be truly magical.
To sum up all your costs for your brochure printing job, it’s not that cheap to put out your promotional material. Your copy, art, photos, typesetting, printing, postage and mailing service all adds up to a hefty price for a piece of your business brochure.
Creating business brochures and having them produced by a brochure printing company is no easy and cheap task. If you’re planning to use brochures to enhance client response for your product or service, then you have to ensure that you provide an effective print material.
And the best way to drum up great response is to provide your clients with a definite call to action that your clients would surely understand.
Tell them what you want them to do and your clients will surely do what you asked of them. After giving them the information about your business, make sure you tell them what the next step would be to purchase your product.
Again, don’t assume that your clients would know what to do after they’ve read your copy. If you don’t tell them, they may actually forget about you and call someone else instead.
Give them also a reason to act on your call…and to act now. If you don’t, your clients would surely move on to the next company and forget about you that easily.
So don’t waste your resources with an incomplete brochure. Provide a strong call to action and you’ll surely get the response rate you’re looking for.
Promotional materials are more than just the means to advertise your products and services, and eventually make profits. Your promotional materials such as your catalog printing pieces, brochures, and flyers can be put to good use to promote a very worthy cause.
Build more than profits with your promotional products; build social awareness when choosing the right promotional item for your business.
1. Choose a promotional item that appeal to the masses. Flyers are very popular print collaterals because they’re not discriminating when it comes to their recipients. Anyone can have a flyer or two.
2. Don’t go overboard with your budget. If you are a small business owner, you have to work within your specified budget. Don’t be too excited; develop only those that you can afford.
3. Keep in mind that quality should always be your priority, and not quantity. Your promotional product reflects your business. You wouldn’t want to be known as a company that is not stable just because your items break down easily.
4. Choose a promotional piece that your clients would find useful. Your catalogs and brochures, for example, should have information that would be valuable to your readers that they would want to keep your print collateral for future use.
Brochures, especially the tri-fold ones, are very popular marketing tools for most businesses. In fact, designers and brochure printing companies always get a lot of requests for brochure jobs just because many believe that promotional brochures are the only way to do your marketing campaign.
But sometimes, a tri-fold brochure is just not enough to market your business. You need other plans and tools to help you revive your promotional strategy. This is where the “marketing kit” comes in.
When brochures are just not working anymore, try a marketing kit to promote your products and services. Here’s a list of what you should include in your marketing kit:
1. Pocket Folder – This one holds all your other materials in your marketing kit.
2. Template Page – A professionally printed page that acts as your base piece for your other inserts in your marketing kit.
3. Difference Page
4. Descriptive Difference Page
5. List of Products and Services
6. Products and Services Descriptions
7. Case Studies Page
8. Testimonials Page
9. Client List
10. A page that has your Description Process
11. Your Story Page
Every small business should have one marketing kit. In place of the faithful brochure, a marketing kit is your best bet to produce an effective promotional tool for your business.
As they say, keep your friends close; keep your clients closer…well, something to that effect.
In marketing, the only way for you to draw clients in to your business is to make them feel important. And the only way to do that is to befriend them. If you have more friends then you would most likely have more sales than your competition.
So how does this strategy work?
The core of this principle is actually from the famous author Dale Carnegie. According to him, in order for you to win people to your way of thinking is to make them like you. And they would only like you if you make them feel that you’re really interested in them – how they feel, their issues and concerns, etc.
If you want to sell better and make your marketing collateral work (i.e. business cards, flyers, postcards), you need to focus your attention on the other person and not on yourself. When you try to make a sale, don’t look at your desired outcome. But rather look at how you can sincerely help the other person’s life become more convenient and comfortable.
It’s actually the same thing that the Bible says – love thy neighbor. If you love your neighbor, you want to make him feel special and important.
When you learn to make your clients’ needs the priority in your business, then and then can you truly say that you have had a successful business in your hands.
When done right, cross promotions has the potential for huge marketing results as you can effectively increase your customer base through your team members’ own database. With the right offers, you are able to join forces with other businesses that are in the same league as yours and reach out to a much larger market more efficiently and credibly.
Here are more ideas on how you can optimize your marketing campaign using cross promotions:
1. Co-produce and share with the payment of expenses for special marketing promotions that is too much for individual budget. Produce TV ads, radio commercials or video and audio tapes featuring you and your partner’s business.
2. Hire broadcasting students or communication majors to produce a “how-to” video or commercial ad that features your products and the other members’ as well.
3. Develop a contest with prizes donated by each of your team members. And vice versa.
4. Give out free products or special gifts from one of your partners when a client buys a product from your team that is listed in your joint promotional flyers.
Taking advantage of cross promotions help you not only to save your own budget, but allow you the opportunity to make use of more expensive marketing campaigns that are otherwise unaffordable when you do it alone.
Despite its size, booklet printing pieces offer more than just your regular print material especially during trade shows. Whatever your business niche, you can surely benefit from using your booklets as catalog printing pieces. With a very cost effective rate, you can create your own design and then have a catalog printing company produce your promotional booklets for you.
Booklets are very effective promotional items during trade shows because in addition to their lower printing costs, they have a longer life span. They donʼt have an expiration date that you can use them anytime during the show season, as well as utilize your booklets as complements to other marketing collaterals you have for your business.
To make sure that your booklets work to their fullest potential, fill them up with how-to information that uses common sense, and the most basic and practical details that your target clients will find valuable in their daily lives.
Your target clients will be turned off with philosophical and technical information so donʼt waste any of your time and effort printing articles that look like they come from a scientific dissertation.
Keep your text updated, relevant and informative. Use everyday concerns in your specific industry as your topics. Your booklet reinforces your position as an expert and would probably help your target readers recognize you and your business.
Once you have printed your booklets, youʼll realize that you have been taking this promotional tool for granted. Youʼll realize that in order for you to draw attention during trade shows, you need the help of your booklets to get your target clients hooked.
Functionality is a big factor for your target clients to keep your promotional tool. More than the aesthetics, your target clients would most likely keep your promotional flyers, postcards or brochures if they find them useful in their lives.
While this is true with clients, as the business owner, you should also consider functionality as one of the factors to take into account when creating your promotional materials.
But look at it on the other side of the spectrum. Instead of thinking how your marketing collateral can be valuable to your clients, use functionality to discover what your promotional item can do for you.
At the most, your promotional item should be able to provide you with the means to get your clients to be aware of your company and what you have to offer as benefits. Having elements like your logo and company name in your promotional materials makes for better retention of your products in your clients’ minds.
Moreover, your promotional products can work overtime to help you build your relationship with your clients. Promotional materials like postcards can be used to show your appreciation of your clients. Promotional flyers, on the other hand, can provide for advertising of free gifts and surprises to draw new leads to your business.
So is your promotional tool a keeper? If not, then isn’t it about time that you get one for your business?
In order for your catalog printing project to really stand out and grab attention, you should be able to create one that is flexible – so flexible that it allows you to tweak and pinch until you reach the best possible catalog printing project that gets you the success you desire.
To accentuate your catalog printing project, you can either enhance its function or its effectiveness. You can easily do this by adding extra elements to your catalog printing pieces. And one of the most popular accents to your catalog printing project is the tear off.
Tear Off –
These are inserts in your catalog printing piece that your target readers can rip off from the pages. The tear off usually has the special discounts and freebies that they can bring to your shop, or which they can refer to when they call you.
Tear offs are strong accents to include in your catalog printing project because your target readers are encouraged to use it as well as take action on your catalog printing message.
And your tear offs are not also limited to just small pieces that can be folded in your catalog printing piece; tear offs can also be composed of a one-page ad that your target readers can take with them even without the whole catalog printing piece. What’s more, your tear offs can also be your order form which your target readers can fill out and return to your shop.
So go ahead and put accents to your catalog printing piece. Your tear offs can be the thing you need to stand out from the rest.
How do you get to be different amidst the sea of postcard printing pieces circulated in your area? The only way to become different is to not do the same things that the other business owners have already done with their postcard printing project.
Although it’s good practice to get as much knowledge and reference from the other successful postcard printing materials, it would do you a great deal of good if you do not imitate what the competition has done. The only time you should copy whatever technique they’ve created is when you can do it better or you make a career out of being the best in your area.
However, if you’re fairly new in the postcard printing industry, it would be wise to come up with your own postcard printing design and layout; something that would really make you stand out from the rest of the competition.
Come up with a postcard printing idea that no one has done yet, and then organize your marketing campaign around it. More than anything else, brainstorming your way to an effective postcard printing project can get you what you need to generate leads.
What’s going on in your market niche? What’s happening in your area? What’s the buzz right now? How can you capitalize on the news? How can your relate your postcard printing message with that of what’s happening at that particular time? Etc., etc., etc.
To create effective postcards, you need to keep on brainstorming until you find the right formula for your postcard printing project. Great men used to brainstorm a lot during their times. And great ideas were born out of the brainstorming sessions that these great men had. So why not imitate what they’ve done? This is the only time that copying these mean will do you a great deal of good for your postcard printing project. And when there’s a great idea, you’re sure to have a successful postcard printing project in the offing.
E-books have been in the market for more years but we still have to open up to the idea of changing the way we read books. In fact, e-book technology is slowly but steadily improving its capabilities especially in terms of changing the way we utilize these e-books, read and use the information we get from them.
Nevertheless, the things that make e-books revolutionary are still the same technology found in the new e-books in the market today:
1 – An e-ink is still used which makes the words and letters legible and readable in all types of lighting.
2 – Energy is conserved just because the e-ink is powered to compose a screen and not to make the ink visible in all kinds of lighting conditions.
3 – E-books are very portable because it’s made up of light and compact materials, with a huge memory capacity, able to hold hundreds of heavy paged books. No more physical activity, enough to strain the muscles and shoulder blades.
4 – Your e-book has the same capabilities like that of the Internet. Documents and files can be uploaded and downloaded easily. A WiFi is built in. And you can even send an annotated and corrected term paper or journal writing from your e-book to another person.
The only thing that hasn’t changed is the price. It still is very expensive to purchase one. Hence, not too many are able to see the benefits of getting one. Maybe by next year its technology would be developed enough for the common man to be able to afford the first version.
More than just for email, your Blackberry, Palm Treo, or any other PDA is useful for other things, including getting yourself the scoop on how long is the airport’s security line.
Life is even easier with a PDA to guide you. Here are some of the services available with your PDA:
Hotel Room. Even if it’s the last minute, you can get a list of available hotel rooms with your PDA. Orbitz, a hotel mobile service, lists about vacancies in 20 US cities. Although the service can’t help you get booked, it provides a phone number however, which you can readily access by pressing one button in your PDA. Take heed though, because Orbitz charge a bit more for calling the hotel, rather than directly contacting the hotel yourself.
Airport Scene. FlightStats will help you scope what’s happening in your airport, including letting you know how long the line is in airport security, flight schedules, and delays. The data imported to your PDA comes from the Transportation Security Administration so it’s reliable. Just type the three-letter code of the airport where you’re going to take your flight, or the beginning of the airport name.
Language Translator. Now you don’t have to look dumb when in another country that doesn’t speak English. Beiks.com can be downloaded in your PDA to help you understand words and phrases in 26 different languages. Some of the programs would even help you pronounce the words right. You have to purchase the program though, starting from $8.
Weather Forecast. The quickest weather service would be the Weather Channel which provides extended forecasts for 98,000 locations worldwide. It looks as good as they would in a computer too.
Brochure printing companies are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere. Whether you’re in the suburbs or in the city, there will always be somebody or a company that will be able to provide you with your brochure printing needs.
Online or otherwise, a brochure printing company would most likely get in touch with you especially if you’re just starting a new venture in your area. So you don’t even have to look for them. They’ll be looking for you. The only issue now would be whether the brochure printing company would be appropriate for the one you are looking for.
And since a number of brochure printing companies would be vying to get your job, might as well talk with at least 2 to 3 just so you can compare rates and even haggle for the price you want. Believe me, with them trying to get your brochure printing job, your brochure printing house would most likely be able to provide you with the amount that you’ll be most comfortable with.
When you’re working on a budget (which I would dare say you always are), you’d be surprised that brochure printing houses usually offer discounts and special rate packages that could help you lower your production costs. Often, the bigger the number of brochure printing pieces, the bigger the discount.
Your brochure printing company can also provide you with good alternatives to make your rates go down. These include the quality of paper, as well as the number or process of color inks they’ll use; just so to help you stay on budget.
So haggle all you want when it’s time to look for the brochure printing company for your job. It’s your hard earned money. You wouldn’t want to pay for your brochure printing job and then find out later that it is not what you have imagined for your brochure printing project.
In order for you to stand out, you need not just create a postcard printing project that you can send to your prospective clients; but most importantly, you need to have a postcard printing project that appeals to your prospective clients and makes them a definite buyer.
Fact: A ho-hum postcard printing project produces few calls, and sometimes none at all.
Fact: No calls mean a waste of your money spent on your postcard printing project.
Fact: No calls = Waste of money = You better junk your postcard printing project.
To add to your postcard printing project’s attraction, you can always depend on digital photography and illustrations to get a kick out of your marketing tools. There are a lot of sources out there, especially in the Internet where you could get cliparts, illustrations, graphics, and photos that you could use, anytime and any change of season. All you have to do is to download them, or save them in your own computer.
Here are a few more tricks to help you turn your postcard printing project into money-making investments for your business:
- To get the most visibility, put your strongest picture at the top half of your postcard printing page to highlight its importance.
- Choose one big graphic image to represent your postcard printing message, rather than confuse your target readers with several smaller pictures.
- Or if you choose to use a number of small pictures, make sure to put them together to create the illusion of a single element in your postcard printing project.
- Create contrast between your big image and your smaller image.
Marketing your business to your target clients is not done by utilizing one marketing medium, and then crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. A marketing campaign is all about getting prospective clients to become buyers, and keeping them interested in your business.
Your online website may be the most effective marketing tool for your products and services but combine it with another promotional medium and you’ll have in your hands one very powerful marketing arsenal to get clients as well as keep them.
For one, not all of your prospective clients may be comfortable with having to do business from an unknown online business owner. Most often, people are wary of such business arrangements. That is why you need other forms of printed marketing materials, such as your brochure printing project, to help you succeed in your business.
Two, you need print materials, like your brochure printing project, to market your business because your target readers expect a company to have a printed sales document to promote its business. Brochures are often associated with “real” companies that are steady and secure.
And third, your brochure printing project can help you provide that human face to your company. It doesn’t take much to add your personal touch to your brochure printing project. Brochures often give you the support you need to make you more effective to your target readers’ eyes.
The bottom line: a good brochure printing project sells. Use them in conjunction with your online marketing campaign and see the big difference it can create in generating leads for your business.
It is always a challenge for business owners and graphic designers to come up with fresh and unique flyer printing projects that would wow its target clients, as well as make them interested in what you have to offer.
In order to have an effective flyer printing campaign, you need to consistently improve the way you design and most importantly, how you write your flyer printing content to make your target clients do what you want them to do – and that is to get in touch with you.
One of the most effective methods of getting your prospective customers hooked is to provide them with flyer printing content with strong persuasive powers, as well as a definite and clear call-to-action.
When starting your flyer printing project, always make sure to develop your flyer printing words to get the attention of your prospective readers. These can be done when you know the following basic rules:
- Know your target market and keep in mind their needs and wants.
- Use more of “you” instead of “I” or “we”. All your target readers care about is what you can give them to help them answer a need or a problem.
- Provide a clear message of what your target clients should do after they have read your flyer printing message.
- Provide a clear and precise call-to-action to your flyer printing message.
The whole point of this exercise is to encourage your prospective clients to do what you want them to do – to act on your flyer printing project and contact you now. That is what your flyer printing project’s end goal should be.
The next time you do your marketing campaign, why don’t you consider using a custom postcard instead of the other marketing medium in your arsenal? Postcards not only cost less when you send them by post, but your target readers will most likely read your postcard printing pieces precisely because it takes no effort at all to read one.
Your postcard printing message is there in plain sight that it’s no wonder that your target readers can quickly decide whether to get interested in what you have to say or to totally reject your message.
A custom postcard printing item is commonly used to get your target readers’ interest very quickly. And it often comes in three regular sizes: 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 5 ½ x 8 ½. With its small size and format, postcards are less expensive to mail – you only need no more than 30 cents to get your postcard printing piece mailed by first class.
Here are a few more tips to get your started with your postcard printing marketing campaign:
- Use prepaid return postage to make it easy for your target readers to respond to your postcard printing message.
- Include a pre-addressed return address on your postcards, as well as on your envelopes if you ever decide to use them.
- Use paper stock in bright colors to attract more interest in your postcard printing project.
- Provide space where you could put names and addresses. Always use large fonts to make it easy for your prospects to read your postcard printing project.
It’s not enough that you have a well planned design and copy for your brochure printing project, one of the elements included in developing an effective print brochure is the kind of fold you want to distinguish your marketing material from the others.
Folding is not just an ordinary part of your brochure printing project. Folding is considered an art that requires creativity and skill in laying out the right pattern of different shapes and sizes.
Here are some of the most popular folds used for brochure printing projects:
Accordian Fold. Also known as a Z-fold or a zigzag fold, this kind of folding technique is a simple combination of 6 panels and 2 parallel folds often applied to your brochure printing project. The panels and parallel folds go in opposite directions, with each panel having the same size as the others.
The Accordian Fold varies from time to time which includes half-accordian folds (one panel is half the size of the other 2), and the engineering folds (one panel is twice the size of the other 2 panels).
Zigzag Fold. Often interchanged with the accordion fold, this type has 2 or more parallel folds that go the opposite direction. The folds create a design like that of a letter Z or an M, or a series of zigzags. The panels in the zigzag fold often have the same size because they do not nest.
C Fold. This kind of fold in your brochure printing project is commonly used for a tri-fold brochure. It has 6 panels, with the 2 parallel folds creating a spiral pattern or design. The C fold allows for the panels to “nest” inside each other, with the folded end panel usually narrower than the other panels.
Spiral Fold. Also known as a “roll fold” or a “barrel fold”, the brochure printing piece is folded to create a spiral pattern. It has 2 or more parallel folds that go into each other. When seen from above, the fold made spirals inward.
Whatever your business niche, your flyer printing project is one of the most effective and cheapest marketing campaigns to promote to your target clients. Here’s how you can make your own flyers without having to go overboard with your budget:
1 – You can choose a different shade of paper for your flyer printing project to make them stand out. Just make sure that your budget can pay for more than a thousand pink leaflets for your business.
2 – Create an interesting headline. Your headline is the first thing that your target readers would read off your flyer printing project, so make it brief and snappy, summing up your business benefits in just a few words. Apply the billboard principle: make your statement work and capture your target readers’ interest in just 3 seconds.
3 – Include graphics and images that are necessary to emphasize your message. If it’s not useful to your flyer printing project, junk it. And remember to make it simple. You don’t want to add unnecessary costs to your total fees, do you?
4 – Make your flyer printing copy short and direct to the point. You only have a small space to say what you want to say. So
stop rambling. Give your target readers enough information to get them to contact you. More than necessary would be a total bore.
5 – Offer incentives and freebies in your flyer printing project to make them come to you. If you build it, they will come.
Aside from the marketing tool projects you indulge in to promote your business to your target clients, your envelope printing project is just as important to make your promotional campaign successful and effective.
In addition to the your design, your envelope printing size, type of mailing, budget, and what you’ll use to insert your print materials (whether automated or manually) to your envelopes – all of these factors should be considered for the type of envelopes you’re going to use.
But are you aware of how envelopes are made? Do you know how to make one? Here are the parts of an envelope to help you understand and eventually create a more effective envelope printing project that would help you generate more clients in your business.
The Face/Front – Usually the most seamless part of your envelope printing project, the front is where you put your address, postage, cancellation stamp, as well as your return address. It is often mistaken by ordinary people as the back of an envelope.
The Back – This is where the flaps meet to form and seal your envelope printing project. The back part of your envelope printing project is further categorized to:
Seal Adhesive – It is where the gum or glue can be seen to seal your envelope after you’ve inserted your marketing materials.
Top Flap – Commonly referred to as the seal flap, it is the one folded down and sealed after inserting your contents in your envelope.
Top Fold – This is the crease where the top flap is folded to seal your envelope.
Throat – This is the space that you find between the top fold and the top of the back flap. It forms the opening of your envelope where you insert your marketing materials.
Side Flaps – These are the side portion folded onto the inside and sealed with the back flap to form the pocket.
Side Folds – These are the creases found on the sides of your envelope printing project that separates the face from the side flaps.
Shoulders – Part of the side flaps where they meet the top fold.
Bottom Flap – Folded up and sealed on the edged of the side flaps.
Seam overlap – 2 or more flaps overlap.
Bottom Fold – The crease along the bottom of your envelope printing project.
Business cards don’t always have to be the usual black-on-white that has the same design with your contact information written on it. Your business card printing project doesn’t have to always suffer from lack of imagination and creativity.
When you’re in a rut, maybe it’s time to do a makeover and have yourself a brand new set of business cards that can be aggressive marketing tools to gain new clients.
1 – Use your business cards as a survey form. You can combine this with a freebie or an incentive when they answer the survey and return the business card to you.
2 – You can always use your business card printing project to produce other forms of marketing strategies. You can print a frequent buyer card, or even a discount coupon card. Your card-sized paper stock doesn’t need to have the usual format. You just have to remember to include your contact information so your target clients would know where to reach you.
In addition, your business card printing project can also become other things such as nametags, tickets to an affair, or small
greeting cards.
3 – Use your business card printing pieces as referrals to your organization or club.
4 – Use your business card printing project as appointment cards.
Your business card printing project doesn’t always have to be the boring and standard format. Your business cards should have a new use, a total facelift to make them stand out. Try these ideas and see how you can have more clients than you have ever imagined.
When you don’t have enough resources (financial, that is) to develop your catalog printing project, you can make your very own print materials without having to strain your budget, as well as keep your catalog printing project on the right perspective.
1 – Know your readers. One way to reach out to your target readers and be able to get their attention is to let your catalog printing project talk to them in the way they know and understand. What is the best approach for your catalog printing project if you happen to be targeting a group of managers? Would your target readers prefer words, or will they understand your message better if they’re in graphics and images?
Bottom line: your catalog printing content should be able to make your prospective clients take the time to read them.
2 – Consider the purpose of your catalog printing project. Why do you want to have a catalog printing project? Is it your only marketing tool for your business? Will it be used in trade shows with other marketing materials? Do you need your catalog printing project to relay your information and message; or do you want your catalog printing material to make a sale?
Bottom line: your purpose for your catalog printing project will determine the design and content of your print materials which will ultimately decide your overall appearance and look.
3 – Consider giving out information that is valuable and memorable. The only reason that your target readers would give your catalog printing project their time is if they consider your print items valuable to them. So make sure to tell your target readers of the benefits they can get from your business.
Bottom line: when you provide your target readers a valuable reason to give your catalog printing project a try, then you’ve already won half of the battle. Now all you need to do is to convince them to become buyers.
Why use postcards as your marketing medium for your business?
1 – Your postcard printing project can look great even with just a simple illustration or graphic design to enhance the overall appearance. Combined with a good paper stock, your postcard printing project can come out more than you expect.
2 – Your postcard printing project is much cheaper to produce than any other printed marketing material. First of all, you don’t need to make your postcard printing design in four or full color. One or two color postcards work as well as the four-color ones. And second, one or two color postcard printing projects have lower print costs.
3 – Even when you decide to go full color with your postcard printing project, you can save a lot with gang-runs. Some postcard printing shops offer such low prices for postcard printing items in numbers of like 5,000 prints.
4 – When you do the mailing yourself, your postcard printing pieces are easy to handle because you don’t have to do all those things like folding and stuffing your postcard printing materials inside the envelopes.
5 – When you need to measure your target readers’ response for your postcard printing project, you can have your postcards act as quick survey forms. More than likely that your target readers would send them back by mailing them or faxing them to you. So make sure to include a return address or a fax number in your postcard printing layout.
The next time you’re thinking of creating your marketing campaign for your business, consider doing a postcard printing project. They might just be the postcard printing pieces you need to boost your business to the level you desire.
Whatever marketing medium you use, whether it’s in print or visual media, the colors you choose can attract or repel people from your promotional materials. And in your color flyer printing pieces, your color choice sure does make the world of difference to your prospective clients.
Colors are statistically proven to create an attraction or rejection from your target clients. Your choice of color tells your readers if your company is approachable or not. In the same way, your color flyer printing affect your target readers’ decision to get to know you better or to stop from reading your flyer material altogether.
However, using full color flyer printing for your marketing tool can be a bit expensive, especially for small businesses that don’t have much in their pockets. What you can do to lessen your costs is to KISS – keep it simply simple. (Actually, this is not the original meaning, but to make this article reader friendly, I made it a point to change the words of the acronym.) Creating simple and yet trendy color flyer printing materials can give you that media mileage even if you don’t have the big budget for it.
This means using simple designs and beautiful graphics to create a great layout for your color flyer printing project. A complex illustration needs many shades and colors. When you keep everything simple and at a minimum, it helps keep your color flyer printing costs minimal. Less color, less ink.
Simple color flyer printing designs can help you achieve your desired results. Using color for your flyer printing project doesn’t have to be expensive. You just need a little more imagination and creativity to get your money’s worth.
Are you an environmental enthusiast who regularly bemoans the state of Mother Nature? Looking for quick-drying, but ecologically friendly inks for your marketing campaign materials? Well, bemoan no more.
A group of ink manufacturer has come up with ecologically responsive inks that can help preserve the environment, without having to sacrifice the quality of your on-press performance.
Called the Novavit F918 SUPREME BIO, this is the group’s series of fast-setting, environment friendly, sheetfed inks recently made available in the US under the K+ E brand.
The manufacturers of the Novavit inks anticipate that their inks would offer users with a fresh alternative to enhance the performance of sheetfed printers. They expect that users would greatly benefit for their Novavit inks in that the fast drying qualities can help in increasing the print output. This can be done even by printers running their presses at higher speeds. The inks allow users to do their work without having to worry about setting-off their equipment, or even that they won’t be able to send their output to the finishing division, without the use of great amounts of powder.
Second, the group was able to make the inks ecologically friendly and responsive to the call of the environment, by making use of vegetable oils that can be replenished naturally. Hence, the Novavit inks will emit lower VOCs that can significantly minimize the negative impact to the environment.
Nevertheless, without any adverse effects to the printing output, the Novavit inks rather produce sharp dots, maintain balance between ink and water, produce high color intensity, as well as produce quality results even on varying substrates.
The Novavit inks are very much a refreshing and excellent alternative to the regular inks used for sheetfed print jobs. We hope that many more manufacturers would follow what this group has done to preserve more of our Mother Earth.
A surefire way to create an effective brochure for your business is to combine your brochure printing elements to develop a strong design. A well planned brochure printing layout would definitely provide your business with print materials that are sure knockouts, as well as readable and easy to understand promotional tools.
One way to do this is to determine your pages and panels in your brochure printing project.
Your pages and panels would determine the cover of your brochure. The number of pages you have would determine what kind of cover would be suitable for your print brochures. More pages would need a heavy-weight paper stock to be able to hold everything. You could also use a glossy type paper which can get you that extra mileage when it comes to getting the attention of your prospective clients.
In addition, your number of pages would also determine how many products and content you can put in your brochure printing project.
Nevertheless, you can also provide a good design for your brochure printing project even if you decide to use a one-page layout. You can further optimize this type of brochure when you use multiple folds for your overall layout. Despite its limited page, you are able to provide your prospective clients with an alternative to the usual style of brochures out there.
The next time you’re thinking about creating your brochure printing project, plan your design according to the pages and panels in your print materials. This would help you a lot in making your brochure printing design more attractive and appealing to your target clients.
A surefire way to create an effective brochure for your business is to combine your brochure printing elements to develop a strong design. A well planned brochure printing layout would definitely provide your business with print materials that are sure knockouts, as well as readable and easy to understand promotional tools.
One way to do this is to determine your pages and panels in your brochure printing project.
Your pages and panels would determine the cover of your brochure. The number of pages you have would determine what kind of cover would be suitable for your print brochures. More pages would need a heavy-weight paper stock to be able to hold everything. You could also use a glossy type paper which can get you that extra mileage when it comes to getting the attention of your prospective clients.
In addition, your number of pages would also determine how many products and content you can put in your brochure printing project.
Nevertheless, you can also provide a good design for your brochure printing project even if you decide to use a one-page layout. You can further optimize this type of brochure when you use multiple folds for your overall layout. Despite its limited page, you are able to provide your prospective clients with an alternative to the usual style of brochures out there.
The next time you’re thinking about creating your brochure printing project, plan your design according to the pages and panels in your print materials. This would help you a lot in making your brochure printing design more attractive and appealing to your target clients.
The EOS 40D was recently introduced by Canon in the market with advanced amateur and semi-professional photographers in mind. With features such as 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 6.5 frames per second burst performance, newly developed AF system, and a 3.0” LCD with Live View mode, the Canon EOS 40D is definitely an impressive equipment to look forward to.
In addition to these specifications, the Canon EOS 40D is simply amazing because the manufacturers retained the camera benefits found from its predecessor – a responsive operation, enhanced color rendering, and near-instant start-up time – all of which allows for a more versatile and well developed performance for users.
And as always, the EOS 40D includes the “Integrated Cleaning System” present in all EOS models, which fights sensor dust and allows for a weather resistant element for long-lasting durability.
Why the EOS 40D is considered an absolute upgrade? For one, the CMOS sensor is improved with high quality image of up to ISO 1600. It has a “Highlight Tone Priority” mode that provides photographers, particularly those involved in weddings and landscapes, the capability to create a more tonal detail to lighter colored objects.
Two, the 6.5 frames per second burst performance provide users with the capability to handle up to 75 Large JPEGs continuously. This allows for smoother gradations, as well as excellent and accurate color in reproductions.
Three, the EOS 40D newly developed AF system gives users the ability to focus both on vertical and horizontal planes, with a dedicated AF button which allows photographers to click on the auto focus with the use of the thumb.
And four, the LCD with Live View mode helps users to shoot at awkward angles. With the AF-ON button, photographers can set their EOS 40D to allow auto focus by flipping the camera mirror for a moment.
With enhanced technologies found in the EOS series, Canon has definitely made another mark that keeps them at the top of their industry.
What makes other poster printing designs stand out? Why do other posters prove to be attention grabbers time and again?
The purpose of your poster printing project is to increase your target market’s awareness of you and your business. The best way to do that is to create a memorable poster printing design that reflects your unique identity.
Almost all the tips and suggestions in poster printing design and layout are the same. Some graphic designers and gurus only add a thing or two, and more often, most of them review old rules and reconfigure an alternative.
Although you’ve always abided with poster printing rules of design, most business owners tend to forget that a “well proportioned, carefully balanced and perfectly coordinated” poster design is not always the most effective. You have to take note that predictability is not the same with outstanding.
Mistakes are often made because:
1 – Your poster printing design tries to be more elegant rather than outstanding. Hence, your posters become inconspicuous and low key, as opposed to being outright elaborate.
2 – Your poster printing design fits in with the rest of the crowd.
3 – Your poster printing design looks like it’s cheap.
4 – Your posters are placed inappropriately, and at the same time at the most unlikely places.
The purpose of the exercise is to make your poster printing project stand out. So you have to remember that it doesn’t always pay to be the same as with everybody else. What worked for another may not have the same effect on your business. Similarly, abiding by the rules will almost always cost you – not only your money but most importantly, you’re chance to stand out.
What is so great about postcards is that you can send it by mail without even an envelope to hide your postcard printing message. Your postcard printing content and information are there for everyone to see. In fact, you can already decide whether to keep a postcard or dunk it in the trash when you see one. That means that even if you just got a glimpse of the content, you saw enough to help you make your decision.
- Postcard size of 3.5 x 5 inches is allowed. Less than that and your postcard printing material will not be mailed by the USPS.
- Postcard size of 4.25 x 6 inches is allowed. Anything more than that and your postcard printing pieces must be mailed as a letter, with a higher rate.
- Postcards are allowed with a minimum thickness of .007 inches. Anything less is non-mailable.
- Postcards are allowed with a maximum thickness of .25 inches. More than that and your postcard printing pieces are considered as a Parcel.
- Postcards with intermediate sizes (like A4 x 5.5 inches postcards) can be mailed at a postcard rate. However, the postcard printing pieces should be within the specified size, thickness, weight, specifications discussed to be considered as postcard mail.
Brochure printing materials are very popular among graphic designers and business owners because of their flexibility. Over time, brochures have proven their place in the marketing industry as one of the most effective promotional tools.
Nevertheless, with the advent of technology, people are starting to rely too much on the web for their marketing strategies. Often, business owners have put up or are about to develop a website to market their business.
But despite its presence, businesses still fail even if they invest in making their marketing medium a success. The reason? Over reliance on one promotional tool is not enough to achieve success. You need at least two promotional mediums to help each other to promote your business.
This is where your print brochures come in.
In order for you to get to your target market, you need to combine your brochure printing project with your online store. Not everyone has access to computers. Your brochures will be your alternate when technology is inaccessible.
Unlike your online shop, brochures are always available for your target audience to browse at their own sweet time. They don’t need to go online to get to know you better. Second, although people have caught up with the times, we still expect brochure printing materials in the form of paper and ink. We have this predilection for something tangible to hold on to.
Definitely, without your brochure printing pieces to support your online shop, you’ll just be wandering throughout your lifetime without the success you’ve always hoped for.
A business card is part and parcel of any successful marketing campaign. Despite its size, your business card printing project can tell your potential clients what to expect from your business. Although you most likely won’t be able to tell the whole story of your company from your business cards, but what you lack in data, you more than compensate for your style and image.
A good and effective business card printing project makes or breaks a business. Your potential clients will make their first impression based on your business cards. Hence, your potential clients expect more from your business card printing items than from the other promotional tools in your marketing arsenal.
So how do you achieve success from your business cards? Success can be had if you know how to convey the right message in your business card printing pieces.
A great business card has the makings of an excellent style that exemplifies your image, your personality as a business, and the way you conduct your business. And your business card printing style depends on the business niche you’re in. For example, if you’re into designing and graphic arts, you won’t design you’re business cards in plain black and white, do you? Similarly, if you’re business is a high end one, you wouldn’t be caught dead handing out business cards with the Looney Tunes as your border and background.
When crafting your business card printing design, choose a style that best suits your kind of business. After all, you don’t want your potential customer to mistake you for a funeral director when you have a travel agency as your business.
In addition to your design, content and printing style, your paper stock provides a big difference to the overall effect of your catalog printing project. To optimize your choice of paper for a more effective catalog printing pieces, here are a few of the things you need to know:
Coated or Uncoated, please. –
Coated or uncoated stocks are two types of paper used in commercial catalog printing. They are further sorted by weight; hence, we have the text and cover stock.
The text stock is the lighter of the two that it is often used for the body pages of a catalog printing project. More so with its price, which is less than the cover stock. The cover stock, on the other hand, is made of heavier and more durable paper that is why it is generally used for the outside catalog printing cover. It is also very popular among users because it adds a classier feel to the print pieces with its thickness.
Gloss and matte for Coated Papers –
Often, flyers and catalogs are printed on 80# gloss stock paper to make it more upscale and professional. It has a shiny, reflective finish that gives full color pictures and images a more vivid and brilliant appearance.
In contrast, matte is a coated paper regularly utilized for pages with more content and text than images. The matte look makes it easy for viewers to read the text or type of your catalog printing pieces.
Your brand message is what keeps your relationship with your target clients strong. Whatever your target clients see in your catalog printing pieces is what will help them to decide to bond with you and your business.
Your brand message is your commitment to your prospective customers to provide them with better service than any other companies in your industry.
So what makes a brand message strong? It all starts with your target market. You have to determine which target market will you concentrate on. This factor is the most significant element in developing your catalog printing message. Different sectors would mean a different message for each.
Creating your brand message involves a deeper connection with your target market. It is a promise made and kept regarding your way of service.
And how do you keep your promise? By understanding more of your target market’s interests and desires. You need to keep abreast of many factors like their spending habits, their age, their gender, your target market’s educational level, among others. All of these things will determine your catalog printing plan for your brand message.
When you know who you would want to get in touch with, it would be easier for you to develop what you would want to say to your target market. To effectively promote your business, your brand message should tell your target audience what makes you different from all the rest. What would make your target readers choose you? Why do you think you’re better than the other competition?
Plan what you would want to say to your target clients. Choose your brand message carefully. What you put in your catalog printing brand message would be the determining factor that will decide whether your prospective client would stick with you or not.
Full color photos and graphics make for an attractive brochure printing for your target audience. While it is true that your images make your target audience look, it is the content or brochure printing copy that makes them stick a while longer.
Your brochure printing content holds your prospective readers’ attention, far longer than your images would. Isn’t it one of your end goals to have your prospective clients read your message? Better than the images, your brochure printing copy provides the meat – the information – that would help your target clients decide to go for your products and services.
Nevertheless, selling an idea to your target readers’ needs a well thought of plan. You need to determine what would be your strongest selling points when you promote your products and services in your brochure printing copy. Persuading them to do more than read your brochures requires extra effort from your brochure printing content.
Be simple and brief. Although you have many pages to write your content, it is still suggested that you limit your brochure printing copy to a minimum. Do not bombard your target readers with too much information that they get sleepy over your products and services. Keeping your sentences brief and concise would help your target readers to understand better what you are offering them.
Be careful with your words. You know “Sticks and stones may break my bones…”, well, it’s the same with your brochure printing project. Your words can make your target audience accept or reject whatever you have to offer them. Your choice of words is important in your brochure printing content as it should be understood by the group of people you are targeting. You might want to use professional language if you’re into high end products and services; and a more casual content would be appropriate if you are targeting the younger generation.
“It’s all about YOU.” Focus your attention on your target readers. It’s all about them and not you and your business. Remember to use more of “you” rather than the “I”. They will respond more to your message when they know that you are talking about them and their needs.
In addition to your images, your content gives you further leverage when it comes to persuading your target audience to buy what you are offering them. A brochure printing content that is simple yet packed with information would get you more buyers than you can ever imagine.
Getting new customers to add to your current database is a very difficult challenge that faces every business owner everyday. Even armed with a powerful marketing strategy, most business owners often struggle in attracting new clients to their fold.
One of the popular marketing tricks used by business owners is to offer different incentives and pricing discounts to get as much prospective clients to try them and their products. This includes offer of freebies, discounts, sale incentives, and even extra allowances for new clients. However, it is often very hard to provide incentives when you’re working on a tight budget.
This is the reason why postcards are very popular with small business owners. Postcards are more cost effective to print compared to the other marketing tools. Nevertheless, postcard alone won’t get clients for you. Postcards with additional incentives would definitely do the trick.
1 – Hosting an event. Your postcards can promote a special event highlighted by a fundraiser or even a celebrity appearance. This is one surefire method to promote your business, as well as maintain your relationship with current clients.
2 – Provide coupons. Your postcards can serve as coupons that you can hand out just about anywhere. Nevertheless, coupons can be ineffective when done haphazardly. To develop a winning postcard coupon, be sure to offer a generous incentive to attract attention.
3 – Include free gifts in your postcards. People do love getting things for free. A free gift in your postcards can definitely get you clients knocking on your door.
You can think of other incentives to include in your postcards. Always remember that it’s not the information and features that get you clients- it’s the benefits that make your clients attracted to your business.
When you need to get a price quote for any of your marketing project – it may be brochures, postcards, posters, catalogs, or even business cards – with an online printing company, you can choose between two options: (1) from a customer service representative; or (2) instant pricing.
The conventional way of getting your printing costs is to contact a company via its customer service representative. In addition to the online printing company’s website, information such as the telephone number, fax number, and even a toll free number are provided for clients. A customer service representative or a sales agent can easily help you determine the most appropriate price for your marketing project. All you have to do is to provide them with your requirements (e.g. paper stock, inks, size specifications, finishing, choice of colors, etc.) and they will be able to give you the best price and keep your costs to a minimum.
On the other hand, instant pricing from online printing companies are getting to be very popular these days. You just log on to an online printing company website, upload your printing requirements in the slots provided, and then you can have your price quotes in a flash. There’s no need for you to haggle with another person. It’s straightforward and most clients find it more convenient and for the most part, quicker than getting a customer service representative to provide you with your price quotes.
Nevertheless, you still have to check and double check what is listed in your price quote. Either from a customer service representative or an instant pricing, wherever you choose to get your online printing costs, be sure to pick several companies so you can compare and get the most out of your time and budget.
The bottom line for any brochure printing project–it is not how well you design your layout or combine the elements to come up with a pleasing and quality print brochures. Your brochure printing pieces would not be worth anything if you don’t have honesty on your side of your business.
With the need to say anything positive to everyone to get a positive response from our target audience, we often make the mistake of embellishing our product information and brochure printing content. Our brochure printing projects (or any marketing material for that matter) often paint a pretty picture of our business and what we can provide our target audience. This is evident in every glossy and brilliant marketing medium that we produce to entice our target clients to avail of our product and service.
As business owners, we spend much of our budget and time to develop and produce the ultimate quality brochure printing piece to highlight and even gloss over what is really happening with our business. Messages are strategically planned and placed to convey the most persuasive angle. Our brochure printing design is often bombarded with brilliant and colorful designs with the aim to dazzle and inspire awe.
However, we need to realize that people are very smart and that everyone knows one scam from the other. We need to know that people have the tendency to reject anything that doesn’t sound true and are embellished with so many things to dazzle. With so many trimmings, our target audience knows how to sift through all that and get to the nitty gritty of what makes one business work.
The bottom line- despite all the trimmings you put in your brochure printing pieces, your target reader knows how to scour through all that and get to the most important aspect of your business. And that is quality customer service that promotes confidence and honesty with your target clients.
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.
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.
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!
Late last year, digital cameras, both point-and-shoot DSLRs, have become really affordable and accessible to the public. Old and young folk alike cluttered over to the nearest Best Buy and Circuit City to grab a Canon, Nikon or Olympus that suits their liking and budget. This sudden overstock of cameras has led to quite a handful of people aspiring to become photographers or at least anxious to shoot and print their first collection. However, good quality printing cannot be availed at just any price. As many online printing companies there are online, not all can promise good quality printing. So where to go now?
For those who want standard print sizes of 4×6, 5×7, 6×9 or 8.5×11, you can get cheap prints with good quality from Costco, Target, Walmart or another major general retail merchandiser. Better watch out though, not all general merchandise stores can give you good printing quality. For those who want poster-sized and poster-quality prints, however, it is very much recommended that you send your print files to an online print shop. The tricky part is, how to get one that offers the same price as your retail store? In this context, you will have to scour for coupons to get printing discounts for your online printing store. Next question you might ask is “how do I get printing discounts?” Different online printing companies have different ways of offering printing coupons to the public. One way is that you subscribe to their mailing list or register as an online customer (don’t worry you don’t need to buy anything to be able to be a registered user). Some online printing companies buy email lists and send out printing coupons to these addresses, and well if you’re lucky, then you might land a printing discount in your inbox. But try guessing the likelihood of that happening! Another way to get printing discounts online is to type in printing coupons or printing discounts in Google. Look through the SERPs but most importantly try looking through the PPC ads. They give out discounts to customers who enter their site through paid ads. Another way is of course the traditional cut-it-off-from-a-newspaper discount coupon. Still works!
As I end my little post, I hope I was able to give you some ideas on how to get your photos printed within your budget. But at the same time, remember not to sacrifice the quality of your prints for the price. You wouldn’t want to be known as the wash-out photographer do you? Good luck and happy shooting!
As a branch of PrintPlace.com, this blog aims to provide useful promotional tips and printing guidelines to online users in need of simple but effective solutions.
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