Which Type of Promotional Calendar is Right for Your Customers?

A promotional print calendar is a great way to keep your business name in front of your current and potential customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. Print calendars are versatile in format and extremely cost-effective, making them an ideal marketing giveaway. But which type of promotional calendar is right for your customers? Knowing what’s available will help you to better choose a format that meets your clients’ needs.

A promotional print calendar can be customized to virtually any print format you can come up with including: 
 

Some Little Known Facts about Memorable Business Cards

The goal of any business card is to be handily available when someone needs what you are selling. In order for a current or potential customer to find your card when they are ready to make an order, they first have to remember it and have kept it. So how can you make your business card memorable enough that people want to keep it around? Here are some little known facts about memorable business card printing pieces that will help guide you to design one of your own!

Print Beautiful Catalogs Using These Color Tips

Color catalogs look far more attractive than black and white ones, and so are more effective marketing tools. Just adding color will increase the appeal of your print catalog, but if you want to take your catalog to the next level, there are a few color guidelines that will help.

Be Consistent With All Publications
To reinforce product branding when printing catalogs, use the same color scheme in every publication and on all your signage and marketing materials. This is not to say all your photos in the catalog should have the same colors in them, but your cover page, logo, and order form pages should have the same color scheme.

Use Color for Impact
On each page of your print catalog, there should be one product that stands out. You can do this by having a monochromatic background that contrasts with the product you want to emphasize. For instance, you can emphasize a bright red coat by using a picture of a model wearing it on a gray city street. Using only a few colors per page also makes the spread look more attractive. If you were to use lots of colors inconsistently on the page, it would just look busy, and nothing would really stand out.

Use Colored Text Sparingly
Black text on a white background is the easiest to read. In your efforts to be creative, you must keep in mind whether or not your words are readable, because if people have to struggle to read your catalog, they are less likely to order from it. On the other hand, if you want to emphasize only a few words, this is one instance in which colored text is acceptable. For instance, you could put the word “sale” in red. If only a few words are in color, then they stand out much more than if the entire page is full of colored words.

Use Background Bleeds
Using background bleeds in your print catalog makes it look more attractive and professional. When bleeds are used in printing, the background color extends a little beyond the edge of the page. That way, the color extends all the way across the page and there are no white edges showing in the final printed product. Just remember that when you use this technique you need to keep your text and important images within your printer’s safety guidelines so they don’t accidentally get cut off during the trimming process.

Advertising 101

There are a lot of words thrown around that have similar meanings to advertising, so you might be wondering what advertising really is and if a specific definition really matters. Advertising is basically anything a business does to try to get consumers to have a positive view of their company or to get consumers to purchase their goods or services. There are four basic purposes for advertising.

Creating Demand
The objective for advertising is sometimes to create a demand for product or service. There are two types of demand: primary and selective. 

• Primary demand is the demand for a type of product. The Got Milk? ad campaign is an example of this type. The advertisers are merely promoting the consumption of milk in general, not a specific brand of milk. Unlike the milk example, primary advertising is usually done to promote a new product; in this case the marketer tries to create a demand for something the public doesn’t currently use.
• Selective demand is the demand for a specific brand of the product. Selective demand advertising kicks in once the new product has competition.

Promoting a Brand or Company
Another purpose for advertising is to shape the public impression of a brand or company. An advertisement might try to make a company seem reliable, cutting edge, or customer-oriented. The hope is that if people think the company is a good one, they will be more likely to use it rather than the competition. For instance, a printing company might have a commercial showing the bands it has helped make famous by completing quality poster printing projects.

Causing Action by Consumers
The desired action by consumers might be direct or indirect.

• Direct action advertisements call for consumers to buy this product or service soon. The ads do this by having limited time offers of special prices or packages. For example, a print company might offer poster printing at a reduced rate until a specific date.
• Indirect action advertisement is a lot like promoting a company. The purpose is to get consumers to have a positive view of the brand or the product a company makes. This type of advertising is aimed at building a customer base over the long run. 
   

Benefiting the Public
The purpose of some advertising campaigns is to promote public safety or well being. Campaigns that encourage people to wear seat belts are an example of this.  Another example is when regional forest reserves do a poster printing campaign to promote fire safety.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of advertising, you can better know where you should start with your advertising campaign. Your next step is to research specific advertising campaigns and hire professionals so that your advertisements can be as effective as possible.

Common Booklet Printing Mistakes

Booklet printing is a great marketing resource when you need more space to properly showcase your product than a brochure allows. There are a few design notes you should keep in mind when planning a booklet. Here is a list of some of the most common booklet printing mistakes to avoid.
 
#1 Too Much Text

All of that extra room can make your copywriters go a little crazy! You will need to watch for too much text added to use up all of the extra space. If you find this to be the case, edit the text and then, if there is too much white space, try enlarging the headlines and subheadings. Limit your text to what is needed.
 
#2 Page Malfunction

Missing pages or pages that are out of order are another unfortunate mistake of booklet printing. Be sure that you have a copy of the finished product to scrutinize specifically for consecutive page order.

Improving the Content and Images of Your Brochures

Improving a brochure is a great way to increase revenue and retain existing clients, and images and content are one of the most important aspects when improving the memory retention of your brochures. So if your brochure printing pieces need an overhaul, try the following suggestions to turn your design into an easy sales tool.

Images    
Paint the perfect picture with images. Here’s how:

1. Images are a great enhancement to any brochure. They are often used to suggestively sell the product or service in the brochure. So, how does a suggestive sell create desire for a product? 
2. Show the value of the product with images. Inform the consumer of the utility that will be gained. A pain relieving patch will often show an individual before and after the use of the pain reliever.
3. But show more than proof of the product working. Show a dancer performing in a dance after using the pain relieving patch or grandpa playing catch with the grand kids. The utility gained here is much more than just pain relief. 

How to Design Product and Packaging Labels

When trying to create product/packaging labels for your business, the process can become quite complicated and frustrating. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be such a hassle to get your labels designed and printed. Here are a few steps to simplify the process and give you label printing designs that will reinforce your company image. 

First, list the required information and choose a paper. The paper used for label printing depends upon the product, company, and type of distribution. The packaging label for a piece of furniture is often cheaper and less essential than the label on a box of toothpaste. The same goes for the required information on a label — it depends upon the product. There are legal requirements for food and other products. There are also courtesy requirements due to industry standards. Just try to find a bar of soap without the amount in ounces on the label. Even the handmade craft or specialty soaps include the ounces on the labels.       

Build Your Customer Base with Flyer Advertising

Flyer advertising is a great way to build your customer base without breaking your advertising budget. Just make sure that when designing flyers to promote your brand and image, to be clear with your message, and to then be prepared for responses. With these few techniques, your flyers will take your brand even further and increase revenue for your business.

Use Images
Images are great branding techniques, even if the only image you can afford to use is your logo. Photographs and graphic designs used are usually related to the product or service to build credibility. And never forget your logo and any graphic designs you use to reinforce your brand.  

Be Ethical
Be creative and outgoing when advertising with flyers, but never mislead the customer. Unethical behavior must be hidden and covered up, and a cover up is a distraction from the real service or product. Be ethical and build up your business, don’t tear it down. One of the most important aspects of being ethical is to provide amazing customer service. Always follow through with what you promise in your flyer printing message.

Be Assertive
Create desire and include a call to action with your advertising. Show how your product or service makes life better and more enjoyable — how it works better than your competitors’ products or saves time. Action phrases are the best way to motivate your customer. Don’t sell your message short by being too modest. Most ads use “Call Now!” or “Purchase Today” to motivate the customer. Whatever call to action you use, make sure it specifically states what you want a customer to do and keep your contact information handy.
             

Follow Up

A well-designed flyer will get the attention of the consumer and cause action. Unlike brochures, the purpose of a flyer printing message is primarily to cause viewers to contact you. It is the responsibility of the staff to follow up and close the deal. Be prepared for increase in business and inform the staff of the advertising. Make sure your staff is knowledgeable and can answer any detailed questions that consumers will have. You may even need to be prepared to hire temporary staff to handle to influx of new customers. You never know to what new heights an effective advertisment will take your company.

Branding Tips for the Small Business Owner

Deciding on a brand can be an enjoyable and creative task for a small business owner, but with understanding of the comparable market standards and research it will also be rewarding. Develop a branding strategy that is both all-encompassing and interesting to help grow your business and make your company more easily recognized by consumers.
Have a Branding Strategy

There are contractors who will only buy a red Ford pick-up because the image that Ford has developed matches the job. Don’t stop with a message such as this, though. Once you’ve decided on your image, use a logo and tagline on everything. Your logo needs to be distinctive, and the tagline should be a condensed mission statement that is used on letterhead and business cards. Use websites, online social marketing, and thank you letters to develop the brand name. No business is too small to be branded, so establish a brand with a strategy and customers will take notice.       
Know the Market Standard for Branding and Promotions

Several years ago, Sonic had as many total units in the United States as McDonalds opened every year across the world. Sonic started to advertise at college sports in order to keep up with McDonalds’ advertising at professional sport events. In the same way, identify your competitors’ branding strategy and use their hard work and research to know who, what, and where to promote your branding.

 
Be Interesting when Branding

Why does Sonic use the two guys in the drive through or the guy and his wife in the drive through? These ideas make for interesting branding. If someone made a spoof of these commercials, you would identify them with the Sonic commercials. Be clever and interesting, and maintain this image on business cards, letterheads, and websites. 

 

Do Your Own Research

This will help you fully understand your target market. Using your competitors’ research is not enough. You may be successful if this is all you do, but to guarantee that your company’s branding is appealing to your target market, you must do some of your own research. Your target market is likely to be different from your competitors’, so use surveys to better define it. Once you have completed surveys and gathered demographic information, develop your branding specific to that market. Even the fonts when printing business cards and other printed material should be tailored to that market.

Custom Envelopes: A Necessity for Any Business

Custom envelopes are an important part of any business’s identity package. They impart importance to the items contained within while enhancing the professional image of your business. Here are a few reasons why you should include custom envelopes in your corporate identity printing package.

1. Professional Image
Custom envelopes maintain the professional image of your company and simplify the mailing process. Adding a window will eliminate the need to do any kind of addressing: simply place the correctly folded invoice or other correspondence inside the envelope, add the correct postage, and mail. And lining up the address with the window is a breeze with any desktop publishing software, including Microsoft Word. Plus, with custom envelopes, only one window is necessary, since your return address is already printed on the envelope. This eliminates the need to line up two addresses for two windows, rather than just one.
 
2. No Experience Necessary
Custom envelopes are easy to design. Make use of your logo on the front left, and print your billing address across the back. Photos and graphics are some more ways to add interest and impact to your custom envelopes, but you’ll want to be careful to not overcrowd the envelope. Too much clutter will not only put you at risk of violating mailing guidelines but also annoy recipients.