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Why Balloons When You Can Print Posters?

July 6, 2009

Large balloons may be visible because they fly high over a business, but what does it really tell you about the business? Consumers do not want to waste their time going to see what the balloon is advertising. A better and equally affordable option is a poster campaign. Here’s why:

Faster, Wider Scope, Same Cost

With poster printing, in less than a week you can order and receive customized posters that will increase traffic and awareness far more than one large helium balloon and spend the same amount of money. An order of posters has the potential to reach far more people than one balloon since they can be placed all over a town instead of just one spot for the same amount of money. And a poster will better inform potential customers of what you are offering.
 
Proven Success Rate

Poster printing is a simple, long-standing marketing technique that is known to generate market awareness. Posters are still an important part of marketing campaigns. They contain detailed information that identifies the business being advertised immediately and tells potential customers exactly what advantages they will realize with a visit to this business.
 
Easier Distribution and Larger Quantities

Using an online printing company to print posters is a smart choice. If you have more than one base location from which the posters need to be distributed, the printer can separate the order and ship them directly where you need them to go. Another advantage is the greater the quantity of posters per order the cheaper they get.
 
Using posters instead of balloons for advertising offers many advantages. The poster venue allows for immediate business identification and the exact location for the event you are advertising, unlike balloons. Posters also allow for advertising coverage in a much larger market area. And with the added convenience of using an online printing company the entire order process will be simplified.

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How to Collaborate with Other Companies the Smart Way

June 4, 2009

Disney and McDonald’s mastered the art of business collaboration and cross promotion for more than a decade. When a new major animated film was slated for release by Disney, consumers knew to anticipate cross promotional ads, highlighting Happy Meal toy tie-ins with the film. The relationship was clearly a win-win for both organizations because of their equal status as iconic American companies, each with built in public good will. The same principles apply for small businesses seeking to grow. 

Why Cross Promote?
There are a variety of reasons why two organizations may want to collaborate. In the Disney and McDonald’s venture they shared a core audience for a specific product each offered. Tots – and their parents – love Happy Meals featuring toy versions of their new favorite characters. The excitement generated from pre-opening cross promotion publicity at McDonald’s helped to ensure plenty of anxious ticket buyers on opening weekend and assisted in sustaining repeat moviegoers. 

Before You Jump in…
When seeking businesses to collaborate with, it is important to do your homework regarding the health and reputation of the organization before hitching your credibility with theirs. What may appear on paper as a good business alliance can quickly turn into a public relations nightmare if you do not follow through on this critical step. 

Using Events as Cross Promotion
Sponsoring charity events is also an effective collaboration tool with other business. By donating staff, services or products to a popular fundraising event, a business can generate goodwill in the community, by gaining the reputation as a good corporate citizen. In many ways the benefits are even better for small businesses, helping local – less prominent – charities. Although the audience is smaller, they are often very committed, will take note and really want to do business with those who support their favorite charity. 

In addition, the contacts and resources gained by planning and working with the event team can prove highly profitable in the long run. Event planners work with organizations across industries. If your business goes above and beyond when working with the charity and event planning team, the rewards can be immeasurable. Simply following-up by snail mail with a “enjoyed working with you” type letter, plus your marketing materials can be what the doctor ordered when they hear of a need from their colleague seeking just the product or service you offer. They feel good about helping your company out after all your hard work before, and you feel very happy all the way to the bank. 

Get Creative
Finally when choosing businesses to collaborate with, think outside the box. Why would a local toy store want a 10% off coupon inserted in the envelope when monthly statements are sent from a local long term care insurance agent each October? Because the toy store owner knows that grandparents buy an estimated 25% of all toys, seniors love coupons and they are the most affluent consumers. 

So when looking for businesses to collaborate with, by all means look for the obvious fit. But also do just a little bit of homework, identify a customer base that overlaps with that of a strategic partner yet is often overlooked by your competitors.

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Useful Marketing Strategies for an Ailing Economy

June 1, 2009

Cross-selling 

Cross-selling is a good way to boost sales. Cross-selling involves giving the customer the option of buying complementary products based on the product they are already shopping for. A good example of this is used by amazon.com, which gives the customer the option of buying other products based on what past customers have purchased. For example, if you add a videogame console to you shopping cart, you may be given the option of also buying accessories like a game or an extra controller. If your company offers brochure printing, you will want to include other options on the page such as business cards or flyers. The customer may have been searching for poster printing, but if he or she sees these other, complementary products listed on the same page, you may make more sales.

 crosspromotion2

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Five Reasons to Use Door Hangers

May 22, 2009

If you own a business or are in charge of your company’s marketing efforts, you have probably thought about using door hangers in your efforts.  Door hangers are perhaps the most underappreciated tools in the marketing toolbox.  They can be wonderfully effective, if done right, and they are usually very affordable.  So why are they not more popular?  Probably because people simply do not know how great they can be.  So let’s remedy that situation by going over some of the good things about these little marketing wonders.

People Read Them!
You know all those direct mail items you find in your mailbox?  What happens to them?  I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of them end up in the trash.  And most of them were probably never even glanced at, right?  Well, not so with door hangers.  After all, how can you not read something that you have to physically lift off of your doorknob?  Even if it’s just in route from the door to the trash, they are still being looked at.

Saturate an Area
Door hangers are especially effective for local businesses trying to gain a foothold in the community.  They are far cheaper than direct mail, and (as we already mentioned) are much more effective.  Once you have your door hangers printed, organize a team to go door to door placing them on doors in your neighborhood.  You will probably see a significant increase in local foot traffic.

They Increase Visibility
The key to growing your business is to become known to your target customers.  Experts say that a person has to hear a name at least seven times before it sinks in.  If you are wary of doing a direct mail campaign because of the cost, consider a door hanger campaign as an alternative.  As we already discussed, door hangers get read more than direct mail.  Plus, going door to door placing door hangers is a great way to meet your potential customers face to face.

Cost Cutting Benefits
Door hangers are considerably cheaper than running a direct mail campaign, as long as you go to the right place to have them printed.  There are a lot of very good printers who will do your door hanger printing for a reasonable price and with a very short turnaround.  Shop around and talk to as many printers as you can.  You will find a good one that will do everything you want and more.

Personalization
If you are targeting a specific area, you can design your door hangers to appeal to people in that community.  Use phrases or images that are particular to that region, and your door hangers will be even more effective.  People like to feel like part of a community, and they like to do business with other members of that community.  So let your customers know that you are in the area and are contributing to the community, and they will be happy to come to you!

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An Easier Approach to Newsletter Design

April 10, 2009

Newsletters can be such a hassle, but worth every minute of frustration. They are a necessary way to reach out to customers and keep that connection alive. If you are ready to shed some of that frustration with newsletter design, here are some steps you can follow to make it a little easier.

Step 1: Printing Decisions
Before you begin the design process, know what newsletter printing company you will use. Make sure that they have plenty of experience with newsletter printing and offer the options you need for your specific design. For instance, some printing companies only offer a tri or half fold, which are both doable for newsletters, but many newsletters use a French or even Z fold. Or your newsletter may even need to be bound into a booklet format. In this step, you will also need to decide on what size your newsletter will be when folded, the quantity, paper type, and any other choices required by your newsletter printing company.

Step 2: Article Decisions
Decide what type of articles you want to include and how many of each. For instance, your newsletter sections may include editorials, industry news, letters to the editor, and features. Gather or write the articles you need keeping in mind your audience. The success of your newsletter depends highly on presenting reading material that will interest your readers.

Step 3: Image Decisions
To break up the monotonous look text can give to a newsletter, include images with every article. Yes, this can be time-consuming but it will greatly enhance the appeal of your articles. There are many websites that offer free or at least royalty-free stock photographs, such as Stock.xchng and EveryStockPhoto. Just make sure to download photographs at a resolution of 300 dpi or higher to avoid blurry or pixilated images.

Step 4: Headline Decisions
Your newsletter needs a title, every section needs a headline, every article needs a title, and long articles should contain subtitles. Clear headlines allow readers to easily skim through the articles and pause on those which interest them. Not everyone has time to read a newsletter from cover to cover, so appropriate and descriptive headlines ensures that more people will at least glance through your newsletter. In this step, you will also want to take the time to design your nameplate if this is your first issue. Nameplates typically contain the newsletter title, company name, issue name if needed, and publication information. Keep the design of your newsletter nameplate the same for each issue.

Step 5: Layout Decisions
You’ve done the hardest work so far. Now comes the fun part – putting together the pieces. Place the most relevant and interesting sections in the beginning of the newsletter and the least popular in the back. You may also decide to include a table of contents on the cover page, usually placed horizontally on the side of the page.

Step 6: Editing Decisions
Every good newsletter has been proofread for grammar errors and edited for a consistent voice. You can almost never proofread too many times. In fact, it’s a good idea to have several different co-workers proofread as different eyes will catch different errors. Only assign one person to be the editor, though, since it’s the editor’s job to keep the tone the same throughout the newsletter.

Congratulations! Your newsletter is ready to send to print. Hopefully by following a step-by-step system such as the one above, it will make the process much more relaxing for you, and maybe even allow you to look forward to preparing each issue.

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Postcards: The Ideal, Low-Cost Direct Mail Tool

March 19, 2009

Printing and mailing postcards is one of the least expensive but most effective ways of advertising.  There are a number of important methods to make sure you get the most out of your postcard printing campaign.  Three areas where many companies make mistakes are in budgeting, sampling, and persistence.
 
Additionally, many companies do not work with professional printing firms who can handle direct mail postcard campaigns on their behalf.  When a printing firm can produce the postcards and also mail them, you’ll find that this relationship can create a number of efficiencies for you.  Some printing firms can supply a mailing list for you, but other web sites such as Info USA (www.infousa.com) can provide you with quality mailing lists that can reach targeted customers.
 
Budgeting
One of the easiest ways to wreak havoc on profitable advertising campaigns is by failing to set a budget or failing to stick to the budget.  Once you have your budget, you can decide whether or not to spend more money on features of your postcards, or to cut back on printing features so that you can actually produce more postcards.  In either case, you are making a decision based on a pre-determined budget.
 
Sampling
Once you have found the ideal balance between printing quality and quantity, send your postcards out to a small sample of customers.  Watch carefully and record any responses that you get.  This will help you make sure that your design is effective.  If nobody responds, or the response is much lower than expected, you can adjust before spending your entire budget on a faulty design.
 
Persistence
Postcard printing campaigns should be sent at a regular basis.  This is especially true when sales are low.  Persistence is the key.  While it may be easy to try to cut costs, one of the best things you can do is to continue to advertise.  Using inexpensive direct mailing tools, like postcards, can help your company maintain an advertising presence with your customers.

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5 Strategies for Marketing During Tough Times

March 17, 2009

It can be easy to push marketing to the back of your mind, and your business budget, during hard economic times. But not marketing is the worst thing you can do during a recession or any kind of slow period during your business cycle. Consumers may not be able to buy as much during hard times, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention to marketing messages. Most consumers are making plans for when they get that next job or when gas prices come back down.

By continuing to market during down times, you not only keep your brand at the forefront of people’s minds, but you also show your resilience. If your company can afford to keep marketing during bad times, it must mean you’re doing something right! Even if it’s only a direct mail postcard, anything that can remind customers of your presence will keep you at the top of their lists for when they’re able to spend more again.

Emphasize the cost savings of your product or service
Instead of focusing on quality over quantity at this time, focus on the numbers – show customers how you can save them money. If your product isn’t cheap or can’t offer short-term cost benefits, try to emphasize long-term benefits.

Use postcards to announce a sale
Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on TV and radio commercial spots, spend a hundred dollars to send postcards to a targeted market in your area. You can print and mail postcards for as little as 25 cents each. You can also use postcards to introduce your business to a new area or to introduce a new product to current customers.

Stay in contact with current customers
It costs much less to keep current customers than to recruit new customers. In tough times, reward loyal customers with coupons and discounts to let them know they are important. You can make up for slow sales by increasing the amount of sales to current customers.

Employ word-of-mouth marketing
Ask customers to tell their friends and families about you and your products. You can even start a referral program to reward current customers by offering them coupons or a small free item for sending new customers your way.

Write articles for local publications for free
Local newspapers and magazines are feeling the pinch too, and they probably can’t afford to hire as many writers as they once employed. Offer to write a business-related article for local publications for free. Most publications will publish a one-line bio of the writer, so you can include your Web site address and the name of your business in the bio. Even if your article doesn’t have anything to do with your business, you still get free advertising with the bio line, as well as credibility for being published.

These strategies are not hard to do, but they might take some more time than your traditional marketing techniques. Don’t get discouraged; you’ll likely find a new marketing technique that you’ll want to use even when times are good. If not, at least you’ll have kept your business in the public’s eye when your competitors probably aren’t.

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“The Customer is in Compete Control” Q&A with Lisa Hoffman, PrintPlace’s Product Manager

January 9, 2009

Here are some informative highlights from an interview with Lisa Hoffman, Product Manager of PrintPlace. The company started as a traditional commercial printer, but invested heavily in advanced technology to revolutionize the industry’s business model. Hoffman gives this and many other reasons PrintPlace is the fastest growing online printer in the industry today.

Prices and customer service sets PrintPlace apart from other online printers
Our customers say we have the best customer service and best prices. We have no specific market [which means we cater to individuals and companies equally]. We are the only online printer with a certified G7 Expert (color expert) on staff. We offer more flexibility in our options than most printers. With our new Same Day Turnaround service, we offer more products on a same day turnaround (including booklets) than any other online printer, especially OFFSET – not digital.

100% offset printing at digital printing speeds
We are 100% offset (no digital printing) yet we offer lower minimum quantities and faster turnarounds than many printers. PDF proofs are free and UNLIMITED. Customers can upload, reject and re-submit as many times as they want for no additional charge. We generate high resolution PDF proofs faster than any other printer – 3 minutes or less.
 
Recommended design software
We recommend PDF/X1-a format for best results, since this format combines the best color and font management and produces the least possibility for error. Many of our customers use Adobe InDesign or Illustrator and export to PDF with excellent results. Publisher is fine as long as the included images are saved at 300 DPI resolution. Our website contains articles that detail how to export from many popular design programs.
 
Our automated upload accepts PDF, TIFF, EPS or JPEG. Native files can be sent via FTP to our file repair department who will export and upload to the customer’s job for a nominal fee.
 
Our art department can convert a customer’s file to PDF for a nominal fee. If a customer uploads a print-ready TIFF or JPEG file, our automated proofing system will convert to PDF for proof review.

Press capabilities
Our presses are all Komori sheetfed, 40” capacity, with inline aqueous coating. We also offer UV Coating as an option. Our newest Komori presses reduce paper waste with de-inking and pre-inking technology for faster and more accurate make-readies (more jobs per shift & its green to save sheets). The presses integrate with MIS which further streamlines our operations, which are some of the most advanced and automated in the nation.

Bindery capabilities
All of our bindery is in-house. We cut/trim, fold, glue, die-cut, score, perf, saddle stitch bind, hole drill, shrink wrap, tab, and process direct mail.
 
Mailing services
Yes. We can even provide mailing lists. Customers can save time and money by printing and mailing in a single ordering process.
 
Turnaround is 100% determined by the customer
Customers tell us what turnaround time they need when placing an order. We have options from Same Day turn to 7 Day turn, depending on the customer’s need and budget. Our turnaround times are NOT just estimates – they are guaranteed!
 
Everything is printed in CMYK
If you submit an RGB document, it will be automatically converted to CMYK during preflight. PrintPlace’s state-of-the-art color managed workflow automatically detects the ICC profile attached to your RGB file (if you have included one) and manages the color through the conversion process. If you upload an RGB file, please be sure to download the converted print-ready PDF from our system to view the color after the conversion. Changing from RGB to CMYK will always produce some color shifting and a reduction in the color gamut because it is impossible to reproduce the entire RGB color palette with an offset press. We recommend creating and submitting your document in CMYK to assure the color looks as close to your original file as possible.
 
Quality control to ensure the best prints
Press Operators are held accountable to get the form to color before putting sheets on the counter. We collect data from every press run and inspect the data to correct unwanted trends. We use the G7 methodology to ensure consistency.
 
Print guarantee
Satisfaction Guarantee covers rerunning or refunding the job. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, contact us within 10 days of receipt of order, and if the order is found to contain an error that is not within our allowable tolerances, we will reprint all or part of it on an expedited turn.
 
The customer controls the printing
The customer is in complete control of the entire ordering process. They no longer have to wait for a salesperson to pick up a disk or wait for days to receive a proof after uploading to FTP. They approve the proof and send to press at the click of a button. From there, they can check the status of their job in real time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Email notifications are generated automatically at each important stage of the order, keeping customers constantly informed and in touch with their project. As soon as the job ships, they receive tracking information via email.

Why customers should choose PrintPlace over their local printers
We offer the best of both worlds: the personal attention of a local printer, albeit not “face to face,” but at a much better value and without sacrificing quality.

The recent recession has caused people to take a closer look at all of their expenditures, as they no longer have the luxury of buying solely on relationship or “comfort.” Local printers usually employ commissioned salespeople, which results in a significant increase to their cost of doing business. Additionally, their manual method of producing jobs just doesn’t afford them the opportunity to compete with the automation and “lean manufacturing” of online printers. This is evident by the fact that despite the faltering economy, PrintPlace is growing and expanding, rather than shrinking. We just opened a second facility to service our West Coast customers in 4th quarter 2008, and our East Coast facility is soon to follow in New York. We believe this illustrates the confidence of customers to consider online printing as not only a viable, but a preferred, option for their printing needs.

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New Postcards and New Technologies

January 8, 2009

New Product: Folded Postcards

PrintPlace is always excited to stay ahead of the online printing pack, and with that in mind, will be offering a new folded postcard product, which will save our customers money. Instead of printing an oversized postcard to get all marketing info out to customers, companies can now use our folded postcard, which offers two to three times the space of a flat postcard. And, the best part is that the folded postcards mail at the same postage rate as the flat, standard size postcards. Customers have the option to perforate one side to create a business reply card, return form or coupon.

New Printing Press

PrintPlace is increasing its production capacity with the purchase of a Komori LS540 offset printing press. The new printing press reduces ink waste and paper waste and eliminates mechanical ghosting, a common cause of color variation within a job. It also prints faster and integrates with our printing system to further streamline operations, which are some of the most advanced and automated in the nation. This allows us to offer same-day printing with offset quality – a benefit previously only possible with digital printing.

Upgraded Templates

We’re also planning to revise our template library to include more landscape and portrait layouts. PrintPlace’s template library is more extensive than any of our competitors because we offer more fold types and products than anyone else online. The template library works seamlessly with our new instant proofing system.

Faster Instant Proofing

Instant proofing is not only available 24/7/365, but we’ve invested in more servers and increased bandwidth to ensure we always get materials printed on time, every time. Our average page processing time is less than 1 minute. This ensures that our customers will be thoroughly satisfied with their print job, without having to wait days to approve it. That means an even faster turnaround time.

Automated Back-Trimming

We’ve developed a custom application with our vendor so that when we cut thicker card stocks, we can ensure crisp trim lines. With thicker card stocks, many printers allow the edge of the sheet to look slightly frayed, which detracts from the graphic design and makes brochures, calendars and the like look unprofessional. We’ve eliminated this potential for any printed product to look unprofessional.

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PrintPlace Expands with New Printing Facility in California

January 7, 2009

PrintPlace is excited to announce the opening of its California printing facility, located near Los Angeles. The addition of this manufacturing location means that customers on the West Coast can now get their orders faster than ever. With the West Coast plant now fully operational, one-day turnarounds are possible if the print job is approved and sent to press by noon CST.

With our flagship facility in Arlington, Texas and a third plant on the East Coast coming soon, PrintPlace will have more than 70% of the country covered in a one-to-two–day ground service shipping range. National coverage means cheaper shipping options for our customers all over the United States.

New extended customer service hours for email, phone or live chat have also been implemented: 7am – 8 pm Central (5am – 6 pm Pacific).

And with concerns about the environment cropping up all over the world (and even making it into the Presidential race), PrintPlace’s three plant locations will contribute to preserving the environment by reducing emissions and wasted fuel by shipping to customers from the plant closest to them. This reduces PrintPlace’s overall carbon footprint by significantly reducing shipping distances. Not only that, we’ve also recently invested in ink savings software which will not only make printing colors more consistent, but will also allow us to print at the same quality while saving more ink.

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