Using Postcards To Announce Special Offers
Who doesn’t enjoy receiving a postcard in the mail? Usually, the only postcards that we see in our mailboxes are those we get from friends who are on holiday. Beautifully colored photographs of palm trees, flowers, and other scenery can brighten our day, and make us wish we were on holiday ourselves!
If you have thought about doing some marketing for your business, perhaps you have looked into the use of calendars, brochures, or flyers, but decided that the price for the number you would need was more than you wanted to spend right now. Yet, you have a special offer coming up, and really wanted to get the word out about it to any prospective customers. It’s such a distinctive offer, and you only are able to do this once a year. However, not to many people know about it. You are just sure that with some advertising to announce this special, your sales would do very well.
Have you thought about another option? How about using business-themed postcards? Not everyone thinks of using this lower-cost option, but the results from a mailing campaign can be very interesting as well as profitable. Postcard mailings can save you money, too. They are smaller than fliers or brochures, so they are less expensive to mail. They require no envelope, either, so are quite efficient. Efficient because postcards are just like mini classified advertisements. They get the message across in a few words. People much prefer to read short blurbs that long, involved sales letters.
Using postcards to pass along your message to both your current and potential customers will be a snap for you. The only thing you need to do is make sure that the postcards you choose are colorful and eye-catching, yet customized so that they will represent your business in a distinctive way. It’s a good idea to consider the use of color postcards printing popularity. Choose the photo that graces the front of your postcards with care. It should also reflect your products and services in some way. Postcards get to their destination faster than other types of mail, which means that you can expect results from your mailings just a few days after they have been sent out.
Tri-Fold Brochures For The Small Business
Have you ever noticed that the most popular style of brochure for the small business owner or operator seems to be the tri-fold? Have you ever wondered why? It is because the tri-fold brochure will fit perfectly into a #10 business size envelope. Actually, the moniker of tri-fold is really unsuitable for this brochure. It isn’t folded three times, but two. If you were to unfold one of these and examine it, you would see that the entire brochure is the size of a sheet of paper measuring 8 1/2 by 11 inches. This is good to know, for you can use this kind of paper to create a mock-up brochure in order to assure yourself that all of your business information will fit on a brochure of this size.
Designing a brochure for your small business can be rather fun. Pay special attention to the information that you plan to add the back of the brochure. Do not place any important facts here, for studies have shown that this section is read and looked at less than any of the others. If anything more than contact information is on the back, chances are not many people will actually see it, and your advertising will not reach those it was meant for.
The section to pay attention to is not the front of the brochure, as many seem to believe, but the inside panel on the left-hand side. This is where the eye usually gravitates to first, and after that, most people look at the other two inside panels. So you want to be sure that you have some compelling information to place in these panels as well as photos or illustrations that correspond to your business. By using this part of of the brochure, the pertinent business points will be better noticed.
School Calendars As A Fund Raiser
Everyone has need of a calendar at some point in time. This is probably why schools that are looking to hold a fund raiser are turning more and more to calendars. Unlike candy, calendars are calorie free. A calendar is something you can really use, unlike some of the trinkets that have been offered in the past at school fun raisers. Calendars are infinitely practical!
Think of all the different calendars you have seen. They come in hundreds of designs, and some of the photos included on these calendars are absolutely breathtaking. Most calendars also have other information, and a school calendar should be no exception. Parents and other family members of the students would appreciate having customized information that is relevant to the school and the children included on the calendar. Information such as sports schedules and school bus routes for the year, school holidays and lunch menus for each month, names and telephone numbers of school personnel, and perhaps even a list of frequently used and emergency numbers for your city. Every family involved with the school will want one of these calendars!
Before you decide on a calendar printing company to print your school calendars, another decision needs to be made. What kind of photos or pictures are going to be on the calendars? Most printing companies have a wide selection of stock photos for you to choose from, and many of these are really beautiful. However, if you want a calendar that will really sell to all the patrons of your school, consider one with pictures that have been drawn by the students. You’ll find that this is an extremely popular choice. You may want to consider an art contest among the students in order to have not only a little healthy competition, but also some great pictures.
Depending on the ages of the students involved, you could also tailor the calendar to suit their tastes. Images from video games, cartoons, television, movies, or celebrities would make your calendars very popular with young people.
Let Product Brochures Do The Talking
What do you want to tell the world about your business? Any message you want to convey can be done in a tasteful manner with a well-designed product brochure. No matter what kind of business you own or operate, you need the kind of advertising that a brochure is able to do for you. However, the type of business will have a lot to do with the finished product.
Sit down and plan your color brochure printing before you even contact a printing company. Who are you trying to reach? You’re going to need both information and an image to reach your target audience. For example, a veterinarian could include tips on keeping your pet healthy, along with an image of several beautiful dogs or cats, and then add a list of fees and hours of operation. Not only would this be of interest to pet owners, but to those who are thinking about getting a dog, cat, or other pet.
Maybe you have a travel agency. Nothing sells travel like images of a white sand beach, or some far-off exotic location, teamed with perhaps a traveler’s review of their vacation that was of course booked through your agency. The main thing is to create a brochure that is memorable. You want your potential customers to remember both what they read and the picture they saw when they have need of your product or service. You want to highlight what is good about your business, and what you have to offer that the competition does not have.
A brochure gives you a great deal of flexibility, actually more so than any other type of advertising. You can convey the specifics of your business to a larger range of people than you would if using classified advertising. A direct mailing of your brochure to your target audience will result in more business coming your way than if you took out an ad in your local paper.
Impressive Printing Results Don’t Have To Be Expensive
So you have started your own business! Congratulations! You are just beginning to feel settled in your new position as business owner, and have discovered that in order to make a profit, you have to have a budget. In fact, you probably need more than one budget, but the one we are discussing here is your advertising budget.
In order to be successful in promoting your product or service, you must advertise. One of the best ways of doing so is with customized business cards, brochures, flyers, letterhead stationary, postcards, calendars, stickers, and any other innovative product that an energetic and dynamic printing company can dream up.
“Yes, that’s all well and good,” you may be saying. “But my budget is pretty strict. I don’t think it can handle the costs to advertise that way. Printing customized items can run into quite a bit of money, I’m told.”
That depends on where you are having your business printing done. Instead of using a local printer in your area, have you thought about checking out the printing companies that are available online? If you’ve never taken the time to see just what is available as far as printing options from the Internet, you are in for a real treat! There are printers on the web that are thoroughly professional, do great printing work, yet have prices that are so reasonable you won’t believe your eyes!
Flyers Can Bring In The Business
There’s a reason why so many entrepreneurs depend heavily on flyers to promote their business. They work! Flyers can also be used to draw attention to the particular kind of products you sell, the services that you offer, or any events planned for your business, such as a sale or a new shipment arriving. One of the most important things to remember about flyers for your business is that they must appear to be professionally printed if you want people to take your business seriously.
Yes, many small businesses do cut corners and attempt to design and print their own flyers in a misguided effort to save some money. Sometimes, this may work out all right, but often the flyers look like exactly what they are. They practically scream “Done by an amateur!” Don’t risk this happening to you. Locate a professional printer who will work with you and help you to design a flyer that will be perfect for your purpose. Colour flyer printing is as much of an art as drawing or painting. Everything must be lined up just so in order to fit in both the information and the photos you want to use. This takes an eye for balance, and also some experience. Professional printing companies will produce quality flyers you will be glad to have your business name on.
Flyers are a wonderful way for a new business that is just getting started to advertise their presence in the world. They are also good for older, more established businesses to use in order to give the public a mental nudge and say, “Hey – We’re still here! Come and see us!” Flyers can be done up for you so inexpensively that you can have a different one made to distribute every couple of weeks, if you like.
Where should you look for a qualified printer to make your flyers? There are many excellent printing companies online. It’s easy to check out the different types of products these companies offer by simply going to the web sites. You can also get an idea of what a batch of fliers would cost, as this information is listed on most of the web sites along with descriptions and sometimes photos of their printing. If you see the type of flyers printing that interest you, request a quote from the company to see if their printing is within your budget.
Bumper Stickers Mean Portable Advertising
No matter what the price of gasoline is, people are still going to drive their cars and trucks on a daily basis. They must go back and forth to work and school, and depending on their commute time, will end up spending a good amount of time sitting in traffic. It’s only natural for a person to began studying the vehicle that is in front of them when their own car has come to a stop because of a traffic jam. You’ll get a good idea of the artistic talents of the car and truck manufacturers when it comes to designing bumpers and taillights. You are also a captive audience for any bumper stickers that may be displayed by the drivers of these vehicles. You’ll find out whose kids are honor students, the political beliefs of those who share the road with you, and which drivers will apply their brakes to avoid hitting an animal in the road.
Have you ever thought of using bumper stickers to promote your business? Not only are they just about the most inexpensive form of portable advertising to be had, but they can be an excellent way to get the word out about your business. People who might not ever notice flyers, postcards, or other printed forms of advertising will definitely notice your message on a bumper sticker, especially when it is placed on the back bumper of a car. Think about it – those who are caught in traffic are pretty much a captive audience!
Drivers are not the only ones who enjoy placing bumper stickers on their personal property. If the sticker you design for your business is eye-catching and colorful, you’ll be surprised at the demand for it from people of all ages. Bumper stickers are a popular addition to office cubicles, bulletin boards, laptop computers, notebooks, and many other objects and locations.
Brochures As A Marketing Tool
When using brochures as a marketing tool, remember that the brochure itself may be the only part of you that some people and businesses will ever see. In a sense, that brochure becomes your identity. So, it will pay off for you to pay particular attention to how “you” look before going out to “meet the public”. You want the brochures you use to be eye catching. Think of a pretty woman in a beautiful designer dress, or a handsome fellow in a snappy three-piece suit. Both of them are eye catchers to others because they look so nice. They stand out from all the rest because of the way they look, and that’s the way you want your brochures to attract attention.
Don’t be alarmed if you are unable to come up with any good ideas for brochures that are to be used to advertise your goods or services. A good color brochure printing company will be more than happy to help you brainstorm ideas and concepts for your new marketing tools. These professionals have seen many a brochure, and are expert at knowing what would be a good fit for your business needs.
The heading on your brochure is important. Short and sweet, a little catchy, it is often the first thing that people notice about your brochure. Color is important here, too. Remember our analogy above about the well-dressed man and woman? How noticeable to you think they would be if they were all black and white like the picture on a television set from the 1950s? Color will get your brochure noticed!
Designing a Calendar to Promote Your Business
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the ability to promote your business all year long with just one initial investment? You can, you know! Those who have been a part of the business world for a long time know and each year count on the fact that giving out a nice promotional calendar to their customers is a wonderful way for them to keep their business name in a place where people will see it year round!
There aren’t many people who can’t make good use of a calendar. You’ll find that not only will people be quite happy to accept a free calendar from you, they make ask if they can have one or two extra! People usually put calendars in more than one place in their homes, like the kitchen, the office/den, perhaps even the bedroom.
Once they have put their copy of your calendar in place, it will stay there for a year, and will more than likely be consulted quite frequently – perhaps even on a daily basis. For the money you will spend on having a batch of calendars printed, you cannot get a better form of advertising! Compare what you will pay for these calendars with what you may have paid a few months ago for another type of advertising that maybe was read one time, and then discarded.
A custom calendar designed for your business is a great marketing tool. But, don’t settle for one of those pre-printed calendars that will have your information over-printed on the bottom! You want your own custom designed calendar! You will find that the
calendar printing service you receive from Dark Horse Print and Design has talented design teams as well as print teams that will help you to design a calendar that will be absolutely perfect for you!
Creating a Booklet for Your Professional Needs
How would you like to have a promotional tool for your business that would make marketing quick and easy, inexpensive, and even fun? Create a booklet, either to see or to hand out for free!
“Oh, I can’t do that,” you might be thinking. “That’s an awful lot like writing a book! There’s just no way I could manage to come up with enough information to write a booklet!” Don’t sell yourself short! Writing a booklet is much easier than you may have been led to believe. And with the assistance of a reputable and professional company like Dark Horse Print and Design, booklet printing has never been easier or more economical!
Maybe you are looking for something like a mini catalogue, or something more like an instruction booklet or a newsletter with multiple pages. Whatever style of booklet you end up choosing, Dark Horse can get the job done for you fast, with experienced printers in house and a wide range of binding and presentation options awaiting your perusal for your own booklet. Your binding options are discussed at length on the Dark Horse web site. You should choose either a two colour or a four colour booklet, for Dark House offers colour booklet printing at a very reasonable price.
Once you are firm on the subject of your booklet, and have chosen suitable photos for it, then you can concentrate on the design of the booklet and how you want everything laid out. Pay special attention to the cover of your booklet. Often the first thing people will see, the cover should convey the image of your company that you want to present to the world. Nothing garish or silly, which could be misleading to potential customers.