Print, Graphic Design, and Marketing Blog | PrintFirm's Blog

How to Get Great Customer Service on the Phone

Hello and welcome to the 2nd installment in our customer service series. In case you missed the previous post, last time we talked about 5 things you can do before you place you even place your order to help your project run smoothly. Today we’re going to discuss another important part of client communications—phone calls.

Our staff is always ready to assist you over the phone, but sometimes it’s hard for us to figure out what’s going on with your order because we don’t have enough information in front of us. All of your projects are important to us; please keep in mind that we talk to a lot of people on a daily basis, so we don’t always recognize you by name. As we get to know you through repeated orders, we’ll end up on a first name basis. Until then, starting out with, “Hi, it’s Dave, is my order ready to pick up?” doesn’t give us much to work with.

So before you pick up the phone, there are a few things you can do to ensure a great experience.

4 Steps to Improve Your Phone Service Experience

When You Call Our Staff…

Check Your Emails First!

We send several updates about your order status via email. Some of these are simple notifications that your order shipped, and other times the message requires some response, such as approval for a proof. Occasionally, our emails may end up in your spam box due to filters and settings beyond our control. So we ask that you please review your inbox and spam or junk folder just in case the answer is already waiting for you to open.

Have Your Order Number Ready

It’s much easier for us to find and track your progress with your order number. We have a large data base of clients, but every order gets a unique number. You’ll find your order number in the confirmation email receipt, which is the very first note we send.

Be Calm and Courteous

When you’re stressed out, it can be very difficult to keep your cool. We know you have a lot of things going on at work, and the last thing you need are problems with your printer. But you also probably know what it’s like to talk to someone who screams at you as soon as you answer the phone. That kind of behavior makes it really hard for us to solve your problem and frankly our staff doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Remember, we’re people, just like you. And we’ll do everything we can to make you happy. So take a deep breath, relax, and let us help you get you back on track.

Trust Our Advice and Expertise

We’ve been printing since 1996, and we’ve learned a thing or two over the years. Our hearts are in the right place, so when we tell you that your photos are low quality, we’re not trying to insult you. We’re trying to make you aware of an issue you may be able to correct and thus avoid a costly reprint. We never criticize designs for the sake of it.

Community Feedback

Now you know what you can do to help us assist you more efficiently. But we firmly believe that customer service is a two way street. So what can we do to improve your telephone communication experience? Please tell us in the comments below!

10 Last Minute Halloween 2013 Marketing Ideas

It’s too late for an EDDM campaign, but that doesn’t mean you should skip Halloween altogether. Believe it or not, consumers do care whether or not your small business celebrates the holidays. Shoppers appreciate seasonal promotions because these activities show you’re a part of the community. You don’t have to do anything major, although you should definitely do something on the 31st. Here are 10 super easy ways to show your spooky spirit!

1) Dress up – Don’t have time to decorate? Grab a Halloween costume and give your employees permission to come to work dressed up. You might want to set a few guidelines for appropriate attire i.e. no revealing outfits or fake weapons around kids. Sweeten the deal by letting everyone vote on who has the best costume. Don’t forget your pets! If you bring a dog or cat to the office, make sure to get an outfit for your furry friend.
2) Employee Pumpkin Carving Contest- Swing by the local pumpkin patch or a supermarket and get a pumpkin for each of your employees along with a couple of carving kits. Tell your staff there will be an important meeting in the morning, and surprise them with a pumpkin carving competition! Put the jack o lanterns on display in your store, and let your customers pick their favorite entry. Confession: I got this idea from my favorite independent market, Green Acres. Their custodian got my vote with the adorable cartoon cow pictured above.
3) Blog About Halloween – Your business blog doesn’t have to be serious all the time. I’m amazed at how many small biz owners neglect the opportunity to write fun articles. Post photos of you and your staff in costume, list your all-time favorite scary movies, research the history of All Hallow’s Eve—don’t be afraid to be creative and show your personality.
4) Play Themed Music in Store- Mood music goes a long way. And you are not limited to the cheesy sound effects you hear in the mall. Make your own Halloween playlist with unconventional songs, such as Ministry’s classic “Everyday is Halloween”. If you’re a movie buff, use the soundtrack to the Nightmare Before Christmas or another familiar favorite.
5) Give Your Logo a Halloween Creepover- This is an oldie but goodie. Your logo appears in many places online and inside your shop. Give your logo a creepy look with spider webs or by carving it into a pumpkin. You can post the design everywhere from your site to Facebook, Twitter, and on your front door.
6) Host a Halloween Trivia Contest on Social Media-Speaking of social, you can increase engagement on Facebook by asking a few fans to answer trivia questions. You can focus on something that’s universal i.e. history, popular films, etc., or adapt the concept to suite your industry. For example, a bakery could list ingredients from seasonal recipes, a real estate agent could do well known haunted houses.
7) Send a Halloween Email Blast- Discounts and sales are always welcome, but you don’t have to be running a specific promotion to wish your customers a happy holiday. Get your blog post done early, and do a newsletter type email announcing your social media plans for the day.
8) Make a Halloween Video – Your video doesn’t have to be a major studio production. Post a Halloween greeting for your email campaign, share the office costumes, or get the staff to do the monster mash.
9) Pin Everything Halloween for a Day- Facebook users usually don’t respond well to multiple posts in a single day. But other networks are a completely different story. You can pin vintage horror movie posters every hour and Tweet quotes from famous monsters all day. As long as you allow a little time to pass between posts, no one should get upset or unfollow.
10) Give a Discount to Ghoulish Customers- Be sure to recognize customers who stop by dressed as vampires, ghosts, and goblins. Pass out free candy and take 15% off their total at the register. Just remember to let them know why they’re getting special treatment.

Do Teachers Need Business Cards?

We’re big believers in education at PrintFirm, and we’ve noticed that several of our products are very popular with teachers. Notepads, magnets, bookmarks, letterhead, and stickers obviously appeal to instructors because they’re all useful in the classroom. But many educators, especially at the college and university level, want to promote their professional projects for personal branding. The above items will work for this purpose as well, but the least expensive, most powerful tools come in a 2″ x 3.5″ package.

5 A+ Teacher Business Card Design Ideas

Here are 6 concepts that will put you at the top of the class.

For the Substitute

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Substitute teachers probably need cards more than other types of educators because they may not have a steady source of income. This design draws attention by featuring the person’s name prominently on the front and back of the card.

English Instructors

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English aficionados often get boxed by the grammar nazi stereotype. I find this creative approach refreshing as it avoids negative symbols i.e. the infamous red pen in favor of a modern look that still sends the right message. The round corners add more visual appeal.

Math and Science

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While this design makes use of the traditional chalk board, the bold blue sphere overshadows the blurred blackboard background. This versatile theme seems best suited for a math teacher, although you can easily adapt the concept to suit other niches, such as chemistry or physics.

Art Department

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Save the water color look for finger painting, and present an adult appearance that still conveys your passions. This simple, elegant card would be perfect as a mini business cards or on letterpress for an ultra chic vintage inspired touch.

Cute Elementary School Artwork

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These beautiful flat style die cut cards come in a half circle shape. The project details explain that the artwork comes from an agency branding campaign, but I think the adorable owl would be perfect for someone who works with young children. The symbol does not appear cartoonish, and it’s certainly not as commonplace as an apple or a cliché chalk board.

Community Sound Off

Are you a teacher who made your own cards? Have you designed business cards for a teacher client? Tell us about the project in the comments below!

Farewell National Print Day, Hello International Print Day!

Today is National Print Day, and we’ve got good and bad news to share with the community. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first…

Oct 23rd, 2013 will be the last National Print Day we celebrate. Yes, we know, we’re terribly sad and disappointed, too. But dry your eyes because you haven’t heard the good news yet…

NPD will be replaced by an even bigger, better, more organized effort next year known as International Print Day 2014!

The first ever IPD will take place on 10/8/14, and the theme will be “What Print Means to Me”. Henceforth, IPD will be held annually on the 2nd Wednesday in October, which means the ink holiday coincides with the weekly #printchat session on Twitter. There are lots of plans in the works, and we welcome your ideas as we prepare for a global celebration of all things CMYK.

What Happened to National Print Day?

By now you’re probably wondering, hey what’s going on here? If you’re feeling confused by this announcement, welcome to the club.

It all started a few weeks ago when I stumbled on the National Print Day website. As soon as I saw the site, I got super excited. I eagerly headed to the media section to download the 2013 poster, only to find the same old artwork from the previous year still sitting there. Puzzled, I turned to Twitter and talked to a few of the most active people in the industry. They informed me that they also noticed a lack of activity from NPD team. In fact, Deborah Corn of the Print Media Centr personally tried to get in touch several times, and received no response. RUDE!

Deborah and Jamie McLennan of the Seibel Group decided no one should be able to declare a community holiday, then abandon the idea after less than a year. So they took to Twitter and let the PEOPLE decide how to handle the situation. The rest is printing history!

What You Can Do to Help the Cause

Even though today’s pretty much awash, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us for 2014. Together we can make this a huge success, but we need to ban together for the greater good. We tossed around promotional ideas in #printchat; here’s what we’ll need from volunteers:

Print Presenters – We need people and companies willing to put together presentations for a free webinar/virtual event.
Poster Design- Anybody with excellent creative talents, please step up to the plate! We need a print ready poster in 11″ x 17″ and 22 x 28. Of course everyone’s welcome to make his or her own posters. What I’m talking about would be an official design people can download off the IPD website.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES! – Forgive me for shouting… I get a little carried away when it comes to social media. There’s already an IPD Facebook page (LIKE IT!) and a Twitter account (FOLLOW!). I strongly encourage you to get involved by liking, sharing, RTing, and contributing your own content to the conversation. Use the hashtag #IntPrintDay and remember that we’ve already got a great theme for you to work with. We always need bloggers, press releases, etc., but why not integrate offline tools as well? Send out postcards to local colleges and universities with design programs. Host an educational seminar about print marketing for your clients. Whatever you do, don’t forget to broadcast the message with emails, articles, and social updates.

Happy National Print Day from PrintFirm.com!

How to Get Great Customer Service When Placing Your Order Online

Last week I shared what I believe to be a very important article about customer service on our LinkedIn company page. Basically, the author explains that customer service is actually a two way street, meaning that the interactions involve a degree of give and take. Here are PrintFirm, we do our best to work with you one on one. Still, we understand that commercial printing can be very frustrating, especially for your first print project. So we want to give you some helpful advice on how to get the highest possible satisfaction with your order. Following these simple steps will improve our ability to answer your questions and find solutions to meet your business needs.

The PrintFirm Customer Care Guide

We appreciate your choosing us, and look forward to a long lasting relationship. The information below will give you more insight into the way we operate as a company. We have noticed over the years that clients who work with professional designers (their own or our creative team) tend to get the best results, but we know that pro graphics aren’t always in the budget. If you do decide to hire a designer, we strongly recommend finding one with prior print experience!

Before You Place Your Order

Request Samples

Just browsing your advertising options? We’ll be happy to send you a complementary sample packet so you can get a real feel for our cardstock, finishing options, sizes, and capabilities. To request a kit, please fill out the form here.

Download Our Templates

Not sure about the dimensions on your business cards? Never heard the word “bleed” in reference to marketing materials? No problem! For your convenience, we have free blank templates for all of our products in every size. The files are available in EPS, PDF, PSD, AI, TIFF, and JPEG formats. We also have customizable pre-made designs for several popular products.

Go Over Our Policies and Requirements

You’ll find answers to many of your questions in our Terms and Conditions as well as our File Requirements. These pages cover everything from color matching to explanations of turnaround times.

Get a Proof

Prepress proofs save you time, money, and provide piece of mind. You’ll feel more comfortable placing your order knowing that you’ll get another chance to review your artwork before it goes into production. Just be sure to review the proof carefully for spelling, the size of your elements, text readability, and any other design concerns that are not a part of the technical prepress inspection.

Ask Us Questions

Communication is extremely important, and we really can’t stress this enough for custom design jobs. If you see something on our site or in an email that you’re not sure about, ask us! We will answer your questions to the best of our abilities. Think of us as your partners. We want to see you reach your marketing goals!

Community Sound Off

Now that we’ve covered what you guys can do for us, do you have any questions about our order process? Suggestions to make things easier for you? Tell us, how can we improve your ordering experience?

5 Free Super Cool Halloween Vectors

Everyone’s heard of Christmas cards, but what about Halloween? Do people actually mail paper cards on October 31st? Of course! Ghoulish cards aren’t as popular as snowmen and Santa, and they probably never will be. That’s a shame in my opinion because I think it’s easier to get creative with less hyped holidays. There are a handful of symbols Americans associate with this time of year, yet none of the spooky ones are as well-known as Rudolf. This actually makes life easier for designers because you don’t have to worry about as many copyright issues. If you need last minute graphics for a macabre campaign, these free resources will help you meet your deadline. Just click on any image below to download the artwork, and make it your own.

Halloween Vector Collection

Customizable Pumpkin

This premium pack separates the base design from the facial elements so your pumpkin can take on any mood you want from scary to silly.

Cute Monsters

Ideal for projects geared towards kids, this assortment of colorful creatures in unique shapes features strong gradients and shadows. The skeumorphic style isn’t overstated, although this type of illustration may not be trendy enough for those who are so over image effects.

Flat Icons

The Halloweeny title should be a big clue that these are also very kid friendly. The circular set of completely flat graphics would work on the web or in print. I don’t know about you, but I wish more webmasters would take the time to change things up a bit for the season. Of course, you can separate the scalable images from the circles to use as standalone graphics.

Haunted House Background

The eerie scene above makes a great greeting card cover, among other things. There are several recognizable symbols here, including a haunted house, evil witch, bats, and a black cat. Just make sure you convert the EPS file to CMYK before you pass your file off to prepress.

Demon Face

You can’t have Halloween without the prince of darkness. This vector is labeled as a demon face, but it could easily pass for Satan himself with the big horns and goatee. Without any color, the grin doesn’t look too menacing for children. Add color, especially to those beady eyes, and you might end up with something quite frightening.

Community Sound Off

Where will you be using these high quality freebies? Do you prefer skulls to tinsel? Tell us in the comments below!

Freelance Writer Business Card Design Inspiration

All right fellow writers, it’s time to get serious about your offline presence. There are lots of different types of writers, from web only SEO copywriters to published authors and freelance journalists. These facets of the profession have more things in common than perfect grammar, and by that I mean unimaginative business cards. I get that many writers struggle to express themselves visually, but I don’t see that as a valid excuse for yet another typewriter based graphic. Unless you actually use an antique typewriter, there are plenty of better ways to represent your talents. Besides, you don’t want to give the wrong impression to potential clients by associating yourself with outdated technology.

Creative Inspiration

You’ve probably worked around enough designers to know that the cardinal rule of print design is keep it simple, stooge! This basically means don’t overdue it by trying to cram too much into a small space. It’s easy to get caught into this trap by overloading the contact info, but there’s no need to list everything that can easily be found on your website. Aside from your logo, name, title, phone number, and web address, you should include 2 or 3 social networks where you’re the most active career wise.

But that’s the easy part of creating cards. Coming up with a unique concept takes a lot of thought; writers are known for superior critical thinking skills, so put on your thinking caps and explore the following design ideas:

Bookmark Business Cards

The internet is filled with photos of author boomarks, but they’re almost entirely released by publishing companies to promote specific works. I couldn’t find a single example of a writer who used custom bookmarks as a substitute for standard cards. Of course, the above template won’t fit inside a wallet, so you might want to make a regular sized set to go along with your cooler cards.

Mini Cards with Personal Quotes

Now you could simply use quotes from your favorite famous authors, although that seems a bit counterproductive to promoting your own expertise. Besides, you don’t want to violate any applicable trademarks. Put 5 of your favorite lines from articles you’ve written or brainstorm a handful of awesome original inspirational one liners.

Folded Cards for Fiction Writers

This would work for non-fiction writers as well. As long as you’re an author, you can put one of your book covers on the front of a folded card. If you haven’t published anything yet, then a generic book cover with your logo on it will do for the front. Another angle would be to make a mock autobiography. The inside portion will be a kind of centerfold, which would be the perfect place to add your career highlights or a catchy tagline.

For the Modern Freelancer

This one’s more for the web copy crowd interested in giving off a tech-savy vibe. The key components here are bold colors, strong typography, sleek round corners, and minimalist style. The rounded corners aren’t seen in the image above, but this seems like a nice touch to me.

Notebook Paper

A tad more conventional than the other options, a paper theme is still preferable to the typewriter you’ve never used.

Community Sound Off

Are you a freelance writer with awesome business cards? Have you ever designed cards for a writer client? Share your thoughts or projects in the comments below!

Get Inspired with The Neenah Paper Design Collection in Downtown Los Angeles

Are you a designer or paper lover in the Greater Los Angeles area? If so, then you’ll definitely want to add this event to your calendar. The world famous Neenah Paper will be presenting the exclusive new Design Collection at on Thursday, Oct 17th, from 6pm to 9pm. Ray’s is located at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, so be prepared to mingle with a sophisticated crowd. Semi-formal attire will probably be suitable.

What is the Design Collection?

The Design Collection represents an alliance between two fine paper providers, Neenah and Gruppo Cordenons of Italy. The companies joined forces to bring together 11 famous paper brands and vendors, including Moondream, WILD, and ESSE. The results are simply breathtaking. These specialty papers really show the creative potential of print with vivid colors and intriguing textures. I was lucky enough to win one of the beautiful sample books on Facebook, so I’ve already seen and touched the items in person. My favorite portion comes from STARDREAM, whose pieces shimmer with a smooth sparkle that’s sure to inspire. Still, my absolute favorite favorite would be the Fashion Purple from SO…SILK. I would love to cover my office and even my living room with a combination of the the purple, Fair Blue, and a bit of Glamour Green. These 3 shades in particular pay homage to the fashion industry, and make this collection ideal for luxury product packaging or promotions.

The unveiling won’t just be about the Design Collection and hob knobbing with the high society. Neenah will also have its packaging portfolio on hand along with various digital substrates and a demo of the useful Cabinet app. I hear guests will be able to make their own letterpress bookmarks, which should be enough to get you excited on its own.

Event Details

There’s no need to RSVP, unless you received a formal invitation. If you need more information, please contact Ingrid Gettleson, the District Manager:

Ingrid Gettleson

District Manager

Neenah Paper, Inc.

258 Mountain Court

Brea, CA. 92821

Office: 714-864-7216

Cell: 714-864-7216

[email protected]

Be sure to tell her Katherine from PrintFirm sent you! I hope I’ll be able to attend the event, although it seems unlikely due to a lack of transportation. I sincerely hope one of our readers will be kind enough to take my place, or at least share some event photos through social media. After all, I learned about this elite attraction through Twitter!

Prepare for National Print Day 2013

Mark your calendars printers and paper lovers because National Print Day is on its way. The 4th Tuesday in October is officially reserved for inkheads; this year the event falls on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013. I’m not sure what’s going on with the NPD website (there’s not a lot of activity since last year), but I plan to promote the cause with our without organized support.

The History of National Print Day

The whole celebration began with an unprovoked attack known as National No-Print Day in 2012. Toshiba (a leading manufacturer of paper based office supplies) decided to launch an anti-paper campaign and pitch it on an unsuspecting public. They made a website, and dropped an email blast asking subscribers to take a pledge to abstain from printing for a day. Naturally, my fellow printers were up in arms over this insult to our primarily green industry. A grassroots initiative lead by Two Sides US and the famed PrintMediaCentr took to social media and set the record straight with a counter holiday, National Print Day. Toshiba backed down, but the CMYK spirit lives on because we’re always faced with ignorance on environmental subjects.

Toshiba claimed their campaign was not targeted at commercial printing or paper production, yet the language they used did not convey this message. Of course we’re all concerned about the planet, and do our part to encourage consumers to waste less of any natural resource. Let Toshiba’s debacle serve as an example for corporations who decide to get involved in politically charged issues. Do your research first, and be careful because you might attract the wrong kind of attention.

How to Celebrate Print in 2013

Please join us in raising awareness about print, paper, and the environment. There’s still plenty of time to properly prepare before the 22nd . You can start by downloading the NPD poster in size 11″ x 17″ or 22″ x 28″. I went with the smaller one because it matches my Girls Who Print poster. You can create your own artwork with the NPD logo in it, too. Here are other ways you can help spread the word and make this year’s National Print Day a success!

Write a blog post- The internet thrives on fresh content, so if every print shop in the country writes just 1 blog or article, imagine how many people we’ll be able to reach. When you see anything related to National Print Day online, share it with your networks.
Get Social with Other Printers – Speaking of networks, I’ve written before on the lack of engagement between printing industry professionals. Now’s the perfect time to jump in on the digital conversation; this is a cause we can all get behind, so let’s rally the troops! Maybe you want to reach out , but you’re not sure where to start. We highly recommend the weekly #printchat session on Twitter hosted by PMC, the associated LinkedIn group Print Production Professionals, and JamiePrints, a fun Facebook community page managed by the awesome Jamie McLennan of The Seibel Group.
Use the Right Hashtag- You probably add hashtags to your tweets, Google Plus posts, Instagram images, and more. But hashtags are more effective when users are on the same page. The official NPD hashtag is #NationalPrintDay. I want my timeline flooded with this phrase on the 22nd.
Educate Your Friends and Followers- It seems every time I post on social media advocating paper, someone chimes in with a negative comment. Naturally, not a single one of the nay-sayers actually bothered to read the accompanying article (ahem). Still, I welcome these exchanges because they give me an opportunity to respond with…facts. Just remember to keep your cool and stay polite. Let them voice their opinion, and always be respectful in your replies.
Promote the Two Sides Ecographic- Two Sides sponsored an infographic design contest over the summer, and the winning artwork totally rocks. You can print the graphic out or use it on your blog. Feel free to share it with your social communities, but please note that you might have trouble getting this large image to display correctly on Facebook and Pinterest.

Real Estate Marketing Trend: Promotional Calendars for 2014

Real estate agents are always looking for new print marketing ideas. Home sales usually slow down over the holidays because buyers are busy celebrating with friends and family. The same goes for commercial properties. Realtors can use the seasonal slump to strategize for the new year, but they still need to be visible to stay fresh in the minds of clients and prospects. Many agents give promotional items away as Christmas and Hanukkah gifts, such as custom notepads and business card magnets. Either of these items will work, but those with a larger budget may want to go bigger.

Why Calendars Work

Advertising must be memorable to achieve high ROI. Notepads are great tools while they last, but calendars are useful all year long. Magnets must be placed on the right surface, so they’re not the best choice unless you’re targeting a residential neighborhood. Wall calendars work well in the home or office, and they give you plenty of space for your branding. If you campaign will be for commercial vendors, then choose desk calendars because these would be relevant to your demographic.

Design Inspiration for Closers

You’ll have 12 months’ worth of artwork to find, which might seem overwhelming. You can fill up space with your personal pictures of homes you’ve sold, but they will need to be very high quality and at least 300 dpi to look good in print. If you have photography experience, then you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, you might want to come up with alternative images. Whatever you do, remember the most important thing is that you choose pictures that are in synch with your brand message and appeal to the recipients. Choose a theme you can stick with before you start searching for graphics.

You can never go wrong with nature themes. This theme is universal in the sense that almost anyone will be able to appreciate a forest or colorful tree frog. You can purchase beautiful stock photos already prepared for printing in the right dimensions for affordable prices on depositphotos or a similar site. For a more personal feel, get permission from local businesses to post pictures of photogenic places in your area i.e. parks, lakes, or historic buildings. Your city likely has heritage groups who can help you put the project together. The local landmarks concept would be perfect for a small town setting. Inspirational quotes can also add appeal, especially when they’re your own words of wisdom.