This week I had the pleasure of attending the first Papercuts webinar series. I heard about this free event on LinkedIn through my friend Debrah Corn of the PrintMediaCentr. When I signed up, I assumed it would be just like every other webinar in that all the interaction would be digital. So when my boss walked in and handed me a large cardboard envelope a week later, I didn’t make the connection. The return address said the package came from the Millcraft Group, a company I’d never heard of before. The label looked very professional in an old school way. I opened it up not knowing what to expect.
Here’s what I saw inside:
Now I’ve been to my fair share of webinars, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. The mailer gets its name from the Neenah Cabinet Paper App. Unfortunately, I can’t download the mobile app because I own a Windows Phone. If you’re an iPhone or Android user, please download it and let me know what you think. The app is a print geek’s dream. You can browse from tons of tempting textures, upload artwork, and get a free sample proof before you purchase. You can even find a distributor or printer when you’re ready to commit to a project.
The coolest part about the mailer are the interactive insert cards. I could be wrong, but these seem as though they’re geared towards the design community. I say they’re interactive because there’s a game or brain teaser on the back of each card. Nice touch.
I confess I didn’t get to spend much time listening to the webinar. I had it in the background while I worked furiously on an upcoming campaign. I heard a lot of talk about enevelopes, but I know I missed a lot of interesting info. I’m not sure when the next webinar will roll around—I hope I’m able to actually pay attention because I have a newfound appreciation for funky paper. Thanks to everyone involved in this well orchestrated presentation. If you love paper or just want to explore your design options, I highly recommend attending in the future.
I’ll never look at webinars the same way again. The Cabinet mailer raised the bar so to speak, and now I can’t imagine holding an online event without a direct mail campaign.
PrintFirm is pleased to announce our customer of the week, Taylor Donsker of Taylor Donsker Design! Most of the time when you see the word design on this blog, you know we’re talking about graphic arts. In Taylor’s case, the term refers to his passion for making hand crafted custom furniture. Taylor graduated from the USC School of Architecture in 2010. He began his career in his chosen field, but found himself spending almost as much time building furniture in his garage as he did toiling away at the office. As he honed his technical skills, it became clear that he belonged in his studio instead of an architecture firm.
Within a few years, he went from doing small side projects to moving into his own workshop in Santa Monica. Today Taylor spends his days doing what he loves, creating treasured pieces of furniture to last for generations. He accepts orders online for premade pieces as well as new assignments. His collection includes wooden dining tables, lamps, wood slab desks, bookshelves, and a concrete sofa! Taylor agreed to let us share a few photos of his creations, so here are our favorites:
Taylor also put together a brief documentary entitled Absolute Interest about his artist journey. Watch as he describes story telling through old school craftsmanship:
We’re proud to be a part of this innovative entrepreneur’s success story. We hope his vision inspires others to live their dreams. If you’re looking for beautiful custom furniture for your home or office, contact Taylor, and don’t forget to mention that PrintFirm sent you!
I never really used LinkedIn until I started working at PrintFirm. I resisted joining LinkedIn until a former employer made signing up a job requirement. So I created a bare bones profile, and called it a day. Now I spend a good portion of my time on LinkedIn, and I still feel pretty green when it comes to “professional” networking etiquette. LinkedIn is not very social in the way I understand the term, and I’m still trying to figure out how to strengthen offline relationships through this digital medium.
Good thing I have John Klymshyn aka Coach K to show me how it’s done.
The Online Backstory
Last week, I received a LinkedIn invitation from a fellow writer I’d never met or worked with before named John Klymshyn. I accepted because I enjoy meeting other writers, designers, printers, and marketers. I always follow up on invitations with a private message to introduce myself, and John’s initial response caught me off guard. He explained that he discovered my profile through a comment I wrote on a LinkedIn article. He mentioned that he loved my tagline, and then told me to, “Go do something GREAT today!”
I found his approach very refreshing, definitely not the typical LinkedIn small talk. When he requested my mailing address to send me his Daily List, I had no idea what to expect. I assumed he was referring to a sales pitch or newsletter—neither of which sounded appealing, but our previous interactions gave me enough confidence in him to pass along the info.
The Direct Mail Win
I’m glad I trusted my instincts and took a chance on John because what arrived a few days later was nothing short of brilliant. Behold, direct mail done right:
Honestly, I wish I’d thought of this first, and I hope John doesn’t mind my stealing his idea down the road.
The picture above really doesn’t do John’s campaign justice (me without my damn camera). In case you can’t tell from the crappy cellphone photos, John sent a branded greeting card with a handwritten note as well as 3 copies of his creative folded business card. Both items feature his Daily List, which consists of 10 tasks to complete every day for personal and professional fulfillment.
4 of the items on the list standout because John is actually leading by example:
1) Be Kind to Someone
2) Inspire Someone
3) Do Something Creative
4) Give Something Away
He can cross these things off every time he puts a new envelope in the mailbox.
If you’re in sales, there are a few big takeaways in this story made especially for you. First off, treat your LinkedIn connections as a permission based lead generation tool. Notice how John didn’t jump right in and ask me for my address right off the bat? He waited until we’d built a friendly exchange online before he made a move for offline interaction. Remember, the people you meet online don’t get the chance to size you up in person, so they have no way to gauge your motives. If you make them feel uncomfortable by being too pushy, they’ll disconnect without a second thought.
Once you know a prospect is open to communicating, you can move in to strengthen the relationship through offline channels. But remember that print marketing works best when the message is highly personal i.e. tailored to the recipient. In other words, don’t send a generic brochure as an introduction to an online contact, unless he or she requests additional information about your company. The golden rule of sales is that people aren’t buying because they like your products, prices, or services. They’re buying because you’re good at selling yourself. Use that to your advantage by reaching out as an individual, not a company representative. And nothing says personal like a custom corporate greeting card with a handwritten message.
Community Soundoff
Congratulations John—you’ve made the Direct Mail Marketing Hall of Fame! Have you ever used direct mail to bridge the gap between online and offline contacts? Tell us your success story in the comments below!
Let me start off by saying that I’m not a font snob. Far from it. I detest pretentious design hang ups as much as anyone else. That said, I feel very strongly that font choice matters more in print than on the web. For starters, browsers automatically limit the number of web safe fonts. For this reason, print designers have a lot more creative freedom when it comes to font selection. Before we go any further, I’d like to share an awesome video on the history of typography to set the mood:
8 Brochure Design Fonts for 2013
We offer a lot of print products, but we get the most questions about the best font for brochures. There’s no one size fits all answer; before you pick a font, you need to carefully consider the message you’re trying to get across. Your font should make your point clearly, and match the tone of the piece overall. Here’s a list of good fonts for brochures to steer your campaign in the right design direction:
Abraham Lincoln
Hagin
Bonveno
Cubano
Geo Sans Light
Trade Gothic
FF Unit
Parry
What Are The Worst Fonts for Brochure Designs?
Now that we’ve covered the good, let’s get down to the ugly. There’s really no need to use more than 2 fonts in a brochure to begin with, which means you need to be extra careful about this important element. Here are 6 fonts we never want to see on your brochure artwork ever again:
Comic Sans
Papyrus
Hobo
Copperplate Gothic
Arial
Souvenir
Seriously…
If you send us a brochure written in Comic Sans, then we will be forced to notify the graphic design police. We don’t want to have to report you, so we ask you to voluntarily take the Comic Sans pledge. Feel free to pass it along to any suspected Comic Sans criminals among you.
Print advertising and direct mail has been around for ages. Its been around that long because it works – provided you do it right. In a world where we are bombarded by emails, commercials, and text messages, print can be a great weapon for your marketing arsenal. So, if you are ready to wield your new battle axe like a maniac bent on profit, I’ll explain how you can combine print and digital into a cozy little marriage, the perfect duo some would say. You ready? Sure you are.
Creating The Incentive
First things first. You need a message, an incentive, a plan. I won’t go too much into detail here, but it stands to reason you want to look at what you are offering from your customers’ perspective. Would it move you to action? If the answer is “no”, it may be time to re-evaluate what you are doing. Simply put, when you are planning a campaign there is no time to waste. Determine your budget, come up with an incentive, tie it into a product, establish campaign tracking – and get the presses rolling.
Pro tip: Do not try to say it all at once. Hone your offer down to one simple call-to-action. Less is more.
Picking The Print
Deciding on what type of print advertising to use comes down to budget. It also depends on your customers. It never hurts to get creative. In fact, I have a real life example for you. Google Engage is a platform for ad agencies who sell advertising in Google. Well, even internet juggernauts know the power of print. They just bought pizza for their ad partners!
Creativity is key in print advertising, but don’t fret. I don’t expect you to simply make it rain like Google. The point with mentioning this is threefold:
Print is relevant.
Get creative.
Track your response.
In Google’s case, they sent out $40 Visa gift cards to their partners. Once these gift cards are activated, Google gets filled in. In this sense, Google used print advertising and direct mail to reward agencies participating in their ad program. They also managed to generate some buzz, and goodwill with the people pushing their ad program. This goes back to being creative. Print advertising can be used for more than advertising to customers. Use it to solidify relationships with vendors, employees, and local businesses.
Tracking The Campaign
This is where you really get creative. Deciding on what you want to track, and what metrics are important, should be the first thing on your list. Here’s the good news: you can track more than clicks. You can track calls, too! Plus, you can do it on the cheap.
How to track calls
I’m going to give you two ways to track calls, one cheap, the other free. You may be asking, how am I going to know where they got my number? That’s easy. The number you printed in your mailing.
When sending out a direct mail campaign, most small businesses tend to use their regular business number. This is by far not an ideal choice. You’ll never know how they found out about you (beyond asking). It’s much easier to leave out the guesswork.
Method #1 – Use Callfire to track calls. Get a local number for $1/mo. and .05 cents a minute. Use that number for your print campaign. Callfire has many features that will allow you to track metrics. Easily get unique numbers for each one of your print campaigns and track the success of each.
Pro tip – You can use this same strategy for advertising in the local newspaper and classified ads.
Method #2 – If you don’t need all of the fancy metrics and reports, Google Voice allows you to turn your phone into two separate lines. Pick a local number, use it for your print campaign, and automatically forward calls to your business phone.
Pro tip – Forward your Google Voice number to your caller ID, so you can immediately see where the call is coming from.
How to track online
If you want clicks, not calls, check out the ideas below. There are plenty of options to choose for your business.
Use a custom domain. Instead of sending people to your homepage, send them to a custom landing page with its own url. For example, you can register an entirely new domain, or simply create a landing page in a subfolder or static page through your CMS. Ex: http://www.yourbiz.com/SuperOffer
Use a QR code. Target mobile by using a QR code for your campaign. Just be sure that your landing page is mobile-friendly!
Use online-only coupon codes. Using a coupon code for your ecommerce store will allow you to easily track which customers found your print offer.
The Wrap Up
Hopefully, you’re walking away with the motivation to be the master of your next print campaign. The most important factor in success for direct mail campaigns is always “the list”. In any print campaign, you want to reach an audience receptive to your business. Here’s to your success!
Did I miss anything? Have a better idea? Got anything to add? Share it in the comments!
About the Author Rob Lons is the social media strategist and inbound marketer at Rivalhost, a DDoS protection and web hosting provider. Rob creates and innovates within the social space to boost and cultivate client reach, relationships, reputation and resonance.
In honor of our Mother’s Day Greeting Card Giveaway, we decided to get the word out about what moms really want on their special day. If you don’t take this hint, well, your mom will be very disappointed in you.
Moms Prefer Print for Mother’s Day Gifts: Touch Your Mother’s Heart with Personalized Greeting Card Printing: Moms want tangible Mother’s Day gifts to treasure forever, such as custom greeting cards, stationary, canvas photo prints, and personalized calendars from PrintFirm.com.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 07, 2013
Mother’s Day gifts are meaningless unless they come from the heart. Kids often create folded greeting cards in school, but adults rarely bother to make handmade presents for mom’s special day. Between juggling work and their own families, most grownups try to get by with e-cards, fast phone calls, and flowers that quickly wilt away. But moms are equipped with extraordinary powers of parental perception, and they know when their kids are just going through the Mother’s Day motions half-heartedly. Instead of disappointing mom again with generic junk from the corner drugstore, give her something tangible to cherish: custom keepsakes created just for her.
Moms and Grandmas love the intimate feel of snail mail, so greeting card printing is a surefire maternal crowd pleaser. Thankfully, the card design doesn’t have to fit a specific occasion. The artwork can be anything from a child’s drawing to a favorite picture from the family photo album. Another option would be to save mom trouble during the holidays by setting her up with beautiful Christmas cards and thank you notes in advance. This way she will be able tell everyone on her mailing list about how the cards came from her thoughtful son or daughter. Businesses should also consider working with a commercial printing company on a Mother’s Day greeting card promotion. Instead of advertising an annual Mother’s Day sale with ordinary direct mailers, send high quality cards with handwritten messages to make a lasting impression.
Stationery printing and notepads are popular options to go along with greeting cards. Full color letterhead is a hot commodity among mompreneurs, especially of the stay at home mommy blogger variety. Of course, her new letterhead set won’t be complete without matching envelopes. No self-respecting career woman would dare put her pretty paper inside plain packaging. While stationary can be considered a luxury item, notepads fall under the practical gifts category. Pocket sized notepads will fit inside her purse for easy transport to the grocery store. Businesses can give away notepads during in store Mother’s Day events or include them as part of a branded direct mail campaign.
Since mothers are sentimental by nature, they adore gifts that feature pieces of the past. Imagine the look on mom’s face when she sees her wedding picture or a black and white family portrait on a gorgeous canvas photo print? She’ll hang it on the wall, and eagerly share snapshots with all of her friends on Facebook. Mounted canvas also helps moms remember loved ones who have already passed, including their own mothers. Ancestry buffs tend to gravitate towards canvas as a way of displaying restored photos of long lost relatives. Businesses looking for an exciting Mother’s Day contest prize should recognize the potential here immediately. Give customers raffle tickets with their purchases, and hold the drawing during a Mother’s Day themed celebration with homemade refreshments.
When one photo simply won’t do, put mom’s top 12 picks on a custom calendar. Working moms will appreciate desk calendars made with family pictures to remind them of what they’re toiling over. Wall calendars are available for white collar women with their own offices.
About PrintFirm.com
Printfirm, Inc. has been a trusted leader in online printing since 1996. We specialize in full color, high quality, fast turnaround offset printing. We proudly offer the lowest possible prices for our printing solutions while maintaining our commitment to excellent customer care and professional results.
Free Mother’s Day Greeting Card Contest from PrintFirm.com
I Love You Means More In Print
This Mothers’ Day don’t disappoint mom with the same old stuff she got last year. Show her how much you really love her with a gift she’ll treasure forever—custom greeting cards made just for her! Create cards for any occasion or use them as thank you notes she can send for the rest of the year. The design isn’t as important as the permanence of the present; moms want something they can see, touch, and hold on to when they miss their loved ones. Greeting cards put your love where it belongs, in her hands and close to her heart.
How to Enter the PrintFirm Mother’s Day Greeting Card Giveaway
Get your Mother’s Day graphics prepped for print and enter today! Here are the official contest rules:
PrintFirm 250 Greeting Card Giveaway
Giveaway Starts on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 and Ends on Sunday, May 12th!
1 Lucky WINNER Will be Randomly Chosen by Random.org at 12pm on 5/12/13
Paper Type: 14 pt. Glossy Cardstock (UV Front Only)
Printing On Front and Back
Blank Inside
Score and Folded
Includes Blank Envelopes
4 to 6 Business Days Turnaround
Complementary Shipping
Up to $200 Value
Limit 1 Per Entry Per Person
Winner Must Provide Print Ready Artwork or Photographs! For more information on printing specs, please see our helpful printing graphics guide. If Artwork is not Available, PrintFirm Will Create a Custom Design for Only $50 (50% Regular Custom Greeting Card Design Price).
Please note: Winner Must Respond to Notification Email Within 48 Hours Or Another Winner Will Be Selected!
Direct mail marketing is a very powerful tool that often brings much stronger ROI than online advertising. Mail order continues to thrive in the retail sector, especially when it comes to clothing, jewelry, sporting equipment, toys, and electronics. Postcards and flyers are often the medium of choice, but catalogs really give your products space to shine. Since catalog printing carries higher costs, you want to make sure you get the most out of your investment.
Catalog Cover Design From The Masters
To help you understand effective catalog design, I’m going to analyze one of my personal picks for direct mail marketer of the year, B & H Photo. I’ve ordered from them before, although I prefer to purchase photo equipment from my local camera store. I plan to order from them again in the near future, but I honestly hadn’t thought about their brand in a while. That is, until I received the Summer 2013 catalog in my mail box; there’s no way I would pitch this tantalizing teaser:
The catalog cover design sticks to the summer theme by placing popular products on the beach. Now even Bill Gates probably wouldn’t risk putting this kind of expensive gear in the sand, but this image isn’t about reality. The design successfully associates B & H’s inventory with a fantasy luxury lifestyle, which appeals to their professional target market. As an amateur photographer, I’m outside of their ideal demographic. But they’re grabbing my attention by showing me of glimpse of where I want to be, not where I really am.
Grade: A
Personalization in Print
When I open the catalog, the first thing I see is a letter mockup alongside the table of contents. The letter is supposed to have the feel of a personal note from the B & H COO Jacob Moskowitz. The copy is ok, but there’s one fatal flaw in this design concept: it’s a form letter. B & H could’ve really nailed this with personalization through variable data printing. They probably chose not to go that route for price reasons. I’m sure their direct mailing list contains hundreds of thousands of clients, so personalizing the salutation would have cost tons of money. Still, this oversight serves as a lesson for small biz owners—never underestimate the importance of personalization. If you’re not going to take the time to tailor the content to the reader, then don’t pretend to address the consumer directly. You’ll come off as disingenuous, and that’s not the kind of impression you want to make when you’re soliciting sales.
Grade: B
Online and Offline Connection
Most marketers miss the mark when it comes to bridging the gap between the virtual and physical worlds. B & H nails this by putting their online presence front and center in several places. The 4th and 5th pages are entirely devoted to promoting the B & H website, apps, and social media communities. There are a couple of reasons why this layout rocks. The upper left hand side of page 4 explains useful features on the B & H website, which actually adds value for users by showing them new ways to engage with the site. I personally love livechat for product support as well as inquires, so this really draws me in. Underneath this section, there are several QR codes that direct users to mobile friendly URLs. I can’t stress this enough: either link QR codes to mobile websites or don’t use them at all. There’s nothing more frustrating for consumers than scanning a QR code only to arrive on a desktop webpage.
Page 5 encourages readers to visit specific landing pages on the B & H site, which allows for comprehensive campaign tracking through Google Analytics. I am more likely to check these pages out because they promise content that will help guide my purchasing decisions. I’m always weary of buying photography gear online for good reason. This stuff is way too expensive for me to buy on a whim. B & H clearly gets my mindset or else they wouldn’t have highlighted these sections of their site. The bottom portion of page 5 invites shoppers to join several B & H social communities or visit another landing page. The design includes a clever custom USB cable with Facebook and Twitter icons on the end pieces. I wish this creativity extended to their social media landing page, but apparently they’re a bit better with print than web design.
Grade: A+
What grade do you think the B & H catalog design deserves? Tell us in the comments below!
So you just started your own business, congratulations! You have your website up and running and it’s nicely updated with who you are, how you can help people, and what services you have to offer.
You also heard about how blogging is so important for your business, so you decided that your website will also have a blog. Might as well, since you want to start on the right foot with everything.
Only… you have no idea what to write about. Your business is so new that you don’t have many products yet, or clients to ask them what they suggest.
Top 5 Blog Ideas for Startups
Remember, you can use the same idea with some variation for many posts. Really with these ideas you’ll be all set for about 50 posts, which, depending on your blogging schedule, will keep you busy for a year!
Write a Top 5 Post
You can write about your own experience, or you can find a list of interesting articles and briefly describe, while linking for more reading. Possible ideas: Top 5 mistakes to avoid when you start your business, Top 5 resources to create a business plan, Doing it all? 5 tips to deal with overwhelm.
Share a Resource
Either talk in more detail about a resource that you use, or share from a trusted source. Possible ideas: Check out my cool calendar system, 3 web sites my business cannot live without, The notebook to take in the shower.
Write a review
You can pick your own product or similar ones that do the same job. Or you can review a product that complements your business. Just be sure to write an honest review. Possible ideas: Granola bars review – Harvest Crunch vs. Nature Valley, See what the Sony Cybershot camera can do to your photos, TweetDeck or Hootsuite for your social media scheduling?
Write a How to Post
As with the product reviews, it can be directly related to your business products or something that complements your business. Possible ideas: How to get more things done in a day, How to start meditating 1 minute a day, How to schedule Facebook updates.
Ask a question
You can write up a post as a question and let your blog readers comment on the post with their advice. Possible ideas: Share your top world places you’d like to visit, What would you do with 1,000,000 dollars for your business? Your favorite business book and why?
Your turn!
As you can see, the possibilities are endless, go ahead and try them out! Share in a comment, leave your tips, or share this post on your favorite social media channel.
Delia Rusu helps women bloggers stay in their genius zone by showing them how to take their blog from dull to sparkle, so that readers can hear their blog’s message! Visit her website, Blog Formatting and connect with Delia on Facebook and Twitter. You can also find her sharing social media tips at EosGrafx (http://eosgrafx.com).
All right marketers, our Vinyl Banner Giveaway finished today at 12pm PST! We thank everyone for participating in this free online contest; we hope you learned a little bit more about how signage can help advertise your business, sports team, trade show booth, place of worship, or liven up a celebration.
PrintFirm Online Vinyl Banner Contest Winner
Without further ado, we’re pleased to announce our big banner winner:
Adrian Mansion is new to our social communities, so maybe she benefitted from a touch of beginner’s luck. We’re especially excited about printing her new 3ft. x 6ft. banner because Adrian works at a local business here in Los Angeles! Littlejohn’s Candies started out as a home based business in 1924. Founded by a husband and wife team, the couple’s English Toffee quickly generated word of mouth buzz around the city. By 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn decided to take the plunge and invest in a storefront space in the LA Farmer’s Market. The new spot included an impressive open window kitchen where guests get a close up view of gourmet treats.
The original owners are no longer involved, but Littlejohn’s maintains the tradition of family ownership at the same sweet location. They recently branched out to San Francisco where their tasty Toffee is sure to become a Market St. staple. We hope we get to deliver their new banner in person so we can try a few samples for testing purposes (hint, hint).
Congrats to Adrian from the PrintFirm team! For everyone else who did not win, we are emailing you a coupon code for 25% off your next vinyl banner order. We’re launching our next commercial printing giveaway next week, and we have a feeling the moms among us are going to love this one…
