wares blog: Maret 2015

Selasa, 31 Maret 2015

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Posted: 30 Mar 2015 05:11 AM PDT

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Hosting a spring festival for your community, to raise funds for your non-profit organization, or to promote your business? You need a powerful marketing campaign to ensure your event's success. Fortunately, it's not difficult to generate an excellent crowd when you take advantage of the following 25 spring festival marketing tips.

1. Print vinyl banners

Vinyl banners strategically placed near busy intersections can put your spring festival in front of the masses. Banners are cheap to print, even at large sizes, and with a great design and large, bold text they can be next to impossible to ignore.

2. Mail invitations

Send invitations to a targeted mailing list to add a personal touch to your marketing. You can use invitations to make your festival seem more exclusive and even offer VIP benefits, such as buy-one-get-one-free tickets or a special incentive at the event.

3. Distribute posters

Posters are staple marketing tools for spring festivals; place your posters in outdoor areas, on community bulletin boards, and at grocery stores, restaurants, clubs, and anywhere else your audience will see them.

4. Print flyers

Like posters, flyers can be strategically placed in a variety of locations to attract attention; plus, flyers are cheaper to print so you can blanket your community without breaking the bank.

5. Routinely post on social media

Post interesting and engaging festival updates on social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. – and get fans involved with polls, contests, and giveaways. Make your social media presence fun and entertaining to maximize your online reach.

6. Launch a website

Speaking of online reach, be sure to build a great website that works to promote your spring festival and serves as a hub for all event information. Include a blog and consistently update it with relevant, useful, and entertaining information that generates interest for your spring festival.

7. Print stickers

Stickers featuring your event's logo, name, date, and website (or interactive QR code for mobile devices) can be placed almost anywhere, allowing you to promote your spring festival in unique, unusual, and attention-getting areas.

8. Find local ticket sales partners

Print tickets and ask local retailers, grocers, and other partners to sell them for you. Offer a free sponsorship at your festival or a cut of each ticket sale in return.

9. Distribute a schedule of events brochure

Print a brochure that works to market your spring festival and features a schedule of events, then place your brochures on counters and other places your audience will see them. Make sure your brochure design is attention-getting and motivates people to take your brochures with them. You can also send your brochure to a targeted direct-mail list.

10. Boost Facebook ads

Targeted Facebook post boosts can help you reach a large audience for cheap.

11. Hold contests prior to the event

Photo contests, sweepstakes, essay contests, and unique contests relevant to your festival can intrigue the public, promote your event, and lend good PR.

12. Get media involved early and often

Reach out to local media members to see how they might get involved in your spring festival. News coverage, reduced advertising fees, and direct participation can make it easier to market your festival.

13. Market to niche groups

Define niche groups that might have an interest in attending your spring festival, then identify ways to include them. Finally, send marketing materials specifically designed to attract that group. For example, your spring festival might include an arts show; you can market the arts show to local artists, art groups, and art admirers.

14. Develop marketing partner sponsorships

You can develop partnerships with sponsors to help cover the cost of marketing; at the same time, you can trade sponsorships and other incentives for free marketing, advertising, and marketing services. If you need a website, for example, you might be able to arrange a deal in which a local website designer agrees to create your site for free in return for sponsorship.

15. Product partner promotions

Make a list of products that are routinely purchased and go hand-in-hand with your spring festival. For example, you might work out a deal with a local grocery store that allows you to place hang tags on certain beverages.

16. Donate to a cause

Donate a portion of each ticket sale to a local cause; not only is this a great way to give back, it's a good PR move that can lend more publicity and the cause you're donating to will help actively market your spring festival.

17. Print business cards and leave them everywhere

Print business cards featuring event highlights and leave them everywhere you go. Business cards are cheap to print, and you can leave stacks of them for people to grab.

18. Don't forget postcard marketing

Direct-mail postcard marketing is one of the most effective – not to mention cost-effective – strategies you can employ. Print attention-getting postcards to send to a targeted mailing list and offer an incentive for attending your event with the postcard in-hand so you can measure results.

19. Send emails often

Use your website and social media profiles to encourage visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter, then send at least one newsletter with an event update, interesting news, entertaining story, contest, or other engaging content every week leading up to your event.

20. Place window clings locally

Window clings are cheap to print and can be placed at local gas stations, grocery stores, retailers, and other oft-visited locations to promote your event.

21. Advertise

Advertise online, on TV and radio, and in local newspapers and magazines. Target your advertising to your festival audience. If you're a non-profit, you might qualify for reduced ad rates. You can also work with local stations and publishers to find a way to reduce your advertising fees in return for sponsorships or other festival participation.

22. Go big with billboards

Billboards are expensive, but if you expect to attract thousands of people to your event strategically placed billboard advertising can be a good investment.

23. Create unique outdoor marketing displays

Command attention for your event with unique outdoor marketing displays. A huge inflatable bunny coupled with a banner could promote a spring festival, for example; be sure to make your displays relevant and unusual so they're effective and memorable.

24. Engage in vehicle marketing

Bumper stickers are good, car door magnets are better – recruit a few dozen people to place magnets on their vehicles in the weeks preceding your event. If you have a unique vehicle to employ, even better – think "bunnymobile."

25. Deploy a "street team"

Recruit employees or volunteers to take to the streets in busy shopping districts. They can offer amusing demonstrations or entertainment, hand out club card flyers promoting your event, and give away stickers to help drum up interest for your spring festival.

What's your favorite spring festival marketing idea? Let us know in the comments.

The post 25 Spring Festival Marketing Tips appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Kamis, 26 Maret 2015

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3 Must-Have Print Marketing Tools for Lean Startups

Posted: 25 Mar 2015 05:15 AM PDT

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"Lean" is a buzzword that travels in entrepreneurial circles, most commonly referring to lean startups – those businesses that launch on the bare minimum of resources (as though most small startups have any other choice). Practicing the art of the lean business is great for startups; not only is it usually necessary, it challenges you to produce profits with minimal resources.

If you can master the lean startup, then when you do have more funds, employees, and resources, you stand to grow rapidly. Being lean doesn't mean subsisting entirely without support, though, and there are certain investments all startups must make in order to be success. A print marketing foundation is one of them.

The following covers three must-have print marketing tools for lean startups.

1. Business cards

The staple marketing and networking tool of all businesses, business cards aren't just good for your image – they're expected. If you do not have a business card you'll find it difficult to be taken seriously. Business cards are great for networking, too, which can be an incredibly cheap strategy for growing your small business. The good news is business cards are likewise cheap; you can print 1,000 for under $70.

2. Brochures

A lot of brochures are boring and plain, but yours don't have to be. A great brochure can serve multiple purposes, from showcasing your services and customer benefits to serving as mini-catalogs for retail products. Print brochures with discount incentives to bring qualified leads to you or motivate direct sales. You can print 500 brochures for under $300, under $200 on sale.

3. Postcards

Many startups hesitate to engage in direct-mail marketing, fearful of the cost of postage. They view direct-mail as an expense, not an investment with an expected return. Postcards, however, can be your best friends – they're cheap to print, relatively cheap to send, and can be send to highly-targeted mailing lists comprised of pre-qualified customers. The key to a successful direct-mail postcard marketing campaign is to create a compelling offer and send it to a narrowly-targeted list. Start small – just a few hundred at a time – until you can generate predictable, repeatable results. In this manner, you can scale your postcard marketing campaigns confident in the ROI they'll yield for your business. You can print 500 postcard for under $100, and mail them for around $200.

Armed with just these three marketing tools, you can promote your lean startup and grow your business into a successful, profitable enterprise.

The post 3 Must-Have Print Marketing Tools for Lean Startups appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Rabu, 25 Maret 2015

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How Much Do Custom Wine Labels Cost To Print?

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 05:16 AM PDT

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If you make your own wine at home and you're considering selling some of your small batches or just want to dress up your presentation when sharing your vintages with family and friends, you should print custom wine labels. The good news is custom wine labels are relatively cheap to print. The following details options that affect the pricing of custom wine labels and offers real-word prices you can expect to pay.

Custom wine label design

Though not actually part of the printing process, you have to consider the cost of wine label design. If you can design your own wine labels, you won't incur any design fees. A professional designer is likely to charge several hundred dollars for a premium design. Your wine label printing company probably also offers graphic design services (PsPrint does) at reasonable prices.

Wine bottle label size and shape

Your choice of label size and shape affects your price as well. Wine bottle labels can be printed as rectangles, ovals, and rounded corner squares, each available in various sizes. You can also opt for custom die-cut shapes and sizes, which will increase your overall price.

Label stock

Wine label printing fees are also dictated by the type of label stock you choose. Cream parchment is the best type of wine bottle label stock, and is available at relatively low prices. You can also opt for a translucent polyester stock at comparable pricing.

Quantity, production, and shipping

The more wine bottle labels you print per run, the less your price-per-label will be. Standard production and shipping speeds are less expensive than rush jobs and two-day shipping, for example. Production and shipping speed can significantly impact your overall price, so it's best to give yourself plenty of time to minimize your expenses.

How much do custom wine labels cost to print?

Assuming you can do your own design work, you can print 100 custom wine labels on 2-inch by 4-inch rounded corner cream parchment stock for around $240, which comes to $2.40 each. One final thought: be on the lookout for discounted wine bottle label printing. At the time of this writing, for example, PsPrint was offering 60 percent off wine labels – cutting that $240 price to $95.68, or less than one dollar per label. Of course, if you're able to sell your wine bottles your cost for labels is essentially nothing, as it's passed on to the customer.

The post How Much Do Custom Wine Labels Cost To Print? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Selasa, 24 Maret 2015

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3 Uses for Wedding Sheet Stickers

Posted: 23 Mar 2015 05:00 AM PDT

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Your wedding is your special day; everything about your wedding should convey a sense of your unique love. Printing sheet stickers is one way to add an accent to your wedding, a special touch that helps make the day uniquely yours. The following details three uses for wedding sheet stickers that will help make your wedding unique and memorable.

1. Invitation seals

Print wedding sheet stickers to use as invitation seals to lend an elegant look to your invites. You can design monogrammed envelope seals with your initials; or, have a bit of fun with it and print a photo of the bride and groom or a symbol of your love for one another.

2. Name tags

Make wedding reception introductions easy for family members by printing name tags. You can print simple name tags that say either "I'm on the groom's side" or "I'm on the bride's side," for example; or, you can turn your name tags into icebreakers by printing a line for each guest's name, which side they're on (bride/groom), and something interesting about them. Supply markers at each table so guests can quickly fill their name tags out, and you'll set the stage for a lively reception that serves as a perfect mixer for your newly-joined families.

3. Reception favors

Perfect for kids and even adults, you can print fun sheet stickers featuring cartoon characters, wedding-related phrases, or even the bride and groom making goofy faces. Your guests will have fun with the sheet sticker favors, and if you provide some blank pages and crayons kids can keep themselves busy making goofy artwork.

The best part? Wedding sheet stickers are cheap to print and highly-customizable, with the ability to print multiple designs on a single sheet for budget-friendly wedding accents.

The post 3 Uses for Wedding Sheet Stickers appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Sabtu, 21 Maret 2015

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Cool postcards, including Steampunk Darth Vader and more

Posted: 20 Mar 2015 07:00 AM PDT

Steampunk Darth Vader? Sure. Why not? We’re into it here at Hot Off The Press. We have some other cool customer designs to check out this week, too, including an Oakland-inspired postcard, sticker that really stinks (with skunks), and two couple of designs that will make you want to get your drink on.

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Postcard designed by Christopher Canole

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Postcard designed by Cannon Craig

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Sticker for The Skunkadelics

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Beer labels designed by Gamut

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Business card for Raff Distillerie

The post Cool postcards, including Steampunk Darth Vader and more appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Jumat, 20 Maret 2015

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Window Clings for Spring Marketing

Posted: 19 Mar 2015 05:26 AM PDT

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Window cling design by Tara Bartholomew for Bananas

If you operate a retail business in an area that receives a lot of foot traffic, window clings can help boost spring sales. The following details reasons why you should print window clings for spring marketing.

1. Window clings command attention

Bright colors, dollar and percent symbols, and creative images help window clings stand out from other traditional marketing efforts. When winter's chill thaws and shoppers return to the great outdoors (or strip malls, as it is), window clings can draw customers into your store from up close and afar.

2. Window clings can be repositioned

Window clings can be repositioned to test how well they perform at different heights, in different windows, and facing different sides of your shop. You can also print multiple window clings to attract customers from every angle.

3. Window clings are cheap to print

Window clings are relatively cheap marketing tools that can be used again and again; these features make it possible to print window clings for every big sale or promotion, but also to reuse window clings for future promotions and maximize your return on investment.

4. Window clings are highly customizable

No matter what colors you want, what shape you want your design to be, or what images and text you want to print, window clings can do it all. This presents the opportunity for well-branded marketing that attracts customers' eyes. You can print window clings to excite customers with sales, make them laugh (and think) with humor, or to highlight the unique benefits of buying from you.

5. Window clings convert window shoppers

As mentioned, spring represents a return to the outdoors as shoppers like to browse through strip malls, downtown shipping districts, and even indoor malls. When your competitors are content to wait on customers to walk in, window clings can lend your shop a distinct advantage by beginning the sales process before customers enter your store – and thus convert window shoppers into real shoppers.

Don't let customers pass up your retail store – print window clings to get them in the door!

The post Window Clings for Spring Marketing appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Kamis, 19 Maret 2015

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4 Types of Labels for Small Batch Winemakers

Posted: 18 Mar 2015 05:15 AM PDT

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Do you make small batches of wine for personal use or to share with family and friends? Perhaps you've considered selling your best bottles to test the market for your unique vintages. Whether for fun, profit, or both, you should distinguish your wine with custom wine labels. The following lists four types of labels for small batch winemakers and helps you decide which type of label is best for your wine.

1. Cream textured parchment

Cream textured parchment stickers were created specifically to be used as bottle labels, which makes them perfect candidates for your wine bottles. The textured stock lends an air of elegance to your wine and makes for a premium, professional presentation. This label is perhaps the best choice for most small batch winemakers.

2. Clear polyester labels

Clear polyester labels can be a good fit for white wines; they're printed with translucent colors for a see-through effect that works best when labeling light-colored wines and wine bottles. If you want your wine label to have a stained glass effect, clear polyester labels are the way to go.

3. Premium vinyl labels

These high-gloss labels are visually bright and smooth to the touch. Not as elegant as cream textured parchment, but capable of featuring attention-getting artwork that sets your wine bottles apart. A glossy UV coating adds an extra layer of protection to these labels.

4. Uncoated glossy labels

A standard sticker stock, uncoated glossy labels look great on a budget but don't have the extra protection afforded by cream textured parchment, polyester labels, and coated vinyl. If your wine should be refrigerated and the bottle "sweats" when you serve it, you should choose a different label. If your bottle remains dry, uncoated glossy labels can be a good choice.

Which is the best label for your small batch wine bottles? The choice is ultimately yours, but it's worth noting the most popular wine label is cream textured parchment. Keep in mind all of these labels can be printed in custom die-cut shapes to help make your wine appear even more unique.

The post 4 Types of Labels for Small Batch Winemakers appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Rabu, 18 Maret 2015

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Are Stickers the Ultimate Branding Tools?

Posted: 17 Mar 2015 05:15 AM PDT

You know the power of a great brand, and you might know how you intend to build your brand on a foundation based on a specific business philosophy: premium products, value prices, attitude and image or customer service, for example. But how do you plan to promote your brand to the masses? With marketing, of course, and stickers just might be the ultimate branding tools. Here are five reasons why.

1. Stickers offer strong visuals

Most stickers are relatively small, which means they need to incorporate strong visuals to be effective. Often, this is your logo; but it could also be some other image or brand symbol. Either way, such strong visuals in a small package makes your brand attention-getting and memorable – and, if you get the look right, even desirable at first glance.

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Design by SuperFine Designs for Coquette's Bistro and Bakery

2. Stickers offer easy, targeted distribution

One of the best ways to distribute brand stickers is to simply give them away to your current customer base. Those who already love your brand will be proud to display your stickers where their peers will see them – and their peers are also likely part of your target audience.

Giving stickers to current customers is a great way to increase brand awareness and reinforce your brand to those who already buy from you.

3. Stickers can be placed almost anywhere

You can also affix stickers anywhere your target audience is likely to see them. Stickers are cheap to print, so they can be used to blanket neighborhoods, events, and other places you want to reach your customers. You can also place stickers in unique and unusual places, which makes your brand more memorable. From windows and walls to cars and restroom stalls, stickers can promote your brand almost anywhere.

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Hold Fast Tattoo

4. Stickers can foster customer relationships

Think of the types of applications your customers might have for stickers, then print stickers that help them identify with your brand. If you sell bicycle equipment, for example, you might print stickers that fit on bicycle helmets or bike frames. If you're a mechanic, print stickers that let you mark the date and mileage of each customer's next oil change. If you're a tech company, print branded stickers your customers will want to place on their laptops and mobile devices.

5. Stickers are cheap to print

Last but not least, the fact that stickers are so affordable to print means you can liberally apply your stickers where they'll attract the attention of your customers. Distribution isn't limited by budget; with stickers, you can rest assured a large number of people in your audience is exposed to your brand.

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Rogue Festival

Stickers promote strong visuals, offer easy distribution, are versatile, cheap, and can help build customer loyalty. Does those traits make stickers the ultimate branding tools? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The post Are Stickers the Ultimate Branding Tools? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Selasa, 17 Maret 2015

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Why Your Brochure Sucks

Posted: 16 Mar 2015 05:05 AM PDT

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The best brochures focus on customer-centric benefits. Brochure cover design by Ash Weiss for PsPrint customer Alive and Healing

We've covered myriad reasons why brochures are powerful marketing tools; yet if your small business engages in brochure marketing, odds are your brochure sucks. The vast majority of brochures do, despite immense potential to quickly motivate customers to take the next step in the purchasing process. There are nearly as many ways for a brochure to be ruined as there are for it to be legendary, including poor design and distribution, but the No. 1 reason most brochures suck is misplaced focus.

Any brochure that focuses on the business rather than the customer, in a word, sucks.

Customer-centric focus is at the very foundation of sound marketing strategy, yet most brochures I see fail miserably in this respect. Small businesses in particular, eager to set their enterprises apart from competitors, tend to print brochures lacking customer-centric focus.

A great brochure conveys compelling customer benefits.

On our honeymoon, my wife and I wanted to rent jet skis. There were two companies that rented jet skis right from the beach, and both placed brochures in our resort lobby. So far, so good; but there were distinct differences between the brochures.

The first told us what models of jet skis they had, how many years they had been in business, how many employees they had, the size of their jet skiing "territory," and what local publications they'd been featured in.

The second promised us the fastest jet skis in the area, the largest jet skiing territory, quick and friendly training for newbies, and the best prices-per-hour.

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Which jet ski rental service do you think earned our business? The second, of course, because their brochure focused on customer-centric benefits. They knew their market, and they knew that we wouldn't care (or likely even understand) what models of jet skis they had, only that they were fast and we would have a large expanse of open water to enjoy them on. What's more, even though I had experience on jet skis my wife had never been on one; offering the training session was a perk (if we were truly enthusiasts, we'd have brought our own jet skis anyway). Guaranteeing the best price? Even better, especially for a budget-minded young couple on vacation.

The bottom line? Customers do not care about you. They do not care about your business. They care about what you and your business can do for them. If your brochure fails to clearly convey that information, it sucks.

Fortunately, it's easy to print a powerful brochure. Simply focus on customer benefits. Answer the question: what do you do for your customers, and how is that different and better than your competitors? Effective brochure marketing isn't rocket science, but it does require you to put yourself in your customers' shoes.

Use brochures to tell customers how you will make their lives better, and they will reward you with their business.

The post Why Your Brochure Sucks appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

Sabtu, 14 Maret 2015

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Sheet stickers, posters and more

Posted: 13 Mar 2015 06:00 AM PDT

Today is Friday the 13th, but we’ve had nothing but good luck checking out all the cool customer designs this week. From sheet stickers and posters to business cards and postcards, we have a lot of fun designs coming off this press. Check out it for yourself.

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Sheet sticker designed by Emily Benger

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Poster by Megan Goerth

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Poster for Madrone Art Bar

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Front and back of business cards for SOS Bike Tours

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Poster by Dennis Mathewson

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Postcard designed by Ian Lendler

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Jumat, 13 Maret 2015

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25 Spectacular St. Patrick’s Day Designs

Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:00 AM PDT

Of all the annual holidays, St. Patrick's Day just might be the most fun. What else would you expect from a holiday associated with leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, shamrocks, green beer, kegs 'n eggs, green rivers, famous parades, and phrases such as "Kiss me, I'm Irish?" All that St. Patrick's Day fun lends itself to some of the most creative marketing artwork, not to mentioned designs created "just for fun." If you're charged with crafting an original St. Patrick's Day design this year – whether for a poster, flyer, invitations, the web or just because – you can find inspiration in the following 25 spectacular St. Patrick's Day designs.

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