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November 16, 2010

Why Bargain Basement Graphic Design Won’t Cut It

Category: Design, Marketing — Tags: , — Sarah @ 7:03 am

In today’s economy, it makes sense to save a buck when you can. But that doesn’t mean you should save a buck where you probably shouldn’t. For example…

Things It’s Okay to Buy at a Dollar Store:

Bouncy Balls

A Slinky

Tinsel

Coloring Books

Gag Gifts

Things We Don’t Recommend That You Buy at a Dollar Store:

Baby Formula

Batteries for Your Emergency Flashlight

Medicine

Pants

Graphic Design Services

Some people are tempted to find a super-cheap “graphic designer” to put together their advertising materials. It’s the happy medium between a DIY job and hiring a real professional, right? these poor folks think to themselves. But you get what you pay for, and like the other items on the list of Not-Okay Dollar Store Items, you really want your advertising materials to be high-quality and work when you need them most.

You can probably find an ad on Craigslist for some dude who’ll put together a flier for you for peanuts, but what he doesn’t realize is that graphic design is much more than haphazardly slapping clip art on a page. Real graphic designers have the training to understand the psychology behind what should go where and the eye to balance function with aesthetic appeal. Like anything else that requires talent and experience, you’re going to pay a little more for that. But the results will make your investment worth it.

After all, spending a small amount of money on graphic design services that bring in zero customers makes less sense than spending a moderate amount of money on graphic design services that bring in five customers. The initial investment is more, but you’ll end up ahead in the end if you build your client base as a result of the advertising.

Of course, you don’t have to take our word for it. Ask that guy over there who’s sitting in the dark with a wedgie thanks to his dead flashlight batteries and $1 pants. He’ll tell you that sometimes, that extra couple of bucks is worth it.

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November 2, 2010

Don’t Scare Customers Away With This Mistake

Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: , , — Sarah @ 1:44 pm

The imPress team members are pretty bold and daring people. We’ll try almost anything once.

Nonetheless, there are some things that do turn our stomachs a little bit. And meat and seafood products from a less-than-professional looking establishment are some of those things.  (Abnormally large gerbils are another of those things.  But that’s another story.)

So, the other day when we drove past a new restaurant, and when we then noticed how unprofessional its “Coming Soon” signs were, we definitely thought, Ick!

The signs in question were constructed from neon posterboards and crooked stenciled letters. The message they were trying to send was “Come eat at this new restaurant! Look at all the great food we’re going to serve!” But because they were handmade and sloppy, the message we got from them was, “We cut corners here at this restaurant!”

There’s Something About That Professional Look

We know, we know. Just because somebody makes a sloppy sign doesn’t mean he forgets to wash his hands or refrigerate his ground beef. But the poor excuses for posters just give off a weird vibe. And if we tuned into the weird vibe, we’re sure other would-be customers did too. When you’re the new guy in town, you should want to get off on the right foot with your potential clients, so you need to avoid anything that leaves questions hanging in the air.

The worst part is just how simple it would have been for this restaurant owner to give the right impression. If you add up the money this individual must have spent on posterboard, markers, and stencils, and then factor in the time spent and the aggravation endured, professionally printed posters would certainly have been the easier choice. Not to mention that the end product would have done a much better job of enticing new customers to visit.

Whether it’s a brochure, a flier, a postcard, or a sign in your window, printed materials really should be left to professionals who live and breathe printing. Letting professional printers handle your printing jobs gives you more time to take care of other elements of your business, and it results in marketing materials that lure in customers instead of scaring them away.

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August 2, 2010

We’re Direct Mail Pros

Category: Design, Marketing — Tags: , , , , — Sarah @ 5:33 am

Everybody has a thing.

A butcher’s thing might be preparing a delectable cut of meat. A baker’s thing might be baking the perfect cupcake. A candlestick maker’s thing is, well, fantastic candlestick making. (Quick side note – although we’ve got a handle on the essence of each of their professions, we’ve never been quite sure why these men were caught rub a dub dubbing in a tub together.)

Anyway, what we’re getting at is this – things work out best when the right person does the right job. When the butcher needs a cupcake, he should consult the baker. When the baker needs a candle, he should leave it to the candlestick dude. And when that candlestick maker is hungry for a steak, he should pay the butcher a visit. And if they do, all three will find themselves satisfied and free to devote more time to their own businesses.

Our Thing? Marketing Materials

We love designing marketing materials. From promotional items to brochures to postcards, we’ve got our clients covered when they want to get their messages out there.

One thing we’re particularly fond of is writing copy for direct mail. Writing direct mail is an art that definitely benefits from the skills of a professional. For a direct mail letter to do its job, the tone, format, and content need to be just right – and we know just how to make that happen.

What a Professional Can Do

At imPress, we have a keen awareness of the audience for a direct mail piece and take these readers into consideration as we write. Through years of experience with this medium, we’ve picked up on a lot of tricks of the trade that increase the odds that our clients’ direct mail pieces will make an impact.

For instance, a strongly written “P.S.” can be hugely persuasive. While a reader might skim the body text of a letter, a “P.S” section that is succinct and packs a lot of punch is likely to be read in its entirety. So adding a good one can make your letter much stronger.

There Are More Writing Tricks Where That Came From

From your salutation all the way down to that all-important “P.S.”, we know the powerful, subtle cues to include that will increase the success of your piece. We know what to say and how and when to say it to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing materials.

The butcher certainly could pop some Betty Crocker cake batter into a muffin tin and buy a make-your-own candles kit from Michael’s, but he’s going to end up with stronger results if he leaves the cupcake and candle production to his friends. And when he needs to develop a great direct mail campaign with a high response rate, he’ll get the results he’s looking for if he leaves the writing and designing to us.

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May 3, 2010

Don’t Let This Be You

Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: , , , — Sarah @ 6:06 am

The following is a true story.

A friend of ours recently opened a piece of mail from her homeowners insurance company and was appalled. The envelope contained a letter and a brochure. And both of them would have been better left unsent.

The letter was a typical form letter recommending that our friend consider insuring her car with this company. The message was not out of the ordinary, but the mistakes were. Sentences within the letter ranged from poorly written to actually grammatically incorrect, and the letter concluded with the assertion that this insurance company would be “happy to suite your needs.”

The brochure, believe it or not, was worse.

Instead of hiring a printing company or even using a desktop publishing program, the geniuses running the operation opted to construct this brochure elementary school art project style. That’s right, folks, someone actually sat down with a gluestick and got busy gluing the graphics onto the brochure by hand. The sloppy edges were a dead giveaway that someone tried to save a few bucks.

What You Send Says a Lot About You

The well-meaning staff of this insurance company thought that they were sending out marketing materials, when in actuality, these pieces were the opposite of marketing. Instead of luring our friend in and getting her interested in a new service, the company made her question their credibility as an insurance company. She couldn’t help but wonder, If I ever actually need to make a claim, will they try to fix my house with a gluestick?

Don’t let your printed pieces send the wrong message. There may be some aspects of your business that can be handled with DIY jobs, but designing and constructing marketing materials probably isn’t one of them. Professional designers and printers will make sure that your printed pieces actually bolster your company’s image instead of bringing it down.

And if there are any holdouts out there who still want to make their own brochures, we beg you to avoid puffy paint, pipe cleaners, glitter, crayons, and gluesticks.

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