marketing and sales - Digrafika Graphic Design

Custom Note Pads

Custom designed and printed note pads or scratch pads are a great giveaway or promotional item, and are also perfect for corporate gifts and employee recognition. Give them away at trade shows or events. Or leave behind for a top client. This product is packed with value. They are a useful item that keeps your name in front of clients for a long time. The pad will sit on your client’s desktop where they will be reminded of your company daily as they write a to-do list or memo. Or your client will carry it with them to meetings, showing it to potential referrals for your business. This product is suitable for nearly every business. For an add-on to corporate gift baskets or employee holiday gifts, go beyond cheap custom notepads and toss a customized personalized note pad in the package.

Note pads come in a variety of sizes, colors, and paper. Note pads can be printed with as many pages per pad as you’d like, though we usually recommend 50 or 100 sheets per pad. The pads can be printed in one, or multiple ink colors. Nearly any paper type can be used in the pad, from bright colors, to recycled or eco-conscious paper. Based on a standard sheet of paper, we suggest quarter page, half page, or full page note pads.

The best promotional item to be passed around is the one that will get used repeatedly. A note pad is a great investment for your marketing dollars.

Call us today at 603-534-2040 to find out more about custom designed and printed note pads for your company.

4 Easy Ways to Tie Your Marketing Materials Together

To successfully brand your business, you should project an image of strength and stability. Customers need to trust that you can and will deliver on your promises. They have to feel comfortable with you.

Simply telling your customers you stand behind your products and services may not always be enough. When your marketing materials scream “amateur” it becomes difficult to convince prospects that you’re different from their serious about offering a quality service for them.

The cardinal rule to looking professional is to coordinate your promotional materials–from your business cards to your website and everything in between. If your marketing materials don’t match, potential customers may believe they’re looking at different companies. Here are four easy ways to tie your marketing materials together:

1. Create a clean and uncomplicated logo.
Your logo should be easy to remember, be resized without losing detail, and work in one color (such as in a fax or on a pen). The logo should be unique and meaningful and appear on all your marketing materials.

2. Make one color yours.
Choose a color–preferably one from your logo–and use it throughout your marketing materials. Color plays a huge role in memory recall.

3. Work with only one or two fonts.
Fonts, like colors and graphics, project different images.

4. Stay the course.
Just about the time you’re getting sick of your brand standards, your brand starts resonating with your customers. Don’t be tempted to introduce a new color or unusual font selection. Remind yourself that while consistency isn’t always fun, it’s the proven path to branding success.

Nowadays, your company’s actual size may not matter, but its perceived size does. And looking big will pay off big-time.

Put Your Logo Everywhere

Marketing can do great things for your business. Good marketing strategies can get your business many new customers in the present and in the future. With the new year just around the corner, now is the time to use the season of rebirth to your advantage!
.
Many businesses give away FREE gifts with company logos, numbers, website, and such. Instead of the usual, come up with something unique to give away for FREE, something that will stand out more than a pen would.

.
Observe the marketing methods that are successful for your competitors, improve on them to suit your business, and incorporate these methods into your own marketing program.

.
Advertise where nobody else in your industry advertises. That can eliminate the competition for your ad to get attention of customers.

.
Do you put your company logo everywhere you could? There are many places that you can put your logo for FREE and that would be FREE advertising for your business. Put your logo on your car. Put your logo on all company stationery, including envelopes used for mail. Put your logo everywhere that you could!

Differentiate Yourself

Your brand identity communicates a promise from your company to your customer. Your brand identity consists of your logo, business card, letterhead, website and all other marketing and advertising collateral. When a customer looks at your brand identity, what do they see? What is their perception of your company?

You may run your business from your dining room table, be a company of 1 or only work your business part time. Whatever the scenario, your brand identity is still important. When a client looks at your business card or your website, they should never be able to tell or even get the perception that you work from home. What should stand out for them is how professional, trustworthy and stable you look as a company.
.

In business, perception is everything. There is no guarantee, a potential customer will meet you before looking at your business card or your website, so it is important to make sure your brand identity is strong enough to stand on its own, without you.
Be Remembered!! Stand Out!!

Why Employ Promotional Products?

Promotional items are a great way to motivate your employees and to strengthen your customer loyalty. Everyone enjoys receiving free stuff. A promotional item is an item that is given away for free in order to promote a product or service. Clothing, accessories, cups, calendars, pens, hats, bookmarks, bags, and magnets make great giveaways.

If you are just starting out, are running a special, or if business is slow you may want to concentrate on getting your name out. It’s a great way to put your name in the eye of the public.

Promotional items can boost company morale. Award your hard working employees with a free shirt or hat. Just think: every time your employees wear the promotional items you gave them they are advertising your company name.

Advertising is the key to business success. If you want to be successful in the business world you must advertise. Promotional items are a wonderful advertisement.

Digrafika can review your logo files to see if they are ready for imprint on your favorite promo items. Call us today!

Ask us how to get promo items from these companies and more!
Bluebird Promotions – Local authorized dealer for Kaeser & Blair
Tree In A Box – Offers a variety of tree seed kits which can be custom labeled with a corporate logo.
CalicoUSA.com – Temporary body art from any logo or design.
FarFromBoring.com – Eco-friendly promotional products.

Digrafika Celebrates 6th Anniversary

Thank you to all our clients and colleagues!

$10 off orders over $100
$20 off orders over $150
$30 off orders over $200

Place an order with us now until August 31st and automatically be entered to win an insulated picnic basket.

Order must be paid in full by August 31, 2010 to be eligible to win picnic basket.
Offer good now through Aug. 31, 2010.

Mention ANNIVERSARY SALE when ordering.

Hire a Graphic Designer in 2010

Would you like to spend more time providing your services, and less time on marketing?

Sure, but if you aren’t marketing and selling successfully, you won’t have any clients to deliver to!

Many of us embark on a profession we love, placing our attention on developing our skills, attending classes and seminars, and exploring new technologies. There’s always something new and exciting to learn.

But sometimes when it comes to getting the word out about a new product or service we offer, we miss the mark.

Hire the services of a graphic designer to be part of your marketing team. A graphic designer will enhance your brand by following a consistent theme of graphics, fonts, colors and layout. A graphic designer will create flyers, rack cards, brochures, sell sheets and more displaying your services and products. For example, a brochure is essential for any business to offer information about the qualifications and expertise of the owner and the services and products offered. More information can be supplied in a brochure, and they can be mailed, distributed door to door or given out at community events and trade shows.

How can your business can benefit from a professional brochure design?

Perhaps you do not currently have a brochure or rack card that gives more information about your services beyond your simple business card. When you decide to have a new design created, you can use that same professional design theme on your other marketing pieces. More bang for your buck! And it’s less likely your business will be confused with your competition when customers see your consistent theme. How long has it been since your website was updated and content refreshed? It’s easy to transfer the theme from your new brochure to your website and other media, which is a great investment.

Generally good marketing builds brands and takes time. And while it does bring long-term results, good marketing should also create a powerful first impression. So don’t miss the opportunity to impress a potential client! Consider hiring a professional designer to streamline your marketing pieces.

Successful Business Goal Setting for 2010

Creating clear doable goals for your business will help you achieve success for 2010.
Have a clear purpose, then be passionate and persistent about it until it is achieved.

7 Steps for Achieving Your Business Goals for 2010

Create goals that are doable, action oriented and achievable. Where do you want your business to be by the end of 2010? By the end of December 2010 you want to look back at say that you successfully accomplished all your goals. This will not only make you feel proud but will give you a great sense of accomplishment and also boost your confidence.
Write down your goals on paper – This makes your goals more substantial instead of having them floating around aimlessly in your head. Place this paper near your computer or somewhere where you will look at it every day or at least once a week. This will ensure you are on the right track.
Write goals in the present tense i.e. “I will write, publish and market an e-book by the end of July”. This kind of positive affirmation gives you a definite determination that will help attract the people, places, and situations you need to achieve that goal.
Picture yourself achieving these goals. Create a perfect picture of your goals and refer to it often. This adds a visual impact to achieving your desired goal.
Break down your goals into simple steps – you need to create simple steps on how you will achieve your goals. You could even create a flexible timeline when you plan on completing each goal.
Take action – setting goals is worth nothing if you don’t take action, so don’t procrastinate. Most people fail in this area because they get so overwhelmed with either the number of goals they set, the size of them, or paralysis from analysis. Don’t over analyze each goal so it paralyzes you from taking action.
Surround yourself with like minded people – talk to other people who are upbeat and positive about achieving their own goals as well as yours.

Your goal setting for 2010 can truly be successful if you establish a clear purpose for fulfilling them, being passionate about them, persevering until they are accomplished and taking action daily.

Need more inspiration?
Herman Drost – Expert Author at EzineArticles.com
iSiteBuild.com

Do you have a marketing plan for 2010?

It seems early to be thinking of next year, but planning now will save headaches in the future. Companies often undervalue the impact of a marketing plan on their own people, who want to feel part of a team engaged in an exciting and complicated joint endeavor. People don’t always understand financial projections, but they can get excited about a well-written and well-thought-out marketing plan.

We all know that plans are imperfect things. How can you possibly know what’s going to happen 12 months or five years from now? Isn’t putting together a marketing plan an exercise in futility…a waste of time better spent meeting with customers or fine-tuning production? Possibly, but an inaccurate plan is far better than no plan at all. Without a marketing plan, you’ll wander the sea of advertising and promotion aimlessly, sometimes finding dry land but more often than not floundering in a vast ocean. Sea captains without a chart are rarely remembered for discovering anything but the ocean floor.

Digrafika is prepared to participate in a marketing plan for your company, any size and any budget, annually, simplifying your marketing, promotional, and passive income processes. Ideally, after writing marketing plans for a few years, you can sit back and review a series of them, year after year, and check the progress of your company.

Ask how your business can benefit from a professional design from Digrafika! Call 603-534-2040.

Source: The Small Business Encyclopedia and Knock-Out Marketing

The Bookmark: More Than Just A Place Holder

Lately it seems more small business owners are asking me for inexpensive printing ideas. While they’d love to be investing in personalized promotional items, the cost per item is not always economical. Enter the bookmark, stage right.

Customized bookmarks are easier than ever to order. Many printers offer a standard 2″x6″ template now, eliminating costly setup and cutting charges. Often you can design online by adding images, backgrounds, colors and text, or upload your own completed design.

Use bookmark sized cards in addition to your traditional business card. Give bookmarks to clients and colleagues to promote or advertise, or to announce incentives. Feeling extra creative? Personalize printed bookmarks by adding ribbon, textured paper, gems, buttons and more.

Ideas for bookmark content:

Business services checklist (great for realtor, landscaper or handyman to give to homeowners)
Top 10 list
Tips and tricks
Inspirational quotes
Coupon or incentive
Team photo of your employees
Calendar for upcoming events
Announce a new product
Event Ticket
Punch Card
Add URL and password for special access to offers on your website
Gift Certificate

Clients will think of you first when they see your bookmark in their current book or magazine, sitting on their desk or on their corkboard, or in their wallet or bag. You’ll want to hand them out more frequently knowing the printing cost is low, but the value of the bookmark is sky high!