Developing Your Brand Package

Your brand package consists of the tools and resources you use to communicate your image. The key to its effective application lies in the consistent use of your image package, which includes your business name, tagline and logo.

Business Name. Your business name is a highly personal choice; however, there are 2 criteria you should consider. First, the name should be descriptive. In other words, people should know what you do by hearing your name. Second, it should be easy to pronounce and remember.

Tagline. Your tagline is your business motto or catchphrase. It should tell people what is unique about you and establish some mental image. Ideally, it should also evoke a positive emotion. Try to limit your tagline to 7 words.

Logo. The most important element of your logo is that it should be memorable, and blend nicely with your business name and tagline to form your image package.

Your image package should speak to the vision you are trying to create for your business. However, what you choose for your business name, tagline and logo are less important than how they are used. The key is consistency and repetition. You want to make sure your image package is visible to customers and potential customers as often as possible. Here are 9 simple ways to do this:

1. Stationary. Put your image package on your letterhead, fax sheets, envelopes and all other forms of correspondence.

2. Business Cards. Likewise, display your image package prominently on your business cards.

3. Brochures. Include your image package on all of your paper and electronic marketing materials including brochures and one sheets.

4. Website. Your image package should appear on every page of your website. It should also appear on all website documents that can be downloaded by visitors.

5. Publications. Include your image package in all of your written content such as newsletters, booklets, and manuals. Even more importantly, write on topics that speak directly to the image you are attempting to create. For example, if you are trying to cultivate an image as a wellness expert, develop publications that provide useful wellness information for your readers.

6. Blog. As with other forms of publication, write blog posts that provide information and resources for your readers in the areas of expertise directly related to your brand.

7. Social Media. Create a powerful profile that embodies the brand image you are trying to cultivate on every social media website that you use (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook). You can also start or join user groups that are connected to your area of expertise.

8. Presentations. Whenever you make a presentation, make sure all of your presentation materials contain your image package (e.g., PowerPoint slides, handouts). Consider facilitating free presentations as a way of communicating your brand image.

9. Elevator Presentation. Many people overlook the elevator presentation because it is verbal, not visual. However, it is vitally important because a good elevator statement will tell people who you are (e.g., credentials), what you provide (e.g., value proposition), and who you serve (e.g., market niche) in a brief 20-second statement.

Travel the World of Freelancing

Do you need extra income?

Are you a mother looking for ways to earn at the comfort of your home? Or a father who would like to use his talents, hobbies and interests to make money at the same time? Or an educator who would like to share his knowledge and expertise? Or a mere student who would like to be independent to support his studies? Or a team of experts with the goal to gain for value and profit? Or someone who wanted to set up a home business, a micro entrepreneur and who would like to be his own boss? Or are you the one who would like to change his career path or would like to have some sort of career break? Or simply someone who would like to have additional work and bonus income?

In this eon of high technology and social media proliferation, earning through freelancing is one of the ways to increase household or individual income.

Earning by freelancing can be your chance to achieve your vision, your dream and a decent way to gain extra income. This can even become a source of your full time earnings.

Why not read on and let us traverse the world of freelancing…

What is freelancing and freelancer?

Before, freelancing work is not so popular and not given any worth at all. Others perceive freelancer as person with no stable job and who do job hopping and hunting from one place to another. In short, no value.

Nowadays, in electronic media and eCommerce development, freelancing is already a “word of mouth”. There is a better connotation today when a freelancer says he belongs to this category. Freelancing is in stratum to compete with corporate giants earning competitively in a blink of an eye.

Others term it as outsourcing skilled and talented people in the project needed by client or buyer. The people in this kind of work are labeled as freelancer, freelance, freelance worker, independent contractor and the like.

The freelancer, the person who is doing freelancing activity, is a self-employed status and has no employee-employer relationship. This is based on mutually agreed arrangement and can be done either verbal or written form stating the requirement of the client including:

the type of work to be done

the deadline

the payment of a certain piece or specified work

the ways to pay the freelancer

and other specific details of a sale or contract

Other freelancers may even require proposal with quotations and deposits from the clients before pursuing the project. They may charge by the hour, day, on a per-project basis, or per piece rate. Some freelancers tried a value-based pricing on the perceived worth of the outputs to the client. It is a common practice to pay fractional fee on the onset as a downpayment or lump sum amount upon finishing the project. For longer period and complex projects, a payment schedule based on results is used which is most common in consulting jobs, where a phase by phase billing is more applicable.

Freelancing in a way is selling skills, talents and expertise with the desired result for a certain buyer or client. Freelancing can also be illustrated as the freelancer providing solutions to client’s problem/s. To optimize the freelancer’s results, one should focus on his own specializations in order to be effective and efficient.

Freelancers are represented by the organization like Freelancer to negotiate on their behalf who at the same time resell their capabilities to the potential clients.

The influence of internet revolutionized the word freelancing into a much detailed explanation, highfalutin terminologies in corporate world such as telecommuting, online outsourcing, offline outsourcing, crowdsourcing and business process outsourcing.

Where can we apply freelancing?

Freelancing has a wide array of applications, vast field, unlimited opportunities and through the advent of internet and uprising technology anything is possible and accessible.

Freelancing can be useful in the following works:

1. Blogging

2. Book Publishing

3. Journal Publishing

4. Magazine

5. Newspaper Publishing

6. Journalism

7. Technical Writing

8. Report Writing

9. Academic Writing

10. Tutoring

11. Article Rewriting

12. Business writing

13. Sports Writing

14. Feature Writing

15. Poem Writing

16. Literary Writing

17. Editing

18. Proof reading

19. Copywriting

20. Ghost Writing

21. Song Writing

22. Consulting (ISO 26000 Corporate Social Responsibility, ISO 9001 Quality Management System, Integrated Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System)

23. Public Relations

24. Photojournalism

25. Photography

26. Full Marketing Collaterals Designing (from making of company logo, letterhead, business card, tarpaulins, stickers, flyers, billboards, signages, and several marketing and promotional items like corporate giveaways)

27. Photoshop

28. Graphics Designing

29. Logo Designing

30. Illustrator

31. PSD to HTML Making

32. Magazine or Newspaper’s Lay-out Designing

33. Website Development

34. Website Designing

35. Web Scraping

36. Indexing or Market Surveying

37. Content Creation

38. Content Management System (Joomla, WordPress, Drupal, Blogger)

39. Hacked Site Recovery and Protection

40. Coaching

41. Communication (Chat, SMS, Email Support)

42. Language Translation

43. Designing and Conceptualizing Content for PowerPoint Presentations and similar Open Source Presentations

44. Medical Transcription

45. Video Production

46. Flash Production

47. Video Editing

48. Sales and Offline Marketing

49. Telemarketing

50. Online or Internet Marketing

51. Customer Help Desk

52. Tour Guiding

53. Event Planning

54. Event Management

55. Speech Writing

56. Social Media Management

57. Computer Programming and Product Integration

58. Script Writing

59. Film Making

60. Film Reviewing

61. Music Composition

62. Accounting

63. Auditing (Finance and Quality)

64. Researching (Engineering, Mathematics, Science, Technology)

65. Training

66. Recruitment Advertising

67. Virtual Assistance

68. Data Encoding

69. Data Processing

70. Data Mining

71. Interior Designing

72. Gardening

73. Landscaping

74. Home Designing

75. Building Architectural Designing

76. Advertising

77. Open Innovation

78. Mobile Phone Programming

79. Cellular Phones Repairing

80. Game Design and Development

81. Games Installation

82. Operating System and Specialized Software Application

83. Social Media Optimization and Management

84. Search Engine Optimization and Inbound Marketing

85. Link Building

86. Software Architecture

87. Website Administration and Management

88. Finance and Loan Consulting

89. Legal Consulting

90. Business Consulting or Entrepreneurship Mentoring

91. Sports Coaching

92. Business Plan Making

93. Product Sourcing and Manufacturing and a lot more

94. E Commerce

95. Shopping Carts

96. Entertainment

97. Logistics and Product Sourcing

98. Toll Manufacturing and Packaging

99. Food Service Management, Canteen and Catering

100. Public Speaking and Hosting

101. Voice Talent Management, Broadcasting/ Radio Announcing

102. Health Care Management

103. Beauty Care

104. Hair Care

105. Janitorial Services

106. Manpower Services (Bartender, Waiter)

107. Medical Advice Services

108. Metal and Plastic Fabrication

109. Painting/ Repainting, Floor Coating

110. Waterproofing Services

111. Real Estate Development and a lot more…

The prospects and projects are countless. In the internet world, we can get projects and works from Freelancer.com’s website.

Why freelance, what are the benefits?

The client and the freelancer are both in a win-win scenario when they get into freelancing activity.

Essentially, freelancing is a planned action of the organization to focus on their core capabilities and transfer other processes or work to third party such as the freelancer. This aims to expedite work, to increase quality of the product or service and to save fund. In short, this will make the company become more productive and effective as an enterprise. At the same time, the receiver or the freelancer will gain income and experience, too.

Freelancers are paid commensurate to the services rendered to the client and to the negotiation process undertaken.

They can also earn money faster and more frequent than permanent or regular employees in a given period with the same kind of work. This is also dependent on freelancer’s competence, capability, marketing ability, connections and track record.

Flexibility in time or even time freedom to choose the work schedule made freelancing even more attractive to freelancers. They work at their own pace.

Freelancers can choose the place to work. It can be at home or a place conducive to them. It can even be more exciting and inspiring space or an “on the go” mood as it can be mobile too using the latest technology of Apple iPad or Samsung tablet.

Freelancing offers variety of works or projects. So, there’s no place for boredom. Having freelance works at hand, freelancers can earn more!

There could be times that perks may be offered specially for consultants, such as free travel and accommodation! Freelancing is available not only in your community or local market, but also nationally and internationally.

So, freelancing is a very satisfying experience as it gives the freelancer more agility to profit, has the option to work on his choice or market niche and perform at his own time and space.

How to become a freelancer?

There are several ways to freelance as there are also numerous websites regarding this matter. Just be mindful that there are genuine and bogus sites and so it is always necessary that we only negotiate to trusted sites. A newbie freelancer must choose a freelancing site which is known for integrity, reliability and if possible with huge clients’ base. It is no doubt to utilize the website of Freelancer Dot Com with its user-friendly interface.

Freelancer Dot Com is a site with reputation, experience and regarded as one of the top searched website as buzzed by influential world bloggers and SEO practitioners.

In http://www.freelancer.com, it is as easy as, A, B, C. The basic steps are:

A. Sign in

B. Bid

C. Get Hired

Freelancers can sign up for free in http://www.freelancer.com and can bid on the freelance works posted by the buyers or clients or companies.

The numbers of projects and the total amount is so huge and we can get the share of the market most specially if you have the knowledge, skills, talent and attitude.

So, what are you waiting for, let us travel the world of freelancing! This is your time to shine and get more income.

Just try it and who knows you will be surprise how this piece of information can get you going and in turn your time to share this post to all your friends. You may feel free to comment and tell us also your experience about your journey in the world of freelancing…

Continue learning and keep on coming back to our site as juicier and interesting information is in the offing!

Understanding the Cash Only Medical Practice Market

With today’s medical environment so reliant on complicated insurance company regulations and intricate billing procedures, many physicians are looking for niche medical practices that will allow them to maintain their income standards while decreasing their paperwork at the same time. One such niche is a cash only medical practice, which is basically a medical office that does not maintain contracts with insurance companies and instead requires patients to pay cash for medical services rendered. Ending your contracts with insurance companies and building a successful cash only medical practice will likely take some time, and many physicians decide that they need to have a gradual changeover rather than an overnight exchange from an insurance pay to cash pay medical practice. If a cash pay medical practice sounds like it may be the type of office you would like to run, it may be time for you to begin doing some market research to find out if your practice has the potential to be successful:

* What is the condition of your local market? Does your local community have a large number of uninsured or affluent patients? If you do run a medical practice in an affluent community, you may be able to establish a large panel of patients-even patients with insurance-that is willing to pay cash for high quality, efficient medical care. On the other hand, if your local community has a lot of middle or lower-income residents with HMO plans, which do not give any out-of-network benefits, you may find that you have difficulty building a cash-only practice.

* Would your current patients be willing to transition to a cash pay medical practice? It is a good idea to survey your current panel of patients to find out if they would be willing to continue using your medical services if you were to change to a cash only medical practice.

* Should you continue your contracts with the more lucrative insurance companies? Not all insurance companies negotiate unappealing prices with their contracting physicians, and not every insurance firm has unreasonable paperwork requirements. You may choose to work with two or three specific insurers, while asking that patients who do not use these companies pay cash for medical services. It is your medical practice, which means you can choose whom you contract with.

* Which medical services will you provide, and how much will you charge for them? Some physicians find that they are able to see fewer patients with a cash pay medical practice, and they also discover that they are able to focus on the particular medical services that they enjoy. Perhaps you decide to focus on acute medical care rather than chronic ailments, or maybe you will choose to perform fewer diagnostic tests. Whichever services you decide to offer your cash only patients, deciding how much to charge for them will take some research. Ask other physicians, particularly other cash only physicians, in your area how much they charge; there is nothing unethical about doing this as long as there is no discussion about setting collective rates. You may also want to take into account how much your cash pay medical practice will need to net in order for you to cover your overhead expenses.

Gardening Business – Developing Your Elevator Pitch and Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

There are two (2) concepts that you need to understand and embrace if you want to succeed in business. These concepts are your Elevator Pitch and your Unique Selling Proposition.

The Elevator Pitch is:

  1. a short and sweet summary of what you do and it is not really about trying to sell to someone. So instead of telling someone “I mow Lawns”, you might say “We turn our customers gardens into Landscape Showpieces”.
  2. a pitch for other people’s attention
  3. what you tell people if you were in an elevator and you only have 30 seconds (or 100 to 150 words) to impress them or to engage them
  4. a pitch for someone’s attention telling them what you do and hopefully they will be interested to ask you for more information. It is an introduction to what you do and in the process you create some intrigue and hopefully generate some enquiry from the listener

Your Unique Selling Proposition is:

  1. the reason (or the compelling Point Of Difference) your customers choose you over your competition
  2. the foundation of your advertising program – it is what you communicate to your market-place. It may be your slogan or tagline.
  3. the foundation of your professional image – Your image and brand are a result of devising your USP, and your image and brand is carried through to all your livery – clothing – uniforms, letterheads, business cards, magnetic stickers, motor vehicle signage, web sites, emails, flyers, brochures
  4. the first impression new customers and prospects have of you
  5. most probably more important to have than your Elevator Pitch

If you avoid or skip defining your own USP, you’ll struggle to grow your business.

Your Unique Selling Proposition is what you tell the market place through your Flyers, Leaflets, Website, Business cards, Brochures, Radio advertisements and so on. It helps to remind prospects and existing customers why you are different to your competitors. It is a summary of all the benefits (as opposed to all the features) you provide to your customers.

This Point of Difference (your USP) that you articulate may be something as insignificant as the location of your business, the way you carry out your service, or the speed of service delivery. So when you develop these concepts or slogans don’t say something like “We provide excellent service”, because anyone can say that. In other words there is NO point of difference here!!!

Famous examples of good Unique Selling Propositions include: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less – or it’s free.”

Domino’s Pizza:

FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”

DeBeers’: “Diamonds are forever”

You can see why the Domino’s & FedEx slogans are so effective because they are very specific with their mentions of benefits & guarantees. These slogans or taglines are complete statements which can be verified by the customer and they don’t resort to marketing hype words like “ultimate”, “best”, “greatest”.

The “Advertising Age” voted the DeBeers’ “Diamonds are forever” the best advertising slogan in the 20th century. Also, DeBeers would have benefited nicely from the glamorous James Bond film and book with the same name.

In summary, with both the Elevator Pitch and your Unique Selling Proposition, you are communicating to prospects and customers how you take Prospects with a Problem or Pain to another place where there is Pleasure.

Trademarks, Service Marks and Copyrights – How The Laws Have Changed As Of October 2010

When clients engage us to create a logo for their brand, we are often asked whether they need to register the logo as a trademark or service mark. While it is not a requirement, doing so provides broad-reaching legal protection for the use of the mark in commerce.

Whether a trademark attorney should handle the registration is another common concern. Our advice is that you may attempt to do the registration yourself for a maximum filing fee of approximately $375 but the involvement of an attorney who would conduct formal searches and submit acceptable proofs of use in the registration process may prove to be a wise decision when considering the liability, inconvenience, expense and negative outcome of conflicts of rights or flawed filings.

What is a trademark?

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), “a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” That means that logos, taglines and slogans may be eligible for trademark registration if they meet all qualifying parameters and are approved by the registrar.

What is a service mark?

The USPTO defines a service mark as “the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.” The terms “trademark” and “mark” are used equivalently to refer to both trademarks and service marks.

What is a copyright?

The United States Library of Congress’ Copyright Office, which is the registrar for copyrights, describes a copyright as “a form of protection provided to the authors of ‘original works of authorship’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished.” Protecting the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing, a copyright would only prevent others from copying the description. It would not prevent others from writing a description of their own.

When to use the superscript symbols: TM, SM and ®

Another question we are often asked to address involves when it is appropriate to use the superscript trademark, service mark or registered trademark symbols: TM, SM and ®. The use of the first two symbols is a way to formally claim eventual intent to register either the trademark or the service mark but such registration is never a requirement. Furthermore, if use of the trademark or service mark can be adequately shown with dates of use clearly evident, the inclusion of the superscript symbols TM or SM in conjunction with such usage is not a requirement as proof of ownership. The symbol ® can only be used after formal trademark registration has been completed and approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and doing so without approval would be noncompliant with federal law.

When to use the Copyright Notice

To protect your “original work of authorship,” it is recommended by the Library of Congress Copyright Office that a copyright notice be placed on copies of the work “to inform the world of copyright ownership that generally consists of the symbol or word ‘copyright,’ the name of the copyright owner, and the year of first publication, e.g., © 2008 John Doe. While use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now optional.”

What the Copyright Protects

It is important to note that documentation from the United States Copyright Office states that “a copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that a copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work.”

According to this office of the U.S. government, “your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created.” Such “work” now includes websites, but not domain names, which are registered and protected as such through The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit organization responsible for domain name system management and administration through accredited registrars.

Why Register a Copyright

Copyright registration is strictly voluntary but will be required in the event that you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement. It is helpful to have your certificate of registration a matter of public record, possibly making your work eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Proving copyright infringement requires skillful understanding, interpretation and defense of the frequently changing copyright laws which contain many gray areas of application and usually deter legal pursuit due to inordinate expense.

How to Register a Copyright:

If you choose to file online, registration of your copyright is $35 per work. If you file conventionally, the fee is $50 per work. You are not required to disclose your real name; pseudonyms are acceptable forms of identification. Also, it is advisable to keep in mind that your registration will become a matter of public record so you should be careful about disclosure of your private information. With more than 600,000 submissions received by the United States Copyright Office per year, the registration process can take up to six months if filed online, and up to two years or more if filed on paper. Fees are nonrefundable. You must also submit at least one nonreturnable electronic or hard copy of the work(s) you wish to register subject to an array of other requirements depending on the type of work, whether published and other variables. The length of this process should not impact your plans to publish either the copyright notice or the work itself. Only your need to file copyright infringement may be affected by the date of actual registration. For more information about this, go to http://www.copyright.gov.

How to Register a Trademark:

Before applying for trademark registration, a formal search of existing or pending trademarks is conducted in order to avoid conflict of rights. This can be done for free by the registrant or his attorney via the online federal TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) database as well as at selected public search facilities nationwide. In the event that the trademark is defined by a unique design, it will need to be searched with the use of a design code available within the government’s Design Search Code Manual. If a possible conflict is detected, it can be checked further by searching the federal TARR (Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval) database. In order to conduct this type of search, you will need the serial number or registration number of the conflicting mark.

If no conflict is revealed, the next step is to prepare a “drawing” of the mark you intend to register. There are two formats possible for mark registration: (1) standard character format; or (2) stylized/design format. The USPTO describes the first as a mark that includes “word(s), letter(s), number(s) or any combination thereof, without claim to any particular font style, size, or color, and absent any design element. Registration of a mark in the standard character format will provide broad rights, namely use in any manner of presentation.” The second format would seek to protect a mark having a particular stylized appearance, such as logos we design for our clients. In the past, such a drawing had to be submitted in black and white with a range of patterns to depict differentiation of tones used. Today, the drawing can be submitted in color with precise accompanying descriptions detailing where the colors are used. Such drawings must be consistent with proofs of actual use also required for submission in the application process. These proofs are referred to as “specimens.”

In the registration of a product trademark, as opposed to a service trademark (or service mark), an acceptable example or specimen must show the mark used on the actual goods or packaging for the goods. This includes a tag or label for the goods; a container for the goods; a display associated with the goods; or a photograph of the goods that shows use of the mark on the goods. Actual products are not acceptable examples in the registration process.

When seeking to register a service mark, the USPTO states that approved samples of use can include “a sign; a brochure about the services; an advertisement for the services; a business card or stationery showing the mark in connection with the services; or a photograph showing the mark as used in rendering or advertising the services.” However, it is specifically stated that if the mark does not include terms that describe what kind of service is offered, it would not be an acceptable specimen of use.

It is essential to file the trademark registration form and its required components of application properly to avoid ensuing problems and delays in the process. If filing electronically, an immediate reply with a serial number of the application should be expected. However, the entire process can take up to several years depending on what legal issues arise during the course of the examination of materials. Findings by a federal attorney citing conflict of previously registered or pending rights, or failure to qualify as a trademark are common reasons for delay. These may include use of a surname or determination that the mark is purely ornamental or even deceptive in its presentation. Such criticisms can be appealed but often are unsuccessful and tend to add further postponements and additional expense to the process if you have engaged an attorney to represent you.

If all obstacles are overcome and the mark is approved, the registration remains valid for a period of approximately five years at which time a subsequent Affidavit of Use must be filed, with a Renewal filing due prior to expiration at ten years. Should any of these deadlines be missed, there is a six-month grace period allowance for either filing with the payment of additional fees.

In any case, it seems that the major reason to pursue formal registration of a trademark, service mark or copyright is to provide tangible grounds for suit if unlawful infringement of rights becomes an issue. For some small businesses, the cost to prevail in such a lawsuit would probably be so prohibitive that the decision to bring a case forward would be ultimately discouraged, rendering the effort and expense to submit all trademark or copyright registrations an exercise in futility. Therefore, the value of such registrations is dependent on the circumstances affecting each individual case.

For further information from The United States Patent and Trademark Office, go to http://www.uspto.gov/

Mobile Marketing: Integrating Offline Marketing In Print Media

If you’re like me, then you must have heard or been a recipient of some form of mobile advertisement in one time or another. Despite its promising spiel for being the next big thing, not only in the smartphone revolution but, in the realm of marketing as well, it is not intended to independently cater to all of your marketing needs.

The objective of mobile marketing is not to interact with the consumer exclusively on their mobile phones alone, but to constantly engage with them.

Repetitive exposures to a stimulus would increase the likelihood of them being able to remember your advertisement. Research indicates that a majority of consumers have to come in contact with a brand at a minimum of eight times before they are cognitively mindful of it, and an additional two before they actually take the consideration to purchase it. This type of dynamic and regular engagement is termed participatory marketing. Any time mobile marketing is incorporated in on-and offline strategies, it may end up being participatory and become fully employed to produce a profound and enduring relationship.

The proper mobile marketing can certainly create that essential connection between your customers’ offline and online experience (e.g. online for browsing through your catalog and offline for the particular transaction). The cost of an item is the usual reason in the delay concerning research and purchase. An incorporated participatory marketing strategy creates an awareness of your brand that will most likely influence the consumer. And by increasing consumer awareness, you may be able to generate those sales to boost your quarterly net profit.

Using Print

One of the most significant and most economical mobile integration options is by using print. This is often as basic as motivating customers to view your website using a mobile phone or to send a code via SMS to sign up in a study or sweepstakes or to obtain customer details.

* Flyers

* Letterheads

* Banners

* Instructions

* Newspapers

* Business cards

* Catalogs

* Magazines

* Handouts

* Menus

* Tickets

* Manuals

Among the best approaches would be to use current print promotions in classified ads, newspapers, and magazines. With these, you can integrate a mobile initiative which is associated with the advertising campaign, directions for downloading featured mobile vouchers for consumer convenience (the customers will not have to cut one out of the paper), or marketing content material that promotes the advantages of your campaign and describes the way to get connected to current location-based ads.

Businesses may also integrate within a direct-mail campaigns. They are able to enable customers to enroll in mobile alerts whenever their monthly bill is due or when their membership status has been updated or changed. When they send merchandise to the customers, they could also let them send a text message to obtain the status of their delivery, or motivate them to subscribe for promotions or special discounts in connection with whatever they have purchased.

An additional way to integrate print in mobile marketing would be to include things like mobile directives to respond (call to action campaigns) or Quick response (QR) codes in your packaging or provisional service products, including disposable paper plates, utensils, cups, and napkins. Alternative paper resources, like envelopes, letterhead, banners, flyers, and business cards, could be employed to direct people to your own mobile website or even get them to text in a brief code to acquire a file format (Vcard), with significant contact details or to receive an open source calendar standard (Vcal), of your respective events.

Printing – What Kind Do I Need?

Have you ever asked the question, “What kind of printing do I need?” If so, then read on. There are so many different types of printers and methods of printing it can be difficult to know which is best suited to your particular job. An experienced and reliable printer will recommend the right printer for your project but just so you know what they are talking about below is a brief overview to help you on your way.

Large Format Printing – A large format printer specializes in printing really big banners, signs, posters or trade show panels (to name a few). Typically, these large items are printed using a roll of media and can be up to 200′ long by up to 60″ wide. Alternatively, rigid substrates can be laid on top of a flat bed printer such as glass, wood or cardboard and are printed direct to substrate.

Flat Bed Printing – fills the gap between offset printing and silk screening by providing a way to print directly onto rigid, flat or unevenly surfaced objects. The ability to print with white ink opens up a range of possibilities whether printing a spot color or laying down a base to print on. The full color image is applied all at once to the surface and once it exits the machine it is ready to be cut and packaged for shipping.

Great for point of purchase, store advertising, indoor & outdoor signage, trade show display panels, signs & special events graphics. Flat bed printing is excellent for long-run work and with jobs requiring variable data.

Digital Printing eliminates the use of film and plates. It sends a digital file directly from a computer to the press. Digital printing is relatively fast making it a convenient method during a time crunch and great for short printing runs.

Solvent Inks – UV Curable inks are great for printing on outdoor banners and signage.

Pigmented Inks – water based inks used for indoor printing applications such as trade show panels, banners, signage, canvas, paper & posters.

Ink Jet Printing – Method of printing by spraying droplets of ink through computer-controlled nozzles. This can also be called jet printing.

Dye Sublimation is a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye onto a medium such as fabric. The Ink is bonded to the substrate giving the appearance of a continuous tone photograph and resulting in vivid, bold colours.

Silk Screening – A printing method in which the image is transferred to a substrate by means of squeezing ink with a squeegee through a stenciled fabric or metal wire screen stretched over a frame. This can either be a manual or mechanical operation and allows for the application of ink on almost any material. It is excellent for short-run line work on clothing, mugs, billboards & signage.

Off Set Printing is the most common form of high-volume commercial printing. It uses a technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly from plate to paper and is the method of choice for printing newspapers.

Dot Matrix printers use a series of small pins to strike a ribbon coated with ink, causing the ink to transfer to the paper at the point of impact.

Inkjet printers use a series of nozzles to spray drops of ink directly on the paper.

Laser printers use dry ink (toner), static electricity, and heat to place and bond the ink onto the paper.

Substrate – Any surface or material on which printing is done.

Thermography is a process that produces a raised image. A special powder adheres to wet ink and when heat is applied the two fuse together to form a raised surface. This printing method is often used for stationery, business cards, letterhead, wedding invitations, etc.

Flexography is a printing process used for packaging products. Flexible rubber plates are utilized for printing on surfaces such as plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

Gravure printing is a high quality process using copper plates. This process is commonly used to print high quality, large volume materials such as magazines and catalogs.

How to Come Up With a Great Tagline Or Slogan

My clients are always asking how I can up with great slogans. The secret is very simple, have a clear idea of who your key market is and what they want. That’s the ground of being for your business, your reason for existing.

Do Your Homework

Once you know exactly who and how you serve them, the slogan almost writes itself. Remember I said almost, next you have to sit down and write about hundred slogans. Try not to judge or fix any of them as you are writing them down, just get as many written down as possible.

Walk Away

Wait at least 24 hours and look at them again (with fresh eyes). Now, pick out the ones that really sound good. The ones that convey the main benefit of using your product or service. And also the extra quality I call rhythm (it sounds good to the ear). Most good slogans are very short, because you want to quickly get the readers attention. And its easier to remember when its very short.

The Art Is In The Details

At this point I’ll settle on about half a dozen slogans to start improving on. Improving a slogan involves fine tuning it, adding a word or even a letter here and there. Or you may need to subtract a word or a letter. Remember a good slogan can help you get a great deal of customers so take some time developing it.

Logo VS Slogan

Your logo, in my opinion is not as important as the slogan. A picture is not worth a thousand words. People will remember and act on a good slogan, but a logo takes time to really make an impression. But I see so many businesses who have nice logos without slogans.

Test, Test, Test

The next step is to take your new slogan out for a ride, show it to a few people and get some feedback. Compare it to the competition and get a feel for how the market will react to it. After doing all this work on it you’ll know when you’ve hit on the right slogan, something just clicks.

Creating a good slogan is hard work, but it’s also fun. A good slogan can last for decades and help make a business very successful. Just remember to use it everywhere, on your logo, website, letterhead and business cards.

The Importance of Office Stationery

There are several key aspects that remain standard to almost every office, no matter what type of business is conducted in that office. Most offices will have chairs, tables, computers, coffee makers, printers, copy machines, and telephones. They will also have keyboards, bathrooms, windows, and possibly a place to eat. These are all things easy to identify. Another set of objects that would be easily forgotten are sets of office stationary. Office stationary is key and integral to most all offices, but is likely to be forgotten because it is taken for granted.

Office stationary plays a huge role in office settings. Without office stationary, it would most likely be impossible to conduct business without any degree of frustration. This would be like a basketball player going to practice basketball with no basketball or shoes. Due to the huge role that office supplies and stationary take, someone in the office is usually responsible for the ordering of all office supplies and stationary. If someone in the office is not responsible, there is generally a company that contracts with the office to make sure it is completely stocked.

Office supplies and stationary include paper, letterhead, pens, pencils, markers, pre-printed envelopes, stamps, staplers, erasers, and all the other essentials that you would need. While the electronic age has really taken hold of today’s society, most business transactions still require office stationary to some degree. This office stationary is key, especially if it looks very professional and planned. No one wants to see an invoice coming from a company with a sloppy or outdated letterhead. People want crisp, clean, and non cluttered items on a piece of paper that are easily readable. This is why proper office stationary is so hugely important. It may seem like such a small piece of the puzzle, but it can have extreme effects on the business satisfaction of the clients.

In closing, if you do not have a good supply of office stationary, it would be wise to look into getting more. Along these same lines, it is important that you find the best value for money. Often-times stationary stores are a business with a sole purpose of making the most money they can from you. This is why it is often a great idea to find multiple quotes on what you are wanting. Also, the degree of flexibility and innovation that stationary companies have is key. You want a company that can give you a cutting edge with modern ideas and formats.

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