The secret to keeping your business on your customer’s mind is to keep your brand constantly under their nose. Unlike a newspaper ad, which is tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapper, you need to put your brand on items that your customer is likely to use repeatedly or keep in their immediate vicinity.

Business cards

Your business card is the best example of this. If it is eye-catching (has a clever shape or unusual feature), functional in some way (e.g. has a calendar on it) or is personalised (has a hand-written message on it, such as an exclusive offer), your customer is more likely to keep it in their wallet, rather than throwing it out with all the other business cards they receive.

Greeting cards

These can be seasonal, such as Christmas or personal (knowing your customer’s birthday is always good information to have). While they will probably only get read once, they are sure to spend time on the mantelpiece or sideboard during the period of celebration and if your logo is prominently displayed on them (without being too commercial), this is free advertising within your customer’s inner sanctum, which is worth its weight in gold.

Promotional items

Things such as mugs, coasters and key rings are items that could conceivably be used every day, if they were to be adopted by your customer in place of whatever they currently use. This will only happen if the item is particularly attractive, comical, useful or unique in some way. Promotional items don’t just need to be functional, they also need to fulfil some other need, such as making your customer smile, or feel wistful or important or proud. Your logo on the promotional item will then be associated with this feeling.

Clothing

Getting your customer to wear your brand is the ultimate in personal-space advertising. Tee shirts and caps are mobile billboards, something that is not lost on major brands, who queue up to rent space on the clothing of celebrities and sports stars. Another good way to get your name under people’s noses and into their psyches is to sponsor a local sports team. This splashes your logo all over the local scene and also gives you lots of brownie points for investing in your community.

Brochures

While brochures don’t normally make it as far as the inner sanctum, if your customer is toying with the idea of a purchase or comparing products and prices, a brochure can make it as far as the kitchen sideboard or even onto the study desk and have a fairly long shelf-life there. Unlike a flyer, which advertises a single offer or event, a brochure is a more thoughtful presentation of all that your company has to offer and it can be kept by a customer for some time and read more than once, if considered useful to them.

The ultimate aim of advertising is to get your brand inside your customer’s head (and heart) and branding that achieves this by living with your customer on a daily basis is some of the most effective advertising there is.

Keeping Your Business on Your Customer’s Mind is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Your business card is the most powerful and cost-effective networking tool you have. The secret is knowing when, where and how to use it to your advantage.

When to use your business card

The short answer to this is whenever you possibly can. If someone asks you what you do for a living, give them your business card. If they ask you for directions, write them on the back of your business card. If they ask you for a dollar to buy a cup of coffee, give it to them, along with your business card. There is no wrong moment to offer your business card (except perhaps at a funeral or on a hot date). The more cards you can get into circulation with your name and contact details on them, the better your call-back rate will be.

Where to use your business card

The most relevant place to offer your card is at a convention, trade show or expo, where your potential customers are all in one place. If you have a booth, hand out cards like there’s no tomorrow. Give them to your opposition as well (you never know, they may need a job one day). Give your business card to those making general enquiries. Give it to potential customers, new customers, existing customers and ex-customers. Use it wherever an opportunity presents itself and don’t worry about the expense, because, compared to the cost of other forms of advertising, your business card will pay for itself a hundred times over.

How to use your business card

Just as important as where and when you use it, the way you use your business card can make a big difference as well.

• ·    Always have it in your top pocket or the front flap of your purse (you should be able to present it in under five seconds)
•     Keep spare copies in your glove box (you should never find yourself without a business card)
•     Always re-order your business cards before you run out, not after.
•     Keep your networking partners supplied with your cards, as they can’t recommend you if they don’t have your details.
•     Put your cards on bulletin boards in shopping centres and leave a stack with non-competing businesses in your industry who are happy to promote you.
•     Provide a card holder in situations where a vendor has agreed to display your cards on their counter.
•     If your neighbourhood has a large immigrant population, have your cards printed double-sided, with English on one side and the second language on the other.
•     One way to increase the likelihood that your card will be kept by the recipient is to hand-write something on the back beforehand, such as a discount offer or your personal mobile number.
•     However, don’t use this practice if your contact details change, as hand-written alterations on a business card are just plain tacky. Get new cards printed as soon as possible if this happens.
•     Another way to increase your card’s retention rate is to make it useful. Print something handy on the back, like a calendar or a tide chart, or better still, a discount coupon.

Becoming a Better Networker is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

For any group, event or business to be successful, it is important that they have an effective way of promoting themselves, and while there are all sorts of high-tech forms of marketing these days, some of the most effective mediums are old-school promotional materials. The following are a few helpful tips for ensuring your promotional materials have the best chance of being effective.

They have to stand out

For your promotional materials to be any chance of being effective, it is absolutely crucial that they stand out from the sea of others out there, and one of the best ways to do this is by making use of colour for your leaflet, flyer or poster printing. You should also try to use a style for promotional materials that are nothing like that of your competitors. Don’t be afraid to try something different, because being creative will often help to turn a few heads.

Keep them simple

While it is smart for your promotional materials to embrace a creative style and look a little different, make sure anyone who takes the time to read them will be able to easily understand who you are, what you do and whatever message it is you are trying to get across. Keep your message simple, try not to include too much information, and use language that the majority of people will understand, because this is the only way your promotional efforts are any chance of being effective.

Offer a discount

Even if your promotional materials look good and have a simple message that is easy to understand, most people will need something more to entice them into giving your business a try, and one of the best ways to encourage someone to become a new customer is by offering some sort of discount with your promotional materials. Your discount will need to be something significant enough to catch people’s attention, so don’t be cheap if you hope to get a few new customers from your promotional efforts.

Contact details are crucial

For your promotional materials to be any chance of being effective it is vital that they include all of your relevant business contact information, such as your phone number, address and especially your website details. Your website details are particularly important, because apart from being a great place for potential customers to find out more information about your business, a good website can also make it easy for people to make purchases from you online.

Whether you are investing in flyer, poster or booklet printing, before you give the order for printing to commence, first make sure all those important details are clearly listed on everything.

Connect your efforts

Using a diverse range of marketing efforts is one of the best ways to promote your business to as wide an audience as possible, and if you want your promotional materials to be effective, it is important that you do a good job of connecting them to your other marketing efforts. Regardless of whether you use flyers, posters or business cards to promote your business, make sure they are of the same style, colour scheme and mood as any of your other more modern marketing efforts.

Know where to distribute them

The only way your promotional materials will be any chance of being effective is if you are distributing them in the right places, so make sure you know where your target audience is most likely to be found and that you are distributing the majority of your promotional materials there.

How to Make Effective Promotional Materials is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

One of the most important things you need to do to market your business is to find creative ways to get attention, and a fantastic way to turn a few heads at those important occasions is to come armed with business cards designed specifically for the event. The following are some of the big considerations when it comes to creating business cards designed to suit specific events.

Why?

Show your style

Creating event-specific business cards is a wonderful way to show your business’s style, which is particularly important if you are in one of the more creative industries, or even if your business is the one putting on the event. Having a business card of a different style to your regular one can be a great way to show your business is more than one dimensional, which can be an extremely effective way of providing a boost to your brand.

Tap into the hype

Some events have so much hype surrounding them that all you need to do is jump on board to score your business a huge amount of attention, and having an event-specific business card can be a simple and effective way to tap into the hype. Whether you are looking to promote your business at a seasonal event such as Christmas or Halloween or at an annual sporting event like the AFL Grand Final, show that your business is excited about the event with a business card designed to suit.

How?

Match the style of the event

If you are going to go to all the trouble of creating an event-specific business card, you need to make it extremely obvious that you have done so, and the best way of doing this is to try and match the style of your card to the event. There will often be a colour scheme for most events, so start by using the same colours for your business card printing. Whether the event has a humorous, casual or professional vibe, your cards need to match the mood and style of the event to be effective.

Keep cards for annual events

Instead of investing in new cards for the same event every year, save any of those cards you have left over to use again at next year’s version of that annual event, especially if you are happy with the way they look. While you may want to change up your event specific cards for those annual events every once in awhile, going with the same cards for a few years in a row can mean you are able to invest in higher-quality business card printing services when you do have new cards made up.

When?

Target the biggest events

Making specific business cards for every single event will get extremely expensive, so if you want to have special cards made up, stick to the biggest events, because there will be more hype and more people, meaning you get better value for your efforts. Rather than waste your time and effort on specific business cards for every little event, save your energy and resources and target the big events instead.

Creating Event Specific Business Cards is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

When it comes to business, image really is everything, so if your business image has suffered for some reason, it is vital that you do whatever you can to rectify the situation, and as soon as possible. The following is a look at some of the things you can do to repair your business image.

Get advice

If your business has developed a poor image for whatever reason it can be hard to know how to bounce back, and you need to be careful not to make the situation worse, so the first thing you should do is get some professional advice. Making the wrong move when you already have image problems can prove fatal to your business, so rather than potentially dig your own grave, get some advice and find the best way to move forward.

Acknowledge the problem

If your business image has suffered due to a high-profile incident or indiscretion, the first step towards repairing your reputation is to acknowledge whatever has happened. The longer you deny that there is a problem or attempt to ignore the situation, the harder it will be for people to have faith in your business and brand again, so acknowledge whatever the issue has been so you can start to finally move forward.

Change how you do things

If a problem at your business has grown large enough that it has started to hurt your image and reputation, it is vital that you take action as soon as possible and make changes to ensure the same problems can never happen again. You will inspire confidence and help repair your business image a lot faster if it is clear you are taking any problems seriously; however, be sure to carefully consider any changes rather than making poorly considered, panic-driven decisions.

Change the way you look

Once you have made the changes you need in order to prevent a repeat of the image crisis, it is a smart idea to let everybody know things have changed, and there is no better way to do so than by changing your look. Whether you change the company name or just the logo, your fresh new look is bound to catch some attention, and it will be the perfect excuse to try something new. You may need to your various promotional materials remade, but the investment in flyer printing, business card printing and so on will be worth it, as it will do wonders for repairing your image.

The long-term success of your business will rely a lot on its image, and while it is natural for every business to have its ups and downs, it is the way you are seen to handle them that will determine success or failure. If your business has had a few things go wrong image-wise lately, take the situation seriously, and find solutions that represent real change, rather than just a quick fix.

Repairing Your Business Image is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Trade shows can be fantastic for getting some exposure for your business, and one of the most important things you should be trying to do at a trade show is ensure your business logo is displayed prominently. The following is a look at some of the best ways to make sure your logo is well and truly seen at your next trade show.

Make a banner

A fantastic way to have your business logo stand out at a trade show is by investing in a large banner. Unless you happen to be a talented artist yourself, pay professional banner makers or large poster printing services to make up your banner for you, and make sure it is large enough that you can clearly decipher your logo. Above all else, make sure it looks amazing, because anything other than an awesome banner can risk making your business look ridiculous.

Your business cards are crucial

Your business cards are one of your most powerful weapons at a trade show, because apart from helping provide would-be customers with your contact information, your business cards can also promote your business brand and logo. Your business cards will need to be something special in order for them to stand out, so whether you have yours made up in full colour or with holograms on them, be sure to invest in quality business card printing services.

Get a gobo

The key to success at any trade show is finding a way to stand out, and you are guaranteed to do so if you turn up with your own gobo. A gobo is essentially just a stencil that can be used on a light source, allowing you to create a silhouette of any shape or design you like, including your business logo. You are guaranteed to impress at any trade show with a gobo logo, and the attention will create a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of your business.

Posters and leaflets

Trade shows can often be very busy places where it is difficult to spend much quality time with many people, making your printed materials more important than ever. Considering that a lot of people will just grab your printed information and run, it is essential that those posters, leaflets and flyers look good, and that you have your logo featured prominently on all of them. In many cases a poster or flyer will be the sole representative of your business to a potential customer, so make sure your printed literature leaves people impressed with your business.

Promotional gifts

Offering free promotional items is a great way to get your business some positive attention at a trade show, but only if you are giving out quality items — otherwise, you risk associating your business with low quality. If you have invested in quality items, make sure you have your business logo displayed prominently on each of them, because it is amazing how far and wide these items can end up being spread.

Location-based apps

A great way to stand out at your next trade show is by using location-based apps, as they can help you reach out to potential customers without having to personally engage each and every one. By embracing such a modern communication method and having your business logo turning up on mobile devices throughout the trade show venue, you are sure to create a buzz around your brand.

Making Your Logo Prominent at a Trade Show is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Having a flyer made up can be a fantastic way to promote an event, a business or even a service in the community, but for your flyer to have the best possible impact, it is vital that it is thoroughly edited prior to production. The following is a quick look at how to edit your flyer before sending it off for printing.

Take your time

For your flyer to be properly edited, it is important that you allow plenty of time for the process, because it will take more than a quick read-over to ensure everything is perfect. When you are planning out your timeline for your flyer creation and production, allow lots of time for a thorough and comprehensive edit. Ideally, you should allow at least a full day between finishing the flyer and editing it, as this will allow you to conduct your edit with fresh eyes.

Read your flyer out loud

A great way to tell just how much sense your flyer makes when you are editing it is to read it out loud, as this will often show up elements that aren’t quite 100 per cent clear. If you have someone willing to listen and ask questions, all the better, but at the very least make sure it makes sense to you when you are reading it aloud.

Focus on simple language

Unless you are targeting a very specific audience with your flyer it should be written in relatively simple language, as this way more people will be able to understand it. When you are editing, it is wise to focus on keeping things simple. Avoid using confusing terms or slang that few will be familiar with, and focus on language that can be understood across generations. If you will be distributing your flyers in a multilingual community, consider producing them in more than one language.

Get a second opinion on your flyer

Regardless of how much experience you may have as an editor, it is always a good idea to get a second opinion, so have someone else read over your flyer before you send it off to your flyer printing services. If your flyer is targeting a particular segment of the population — for example, seniors or immigrants — have someone from this group look at your flyer for you, as this may prevent you from making any embarrassing mistakes or offending anyone.

Edit your flyer for style

Once you are sure that all of your important information has been included and edited, edit your flyer for style, because unless it looks good, you will struggle to get very many people to actually read it. You should avoid having a flyer that is too text heavy, and if possible, include an image or two, because photos or graphics will help explain whatever it is you are talking about. If you have the budget for it, investing in colour flyer printing can also be a good idea, as it will often mean your flyers look more stylish and have a far greater impact.

Get a professional to do it

The best way to be sure your flyer is thoroughly edited is to have professionals edit it for you, because by investing in professional editing services all of your hard work on the flyer will end up looking its absolute best.

How to Edit Your Flyer Before Printing is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Among the most important tools any business has are its business cards, so if you are looking to make a good impression it is vital you have a card that stands out for all the right reasons. If you are creating your first business card, it is crucial that it makes an impact, as the right card can get you some immediate positive attention; or, if you have a card already but it is uninspiring at best, update it, because it may be doing more to hurt rather than help your business. The following is a brief look at how to create a dazzling business card.

Try a different-shaped business card

For your business card to dazzle you may need to be prepared to try something new, and if your card is something other than the standard rectangular shape you are sure to catch a little extra attention. Odd shaped cards may be a little more difficult to print and therefore cost a little more money, but these days professional business card printing services can take care of this tricky job for you, and the impact of your card will make your investment well worthwhile.

Get bright

Using colours that are bright and bold is a fantastic way to dazzle, and with neon colours making a big comeback in fashion circles of late, bright business cards are sure to hit the right note if you use those colours well. Whether you use a splash of neon on your card or cover it with glitter, using bright colours on your business cards will help them stand out among the sea of black and white others.

Use the texture

While the look of a business card can get you some attention, the feel can really drive home the impact, so rather than choose plain paper for your business card, invest in quality business card paper that has at least a slightly different texture. It may cost a little more for the paper as well as for your business card printing, but the impact your textured cards will have will make your investment well worth it.

Go high-tech

A great way to get more dazzle out of your business cards is to have a Quick Response (QR) code added to them, as this way anyone with an iPhone or Android phone can simply scan your card to be directed to your website. This handy high-tech feature is sure to have far more people checking you out online, and if your site looks good and is user friendly, the higher traffic will likely mean an increase in online sales as well.

Change your card seasonally

A marvellous way to use your business cards to dazzle is to create seasonal versions of them, as this can be a great way to get creative and have fun with your promotional materials while also showing everyone how on the ball you are. Getting into the spirit of the season always makes a business look good, and while it will cost you a little more money to make multiple versions of your card, once you have a card for each season you can likely get a few years’ use out of them.

Creating a Dazzling Business Card is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

These days it is becoming increasingly common for businesses to team up on their initiatives, projects and even core aspects of their business operations. It seems that by taking this more collective and collaborative approach to everything from security to brochure printing services, it has made it significantly easier for businesses involved in such joint ventures to thrive. The following is a brief look at the growing trend of businesses teaming up.

Save money — printing, venue rental and more

One of the biggest advantages of teaming up with other businesses is that you can split the costs of your various efforts, making it significantly cheaper to do everything from rent a venue to have your flyer printing done. You will also have a far greater pool of labour to draw upon, as well as more tools and equipment at your disposal, meaning you will be able to pull off projects and events together that would be beyond your ability to do alone.

Expand your customer base

By teaming up with other businesses on joint projects, you will each gain some exposure to new groups of people, as each business will have its own following of fans and customers it can bring along. This will provide some valuable exposure for each business to some fresh faces and potential customers, the majority of whom it likely would not have encountered before. Never underestimate where your next wave of customers may come from; by teaming up with a few other businesses, you may suddenly find you are getting exposure to totally new markets.

Credibility by association

It can be hard to break into a new market as a new business — especially if you are not someone from the local area — but a smart way to make the process a whole lot smoother and easier on yourself is by teaming up with other businesses. Businesses that are well known and respected already have a lot of influence in a community, and so having the right businesses agree to team up with you on a project can help get you some credibility simply through being associated with them.

Learn from each other

One of the biggest bonuses of teaming up with other businesses is that it offers a fantastic opportunity for you to learn from each other. Whether you hold formal workshops or simply create ways for your workers to be in closer communication, it is amazing what you can learn by teaming up with another business, even if it is only on a small project.

Keep security in mind

When teaming up with other businesses, it is a good idea to have clear parameters on what each business will contribute to the partnership, and who will have access to what — otherwise, you may be leaving your business vulnerable.

Teaming up with other businesses can be a fantastic way to boost productivity for everyone concerned, but only if each business is playing an active role in making it a worthwhile partnership. Choose your business partners carefully when looking to team up, because you want to make each other stronger, rather than have one business dragging the other one down.

Teaming Up with Other Businesses is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

To succeed in business it is crucial that you make all the right moves and take every half chance. When a new season rolls around, it is important that you look at it as the huge opportunity it is, and that you are kicking your promotional efforts into high gear. The following is a brief look at some of the big things to consider when it comes to creating seasonal promotional materials, and how to make sure yours are working well for you.

Be ready with promotional material early

If you are going to invest time, energy and money into seasonal promotional materials, you may as well get your money’s worth, so plan to be organised and ready with those seasonal items from the first day of the season. Especially if you are planning on using professional brochure printing services, chances are good that they will be extremely busy during this time, so you will want to get those brochures, leaflets or posters made up sooner rather than later.

Invest in quality

Any time you are going to spend money on promotional materials, it is important that you invest in quality, because remember that these items are effectively representing your business. Keep this in mind when you are having your seasonal promotional leaflets, posters, brochures or business card printing done, because if they are low quality, they will make your business look low quality too.

Save it

Whether you create seasonal promotional materials for a small business or for yourself, if this is something you do annually, make sure that you keep all of your copies and materials each year. Having last year’s version can be a useful guide when you are trying to come up with something for the same season this year, and having kept all those supplies, it shouldn’t be hard to whip up something decent quite quickly.

Be creative

If you are planning on having seasonal promotional materials made up, you are certainly not going to be the only one doing it, so if you want your materials to be any chance of standing out among the sea of others, you are going to need to get creative. Whether you play around with the shape, colour, style or format of your materials, make sure you do something different. However, if your seasonal promotions are related to a religious holiday, such as Easter, be careful with how creative you get, because you won’t want to offend anyone.

It’s a great way to connect

There is no better way to appeal to your customers and the wider community than by getting into the spirit of the season, regardless of whether it is Christmas, Ramadan or footy finals season. This is a fantastic way to show that your business is about more than just money. Consider offering some sort of discount voucher with your seasonal promotional material to help add to the celebrations, and the boost your business gets to its public image is guaranteed to far overshadow any costs involved.

Creating Seasonal Promotional Material is a post from: Dark Horse Articles