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Small in size, big in results.
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Good to Great Customers
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Not Your Grandmother’s Luncheon Meat
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Size Matters
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Idea of the Week |
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Tips for Unleashing the Amazing Sales and Marketing Power of Business Cards
Business cards may be small, but their impact is huge. A business card plays an important part in making a lasting impression upon those you do business with.
When choosing a business card, don’t be cheap. (If you’re on a limited budget, try to save elsewhere.) Experienced sales reps know how important it is to make a good impression on their prospects. They buy nice clothes, drive nice cars, and wine and dine prospects and clients - only to give them a 5¢ business card?!? Why not consider a 10¢, 15¢, or 20¢ business card that would really wow a customer and add to the overall good impression? - Feature your company name prominently, with your name and title smaller. Using your company logo is important, because it will help people associate your name with the product you are selling.
- Don’t take up too much space listing all the ways you can be contacted. It’s best to list your phone, fax, and email address. Personal cell phone numbers and beeper numbers should be given to the client verbally, when necessary.
- Full-color printing can add a dramatic impact to the look of your business card. If your budget doesn’t support full color, there are a lot of creative possibilities using two colors of ink combined with a third color of paper.
- Don’t overlook the backside of your business card. It is a great place to add more sales and marketing information, your mission statement, a map and location, or photos of your products.
- It’s worth the time! Business cards are one of the most important tools for business today. The time and effort you spend creating and printing excellent business cards will pay future dividends.
See more great ideas like this!
Click here to visit the Phillips Printing Ideas Collection.
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Marketing Tip |
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Spend Your Marketing Dollars Wisely
If you think you should spend the majority of your marketing dollars on the top 20 percent of your best customers, you may want to reconsider. Why? Because your top customers already like doing business with you and are happy with your products and services. This doesn't mean you should ignore your top customers by any means, but instead of offering steep discounts to customers who may be temporarily maxed out on your products or services, you should focus on ways to retain them as happy customers.
Since top customers can represent up to 80 percent of your revenue, many companies benefit from refocusing a portion of marketing promotions on customer retention.
Here are a few ideas on how to retain happy customers by staying in contact at least six times a year:
- send them a hand-written thank-you note
- provide free industry reports and white papers
- subscribe customers to your company newsletter
- offer free surveys about your customers' markets
- give gift cards to show your appreciation
- offer interesting news items or stories related to their business
Marketing dollars are most effective when concentrated on your middle-ground customers who have the potential to become top customers. Marketing efforts should focus on building trust, credibility, and a desire for your products and services. You can do this through a membership or frequent purchase program, discount incentives, up-selling and cross-selling of products and services, free extended warranties with purchase, buy a product and receive a free accessory item, etc.
If you're looking for ideas on marketing materials that increase sales and relay the quality of your products and services, look no further! Our creative team has endless ideas and printed samples that are sure to spark your interest. Together we will create promotional pieces that are sure to wow your customers and prospects alike.
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Tech Tips |
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Prevent Spam in Your E-mail Inbox
What four-letter word do internet users hate the most? Spam. Everyone is annoyed by unsolicited e-mail messages promoting miracle diets, get rich quick schemes, amazing beauty products, and more. Believe it or not, your behavior has likely played a big role in determining who has access to your e-mail address, including spammers. Here are a few ways to reduce the amount of spam attacking your inbox:- Preview your messages before you open them. If you can tell that the message is spam simply from the subject line, don't open it – simply delete it. Many e-mail accounts allow you to use a preview mode to peek at the contents of a message before actually opening it. In Outlook, go to View>Preview Pane. Click the message just once to view the message in your preview pane without opening it.
- Never respond to spam messages. If you reply or even click the "unsubscribe" link, it informs your spammer that you read your mail and your address is valid. As a result, you may receive even more junk mail.
- Don't click links in a spam e-mail. Spammers can often identify that you (and only you) clicked their link because of multiple unique pages on their sites.
- Don't forward e-mails from someone you don't know to a list of people in your address book. Spammers love to harvest e-mail addresses from the "forward this to 20 of your friends" e-mail messages, even when the sender of the original e-mail didn't intend for this to happen.
- Opt out. If you register your e-mail at a web site that sends out commercial messages, they should give you a choice whether you want to receive e-mail from the site or its third party partners. Always check the NO box.
- Protect your e-mail address. Reserve a private e-mail address that is given out only to friends, family, etc. Create a separate e-mail address to request more information, post on discussion groups, web sites, blogs, chat rooms, or anything else that is posted on the web.
- Never use e-mail addresses as your screen name. This makes it very easy for web crawlers to find your address.
- Use spam filters. Many e-mail programs have built-in tools to block messages sent from certain e-mail addresses or filter messages based on keywords you define. In Outlook, click on Actions>Junk E-mail>Add Sender to Blocked Senders List.
- Remove your e-mail address from directories. To prevent your e-mail address from being harvested from people finder services such as Yahoo! People Search and other directories that are goldmines for spammers, ask them to remove your name from their directory. Or update your address using your "public" e-mail address instead of your "private" friends/family account.
If you're looking for creative ways to reach your target audience without annoying them via spam messages, stop by today! Our team can help you develop marketing ideas that your prospects and clients are sure to love.
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Uncommon Product |
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Uniquely Sized Flyers Stand Apart From the Competition
Flyers are a popular means of marketing for many companies. They are often mailed to prospects, given out with purchases, used during sales pitches, created as leave-behinds, etc. Given their popularity, prospects are often bombarded with them. Here are a few tips on how to ensure your next order of flyers stands apart from the competition.
Over-sized brochures and flyers get noticed first, get picked up more, and get read longer, also increasing their return on investment over their standard-sized counterparts. Standard flyers are often 8.5"x11", but an 8.5"x14" or 11"x17" flyer will stand out in a sea of competition and will be hard for your prospects to ignore.
Flyers can also have impact at smaller, unique sizes, such as small cards that fit in your shirt pocket or wallet, or narrow flyers that can be used as bookmarks, etc. Other odd sizes like 10"x5" can also draw attention and ensure your flyers receive the attention they deserve.
Want to create a flyer with a lasting impression? Create a perforated tear-away with your contact information, coupon, or special offer. Want prospects to keep it? Attach a magnet so it can easily be attached to a fridge, filing cabinet, etc.
If you'd like help brainstorming more ideas on how to ensure your promotional flyers get noticed and increase your sales, stop by today. Our team of design experts would love to help you create marketing materials that will leave your competition in the dust.
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