Top Tips for Increasing Awareness About Your Products

• Consider creative marketing avenues you haven't tried before. These may include table tents, lumpy direct mailers, door hangers, event flyers, bag inserts, statement stuffers, social media posts, chat forums, industry publications, tradeshows, and more. Test your marketing results via coupon codes and targeted promotions.

• Create a regular product spotlight postcard campaign that highlights various products or services you offer.

• Create a customer referral program that encourages loyal customers to spread the word about your business and do the selling for you.

• Showcase happy customers who are using your product. Consider testimonial stories or brief customer quotes.

• Team your marketing efforts with an established business that complements your offerings. Offer discounted promotions when purchasing both.

• Create a goodwill marketing plan to increase name recognition and drive business while also giving back to your community. For example, you might sponsor a local charity event or donate a portion of your profits to a charity (e.g., "10 percent of all sales in June will be donated to XYZ charity").

• Provide a risk-free trial offer and satisfaction guarantee to take the worry out of trying a new product.

• Utilize social media by creating a company LinkedIn and Facebook page, and build your audience through employee connections.

• Differentiate yourself from the competition by offering value add-ons, educating customers about industry trends, providing helpful tips, or simply having a live person answer your phones instead of a confusing, automated system.

• Build your customer base by offering exclusive first time customer promotions.

• Learn from others. Collect examples of marketing materials or creative ideas that caught your attention, and combine some of your favorite features into customized ideas for your business.

If you need help creating the perfect marketing materials that are sure to get noticed and remembered, give us a call today!

Posted by Chuck Gherman

To contact Chuck Gherman for more information about how Printing Arts Press helps organizations with marketing their needs through print communications please visit www.printingartspress.com

All Brochures are NOT Created Equal

When it comes to marketing your business, professionally printed brochures are a great way to build credibility, while also telling your story. Here are a few tips to help you create successful, sales building brochures:

Focus on your audience and their needs. List benefits your customers will receive by choosing your product.

• Design an appealing cover that motivates readers to look inside. Include product benefits, a thought provoking statement, industry tips, and other items your customers will find valuable.

• Keep it brief. Since brochures have limited space, provide a brief summary of your information, along with links for interested readers to go online and learn more.

• Provide clear headlines that make it easy to find information, along with high-quality imagery that supplements your messaging.

• Consider a creatively shaped or unusually sized brochure to grab attention.

• Include information that encourages the ready to keep your brochure. This may include how-to information, tips and tricks, sales calendars, and more.

• Consider providing a Q&A section to answer questions you think your readers may have when learning about your products or services.

• If your brochure is lengthy (8 pages or more), consider creating a table of contents to pique reader interest and make information easier to find.

• Include a call to action, so readers know how to respond. An 800 number, reply card, website landing page, or email address are all good examples to try.

If you need help creating an effective brochure, give us a call today. We have many samples and creative design ideas your customers will be sure to love. Our creative experts would love to help.


Posted by Chuck Gherman

To contact Chuck Gherman for more information about how Printing Arts Press helps organizations with brochures or other print communications please visit www.printingartspress.com

Advice From Mr. Feeny: How The 'Boy Meets World' Mentor Can Help Transform Your Business

One of most beloved sitcoms of the 1990s, Boy Meets World was a coming-of-age show about suburban kids, Cory; his best friend, Shawn; his girlfriend and future wife, Topanga; and his brother, Eric. Throughout the show, the characters faced difficulties, important life decisions, and sometimes struggled to make sense of the world around them.

Like all teenagers and young adults, they looked for people they could confide in, who would help them make the right decision and correct their path when they didn't make the best choices. The characters found this in Mr. Feeny, a school teacher who also happened to be Cory's neighbor. In becoming their mentor, Mr. Feeny also had a profound effect on many people who tuned into the show each week.

Although most of the people who once spent their evenings engrossed in episodes and reruns of Boy Meets World are now seasoned adults, experienced in the business world, the life lessons Mr. Feeny taught an entire generation are far from forgotten. Here are just a few quotes from the popular teacher that sum up his wisdom.

Life and Business Lessons from Mr. Feeny

"Sometimes a sure thing is not the best thing."

In business, it can be very tempting to take the easy road: to keep running the exact same marketing campaigns and contacting the same people, knowing you'll get at least a certain amount of response. This is taking the easy way out. To be successful, however, you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Keep what works, but expand and be willing to venture off the beaten path and find new ways to grow.

"You don't have to be blood to be family."

Being successful in business and in life is all about building relationships. Relationships should be built on mutual trust and knowing that a friend will always be there for you, just as you will be there for them. Maintaining close bonds with people encourages us to grow as individuals and can help us succeed in the business world. No one can succeed entirely on their own. Instead, they must work to nurture relationships and develop connections with others within their industry.

"Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good."

This quote aptly sums up what is required of entrepreneurs and business leaders alike. No company is going to be successful if the leaders don't believe in what the the group is capable of accomplishing. They must all be able to envision a successful future and be willing to take the steps to make that dream a reality.

Business leaders need to continually try new things and not be afraid to dive back in if an initial plan is not successful. At the same time, no matter how successful a company may be, they cannot forget to think about others. This means operating with a general compassion for their community and those around them. This may take more energy than just running a yearly canned food drive, but will go much further in creating a pleasant place to work and fostering a healthy, positive spirit. This spirit can take the business far.

A mentor for all people, old and young, Mr. Feeny lives on in the memories of countless fans of Boy Meets World. While the lessons he gave may have been oriented toward leading children and adolescents into adulthood, they're just as valuable for professionals working to succeed in the business world. It would do us all some good to remember the life advice of Mr. Feeny.

Posted by Chuck Gherman

To contact Chuck Gherman for more information about how Printing Arts Press helps organizations transform their marketing with print communications please visit www.printingartspress.com

Top Tips for Improving the Effectiveness of Your Newsletter

Newsletters have a proven track record for creating front-of-mind awareness, establishing and maintaining credibility, and publicizing an organization to the community. Here are a few tips to improve the effectiveness of your newsletter:

• Become a resource by including how-to articles, helpful industry tips and tricks, and links to other articles and podcasts that may be of interest to your audience.

• Feature a special offer or promotion in each issue to track your newsletter results.

• Include a customer testimonial section to highlight customers who are finding success using your products or services. This will not only boost your credibility, but also increase customer visibility.

• Offer subscribers a "sneak peak" at new products. This will make them feel special and encourage them to spread the word about their insider knowledge.

• Create an "Ask the Expert" section, featuring industry experts to answer customer questions. Include the name and business of the customer who asks the featured question.

• Keep track of customer/recipient birthdays and send them a free birthday giveaway or discount.

• Provide highlights from an online customer portal or discussion board where customers can chat about industry trends, new products, and other relevant issues. Include a web link, and encourage newsletter readers to join in the discussions.

• Commit to a regular schedule. Readers will look forward to and expect your newsletter, so inform them if you take a hiatus from the regular routine.

• Post current and archived issues on your website with a link to subscribe.

Give us a call today if you'd like to see examples or need more ideas for creating a newsletter that your audience will look forward to receiving. Our creative experts would love to help.


Posted by Chuck Gherman

To contact Chuck Gherman for more information about how Printing Arts Press helps organizations with employee and customer newsletters or other print communications please visit www.printingartspress.com

Protecting Your Reputation in the Limelight of Social Media

Thomas Paine once said, "Reputation is much easier kept than recovered." There are two groups who understand this better than anyone else: businesses and celebrities. Both groups spend a considerable amount of energy protecting their reputations and promoting the image they want to portray. And both groups have seen this task grow increasingly complicated thanks to the Internet and social media.

Celebrity Reputations

Quick, when you think about Angelina Jolie, what word comes to mind? Probably something like 'humanitarian.' What about Paris Hilton? Her reputation revolves largely around being a party girl. These celebrity reputations are not organically developed. They're carefully orchestrated by publicists and marketing teams, who help the celebrity determine what to say, when they should be seen in public, and what types of stories should be given to the media.

Hugh Grant's experience

Today, Hugh Grant has a carefully cultivated image as a British gentleman and has starred in a variety of romantic comedies. During the mid 1990s, however, the star faced a considerable amount of unfavorable press following his participation in some illegal activities. He managed to save his image, and his career, by giving candid interviews about his own stupidity and then going on to make a variety of hit movies. Now, most younger fans probably don't even remember that past.

How businesses can apply the same concept

As companies grow, some types of negative press are inevitable. It's impossible to make all customers happy 100 percent of the time. Sooner or later, a disgruntled customer will complain about prices, service, or something similar. The trick to successfully maintaining a positive reputation is to address the issue head-on.

Social media and the reputation

Social media has changed customer service. Now, when customers have something to complain about, they're not forced to call a special hotline. Instead, all they need to do is take to the company social media page or blog. They can rip the company to shreds and make their dissatisfaction known for all the world to see. The customer now has much more control over the reputation of a company.

Consider how Hugh Grant planned his comeback. His team worked to help him plan his interviews and create popular movies. He worked past the problem by addressing it bluntly and then looking toward the future. That's also how companies must work.

Celebrities carefully construct their reputations by guarding everything that goes online, similar to how a company guards their own brand and what is posted online. When problems arise, however, they must be addressed, not glossed over. Once the celebrity or company has addressed the problem, they must then focus on providing quality in the future to give people something else to talk about.

For example, if a customer has written a blog post about a genuine grievance, reach out to them to see how the matter can be corrected. If customers post remarks on social media pages, show genuine concern that the customer had such a negative experience and try to make it right. Correct misunderstandings whenever they arise.

Customer service now takes place in the public sphere, and new clients will know if the company doesn't care about past customers. At the same time, once a company has made genuine attempts at restitution, they must focus on providing quality for the future.

Protecting a reputation can be a difficult task in the age of social media, but it's essential if you hope to survive. It involves carefully engaging the public while producing quality services or products that people can appreciate.

Posted by Chuck Gherman

To contact Chuck Gherman for more information about how Printing Arts Press helps organizations with marketing their public relation needs through print communications please visit www.printingartspress.com