Posts Tagged ‘Print’

Having a stable number of customers is important in any business, be it clothing, household supplies or food.  To ensure that you create such a following, you can utilize the practice of mailing, and postcard printing.     A mailing group is a set of individuals or institutions that you regularly send uniform messages to.  This practice offers several benefits that can turn your one-time customers into frequent buyers.Advantages of creating a mailing group:1.    Maintain a link with your customersThrough this marketing strategy, you can create a tight connection with your customers by having periodic communication with them even if they do not get the chance to go to your store as frequently as they or you would like.  This way, you get to update them about trends and news, and eventually build ties with them.      2.    Promote gimmicks and salesThis is a good way to inform them about new product releases and added services that they can check out at your store.  You can also send them discount coupons, or announce clearance or end-of-season sales.3.    Increase customer participationThe big advantage with mailing groups is that you can market your product in a personalized manner.  Once you establish a good relationship with your customers, you can be certain that they will respond to your mails by showing up during store events or by supporting your products and services.Process of starting your mailing groupDeveloping your mailing group is actually easy.  It does not require much from you or your clients.  The following steps are enough to get your mailing group started.1.    Gather addressesGather addresses by posting a paper in the counter.   Through this, you should collect their names, addresses, and contact numbers.  If you want, you can leave an empty fish bowl near the cash register.  Your customers can simply drop their business cards here to save them time and effort.  2.    Create your mailing listCollate the data and encode them on a spreadsheet on your computer.  Arrange the names alphabetically and insert all necessary details.  Make your mailing list simple so managing it and adding new entries would be easy.  3.    Pick your mail materialPostcards are a good option for your full color prints.  These are inexpensive materials that can hold good quality images.  You can add tickets or coupons to your postcards by putting perforations on one side.However, you can choose other types of print materials such as flyers, brochures and catalogs.  Flyers and brochures are also inexpensive but catalogs, being multi-paged, cost more.  4.    Design your materialYou can delegate this task to a graphic designer or a layout artist.  But if you want to save, you can get free templates in the net, especially with postcards.  Have a colorful design, something that your clients would find appealing.  You can also make a mini-newsletter with your postcard by adding a few news items about your store, products and services.5.    Have them printedTo spare you the hassle, you can get a printer online.  All you have to do is to submit your files, and they will process it for you.  6.    Send them outYou can also choose to mail each one by yourself once your print products are shipped to your address but some online printing companies also offer direct mailing so you wouldn’t have to go through the process of distributing your mails.  It’s a pretty simple marketing approach but mailing plus postcard printing may do the trick and work wonders for your retail business.

Finding the right images and a reputable postcard printer are vital in your quest to create a quality postcard.

For some people, having access to talented artists, illustrators and photographers is the foremost thing. For others, finding a theme or concept appears to be the most important element in creating a postcard.

Still, postcards are the most image-dependent among all the print projects. Without the right images, postcards would appear to lose its charisma. It might even come off as strange.

So which or what makes a great photo for the postcard? And how does one rate a photo? Without going into the details of professional photography, let us just try to limit ourselves and see how we can tell what a great photo is from mediocre. And let’s see just how we can make full use of it.

Focus

Like any message, the photo needs a subject. It is the central point of interest and is usually placed in the foreground of the shot (towards the viewer).

Just as important as knowing what to include is knowing what to exclude. Anything that isn’t part of the subject or its context is only a distraction. It can clutter up the image and dilute the message.

So eliminate extraneous surroundings – usually by moving closer to the subject – and make a clear, tidy shot. A painter creates art by addition – adding more paint – whereas a photographer creates art by subtraction – removing unnecessary elements.

Color

‘Stock-quality’ images make great use of color. Look for solid primary colors: bright ‘sports-car’ red, emerald green, lightning yellow, and ocean blue. This makes the subjects of your photo stand out better.

Alternatively, look for ‘color harmony’ within the subjects of the photographs, where scenes reflect somehow a seamless blend of colors. The almost similar shades of colors and tones from one family can do this. Imagine warm oranges, sunset yellows and reds.

This collection of colors presents a calm, restful image where the eye plays with the differing shades and intensities. Look for pastels, cream, or other colors provided by nature.

Dramatic Lighting

Photographs that are very intriguing and captivating are often ones that make interesting use of light. Look out for beams of light shining through clouds, trees or windows, long shadows, and the like. Photos taken at certain angles like side- and backlighting produce different effects as well.

Shoot in the warm golden hours of early morning and late afternoon. This would work wonderfully for photos because the light is not as harsh.

Develop Your Style

There are a lot of fantastic photos out there and a myriad of tutorials on how you can recreate them. But that’s only half of the story. Make something you borrowed entirely your own.

Think of it as cooking a new dish. Follow the recipe perfectly and then add in the flavors that you want that will make it your signature dish. You can touch up your photos, frame it the right way, crop it, and do whichever it is you think that would make it fit your wonderful vision of your postcard.

Quality images are a product of many years of experience and to a lesser degree, training. It is much better to keep on practicing how to take great photos and what would look great in your prints. By doing this and by studying qualities of good photos online, you will soon develop the eye and the skills to spot quality photos immediately for your postcard printing.

Remember to find the right postcard printer for you quality photos. Search for them online and compare each one to the other, carefully selecting the one who would take care of your photos and postcard design as much as you do. Once you do this, be ready to transform your images into high-quality prints you’ll be more than proud to show off.