blog

Have you unlocked the secret power of folders?

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:49:00 +0000

Switched-on businesses are using folders to increase their odds of making the sale.

The old adage of "you've got to look successful to be successful" means that folders should be in the marketing 'wardrobe' of every business.

In good times, sending big weighty brochures to every prospect or enquiry made sense. Now, in the current economic climate, firms are having to be more agile, more responsive and more dynamic to thrive.

Modular

The smart business is using folders as a stylish 'carrier' – a meaty, brand ambassador that introduces their documents with dignity and gravitas.

Inside they tailor their message with individual loose inserts, sending specific and targeted material... without information overload.

Cost Effective Updates

The smart business is using folders as a stylish 'carrier' – a meaty, brand ambassador that introduces their documents with dignity and gravitas.

Inside they tailor their message with individual loose inserts, sending specific and targeted material... without information overload.

It makes financial sense to separate products and services into smaller chunks and print them as modular inserts. That way if prices need changing, updating a single leaflet costs significantly less than reprinting a whole brochure.

Explore and Save

April is an ideal time to try folders and inserts with your business. You'll save at least 50%, maybe much more, during the month with printing.com's special offers. Contact your local store today and start thinking about what you'll put on your inserts.

(Courtesy of Printing.com)

Why Invest In Design?

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:15:00 +0000

Why Invest In Design?

It makes commercial sense.

We could have chosen to print a big picture of a mighty oak tree and the symbolism of a tiny little acorn. Or we could have written some really lovely things, using fluffy words and clever language. There’s a good chance that would have persuaded you that design is worth investing in. But no. There's a good reason why you should invest in design and it’s measured in one thing. Cold. Hard. Cash.

The Design Council conducted a national survey of firms and identified those where the use of design had made a direct impact on a number of measures, such as competitiveness, market share and turnover. They called these businesses “design alert” and here’s what they found...

Who Do We Design For?

People just like you.

Our clients come from all over the place. Some are big, some are small, some are “extra-medium”. We work with a diverse range of businesses, charities, not-for-profit organisations and individuals. They’ve all got one thing in common. They all have a need — a need to promote an event, an activity or simply themselves. And we help them. Eyes left. See what they say about us.

You’re reading this because we'd like to work with you. You fit our profile. We could make beautiful design together. So what do you say? How about it?

How Much Does Design Cost?

There’s really two questions here.

The first: how much does BAD design cost? The answer is sadly, an awful lot. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. People judge you. If you present yourself well, they’ll trust you. If your marketing looks amateur, you’ll turn them off. They’ll make an instant impression of what you’re like to do business with.

In this economic climate, we all need to make sure we’re not missing out on valuable opportunities, just because we’re putting potential customers off.

The second question: how much does GOOD design cost? That’s a lot more straightforward. Our main Buying Guide is packed with loads of fixed price printing deals. Find the item you’re interested in and look for the little artwork logo next to it. Then simply check the price in our Creative Services and Artwork Package Guide. That’s the starting price we’d expect to charge and will depend on what you’d like to achieve — give us a call to chat through the options.

What Could We Do For You?

Whatever you’d like us to.

Some clients send us their artwork files ready to be checked. Others are happy to write their own copy and organise their own photography — they just send us all the bits electronically and we assemble them, following their detailed design brief.

Some clients have been using the same marketing material for years... and getting the same results. They ask us to take a fresh look at what they’re doing and suggest improvements. Take a look at some of the “before” and “after” shots on the left.

Starmarque â€“ Putting a shine on your image.

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:19:00 +0000

When you hand out your card to your friends and associates, it’s important to have something that creates an impact, something maybe a little different – a cut above the rest.

My business cards are matt laminated and ‘spot varnished’. The people I give them too often comment on their quality. They have a bit of the wow! factor.

For many year’s it’s been possible to ‘put a shine’ on your printing at great expense by using a process called ‘Spot UV’ . It’s a process whereby you choose an exact spot where you would like your printed piece to have an area of Ultra-Violet coating, usually on matt lamination – adding a shine to your printing. Through our branch of Printing.com we offer Spot UV at incredible value. We call our Spot UV products ‘Starmarque’.

This October we are offering Half Price Spot UV, matt laminated Starmarque Business Cards, Starmarque Showcards, Starmarque Folders and Starmarque Flyers.

And Christmas with its ‘ready or not’ inevitability is creeping up on us. Reward your pre-planning by getting Half Price Starmarque Christmas cards.

Don't tread on my Business Card

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 10:03:00 +0000

I discovered recently that Lego have pioneered a special kind of card for the use of their employees: The Lego card – little lego people that look a bit like the employee in question – with their name and contact details painted on them.

I’ve too many painful memories to recommend them. If your children are like mine, it’s quite likely that they will leave them on the kitchen floor for you to tread on when you sneak down to the fridge in the middle of the night for a wee snack! The muffled yowl of pain as the sharp little plastic person makes contact with the soft flesh of your unsuspecting foot will surely give the game away!

For something less painful try our Regular Business Cards: Thick 400gsm silk card printed in full colour. Only £49 plus VAT for 500.

Half Price in August: 1,000 double sided for £54.

If you prefer the smoother things in life try a matt laminated finish with our luxury business cards; and to add a little sparkle, try our spot varnished starmarque card.

Leaflet Masterclass

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:09:00 +0000

Leaflets are so versatile, it’s no surprise so many of our customers find them an essential part of their marketing. Whether they’re being popped through letter boxes, inserted into newspapers, posted out or propped up on the counter – they look great in glorious full colour and are incredibly low cost.

Many things will affect the response you’ll get from your leaflet campaign. Answer these questions and make your leaflets work harder for you:

Who’s Your Target Market?
Who are you trying to reach? Are you selling to consumers or businesses? Where do they live? What industry are they in? What age group? If you can’t answer these questions, you’ll find it a bit trickier to find the right way of targeting your market.

What’s Your Point, Caller?
Presumably you’re investing in marketing to win more business. We do it all the time, so there’s no need to be shy. Think about what makes you different or special. What problem can you solve? What need can you satisfy? What’s your Unique Selling Point – your USP? Why should they buy from you?

What’s In It For Me?
We’ve seen leaflets which are no more than business cards – a name, a number and maybe a list of stuff they do. When you get a leaflet like that, what do you do? Save it or bin it? The most effective leaflets use time-bound offers. Maybe “half price this month”, “free teddy with every quote” or “free consultation during November.” Think really hard about offering an incentive – and the level of it. “5% off” may be enough to get some interest… but what would “25% off” do to the response?

What Do You Want Me To Do?
What’s the next step? You don’t need to close the deal there and then (although, if you can, do it!) Tell them what you want them to do next. “Call now for a free sample”, “Bring this leaflet to…” or “Email us for a quotation.” Spell it out. Make it easy for them to buy from you.

How Will You Reach Me?
There are many ways to get your message out. First or second class post is highly targeted, but quite pricey. Try inserts in a local free newspaper, or pay some local kids to do a leaflet drop. For a more targeted approach try an insert in a magazine read by your target market. Selling crochet saddles? Put an insert into ‘Your Pony Magazine’.

What Will It Look Like?
We’d recommend that you spend at least 30% of your budget on design. Design can mean the difference between success and failure. A badly designed leaflet may do more damage than you think. There’s no such thing as a second impression, so get it right first time. We can help. Design is our business, after all. Talk to us.

When’s The Best Time?
This will depend on what you’re selling, although according to the Direct Marketing Association, October is the prime time for inserts. You’ll probably get a lower response in summer months, since your recipients may be sunning themselves in Benidorm or Barbados. At Christmas, your message will have to work harder to compete with all the others.

Anything Else?
Leaflets are a wonderfully effective marketing tool… when they’re used correctly. We want you to be successful for selfish reasons – you’ll invest more with us if you are. Let us help you succeed – get us involved from the start. And, good luck!

Does your business card pass the test

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:23:00 +0000

Check out this youTube link and let me know if you need our help?

Many people forget that your Business Card is your silent salesperson - it carries on your job, long after you’ve gone home. When the memory of your beautiful face and winning personality begins to fade, only your business card is left to represent you!

Here are some tips:

The bottom line is
Don’t let it harm you – like the thin card in the video which looks like it was run off on a home printer before the breakfast meeting.

Don’t buy cheap cards that look cheap
If you are going to buy cheap cards, buy cheap cards that look expensive. Use at least 350gsm card. Most of our cards are 400gsm.

Let a designer design it
A fabulous quality card with an unprofessional design looks unprofessional. It doesn’t take much time for a good designer to create a really professional design.

Do something different
Work it harder by adding a cut-out shape, a spot varnish (a ’shiny bit’) on the card. Double your selling space with a folding card, use raised print or if you’ve got a reasonable budget, try foil blocking.

London Print does it all:

Design

Full Colour…
Regular Silk
SmoothWove
Luxury Matt Laminated
Fabu-gloss Laminated
Cut-out
StarMarque
Folded

and if you place your order by 30 April 2009 you benefit from a free set of business cards with each one of the above ordered.

Thermographic
Foil Blocking
Spot Colours
Screen Printing
Unusual Stocks

We can turn around digitally printed cards in 24 hours when necessary.

You may have heard it before but it’s as true as ever: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Top Tips for Advertising in a Recession

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:38:00 +0000

I love my daily email from Management Today. It’s informative, brief and often with a ‘laugh out loud’ twist of humour. We need a sense of humour in business right now.

Here’s today’s brief but useful input on your advertising spend which is often (mistakenly) the first item people cut:

Don’t stop. As rivals retrench, you’ll gain a greater ’share of voice’ by promoting yourself more. In the recession of the early ’90s, with new car sales in freefall, Renault boosted its profits with the Papa/Nicole Clio ads.
Change your focus. Replace gimmicks with a concrete promise of value and reliability. Reassure your customers: show how you can meet their needs.
Know your customers. How are they responding to the downturn? What are they spending and, most importantly, what do they want? Your existing customers will look to trusted brands - don’t lose them.
Cut through the gloom. Showing the confidence to invest in promoting your brand sends out the message that you’re in it for the long haul.
Use your budget wisely. Perhaps swap bigger, longer ads for smaller, more frequent ones to maintain your presence. Try to create word-of-mouth buzz with online activity, from social networking to blogs. And shop around - ad rates should now be more competitive.
Measure it. When budgets are tight, your advertising has to do the job. Consider online ads, direct marketing, coupon promotions and point of sale, all of which show tangible results.
Keep it going. A recession may be a choppy part of the economic cycle, but the same basic business sense applies. An approach that works during a recession will fare even better when things pick up.

(Courtesy of www.managementtoday.co.uk)

We’ve got loads of ideas for using your marketing budget effectively. Ask us for a copy of our Ideas magazine.

With some of the best full colour printing prices in the UK, we have a raft of ‘Recession Products’ to help you cut your bills without losing your marketing edge. Keep in touch through our offer of the month email. This month for instance it’s Half Price Stationery (1,000 letterheads, compliment slips and 2 x 500 double sided business cards from £172.

For more information about our monthly offers drop us an email at info@londonprint.co.uk

Work your business card harder

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:42:00 +0000

Don’t just plonk on a logo and contact details. Think of your cards as a ‘micro brochure’ and follow these tips …

Use the reverse – it’s crying out for attention.
Pop a map on the back and directions on the back.
Ask a direct question that only you can answer.
Blast on a picture of your website.
Splash up striking images of your product.
Highlight some of your killer benefits.
Leave them in restaurants and bars.
Stick them up on noticeboards in stores.
Stick them inside magazines at the dentist.
Give two at a time – one for them, one for a friend.

Running low on business cards? Check out our Fabu-Gloss Business Cards, Smooth Wove Business Cards or StarMarque Business Cards. Dont forget our Regular Business Cards or our Luxury Business Cards.

Looking for the worldâ€™s worst business card

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:53:00 +0000

I’m a great believer in networking. The more ‘digital’ the world becomes, the more value in face to face interaction.

When people know I represent a design and print company they often hand me their business card rather self-consciously as some people still prefer to print out their own cards produced on thin card on their office printer. This can be a mistake – as your business card is often a longer lasting reminder of you and your services than the memory of a conversation.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is a well worn phrase – but nevertheless it’s true! Your business card is a small investment in your future business and represents the quality of your service.

This month we are offering half price business cards on regular smooth wove business cards and our top of the range matt laminated, spot varnished StarMarque cards. These are the cards I like to hand out as people immediately know the quality of our product and service.

What do your business cards say about you?

January is traditionally a quiet month for printers; but not for us. Our half price sale of Leaflets, Postcards, Scratch Cards, Menus, Bookmarks, Flyers, Folded Leaflets, Stickers, Folders, Receipt Holders, Booklets and Business Cards ensures that our presses will keep on turning!

For more information see our January Half Price Sale.

Happy New Year