Building a brand is one of the most important aspects of marketing a business.  Indeed, your brand will be closely associated with your business for its duration. Your brand, therefore, needs to be represented on all your business stationery, ranging from your letterhead to your business cards.

A brand is different from your logo, from the design and color scheme on your website, and from the name of your business. Your brand is the image you project to customers, and your brand will carry with it your reputation in the business world. In order to build your brand and make it positive, you need to incorporate what you want your brand to be in your business stationery.

This means that all your business stationery should repeat your logo, tagline and business name, ensuring that your business is always associated with your brand. Ask yourself these questions before your next round of business stationery printing.

Is the Logo on my Business Stationery Sized Correctly?

Your business logo needs to be noticeable, so if you have to squint to make it out on your current business stationery, it’s likely too small. If, however, it takes up a lot of room and crowds out your business name or tagline, then it probably needs to be resized. Your business stationery printer will be able to suggest the perfect size to ensure your logo becomes part of your brand.

Is my Letterhead Too Colorful?

Your business stationery should be printed on white or ivory paper to retain a professional look. The only color should be introduced via your logo and business name, although your color scheme needs to stand out against the white or ivory background, making bold colors acceptable because they will give your business stationery a pop of color without being overwhelming.

Do I Need a Tagline?

Ideally, your tagline describes your business mission in a clever and succinct way, making it the perfect addition to your logo or business name on your business stationery. A catchy tagline will help make your brand more memorable.

Is my Brand Unique?

Your business brand needs to separate you from your competition, so do some research on your competitors’ business stationery package and branding scheme and compare it to yours. If yours is fresh and different, then your brand has what it takes to stand apart from the competition and succeed.

In today’s fast-paced and highly visual business environment, most businesses will need to develop graphics to help advertise and market their businesses to potential and current customers. The question is whether you should rely on your own skills or hire a graphic designer to handle your marketing needs.

When to Tackle Graphic Design On Your Own

If you are a creative type and have a background in graphic design, or the aptitude and desire to pick up the skills required to create your own marketing tools, you can retain complete creative control and save money. You’ll need to develop the graphic design skills needed to create an attractive website, as well as promotional materials, such as brochures and letterhead.

Another way to create marketing materials without hiring a graphic designer is to take advantage of the myriad of marketing templates that exist for creating attractive marketing tools like websites, letterhead, brochures, business cards and informational booklets. You can also customize these ready-made templates to create a unique logo without the advanced skills of a graphic designer.

Keeping graphic design work in-house will allow you to spend your marketing budget on the tools themselves, rather than on a graphic designer’s skills.

When to Hire a Pro

Many business owners simply do not have the time to learn even the basics of graphic design, or they recognize that in order to stand out from competition with glittering advertisements, a graphic designer must be hired for the job. A graphic designer is already trained and skilled at creating marketing tools that stand out from the crowd and aren’t derived from a template.

A template can be a good starting point for a small business, but once you’re ready to take your business to the next level, you might want to choose a graphic designer to give your business a customized and individual look.

A graphic designer will take your initial ideas and run with them to create a specialized look that will not only enhance your company’s image but will give you, the business owner, time to pursue business objectives.

A graphic designer is usually worth their price once your marketing campaign starts taking off and attracting new business, which will eventually pay for the efforts of your graphic designer while simultaneously taking your business to the next level.

If marketing posters are eye-catching and creative, chances are they will help boost your business image among potential and current customers. Marketing posters are typically hung in places where they will be seen by the most amount of people. With this in mind, if you create a design for your marketing posters that will not just advertise your business but will stay with your customers, then you’re already ahead.

A crucial objective for a marketing poster is to create one that is so endearing that customers will hang one in their personal or business space as a collectible. Here are some tips for achieving this goal.

Commemorate Important Events

Celebrate a significant business event or award with a marketing poster that doubles as a collectible for the occasion and also advertises your business. You can also commemorate important events related to the community surrounding your business, such as a local anniversary or landmark. As long as you include your company’s information on the marketing poster, this keepsake will advertise your business in a meaningful way.

Use Celebrities

If a particular celebrity could tie in with your marketing poster theme, then make that person the central figure of your marketing poster. You can use a well-liked local celebrity, a movie star or even an author.  Just make sure to get the rights to reproduce a celebrity’s image or to use an existing photograph before printing your marketing posters.

Sponsor a Local Artist

Giving back to your community is always important, so why not choose a local artist to create a special image in her chosen art form to use as your next marketing poster? This way, the artist and your business gets good publicity as people collect your piece of commissioned art.

Design With Art in Mind

If you have a talented designer on staff or regularly work with one, let that person create a unique marketing poster that is designed to appeal aesthetically to viewers. Complementary colors and patterns that tie in with an overall theme, along with an eye-pleasing font, are all necessary components of a successful design.

If you design your next marketing poster around one or several of these concepts, you’ll likely enjoy seeing your hard work disappear into the hands of current and potential customers who respond to the artistic design of your marketing poster, making it a coveted collectible instead of just another marketing tool.

If you’re noticing blank stares and glazed eyes when you talk about your business brand to others, it might be time to reexamine your brand and perhaps develop a fresh, new approach that will put life back into your customers’ eyes. Here’s how to tell if rebranding should be in your immediate future.

Must You “Talk Up” Your Brand to Others?

If your brand elicits a rambling defense and explanation of your entire branding scheme, from your tagline to your logo, it’s likely that your brand no longer reaches your target market. Customers who can’t identify with your brand instantly will often take their business elsewhere.

Does Your Brand Still Identify With Your Demographic?

If your ideal demographic takes a nap when you begin to pitch your brand, then you might need to take a hard look at your brand and decide whether you need to reach out to a different demographic or whether it might be time to rebrand. Rebranding will give you a fresh start and allow you to flex your creative muscles in your printed marketing materials to try and attract your desired customer base back to your business.

Are You Too Big For Your Brand?

Many businesses, over time, will outgrow their original brand because times and trends are constantly changing and evolving. A business must keep up in order to keep new and old customers coming back. Rebranding your business to fit the times and to encompass your larger marketing strategy can be the smart move. If your business, like the times, has evolved and changed, your former brand might have too narrow a focus to be relevant any longer.  Update your printed brochures, business cards, and catalogs to reflect your larger self.

Is Your Brand Stuck in the Mud?

It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do to transform a tired room into a fresh, new space. The same might be needed for your brand!  A simple facelift can get your brand out of the mud and spinning down the road again. Instead of totally rebranding your business, give your brochures, catalogs, business cards, and other printed marketing materials a coat of paint to freshen its look so that your customers will still recognize your brand, but will be newly attracted to an old friend.

Rebranding can be a difficult decision, but is often the right one because it will inject new life to your business that will attract customers back to the brand they once loved.

Despite rapid technological advances and the rising popularity of the digital age, business cards are still an effective and necessary marketing tool. A business card is small, fits neatly into a wallet or purse, and contains all the necessary information a potential client needs from you.

Although business cards are easy to hand out, once they are in someone’s wallet, purse or organizer, that person needs a reason to pull it out and remember you. Unfortunately, with the rise of homemade business cards, many risk getting thrown out because they are boring and unmemorable.

If you want your business card to stand out and inspire possible customers to contact you, keep in mind that by investing a little time and money with a printing company specializing in business card printing, you will end up with business cards that demand attention instead of divert attention.

Here are four ways you can add a little pizzazz to your business cards and inspire potential customers to seek you out:

• Paper or Plastic? Set your business cards apart and ensure they don’t get ripped or ruined by spilled coffee and print them on plastic. Plastic business cards come in a variety of colors, including transparent or opaque options, and they will showcase your business information the same way a traditional cardstock business card would – except it’s more likely to get noticed among the other business cards. Plastic business cards are the same size as regular ones; they simply stand the test of time better – just like your business.
• Shapely Options: Most business cards are the traditional size and shape, meaning they are uniformly 3.5 by 2-inches. There is no law that dictates business cards can’t be a square, oval or rectangle with rounded corners, for example. A different shape will show that your business can think outside the box.
• Add Texture: Instead of printing your business name like most other businesses, add texture by embossing or using a die-cut of your logo or business name to add creativity and liven up your image.
• Forget Black and White: An easy and budget-friendly way to make your business cards shine is to inject some color. You might make your logo and business name stand out in full color or include a photo.

Moderation is always key, so choose the option that best complements your business and brand, and then go for it!

The first step towards advertising your business is to create marketing materials to promote your business. Once this is done, however, what is the next step towards distributing them to the right places for maximum exposure? Here are the top three places to hand out your marketing materials.

Industry Conventions

Attend as many industry conventions that relate to your business that come to your surrounding area, as well as a few national conventions. Industry conventions are perfect for handing out marketing materials because your target demographic will be attending since most conventions are arranged to attract like-minded customers to like-minded businesses.

For example, if you operate a catering business, you’ll want to sign up for hospitality conventions, as well as wedding conventions, because all of those people attending will likely need a caterer at some point. You can also make valuable contacts with other vendors who might complement your business.

You should always be armed with plenty of marketing materials, even at national conventions, because you never know who might need your services or be able to recommend them to a friend who happens to live in your business location. It’s also a great way to expand your clientele base if your business can operate electronically and serve clients remotely.

Sponsor Booths at Local Festivals

Get your community behind your business by purchasing booth space at local festivals. Usually, these fees go towards the community itself or a worthwhile charity, either of which will endear you to the attendees. Festivals attract a wide variety of people, and you can easily hand out your marketing materials along with a coupon and even complementary product samples – which could garner a lot of positive publicity and new business.

Team Up With Other Businesses

Use contacts you make with other vendors at these conventions and festivals and create a team feeling, where complimentary businesses promote each other’s marketing materials to customers. If you team up with two other businesses, for example, your name gets recommended to two additional customer bases. By offering incentives and package deals to customers for using all three businesses, for example, your marketing materials will make it into the hands of more potential customers.

Don’t let your printed marketing materials gather dust! Get out there and hand out your marketing materials in places where your customers are most likely to frequent, and you’ll see your business increase.

Loyalty is the key to every successful business.  Without the loyalty of repeat customers, your business would likely fail. These loyal customers help bring in new customers and can be counted on for continued revenues. Although new customers are essential as well, taking the time to send a special postcard to loyal customers will go a long way to maintaining that coveted loyalty.

Thank You Postcards

Customers are more likely to remain loyal if they feel appreciated. Sending these loyal customers a thank you postcard is a great way to send the right message of appreciation. An email is often deleted or treated as spam, but a physical piece of mail that says thank you is important.

Taking that extra step of personalization will further enhance this simple gesture. By adding the customer’s name, you eliminate the cold feeling of a form letter. Also, make sure you establish the practice of sending a thank you postcard out within a week of receiving business from that customer.

An aesthetically pleasing postcard that still includes your business logo and name will likely be displayed, meaning you get extra exposure. You’ll likely notice an increase in customer loyalty by establishing this simple practice.

Incentive Postcards

Make sure to periodically send postcards to your loyal customer base that include a special customer loyalty discount or some other incentive to revisit your business. The postcard printing could become a coupon if the customer presents it during his next visit, or simply advertise a special sale or event only available to special customers. Internet businesses can simply include a promotional code to be used at checkout for the next purchase.

Reminder Postcards

Reminder postcards are best used for businesses who provide a specialized service. For instance, you might send out a reminder postcard to loyal customers once a quarter to remind them to make an appointment or to reorder a particular item, depending on your business. It never hurts to include an incentive with your reminder postcards because it’s always important to keep attracting your loyal customers back to you.

Sending postcards will help make your customers feel appreciated and special, especially when they get access to “deals” that aren’t for everyone. This will help build customer loyalty, all by sending personalized postcards costing under $1 to produce.

It’s important to make your catalogs user-friendly so that your customers will have no difficulty finding and ordering your products. This comes down to choosing a user-friendly catalog printing layout that will result in increased sales and exposure. Choose one of the following four tips to ensure your catalog printing layout is customer-friendly.

Symmetrical Columns

Research shows that symmetrical columns of photos with product descriptions below achieve good sales results. The catalog printing layout becomes organized and cohesive, signaling to customers that your business is responsible and your products worth ordering. Symmetrical column printing layouts also make it easier to add in-depth product descriptions and features lists to help sell that product even better.

Even Rows

Another popular catalog printing layout option is to make your rows evenly spaced with a photo of your product and its accompanying description to the side instead of below. This method creates an organized table and often allows each page to feature more rows, since most catalog paper is taller than it is wide. You can cut costs by using less paper to advertise more products.

Magazine Styled Spread

If you have high-end products to sell or would like to include multiple photos for each product, you might consider a magazine styled catalog printing layout. This method will net you less products per page; instead of using symmetrical columns or a table layout, the product photos will be dispersed at various intervals across the page, similar to a magazine article. Therefore, it’s also best to include product descriptions written by a copywriter, as well as enlist the help of a graphic designer for each product page.

Creating a Combo

The combination method is also best applied with the assistance of a graphic designer skilled in this type of catalog printing layout. The combination form allows you the flexibility to feature various layout formats on the catalog pages. For example, you can combine symmetrical column layouts with table row layouts on the same page, or combine a magazine style layout with a column layout. A professional graphic designer will ensure that the end result is polished and professional.

Don’t rush into choosing your catalog printing layout without first viewing real life examples of the above mentioned layouts so that you can determine which one will best highlight your products and get those orders coming in!

Halfway through the year, have your marketing materials lived up to your expectations?  If the results have not been as stellar as you had hoped, try these three ideas to give your marketing materials new life.

• Have a Big Sale – Despite the slow signs of recovery, the soft economy won’t just disappear overnight. This is the time to take advantage of the recession by staging a giant sale using marketing materials. It’s still vital that you don’t position your sale as recession-inspired, but use the excuse of frugality to inspire old and new customers to shop your business. Your marketing materials should be positive and should not mention the recession specifically (because this isn’t being positive). Instead, list the great qualities of your product or service, as well as the big advantage customers have taking advantage of this incredible sale.

• Create or Update Your Website – Don’t let your website falter or become outdated. Most people check out businesses online, so seeing an updated, stylish and informative website increases your chances of securing new clientele for your business. We live in technologically-hyper times, and you need to jump on this bandwagon with both feet. Include your URL on all your marketing materials. You can include short pod casts on your website that inform clients about items related to your business and will help promote your business online. Social media is also taking off, so create a FaceBook page and get on Twitter and watch fans of your business accumulate. You might even develop a short DVD that is informative and entertaining, meaning customers will learn about your business in an innovative and memorable way.

• Spread a Little Sunshine – No matter how dismal the economy and state of the world seems to many people, marketing materials are trending to the positive. People want to see marketing materials that spread a little sunshine during dark times, instead of reminding them about reality. Choosing bold, happy colors and including an upbeat message will go a long way towards securing new business because you’re helping people be positive. When customers feel happy receiving your marketing materials, they are much more likely to continue that happy feeling by purchasing your product or service, which makes you happy too!

Although the recession is real and is affecting businesses everywhere, taking advantage of these three marketing strategies will help your business be recession-proof.

Business owners in the food service industry have a great reusable marketing tool – a menu.  However, many restaurant owners fail to effectively promote their food items by creating menus that are boring or even confusing. Psychologically, if a customer feels that the menu is bland, they will probably think the food will be the same way.

Use your menu to spice up your food items and make them attractive to customers. A great menu will have a customer wanting to try one of everything.

How can you spice up your menu to get more food items sold?

1. Design an Attractive Cover

Most restaurant menus are four pages, either inserted in a laminated covering or simply one large folded cardstock. Make sure your first page, the cover page, is attractive and promotes your restaurant brand. Use a pleasant and coordinated color scheme. Put your logo prominently on the cover. Write your mission if you wish. Keeping your brand in customers’ minds is important for bringing them back.

2. Employ Sound Design Elements

Many restaurant menus are too crowded or too small to read. This creates frustration for customers. You want to make sure your customers can easily scan your menu and find the items they are hungry for.

Use plenty of white space between menu items. Make the menu item title bold, and use a short but descriptive text to describe the item. Avoid crowding your menu with too many items on one page. If you need to, create more pages so all your items are easily categorized and listed in a fashion that is easily read by the customer.

3. Create Clever Titles and Headings

Most menus have headings like “Salads” and “Entrees.” Try something that makes your headings stand out like “From the Garden”, or “Chef Specialties.” Your item titles can be creative as well. A grilled cheese sandwich sounds much more appetizing as a “Cheesy Wisconsin Melt”.

4. Cleverly Place Higher Profit Items

Knowing how your customers look at a printed menu can help you sell your higher profit items. If your menu has one fold, customers will likely look at the right side first. They will likely view the middle section first of a tri-folded menu. Keep the high-profit items at the top or bottom of a list. Strategic placement of these items can help increase your profits and sell more higher-priced items.

5. Use Images and Graphics Sparingly

Images, photos, and graphics can help spice up your menu. Use photos only if you have a professional photographer create the image. A simple snapshot of a plate of food with too much flash look amateurish and does not stimulate an appetite. Try using icons for house specialty items or low-calorie items. Using images can help increase sales for specific items, but only if done properly and sparingly.

Your menu is your last marketing tool to convince customers of your products. Use these design features and create a menu that will stimulate customers’ appetites and help make more sales.