Why Business Cards are So Important

Business Cards are shared by business entities from different parts of the world, and they provide a considerable amount of information about a company and an individual. When you are going to attend a business meeting, Business Cards surely help you prove your own identity, and the company you are working for. One of the best facts about Business Cards, is that if you want to identify the designation of a particular person, or a company name, you can fall back on the cards, just anytime you feel like. Here's a classic clip from the famous "business card scene" in some movie:

Business Cards are quite relevant, as they provide you with all the information about the details which are related to a business establishment. You can get specific data about the address of the business, logo, fax number, telephone number, e mail address and even websites. Business Cards can also include bank account, telex and even tax code, for a few cases. When you are ordering your Business Cards, you should see that they are professionally designed, as they are made to create an impression on the minds of your clients. The Business Cards should be made with consultation of experts, and they should also have a unique identity of their own. 

There is a scientifically proven method which is associated with the production of Business Cards. The method which is followed, is known as card stock. You should remember the fact that the printing methods vary from one to the other. It surely differs on your individual preferences, and both the color and weight of your Business Cards may vary. But a common standard for printing the cards is followed. As far as the colors of the Business Cards are concerned, you can pick up a variety of them in the market. You can choose from a design of single and multi colored Business Cards.

In order to print the Business Cards and make them consumer friendly, various kinds of new printing techniques have been formulated. Thermography is one of the new printing methods, which has been adopted. With the help of this particular process, plastic powder is used for printing the cards, and it makes them look impressive. 

There are many professional companies which manufacture Business Cards, and they can be ordered online as well. Different kinds of rates are quoted by the companies, and you should select the ones which suit your budget. You can choose from a wide variety of Business Cards, and step out for the most valuable business deals.

Choosing the Right Printed Banner for Your Business

Your banner is what people see. Your banner makes the lasting first impression. What if your banner is not up to the mark? Will you still be able to make that first impression? Definitely not! You just can’t. It is, therefore, an important thing to look at while choosing your business’ printed banner.

A printed banner can be used for many occasions. It can be used to promote certain offer or just advertise the company in various aspects. The banner is usually custom made for a specific purpose. If you’re thinking about what to consider when choosing a printed banner, then read on.



There are a few considerations before finalizing on your banner. You might want to look for all of these features or, at least, most of them.

Experience

No one wants a badly designed printed banner that also has spelling mistakes! Just imagine how many people are going to view your banner. Even the slightest mistake will actually seem like a very big mistake. That’s the main reason you want to look for a company that’s been in the business for some time. The experience that they have will be guarantee enough that they are experts in unique design with the latest technology. So, do a little research. Get all the information you can from the company you plan to work with and then make the decision.

Service

Would you like to pay for a printed banner you did not order? Well, I mean, you ordered a custom product but it turned out to be something else and the company says they can’t do anything about it. It’s not a good experience. You should be looking for this as well as turnaround time and installation. If the company can provide the product in less time with the same good quality, you might also want to find out if there is a customer satisfaction clause.

The Technology

If the company you approached is not using the latest technology to produce your printed banner, you might want to look for a different company that does. Using the latest technology will ensure a very high quality printed banner that has the potential to attract prospective business.

Quality

The company you choose to business with should be experts at producing excellent products. Your banner should be attractive and compelling. The material used should be top quality (you might want to ask them for samples or examples previous works).

Cost

You don’t want to pay a huge sum for a low quality product and likewise you don’t want to pay a low price expecting great quality. It doesn’t work that way. Request a quote for your printed banner from multiple companies. Don’t automatically choose the cheapest of the lot. Keep the above considerations in mind.

If you follow the mentioned steps, you will be able to find a company that can make your banner just the way you want it to look, perhaps, even better!

How is Online Printing Shaping Up after the Recession?

Online printing, also called Print on Demand (POD) has revolutionized the printing world. Online printing offers good services to authors who would like to self publish. There may be other services offered with it like proof reading, formatting and editing. The process involved is mainly digital but there are some that use the lithography process as well. The resultant print is of a high quality with clear photos of high resolution and true colors without any streaks. The online printing industry was also a victim of recession and has somewhat suffered substantial economic setback.

There are ways in which the online printing suppliers dealt with recession without of course compromising on quality. With people looking to cut down cost, you will need to think of innovative ways to lure consumers to you. In the times of economic slowdown, it is sensible to cut down on costs, except the marketing cost. Increasing the marketing cost in these financially slow times helps to retain and attract potential customers and the online printing is no exception to this. The suppliers thought of effective ways of spending the money and maximizing the return on their investments.

Since the printing suppliers were offering online services, it was very important for them to have a friendly and navigable website without any glitches. Most customers will be turned off if the website is not user-friendly. The study of consumer psychology was important in order to promote online printing efficiently. Presenting the service and making it more enticing to the customers were very important. It happens with online marketing many times where the potential consumer looks past the product. It was also necessary to customize the service provided by online printing suppliers as it lends a personal touch to the service and special treatment to the customer. Taking customer feedback on the standard of your product and friendliness of your website and working the low scoring areas was of utmost importance. These conveyed the message that the supplies care about customers needs and are looking to improve.

It was of utmost importance to make sure that the product itself was of good quality. Special discounts on printing packages or on bulk printing was a good strategy. Increasing the variety of services offered was a good option and introduction of services like the note pad printing was a good move. With these simple online printing strategies fighting the recession was not that thorny for the suppliers!

Graphic Design and the Printing Market in 2010

How has graphic design changed over the last 10 years in terms of product placement in the media? It sounds like an easy question, but it cannot be easily understood without examining in detail the market forces behind the media placement of graphic design products in 2010. There are 4 main factors involved in what we are discussing – Costs, Market Penetration, Technology and Wider Market Conditions. Let’s have a look at each one in detail:

• Costs – In the world of graphic design, cost is pretty much the biggest element restricting creative expression. From looking at the prices of online printing materials, particularly offset printing from companies like PsPrint, it becomes quite clear that these prices have crashed over the last few years. Flyers, brochures and posters have seen huge economies of scale applied to them, meaning that they are now affordable in greater quantities. This relates back to product placement in that materials printed are more ubiquitous than they used to be, and this in turn has led to their proliferation in the arenas we are focusing on.

• Market Penetration – Really, this is a story about how the internet has revolutionized printing. Delivery networks and effective cost pricing models have all come together to ensure that pretty much everybody in graphic design knows about the discounts and coupons which are offered by major printing companies. Indeed, these coupons form a major buyer incentive, and have proved extremely profitable for companies such a Printplace. By letting word spread about coupons, the companies providing the printed products are effectively opening up new markets which they can then go on to dominate.

• Technology – Since 2004, online printing organisations have really bumped up their ability to provide a huge amount of high quality printed materials en-masse. How has this been made possible? The answer is that there have been several distinct advances in offset printing presses. Firstly, the ink rolling mechanism has become far cheaper to produce and install. The components used have been made cheaper, and this in turn has led to a rolling decrease in costs for components across the board. Second, there have been advances in the construction of the paper used on printed products which are meant to be glossy, like flyers and brochures. Before 2004, the process of making these products glossy was expensive and time consuming, but after the “Haber” method of print was brought in from Asia, it’s now very simple and cheap to create glossy high quality products in large numbers.

• Wider Market Conditions – This is the capsule in which all companies must find their feet, and it’s a particularly poignant to note that in the online printing business sector, the role of the internet cannot be ignored. Surveys performed on the major suppliers in printed materials, Vistaprint and Printplace, found that the rate at which their online business has been increasing has doubled over the past 2 years. In fact, in 2009, inline business accounted for 68% of Printplace’s turnover and 71% of that of Vistaprint. An added bonus is that the online orders these companies are receiving (partly driven by coupons) has shielded it somewhat from the worst effects of the recession. Compared to other industries, the online printing sector suffered an average of 33% less than other comparable sectors (Griffin, “Effect of the recession on business and print”, 2010) which is good news for those wishing to invest.

A bigger picture of the market for printed materials online can only be formed and maintained if all these factors are understood. It is certain that some have been left off the list, and there will undoubtedly be some that nobody has anciticaped yet. However, in a systems viewpoint, it’s usually better to look forward rather than back with regard to this volatile and exciting printing market.