Advertising Information

Top Design and Marketing Tips from a Branding Expert


This month, we wanted to share some general tips relating to your graphic design that we've come up with over the past year:

Always include an address on your business card, even if you are operating a small business out of your home - it greatly increases your credibility and makes you look much more established! If you're concerned about privacy, a Post Office box is a great way to go. When signing up for a Post Office box, consider using a "Mailboxes" store instead of the Post Office - you'll get a street address instead of the typical "P.O. Box", and the store will accept shipped packages from UPS, FedEx and other carriers for you, so you won't need to give out your home address as a shipping address.

Never be caught anywhere without business cards again! Carry a supply of cards in your car so that if you can restock when purse or wallet stash runs out. The same applies for brochures, articles, promotional postcards, samples, informational flyers, and presentation folders with information about your company and capabilities - you never know when you'll have an opportunity to hand them out!

Look for ways to make producing your designed materials less expensive. Need a business card and brochure? Why not combine the two into a folding business card and save on the printing costs? Is your logo designed in so many colors that printing becomes too costly? Try having materials printed digitally by an online printing house like psprint.com or vistaprint.com - they're often much more cost-effective for materials printed on white paper stock. If you want to print on a specialty paper, consider converting your logo to a one- or two-color version just for your printed materials - unlimited colors on a website don't cost extra! We're always thinking up creative ways to save our clients money, and we're happy to offer many more suggestions like these based on your individual needs - just contact us with your questions.

Do you want the professionalism of having a printed letterhead, but don't expect to write 500 letters (the minimum quantity for most printers)? There are two options to avoid this: Design a letterhead that can act as a base for your printed invoices, flyers, report or proposal covers, articles, client intake documents and everything else! This way, all of your materials will be professionally branded - and you'll go through "all that letterhead" quicker than you think! Or, recreate your letterhead design as a Microsoft Word template, so that you can print sheets one at a time from your desktop printer. Just pick up a ream of specialty paper from the local office supply warehouse to avoid that "home printed" look.

If you frequently drive for your business, or if your parking spot happens to be on a busy street, make the most of it by having a set of car magnets designed and printed with your logo, phone number and website address on them - they make a big impact, spread the word all over town and, after the initial investment, it's free publicity!

We hope these tips help you promote your business.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one- on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and memorable - and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent way. For more information about elf design, please visit: Logo design at http://www.elf-design.com


MORE RESOURCES:

AFP

Internet advertising revenue up but slowing
AFP - 6 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Online advertising revenue in the United States hit a record 11.5 billion dollars in the first six months of the year but slowed in the ...
Search advertising revenues grow amid market malaise CNET News
Internet advertising grows slightly, but analysts worry about the ... Los Angeles Times
Advertising spend buoyed by rush to internet guardian.co.uk
Red Herring - The Associated Press
all 147 news articles


Locale Media Launches Zip-Code Targeted Advertising in the San ...
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
STAMFORD, CT, Oct 07, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Locale Media announced today that the company has launched its zip-code targeted online advertising ...
Locale Media Launches Zip-Code Targeted Advertising in the San ... International Business Times
New Mobile Advertising Platform Helps Advertisers Reach iPhone ... PR Web (press release)
all 12 news articles


Advertising forecast lowered on uncertain economy
BusinessWeek - 7 hours ago
By ANICK JESDANUN A leading advertising forecaster sharply lowered expectations for ad growth Tuesday, blaming an uncertain economy for reduced spending ...
UPDATE 1-Key advertising report downgrades global forecasts Reuters
Advertising growth slows Variety
British company scales back its predictions for ad revenue Winston-Salem Journal
MediaPost Publications - World Screen News
all 26 news articles


Search Engine Optimization Firm, Epiar Inc., Unveils New Paid ...
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
After Months of Testing, Epiar Has Taken Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising to the Next Level with the Launch of Its New Service to the General Public Epiar is ...


Monsters and Critics.com

Google-Yahoo Ad Deal Put on Hold
Techtree.com, India - 18 hours ago
Further to that Google issued similar statement, "When we announced our advertising agreement with Yahoo in June we agreed to delay its implementation until ...
Google and Yahoo! vs. the advertising world Bigmouthmedia News
Yahoo-AOL Merger Agreement to Take Place This Month Internet Search Engine Database
How Low Can You Go? Google Drops Another 5 Percent to $350 Territory. TechCrunch
Bizjournals.com - Wired News
all 235 news articles


Reuters

UAW launches advertising campaign against McCain
MLive.com, MI - 7 hours ago
AP DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers has launched an advertising campaign attacking Republican presidential candidate John McCain. ...
UAW launches advertising campaign against McCain The Associated Press
Auto workers launch $3 million ad campaign for Obama Reuters
Here Comes the UAW:$3M Anti-McCain Ad Campaign FOXNews
Bloomberg - WDIV
all 146 news articles


Wall Street Journal Blogs

‘Thanks, But No Thanks’; Pfizer Sues over Free Viagra Advertising
Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY - 6 hours ago
From time to time, companies must confront unwanted advertising. Take the Italian eatery Olive Garden. As reported in this WSJ front-pager, the restaurant ...


Was There a FOG Over Advertising Week?
Adweek, NY - 28 minutes ago
Google's culture to invent new platforms should be a wake-up call for advertising and other marketing companies to constantly rethink our offerings and our ...
Google's Moment of Truth: Stock Hits $350 Silicon Alley Insider
all 2 news articles


BBC News

Viewers polled on TV advertising
Scotsman, United Kingdom - 5 hours ago
Ofcom launched a consultation as part of a review into the rules on television advertising. The regulator said its initial preference was for no change to ...
UK's Ofcom in consultation until Dec 11 on TV advertising Forbes
Viewers could be forced to watch teleshopping on prime time TV Telegraph.co.uk
ITV may be able to show more ads guardian.co.uk
Brand Republic - BBC News
all 20 news articles


Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg: Big Opportunity for Brand Advertising ...
BusinessWeek - 15 hours ago
The former vice president of global online sales and operations at Google, who joined Facebook last March, told the lunch audience that the only advertising ...
Facebook COO: Web Needs New Model, New Metrics AdAge.com (subscription)
all 2 news articles

Advertising - Google News

home | site map
© 2006