How to you decide what’s junk mail and what mail to open? What makes you keep a note or card rather than reading and discarding it?
Next time you set out to create marketing or networking materials for your small business, ask yourself these questions among many others. Then, make sure you’re making something memorable. We could talk all about the merits of networking for a small business, but that’s another topic entirely. When you get to a mixer, do you have business cards ready to hand out? What do they say about your company and you, in particular? When a customer asks about a service or product can you give them a brochure? Is it informative, current and appealing?
Marketing materials can get very expensive, very quickly. The last thing you need is to disrupt your small business cash flow with a pricey visit to the printers. Imagine you can have your materials fast, cheap and good. That’s ideal right? In the real world, you can usually only pick two of those parameters at once. For most small businesses, “good” and “inexpensive” are the most achievable. With a little planning, elbow grease and creativity you can create memorable pieces for your small business.
Die Cuts
Die cuts are a great way to add pizzazz to any paper project. Unfortunately they are often expensive, especially when they are custom for your project. What you can add, however, if you’re willing to do a little work on your own time is the same effect with a paper punch. Most paper punches limit you to the edges of the paper. Some, like the one in the video, below, let you punch anywhere on paper of any size. If you’re only working on business cards, you should be able to utilize any style of punch, but if you want to carry this feature over to other items like note cards or brochures, you might want to look into a more versatile tool.
Unconventional Sized Media
Remember when square greeting cards debuted? They were a hot commodity for awhile, despite the additional postage needed to ship in a square envelope. Why? Because consumers liked the variety after decades of the same boring rectangle cards. If you’re printing materials in-house, you’re probably limited to outputting content onto letter or legal sized paper. If, however, you’re willing to cut the finished product down, you can add designer flair to a budget project. You will need a cutting mat, supply of sharp x-acto blades, metal ruler or straight edge and an abundance of patience. When you design or set up printing, try to keep the final number of cuts to a minimum. You’ll be glad you did.
Handwritten Notes
A handwritten message carries more weight than the printed or electronic note. It says that you care enough to take the time to do something special. Adding a note into a mailing or just sending one to say thank you won’t cost you much but it could reap massive rewards in the long run.
Guest post by Evelyn Garcia
Evelyn is a printmaker and graphic design artist who enjoys sharing what’s new and innovative in street and fine art.
