1. Get more than one bid. The reasons are obvious here. By getting multiple quotes you can make sure you are getting the most for your money and avoid getting price gouged by just printing with the “regular guys”. I would get at least three quotes on any potential print project.

2. Print multiple projects at the same time. Are you doing a series of mailers through out the year, do you have several versions of a flyer (e.g. different locations)? Ask you printer about costs for running everything at the same time. By doing this you will avoid multiple setup charges and lower your per-piece cost dramatically in some cases. If you are having large quantities printed, a lot of printers will gladly store your extra materials.

3. Make sure your custom design is not adding to your costs. Sure I love custom shaped, and fun sized print pieces as much as the next guy, but if your on a budget this can eat it up in a hurry. If your not sure your print concept is going to fit your budget, bring it in to your printer and they will gladly make suggestions on simple ways to cuts cost.

4. Have you looked at printing via an Online Printer? I am all for printing locally but sometimes the pocket book wins out. If your budget is tight I would suggest checking out an online printer. Typically you can save a lot on your project. Now you will have shipping expenses too, but you’ll still come out on top! Remember to plan ahead when ordering online, typically they are a bit slower in turn around that the local shops. I would suggest www.gotprint.com to check out some pricing.

I hope you have found these quick tips helpful. If you have tips of your own we would love to hear them! Leave your comments below! And as always if you have any questions make sure to shoot us a line. Have a wonderful Easter holiday.

Jake

If you didn’t make the top three pages you are missing out on some seriously sweet “free ad” space. Great google search placement can be a lot of work, but it’s not rocket science. One of the key pieces to getting a great site ranking is having other web sites link back to your site or domain name. If you don’t already have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, the link back to your site should be reason enough to jump into the social media pool.

We could go one and on about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and tips, tricks and techniques, but we just wanted to plant a seed today. Start with googling yourself and go from there. If you’re a do-it-yourself type, check out this download-able SEO started guide from Google for some great starter info. Don’t like your results and don’t have time to learn more? 5j is hear to help. Give us a shout, we’d love to teach you more and score you some of that “free ad” space.

Whew! That’s a lot to take in! We’ll we’re just going to hit on one part tonight and that is continuity or consistency in your look and graphics. We have seen it time and time again, the logo maybe the same but the rest of the document doesn’t look anything like the web site, or business cards or signage. Consistency in branding means creating marketing materials that match. This will do several things. First, your message will be stronger and you will start to gain recognition with your customers, two, you’ll save money, instead of starting from scratch on every project you’ll have a graphics “pool” you can pull from to save on design time, and third, it will make you look good. I know that’s not much but we think you’ll get the idea, if you want to learn more about branding your business product or services, get in-touch with 5j Design today, we’d love to help. Have a great night!

Jake 

Jake