Month: March 2022

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Print For All Your Business Locations Made Easy

Multiple Business Locations

Do you have multiple business locations? If you are like most businesses, your company probably relies on printed material for several important aspects of business. When you add up all the internal documents such as labels, tags, business cards, envelopes, time sheets, PLUS external items like invoices, order forms, catalogues, and marketing materials, that’s a lot of printing!

While that is plenty enough to keep track of for one location, what happens when you have multiple business locations? Printing correct addresses on materials that require contact information is only part of the equation. The next important thing is to make sure materials get restocked to the right place and then keep track of supplies at each location to make sure you never run out.

Here at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, we know how much of a headache this can be and want to help take the stress off your back. By choosing us to help you manage your regular printing, you’ll reap benefits in these 4 ways:

1.   Take the stress out of managing your stock at multiple business locations

Once you get set up with us, we’ll get you on a re-order plan. This way, your order is timed to recognize when your supply may be running low at your multiple business locations. Keeping track of what you need and where you need it has never been easier!

And don’t worry about receiving excess stock, we’ll always confirm your order before printing to make sure you are only getting what you need. We simplify the stocking process by allowing you to order for your multiple locations and needs all in one place.

2.   Get consistent results every time

One of the challenges of managing a business that has multiple business locations is maintaining uniformity. You need your materials to be consistent with your brand at every location. Thanks to your strong branding, customers and clients come to expect a similar experience whether they visit you in the NW or in the SW of the city, or anywhere in Canada.

Having consistent branding across your materials can also help create a unified corporate culture across all your office locations. When you source your print materials from Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, you can count on us to be consistent in quality, style, and service every time.

3.   Take off your delivery driver hat!

We can deliver materials to all your multiple business locations, so you don’t have to worry about chauffeuring your supplies. Your delivery will be planned to arrive exactly when you need it. By taking this step out of the equation, you can focus on your other important jobs. You have better things to do than spend your time running errands all over the city, so let us take care of the hassle!

4.   Merchandising made easy at multiple business locations

You can trust Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard to get all your locations the materials they need. We’ll remember the specific details like how many windows each location has for decals, whether or not a large or extra-large banner is needed to fill the space on your location’s walls, and which locations have a space outside to display additional signage.

We know how important it is to merchandise effectively in all your locations to attract customers, brand your space, and promote your products. With our help we will make sure every one of your locations looks professional and presentable.

Conclusion

Are you ready to level up your productivity? Take advantage of our amazing print services for businesses with multiple locations! Our expertise can help you with product displays, store design, and merchandising strategy. Don’t wait another day to enjoy the perks we offer, contact us today for more information!

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Designing a Killer Logo for Print

Killer logo

What do Nike, Apple and Coca-Cola have in common? Solid brand identity starts with a killer logo that is easy to identify and looks sharp to boot!

Your company’s logo will often be the first thing customers see from you, so it’s important to make a strong first impression. A well-designed logo can make customers interested in learning about your company’s offerings which is why creating a visual and memorable impression that stands out from the competition is key.

Think about how many people buy designer clothes just for the logo. While apparel may not be the direction your brand wants to take, a crisp, clean logo can increase the desirability of any product.

To read some of our key tips for creating that killer logo you wish, keep reading!

A Killer Logo Reflects the Nature of Your Business

Your logo is a representation of your company. When coming up with a design, you can approach it literally, by featuring your company name and tagline, and figuratively, by coming up with a symbol to represent the product or service you provide.

Explore conceptual icons

Think about your product in conceptual ideas, what are you selling? Is it an experience, an emotion, or a belief? What symbols can you use to represent that? A good example of using a concept instead of a literal symbol is the Nike “swoosh” logo. This minimalistic icon conveys speed – a fitting message for a sportswear company.

Pick fonts carefully

In addition to making sure your font is legible, you also want it to fit the vibe of your brand. For example, a refined script conveys elegance while a bold sans serif font represents a more modern feel. For a truly customized look, consider creating your own unique font that represents your brand.

Balance your tagline

A nice way to bridge the gap between a symbolic design and the message you want to get across in your killer logo is by adding a tagline that stands for your company mission. Make sure there is visual balance between your logo and tagline by adjusting the spacing and size appropriately. When there is a sense of harmony between these two elements your branding will look balanced and appealing.

Give your logo’s background contrast

Ever experienced the headache of trying to read green text on a yellow background? This is what we call a low-contrast combination, and it makes it hard to distinguish one element from another in print. Avoid this at all costs when coming up with your design to make sure your advertising materials are easy to read and identify from a distance. You never want the observer to have to decipher what you meant. Avoid the scratch-your-head, tilt-your-neck, squint-your-eyes struggle at all costs.

Create a scalable design

You need to make sure your logo design blows up well onto signage, posters and all other print materials. Keep in mind that this applies vice versa when you are printing your logo on things as small as business cards. You need a design that is clear and simple enough to look good scaled up and down without losing information in tiny print or leaving excess dead space.

When you send your logo to a print company like Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, its best to have your logo vectorized, which saves it as a file that can be stretched large without pixelating and ruining the professional look of your originally crisp logo.

Let your logo breathe

The best way to ensure your logo is indeed a killer logo is to let it breathe. Design it with spacing to frame it to the dimensions of the usage.  Whether you choose to overlay it on a solid-coloured background or simply leave it floating on white, make sure to visualize an invisible border around it so that it doesn’t get crowded and has room to shine.

Post-Press

Once you have designed a versatile and eye-catching killer logo, get ready to use it everywhere! Over time this will build your recognizability and brand reputation which is where the power of your logo lies. To get started creating your print materials, contact us at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard today for quality service and products.

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Marketing During Calgary Stampede 2022

calgary stampede

Is your business ready for Calgary Stampede 2022?  

Last years Stampede wasn’t quite the same as it used to be, but this year promises another chance to do it up big. Planning for an event like this takes time, so if you don’t want to get bucked off your bronco before the bell even sounds, now is the time to get your Stampede-related marketing into motion. Each July, our city’s business efforts grind to a halt UNLESS conducted over a beer or a pancake breakfast – your marketing and branding needs to stand out to keep up.

It’s one of the most important times of year for business development and corporate relationship maintenance. So much business gets discussed during Stampede week. Maybe the contracts aren’t signed these 10 days but things get planned and finalized a couple weeks later. Love it, or hate it, the Stampede is a big deal for businesses in Calgary and you need to make sure you’re ready for it. Get your “YAHOO” on with these five Stampede marketing tips:

1. Ensure You Have Enough Business Cards

Whether you are attending a pancake breakfast or a beef-on-a-bun barbecue networking event, you need to be ready. If you are looking to expand or increase your sales and leads, make sure you always have your business cards on you. You have no idea who you are going to meet over a syrup-filled breakfast meeting, at the midway or cheering on your favourite chuckwagon team. Have fun with it. Make sure your business cards are imaginative and memorable. Afterall, jeans and a cowboy hat might be your attire of choice for a couple weeks but there 350+ other days in the year. Think about creating special cards just for the Stampede. Also, consider using a QR code so you are mobile-friendly.

2. Networking

Talking about pancakes and cowboy boots, events you can attend there are literally hundreds of business-related events you can attend. Or, consider hosting one of your own. Make use of these opportunities to attend all the breakfasts, parties and events possible. During these western-themed get-togethers, you have a natural ice-breaker to get a conversation started. Shine up your elevator pitch. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself, your company and your line of business and talk a little work. Don’t forget to listen first – talk second. Be friendly and interested. And, be interesting in return – not just because of the hot-pink handkerchief around your neck. The city literally changes its personality for roughly two weeks. Take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere and do a little business.

3. Don’t Wear Horse Blinders

One of the best pieces of advice for marketing in Calgary during Stampede Week is to never stop looking for business opportunities. You just have to be ready to grab them when you see them. It might be as obvious as a sponsorship all the way to sharing a chat as you wolf down a dozen mini-donuts.

4. Host Your Own Stampede Breakfast

Consider hosting a breakfast for your company, your staff, your clients and your vendors. Send old-fashioned invitations by mail. Create posters for your staff to pass on to friends and family. This is a spectacular opportunity to get your name out there. Several businesses grind to a halt – maybe yours as well. Use this lull as a chance to communicate with your existing clients and NOT talk business. It may go without saying but NO SUITS ALLOWED. The wearing of jeans and a cowboy hat is *wink wink* mandatory. The breakfast may be free, but that doesn’t mean that people won’t come in the mood to spend future money with you.

5. Have a Little Fun

Embrace the opportunity to market the fun side of your business. Your image and brand awareness can evolve to exploit the moment. This can be as simple as temporarily designing a new logo. Or, have some fun and decorate your office with hay bales, faux wood corrals, etc. Plenty of businesses also use window signage to showcase their fun side.

6. Involve Your Team

The Calgary Stampede Parade is one the largest parades in North America. It is a single half-day event of the whole year. If your office is downtown, you may want to shut the barn doors for the morning. After all, unless you’re selling mini-donuts, you likely won’t be doing a lot of business that Friday morning anyhow. If that is impractical, maybe offer a rolling half-day off during Stampede to you’re your team an opportunity to attend/ engage with the events of the season. Let them wear jeans for the week and be a bit flexible with their time. Of course, you have a business to run, but remember, if they’re happy – they’ll be more productive. An appreciated employee will do more than expected. Also, if you are following through with #4 and hosting a breakfast, get them involved in the planning. Don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do but maybe they are as excited about Stampede week as you are.

Post-Press

It is clear that the Calgary Stampede is a great time to do business, increase your company image and have a lot of fun. By the second Friday in July, with your eyes wide open, you’ll have found plenty of marketing in Calgary to shout, “Yahoo!” about. Designing and printing some of the ideas from above takes a bit of time. Reach out to our team today if you need some guidance on, “getting your Stampede on.” It’s not too early to start planning – and not just which jeans you are going to wear.
We Design. We Print. You Profit.