Category: Graphic Design

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4 Reasons Your Professional Services Business Should work With A Print Companyaccoustic communcation

Why Professional Services Business Should work With A Print Company

Are you a hard-working professional services proprietor who uses printed products like brochures and presentation folders in your daily work routine? Many professional services including lawyers, chiropractic offices and travel agencies rely on printed products to promote their services to their clients and potential clients. Professional services use printed resources to convey important messages daily – make sure you get the best value possible by collaborating with experts like us! 

As a hard-working professional we understand that running a business can be stressful. Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard aims to take care of all your print needs so that you can outsource the time and labour needed to successfully market your business.  

For 4 Reasons why your professional services company should work with printing specialists like us, continue reading below: 

4 reasons you should use print in your Professional Services business 

  1. Outsource your printing needs 

Too much on your plate? We will take care of your outsourcing needs. Hiring a printing company can help save you time and money. By using our professional graphic designers, we can bring your vision to life. You as a professional take on a lot daily as it is, so let us take care of your restock and delivery needs. We can set you up on a re-order plan making it easier to schedule you restocks and deliveries. 

  1. Benefit from the work of professional graphic designers 

Do you have a vision and want to see it come to life? At Minuteman we specialize in Graphic Design. By collaborating with our professional graphic designers, we can make that happen. Minuteman can help you create designs that stand for your business and target your audience effectively. Some of the products we can help you design include brochures, presentation folders, and mailing cards to promote your services. 

Brochures 

Does your business need an effective way to get vital information across? Brochures are an excellent resource for professionals. They hold a large amount of information in a small area giving you lots of space to convey your message. These products are easily distributed and can be placed easily in many popular locations to relay essential information to potential clients. Most importantly these printed resources are very cost-effective compared to other products. 

Presentation Folders 

Want to look professional for your next important meeting? Presentation folders are an excellent resource to have. While looking professional they also are effective for keeping all your important documents organized. Presentation folders can be customized to promote your services including your logo, mission statements and contact information. design your folders to promote your services can help your clients or potential new clients remember you just by looking at your folder during a presentation. 

Mailings for clients 

A valuable resource in any professional service is mailings for clients and potential clients. This allows you to convey your message and relay valuable information directly to your clients or potential clients. At Minuteman we use Canada Post to efficiently and effectively deliver your direct mail. You can customize and use your branding to design effective mailing cards to be sent out. With our direct mailing services, we can target a specific client base and attract new clients and keep current clients connected. 

  1. Support your local business network 

Minuteman is a locally owned franchise by collaborating with us you are helping support local small businesses. We pride ourselves as businesspeople who are active in our local community supplying exceptional quality and services. We supply support to many other local businesses by supplying their services and keeping them in business helps the community as a whole. By supporting local small businesses, you are supporting your community. 

  1. Print is still one of the most effective marketing tools 

In a world that’s increasingly become more digital, many business owners make the mistake of slacking on their print marketing. Digital and direct go hand in hand when creating the best marketing tools for your business. Print marketing materials can be personalized, therefore creating the ability to form a highly personal connection with your client or potential client. By creating a sensory impact as well clients are more likely to remember your brand compared to a digital tool. 

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Are you ready to obtain a wider client base and keep clients intrigued? Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard can collaborate with you to create the right printed products to promote your services. We specialize in graphic design for all your printing needs. Contact us  today to bring your vision to life and start promoting your services. 

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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.

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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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Promote Your Rebrand – Tips for A Successful Rebrand In 2022 (Part 2)

Promote Your Rebrand

With the start of the year in our rear-view mirror, perhaps you started down the path towards a change in your business’s brand identity. Now you need to promote your rebrand to ensure it is successful. You’ve fully researched your rebrand purpose, competitors and timing. When you take all that time and energy (and investment) to refresh your brand, it is imperative you also allocate energy and resources to promote your rebrand.

You have developed a fancy new look and feel as well as content strategy. You’ve decided which digital and physical assets you are refreshing. You have started to replace the old with new putting your new brand everywhere it needs to be. You’re finally ready to show your rebooted brand off to the world. So, what’s the best way to go about it?

How to Promote your Rebrand Internally

In Part 1, we covered how to prepare for a successful rebrand. Here’s how to promote your rebrand both internally and externally. A successful rebrand starts with your efforts to promote your rebrand to your most valuable asset – your people. They work with your brand every day and as such, need to be fully on board with the whole story of the rebrand, from the purpose to the details of your new messaging and brand values. In this way, they can start living your branding and become your key brand ambassadors.

Ways to engage your people to promote your rebrand starts with the following:

Provide clear communication

Ensure your team is fully aware of the reason behind the rebrand. If they are unclear, they may attempt to fill in the blanks on their own which could have very negative ramifications. Unstated purposes could even lead them to question their own job security and reduce productivity and engagement. Be 100% transparent with staff about the reason for the rebrand.

Share the business case

Explain to your team what’s happening and what they need to do throughout the process. Provide background about the rebrand strategy including competitor research, persona targeting, service/product offering changes, etc. Explain how the rebrand fits into short-term and long-term company objectives as well as how these changes impact their individual roles in the organization. This has a dual purpose of ensuring your team knows how they fit into the overall picture but affords them the large picture scope to be able to communicate to your customers and prospects as well.

Provide your team with FAQs

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that a rebrand will spark lots of customer questions. Ensure your team is well versed in the most obvious answers. They need to not only know the answers but be provided the tools to answer customer questions in the way you want those questions to be answered.  

Get executive buy-in

This should be obvious but without C-level support and resources, your rebrand initiative could get mothballed before it even begins. Your company’s leaders should be whole-heartedly behind your rebrand. In fact, having their active participation can lead to a stronger chance of overall success. Enlist your company leaders to promote your rebrand to staff by becoming spokespersons for regular statements, blog posts and internal updates. A clear vote of confidence from the top will encourage your entire team to embrace and promote the rebrand fully.

How to Promote your Rebrand Externally

Per the previous section, you have educated your internal team on why you are rebranding and their part in the equation. Now it is go time!!

One thing to note, regardless of the tactics you use to promote your rebrand, you need to keep the overall focus on your audience. What’s in it for them? You will be full of excitement about your rebrand and looking forward to showing it to the world. However, the reactions to it could be wide spanning from your prospects and clients alike. Keep their motivating factors in mind as you successfully launch your rebrand.

Be Decisive

The best way to corral reactions is to make the transition as swift and decisive as you can. While you do not need to share your business plan with anyone, a comfortable level of transparency can persuade the naysayers to understand your branding decisions.

You should also explain to your customers and prospects their role in the change. Do they need to start following a different social media handle? Have their login credentials changed? Another healthy strategy as you promote your rebrand is to ask for feedback. This builds trust with customers who will feel they are being heard and their views are important to you.

6 Strategies to Promote your Rebrand

Below are 6 strategies to promote your rebrand successfully to your current clients, prospects and general public (future prospects) to make transition as smooth as possible.

  1. Use Teasers . Think about your excitement level for an upcoming movie. How did you find out about it? Likely, you saw a teaser promoting an upcoming event. While your brand refresh might not rank as high as your excitement for the next MCU movie or Nicholas Sparks novel-turned-into-blockbuster-hit, it still can gain traction and attention leading up to the big reveal. Let your loyal customers and followers in on your excitement by piquing their interest about the big changeover. Use email, social media posts and in-store signage. You don’t have to give away much; just enough to know a big ‘thing’ is happening on a certain date.
  2. Excite your brand ambassadors. Past and present customers who are loyal and enthusiastic about you and your business should be used to advocate the exciting changes. Your brand ambassadors are the customers most passionate about your brand, likely to organically talk positively about your business at the best of times. Let them in on the news early and possibly even incentivize them to spread the word through loyalty codes and discounts.
  3. Provide FAQs. Within the internal promotion section we covered arming your staff with answers to commonly asked questions. Many of these same FAQs can be shared more broadly in an article on your website, social media, email or a FAQ page to send interested parties to.
  4. Leverage Public Relations. You can leverage traditional news sources through the use of public relations as an extremely effective to promote your rebrand. A rebrand makes for an interesting news story, so help your local journalists by spoon-feeding them a potentially interesting community piece. Provide press releases announcing the rebrand and have comments – and stakeholders for interviewing – ready to share for their publication.
  5. Don’t under-estimate Behind The Scenes (BTS). Let the public see the wizards behind the curtains. Invite them BTS. Behind every rebranding process is a story about a business. Your business. Provide posts, articles, videos about what made you want to rebrand. How did you go about doing it? What are your hopes for the future now that it’s done. It can be a fun an interesting experience for others to understand the logic and process of changing your logo for example.
  6. Storytelling is a powerful way to market your business because it adds a human element to the new. You have the ability to get people engaged with you on an emotional level.

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Need help promoting your rebrand? Reach out to Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. We can help with creative design aspects as well as developing an in-depth marketing plan to make sure your efforts pay off.

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Tips for A Successful Rebrand In 2022 (Part 1: Strategizing Your Rebrand)

successful rebrand

With the new year upon us, this might be the perfect time for a change in your business’s brand identity. A freshened look and feel has value for your business for various reasons. Every successful rebrand (or refresh) should be conducted with purpose, consistency and delicacy not to alienate existing customers.

Below we share tips covering strategy, design and execution of your successful rebrand in 2022. In Part 2, we cover how to successfully promote your rebrand.

First, Why Rebrand?

The “how you do a rebrand” may in part be answered by the why. If you don’t know why you’re doing it, the level of success you have will likely be impacted. You need to be 100% behind it to ensure you execute a successful rebrand. Common reasons for a rebrand could include the following:

  • Perhaps you want to target a new geography or grow your territory
  • Maybe there is a new target group your products or services could solve for
  • Perhaps you offer new line of products or services that stretch the confines of your existing branding
  • Sometimes a new website triggers need for full rebrand across all mediums
  • Maybe a merger or acquisition necessitates a brand refresh
  • Maybe its as simple as you’ve had the same look and feel for over a decade (every 5-7 years is industry standard.)
  • In some cases, rebranding can help a struggling brand move away from a bad reputation

No matter the reason, it is important to understand why you are doing it.

Overhaul vs. Tweak

Are you ripping off an old Band-Aid and redoing everything? Or do you simply need to tweak your image to reach new people or inspire a plateaued audience? A partial rebrand is perfect if you want to give your identity a facelift or modernize it a bit. If a total overhaul is what you’re after, make sure you spend enough time researching and planning to be sure you have a successful rebrand.

Big or small, these are the common elements of a rebrand. Your efforts can include any or all of these:

  • Your Logo         They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, a logo could be the difference between 1,000 potential customers.  It stands out front of your business representing everything you and your products stand for. Make sure you spend enough time designing your new logo. Since this opportunity is already a huge step for your business, don’t be afraid to go branch out to something new – even if it might feel less conservative.
  • New Name       Renaming is not a part of every rebranding exercise, but it is quite common to break away from the old when a purchase, acquisition or merger occurs.
  • New Marketing Strategy or Promotion          Content strategy and tactical messaging is an essential component of any successful rebrand. How you use messaging to connect with new and old customers will dictate how big your refresh/rebrand needs to be.
  • Brand Story      Telling your story – how your products and services perfectly solve the problems and needs of your customers – is what all branding should entail. Is your rebrand telling a new story that needs to be created or reframing an existing story?
  • New Website    Depending on your business model and the extent of your presence online could mean a rebrand is simply a new website. However, implementing a new look is also a good time to infuse your infrastructure with new technology and upgrades.

Caution: Rebranding Pitfalls to Avoid

Not all rebrands work the way originally intended. To ensure your successful rebranding, avoid these three common mistakes:

  1. Do not jump ahead to design. Your rebranding strategy is as important as the elements of the brand themselves. You need to strategize the various elements of your rebrand. Knowing how you going to roll it out is crucial to a successful rebrand.
  2. Having a plan to roll out a new look and getting your team on board must include a reasonable budget and allotment of time (it always costs more and takes longer than you initially think it will), research, a project timeline, goals, and realistic expectations. Will you allow the exhaustion of existing collateral to take place gradually over time, release the brand one medium at a time or will you update all collateral and mediums on the same day?
  3. Do not alienate your existing target, customers and prospects. Unless you’re completely changing your entire service/product offerings, it’s essential to keep your existing audience on board with big changes.
  4. New and bold is good but avoid confusing and/or unnecessary. At the onset, we hit home the fact you should only rebrand if there is a purpose. Stick to the purpose and make logical changes for that purpose.

Consider a Checklist for a Successful Rebrand

Your successful rebrand checklist can likely be broken into physical (print, signage, internal forms, etc.), digital (web, social, online advertising) and corporate cultural and branding itself (mission, vision, brand manifesto, job postings, etc.). Below is a (non-exhaustive) checklist to get you started:

Corporate Culture

  • Your brand values
  • Unique Selling Proposition
  • Sell lines / tag-lines
  • Brand manifesto
  • Tone of voice guidelines
  • Brand style guide 
  • Job postings

Digital assets

  • Web domain(s)
  • Social media accounts (do new handles need to be initiated?)
  • Online advertising (Google Ads, Facebook, etc.)
  • Email templates
  • SEO and metadata on web pages

Physical assets

In short, just about every touchpoint your business has with the rest of the world may need to be updated for you to achieve maximum chance of a successful rebrand.

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A rebrand can be a tweak or a complete overhaul of your business look, feel and positioning. Exciting? Absolutely. Daunting? It doesn’t have to be. Once you’re clear on your goals for rebranding and you’ve decided on the scope of the project, it’s time to get started on making it happen. 

Need a hand in making a successful rebrand? Reach out to Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. We can help with creative design aspects as well as developing an in-depth marketing plan to make sure your efforts pay off.

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The 5 W’s of Greeting Cards

greeting cards

Just in case you haven’t stumbled upon the Christmas decorations that have made their appearance on store shelves, this is your reminder that the Holiday season is fast approaching.

As you are thinking about ways to serve your clients during this busy time, consider the effect that sending out custom greeting cards will have. Receiving a warm holiday greeting from a favourite business is sure to brighten up your customer’s day.

Bring the excitement straight to their doorstep with this classic and thoughtful gesture!

Why should a business entity send greeting cards?

It’s a perfect way to show your customers just how much you value them and their support. Greeting cards can also give you the opportunity to reconnect with past clients who may have fallen to the wayside during the busyness of the year, which will strengthen the sense of loyalty and community around your brand.

Additionally, any time you use print media to showcase your signature branding you are creating marketing materials that will make an impression. Christmas cards are likely to stick around on the mantel or fridge for at least a couple of weeks, so snag your spot!

Who should you send them to?

It’s time to make a list and check it twice! The lucky recipients of your greeting cards could include staff, clients, prospects, and vendors. Consider your audience and craft a holiday message that’s appropriate for each category. For example:

  • In a message to a prospect:  highlight the desire to build a relationship with them in the coming year.
  • In a message to a staff member or client: thank them for their continued support.
  • In a message to a vendor: express your appreciation for their great services and products that add value to your business.

What exactly should you send?

Lucky for you, the Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard workshop has been well-stocked by our elves with all the trimmings and is ready to make your greeting card dreams come true. We can do any color, shape, or size you wish – using our premium quality printers we can print your photos onto glossy cardstock of varying weights and textures. Finish it off with a polished envelope and you’re ready to go!

How do you create and send custom greeting cards?

There are countless ways to make your greeting cards original. You can DIY them and include a personal handwritten message, create an e-card to virtually mail, or use a print company to share high quality photos with your clients. If you’re stumped when it comes to creating an eye-catching design you love, contact us today for graphic design services that will knock your stockings off! A mailing company can help you efficiently deliver your greeting cards once they are ready, or you can deliver them yourself to give your holiday wishes in person.

Where should you send them?

The answer to this question depends on who you are sending them to. If you are mailing a greeting card to a customer who is not a business, its appropriate to send it to their home address if they have provided it for your records. Greeting cards for business clients can be mailed to their office and to the representatives you have been working with. If you are mailing to an office, ensure that your correspondence reaches them before any holiday office closures so that they receive your wishes before they take off on vacation. This brings us to our next point!

When should you send them?

Ideally you want your greeting cards to arrive in early to mid December so that there is time for them to be displayed and enjoyed throughout the season. In order to reach your recipients in time, make sure to account for the time it will take for the postage to reach them. If you are mailing locally, the first week of December is a great time to send out your cards, which accounts for delays that may happen during this busy season.

Conclusion

Ready to spread some holiday cheer? Now that you know the 5 W’s of greeting cards we hope you feel prepared to start crafting your holiday messages.

Contact us today for help with designing your very own custom greeting cards!

We Design. We Print. You Profit!

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Marketing Series: Maximizing your Print – Brochures (part 2 of 2): Design Your Brochure for Maximum Impact

maximizing your print - brochures

Get the Most of your Print Marketing Series – Brochures (part 2): Design Your Brochure for Maximum Impact

In Part 1 (read it here), we covered the many ways a printed brochure can optimize your exposure in ways digital tactics cannot. Additionally, we covered some of the best ways a brochure or flyer can be utilized – such as a postcard-sized leave-behind, a co-branding initiative, a mailer and more. Below, we cover how to design your brochure to maximize its potential.

Lay it Out Carefully

How you design your brochure must be thought out carefully. There are plenty of half-fold, tri-fold, full-page templates available on the Internet to help you design your brochures with perfect print-ready precision. It’s a good idea to utilize a half-fold brochure template to ensure that your brochures are printed perfectly. Simply download a PDF. Then, place it in a separate layer in your preferred design platform so you can easily follow the bleed, fold, and margin guidelines. Once designed, you can delete the template layer.

Choose the Right Size When You Design Your Brochure

When choosing the right size for your brochure, you need to take into consideration what you’re going to use it for. Are you hand delivering them? Will they be sitting in a brochure holder or on a reception desk? You need to choose the right size for message as you design your brochure. If you are planning on including a good amount of detail, a smaller brochure size, like a 5.5” x 8.5” or 8.5” x 11” half-fold or tri-fold brochure, may not have enough room for your information and you risk making your brochure come across as overwhelming and cluttered. However, if you are promoting a big sale, or new product, an 8.5” x 11” half-fold brochure could be perfect!

If you design your brochure for a direct mail campaign, there are certain Canada Post specifications you need to know (or you can of course get the highly knowledgeable Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard team to do it for you). The advantage of knowing these measurement or “quiet zone” specs up front can save you hundreds of dollars as you go to print and mail it. The difference of a ½” too tall or too long could bump you from standard “short and long” postage rates into oversize increasing your postage costs dramatically. Similarly, a slight tweak in your print file – as small as ¼” could mean your printer can get more on a page and possibly save you money or print  costs.

Choose the Correct Paper and Thickness

Too thick, it might not fold correctly. Too thin and its longevity and durability could be challenged. After you design your brochure so masterfully, it would be a shame to let the paper choice take away from the artistry. The paper you choose for your brochure needs to be thin enough to easily fold (and to fold cleanly without cracking the paper or the ink), but also thick enough to feel substantial. A non-folded brochure or a half-folded brochure – because it is only folded once – can be a bit thicker than tri-fold comparatives. if you plan on mailing your brochures, you should likely stick to thicknesses at or above 100# Text for durability and integrity in transit.

[Hint: Request a sample of various paper stocks and thicknesses from your local printer. Want one from us, click here and we will happily mail you one out today (or stop by and ask for one).]

Design Your Brochure Using Eye-Catching Images and Colors

Whatever the purpose and campaign you are designing for, you will want to design your brochure so it stands out. To accomplish this, include a color pallet that directs the eye to your brochure while also successfully reflecting your branding. Don’t forget to include contrasting text from that of the background. Make it easy for your recipient to read your message. If your brochure has lifestyle photographs or imagery, ensure the print quality is a minimum 300 DPI or higher. You want those pictures of people, food, animals, nature, etc. to “pop” off the page.

Provide a Call-To-Action and Give Them an Offer

This is a no-brainer but we shed a small tear every time we see a marketing piece with no clear purpose. Make sure you include appropriate offer and call-to-action. An irresistible call to action is key for every type of marketing material. Design the content of your brochure so it gives your audience something to act upon and that this action’s purpose is to drive responses.

Also, you want to include an offer. It doesn’t have to be flashy. It just has to help in breaking through the inertia of non-action. Solve a problem. For example, don’t just say, “visit us today” in your brochure. Make them want to know more. Do more. You want to give your audience a reason to visit you perhaps using timeliness language such as, “don’t miss out on our Fall into Savings Event.” Then, as an additional incentive, possibly include a coupon or a promo code. These further incentivize them to take action. And, as a silver bullet in your marketing strategy, they assist you in tracking the success of the print investment.

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At Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, we offer favourable prices on high-quality brochure printing. Want help to design your brochures? We are also experts in designing for Canada Post guidelines in targeting, size and quality specifics and mail preparation.  We offer marketing solutions to fit any of your local marketing goals! Click here to contact us to get started on your multi-faceted brochure campaign toda

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5 Design Tips for Crafting High Impact Letterheads

What is letterhead – and why is stationery, such as letterhead, so important for your business? What purpose does it serve? Why should you care about an old piece of paper? You may think of letterhead as a relic of carrier pigeon days, destined to be forgotten and tossed aside like common junk mail – Don’t worry, we’re not going to let you make that mistake.  

The fact that most business communications are done digitally these days gives traditional print a massive boost – the presence commanded by a quality, well-designed letterhead conveys distinct importance. Think of how much more impact an employee bonus letter or business reference would have when presented on company headed paper. When standing out is as easy as putting in a little extra attention to detail, why wouldn’t your business want to take advantage of this tried-and-true tactic? 

Keep reading for 5 tips on how to create high impact letterheads! 

1. Letterhead Lends Itself to Brand Consistency 

When designing your letterhead, find peace in knowing that you don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel. Your company’s signature branding exists for a reason, and it makes creating new collateral a whole lot easier. Use your existing logos and brand colours in a fresh way for new impact that aligns with your business. To read more about the importance of brand consistency, check out this article we wrote about how it can be the key to your business success. 

Don’t forget that brand consistency goes beyond colours. When coming up with the layout of your letterhead think about the way it will be used: How can you design your letterhead in a way that will best represent your message? We’ll touch more on layout and formatting shortly.  

2. Letterhead Design is all in the Details 

By looking into the possibility of creating custom letterheads in the first place, you’ve already shown that you are someone who pays attention to the details. It only takes a couple of seconds to make a first impression and these seconds’ matter when you are setting the tone for a customer’s experience. Show your audience that you go above and beyond for quality service by presenting your company in a visually appealing, organized manner. 

Think about what information is important to include in your design; You may want to have your contact information and location where its memorable and accessible to the reader or alternatively create a simpler design with your company name. Ultimately your design is all about what’s going to work for your business, so consider these factors when drafting up a sample. 

3. Choose Stationery that works for you 

Maybe it doesn’t make sense for your business to design a custom letterhead, but you can see yourself getting tons of use out of envelopes or notepads. You do you! The key to becoming successful is by customizing your approach in a way that most benefits you and your clientele.  

Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard offers a variety of stationery such as envelopes, notepads, and business cards to suit your needs. Browse our website’s products and solutions and our value-add  services to get more inspiration about the available options.  

4. Explore Different Letterhead Layout Options 

When it comes to the nitty gritty of design, the possibilities are truly endless. To provide an entry point for those who may have never ventured into the world of letterhead design before, here are a couple of ways you could start to format your layout:   

  • Full border
    Decorate the outside border of your paper with colour and design in a consistent square shape, leaving the middle free for any text or images you may later want to share. 
  • Graphic border
    Use shape and colour around the border of your text for a unique look. 
  • Header and footer
    Keep your design to the top and bottom of the page, leaving the middle and sides available. 
  • Background graphics
    Watermark your paper with graphics in a muted shade so that text can be written over top.  Think you might like some help? Our graphic design professionals will make sure your business stands out visually across all advertising and marketing platforms, we offer graphic design services for all kinds of projects! 

5. Pick your paper wisely 

Your paper is the foundation of your letterhead so choose wisely! Pick from light to heavyweight stock and different textures and colours. Generally, the heavier a sheet is, the more important it feels. Want to add a tactile pleasing touch? Embossing or debossing adds a little extra. Distinguish your design with a satin, matte, or glossy finish to make the colours pop and there you have it – the ultimate finishing touch!  

Post Press 

Feeling ready to create your own letterhead? We can’t wait to help you dive in. Contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard today to chat about how we can help you achieve your goals. 

We Design. We Print. You Profit! 

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Marketing Series: Maximizing your Print – Brochures (part 1 of 2)

blog - brochures

Positioning Your Brochure for Optimized Exposure

Brochures are designed for instant and tangible delivery of your marketing communications. Brochures are ideally positioned to assist your building of a strong customer base. This begins with a locally focused marketing strategy. Depending on your business, going bigger and extending your brand across several communities (or nationally) can be beneficial. However, this isn’t always a possibility if you own a smaller sized business with a local focus. If you forget to market to your community, your community can’t help you spread the word. This is where brochures can come in handy as part of your overall marketing mix.

While online marketing is becoming increasingly popular, the best way to reach your local audience is with marketing materials you can touch, hold, and hand-out. Materials like an interactive, detailed, and professionally designed half-fold or trifold brochure. But before you even begin creating your brochure you will need to choose an effective local marketing strategy.

Face-to-Face and Leave Behind

Creating long-lasting relationships with your neighboring businesses can be a key to your success. Take the time to get to know the businesses in your area. When you make a connection with them see if they would be interested in leaving some of their business cards or brochures on your front desk or entrance area. Then, in exchange if you can leave the same in their location. Be sure to find a complementing – or even opposite non-competing – type of business. Making connections like these with a local business is a great way to boost your brand’s exposure and credibility.

The stronger your company’s presence is locally, the better chance your brand will become recognizable on a community level. Of course, building a local presence and a memorable brand can be successfully accomplished using direct mail. But, because you’re in the neighbourhood, don’t forget about local events or the customers walking in your doors. You can leverage brochures in your lobby, at special events, neighbouring businesses, and even prospects that pass by? You interact with people and businesses every day, so why not let them get to know you and your business a bit better. Hand out your brochures and share your brand. Chances are they will remember their experience and your company. And, now they have a tangible reminder which also solidifies the imprint in their minds bout your business. Knowing you and your business is a start and it moves down the funnel increasing the likelihood of them becoming customers.

Target Your Perfect Customers

As technology advances every day, so do the options to target certain audiences. One of the tried-and-true ways to market locally is by creating a list (possibly to be mailed, called, digitally targeted or otherwise) consisting of people or businesses who matter the most to your business. And are geographically positioned near your business. Give everyone within a certain radius news about who you are and what you offer. For example, say you are looking to promote your restaurant grand opening, you could send out a brochure highlighting key information about menu and location.

Mail them

We’ve mentioned above that direct mail is a perfect tactic to get your brochures out there. You can leverage Canada Post to reach every home or business in a certain radius. Neighbourhood Mail (Unaddressed) allows your printed brochure to be in the hands of your closest potential clients or customers. Did you know the average consumer won’t travel more than 20 minutes to eat out, shop, or visit a place? In fact, the closer they are to a place, the more likely they are to visit it.

People receive over 150 emails or digital messages daily while only receiving on average 15-20 mail pieces each week. You can use this exclusivity to cut through the digital noise and get your message across economically.  Direct mailing your brochures is an affordable way to reach a large audience, easily and efficiently making it the perfect tactic, particularly if your company is just starting out. To make this happen, simply choose the size and prepare your design for your brochure mailers in accordance with Canada Post guidelines and then choose your letter carrier routes or postal codes. Canada Post has tools allowing you to can also target certain demographics within your chosen carrier routes.

Mine Your Business

We mentioned reaching out to a targeted audience near your business’ location. Depending on your business, reaching individuals who surround their ideal customers can be a gold mine for your business. Mining your own customer addresses and reaching out to their neighbours via hand-delivered or mailed brochures is made easier due to the credibility of them physically being able to see the merits of your work. This is particularly successful for visible outdoor service companies such as painters and landscapers. If you already have customers that live or do business at 123 Any Street, then the likelihood is that those living or doing business at neighbouring 125 and 121 might also have need for your goods or services. Choose a certain radius that surround your existing customer address and target accordingly. Send them a brochure marketing that you just did business at their neighbour’s home and you have a special offer for them!

Post Press

At Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, we offer favourable prices on high-quality brochure printing. We are also experts in designing for Canada Post guidelines in targeting, size and quality specifics and mail preparation. We offer marketing solutions to fit any of your local marketing goals! Click here to contact us to get started on your multi-faceted brochure campaign today!

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Turn Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors

brand ambassador

Your employees are the face of your organization. They are your brand ambassadors and leave an impression – positive or negative – with everyone they interact with. They are on the frontline interacting with your clients and prospects every day. It is important to your business that they leave a strong, positive lasting impression on everyone they interact with from customers to vendors. To best ensure they are leaving this positive impression, branding is key.

Strategically creating a strong brand starts from within. Is your frontline team acting as brand ambassadors in the way you intended? Your brand reflects your business’ reputation, popularity, visibility and viability in your marketplace. It increases both awareness and resonance distinguishing your organization from its competitors. Your brand also helps to retain and re-up/renew existing customers.

Five tips to turn your employees into brand ambassadors

Brand ambassadorship is too important to leave unwatched in the hands of your team without proper guidance. In order to do all this, you need to establish a shared understanding of your organization’s goals, vision, and mission. Building a successful brand requires an inside-out approach. Provide transparent communication on important news, goals, achievements, and milestones to inspire and motivate your staff. Keep employee experience high from day one.

Similarly, while building a brand with your clients and customers is important, failing to treat your employees as the heart of your organization can harm employee engagement and employer reputation alike. Have you created a common culture and an environment where people love to work through a strong brand? Four key ways to do this start with:

  1. Define your direction. Define your values, mission, and vision to provide a clear direction and give your business an identity or purpose with which your staff can identify.
  2. Strengthen staff loyalty. Help people understand why their role is important and how they fit into the overall picture by aligning them with the company purpose. Transcend your staff’s demographical diversity and create a common culture of togetherness and belonging that will make your staff love your organization.
  3. Support your workforce. Bring your most important resources directly to your employees to support them in their daily tasks and make their working lives easier.
  4. Inspire and empower. Encourage your employees to participate in the conversation and provide a direct line to company happenings and important information. Encourage your employees to participate in the company conversation by providing platforms for feedback and discussion.
  5. Make your workforce love your brand. Promote your brand internally through visual and engaging communication channels (not just email).

The concept and definition of your unique branding needs to be established amongst your team from top to bottom to create a meaningful connection to your brand. This will allow your employees to blossom individually but also collectively into brand ambassadors all rowing in the same direction. Once established internally, then you can focus on the outward presentation of your fabulous team…

Three print products to turn employees into brand ambassadors

Professionally designed printed collateral and promotional items can work to showcase your brand ambassadors in the best light. Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard is a print shop after all. Here are three print ideas you can use to help your team stand out embodying your branding goals:

  1. Incorporate branded apparel into your team’s everyday wear. Your team can become a living source of brand exposure by wearing clothing that showcases important brand-related imagery. Shirts, hats, and aprons worn by your brand ambassadors can be custom-made to feature the organization’s logo and color schemes. Any slogans created by the business may also be included on the apparel to familiarize visitors with the brand’s taglines.
    [Tip: Name tags offer a quick and easy opportunity for your brand ambassadors and your prospects to cut through the ice and engage on a personal level more quickly.]
  2. Provide your brand ambassadors with business cards. Your employees may hand their cards out to clients or prospects to promote future interactions with the brand. You should include details on the card such as your organization’s web and social media pages. This will help potential customers locate and connect with your brand online. Offering a business card to a person will also form a more personal connection between the recipient and the employee.
    [Tip: With today’s print technology, most printers can design and create business cards for your entire team – including small volume runs for your team who maybe aren’t on the frontline. It is a great way of showing they are part of a larger team.]
  3. Give your employees custom stationery, forms, presentation folders and/or notebooks to work with. Your brand ambassadors can be provided customized stationery to interact with clientele that includes  your company logo. This offers further employer brand exposure than a non-branded alternative.

Your brand ambassadors have a lasting impact on customers and can improve consumer recognition of a business. Companies can use branded apparel, business cards, and custom stationery to turn their workers into better brand representatives.

Post Press

All businesses should look within for their best opportunity to brand – their employees. Your employees – or brand ambassadors as we have called them throughout this blog – can become your single greatest secret weapon in branding. You can use the above tips assist you in framing how you can leverage this secret weapon most effectively. Don’t know where to start? Contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. 

We Design. We Print. You Profit.

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6 Autumn Seasonal Marketing Tips To Help Your Small Business Get Noticed

Autumn Seasonal Marketing

With Labour Day in the rear-view mirror, are you ready for Autumn seasonal marketing? We aren’t just talking pumpkin-spice lattes and use of spooky fonts. Just be sure that the messaging and imagery you use are in line with  your brand’s personality. And that you get going as early as you can. As with any other campaign, the more prepared you are, the better your results will be.  

There are a lot of things that you can get your clients and prospects excited about. With the pandemic, many events and plans are looking a bit different – much of it remains remote.  That is likely more reason to adapt your Fall seasonal marketing campaigns and possibly try out some new marketing ideas. Below are 6 Tips to kick your Autumn seasonal marketing into high gear: 

1. Add seasonal content

Themes like seasons can inspire great content! For example, Autumn seasonal marketing for a restaurant might be to design and print recipes with a Fall theme in mind. Similarly, a mechanic might run a feature profiling a winterization package. An accountant can write about how to prepare a business in the build up to tax time. Simply put, any type of business can get inspiration from the change of season and use it to provide relevant, up-to-date and interesting content for their business. Just be sure to ensure your seasonal content is of value. Creating quality content can and will pay dividends for your business. There’s lots of space to be creative with your Fall seasonal marketing content, but make sure it doesn’t come across as tenuous, opportunistic or, worst of all, useless. 

2. Add some autumn colour 

Give your brand a temporary refresh by designing your Autumn seasonal marketing with the amazing colours and distinctive hues of the season. You have a whole colour pallet to choose from across your marketing inventory to provide you the opportunity to adapt the look and feel of your Fall marketing materials. Autumn colours range from luminous reds and deep pinks, luxurious ambers and burnt oranges, radiant yellows and enigmatic shades of black. Although there is a wide range of seasonal colours to choose from, core elements like your logo, your brand personality, writing style and font, should stay consistent whatever the season. Deviating between visual or verbal identities will only serve to confuse customers and sacrifice your hard-won reputation and brand recognition. 

Pumpkins are synonymous with fall because of the weather, not just Halloween. Imagery can also be incorporated into promo emails you send your subscribers. You can tie each promo into a particular Fall holiday, occasion or theme (e.g. pumpkins, leaves that have changed colours, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.) You can also try doing a play on words e.g. “Fall into _____ sale!” If possible, try to offer Autumn seasonal marketing promotions on products or services that are particularly popular or useful this time of year. 

3. Fall-themed Storefront 

An autumn themed storefront is like an open invitation to the community. Businesses with storefronts have a fantastic opportunity to have fun and create interest with the season. Decorating your business’s window with posters or window clings – any signage – in Autumn colour is like an open invitation for the community to come in and look around. You could also consider a sandwich board outside your storefront or in the neighbourhood with decorative messages and promotions.  These little touches can help humanize your brand and make your shop more welcoming. 

4. Don’t forget your online presence 

Your on-line stores and lead conversion websites can also get into the spirit with an Autumn-themed brochure. You could create autumn editions of popular branded merchandise. Items that people are more likely to use in autumn. Long sleeve T-shirt’s, branded socks, coffee/soup mugs and keep cups can all be produced in autumn colours and sold online. If you produce branded products, you could give them an autumn twist like using autumn colours on your labels and packaging. All of these things can refresh your brand and create renewed interest in your products. 

5. Create a marketing calendar 

As a business, it is very important that you shift your marketing strategies from season to season. Public dates like Halloween and Thanksgiving create the perfect springboard for Fall marketing activities. It shows your audience that you’re in tune with the transitions they are experiencing. And it helps them connect with you too, when they see you marking occasions that are special to them. 

On top of Halloween and Thanksgiving, there is back to school, seasonal start of Fall, World Smile Day (10/1), sports season starts, small business week, and more. Special dates provide the perfect springboard for marketing activities of all types, from time-limited promotional sales to an autumn specific menu. Creating a marketing calendar will help you identify dates you want to work around and will ensure you give yourself enough time to plan and implement a campaign designed specifically for this time of year. It will also ensure that you won’t forget a special date that has the potential to be significant to your business. 

6. Autumn themed direct mail campaign 

Showcase the changing of the season the old fashioned way with direct mail (and, don’t forget to add value by including a coupon). With the onset of digital marketing, sending things by mail is somewhat a lost art these days, which provides an opportunity to put yourself front and centre into your customers mind. Most people, when receiving a brightly coloured mail pack from a brand they have used in the past, will open and read it just to see what is on offer. Alternatively, you could simply highlight an autumn-themed sale your business is running. Ensure the design of your mailer has enough Autumn flair to draw your customers attention. 

Post Press 

Are you ready for your fall marketing?  Go ahead and take these Autumn seasonal marketing ideas as inspiration for your fall campaigns this year. And don’t be afraid to tailor and customize as needed to the needs of your business niche. You can use the above tips to assist you in framing how you “fall into the season.” Don’t know where to start? Contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. We Design. We Print. You Profit.