Tag: professional printing

Will You Really Save Money with DIY Inexpensive Business Cards?

If you’re a small business owner, you might think that you are saving money by purchasing a desktop printer for all your printed marketing needs instead of ordering inexpensive business cards from professional printing companies. Although there might be some advantages to taking the DIY or do-it-yourself route when it comes to printing promotional materials, there are a few downsides to it as well. In the next section, we will look at the pros and cons of DIY versus professional printing.

DIY versus Professional Printing

• DIY Printing 

DIY or do-it-yourself printing involves purchasing a decent desktop printer so that you can print out business cards, postcards, brochures, flyers, and similar marketing materials. Using a computer desktop printer may allow you to produce inexpensive business cards but when it comes to results, nothing beats the quality of professional printing. Business cards will make a huge impression to your customers because it’s a representation of your brand. If your desktop printer can only produce business cards that look homemade, your clients and customers will definitely not be impressed. Perhaps the only exception is when you are offering affordable products or services, so you want to create business cards that are quite simple.

Another disadvantage of DIY printing is that you still have to spend money on the hardware, paper, ink, and maintenance. If you have inexperienced staff, they might not set up the printer properly so instead of saving money, you might end up wasting even more of it due to rookie mistakes.

• Professional Printing 

With professional printing, you can order inexpensive business cards without compromising on quality. There are many professional printing companies that have a purely online ordering process, so you won’t even have to visit their office. You can make use of their online design tools or downloadable templates so that you can create a design for inexpensive business cards. They might be inexpensive to order, but the results are still professional-looking and impressive.
In the end, any extra investment on hiring a professional company to print inexpensive business cards is still worth it. By leaving it to the pros, you can have high-quality business cards that will impress your customers – without spending any more than what’s necessary.

Professional Printing Basics: Which Printed Materials to Choose for Advertising

If you are considering getting a professional printing service provider, you need to know which products to print out in the first place. If you are newly building your brand, for example, you must order business cards so that potential customers would know how to get in touch with you. If you are launching a new product or service, brochures will give you more space to tell readers about your new offering. The good news is that there are many professional printing companies where you can order business cards and other printed promotional materials. You just need to know which among these products you should have printed out first:

• Business Cards

The standard size of business cards in the US is 2” x 3.5”. With very little space available, you only need to include only the essential contact information. When you order business cards and you don’t have a physical store, there is no need for you to include an office address. If you’re a purely online business, you must include your website, email address, and social media accounts. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you must include your name and job title when you order business cards.

• Brochures or Flyers

The smallest brochure measures 4.25” x 11” while the smallest flyer measures 4” x 6”. These two can carry more information than when you order business cards, making it a good choice if you have a lot to say. Brochures are great for introducing a company, while flyers can be used for introducing a new product or service.

• Postcards

Another product of professional printing companies is postcards. These are usually mailed out to customers as greeting cards and they can double as discount coupons. Regularly mailing out postcards is an effective way of building customer loyalty.

• Rack Cards

Rack cards are usually seen in hotel lobbies and they have a specialized display case. The design of rack cards should be attention-grabbing, and they are usually displayed in areas where there is heavy foot traffic.

• Menus

If you are in the food business, you should look for a professional printing company that specializes in creating to go menus. These are perfect as inserts for supplier receipts, mailers, and should be included in every delivery or to go order.

Whether you order business cards, brochures, flyers, or all types of printed materials for a full-blast promotional campaign, it is important to work with a professional printing with plenty of experience in the field. This way, you can get professional results while also getting the best value for your money.

Looking for a Provider of Online Printing Services? Here’s What You Need to Know

Unlike online printing services that have an automatic ordering system, it used to be a big hassle to have printed promotional materials made. If you need 200 pieces of postcards made, for example, you need to go to the printing office to check out their equipment. You must come up with a design which has to be set up on the printing press. Then, you have to choose the material, paper thickness, and finish. After approving the proof, you have to wait for the job to be finished before you can finally pick up your order.

Today, you can do away with all these steps because there are professional printing companies that have a purely online ordering system. This means that you don’t have to visit any printing office – you just need to come up with the design, choose the materials and the finish, and wait for the materials to be delivered straight to your doorstep.

What You Need to Know about Online Printing

Whether you need business cards, brochures, flyers, menus, rack cards, post cards, letterheads, or any other printed promotional material, here are the essentials that you need to know:

 

• You can take your pick from different printing processes. Two of the most common are digital and offset printing. With digital printing, desktop digital printers are used. These are good for small jobs but if you need to order in bulk with a fast turnaround time, you should go with offset printing. For this, huge printing presses are used where a metal plate transfers or ‘offsets’ printed images onto a rubber blanket, which is then rolled onto the paper. Think of it as being similar to using a stamp pad on paper. Once the design is set, you can easily have hundreds or even thousands of copies made within a short span of time. Another advantage of offset printing is that it produces more professional-looking results. The more that you order, the lower the per-piece cost is.

• You need to focus on the design and content. Make sure that the text does not overcrowd the available space on the business card or letterhead – and it should feature your logo plus a short marketing tagline. The overall design should suit the image that you would like to project for your brand.

• You can choose from different materials, paper types, finishes, and sizes. Business cards, for instance, have a standard size of 3.5” x 2” but you can take your pick from different paper thickness and finishes like satin, ultra-smooth silk, soft touch suede, smooth matte or spot gloss.

• You have to go with an experienced, reliable printing company. For this, it pays to do your research so that you can choose a cost-effective printing package without compromising on quality.

By keeping these things in mind, you can look for an online printing service provider that will give you exactly what you need when it comes to printed promotional materials.

Gauge the Best Professional Printing Service Provider with these Criteria

If you are trying to order business cards, flyers, or postcards online, dozens or even hundreds of results will be displayed on your online search. Out of all the professional printing service providers that will pop up, how can you choose the best one? Whether you’re a start-up or an already existing business, you want to get the best quality printed material while also getting the best value for your money. As such, you need to do your research and look for the best professional printing company out there.

Here are a few factors that you must consider when looking for a printing company:

1. The printing equipment and supplies used.

Let’s say that you need to order 300 pieces of postcards online. The first thing that you need to do is consider the printing equipment used. Traditional printing presses are huge and use the offset printing method.  This type of professional printing process has been around for a long time – and they deliver razor-sharp images. Once the design is set, offset printing can produce hundreds to thousands of copies in just a few hours! The “non-traditional” type of professional printing is the more modern digital printing process. Desktop digital printers or digital printing presses are used. If you need to order a small volume like 100 pieces of postcards online, this gets the job done although there might be a small compromise as far as printing quality is concerned – where offset deems far superior.

2. The design tools available.

Next, are there design tools available for download or online? There are professional printing websites where you can download templates for a business card design, or an online tool that you can use to create postcards online. What’s good about these tools is that there is no need for you to pay for the services of a professional graphic designer. However, it is recommended that you still get one if you are starting from scratch – for instance, if you do not have an official logo designed for your brand yet. Once you have a template for the logo, you can incorporate it in all your printed promotional materials.

3. The turnaround time, customer service, quality, and cost.

You also have to consider the costs involved. What’s the price for the minimum number of postcards online that you can order? How fast can they deliver the products? Do they offer quality customer service?

Whether it’s postcards, business cards, or any other printed promotional materials that you need, it is a must to do your research and compare these criteria. This way, you can search for the best professional printing company out there that can deliver the goods – minus the astronomical price.

Let Us Help You Decide on the Material & Finish when Ordering the Best Business Cards

The best business cards may only contain your company name, logo, and contact information – but they are an important representation of what you are all about as a brand. If you will distribute business cards with barely-there print on thin, cardboard material in a plain beige color – do you think that customers will think highly of you? Perhaps not. If you will launch a full-fledged print promotional campaign, you really need to focus on coming up with the best business cards so that your brand can leave a good mark of your brand in the minds of your target audience.

Fortunately, there are many professional printing companies that specialize in business cards. Before contacting one, you need to come up with a business card design. If you don’t already have a logo, have one created for your business. Then, decide which pieces of your contact information must be included on the card. Layout the design, decide on the colors, and make sure that the overall look of the card is a good reflection of your brand.

In terms of material and finish, here are a couple of options that you can choose from:

• Option 1: Paper or plastic?

Paper is the most common material for business cards. You can choose from the standard 14-pt. to something as thick as 32-pt. paper stock. The thicker the card is, the more impressed your customers will be. There are also different laminating effects available for paper business cards, making it a popular option for entrepreneurs and professionals. But if you want to stand out, you can also have plastic business cards made. These are usually made from 20-pt. plastic which has 63% the thickness of a credit card.

• Option 2: Material finish

Next, decide on the finish of the material. For plastic business cards, you can go for see through, frosted plastic, or white plastic. For paper business cards, there are a multitude of options: suede, cotton, brown kraft, silk, premium, pearl, foil stamped, or metallic ink.

The US standard size for business cards is 3.5” x 2”. There is very little space so make sure to maximize it. Pay attention to the smallest details because a typo or a non-sharp image will painfully stand out. By keeping these things in mind, you can have the best-looking business cards printed out for your brand.