If you have an event coming up, here are some guidelines to help you promote it in the best way.

BONUS: Train Your Staff to Get the Most From Your Trade Show Booth

1. What’s your budget?

It’s important to allot a large enough budget to promote upcoming event effectively. It’s always good to have a few different branded visual references at your table. Use these basics as a guideline:

• A table throw: about $179
• A retractable banner: about $249
• At least 1 handout (brochures, postcards): $79
• A Business card: $39

Total: $546

When planning your budget, remember that these promotional materials aren’t a one-time investment. Most of Printing Solutions’ customers reprint their signs and banners only once a year at most. So you can invest a few bucks into something big and high-quality that other marketing material just cannot do.

2. What functionality do you need?

Consider your purpose for attending the event when you plan your promotional materials. Do you want to connect with potential clients, or are you there to look for new companies to partner with? Tailor your materials toward your end goal.

Certain materials are essential regardless of your end goal — you’ll always need a large sign or banner to attract the most attention possible. But if your booth doesn’t include a table front and center, you might want to skip the table throw and put your budget toward more interesting freebies to hand out at the event.

Keep in mind that just because you purchase these materials for a specific event doesn’t mean that they’re useless between trade shows. A lot of wide format printing is very versatile in that you can use it for many different occasions. Once your event is over, displaying your signs or banners in your office or conference room just adds additional branding to your workspace.

3. What products do you already have?

It’s always a good idea to go through your existing supplies before an event and take inventory of what you already have. If you’ve attended trade shows or tabled other events before, chances are you can repurpose some of your existing materials, like table throws, business cards, and banners. But if the materials show signs of wear or are of a low quality, you might want to consider reprinting.

“We take print and see how we can design something specifically for it. The two go together,” says Kristyn Dingman, Printing Solutions’ Director of Marketing. “You can have a high-end retractable banner that has an unattractive graphic on it, or you can have a really solid design of your logo that is printed on a cheap material. The two are essential to one another. Printing on a high-quality material with a high-quality visual is the best route to take.”

If you’re planning your first event and need to start from scratch with promotional materials, our On-The-Go Package was created just for your. It includes over 6 different print marketing options for one price and is a customizable and comprehensive solution to that helps to promote upcoming event.

BONUS: Large Format Printing and What You Are Doing Wrong

For us, the best part of planning any event is seeing the customer’s face light up when we have the display set up in our office for them to pick up. Seeing that end result and the reactions we get are priceless.

Need Help To Promote Upcoming Event?

If you need help planning and to promote upcoming event or trade show, let Printing Solutions help. Give us a call at 480-596-6300 to get started.

The post How Should I Promote My Upcoming Event? appeared first on Printing Solutions.

Fortunately, we know a thing or two about decor here at Printing Solutions. Many of our customers have come to us specifically for help to give their office walls some new life, and we can’t wait to share our best tips with you. Here are five ways to pump up your office with print decor.

BONUS: Custom Vinyl Decals Make Your Walls Talk

1. Window Clings

They say the eyes are windows to the soul, but if you own a business, your windows let eyes see straight into your office.

“Most offices are rented so you can’t throw whatever you want up on the walls, so window clings are a good option,’ says Kristyn Lechwar, Director of Marketing at Printing Solutions. “They are so versatile and you can do so much with them.”

That versatility extends beyond the standard window decals. For a more custom look, Printing Solutions offers several different vinyl options that look great over the entire window. For example, a frosted vinyl with your business’s name cut out of it gives the same feel as a modern frosted glass. But the real frosting on the cake is the fact that achieving the look with vinyl is much more cost effective than purchasing a new pane of glass with etched lettering.

2. Big Banners

Another crowd-pleaser is the heavy, durable kind of banner typically seen at trade shows and job fairs.

“It’s super inexpensive and the print quality comes out really good, so we always suggest that because it’s cost-effective,” Kristyn says.

These banners are made of a material called 13-ounce scrim, and come with metal grommets to reinforce the corners when you hang them up. Another versatile decor choice, these banners are great for hanging on a blank wall in the office, but can also be used at any events you attend as a business.

This sort of versatility also makes it an ideal option for businesses that may be moving offices in the near future. Unlike more permanent lettering options, you can take scrim banners with you when you leave.

3. Canvas

Custom-printed canvas signs are a bold way to liven up your office space and make it more inviting. Canvas gives the same feel as collector art, but is brands and prints to meet your company’s needs.

Canvas prints crisply and has a high-quality finish. And because it’s a three-dimensional product rather than a flat banner, custom-printed canvases really pop on most office walls.

Like banners, canvas pieces are not permanent, which is great for offices whose lease is expiring soon.

“You can move them anywhere in the space, you can put them in the windows, you can put them up front, wherever. If you move, you can take it with you,” Kristyn says.

4. Retractable banners

For offices looking to make a big statement from the moment a customer walks in the door, retractable banners are the way to go, especially during the holiday season.

“You can put that in the front for when people walk in and have it say ‘Happy Holidays’ or something like that,” Kristyn says. Then you can put it away when the season’s over, because you’re only going to have it out for a month.”

Retractable banners are also easy to store when not in use. They fold up really small — about two or three feet by six inches — and each comes with a little bag so you can keep it nice and clean.

You can also switch out those banners throughout the year. Once the winter holidays are over, you can easily change the message to match other seasons.

5. Brochures and Cards for Customers

Another way to make a great first impression is when clients walk in the door is to be sure to have plenty of brochures and business cards ready for them. Pamphlets describing your company’s services, locations, past projects, and more make a nice display in the lobby.

If brochures aren’t your style, you can take a page out of Printing Solutions’ book.

“We have a card that’s specifically for the customer,” Kristyn says. “When you walk in it says ‘Get a Starbucks gift card from us,’ and if you leave us a Google+ review, you get a Starbucks gift card.”

For such a great incentive, it’s a really simple idea. It’s a clean, to-the-point business card just like Printing Solutions does for many of its customers. It simply shares a different message than the traditional business card.

BONUS: Decorate Your Office to Promote and Foster Culture

These are just a few of the ways you can use materials you print to really pump up the decor in your office. For more ideas, or to learn more about our custom and commercial printing services, give Printing Solutions a call at 480-596-6300.

The post 5 Ways to Pump Up Your Office with Print Decor appeared first on Printing Solutions.

At Printing Solutions, we specialize in working with businesses to help them with their printing and design needs. And we’ve noticed that a growing trend has been the adoption of wide format printing by businesses around the country.

BONUS: How to Make Your Large Format Printing Stand Out

What is wide format printing?

Also known as large format printing or grand printing, wide format printing uses rolls of print instead of printing on individual sheets. They’re designed to support maximum print roll width; some machines can do wide scale prints up to widths of 61 inches!

What are the benefits of wide format printing?

Wide format printing is perfect for printing graphics and promotional materials. They can produce much wider images and bolder text than a standard printer, making them ideal for printing banners, posters, wallpaper, stickers, murals, logos, signs and any other materials with visual or graphic-heavy designs.

Wide format printers use UV pigments. These inks are fade-resistant, making large format prints perfect for outdoor use and display in indoor areas with major exposure to sunlight.

The printers use an advanced droplet technology, using a combination of precision ejection and microscopic ink droplets to produce high quality images with astonishing image clarity.

Another advantage that wide format printers have over other printers is their ability to distinguish between text and images. The machines are sensitive to the differences between images and text, creating proper prints with no mix-ups. Never again would you have to worry about blocks of color drowning out your words, or having a few lines of copy mark the surface of a beautifully designed logo.

Wide format printers can also be a cheaper alternative to screen-printing, and can often produce materials of comparable quality.

The machines can also print at a much faster rate than other printers, printing at a speed that a multifunction device or desktop couldn’t hope to match.

BONUS: Why Large Format Printing is the BOMB!

For more tips on how to use wide format printing to enhance your business, give Printing Solutions a call at 480-569-6300.

The post Jump on the Bandwagon with Wide Format Printing appeared first on Printing Solutions.

Colors serve as a sort of non-verbal communicator. As humans, we tend to subconsciously assign certain traits and characteristics to colors, including their shades and hues. Dark red used at a restaurant, for example, can make an entirely different statement than a lighter red would.

Related: Metal Business Cards; The Newest Trend in 2015

To understand what messages colors are sending, consider the following color chart, which lists the emotions, characteristics and ideas each color can portray:

Red

Aggressive, Energy, Excitement. It has been pointed out that restaurants use red to not only stimulate appetite, but also to keep people moving along so there is always room for the next customer.

Blue

Dependable, Safe, Loyalty. Banks and other financial institutions use blue to help portray a safe and steadfast environment. Blue is also often used in uniform design from military to police to security guards.

Green

Growth, Peace, Health. If you are going for a calming feel for your marketing material, use green. People feel more connected and natural with green logos and branding.

Yellow

Happiness, Cheer, Sunshine. You can use yellow to convey optimism and positivity. Women tend to like yellow more than men.

Orange

Playful, Engergetic, Fun. Often used to promote toys and various forms of entertainment. It has been used to express a beginning, like a sunrise.

Purple

Wealth, Sophistication, Royalty. Purple often associates with prosperity and wealth. Many have had success using purple when targeting young women in their teen and pre-teen years.

Pink

Youthful, Sweet, Creative. Perfect color choice when promoting romance or femininity. Used for candy and sweets.

Black

Power, Mystery, Authority. While black is a very powerful color that conveys intelligence and sophistication, it also evokes emotions of death and grieving.

White

Clean, Pure, Safety. Perfect to use for anything health related or with baby products. White can give a feeling of balance and it’s use will convey neutrality.

Related: Information to Include on your Business Cards

When it comes to choosing the right color for your marketing material, it really boils down to what message you are hoping to get across. Do not make the mistake of underestimating your color choices. Carefully consider what it is you want to convey immediately with your marketing material. Remember that color is sending a message whether you want it to or not.

For more questions about color use in marketing material, call Printing Solutions at 480-596-6300.

The post Best Colors to Use in Marketing Materials appeared first on Printing Solutions.

One common mistake made by businesses both young and old, is to focus too much on one particular type of marketing without considering other options.  It can be very easy to stick with your traditional marketing tools while turning a blind eye to new tactics.  On the other hand, new businesses may not realize the value of more traditional strategies, choosing to stick exclusively with new technology.

This dilemma has never been more prevalent than when it comes to print and internet marketing.  Believe it or not, there are still some businesses out there that haven’t taken full advantage of marketing through the internet.  They may dabble with it, but they have yet to realize internet marketing’s true potential.  There are also businesses who have lost faith or interest in print marketing, instead putting all of their eggs into the internet marketing basket.

We’re here to tell you that this is a mistake.  There are some very important and crucial reasons why your print and internet marketing need to be working together.

1. Branding

There’s no way to overestimate brand recognition.  Not only does recognizing a brand play a psychological role in the customer’s decision-making process, but it also gives a more uniformed and professional look to your business.  When you have a consistent presence in both print and online, you give your company a stronger, deeper feel.  If your potential clients or customers are only able to see your brand online, you may be missing out on the true benefits of branding.

2. Double Punch

Not everyone is going to hold onto every piece of mail that comes into his or her office, no matter how well designed it is or what the special offer may be.  Similarly, every business has potential customers who may never once visit their website or read an email.  However, a printed mailer might be just memorable enough so that when your customer happens to see a PPC ad soon after, the combined effort turns into a sale.  When print marketing and online advertising compliment each other, the results can be very profitable.

3. Reach

Some businesses are simply losing out on potential growth and sales because they aren’t considering what their reach is.  They might overlook important internet marketing tools such as social media because they don’t believe people who would buy their product or service use social media.  Others refuse to send out mailers thinking they’ll all end up in the trash.  We’re not suggesting that every social media add or mailer will be 100% successful, but you could be missing out by not having them work together.

When it comes to finding the right marketing tools for your business, be sure to talk with the experts at Printing Solutions.  Let’s discuss options that will work for you.

The post Why Your Print and Internet Marketing Need to be Working Together appeared first on Printing Solutions.

Our advice to small businesses is to stop viewing print and online marketing as mutually exclusive of one another and start seeing them as two pieces of a larger puzzle.

Through flyers, postcards, and sell sheets, you can target traffic to a specific domain. Here’s how it works:

How to Use Printed Products to Drive More Online Traffic

Step #1: Design an Eye-Catching Printed Product

It’s important to create a clean and sophisticated design that people’s eyes will instantly be attracted to. Believe it or not, design can influence your customers’ behaviors in both negative and positive ways.

Related: The Importance of Design

Step #2: Keep Text Sparse

Don’t overload your printed product with tons of information. Remember, the purpose of this particular printed piece is to drive traffic to a specific webpage. Thus, you’ll want to include only essential information with one clear call to action.

Step #3: Choose a Domain to Target

There are tons of webpages a business might want to drive traffic to. Some type of pages include:

• Event page
• Product/service page
• Client testimonial
• Launch page

The advantage of using print to direct traffic to a specific webpage is that you can target a whole new audience. While some customers may find the page through search engines, your printed marketing material can capture an audience that otherwise might have been excluded.

In conclusion, get help creating print marketing materials by giving Printing Solutions a call at 480-596-6300. We provide printing services that will work in conjunction with your online marketing efforts and as stand alone pieces.

The post Use Printed Products to Drive More Online Traffic appeared first on Printing Solutions.

Related: A Guide to Creating the “Wow” Factor

But when you really want to shine brighter and bigger than everyone else, consider skipping the business cards and custom envelopes and invest in a step and repeat banner instead.

You’ve probably seen these backdrop banners at events, parties, or conferences, but you’ve never seen them they way we create them. Ten feet long by 8 feet tall and branded from top to bottom with your logo (or logos) repeated in a step or diagonally alternating pattern, these massive banners are sure to attract all kinds of attention if designed correctly.

A proper step and repeat banner should always be:

1. Colorful and

2.  Eye-catching

If you include these two elements, you’ll have a beyond cool banner that people will flock to based on the design alone.

So what exactly is the purpose of step and repeat banners? Well, like most banners, many use them for promotional purposes. They create them specifically for photo opportunities at media events, press conferences and red carpet functions. As your guests snap pictures in front of your banner and share their images on social media, your logo is in front of every one of their friends, followers and subscribers. In short, step and repeat banners guarantee a way to shine a spotlight on your company, both literally and figuratively.

More Questions About Step And Repeat Banners?

Call 480-596-6300 to get your step and repeat banner, and get on your way to earning hall of fame status.

The post Banners With Star Potential appeared first on Printing Solutions.

One thing that both Printing Solutions and bosses of all types can agree upon is the value of posters. Like Printing Solutions, bosses know that posters are an extremely visible way to display important information. That’s why you’ll see offices covered in them. After all, how many times have you stopped in your tracks because of a well made, beautifully designed poster?

Read on for a list of all the different ways bosses use posters, and how you can use them, too – boss or no boss.

Uses for Posters

1. As a music play bill

2. To promote upcoming events

3. As a form of advertising

4. To feature a special service

5. To display a company’s values or vision

6. To announce a contest

7. To direct people

Printing Solutions knows a thing or two about printing for business, and we’re happy to share our insights with you…all without making you sit through a boring power point presentation. Just give us a call at 480-596-6300 and we’ll gladly talk shop with you.

When it comes to print companies in Scottsdale, AZ, good bosses (and employees) know that Printing Solutions is the only place to go for professional posters and more.

The post 7 Things About Posters Your Boss Wants You To Know appeared first on Printing Solutions.

Materials used to create retractable banners offer durability, strength, and stability. They are produced in various sizes and banners are generally made from such materials as synthetic fiber, paper, vinyl and PVC. The stands are made with high quality materials such as aluminum or fiberglass metal that are quick and easy to assemble. The retractable feature is important because once rolled up and stored inside the base, banners are protected against tears and scratches during transport. This ensures that they are ready for use over and over again. The simplicity of attaching a pole to the base, pulling your banner up from the base and locking in place at the top is very appealing to many marketers.

The large surface area on retractable banners is ideal for promoting a captivating message along with a strong call-to-action. Many use colorful graphics along with visual aids to attract the attention of crowds of people. Many companies and organizations successfully use retractable banners in their marketing campaigns. You can easily print high quality digital photographs, artwork and text right on the banners according to specific client needs. Colors, graphic size and location, the right image to place, all these issues require professional knowledge, so you can have a powerful and well-designed portable display.

While trade shows offer the perfect arena to display retractable banner stands, their ability to convey a message to your audience at a minimal cost means they can be used in many other ways as well. Statistics show that companies that choose the unique designs available with retractable banner stands make their display stand out from the competition. Viewers find them more attractive and often draw to them over other methods of display.

Printing Solutions offers more than 40 different types of retractable banners. For purposes of example, here are a few “outside the box” ways to use your retractable banner stands.

Wayfinder

You can use banner stands to point the way or direct traffic. You can even let people know what is coming up and where it is.

Advertisement

Most people traditionally use banner stands to advertise a sale, a product or service, or a business. So go with it. Let the passerby know what you are doing and selling with an easy to use banner stand.

Piece Of Art

Many businesses can use a banner stand in their vestibule or waiting area. Banner stands can carry a variety of messages from company announcements to the company mission statement. They can even announce the latest awards handed out to the company or employee team. This is a great way to extend the use of a banner stand that may only schedule for a trade show.

Exterior Display

When not in use at an event, why not place outside your business so that the person passing by the office realizes you are there. This is an easy way to advertise with an existing marketing piece that could be collecting dust in a closet. You also have the advantage of not having a permanent outdoor display which can cost quite a bit if you need to change the message.

Drawing interest to your company and its offerings is an important tactic for any business. Regardless where you use retractable banners, you can be sure that you will capture the attention of those around. This will contribute to the long term success of your organization.

The post Your Brand on the Go, Roll Out the Possibilities appeared first on Printing Solutions.

By clicking the link below, you will have the opportunity to download an exclusive guide to what we do everyday for our clients. You will learn some industry terms, the difference between paper types, various coatings, how specific colors can affect your printing, how to correctly setup your artwork and even some specific marketing strategies.

We do not claim to be experts in marketing, but we do realize the importance of consistent branding in your marketing and will support whatever strategy you choose. We may offer some suggestions along the way, however the final decision is ultimately yours. On the other hand, we do know a few things about printing, so if all that you learn from reading this guide is a more effective way to print the same thing you have been printing for years – then we have helped you just a little bit. And that is ultimately our goal.

As many of you know by now our company philosophy is – “We believe in communicating passion and making an emotional connection.” With an effective, well planned print marketing strategy you can absolutely let your target market know that you are passionate about what you do – and that will ultimately serve you well in the long run. Brand recognition is vital to survival in today’s fast paced business world, and consistent communication of that brand can speak volumes. Whether you choose business cards, brochures, door hangers, banners, booklets or trade show displays to market with – the specific product itself is not what sells your business. It is the message you pass along and the way in which it is presented.

We like to think that reviewing this guide will help you to become more knowledgeable, more informed and more prepared for your next printing project.

In the future this guide will be offered on our website as a value add-in for those wishing to subscribe to our newsletter. However, if you are reading this blog and received our most recent newsletter, you are very likely already a subscriber so we are offering this to you here as a special gift. Our way of saying thanks for your loyalty and being part of our family.

The post The Print + Design Guide appeared first on Printing Solutions.