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Here are a few key tricks to successfully submitting text, artwork and graphics to a printer: Text should be 3/8” in set from all edges and folds. If ink bleeds off the page, your file should have any “bleed” items extend beyond the edge of the sheet by 1/8”. Photo resolution should be at least […]

Finding a good value can make your business’s struggle to survive in a turbulent economy just a little bit easier – not to mention save you a considerable amount of money in the long run. These days your budget must go farther than ever; however many people don’t consider pruning printing costs as a way […]

Now that you understand the basics of printing, it’s time to find the right printer for your business. First, evaluate exactly what your business needs are. Will you need a printer for frequent jobs? Is there a certain type of printing request you will need on an on-going basis? Regardless of what your particular printing […]

Author or Customer Alterations (AA, CA’s)- Changes made after the proof stage where a customer is responsible for additional charges. Binding- Various methods of securing folded sections together and or fastening them to a cover, to form single copies of a book. Used on a spine. Bleed- Extra ink area that crosses the trim line. […]

While some printing orders, such as flyers and customer order forms, will be one page, others will be several pages or certain shapes that will require folding the paper in various ways to achieve the desired effect. Here are a few tips to make the process simpler for you and your printer: It will be […]

First think about the intended use of your print material. Consider whether the project will be one-use only or is it for example, reference material and will need to stand up to repeated handling. Job performance varies greatly between paper varieties. See and feel different samples in person, if possible. Talk to your printer about […]

Gone are the days when black, white and gray reigned in the printing industry. Today, advanced technology and a desire by businesses for visual impact have made color king. Businesses often use color in their print materials as a way to project their desired image, look more professional, to gain interest from consumers and to […]

Computers have influenced every part of business, and many business owners may use computer programs in lieu of hiring a professional graphic designer. If you are planning to design your print materials yourself, keep the following tips in mind as you complete your project. *Computer screen colors appear in RGB (red, green, blue) format. RGB […]

Procrastination. It’s the black-eyed monster that none of us can actually manage to avoid. The bump in the road gleefully looking for new victims. The Toon Town cement wall that hops around at will, just waiting for unsuspecting passersby. The question isn’t whether or not you procrastinate. I think all of us have put off […]

Unless you’re lucky enough to live in a tower far far away from the quibbles of men, you’re going to have to share space. Specifically, you’re going to have to share your workspace. The one that you sit in, eight hours a day five  days a week, sometimes more. The one that, when you do […]

Everyone has choices. Do you get up in the morning, or hit the snooze one more time? Do you eat the egg white omelet or the Pop Tart for breakfast? Do you take chances, or do you play it safe and try to avoid thinking about “What Might Have Been”? A friend of mine sent […]

Have you paid a visit to Planet SARK lately? No, that’s not a weird, random sci-fi reference, although those of you who’ve met me know that I’m guilty of those from time to time. Planet SARK is a place of growth, renewal, creativity, exhuberance and yes, at times, just plain silliness. On Planet SARK, there […]

Wondering what the latest and greatest is in the wide, wonderful world of 3-D printing? Check out what researchers at Cornell University (yes, the same people who figured out how to print actual chocolate desert) are doing with silicone these days.

The expansion of cookie cutter “businesses in a box” that’s been sweeping the nation lately is bad for business, in more ways than one. Not only does it convince average citizens without a clue about what they’re doing that they can become overnight Internet millionaires, it leaves the average business owner staring around with a […]

How much junk mail pops up in your mailbox each week? I’m not talking about the carefully edited pile of mail your secretary lays on your desk every morning. Or the pile that mysteriously pops up from the mailroom the minute your back is turned. I’m talking about the growing mountain of paper that you […]

Ever wonder why it doesn’t matter how hard you beg, bribe or threaten your employees, they just can’t seem to get the job done the way you want them to? Earlier this week I stumbled across an interesting article on employee motivation. Okay, I can’t really say “stumbled”. More like, “Was beaten over the head […]

I’d like to say I have something witty and clever to start today with, but I don’t. Which means it’s definitely time for a sharp shot of Tuesday inspiration with this beautiful commercial featuring an ordinary young woman who used her talents and the love of her mentor to do something truly extraordinary.

School’s right around the corner. All that slacking you’ve done all summer? All those days you spent flying around by the seat of your pants? That’s done. Fin. Finis. Time to get back to living life by your to-do list and become the man with the plan. If you’ve been coasting along on your old […]

“No honey, we can’t get business cards for the cats!” These words cheerfully greeted me from my computer screen when I staggered out of bed to check up on what happened on Twitter last night. The first thing I did was laugh (really, really hard) at the mental picture of what my three furry feline […]

Liposuction. I still haven’t figured out if it’s a dirty word, still spoken in hushed tones by Hollywood starlets who don’t want to admit they’re slowly creeping into old age, or if technology and the advent of reality television have made it the next best thing to a household word. Stefanie Wilder Taylor got me […]

1) It will usually be viewed as an informal party, and should always be accompanied by food. 2) If done too often, employees will begin sluffing off on Friday, because they know they’re going to have to make up the time on Saturday anyway and they need to enjoy their weekend while they can. (This […]

Yesterday we talked about essential iPad apps for mobile designers. I had so many people touch base with me about their favorite apps and the sheer awesomeness of taking th eiPad out on the road that I thought I’d stop in and mention 8 more insanely awesome iPad apps for design professionals.

An updated look at the 8 best iPad apps for today’s graphic designer.

The best thing about summer is, for me, the amount of it I get to spend out on the road. I LOVE to travel, to scope out new sights, to visit family I haven’t seen in forever. Last week we took a road trip to see my parents out in Connecticut (and pick up a […]

First things first: If you’re out on Twitter, I want to know why you haven’t come by to see me yet. Hanging out in the Twitterverse has sparked some great conversations with fellow printers, including this one about what it’s like to be a woman in printing and where the biggest challenge lies.

What sets a business apart? Seriously? Awesome products? Well, yeah. A fun, unique approach to their industry? Of course. But you know why consumers are still doing business with little mom and pop shops when there’s a major supplier of just about everything out there, and the Internet is available to conveniently bring it to […]

There are many things in this life that we have the privilege of taking for granted in my little corner of the world. Like the fact that I can be a woman and run a business and nobody thinks anything of it. I can let my kids go outside to play without having to worry […]

How many times have you caught yourself walking around the singing, “I’m the Map, I’m the Map, I’m the Map, I’m the Map” for hours on end after that morning’s episode of Dora the Explorer? That cheerful, repetitive voice can play over and over in your head, all day long. The next time you’re in […]

Specialization may be a way of setting yourself apart from the competition. It’s also a creative way to shoot yourself in the foot-and, eventually, right out of business.

In honor of the men and women who have sacrificed time with their families, a hot meal on their plates, a safe place to sleep and, ultimately, their lives in the defense of the freedom of this country, I’m going to bow my head in silence. In the silence, I would like to share the words of the immortal Mary Frye in “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”, a poem that’s touched my heart and offered comfort in the dark places as we say goodbye to those who gave everything they had in the support of everything they believed. Bless you all

Printing testimonials is a great way to build your company’s reputation and inspire confidence in potential customers. Ignoring your testimonial etiquette, however, is a great way to ruin what was shaping up to be a beautiful relationship.

Part 4 of a 10 part series on increasing your productivity.

Part Three of a ten part series on maximizing your productivity.

Part Two of a ten part series on maximizing your productivity.

The first in a ten part series on maximizing your productivity.

When it comes to listing your social media contact info on your brochure, do you simply say ‘Find us on Facebook’? Guess what? You’re doing it wrong.

Now that Spring has (finally) decided to make an appearance, it’s time to start talking about outdoor events your company’s planning on hosting if you haven’t already…and how you’re planning to promote them.

Do you ever have the sneaking suspicion that given the opportunity (and the right set of teeth) your to-do list would happily chew you up and spit you back out? Hey, I’ve been there. I think anyone who’s ever dipped their toes into the deep pool of business, marketing, printing and any other fast-paced, rapidly […]

Links to free, printable, Easter-themed coloring sheets for kids to keep you sane over spring break!

Take a marketing lesson from our congressman and get straight to the heart of the matter. Let your visuals speak for themselves. Let yourself be speechless.

Between selling baby formula in Africa, where potable water is a problem and a large percentage of the nation struggles with literacy, to packing and shipping out padded bikini tops for Tweens, the argument over who carries the ethical responsibility in these cases rages one.

Time to take a moment and look back over other top blogs in printing, marketing and graphic design through the week!

I’d like to take today to talk about one of my favorite clichés-that you can’t judge a book by its cover. When you’re talking about getting to know the people around you, you’re absolutely right. When you’re talking about whether or not to pick up the book sitting on the shelf…well, that can be a […]

What’s the most important thing you put on your business cards? We all grew up with the cut and dried template of the perfect business card dangled in front of our faces. The one that listed our name, our company, our job title and our company information. Back when there were only a handful of […]

With the huge amount of information available on the Internet these days, marketing professionals have a new hill to climb they’ve never had to deal with before. They need to decide whether they’re going to inform their customers or entertain them to get the best return on their investment. Doctors often lament the over abundance […]

There are a ton of sites out there that offer stock photos for business, bloggers and designers, but very few of them offer them for free. That can leave you wondering if it’s worth the cash to buy the photo or if you should keep hunting around for an image that isn’t going to take […]

Welcome to National Autism Month! April 1st marked the beginning of National Autism Month and “Light It Up Blue”, sponsored by Autism Speaks and designed to spread autism awareness to men, women and children who aren’t living with autism. In the spirit of National Autism Month I’ve scoured the web and put together a collection […]

I’ve heard it said that print marketing isn’t as important a part of the marketing mix as it used to be. I can’t argue with that. Not really. The Internet is opening a whole new horizon for marketers to break past people’s natural resistence to marketing messages. Print publications are slipping to the wayside in […]

Did you know your business cards were whispering behind your back? Telling your customers things that you’d really rather they didn’t hear?

Sometimes the answers to life’s most pressing questions are hiding in the most unexpected places. In this case, we’re talking about the 1,140 bears living in cages throughout South Korea, waiting for their gall bladders to be harvested for use in traditional Asian remedies. In the photos below, the Teddy Bear Museum in South Korea […]

What do you know about DPI? The abundance of the Internet is leaving marketing professionals and designers from around the world struggling to balance the differences between designing for the web and designing for print, designing for a corporate image or designing for personal use, and balancing the issue of DPI for all of the […]

Maybe branding isn’t the term you’re looking for when finding a way to translate yourself and your business into a tangible entity through printing. Maybe what you should be focusing on is finding your coda.

Take a lesson from the big leagues in brand consistency and making your print campaign a solid home run.

Cornell University develops the first 3-D food printer.

Have you ever wondered what it is that drives perfectly sane people to climb over each other, throwing hard, sharp objects at anyone unfortunate enough to get between them and the celeb who’s up on stage at the Oscars?

As we celebrate the birthday of one of America’s most beloved children’s authors, the man who gave us Horton Hears a Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat, it seemed only right to celebrate with a collection of quotes from Dr. Seuss himself.

The average consumer sees 5,000 advertising messages each and every day, both online and off. They have a life. They’re not going to take the time to read them all. If you want them to listen, you need to write a headline that’s going to give them a reason.

Using mainstream marketing to sell your products is like skydiving with a pillowcase. Yeah, there’s a slim chance you’ll land in just the right spot for somebody to save your bacon. But I wouldn’t count on it. It’s far more likely you’re going to spend a lot of money to enjoy that giant splat at the end.

Need a smile? A quick shot of inspiration? Quotable quotes in business, marketing and printing.

I was sad to get up this morning and find out that Borders, the second biggest bookstore in the country, was considering filing for bankruptcy. Yes, I know it probably puts me a little behind on the times-but really, with news like this who wants to know any sooner than you have to? This is […]

99% of journalists expect companies to have and maintain an online newsroom. 95% of those expect to see photos, company background and product information while they’re there. What does that mean for you and your company?

Time and tide wait for no man. Neither do trends in text alignment when it comes to your printing projects, leaving businesses agonizing about the best way to line up their words when designing their printed materials. A look at how to choose the right text alignment for the best results on your project.

It’s easy to see how you play the entertainment card when you’re filming a video. You’ve got action on your side. But if you’re going to do business with this new brand of customer, you need to entertain as well as inform in all aspects of your marketing campaign-including your offline marketing materials.

10 great print design posts from graphic designers around the web.

4 marketing secrets that will help you drum up business in your neighborhood without turning into the guy that everybody loves to hate!

Employee call-outs reach all time highs through cold and flu season. Indoor working environments and the need to be right on top of each other in the morning coffee machine huddle send the germs flying. Kids haul everything but the kitchen sink home from school (and we can’t verify that wasn’t there either). If you’re […]

If you want to get your point across when printing your posters, you need to rip those rose-colored glasses off

Murals. Collages. Massive collections of images meant to divert the eye quickly from one image to the next. Great when you’re putting pictures on your living room wall, not so good when you’re printing posters for your latest marketing campaign.

Snow might not be enough of a reason to keep your customers in, but it is enough of a reason to make sure they’re not happy about it! Here are four ways to keep your customers smiling this winter.

“The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.” Oscar Wilde We’ve all stared in awe at amazing 3-D sidewalk art, or a breathtaking photograph, or a building that’s obviously off the beaten path. Way off the beaten path. Envy abounds. Who are these creative geniuses? They’re you. All right, so they’re not really […]

Apple is the hottest thing on the news these days. With that in mind, we thought we’d take a minute or 3 and look at the 10 hottest iPad apps on the market and how business owners are using them to power their marketing campaign (or could be using them, if they’d just get past that whole prejudice about actually working at work…)

The Internet is the new global frontier for today’s marketers. Between Twitter, LinkedIn, Four Square, Facebook, Second Life, blogging, Friendster…well, I could keep going on, and on, and on, but I won’t. I think it’s enough to say that there’s no shortage of social media options out there for you and your company, and if […]

Uh oh. I realized this morning that this post didn’t post, but was instead sitting around taking up space in my drafts folder. My fault? Probably. So many buttons, so little time. To everyone that stopped by on Friday to catch up on the ins and outs of the color green…please let me live! And […]

Walk up to a psychologist or an interior designer and ask them about the color yellow. Go ahead. I dare you. 9 times out of 10 they’re going to tell you that an abundance of yellow is over-stimulating. It should be used as a secondary color at best. Are they right? Yes…and no. How much […]

I’m going to step aside from our regularly scheduled blog posts to wish everyone a happy, happy holiday-and tell you to tune back in after the holidays, when we’ll pick back up with our conversation on choosing the colors for your marketing campaign this winter. That’s right all, I’m flying south for the winter-but only […]

Printing Holiday Party Invitations Yesterday marked the first holiday party of the year here at East Ridge Printing-sort of. Actually, it was more of a southern barbeque fiesta in honor of the holidays done potluck style, but it definitely marked the beginning of the holiday season for all of us. It also got us thinking […]

How to use our natural response to visual stimuli to create direct mail marketing pieces that zing.

Have you ever noticed how many different versions of each type of software are on the market today? When sending an Office document you have to find out which version the recipient has or save it as a compatible file. Incompatible files look like they’ve been written in hieroglyphics. Imagine working in a professional printing […]

The 411 on holiday cards for business and family: Where to get them, why you should send them and how to make them work for your business.

What would possess a perfectly sane human being to get up and tap dance on top of their desk in the middle of the day? That’s the secret. And it’s a secret you want to master if you’re going to master the ins and outs of marketing success.

When you’re knee deep in digital printing projects all day long, it’s easy to forget that not everyone is going to know whether they should go with digital printing or bob and weave to the sounds of a traditional offset press. With that in mind, and the sound of the digital printer whirring in my ear, I thought I’d kick off the week with a quick run-down of the pros and cons of digital printing.

There’s a lot of stiff competition for parts, roles and modeling gigs. That’s never changed. What has changed over the years are the ways these models and actors are making a first impressions Stellar performances count. Stellar performances accompanied by a killer ZED card are the keys to closing the deal.

Update your mailing list. Update your mailing list. Update your mailing list. Take the words, set them to the tune of “MMMBop”, and you’d have the theme song for today’s direct mail marketing industry. (Seriously. Try it. It works. Eerily well.) Updated mailing lists are important to make sure your direct mail marketing materials are […]

Mother Nature had the right idea long before anyone ever heard of business, branding or multi-channel marketing.

2 excellent reasons to take the time to send Christmas cards to your clients.

Sesame Street’s Grover does his best impression of the Old Spice guy as we learn the word “on”.

“Run like you stole it” is the relay runner’s motto, encouraging them to get their feet moving faster. The question is, what does that mean? And how can you use it, even if you’ve never strapped on a pair of running shoes in your life?

With the launch of Sports Program Printing.com we’re finally getting the chance to do something we’ve been dying to do since budget cuts all but obliterated the sports programs of area schools: Give Booster Clubs the tools they need to close the gap between the budget they have and the cash they need.

When your business is the predator all the little fishies fear, you never have to worry about being run out of town. But what happens when your business becomes the megatooth shark that’s gobbling up all the other fish in your life?

Stay tuned for the world’s best examples of why you need to research and proofread your business marketing materials before you send them to print.

How printer savvy are you? Do you know the difference between RGB and CMYK?

How much is too much? What fishing can teach us about the art behind small business marketing.

Knowing Google came out with another incredible piece of technology that people are going to be talking about for the next month isn’t exactly news. We almost expect it from them these days! What is news is what Google Instant can teach you about giving your customers what they really want from your business.

Peanut Butter and Jelly. Romeo and Juliet. Apples and Bananas. Pizza and Pepperoni. Spaghetti and…well, you get the picture. Some things were just meant to be together…just like direct mail marketing and social media.

When you made your website, you made it with those sharp contrasts and brilliant colors in mind. You made it so that it was designed to stand out in the crowd and entice people to stop by and take a look. You made it so that it would appeal to the visual senses of your consumer. That’s precisely what you need to do with your offline direct mail marketing materials.

How many passionless commercials have you sat through over the years? If the advertising companies are doing their job, the answer to that should be…none. And that’s a lesson we should carry with us into every aspect of our small business marketing.

Not only are people sill reading circulars like newspapers and magazines, they’re more likely to trust what they have to say.

Studies show that today’s marketer has exactly three seconds to convince their audience to listen to what they have to say. That’s right. Three. Not thirty, not ten. Three. If you haven’t hooked their attention by then, your direct marketing materials are going in the trash and your customer has moved on to someone else’s marketing materials-and if that someone else knows the secret of how to write zingy headlines, they’re going to give that someone else their business.

Before you start a blog you need to figure out what it is you want to do with it to make sure that each time you sit down and write a blog, you’re blogging for all the “write” reasons. The same rule applies when you’re writing copy for your offline marketing materials.

Here’s a look at how your company can take its marketing plans from inspiration, to innovation, to implementation.

Since I know most of you don’t sit around stalking market research blogs, and that anyone involved in sales, branding, customer service or any marketing position absolutely HAD to see what he had to say, I’m going to keep my own input short and sweet today and recommend you shoot on over to Joel’s blog to find out if your brand has a cold, wet nose!

Nowhere is it written that you shouldn’t work on pumping up your word of mouth marketing campaign and referral process just because it’s stepped onto Facebook and Twitter (and the rest of the digital world) instead of hanging out by the street corner. Word of mouth is great! If someone’s willing to stop talking about themselves long enough to start talking about you, you know you’re doing something right.

The question is, how do you get your customers moving in that general direction? Here are 11 tips to help you light a fire under your word of mouth marketing campaign. Just make sure you’re braced for impact!

Why 72 DPI Website Graphics Just Don’t Make the Grade for Your Printed Marketing Materials If someone told you that there was a completely free resource sitting right at your fingertips that could provide enough unique graphics to fuel your marketing campaign for, oh, say, the rest of forever, what would you tell them? I […]

Whether you’re overscheduled, haven’t mastered the more intricate components of effective time management or simply fall prey to distractions from the time you get up to the time you go to bed, if you’re constantly ending your day with a to-do list that’s longer than the one you started with it’s time to step back, re-evaluate, and put these simple principles into play to help you crank your productivity into overdrive.

We see small business owners, educators and non-profit organization volunteers walk through our front doors all the time. In the past few weeks, however, we’ve done a belly flop straight into the deep end of the proverbial networking pool. Why? Because being a good neighbor is about more than keeping our noise pollution down. It’s about taking care of the people and businesses around us.

Are you drowning under the weight of all of your choices for small business marketing materials?

When you’re talking about employee burnout an ounce of prevention is DEFINITELY worth a pound of cure! The question then becomes, what causes burnout? And how do you stop it before it gets started?

I think it’s pretty safe to say that we know printing, don’t you? After all, we’ve been doing it for 70+ years! Over the years we’ve done our homework, talked to our customers and discovered the horrifying truth behind commercial printing. Before they came to us, way too many of our customers were getting scammed […]

You know those billboards downtown that just grab your eye and won’t let go? Have you ever looked and wondered, “Why can’t I come up with something like that”? We’ve all had those moments. Even the most talented designers in the world take a look at the country’s hottest advertisements and say, “Why didn’t I […]

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Can personalization ever be overdone? 64% of US/UK consumers say no-and that today’s marketers aren’t up to snuff.

I know I said we were going to take a look at securities and non-disclosures today. I can hear the screams of outrage emanating from everyone who tuned in today to fine-tune their paperwork! Don’t worry, we’ll be back with that tomorrow. This morning, however, I stumbled across the video embedded below and felt it […]