Any kind of marketing in an economy that is still sluggishly recovering is not easy. But if you think marketing a profitable business is tough, imagine how hard it is for a non-profit that is completely dependent on donations. Dreams4Kids is one such non-profit that succeeds primarily with email marketing. Their motto is "replacing charity with opportunity," and they do just that by stimulating participation and community involvement.

You have many options available to market and advertise your company. The key is to establish a consistent brand and message that captures the attention of as many potential customers as possible. An integral part of your brand messaging, whether in and around your office/store or at an outside venue such as a trade show, should be well-designed banners and posters.

"Marketing automation" is more than just a buzzword - it is a very real practice that is empowering marketers around the world to accomplish more than ever in a shorter amount of time. At its core, marketing automation is a term used to describe a set of software, technologies, and other platforms that automate marketing on certain channels. These can include e-mail, social media, websites, and more. The idea is that by automating certain repetitive tasks that, while hugely important are also time-consuming, you unlock a host of additional benefits that can't be ignored.

• Can be done in a way that modernizes.
• When Print It Plus creates a carbonless form, we can also create a fillable PDF to be used on your website or for electronic distribution.
• Often companies need the carbonless form as a paper trail… especially for trades people (plumbers, electricians, etc.) to go out with their sales people and/or technicians

If you’ve ever worked a boring booth at a trade show, you’ve most likely been the victim of the “avoiders.” Those passers-by who liken you to Medusa and refuse to look your way for fear of being turned to stone. You notice them by the way they engage actively with booth 1145, take a quick glance at your booth with that lonely poster and brochure, and then, hurriedly walk past you with their eyes carefully averted. After enough of these avoiders, you may start to wish you had some of those smiley-faced, squishy stress-balls to throw at them.

Carbonless forms

• Can be done in a way that modernizes.
• When Print It Plus creates a carbonless form, we can also create a fillable PDF to be used on your website or for electronic distribution.
• Often companies need the carbonless form as a paper trail… especially for trades people (plumbers, electricians, etc.) to go out with their sales people and/or technicians

Recently, a prospective client said they wanted to get customers’ attention through non-traditional marketing using printed products. Who knew that in 2016, the printed word would be considered “non-traditional?” Non-traditional? We’re saying this about a medium that was developed back in the 1400’s by Johannes Gutenberg! While Webster’s (of dictionary fame) mind might be little blown by this reference, when you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Make no mistake about it: a business is more important than any one person. A successful business is truly the sum of its parts. It's a collection of people all working together to form a cohesive whole, helping the business as an entity move forward into the future and accomplish the goals that it has outlined for itself at the same time. Finding the right people to fill the right positions is one important step towards achieving this environment, but it is exactly that – one part. An element that is just as important (but one that far too many business owners fail to pay attention to until it's far too late) comes from the idea that your employees also have to actually enjoy working with one another if your business is going to succeed the way you want it to.

Kids and cats seem to have this well figured out. We’ve all seen or experienced first-hand the joy that kids and cats take in taking an “ordinary box” and making that product packaging into the most exciting plaything of all time. What they are instinctively telling us, without truly understanding for themselves, is this: if the packaging sparks the imagination, it almost doesn’t matter what’s inside.

So now we understand the importance of creating and then following a well-designed yearly marketing plan for your business, as discussed in the 1st blog of this three part series. In this 2nd part of our 3-part blog we give structure to your marketing plan. An unstructured marketing plan will invariably cost your company a fortune as you spend money in areas that are not giving the return on investment needed while not allocating enough funds in areas that could yield much more fruit.

The first thing you need to do is decide on your budget. And the most important aspect of deciding on your budget is: be realistic, but do not be too tight. You may have grand marketing plans for the new year, but if you don’t have the budget set correctly, you will run out of money for marketing long before 2016 ends.

As 2015 draws to a close and we look back and assess the results in our business, we are also looking forward into next year. By this time you should already have your preliminary business and marketing plans for 2016 in place. Of course that is often much easier said than done. But, even if you have your plans in place, having a checklist to make sure you have not missed anything is always a good thing to have.

In marketing, one of the most important terms that you need to keep in mind at all times is "focus." In order to run a successfully executed campaign, you need to remove as much of the superfluous noise from your materials as possible and boil it down to the core essentials. You can't appeal to all people all of the time, which is why focusing on  is so important. Buyer personas are a concept that allow you to do just that in a host of different ways, all of which are beneficial to you and your team moving forward.

As you enter the world of business, you're told time and again that your brand is essentially everything. It's the first encounter that most customers have with your organization and it's your connection to those people, particularly when it comes to establishing the type of meaningful and long-lasting relationship you need to survive. While all of this and more is definitely true, there is one important thing that your brand is NOT: immortal.

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”
– Dr. Christiane Northrup

Have you ever felt under-appreciated? It is unfortunately a common condition in our culture. But, we can do something to combat its ubiquity. Like so many negative influences in our lives, we can turn this around and reverse its influence by doing the exact opposite. Actions may speak louder than words, but some words can have an unforgettable impact.

Marketing materials that you put out into the world aren't just a great way to introduce a new product or service to your target audience. If done properly, they can also be an invaluable way to create a huge amount of buzz and anticipation surrounding an upcoming product or service launch. That can then translate into increased sales when it is eventually ready for release. By keeping just a few, key things in mind, you can use hype to your advantage and build the type of momentum that most businesses can only dream of.

Master the Art of the Tease

One of the major lessons to be learned about building anticipation for a new product or service through marketing is to master the concept of teasing.