Minnesota Printing and Direct Mail Experts
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Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Business Stationery Production Methods
Business Stationery: Digital Printing or Offset Printing…or a combination?
In our experience, most identity packages are 2-3 spot colors and it used to be that every component (letterhead, envelopes, business cards, and labels) was printed via offset printing. Lately, we are seeing a shift in the acceptability of using offset printing for some items and digital printing on others. Digital printing and offset printing do not match perfectly…perhaps they never will. So the deciding factors come down to these 2 things:
*Is the difference either within tolarable ranges, or can the package be designed in such a way to have the differences be an asset?
And
*Budget
2 recent examples of using a combination of digital printing and offset printing:
1. Just yesterday I met with a designer that was assembling an identity package for a customer that has 2 people in their office. Originally, they were only requesting letterhead and business cards, so the designer was considering printing both digitally. (Note – digitally printed letterhead is a whole different subject that I will blog about later.) However, when the client requested various sizes of envelopes as well, it was determined that the letterhead should shift to being printed offset with the envelopes, but the business cards should still print digitally. Factors in the decision included design evaluation (it was determined the end product would be within acceptable ranges) and budget (budget was not tight, but it seemed wasteful to spend the dough where it didn’t need to be spent.)
2. The second example is Highlight’s own stationery package. Our recently re-designed business cards print 4 color digital on the back and 3 color offset on the front. Our letterhead and envelopes will continue to be printed offset. The reasons behind our decision? It will look best produced this way – the 4 color side “pops” a bit more digitally than offset, and it allows us to showcase some of our different capabilites.
These are just a couple examples…with each stationery package it is fun and productive to think these choices through. If you would like to see what we can do for you, we’d be happy to either show you what we have done, or put a sample together specifically for you. Please call us at 612.522.7600 or check out our website @ www.highlightprinting.com
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution.
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovations.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Notepads and Post-It Notes Keep Your Name At Your Propects’ Fingertips
Highlight Printing, a local printer from Minneapolis, MN, has a multitude of marketing tips and tricks…here’s one:
So, how do you stay in constant contact with your prospects and clients, without being a pest? How do you have them start looking to you as a provider of solutions, when they won’t see you or take your call? May I present the simplest solution of all: a pad of Post-It notes or a regular notepad. It is so simple…just give ‘em something they’ll keep on their desk and use…and they’ll see your logo, product, or service every day.
You are almost certainly familiar with Post-It notes, but are you familiar with some of the other new personalized products in the Post-It line? How about:
- Angle Cut Notes
- Die-Cut Notes
- Note Cubes
- Pens and Highlighters with Post-It flags
- Flags, Filing Tabs & Flad Dispensers
- Gift Sets
- Dispensers
- Super Sticky Products
- Lint Sheet Pocket Packs
- Poster Paper (no tape necessary)
How Highlight Printing uses notepads and Post-It notes: In marketing Highlight Printing, we have the same challenges every other company does: getting our propects to see us and listen to us. As part of our strategic market plan, we have assembled a small packet to leave for those folks that don’t have the time to see us when we visit. The packet (it’s just an envelope, really) includes a mini-notepad, a Post-It notepad, and another very cool specialty Highlight product called “Capture Card” (that I will blog about another time), all of which, of course, are slathered in our logo. It works well for us because we get the double effect of showing products we produce. But whether you’re a manufacturer, a software developer, insurance company…whatever, the effect is still the same = keeping your name in front of your client. As a bonus, we have also found that these personalized pad are actually LESS EXPENSIVE than buying Post-It notes from Walmart, so you can use them internally as well…branding throughout your organization, or using them as an internal goal reminder or training reminder…the list is endless. If you would like to see what we can do for you, we’d be happy to either show you what we have done, or put a sample together specifically for you. Please call us at 612.522.7600 or check out our website @ www.highlightprinting.com
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution.
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovations.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Certified Woman Owned Business
Local Minneapolis Printer, Highlight Printing, celebrate WBENC certification
A little background: Highlight Printing, a woman-owned corporation since it’s inception in 1985, had very humble beginnings. It was started by Patty Cameron in her basement in Champlin, MN. She worked hard and eventually it grew to be large enough for her husband Dan and 1 or 2 employees to join her in leased space in Plymouth, MN
Fast forward to 2008 – Lisa Bickford, and her husband Don, have now owned Highlight Printing for 12 years and have experienced tremendous growth. Several of Highlight’s customers – primarily large companies – have vendor diversity initiatives. At their urging, Highlight applied for and was awarded offical Woman Owned Certification from the WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Counsel) in 2007. WBENC is the most widely accepted certifying organization in the US.
Highlight Printing’s experience as a certfied Woman Owned Business: So far, the biggest benefit to certification has been to exisiting customers (“It’s great that you got certified, now we can track “spend” with you”) and the networking within the group itself. It was a rigorous process getting certified – digging up old paperwork to prove that majority ownership and day-to-day operations were managed by a woman. But it has been worth it. I have found my fellow WBENC members to be a great source of networking and sharing of business experience. The educational component and networking events that are driven by our local WBENC chapter have been great experiences as well. If you would like to learn more about my experiences as a certified WBE, or if you’d like to talk about your printing and marketing needs, I would be happy to meet with you. Please call us at 612.522.7600 or check out our website @ www.highlightprinting.com
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution.
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovations.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Offers Unique Marketing Solution
Highlight Printing, a Minneapolis, MN Printer: Producing low quantity full-color pocket folders economically
The pocket folder – what a great way to present materials to a potential new client! Not only does it give you a lot of “real estate” on which to market your product, establish your brand, or convey whatever other message you want, it keeps all of the info you want to give to the recipient contained and orderly…giving you and your sales staff a more polished look.
At most printers, the minimum quantity for pocket folders is 500 or 1000. At Highlight Printing, we have developed a method to quickly and economically produce full-color pocket folders in minimum quantities as low as 5, allowing for personalization of your presentation and low or no inventory. (Of course if higher quantities are what you need, Highlight would be happy to accomodate those orders as well!) Highlight can even help design the folders and everything that goes inside them: sell sheets, samples, business cards, cover letters on letterheads…everything.
How Highlight Printing uses pocket folders: A few of the challenges I have faced in marketing Highlight Printing are: creating a systematic marketing plan, an eye-catching brand, and marketing tools that give my sales force an edge. We have found that pocket folders continue to be a great solution to all of these challenges. Just yesterday we had a “collating party” where a few of us assembled 200 pocket folders with our “brand” splashed all over the folder and filled with samples and a sell sheet listing our capabilities. If you would like to see what we can do for you, we’d be happy to either show you what we have done, or put a sample together specifically for you. Please call us at 612.522.7600 or check out our website @ www.highlightprinting.com
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution.
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovations.
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