Marketing ~ Creating Postcards, E-Cards, Calendars, Etc.

[Debbie Green Sutherland]

Merlyn posted a Pointed Tassel valance in the Popular Valance thread, which gave me a great idea to use the window she did as a Halloween e-card. Notice the holdbacks too cute!!

There are a lot of Halloween e-cards available but none with custom window treatments. What a great way to keep your name in front of your clients and promote products from your company. Download the file, add your company name, address, phone # etc. you can even change the window treatment if you like then email it to your clients.

The best thing about this idea is it is free and most of the work is done for you. Just another way Studio pays for itself!

Merlyn what about e-cards for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year?

[Merlyn]

Thanksgiving E-Card

Taking the hint from Debbie, I created this Happy Thanksgiving card for anyone who would like to use it, whether as is, or with your own window treatment design. It's in jpeg format so anyone can download and paste it directly in an email.

[Merlyn]

Re: Holiday E-Cards

Get an early start --here's one which can be used for general holiday greetings or as a Christmas card. There's no message, create your own with a text box.
I made two versions: one has red damask draperies and swags, the other has lavender gray treatments with Thibaut toile wallpaper. Both feature French doors with a balcony overlooking the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

[Merlyn]

Valentine's Day

Must be time for another E-Card from Studio!

Happy Valentine's Day to you and those you hold dear!

[Merlyn]

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A little early, but you might want to send this in an email to your clients/friends next week.

An eyebrow window with goblet pleated curtains in a sheer shamrock print, overlooking a thatched cottage somewhere in the Emerald Isle...

[Merlyn]

Happy Spring!

Some little primroses to cheer you! We still have snow here in New England, but Spring truly is on its way....

[Merlyn]

Happy Easter!

More snow today, can you believe it?? but Easter is Sunday and that must mean it is indeed Spring!

jpeg for anyone to save
download for 2.0 users

[Casey Green]

Postcards

If you are thinking of a way to do a marketing piece, this is what I quickly came up with for the front of a postcard. Postcards are great because:

1. The customer will see what you are saying without having to open an envelope (which might get thrown away otherwise)
2. They are a little less when you are paying for postage.
3. If you do a large postcard (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") it is more likely to stand out in the mail pile.

One thing to keep in mind is a customer usually has to see your name (postcard, ad, etc.) at least eight times before contacting you. You might consider trying to send out a postcard quarterly along with an email newsletter. Email is a very inexpensive way to contact your customers. In the email, you could feature a "design of the month" and describe a job you just completed. Include before picture, Studio rendering, and an after picture to really wow your potential customers. (Remember, the photographs should look professional, not like you just snapped a picture of the room.) Other ideas is to flag your customers to mail or email a birthday card, holiday card (like below), thank you for your business card, just to name a few.

One final tip for advertising is when you install the treatment, always provide your customer with their Studio sketch printed on photo paper. This is a keepsake that they will show their friends which will in turn create new customers by way of referrals!

[Casey Green]

Postcards

I was just emailed a question that I thought everyone might like to hear the answer.

Question:
How do I go about printing my own postcards?

Answer:
Our company uses a local commercial printer. However, I found a few on-line services that prints postcards. I have never used any of these companies, so I can not speak about their services except for what I found on the Internet. You can create your own design according to the specifications on their website, upload the design & they will print postcards for you.

How To Create The Postcard:
Use Studio to design the postcard then export the image as a .jpg since they can print postcards from the .jpg image.

Vista Print: (click here for website)

Overnight Prints: (click here for website)

Printing for Less: (click here for website)

Local Commercial Printers:
Another option is to get out the phone book and call a few local commercial printers.

[Casey Green]

Postcard Template

I created a postcard template in Studio so that you can add your own information & images.

1. Postcard Size: 8.64" x 5.59" but includes the bleed margin. Bleed: Printing that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming so the print will not have a white border around it.
2. Color: This is a 4 color print. Four-color Process Printing: Technique of printing that uses black, magenta, cyan and yellow to simulate full-color images. Also called color process printing, full color printing and process printing. This is the most expensive way to print but it allows you to use any colors you desire in your renderings.
3. This .mms file includes a .jpg background so you will design on top of the image.
4. I protected the background so that it can not be accidentally moved.
5. Don't design outside of the Guidelines. I put guidelines there to give you a little print margin. This might have to be adjusted depending on the printer. (You don't want to have your text cut off.)
6. I would recommend sending this file to a printer (before you do much work) to make sure they will be able to work with the file. Remember, the printer will not be able to work with the .mms file so you must export it as a .jpg.

If you create your own postcard, I encourage you to post so that others can see!

[Casey Green]

Postcard - Text inside the star...

I just received another great question that I wanted to share...

Question:
On the postcard, how do you get the text inside the star to be different size fonts & styles like the one you created in your example?

Answer:
Each word should be in a separate text box. That way you can change the size, style or type of font without all the words in the sentence changing.

[Merlyn]

Re: Marketing - Creating Postcards, E-Cards, Calendars, Etc.

your avatar is looking awesome, Laureen....

another way to jazz up your marketing materials is to get creative with your text. Click on the link below (hundreds of fonts) for some really cool designs.

In the August Design Challenge thread http://www.minutesmatterstudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1068&highlight=fonts, I mentioned downloading new fonts. Kim Komando offers these instructions in her 9/28 newsletter:

Installing new fonts is a breeze

I downloaded some fonts to the My Documents folder. How do I install them so I can use them?

Installing fonts in Windows XP is easy. However, you need to know where to look for the options. Also, you could encounter problems if you don't install them correctly.
Many fonts are distributed as zip files. This means they've been compressed for quicker download times. Zip files have a .ZIP extension; the icon is a folder with a zipper on one side.
If your fonts are zipped, you must unzip them first. Right-click the file and select Extract All. A wizard opens; it will walk you through the process of unzipping the file.
Once the fonts are unzipped, you're ready to install them. Click Start>>Control Panel and double-click Fonts. Click File>>Install New Font. Use the folder list at the bottom to navigate to the fonts. The fonts will appear in the top of the window.
Highlight the fonts you would like to install. To select more than one, hold down the Ctrl key as you click the fonts.
Make sure "Copy fonts to Fonts folder" is selected. This helps ensure that you won't accidentally delete a font. If your fonts are on removable storage, it is important to copy them to the Fonts folder. Otherwise, the fonts won't be available when you remove the storage medium from the computer.
Finally, click OK to install the fonts. Once they've installed, close the Add Fonts box.
Several font formats work with Windows XP. This installation method works for all supported fonts. However, only one format of a particular font should be installed. If you have multiple versions, you may encounter problems.
Fonts may not be available immediately in your programs. In that case, close and reopen the program. You may also need to reselect your printer in the program. When installed, the font should appear in the font list.
If fonts aren't clear on your monitor, you may need to adjust ClearType settings. I have a tip that explains this.
If you're looking for more fonts, I know a couple of places where you can find them. This Cool Site has hundreds of fonts, many of them free. It also has tools for creating your own. You may need to pay for the font-creation software.
If you can't find what you want there, check out this site. It claims to have more than 1,000 free fonts. That sounds about right!

[Merlyn]

Re: Marketing - Creating Postcards, E-Cards, Calendars, Etc.

here's an online company that was recommended on the CHF Forum for postcards, and other marketing materials:

http://www.overnightprints.com/

review their FAQ, there's a lot of helpful info there about creating a postcard or brochure

[Merlyn]

Re: Marketing - Creating Postcards, E-Cards, Calendars, Etc.

The attached .mms file shows how to create a tri-fold brochure. Use the lines to position your text and images; delete before printing. Be sure to insert the paper for the second side printing in the correct direction.