Print Buying Direct

Newsletter Printing – Back-Page Designs for Prodigal Readers – 7th July 2010
An estimated 15% of readers start at the back of the newsletter and work their way forward. These nomadic readers judge a publication based on what’s left at the end.  If it’s interesting, they know that the beginning of the newsletter is good too.  Convince  these sceptics with short news blurbs or a newsworthy item.  Use one of the front-page strategies here.

If your newsletter is self-mailed, all readers will at least glance at the back page first.  Then they’ll turn to the front.

Left-Page, Right-page Stategies
Once inside, people start reading at the tops of pages and move doen.  Begin articles on the tops of pages.  If you have a continued article, place the continued part at the bottom of the page.

Place photographs, graphics or important industry information so they draw readers first to the top left side of a spread.  However, also realize that the top right-hand portion of a spread is a powerful position.  Place promotional items, such as new product or service announcements, here.

People Don’t Read, They Skim
When working within you page pyramid, assume that no one will ever read a word of your body copy.

Concentrate on pulling readers in and making your key points through interesting photographs and captions, headlines, pull quotes and subheads.  These elements can also guide readers from article to article.  Skimmer bypassers also help make your newsletter layout more pleasant for readers.  These shortcuts include:

• photographs and captions that tell a story
• headlines that say, “Start here”
• dynamic graphics that point to key articles
• white spaces, rules and boxes separating articles

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies
• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal
• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies – 6th July 2010
Front Page. Cover story. Page one. No matter what you call it, it’s the place where most people (roughly 85%) start reading your newsletter.  Here are a few strategies to consider.

Hard news. Place your most important articles on the front page.  Readers expect the most newsworthy articles to appear on the front page.  If you place dull articles on the front page, you’re telling readers that the rest of the newsletter is even less exciting.  (Tell your boss that the traditional spot for the president’s letter is on the second page.)

Top Ranking. Some publishers rank news items by the greatest amount of overall interest.  The most popular articles go on the front page, the middle group go inside, and the remainder are condensed into news bulletins.

Skimmer bait. Invite readers in with short news blurbs.  News-briefs condense long articles into two or three lines.  This gives readers the feeling they’re merely skimming the headlines.

Continue one. You can combine the skimmer bait technique with one continued article.  Readers often read the news briefs first, then start reading an article placed in the right-hand column.  This article leads the reader naturally to page two.

The lure. Lure readers by placing useful information on the front page.  One you’ve captivated readers, they’ll turn to the inside pages – filled with your promotional information.

Goal-driven. If you have important news, such as a new product or an upcoming event, that you want everyone who opens your newsletter to see, place it on the fron page.  Don’t bury newsworthy information deep within as article.

Remember that it’s the editor’s job to give instructions on article placement to the layout artist, if they are not one and the same.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal
• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal – 5th July 2010
The position of many parts of your layout, such as the nameplate and mailing panel, will be the same from issue to issue.  In the layout stage, use the areas around the standard features, the “active areas,” to create appeal.

First, focus on the prime real estate areas of the mailing panel and the front page.  The active areas on the mailing panel are the teasers or contents box.  Next, look at your goals for this issue or this year.  Plan to change this area with each new issue to attract attention by using:

• teasers
• contents box
• event calendar or notice of an upcoming meeting
• eye-catching cartoon or photo
• location map
• sale announcement
• famous quotation
• coupon
• lists of services and everyday specials
• list of products offered
• Web site link to must-have content

Place a quick message, table of contents or teaser that gets people immediately involved with your publication.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids 1st July 2010

Page Pyramids: How Readers Eyes Work With Your Page

Understanding how the human eye interacts with your newsletter page can also help you make layout decisions.  Readers look at your newsletter in three different stages:

1. when it’s folded or flat in the mailing stack
2. when it unfolded
3. when it’s opened to the inside pages

When the newsletter is folded and in the mailing stack, readers first look at their name on the address label to make sure the newsletter was sent to the right person.  Then they glance to the return address area.  Next, they unfold the newsletter and look at either the front of back page.

On these pages, readers look at photos or illustrations first, unless they are small.  In the absence of photographs, readers’ eyes are attracted by the largest, most dominant element on the page.  Then they move to the second most dominant, then to the third, and so on.  On a page of all text, readers’ eyes usually move from the upper left to the lower right corner of the page in a “Z” pattern.

Note that only the first and last pages are seen by themselves.  Other pages are usually seen as two-page spreads.  On two-page spreads in magazines (most eye movement research has been conducted using magazines), the readers’ eye goes first to the right-hand page.  Once readers have glanced at the right-hand page, their eyes go to the left-hand page.  Both pages are read following the “Z” pattern.

The “Z” pattern assumes that the elements on both pages are of equal interest.  A key word in a headline or an interesting photograph can draw the readers’ eyes to the left or to the bottom of the page.

As the editor, your job is to encourage readers to at least skim all the elements of the newsletter.  Armed with better knowledge of eye movement, investigate how you can use the layout to guide your readers through each of the NEWS levels – name, enactment, written words and selling.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Newsletter Printing – 30th June 2010

Everyone out there who has seen an article titled “Letter from the Chief Exec” on the front page of a newsletter, raise your hands.  The placement of this little gem generates a big “ugh” for two reasons.

First, it needs a better headline.  More importantly, it’s taking up space in a prime area of your newsletter – like leasing an Oxford Street store front for storage.

This blog shows you how to create layouts that draw readers to the articles that sell your products.  You’ll learn how to zone your layout – arrange type and graphics on the page – and use publication and page pyramids to guide readers’ eyes.

Newsletter Publication & Page Pyramids
Inverted pyramids work for both news writing and page design.  The idea of the inverted pyramid is to begin with the most interesting faces and work downward, in decreasing order of importance.

Within a publication, that means placing your most important news on the most visible pages.

The publication pyramid is built like this:

1. the front page
2. the mailing panel and envelope
3. the back page
4. right-hand pages
5. tops of pages

In addition, each page has an individual hierarchy.  Visuals, captions, headlines and subheads all signal to readers and skimmers what’s important on the page.  If these areas are interesting, the reader assumes the rest will be.  If they’re not…another page gets turned.

The page pyramid looks like this:

1. photographs or graphics
2. captions
3. headlines
4. kickers and decks
5. pull quote
6. subheads
7. leads

Once you “zone” the prime real estate in your newsletter, you’ll know where to place the high-profile boutiques and where to build warehouse space.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery
• Green Printing – Carbon absorption

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Writing Newsletter Copy that Sings – 2nd December 2009
Every word in your printed newsletters should be designed to capture and keep your reader’s attention. As a writer, your challenge is to minimise the distance between you and your readers until you’re acting as their personal guide.

When writing your newsletter, you must work backwards in this order:

• Decide what action you want readers will receive to take as result of reading this article
• List the benefits that readers will receive by reading your news items
• Give readers the specific information they need to make a purchasing decision
• Catch the skimmers by relaying your promotional points through the headline, link name, leading sentence, photograph captions, pull quotes, kickers and subheads
• Write the body of the article in news style
• Carefully word your contents box or front/back page teasers to convince readers to open the publication

The Most Important Writing You Do
The seven keys writing areas in marketing-style printed newsletters are:
1) Headlines
2) The first sentence
3) Kickers
4) Contents boxes
5) Subheads
6) Photo captions
7) Names for website links

Look for attention-getting benefits when deciding what to place in these areas. When your newsletter is finished, test it for “marketing through skimming.” Do the key areas include the most promotional messages of the newsletter? Do they key areas contain the most important items?

Only 12 working days now to get your Christmas Cards send by 2nd class post (18th December).  Corporate Christmas Cards and New Year Promotional Print – promote your business or charity with our offers on Wall Calendars, Desk Calendars, Xmas Cards, Promotional Wall Calendars and CD Calendars. We’ve recently redesigned all of our Print Buying Direct website and cut our prices on all promotional print.

We shut down for Xmas on the 23rd December and re-open for business on the 5th January.

For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Let Your Subconscious Do the Writing – Newsletter Printing
• Sifting With a Promotional Screen – Newsletter Printing
• Gather Newsletter Content – Preparing for an Interview – Newsletter Printing
• Secrets to Successful Interviews – gathering content for your newsletter
• The Idea File Saves Back-Tracking – Franchising Your Own Newsletter
• Where to Find Great Content Fast for your Newsletter Printing – Franchising Your Own Newsletter
• Where to Find Great Content Fast for your Newsletter Printing
• Where to Find Great Content Fast for your Newsletter Printing – Researching online
• Newsletter Printing – Naming your newsletter – Part 2
• Where to Find Great Content Fast for your Newsletter Printing

Print Buying Direct is the online division and a Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd. One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for short run, long run and wide format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire, in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

Also see our other websites

Main Site: www.theprintinghouseltd.co.uk

Buy Print Online: www.printbuyingdirect.co.uk –

Leaflet Printing, Brochure printing, Postcards printed, Appointment cards, graphic design etc

Prospectus Print: www.schoolprospectus.info

Sports Book Print: www.golfclubcentenarybooks.co.uk

Newsletter Printing – Structure & Time Savings with Standing Columns – 6th November 2009

Some of these types of content will be used in every issue, in a standing column. Recurring columns help you:
Save time creating each issue

• Give structure to a newsletter
• Standardize design
• Develop kickers and graphic icons
• Make sure readers can easily find areas of interest

Note that while standing heads lend structure to your newsletter, you can have too many standing heads. Overuse will rob the newsletter of its freshness and newsworthiness.

Theme issues
Other publisher’s concentrate on one specific subject per issue. These are called theme issues. For example, an association’s theme issue might centre on its annual membership drive. The issue could include event calendars, a message from national headquarters, and a page with member testimonials accompanied by photographs.

Use theme issues:

• To achieve one specific goal (fund drive, special sale)
• When all the content for an issue covers one subject
• When a subject is so broad is needs the entire space of the newsletter
• To thoroughly cover each segment of your market
• To better attract attention
• When your audience likes in-depth reporting, versus lots of news tidbits

If you’re announcing a new product or service, you can mention it several times in your newsletter. Include an announcement in the industry news section. Devote an entire article to the new product or service on a different page. Insert a reprint of the ad you’re running in industry publications.

Corporate Christmas Cards and New Year Promotional Print – promote your business or charity with our offers on Wall Calendars, Desk Calendars, Xmas Cards, Promotional Wall Calendars and CD Calendars. We’ve recently redesigned all of our Print Buying Direct website and cut our prices on all promotional print.

Get 30% off our online xmas cards now – simply enter the code ‘ XMASOCT’ at the checkout.

For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Reader Response Mechanisms
• Grab Readers with Industry Summaries in your Printed Newsletter
• Company Newsletters – Including Your Organisation’s News
• Newsletter Printing – Let your Customers Sell for You – part 2
• Newsletter Printing – Let your Customers Sell for You
• Touting your products in your printed newsletter
• Six Types of Newsletter Content
• Order your Christmas Cards Online in October and Save
• Saving Money by Pruning Your Newsletter Mailing List
• Newsletter Printing – Free ways to reach more people
• Marketing with Printed Newsletters – Assigning codes to prospects
• Dazzling Databases for Printed Newsletters
• Newsletter mailing lists – Mailing list magic
• Printing – The Green issue
• Order your Christmas Cards Online in October and Save £££s
• Newsletter Printing – Using survey results for improved promotions
• The best way to survey how effective your newsletter is…part 2
• The best way to survey how effective your newsletter is…
• Every question has a goal (Newsletter printing)
• How to Conduct Your Survey about your Newsletter
• Newsletter Print and Design – Why the Pros Survey Fewer People
• Newsletters – Pinpointing Reader’s Interests – part 2
• Newsletters – Pinpointing Reader’s Interests – part 1
• Printing – Paper and board – Certified and recycled
• Printing – Paper and board – Pricing and availability
• Printing – Paper and Board
• Print Finishing
• Digital Presses
• Digital Printing
• Offset Printing
• Print Production Management
• How to create a marketing plan incorporating promotional newsletters
• All you need to know about Digital Printing
• The Future of Printing
• Print Finishing
• Variable Data Printing
• ISO 12647 and Colour Management in Printing
• Pre-press – In Flight, Pre-Flight and Post-Flight
• Print, Paper and Recycling
• Design of the times – (Article reproduced from Printing World February 2009)
• Pre-press – 20 years of change
• Transactional and Direct Mail
• 7 Guidelines For Good Newsletter Printing
• Graphic Design
• Printing – Where in the world are we?
• Improving Your Response Rates to Leaflets, Flyers and Brochures
• HINTS & TIPS…The sales letter

Print Buying Direct is the online division and a Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd. One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for short run, long run and wide format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire, in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

Also see our other websites

Main Site: www.theprintinghouseltd.co.uk

Buy Print Online: www.printbuyingdirect.co.uk –

Leaflet Printing, Brochure printing, Postcards printed, Appointment cards, graphic design etc

Prospectus Print: www.schoolprospectus.info

Sports Book Print: www.golfclubcentenarybooks.co.uk

Newsletter mailing lists – Mailing list magic – 16th October 2009

Ask anyone who’s starting a newsletter what was their first step when creating it, and they’ll say that they came up with a name and a design. Of course they did. That’s the fun part. But it isn’t the most crucial step.

The list you mail or e-mail to determine 40% of your success- with success defined as people reading and responding to your message. Distributing your newsletter to the right people involves setting up a good database. It also involves discovering who wants to receive your newsletter, whether or not they are potential buyers and recording this information in a way that’s accurate and, for printed newsletters, takes advantage of postal discounts.

This chapter gives you ideas for who should be on your newsletter mailing list, how to automate your list, how to expand your distribution beyond names you currently have and when to remove names from your list.

Creating your “House” list

Your house list is the one you compile yourself. It includes current customers, members, supporters or prospects, along with suppliers and other people who can influence your sales. This list might be as few as 25, or as many as 25,000, or more.

Customers. The most important names to get on your list are current clients or supporters. Remember that the primary power of newsletters is marketing to current customers. If more than one person influences the decision to support your organisations or purchase your services, include multiple names from the organisation. Because your client base is a dynamic entity, your distribution list should be reviewed frequently, adding new clients, members and prospects, in addition to recoding inactive names.

Prospects. Remember to put only those prospects on the list whom you would want as customers or members. Along with other characteristics, determine the geographical area of your sales territory, and mail only within this area.

In addition to your clients and prospects, you should send you newsletter to several other groups.

Suppliers. Keep your suppliers informed of your progress. Send your newsletter to your accountants, attorneys, bankers and other subcontractors. They may be able to provide you with suggestions on your new products and services. In addition, your supplier’s salespeople are among your best sources for referrals.

Remember in include the vendors who help you with the newsletter. Tell your printer, mailing house, or e-mail service you’ve added them to the list, asking them to evaluate the newsletter’s condition when it arrives. They may spot problems with equipment or suggest changes that improve the newsletter’s chances of making it through the mail or e-mail in good condition.

Employees. Make sure your newsletter is distributed to you employees, especially salespeople, prior to mailing. This avoids the embarrassment of a prospect unfamiliar with the topic. Stress to employees the importance of reading and understanding the articles in the newsletter.

Be sure to add your own name to the list to the press, editors and reporters will know of your company and may remember it when writing articles, related to your industry. Even if you market is local, having your company mentioned by local media helps your relationship with bankers and makes it easier to recruit top people.

Sent your news to influential people in your industry, such as trader journal editors; newsletter writers; and local radio, TV, and newspaper editors. When sending to large newspapers or magazines, make sure you research the name and address of a specific editor who reviews material in your field. If you send a printed newsletter, mail it first-class. The media relies on timely news.

When you send the first issue of your newsletter to the press, include a note telling why the individual has been added to your list. Ask if there are other names to be added to your list.

Non-competing organisation. Non-competing, complementary organisations are those who do well when you do well. Keeping these people informed is good for your business. For example, in the healthcare field, many doctors recommend other specialists. These two medical practices are complementary. Most organisations have complementary partners.

Ask vendors of complementary products if they want to trader lists, or offer to do a co-mailing, create a special issue of your newsletter focusing on their organisation and products, describing how they work with yours.

Community. Distribute your newsletter to community leaders, such as political representatives, professional associations and local market research firms. If applicable, send a copy to every library in your area on a regular basis.

Get other people to send it for you. Some companies are reluctant to release lists of their salespeople, dealers and distributors. However, they may agree to mail or forward your newsletter to these lists fro you. Many organisations have been able to increase their distribution using this approach.

If you offer a service to businesses, consider sending multiple copies to consultants or others who may distribute them to their clients. One publisher sent several copies of an advertising agency newsletter to management consultant. The consultant showed it to the clients he was working with. The agency acquired two stable, £25,000-per-year clients by printing an extra 15 newsletter.

Free lists. If you’re a member of a trade association or Chamber of Commerce, you may be able to get the membership list for free, or you may already have it in a directory.

Newspaper or journal insert. If you find many of your customers in one area, consider inserting your newsletter into the local paper or business journal. Many services business, such as beauty salons, have successfully used this low-cost distribution method.

Links from other web sites. Ask complementary companies if they will link to your newsletter archives from their website. Offer to trade a link back to them.

Look – Check out our NEW Christmas and New Year Promotional Print – promote your business with our offers on Wall Calendars, Desk Calendars, Xmas Cards, Promotional Wall Calendars and CD Calendars. We’ve recently redesigned all of our Print Buying Direct website and cut our prices on all promotional print.

Get 30% off our online xmas cards now – simply enter the code ‘ XMASOCT’ at the checkout.

For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Order your Christmas Cards Online in October and Save £££s
• Newsletter Printing – Using survey results for improved promotions
• The best way to survey how effective your newsletter is…part 2
• The best way to survey how effective your newsletter is…
• Every question has a goal (Newsletter printing)
• How to Conduct Your Survey about your Newsletter
• Newsletter Print and Design – Why the Pros Survey Fewer People
• Newsletters – Pinpointing Reader’s Interests – part 2
• Newsletters – Pinpointing Reader’s Interests – part 1
• Printing – Paper and board – Certified and recycled
• Printing – Paper and board – Pricing and availability
• Printing – Paper and Board
• Print Finishing
• Digital Presses
• Digital Printing
• Offset Printing
• Print Production Management
• How to create a marketing plan incorporating promotional newsletters
• All you need to know about Digital Printing
• The Future of Printing
• Print Finishing
• Variable Data Printing
• ISO 12647 and Colour Management in Printing
• Pre-press – In Flight, Pre-Flight and Post-Flight
• Print, Paper and Recycling
• Design of the times – (Article reproduced from Printing World February 2009)
• Pre-press – 20 years of change
• Transactional and Direct Mail
• 7 Guidelines For Good Newsletter Printing
• Graphic Design
• Printing – Where in the world are we?
• Improving Your Response Rates to Leaflets, Flyers and Brochures
• HINTS & TIPS…The sales letter
• The History of Printing
• 10 Tips for Creatives in a Digital World
• Eight Easy Ways to Improve Digital Print Sales to Creative and Design Agencies
• Transactional and Variable data printing
• PUR or EVA? That is the question
• What you need to know about…… Perfect Binding
• What’s the point of Recycling Paper and Board?

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Digital pre-press part 1 – 22nd September 2009

This is the year of the hybrid workflow and digital printers are increasingly looking to add capacity with conventional offset and direct imaging presses. In order to get the most out of their new press investments, digital printers are looking at workflow systems to drive both static and variable data output.
Setting up a system to drive two different workflows isn’t desperately challenging or expensive. And, there are plenty of system developers who can tell digital printers where and how they can spend their hard earned money to do it. But that isn’t the hard part. The hard part is setting up a system so that the same job printed using two different production workflows, looks absolutely identical from press to press.
And it gets worse, because a print application might include some material with variable data and some without it, even though the majority of the job is the same. If the run is only a few thousand it is obvious that such a job can easily be printed using variable data software to manage the data flow and print the job on a digital press. If the job is tens of thousands thought, there needs to be tight colour management and control across both workflows.

Colour conscious

Quality control across devices isn’t just a concern for digital printers setting up hybrid workflows. It is also an issue for printers wanting to get equivalent colour quality across their fleet of digital presses. Fortunately suppliers have recognised that device profiling isn’t just a matter of creating a generic profile for their specific press technologies. We can then expect to see far greater improvements in colour quality this year as digital printers start to really get to grips with colour management, exploiting the device profiling tools that manufacturers such as Xerox with iGen3 press, are making available and to be shown at drupa this coming may. Being able to accurately profile an output device will help digital printers to improve their overall quality control, not just for individual short run work. It will also help them to maintain colour consistency throughout longer runs, and to ensure that subsequent reprints are colour accurate. To support hybrid workflows and to help ensure colour output quality, developers such as EFI, Creo PODS and Fujifilm are introducing new workflow technologies capable of driving multiple devices and workflows. The idea is to have a front end system with the capacity to support any quality demands and to be able to run high speed digital presses at rated speed. The scope of technology options for such front end systems will be even greater in 2008 as developers increase the options and tools they include with their systems. New soft proofing options from FFEI with Realvue and Dalim with its Virtual Library technology will allow digital printers to extend their workflows across media. Both of these tools, developed originally for job phototype and remote production proofing, are ideal for presenting media online as part of a publication or job ordering system.

To be continued…

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