Things to Consider When Creating Newsletters

One of the things that entrepreneurs or business novices are often afraid of when they start their newsletter printing is whether their newsletters would pass the trash test or not. You may be thinking of what is a trash test. It is simply the manner of testing whether your newsletters will appeal to your customers or be sent to the trash can right after it was handed out.

Newsletter printing is regarded as one of the most important marketing tools for any business owner as it is the one thing that provides the first impression that your target clients have of you and your company. A newsletter serves as an advertising tool as it includes your business profile, latest news on the company, special events, conferences attended, job hiring, among others.

If your newsletter printing templates are not catchy and informative enough, you will find them in the recipients' garbage bin. And that's the end of it.

That is why if you don't want it to see being thrown in the trash can; you need to carefully plan the details and the design before it leaves your business premises.

Here are some of the things you need to take note of when creating a winning newsletter:

Size. One of the things that determine whether your newsletter gets trashed or not is its size. Does it conform to the standards of newsletter printing? Or are you the kind of marketer that goes for the unusual and unique so that you print newsletters that are much bigger (or smaller) than that of the usual standard size? Answer these questions before making a rough draft.

Of course, that would definitely make you stand out as your target clients would find it rare for a newsletter to have a different size. But don't you think your newsletter would be a bit too big and be mistaken as a portfolio? So how would your target clients keep your newsletter? Surely the end result would be the trash bin for you.

Paper quality. The texture of the paper would definitely grab the attention of your client. Especially when it is thicker than the regular paper. Anything flimsy or perforated would definitely get trashed. And a newsletter that would immediately dissolve and turn into pieces when water is spilt on it would have a hard time getting kept. But I am also not saying that a cheap newsletter will always get trashed. A cheap-looking newsletter that reflects a bad reputation for your company will certainly get trashed all the time.

Visibility of texts. Of course, information that is difficult to read because the ink ran out would be useless to your target clients. So make sure that the content is readable and understandable.

Design. The design and look of your newsletter is the first thing a customer gets noticed of. That is why your design should grab their attention so they would want to get it and read the content. Hence, your design and layout should always be in synch with the image you would want to portray for your company. If in case your product is the newsletter itself, designs should be in line with the customer's taste.

Remember that you only have a very small chance of making a good impression with your newsletters. One that they don't like in the looks and design department will surely be rejected in a heartbeat. So make sure you have a variety of designs that they can choose from.

No. of Times this article has been viewed : 369
Date Published : Feb 23 2011

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Creating Postcard Designs the Easy Way

Sometimes, there will be those situations where you will need to create designs for postcard printing quickly. This can be because of a fast approaching marketing opportunity, or maybe there are important holiday dates coming up that require some customized postcard printing. Whatever the case, the need for speedy custom postcard designs is there.

Luckily for you, I am going to teach you how to fast track your color postcard designs to get them immediately to those postcard printing companies. Just follow the steps below and great custom designs for postcard printing should be with you in an hour or less.

1. Get the free standard postcard template - To make your postcard drafts faster, you will want to get those free standard postcard templates. Templates act as a quick foundation for your design. With all the pre-sets ready when you get those postcard templates, all you really have to worry about is your content and layout. So try to get those free templates if possible. There should be plenty of free standard postcard configurations in printing websites and design blogs.

2. Get your customized/personalized image - Once you have the template ready, your next step is to get that full color postcard image. The image is the main feature of color postcards of course and in most cases, you should already have an idea of what you want to use for your own custom postcards.

If you are making personal postcards, you can easily scan up some personal images to make those cards a little bit more special. If you are making a business postcard for marketing, you should get high resolution, royalty free full color images at sites like flickr.com and morguefile.com. Just choose the best one that you think is best for you and scan it up or save it up.

3. Write your custom content - Next, before you start your layout, it is good to first write out your custom content. It is best to do this first so that later, you can focus on the layout itself. So just write out your custom content in a word document. Make sure you proofread it and if possible have others check it as well. It should be short, sweet, easily understandable and of course straight to the point.

4. Combining all the elements together - Once all the materials you need are done, it is now time to combine all the things together. Since you already collected the needed elements, all you have to do is to basically assemble them. Load up the template first in your design software. Then insert your main postcard image. Make sure it fits and if possible scale down and enhance it a bit for the best printing results.

Afterward, just insert your text and adjust its font size, font style and basic formatting. Don't forget to customize the back part of the template as well since you may want some custom content printed at the back of your custom postcards.

5. Fast reviewing and checking - Once everything is assembled, you should do some fast reviewing and checking. The best way to do this is to print out some samples using your own printer and then have your family and friends look at it. Gather their feedback and improve your color postcards when possible. Once all the weaknesses have been kicked out, you should have a good draft for postcard printing.

Great! That is how you create your color postcards quickly. By following these steps, one by one, you should have a nice postcard draft ready for printing in an hour or so. Just be focused and it should be fast.

No. of Times this article has been viewed : 328
Date Published : Feb 3 2011

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