Letterhead Printing
Now many people will argue that the printing industry isn’t exactly the most eco-friendly industry around. And yes, obviously printers use paper and ink and such; but many printers now offer a whole range of ‘green’ products for companies that want to do their bit for the environment.
With the government putting more pressure on businesses to look at their Green Policies, printers have had to look at new ways in which they can offer this to businesses and keep them coming back as repeat customers.
For example, we offer a recycled leaflet range that is printed on 100% uncoated paper and, if the customer wants a gloss or silk finish, we boast a 55% recycled rate. Not only does this appeal to customers who want to be able to show that they are making steps towards being eco-friendly; the organic look that it gives the promotional material is really popular to recipients.
Talk to you printer to see what range of recycled products they do; you may very well be surprised. While not everything the print industry does is eco-friendly, we are certainly starting to develop a new and better way of thinking when it comes to our green credentials.
Everything from leaflets, brochures, postcards, business cards and presentation folders could potentially be made from recycled material. Maybe one day all printed materials will be made using recycled paper, but until then we will always try to do our best to meet customers’ expectations in the area of recycled printed material.
With many companies now heavily investing in their Social Media Marketing, it’s easy to see why we are all so engaged with our favourite brands online.
However, if you’re an SME or a start-up, how do you let people know that you’re on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube or LinkedIn? Most people will start with a website and have links from that to their Social Media Pages. But how do you get people to know that you have a website? You see the vicious circle that we have going on here?
The answer is the same thing; print. When you have a business card printed, you always have your name, company name, phone number, email and website. These are the absolute minimum any business card should carry. Companies even put their web address on poster and leaflets.
So why do people not put the Social Media addresses on? Think about it, every person you meet (most likely) will be on at least one of the big Social Networking sites and if you’re trying to raise awareness of your company then you will be giving out plenty of business cards. Put the addresses on them, make sure you have all of the ways they can contact you on their.
Watching television shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent will show you that the big boys are buying into it- they even put up the Twitter Hash Tag for people to use when it cuts to the adverts.
Try and be creative, create a Hash Tag, use a QR Code to take the user to you your Facebook Page or LinkedIn account. The fact is, print is still being severely underutilised in an area where it can really give start-ups and SME’s a massive boost. It doesn’t cost anymore to add a few more lines of text or a square QR Code.
Speak to us and we can help; our in house design team can add these extras for you- and it shouldn’t be on just business cards; think about letterheads, contracts, receipts, menus, leaflets, postcards. There is no such thing as too much visibility!
We often get asked what printers we would recommend to use by people who have their office in their own home. Our answer should probably be, use us instead! Which it wo
But when it comes to have a reliable, cost effective printer at home we can’t exactly tell you to go and get a industrial sized litho press can we?uld be when it comes to letterheads, businesses cards and posters; an industrial printer and professional finish is always better when it comes to dealing with your brand identity.
So here are two cracking printers that should cover all of your basic needs when working from home;
- HP DeskJet 1000
Priced at £30 it’s hard to believe that, for its functionality, that HP are actually making money on this model. The best thing about this printer is the cost effectiveness. Even the consumables are very well priced (meaning it doesn’t cost a fortune to run after buying it at a low price). It’s quick (we are told 16ppm mono and 12ppm in colour. The down side is that it is just a printer, no extras, no gadgets, nothing. But a good cost effective and efficient model to start with.
2. Epson Stylus SX425W
At double the cost of the HP, you get a lot of little extras with the Epson. Built in memory card slots will be a massive plus for families or photographers, Wi-Fi printing ticks the box for the tech heads and the multi-function scanning and copying make it the perfect business partner for a home worker. The downside? It isn’t as cheap to run as the HP. But if you want a good all-rounder for not too much initial outlay, then this gets the seal of approval.
So, there are our two recommendations; both are great machines and it really does depend on what you want from a printer. Hope this has been of some help!
When companies decide to print posters, leaflets, postcards, business cards or pretty much anything that will advertise their business to potential customers, they always make sure the design is 100% spot on.
What they don’t always think about is the stock (paper quality) that they are printing on.
This is actually quite surprising as all of the hard work that has gone into the concept, the design and the message can be lost if the end result doesn’t live up to the high standards of the rest of the process.
Choosing what stock and what finish is not exactly the most glamorous of details but they need to be given consideration. If you’re printing a business card and you want the feel to be professional then a matt laminated finish is certainly the way to go; it is more durable and feels good under the fingertips.
For posters, a gloss finish can really add a nice shine to the poster making it more eye catching to people passing by. A thicker stock can also be used so that if the posters are up for a long time, they don’t easily become ragged around the edges.
When it comes to letter heads, a good heavy stock can make a good impression when you are doing mail outs to potential new customers (something like a 200gsm would be ideal). Postcards are obviously going to be a little thicker and can be finished with a silk coat or if you plan to write a personalised message then it would be better not to treat them.
The best thing to do would be to take advice from your printer; we advise our clients daily on the stock and finish of certain products. This helps the client but it also gives us a certain amount of quality control, so we know that every product leaving our press is done to the best of our ability
