MI Printing: Let Us Help With Door Hangers

Door hangers are the one of the least expensive and most effective of the print media.

The key to an effective door hanger promotion is the right design and the right call to action. Your design must reflect your company’s personality and your message has to induce the customer to take action now.

“On Door” Advertising: Because your advertising message is displayed on your prospect’s door, it is likely to be carried into your prospect’s home. The door hanger typically stands alone without competition. With a correct design, your message is very likely to be read.

Buy Now & Later: Most door hangers include a call to action such as a special promotion, limited time offer or coupon. Because they are printed on a heavier weight stock, they are perceived as less disposable than a text-weight flyer. Not only is the customer prompted to buy now, he will keep the door hanger to take advantage of your offer later. Your message will be on-hand the next time your prospect is in need of your product.

Neighborly Effect: Door hangers also act as a personal calling card. To leave a door hanger on your prospect’s door, you had to have visited them first. Door hangers demonstrate your knowledge of the prospect’s presence while making him aware of your presence in his neighborhood as well.

Additional Uses: Door hangers are not limited to promotional advertising. They can be used to spread information, build name recognition, service reminders, even to let your customer know you paid them a visit. As a direct marketing tool, door hangers also offer a unique opportunity at very personalized messages. Some of our customers have directed their messages to specific neighborhoods and apartment complexes, calling them out by name on the door hanger. The customer reached their target and created the perception that the offer was special and exclusive to their target.

We are ready to help just give us a call at 623.582.1302 for our current special pricing.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Marketing Mayhem the McDonalds Way

Do you know what Marketing Mayhem is?  Can you define it?  It reminds me a bit of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s famous quote, “I know it when I see it”.

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”
~ Justice Potter Stewart

I’m not sure I can define Marketing Mayhem, but “I know it when I experience it”.

McDonalds and Children

If you have young children and you are out shopping and it is getting to be lunch time and you ask the young set where they want to eat the response is one of two responses, Pizza or McDonalds.

As far as there are concerned it can be any Pizza place but they actually name McDonalds and they want the McDonalds experience.  Is it a Happy Meal or the Play Place?  How about both?

A lot of people relate the Saturday morning TV show ads to the McDonalds message.  It seems there may be more to it than just the ads.  The golden arches and the look of every McDonalds building is as much a part of the “Brand” as the fun food they serve.

The happy friendly characters that help tell the McDonalds story to your children are part of their Marketing Mayhem plan.  McDonald characters are available to come to their school and teach them about the value of reading.

You can also find a bit of the “Get them while they are young” thought process in their marketing.  They keep the marketing focused on the brand and the message and back it up with a very consistent on property experience.

While you may not be able to hire the McDonald’s advertising team for your next set of ads and promotions you can work with MI Printing to work on your business printing needs.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 and let’s talk.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Mastering the Soft Sell

When you come across the axiom “soft selling”, you might focus your attention on the word "soft." You might not even do this consciously; and many salespeople don't.

Based on this unconscious focusing, you may lead yourself to believe that the difference between conventional selling and "soft" selling is...well, that you just do your selling “softer”.

That is, that you do what you've always done, but you say please a bit more often, or you say it's really up to you, I'm not here to pressure you, I care more about you than the sale...and other things that, when we write them here in black and white, reveal themselves -- perhaps a bit embarrassingly -- to be what they are: "injected" politeness within a conventional sales approach. It's similar to how aggressive, direct-speech people come across when they first try to be "more diplomatic."

Nor is the above-described approach to soft-selling very soft. The reason? It's all about that unconscious focusing. It's on the wrong word.

You really need to re-learn selling; because soft selling really is an art! Just as how you are allowed to look at art and derive your own, personal meaning, the artist empowers you to do that, true soft selling also has to follow the same path.

Soft selling must empower your prospect to “construct” their own meaning, to assess their own value, and to determine, on their own, if you're selling the solution that they want.

Too much talk about features, benefits, and trying to close the sale can scare customers away. Instead, focus your efforts on getting to know your customer and their business. The sales will naturally follow.

Think of being a teacher and not a sales person. Use your knowledge, of the industry, key trends, how things are changing and how to improve their business or their lives. Use your understanding of their workflow and their typical day.  If you don’t have all the information, ask questions so your customers can teach you!

Your printed materials work the same way.  Your choice of colors, font types and sizes have somewhat the same affect on the viewer.  Make sure your message is a match to the buyer you expect.  Call MI Printing at 623.582.1302 and let us help you make those choices.

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MI Printing, LLC
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Marketing – Throw The Box Away

Many people talk about marketing as an exercise in “Thinking Outside The Box”.  Many innovative marketing ideas are more along the idea of throwing the box away and starting from scratch.  Those new and fresh ideas do seem to get the most attention and return the most in terms of ROI dollars.

For local businesses it the “Local Buzz” you need to market your product(s) or services.  If the whole crowd is sending emails then that is not what you want to do.  You are competing for the same customers in the very small pool.  If everyone is doing Social Media the same thing happens.  You are just part of the “noise”.  You have to find a way to stand out.

One of the problems with using a formula to achieve success is that others are likely to follow a similar path. Need an example? Just take a look at the new TV shows that get rolled out each year.

Open your mind to new ways to sell your product or service. Don’t dismiss anything without thinking about the possibilities. It’s a tough crowd out there in the consumer market and you’re going to have to work hard to win them over.

Several years ago the agency for Craftsman needed a new idea to promote a well known brand.  The result was the idea to drive a Craftsman tractor more than 3,000 miles across country.  They stopped in many cities and held local events to bring fresh awareness to the well known national brand.  The results were a very cost effective sales campaign.

Most every marketer has a “story” of creating a brilliant promotional campaign that failed to consider the promotional risk it generated and was sent to the shredder.  The time and creative energies of the marketing team were wasted because they did not properly address promotional risk.

If you are looking for an idea with a twist.  Arrange to hand out 1,000 one dollar bills with a coupon attached for a special promotion at your business and the original one dollar bill must be returned to validate the coupon.

Sound crazy?  How much does it cost for you to bring in a brand new customer through your business doors?

Need to have a creative twist to your next commercial printing job?  Give MI Printing a call 623.582.1302.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
printinginaz.com

Made In The U.S.A. – Evaporative Coolers

Yes, it is August in Arizona and for the most part our evaporative Coolers are going un-used for now they will soon be pressed into service again.  As the humidity and dew point begins to decline the “coolers” will begin to run again.  Under a dew point of 55% they provide cool air at 1/3 the cost of traditional refrigerated air conditioning. 

Phoenix Manufacturing Inc. is a builder and supplier of quality evaporative cooling products to residential, commercial and industrial customers worldwide. Founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 1975, PMI has continually developed some of the finest air cooling products available anywhere. Recognized as an industry leader in customer service, product quality and engineering innovations, they've excelled in overall customer satisfaction and experienced strong, steady growth over the years.

Since 1983, PMI has been a subsidiary of Continental Materials Corporation, located in Chicago, Illinois. Their manufacturing plant sets on a nine-acre site in the heart of Phoenix and includes over 200,000 square feet of modern manufacturing, warehousing and office space. They employ approximately 150 people in their day-to-day operations.

PMI has developed and patented many of their products. They lead the industry with innovations such as the Low Sump Pump, Power Cleaning System, Pro Series and Trophy Series AeroCool product lines. All PMI products are precision crafted and designed to be environmentally friendly. Low cost operation, minimal maintenance and long service life are what you get with evaporative coolers from PMI.

Although evaporative cooling is the primary product at PMI, they also have the design and production capability to manufacture many different types of sheet metal products as an Original Equipment Manufacturer for other companies and are presently employing this effort.

Values at Phoenix begin with their employees, customers, and suppliers. They strive each day to treat those involved with PMI with respect, while performing their duties with integrity. They put a premium on those values to best serve the industry in a manner that will deliver quality in everything they do. The phone call, the e-mail, the meetings, along with the products and the service, are designed to deliver these values as no one else does and to do it consistently each day.

Instead of cooling off MI Printing can help heat-up your business with all of your printed business marketing materials.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 so we can get you sailing along.

Presented By
MI Printing, LLC
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

MI Printing: Special Custom Business Cards

At MI Printing we can take care of all of your business card needs far beyond just simple black on white.  They say you simply aren't in business without your business cards. Need to know more about all the uses for business cards?  Learn about the many options for your cards.  Please give us a call at 623-582-1302.

Please ask about money saving larger quantities.  For best results a PDF file is required for the customer supplied artwork.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com

Marketing Mayhem: First Get Their Attention

This idea jumped out and bit me the other day. Perhaps it was a recent Television program about “Art Cars” that may have been partly responsible.

I saw the image during a Google search the other day and it stuck with me.  A company in Pinellas County, Florida called Top Cat Appliance Repair and their automobile covered with Top Cat Appliance Repair stickers.  Both the color combination and the very simple message, company name and contact information (phone number) were a great example of the Marketing Mayhem style called guerilla marketing.

What is going on here is Marketing 101.  Get their attention. (the colorful car and many stickers) and make the message short and sweet (memorable).  With just the company name (which says what they do) and a 7 digit phone number (in some places you can still do that).

Can you duplicate this idea in your business?  Does your business name tell a potential customer what you do?  Is your web site or phone number memorable enough to be easily remembered?

Those three things are the key elements that make this work.  Get their attention and then plant the hook.  To work well the message should stay with them until they do need your product or service.  If they need your service when they see the advertising so much the better.

You can put these stickers on your car, your delivery vehicles, your friends cars, maybe even your employee’s cars.  Do you have a friend with sheep or cows in a field near a road?  Yep, stickers can go there too.

Do you have an election coming up and looking for a creative way to promote your campaign, well stickers everywhere just might make the difference.

At MI Printing we want you to know that we are ready to print a few hundred or a few thousand bumper stickers for your car, your friends cars and anyone you hire to promote your business.  At MI Printing we work for your business and its printing needs.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 and let’s talk.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Make Marketing Match

Make Marketing Match? Match What? Make your marketing match your reality.  It does no good to make your marketing a lie.

I think we all have stories to tell about being surprised in a very negative way when a marketing reality did not match “reality”.

On a road trip a few years ago we had planned to stay at a motel whose web site depicted a lovely quaint, retro roadside stop.  As we drove in we found a rundown, poorly maintained property with a very dirty pool and no restaurant.  Far different from what the web site promised.  I would guess that a night stop in the middle of a rainstorm might have hidden the faults, but we choose another motel down the road.

If your marketing makes a promise, you need to make that promise a reality.  Do you make a claim to “good service”?  To keep customers coming back you need to deliver on your good service promise 100% of the time.  If you don’t, your disappointed customers will spread a negative story that can do harm that can not be changed in the customers’ circle of influence.

If you’re a small business, you’ll know better than anyone that you have to wear both the sales and marketing hats, and that they both matter equally to the business. The fact is, marketing and sales are parts of a seamless continuum which starts with an empty sales pipeline and ideally ends with a bulging order book and happy repeat clients to boot.

Handle pre and post sales enquiries: When clients get in touch, whether it’s before the sale or in search of support and answers, who keeps track of all those phone calls? Customer Relationship Management software is a tool that can tell you who’s who, what they’ve bought, and will record what they want with each contact they make.

Make sure your message is a match to the buyer you expect.  Call MI Printing and let us help you make those choices.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Help For Small Businesses

As you may know there are at least two televisions shows where famous chefs come in and help save failing restaurants and one TV show where an expert in hotels comes up with a plan to save a struggling hotel or motel.

I know that many small business wish there was a plan or expert to help them save their small business.  If you like numbers here are the statistics; business failure statistics show that about 96 percent of small businesses (1–99 employees) that enter the marketplace survive for one full year, 85 percent survive for three years and 70 percent survive for five years.

Micro-enterprises (businesses with 1 to 4 employees) have a slightly lower business failure rate than other small businesses; after five years in business, 70.4 percent of micro-enterprises survived compared with 66.9 percent of other small businesses.

So the good news is that most small business are still with us after five years in business.

You might want to look into the SBA ( Small Business Administration ) and SCORE ( Service Corps Of Retired Executives ) SCORE is a business counseling/mentoring organization. They provide free counseling, resources and advice to people who are in business or want to start a business.  SCORE also provide free or low cost Workshops on Business Topic.  SCORE has volunteer counselors who are experienced owners or managers of businesses that volunteer their time to help small businesses succeed.  There is no cost for individual Counseling and Mentoring. Some workshops or seminars have a small fee. You can come back for as many sessions as you wish. Each session will last for approximately one hour. SCORE counselors are interested in your success and will follow up to see how you are progressing.

Keep in mind that customers usually buy on impulse, not logic. They base their buying decision on how they feel about your product or service. Get them excited about using your product or service and you'll increase your sales.

Revise your ads, sales letters and web pages to dramatize the emotional rewards your customer will experience when using your product or service. Use vivid word pictures to help them imagine themselves already enjoying those benefits. For example, a financial planner could describe what it feels like to enjoy an affluent lifestyle without debt.

Let MI Printing Help You Get The Word Out! We can help you with your everyday commercial and business printing needs.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Made In The U.S.A. – Rubber Ducks

Yes, it’s true…. the first floating rubber ducky was invented in America and he is finally coming home! Celebriducks is the only rubber duck company doing all their artwork and sculpting in the US. Now they are bringing the whole industry right back to Ohio, the state where it all began, and once again be offering Made in the USA rubber ducks. The amount of hand work needed to create and paint each one is extraordinary! 

You can order the first Hatched in the USA duckies in the Celebriducks store. And now people can do rubber duck races with real Made in America rubber duckies! You can also follow Sam’s birthing process at: http://www.celebriducks.blogspot.com/ 

Seiberling was one of the original rubber companies in America and they went on to create Goodyear Tire. They also were the ones who created one of the first ever rubber duckies! They are in Ohio where they offer tours of their beautiful estate. Back in the early 1930s, with the release of Disney’s Snow White, Seiberling’s director of marketing approached Walt Disney about becoming one of their first licensees and creating a line of rubber Disney characters including the first rubber Donald Duck. They were tremendously successful.

When Celebriducks started speaking to Seiberling, they all agreed that it would be an extraordinary story to actually create a rubber ducky for them right back in Ohio where it all began. The art department was already in Cincinnati. The new factory was also in Ohio. So why not start to bring the whole industry back here. Seiberling was very excited and the joy of seeing it all come full circle not only to Ohio, but also to the actual place where it all began and create the Celebriducks first made-in-America rubber ducky for Seiberling and also for hundreds of other companies has become a reality!

And so they are currently in the process of making rubber duckies here. It has been much more creative with costs and governmental laws, but they are doing it. Bottom line, they are so happy and proud to be able to bring this industry back to the U.S.A. May it be the first of many!

Update!
Celebriducks needs more painters for their Hatched in the USA duckies!  One of the hardest things about bringing the industry back to America is finding painters who can do them cost effectively.  If you know of any painting outfits who might be interested, please send them to Celebriducks. You can call 415-456-3452 or e-mail info@celebriducks.com.

We like US made rubber duckies MI Printing. MI Printing can help with all of your printed business marketing materials.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 so we can get you sailing along.

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MI Printing, LLC
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

MI Printing: Special Carbonless Forms

At MI Printing we can take care of all of your carbonless needs far beyond just carbonless forms.  These can be used for employment applications, order forms, job tickets, invoices, estimates or proposals. If needed, backside printing is available.

Please let us know what type of padding you expect for your forms.  For best results a PDF file is required for the customer supplied artwork.

Need to know more about all the uses for carbonless forms contact us at MI Printing.

We are ready to help just give us a call at 623.582.1302 for our current special pricing on carbonless forms.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Marketing Mayhem – Always Smile In Response

How important is your smile?  We can all agree that you greet a customer with a smile.  Your marketing efforts are wasted if you chase the customer away when they first arrive.

You should always respond with a smile, no matter what.  Remember you don’t control the conversation.  Customer sometimes ask stupid questions and you must never let them know that you think so.  Be helpful no matter what.  If you not sure what they are asking, find a way to restate their question so you get more information.

Put your customer first.  Never make them wait while you finish a work task.  Stop what you are doing, not finish what you are doing, and help the customer.

As you are helping your customer start a conversation about the purchase.  The more you know the more you may be able to suggest items the customer may need and not even know they need.  You are not only be helpful but you are becoming the authority.  Now your suggestions carry more influence.

Your interest in their project or task shows them you care about them and what they are doing and you go beyond salesperson to their advisor.

You can apply this to the sale of a doughnut, grass seed or a new car.  People would rather buy from a friend than a stranger.  Which one will you be?

If you are not listening, you don’t know what your customers want or need.

If you are looking for a great business printer for your business. Please give us a call at 623.582.1302 and see how we can help you solve your other business needs.  Thanks!

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Marketing and Cute Kittens

Have you ever been out shopping and then there they are, some very cute kids and a cardboard box full of meowing, cute kittens?  Did you stop and make funny noises while petting the adorable kittens?

Yes, don’t get me wrong this works with puppies as well.  Which one causes you to stop divides you up into the cat or dog world, but the marketing sure works.

Yes, this is Marketing 101 at its finest!

In order to sell something you first have to get their attention.  Yes, the price must be right as well.

We agree that in most cases these are free puppies and kittens.  How can you possibly resist something that cute, cuddly and smells so good when it is free?

I know bakeries in the mall that use exactly the same strategy to sell their fresh items.  You are walking through the mall when that aroma grabs you and pulls you into their shop and a dozen or so fresh pastries climb into you basket without any thought of you needing them.  Your nose just takes over your brain and makes the purchase.

In order to successfully grow your business, you’ll need to attract and then work to retain a large base of satisfied customers. Marketing emphasizes the value of the customer to the business, and has two guiding principles:

1. All company policies and activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.

2. Profitable Sales Volume is more important than Maximum Sales Volume. 

To best use these principles, a small business should:

• Determine the needs of their customers through market research

• Analyze their competitive advantages to develop a market strategy

• Select specific markets to serve by target marketing

• Determine how to satisfy customer needs by identifying a market mix

At MI Printing we want to help you with your kittens, puppies, products or services through your printed marketing needs.

What you can do depends on the type of business you have.  But, remember the mantra… “First Get Their Attention.  You can finish up by telling the potential customer a very quick story.  Always remember, humor is a very good, if not a great idea.

Give us a call at 623.582.1302.  We can help with your everyday printing.

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MI Printing, LLC
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com

What Is Your Marketing Strategy?

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.  Marketing strategy includes all basic and long-term activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives.

No matter how big or small your business is, it has “limited resources.”  We can all agree that you need to take advantage of the “greatest opportunities” to increase your sales.  Some times it seems that during marketing talks there is less focus on the one bottom line item.  You need to accomplish these goals while staying “profitable.”

Marketing strategy involves a careful evaluation of the internal and external environments. 

Internal environmental factors include the marketing mix, plus performance analysis and strategic constraints. 

External environmental factors include customer analysis, competitor analysis, target market analysis, as well as evaluation of any elements of the technological, economic, cultural or political/legal environment likely to impact success.

A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with a company's overarching mission statement.

Once a thorough environmental evaluation is complete, a strategic plan can be constructed to identify business alternatives, establish challenging goals, determine the optimal marketing mix to attain these goals, and detail implementation.

A final step in developing a marketing strategy is to create a plan to monitor progress and a set of contingencies if problems arise in the implementation of the plan.  The military often says that a battle plan is valid until you meet the enemy.  In marketing you might think along the line of “Roll With The Punches.”

So does good communication equal good marketing?  We always think so and many experts start with “Tell a Good Story” as the basis of good marketing.

Are you ready to do some marketing?  The printed piece is still king when it comes to most good marketing plans.  Let MI Printing help get you started.

Give us a call at 623.582.1302 to match your needs for all types of business promotions.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com

Made In The U.S.A. – Duffy Electric Boat Company

When Marshal “Duffy” Duffield placed the motor from a secondhand golf cart into the hull of a beat-up motorboat more than 35 years ago, he never dreamed he’d be launching the prototype for the Duffy electric boat.

Now recognized worldwide as the finest electric-powered watercraft available, Duffy boats are built to your specifications, with the finest marine quality materials and your choice of seating and table configurations.

All boats in the Duffy fleet are custom-crafted at the firm’s 30,000-square-foot factory, set on 5 acres in Adelanto, CA. Beginning in our pre-assembly department, where components are prepped, to our engineering and fiberglass finishing areas, the highest level of quality control is applied in every step of the boat-building process. Since all parts are created in our own factory, the craftsmanship built into every Duffy meets the highest quality control standards for withstanding the rigors of a saltwater environment. All cabinets and tables are custom crafted in our woodshop, using the finest solid, marine quality teakwood, and only the highest quality canvas and foam is incorporated into each finished Duffy.

Created with “plug and play” technology, a Duffy is the easiest electric boat to service and the most reliable to operate. Both our Advanced DC motors and composite propellers are warranted for life. As the only electric craft with a simple readout that reveals how many hours of driving time is left at any given speed, a Duffy takes the mystery out of relaxed cruising.

As the leader in electric boat manufacturing, Duffy Electric Boats is the official boat manufacturer for the Walt Disney’s California Adventure Park.

Duffys are used in corporate venues around the world, including Marriott Hotels and the famed Nature Conservancy in Naples, FL. Affirming their environmental friendliness, they are the vessel of choice for the California Fish and Game Department for exploration of sensitive marine life habitats.

With more than 175 employees the Duffy Electric Boat Company was started in 1970.  Duffy sells electric boats worldwide.

We don’t have electric boats at MI Printing but, MI Printing can help with all of your printed business marketing materials.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 so we can get you sailing along.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

MI Printing: Special Custom Business Cards

At MI Printing we can take care of all of your business card needs far beyond just simple black on white.  They say you simply aren't in business without your business cards. Need to know more about all the uses for business cards?  Learn about the many options for your cards.  Please give us a call at 623-582-1302.

Please ask about money saving larger quantities.  For best results a PDF file is required for the customer supplied artwork.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com

Marketing Mayhem In A Quiet Understated Way

First Impressions Are Important!! Paperweight

In a meeting with a potential client the other day we talked about “First Impressions.”  If you are a service business you routinely meet with clients one-to-one.  How you look is important. 

Here in the desert southwest we tend to dress in a more casual way than the folks east of the Mississippi river.  What the customer said has stayed with me over the last few days and I looked at those businesses around me with a more critical eye.  How are we doing in an overall causal dress as we go about or work?

A local grocery chain dresses all their staff in black polo shirts with logo and black slacks.  I noticed some of the carry-out staff were wearing long shorts.  It is fair to say that we have been running 11o plus for the last week.  I would give them a solid 8.5 for appearance.

I ran into a car rental location (off airport) the other day and the three staff members were all wearing miss-matched shorts and they were wearing gray polos on top but none had a company logo.  Am I too hard on them with only a 5 for appearance?

I stopped in to an eyeglass location and all the staff were dressed in dark blue medical scrubs with pocket logos.  The staff’s professionalism matched the look of the outfits.  The marketing and salesmanship was crisp as well.  Is there a correlation?  Perhaps!  This location was a solid 9 for a first impression!

Should the outside temperature affect how you staff is dressed?  Here in Arizona that is a real  consideration during the summer.  With afternoon temps near or over 110 degrees every day for days on end the staff clothing must be modified to accommodate the heat.

One last business that both surprised and impressed me was a local “Quick Lube” location.  The staff was in matching button-down shirts (short sleeve) with company logos and matching dress slacks (Dickies Brand).  While the customer waiting area was nicely air conditioned the service bays were all open air and it was at or near 114° that afternoon.  The cars being serviced were adding their own heat from the engines and cooling systems.  Their actions and communications were focused on the task at hand and they moved customers through as fast as you could expect them to.  Overall they were all 9.5s.  I will sure recommend them and be back myself.

While these were not all first impressions they were a judgment of their Quiet Marketing Mayhem.

Give MI Printing a try to work on your business printing needs.  Give us a call at 623.582.1302 and let’s talk.

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MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Direct Mail Still Works!

I know that it seems like everything that has to do with today’s marketing is all about how Social Media Marketing is the only thing that works.  As proof, people often point out that every big company has a presence on Social Media.

I have even heard people say that catalog marketing is another dying breed.  They point out that all the big catalog houses, Sears, Montgomery Ward and many others are no longer with us.  However many specialty catalogs, L.L. Bean, Neiman Marcus and  Crate & Barrel are doing better than ever.

Many companies still use a post card as a very effective direct marketing tool.  The key to success is how well targeted and up-to-date your mailing list is.

Target your list as narrowly as possible.  If you sell custom racing bicycles that cost $8, 000 to start, you can narrow your demographic to a small sub-set of the population.

One target that is always a great place to start is a previous customer.  Do you have a new item to introduce?  A special purchase that offers savings?  Do you have an improved product?  These would all be great reasons to do a direct mail piece to your existing customer base.

Does a purchase of a new home open the door for products and services you sell?  Then the list you won’t to purchase and focus on is new home buyers in your area.  You need that information to be as fresh as possible.  Getting to that customer after you competition does, is not the timing you are looking for.

If you have a general interest product or service the U.S. Post Office has a new direct mail service called Every Door Direct Mail that allows you to target customers within a specific Zip Code.

As old-school as direct mail may seem to some in this digital age, their popularity is back on the rise, especially when you combine an economic slump with popular reality shows like Extreme Couponing. When you give a prospect something they have to physically redeem for their offer, it’s a lot easier to trace and record, so you know what works!

Let MI Printing help you communicate your marketing story in your next Direct Mail Piece!

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Businesses, Designers and Printers Working Together

When you have a business marketing need translated into a printed piece you want the results to achieve the marketing results. 

This team that needs to come together to achieve this is a three part team.  The business must know what it is trying to get across to the consumer.  The designer must know all the steps to achieve the goal and the printer must help by producing a good quality printing job.

Sometimes you don’t get the results you want.  That occurs when one or more members of team fail to do their job.  The size of the business is not protection from failure.  The tent card shown here is a great example of how a job can fail.  Worse yet, is they can fail in more than one way.

The example was actual put into use by the business and perhaps that is the greatest failure.  A marketing piece can not succeed if it is missing part of the message.  A broken marketing piece should never be put into use.  At best it can not “work.”  At worst it is a slap in the customers face.

It tells the customer that the business just doesn’t care.  By extension the customer can conclude that all of the parts of that business are run in the same manner.  When that comes to food it is never the message that you want associated with a “consumed” product.  If the message is “we don’t care if we do our jobs correctly.”  You wonder if that applies to what you put in your mouth?

So when you are ready to do your next marketing “printed” piece make sure your message is clear and make sure your designer cares and does a complete and correct job.  Pick a printer who cares about your business as much as MI Printing does.

Notice that the instructions can not be followed because the web address is just plain missing.  Of course the name of the business and copyright statement are missing or can’t be read as well.

If your customers aren’t getting your best in communications or business, you should work on that with MI Printing.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Made In The USA – Intel Chips in Arizona

Chandler, Arizona
While Intel is a global corporation and they have incredible opportunities everywhere. So, step inside their world and find out where they do what they do to improve how people work, live, and play.

Fast Facts: The Site
Intel established a presence in Arizona in 1979 and began operations in Chandler, which is just 30 minutes southeast of Phoenix, in 1980.

Intel Arizona is their second largest site and they are the largest employer in Chandler, Arizona.

Intel Arizona consists of two large campuses and several smaller office buildings. The Chandler campus represents the breadth of Intel's business activities worldwide, whereas the Ocotillo campus focuses primarily on high-volume microprocessor manufacturing at state-of-the-art facilities.

Intel Arizona's fabrication facilities manufacture the Intel® Pentium® processor family of products, and is home to several business units focused on R&D, product design and development, and validation labs.

Since 1996, Intel has invested over $12 billion in high-tech manufacturing capability in Arizona and spend over $450 million each year in research and development. And, we're investing another $3 billion in our Arizona site to manufacture Intel's industry-leading, next-generation 32 nanometer technology.

Now Intel is investing an additional $5 billion to fabricate the new 14 nanometer technology chips in Chandler.

Intel is building the world’s most advanced, high volume chip fabrication plant in the Arizona desert -- even as most of today’s electronics are produced overseas.

At a whopping cost of about $5 billion, the "Fab 42" line is scheduled to be completed in 2013 and will be set up to produce chips with parts only 14 nanometers wide, close to the thickness of cellular walls. A human hair is about 100,000 nanometers.

For Intel, smaller parts means less heat and increased energy efficiency. In other words, they’re perfect for mobile phones.

In addition to Arizona Intel has plants in; Austin, Texas, Columbia, South Carolina, DuPont, Washington, Folsom, California, Fort Collins, Colorado, Hudson, Massachusetts, Rio Rancho, New Mexico and Santa Clara, California.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Looking for a Deal on Post Cards?

This week let's take a moment and talk about "Post Cards!" Direct mail is a very effective way to reach your customer and let them know about your latest products, newest services, up-coming events or your website. There are so many ways to use post cards in today's marketing environment.

Our digital printing presses allows us to make even short-runs of post cards a very cost effective marketing tool.  You can target a smaller group of potential customers and you can mail out your special price and sale notices quicker than ever before.

We can also do your long runs in many of the popular size Post Cards.  If you have a motel / hotel or tourist attraction we can help you with Post Cards that promote your location and even sell to your customers and let them help promote your business location.

Post Cards... For Sales and For Sale!

If you need help from start to finish MI Printing is here to help meet your Printing needs.

We are always your solution for fair prices and quick turn-arounds.

Call us and let's talk about your post card needs at 623-582-1302

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com 

Marketing Mayhem Using YouTube

It may seem strange that at MI Printing, your local business printer, we are telling you about marketing using an online medium rather than a product we produce.  The goal is simple to help you market your products and services to make you the strongest business you can be.  Simple, the better you do the more likely that you will need our services to complete your marketing or sales goals.

You Tube isn’t just a video platform, it is also a social network. Because of YouTube’s easy to use format, messages are spread quickly and efficiently across a variety of mediums including Facebook and Twitter, embedded in websites, and via email. You can easily add a YouTube video to your website or your Facebook account, and the end user does not need any special viewer like Windows Media Player or Quick Time to view it.

The most recent statistics on online video and YouTube are mind-blowing: Nielsen reported that Americans streamed 15 billion videos. While traditional TV viewing was up only 0.2% over last year, Internet video viewing was up 35% and mobile video viewing went up 20%.

Before you throw all your marketing dollars into YouTube, however, you might want to consider this other statistic: 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube… every minute. In the time it takes you to read this article, about two weeks of fresh content will be posted.

In other words, there’s a lot of competition for those eyeballs. So, how do you maximize your YouTube marketing results?

Create compelling videos, that people will watch.  It could be a how to or a what not to do.  Humor is always a good selling point.  Most important is to tell your story.  Why you are the best at… what ever it is you do.

The most important element is simple, stop talking about it and do it.  Then, do it again next week and the week after.

Here is a YouTube video you might enjoy.  http://youtu.be/ezkEoDqSmPc

If you are looking for a great business printer for your business. Please give us a call at 623.582.1302 and see how we can help you solve your other business needs.  Thanks!

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com

Turn Your email List Into Your Mailing List

The beauty of the email list is that these clients already like your work enough to give you their email address. They want to hear about your business and about the products you are offering. They may even love your work enough that they want to receive an email every time you update your blog with new photos. These people are priceless.

What is more amazing about a productive email list is that it can be the most productive part of your direct mail, mailing list.  They are used to getting good advice and good offers from your emails so they will be highly motivated to open your direct mail pieces.

This means that you will need to have your email recipients communicate their full physical addresses to you so you can update your mailing list.

You can do this as part of a contest where they need to enter and provide their physical address as part of the entry. 

One way to help encourage growth is to reward people for telling their friends about your business and what a great business you are. Think about offering a free service or a certain amount of credit to my clients for each friend they refer to us that makes a purchase or uses our services. This isn’t free to deliver, but I am putting it in my “free” list because you can pay for it out of the profits from their friend who may not have used you otherwise. It’s free to get started and promote.

Your mailing list is one of the most important tools that a business has to market themselves. Hopefully you make it a priority to capture email addresses and physical addresses at every opportunity.

Let MI Printing help you communicate your marketing story in your next Direct Mail Piece!.

Presented By
MI Printing
Phone: 623.582.1302
Email: sales@printinginaz.com
http://printinginaz.com