An adroit mixture of everyday settings and extraordinary events.
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A compendium of strange-but-true recent events as reported in the legitimate press.
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The world of business and finance gets skewered, as Bottom Liners tackles subjects such as foreign takeovers, office policies, getting a raise, and the fast-paced world of Wall Street.
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A wry look at the absurdities of every day life.
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With a daily readership of more than 95 million, Dear Abby is the symbol of a caring heart for millions of people around the world.
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In today's complex world of family issues, learn from Dr. Dobson’s lifetime of practical experience in dealing with family problems.
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Remove distractions and focus attention.
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Heard it thru the e-vine
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Houston, We Have a Problem
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A Fly Way to Promote Your Event
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A Message From ColorCraft Press |
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Getting Older
The hustle and bustle of the start of a new year can make us forget a lot of things, especially as we get older. Here's a humorous story I wanted to share about such a situation.
Three older ladies were discussing the effects of getting older. One said, "Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand in front of the refrigerator and I can't remember whether I need to put it away or start making a sandwich." The second lady chimed in, "Yes, sometimes I find myself on the landing of the stairs and can't remember whether I was on my way upstairs or downstairs." The third lady sighed with relief and said, "Well, I'm sure glad I don't have those problems yet - knock on wood," she said as she tapped her knuckles on the table, and then said, "That must be the door. I'll get it."
Here's the way I see it: Albert Schweitzer once said it best, "Sometimes happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."
We know that you are swamped with projects and other deadlines, which is why we'd love to lay your busy mind at ease. When you rely on us for all your printing needs, we'll take care of the details while you focus on more important projects.
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Idea of the Week |
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Fixing a Problem Photo...
...by blurring the background, yet keeping the grain.
You can remove distracting detail from an image or focus attention on the subject by isolating the subject and keeping it in focus as you blur other parts of the picture. The Photoshop technique presented in this tip imitates the effect you get with a shortened depth of field, traditionally achieved by opening up the camera’s iris (setting the f-stop low). The blurring can be limited to the background, or, as shown here, the sharp subject can be sandwiched between blurred background and blurred foreground. In either case, you’ll need to make the blurred areas match the sharp ones by restoring the film grain or digital noise (the equivalent of film grain in an image captured with a digital camera) that was lost in the process of blurring. |
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Defining the Foreground
If you want to keep a foreground subject in focus while blurring only the background, it’s a good idea to make sure the foreground subject bleeds off the bottom of the picture, even if it means cropping the image. Otherwise, if the subject is standing on the ground, it can be very tricky to make the transition from the in-focus ground at the feet of the subject to the out-of-focus background. |  |
See more great ideas like this!
Click here to visit the ColorCraft Press Ideas Collection.
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Marketing Tip |
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Engage Customers with E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing can be a very effective form of communication if you create a compelling e-mail marketing plan. Here are a few ideas on how to utilize e-mail to better engage your customers and drive revenue in 2010:
- Highlight customer reviews. Today's information-hungry consumers trust their peers' opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. By including customer reviews with your e-mail marketing, your message becomes more persuasive. Consider sending an automated message requesting a product review a week or two after purchase, and reward customers who submit a review with a future discount or sneak peek at new products.
- Segment your mailing list into new, loyal, and inactive customers, and send them specialized offers accordingly. Messages for new customers can include welcome messages, educational campaigns, and promotions for first purchase. Loyal customers could receive renewal notices, cross-sell offers, or special promotions. Inactive customers could receive surveys that identify reason for lack of engagement, incentives to revisit your web site, and promotions to encourage purchases.
- Create a shopping cart abandonment campaign by sending an automated e-mail message to customers who visit your web site and begin the process of making a purchase but fail to complete the process. Consider offering encouraging incentives for customers to return and complete their purchase, or increase urgency by informing them that their items are not guaranteed to be available much longer.
- Include social networking links in your e-mails to connect with customers, gather product information and recommendations, educate readers about your products, and enable them to communicate with other readers about their experiences. Give customers a good reason to share your promotional e-mails with friends, such as the opportunity to receive increased discounts, special offers, etc.
- Monitor the percentage of people who click a link after opening your message. If the numbers are high, your message content is relevant to those who opened the message. Low numbers mean your message isn't targeted enough for recipients who are willing to take time to glance through your message.
If you'd like ideas on how to coordinate your e-mail campaign with other types of marketing and branding materials such as promotional brochures and mailers, stop by today. Together we'll ensure your messages get noticed and remembered.
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Tech Tips |
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Talking to Tech Support
If you have experienced a painful tech support encounter and are looking for ideas on how to ensure your next problem is resolved more smoothly, here are a few tips to consider:
- Restart, reboot, reset. It sounds simple, but can often be an easy, overlooked fix for many issues.
- Be prepared before calling. Identify the problem, when it first occurred, and what steps you've tried to fix it. If you received an error message, write down exactly what it says. Also gather necessary information, such as the model or serial number, account information, etc. The more info a tech has, the faster they will be able to solve your problem.
- Communicate clearly with thorough answers. Call from a quiet area whenever possible. A screaming child or barking dog can be very distracting for both of you.
- Put your emotions aside. Remember the tech person did not create or design the equipment that is giving you problems. They are hired to help you solve your problem.
- Follow directions and don't push buttons, change settings, or turn your equipment on or off until the tech tells you to. By being cooperative, you can help them help you.
- If a tech asks you to do try something you've already tried which didn't resolve the problem, let them know. They are instructed to take you through basic troubleshooting techniques, so if you know it won't help, don't bother trying.
- Take notes. If the tech helps with an issue that may re-occur, take thorough notes that will save you time in the future.
- Be realistic. If you've been having issues for months but haven't addressed the problem until now, don't expect the tech to fix it during a five minute phone call. The age of your equipment can also impact the time it takes to resolve your problem. Older, slower equipment can take longer to diagnose and troubleshoot.
- Be patient and allow plenty of time to complete the support call in case it takes longer than you expect.
- Put yourself in the technician's shoes. The majority of people who contact tech support have problems and are often angry, frustrated, and impatient. They specialize in fixing problems and making lives easier for others, so be courteous and polite.
Think of us as your printing tech support team. Just as tough computer issues require computer specialists, tough printing issues require printing specialists, like us! If you'd like to see our library of print ideas, stop by today. We'd be happy to help you solve your printing dilemmas!
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Uncommon Product |
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Event Flyers
If you're looking for an inexpensive way to promote an upcoming event, open house, or grand opening, event flyers are a great way to draw attention. Here are a few tips when creating your next event flyer:
- Create a unique name for the event that creates interest and entices viewers to read more. Be sure the name matches your type of event.
- Design your flyer with your target audience in mind. A flyer created for college students promoting a spring break bash will look dramatically different than a flyer announcing a church family fun event.
- Answer the five W's (who, what, when, where, why) as well as any other important info, such as admission price.
- Give enough interest for viewers to attend your event, but be brief and get to the point. Consider a tear-off section at the bottom of your flyer to highlight a web site or phone number for additional information.
- While eye-catching graphics are important, be sure the flyer is readable from a distance. Stand back a few feet and see if your headline is readable.
- Use either brightly colored paper or colorful graphics to help your flyer stand out.
- Include a special offer (such as discounted admission or a 2-for-1 coupon) to give people a reason to keep your flyer and remember your upcoming event.
- Distribute flyers by hand to locations visited by your target audience, tri-fold your event flyer and send as a self-mailer to your mailing list, inquire at local businesses to see if you can leave a stack on their checkout counter, post on announcement boards, and make flyers available at other similar events.
- Limit your flyers to only two different font styles. Be consistent with your brand styles whenever possible.
- If you have a lot of information to promote, expand your flyer to print on both sides or use over-sized paper to draw more attention.
For more ideas on how to promote an upcoming event, give us a call. Our print team specializes in creative ways to reach your target audience and promote your business.
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