Get this before it is gone….
http://quarkpromote.quark.com/products/Business_Cards.aspx
QuarkPromote has some really nice business cards.
They are running a special $20 off deal + free shipping.
You can also one of their designs printed at a local print shop for the same low price.
Most cards are priced at $55 and hence, after $20 off and with tax you might end up paying $47ish.
There are some cards that are $44 and hence with the offer, you can get it for $24ish including shipping!
Most of us take business cards for granted. They are there to provide basic information about us. If you have a non-native name, business card helps to get it across (wonder if I should add ‘pronounced as’ to my business card!). Basic contact information – telephone, email etc.
There are many companies that are trying hard to help move to electronic contact cards, with the first step of scanning 100s (sometimes 1000s) of business cards people have collected. Evernote is one that I have tried to organize my contacts, but was not worth the trouble. Nothing to do with the program itself, just that, luckily, my life is not that complicated to learn yet another new tool to organize it (yet!).
And then, here comes a guy who can really get a crowd!
More than saying that you need to spend $4 for a good card, he is saying – why is a Business card just a contact info! Shouldn’t it be your personal marketing material!
I am not sure about foiling, embossing, die-cutting, pop-ups, 6 color printing – but I do like the idea that the card should attempt to leave a positive impression about you – even if it is only for a day or a week.
Next time, you order your business card from VistaPrint or Kinkos– just pause a bit and see if you want an extra line in it that could turn it into a marketing material!
Extract from : http://www.email-marketing-options.com/
Great site for comparing the growing number of email marketing providers.
The ratings for the 5 main comparison categories are each based on several factors. Each individual factor was assessed and given a quantitative score. Individual scores were weighted and averaged to obtain a final main category rating. The factors used to rate each category are as follows:
Creating an Email:
Great blog from "Paul, your uber geek"
http://blog.webdistortion.com/2009/02/16/10-stonking-email-marketing-systems-reviewed/
He has done a good review of some of the common email marketing solutions for SMB market and published a nice summary.
Here is my take on the companies Paul has covered in his list.
| Campaign Monitor | Never heard of them before. In my brief review, found it more appealing for developers who can create their own HTML email outside and use this for sending and analyzing reporting (something that new SMBs getting into email take a long time to appreciate) Here is what the 'easiest email builder' from them looks like :-)  |
| Signup.to | Like the way they split and guide users right from their home page - new to email or upgrading from other simple solutions. Claim to have simple email editor.  |
| iContact | I have blogged about these folks in the past. I like their simple interface and nice enhancements to RSS feeds etc.  |
| DotMailer | When I see SalesFore integration or any other CRM integration other than ACT or Outlook, I can tell that they are up market for the SOHO SBO market I typically cover in my blog. They do have a 'Lite' version (all the way to 'enterprise' version). " dotMailer Lite is for those with less than 500 contacts in their database, who want a very easy-to-use platform, and access to advanced ROI-boosting features as their business and their needs grow." |
| Pure360 | Never heard of these folks either. Though the home page is very welcoming for SBO/SOHO who are new to email marketing, couldn't find much details about their offerings. Looks like a email delivery system that youy install in your corporate office or add-on to existing system - beyond what I am interested.  |
| MailChimp | My favorite, primarily because this blog you are reading is automatically mailed as email through MailChimps blog-to-email integration. If interested, read my earlier bog about using MailChimp to manage blog+email+facebook+twitter. One Click Blog+Email Marketing+Twitter+Facebook  |
| ConstantContact | Most widely known email marketing system in US (probably because of the insane broadcast marketing they do). Have designer friends who help their SMB customers use ConstantContact to email. A bit difficult to customize templates, but they do come with many templates to get started. Still a bit advanced for SBOs starting with email marketing. Since the pricing is not that bad to start, one could start and over time learn and improve the art of effective emailing.  |
| VerticalResponse | Have blogged about them earlier as well. Email & DirectMail together Main attraction is the combination of email and direct mail service. |
| MadMimi | Never heard of them before. Looks like a fat application and is not web based. Looks simple even though. Check if out if you are interested in standalone apps. |
If you still not into email marketing.. please read my earlier blog "R U into Email Marketing - why not?"
A couple months back I wrote about letting Google know about your business. As part of the Google local service I covered in that blog, Google has expanded some neat reporting capabilities.
One of the interesting report is to know where people are trying to drive from to your business. Especially great for SMBs with retail front-end.
Of course, if would be nice to get this report for your competitors as well so that you can see if that extra dollar on rent on a prime location really matters :-)
If you haven't already added your business in Google local, pleaseeee, do yourself a favor and get that going - or email me and may be I can add your business for free if I have time :-)
PhotoXpress is claiming to be world's largest free stock photo site for commercials / professional use.
There is a reasonable selection of images for some of the SMB business I searched for - health and wellness, restaurant, cafe, bakery...
Images are print quality (300dpi at ~10" x 12") and are useful as long as you don't crop / scale as a large background image.
Defn worth checking it out for your next in-house project. Keep this in mind when you work with external designers as well and let them try to pick from these before going through expensive stock photo sites.
There are many online print providers today. Most, if not all of them seem to be an extension of their core print business (like VistaPrint). Exceptions include HP's Marketing Splash, who seem to have a print relationship with Staples.
While most of these sites focus on providing us a good enough design to start with, customize and print, a few web sites are still catching up to that. These site, rather focus on attracting customers who already have a design handy in a PDF format - probably from a friendly designer or from a previous job through an agency.
It is scary to upload a PDF, designed for a different printer, and expect to meet same color and other quality standards. So, please use caution or speak with them before placing final order.
Ask for press-proofs and negotiate cost to zero or use it towards final print cost.
Ask for reject/return policy and make sure you have a say in rejecting prints if you are not satisfied.
If you are in the mood to add up some good Karma, you may want to send few copied of your previous print work to them and ask them to match it or at least let you know if they can't before they start the full production run.
Thankfully they hid this link below the fold line of their web page. This is pretty lame. You may be better of using PowerPoint to create your design and uplod to them. They do provide some stock photo options which I usually find as an easy way to make a pretty design. I can only assume that their editor might help you avoid typically RGB/CMYK problem that non-designers are not familiar with and end up using colors in PowerPoint or Publisher that won't print properly.
