There are those who are bored to tears by the thought of designing a form and those who love the fussy challenge of creating a good, clear, usable document. Forms are seriously underrated in the world of graphic design.

Of the four basic design principles (contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity), the secret to a good-looking form is alignment. Lack of alignment is the single biggest failure that makes a form appear unclear to the user. The other principles are also very important, as in any design, particularly contrast to help direct the user through the form, proximity to keep groups of related pieces of information together, and repetition to tie it all together. But alignment is the key. The top example uses interesting typefaces and calls out the major features in bold for clarity in communication and visual contrast and repetition, but it doesn’t look as clean and clear as it could. In the lower example, elements are aligned, which naturally presents a cleaner look. Cleaner (usually) communicates better. Also, the spacing was adjusted so that the elements that belong together (like those two lines of “suggested donations”) are closer together, and the separate elements have a wee bit of extra space between them (following the principle of proximity). 25% OFF any Business Form Order this Month

Have you ever noticed that some customers come in with an attitude? Often it isn’t about you, but is based on another experience with another person they have dealt with. So what can you do to remove the chip and break down the wall?

Greet your customers warmly and sincerely. A truly warm welcome can be totally disarming.
A good greeting not only starts things off on the right foot, it can also build a strong foundation for the future.

Have you ever had a bad experience with one company, only to expect the same experience at another? Car dealerships are a great example of this. Even if you have a bad experience at one dealership, it doesn’t mean the next time you buy a car somewhere else, the experience will be the same. However, the moment you set foot on the new lot, your defenses are up.
One way to diffuse this automatic defensiveness with your customer is to focus on your greeting.

1. First, do an attitude check. Before you start your workday, do a personal inventory: How are you feeling? Are you tense? Are you rested? Did you just have a frustrating drive in to work? Be aware of how you are feeling and what you are thinking and leave any negative emotions at the door. You’ll find it is too hard to automatically treat others well when you are battling with your own problems.

2. Immediate customer recognition. Don’t wait even a couple of minutes to acknowledge your guest’s presence. If you are in proximity of your customer, say hello. If you are with another customer you can still acknowledge him or her. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for someone to notice you. A simple nod of the head, eye contact or a brief comment will let the person waiting know that you have seen him or her and will soon be with them .Whether you are the sales person or the CEO, say hello to the customer as soon as you can. No matter what your position you’re in the customer service business.

3. Make the greeting warm and sincere. Customers have sincerity radar. They can tell if you are faking it. One of the best ways to ensure that your greeting is warm and sincere is by expressing your gratitude. The more that you can feel appreciative that people have decided to do business with you, the better you will treat them.

4. Handshakes are optional. It is usually standard practice to make sure that everyone gets a handshake, but the fact is, there are many cultures that find a handshake offensive. With the world getting more culturally diverse, the best tip is to wait with your hands at your side until the customer makes the first move and then respond by doing what they do, whether it’s a handshake, a hug or a bow.

5. Avoid asking, “How may I help you?” In a sales situation, this question allows the customer to say, “Just looking,” at which point you are already at a disadvantage.  It’s better to start off with, “How are you?” or a compliment on something they are wearing, such as, “Great glasses, where did you get them?” or even a comment on the weather. Conversations like these can often help you start building rapport. But if your customer doesn’t like small talk get to the point quickly.

6. Understand your customers. Begin your relationship with the true goal of finding out their wants and needs and then try to make sure that you fulfill them. Working with this goal foremost in your mind will help define every action you take.

Following these steps will help you start building greater rapport and trust with your customers. The sooner you build rapport and trust, the sooner you can remove that chip from their shoulder or start tearing down their wall and create a customer for life.

While they are often overlooked, rebate programs are easy ways to gather valuable customer data, introduce prospective customers to try new products, boost company sales and visibility, and create interest in ongoing sales and promotions.

Because rebate forms often require the customers’ name and address, they can help businesses create a targeted marketing campaign geared toward people who have purchased from them before, as well as understand what types of products they are interested in purchasing.

Rebates are also a great way to transition products during a price increase, offering a temporary discount to stimulate sales while maintaining a higher price point. This also helps prevent negative perception if prices are lowered and then raised again. In addition, companies can earn interest on money paid for products during turnaround time waiting for rebates to be redeemed.

When creating a rebate program, be sure to balance savings and ease of redemption. Beware of creating a program that is too much of a hassle for consumers to follow through with. While that may temporarily increase your revenue, it can also leave a bad impression on customers you hope will purchase from you again in the future.

While rebate forms can be created in a variety of formats, the most popular include tear-off pad, inserts into packaging, or hang tags directly on merchandise. If you’re considering a rebate program, we’d love to help you create the perfect rebate form and answer any questions you may have.

Finding the perfect stock photo on a minimal budget (or even no budget at all) can sometimes be a grueling task. Next time you are looking for stock images, here are a few free sites worth bookmarking:

• Everystockphoto.com (www.EveryStockPhoto.com) is a free photo search engine that searches multiple websites. It even allows social networking aspects such as rating, tagging, collecting, and commenting on photos.
• FreeDigitalPhotos.net (www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net) offers free images for use in corporate and personal projects, with an option to purchase higher resolution versions for print.
• FreeRangeStock.com (www.FreeRangeStock.com) offers a searchable database of free high-quality stock photos, suitable for personal or commercial design projects.
• WPClipArt.com (www.WPClipArt.com) offers a safe and simple online collection of clipart and photos optimized for school kids. It is safe from inappropriate images and free of copyright concerns.
• Stock.Xchng (www.Sxc.hu) is a user-contributed, free source of stock photos.
• Burningwell.org (www.Burningwell.org) has free images for any use donated by photographers around the world.
• MorgueFile.com (www.MorgueFile.com) provides free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits.
• StockVault.net (www.StockVault.net) offers free high-resolution stock photos for personal, non-commercial use.
• FreeStockPhotos.com (www.FreeStockPhotos.com) features high-resolution royalty-free stock photos, suitable for desktop wallpaper, school projects, personal stationery, and more.
• FreeFlowerImages.com (www.FreeFlowerImages.com) offers 1,500 watermark-free, stock flower images, sorted by color.
• BackgroundsArchive.com (www.BackgroundsArchive.com) offers free tileable and desktop wallpapers.

If you have questions about quality of images for print or need help finding the perfect graphic, give us a call today!
]]> http://copcat.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/free-stock-images-online/feed/ 0 Copy Cat http://copcat.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/the-buzz-about-buzz-words/ http://copcat.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/the-buzz-about-buzz-words/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:33:42 +0000 Copy Cat Printing Centers http://copcat.wordpress.com/?p=194 ]]> I saw a recent tweet that stated, “May have failed to find actionable synergy in mission-critical areas; better get 2.0 face time and empower them.” How many buzzwords can you get in a 140-character tweet or any other post or business communication for that matter?

Since the only (human) audience that matters is your customers, let’s pretend I’m a customer.

2. “Service provider.” Everyone who meets a need is a service provider. When I fill up my car the gas station is a service provider: I need gas, the station provides it. “Service provider” says nothing. If you sell gas, tell me you sell gas. If you design commercial office spaces, tell me you design commercial office spaces. If you’re an Internet Service Provider, fine otherwise, use plain language and tell me what you really do.

3. “Proven track record.” Almost every company has a track record. It may be good, it may be bad, but everyone’s track record is proven. Give me facts and figures instead. Share on-time performance rates, waste percentages or under-budget statistics–let your track record be proven by your achievements. Don’t have any achievements yet? No problem; you don’t have a track record either, so it’s a moot point.

4. “Unique blend of ” If you’re KFC your recipe may be a unique blend of herbs and spices. Otherwise someone, somewhere, is also doing what you do. You may do it a little better, but you aren’t unique. Describe why you’re better.

5. “World-class.” Usain Bolt: world-class sprinter. Lindsey Vonn: world-class skier. Makes sense  but what is a world-class company? Who defines world-class? The fact that you provide (or hope to provide) products or services to a global customer base doesn’t mean you are a world-class company.

Avoid These Buzz Words

Synergy. Leverage. On-boarding. Does this sound like the dialog of the meeting you attended this morning? It’s time to step out from behind the buzzword curtain and get to the point.

1. “Collaborative approach.” You won’t just decide what’s right for me and force me to buy it? Wow! If your process is designed to take my input and feedback, tell me how that works. Describe that process. Show me exactly how we’ll work together. Don’t just claim we will.

2. “Outstanding customer experiences.” Providing an outstanding customer experience is important; if you don’t, you’ll fail. The problem with this term is it describes a general phenomenon. How will my experience be outstanding? Tell me what I can expect that will make my experience so outstanding.

3. “Dynamic.” If you’re “vigorously active and forceful,” I prefer you stay away from
me.

4. “Myriad solutions.” This phrase is everywhere. I think the intent is to say, “Boy, we do a lot of stuff.” To me it comes across as, “Basically, we’ll do anything you are willing to pay us to do because we haven’t figured out our business model yet.” Some companies might actually provide myriad solutions. If you’re one of them, break those solutions down into categories, list the categories and then describe each one somewhere else. But don’t talk about solutions. I want you to solve my problem; tell me how you will. “Solutions” has become a buzzword and is therefore meaningless.

5. “Results oriented.” Really? I will get what I pay for? Wow–I assumed you would focus on something more important than results. Thanks for letting me know!

Adjectives are great but only if specific, descriptive and directly applicable to what you do. Use plain language, avoid generalities and skip the hyperbole.

Companies can save substantial amounts of money by eliminating the need for envelopes. The possibility of creating a self-mailer should be considered with any direct mail piece.

A self-mailer is simply a piece of mail that doesn’t require an envelope. All of the necessary mailing information is located on one of the outside panels.

Because self-mailers do not require envelopes, you must be more creative when designing the format, since you don’t have the luxury of an envelope to contain any extra sheets of printed material.

Here are some things to consider when designing a self-mailer:

1. Will the delivery address be printed directly on the self-mailer, or will self-adhesive labels be used?
2. The amount of written material in the self-mailer will determine the overall size of the mailer.
3. Information needs to flow quickly and smoothly from the initial pitch to the fine print. The fewer words needed to convey your message, the better.
4. The type of closure needs to assure safe passage through the mail. Staples are used often, but many people find them unappealing. Miniature self-adhesives are available in many colors, shapes, and sizes.
5. If perforated sections are used, keep them in mind so that nothing can slip loose while being passed through the mail.

Nothing is more annoying than a slow computer. And no matter how expensive or powerful your computer is, it is inevitable that it will eventually become slower with frequent use. Like a vehicle, computers require regular maintenance to operate at their best. Here are a few tips to help your computer get back up to speed:

• Defrag your hard drive regularly (Microsoft recommends setting an automatic defrag once a month).
• Remove temporary/internet files and cookies regularly.
• Consider a higher speed internet connection depending on your uses and needs.
• Remove unnecessary programs, files, and startup files that were installed by the manufacturer or added through various downloads and program installs, with exception of your firewall and antivirus software.
• Check your computer’s RAM (Random Access Memory) capacity and consider a memory upgrade if your hard drive is fully loaded with programs and files, especially if you use several programs at the same time. For optimal performance, at least 25 percent of your computer’s hard drive storage space should be free at any time.
• Run a free registry scan to check for errors. Registry damage is often caused by frequently installing/uninstalling software and modifying system components, and is a very common culprit slowing your computer.
• Consider moving large files (such as photo library) and other important files to an external drive to open up storage space (and also provide a safe backup).
• Update your drivers, since outdated drivers can diminish hardware functionality and cause system crashes.

If you’ve taken these actions and are still having performance issues, it may be best to leave your computer in the hands of an expert, and we can recommend a few.

But, remember, any time you need help from a printing expert, give us a call!

Have you ever wondered if your computer is running at the speed you are paying for? While checking e-mail, Facebook, or other internet browsing doesn’t use much bandwidth, downloading music, movies, or videos can slow down your computer speed immensely if don’t have an optimized connection.

Here are a few sites that enable you to easily check the speed of your internet connection:

• The Global Broadband Speed Test (www.speedtest.net)
• Test My Speed.com (www.testmyspeed.com)
• Speed Fixer (www.speedfixer.com)
• Internet Connection Speedometer (promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/)

Your internet connection speed can be affected by many factors. Here are a few steps to ensure you receive the most accurate test results:

• Close other open browser windows, as well as other programs that are connected to the internet before testing.
• Because running the tests during “peak hours” will show less speed when compared to running the same tests during “low traffic” or night hours, re-check during different times of the day and different days of the week and track your results.
• After five or six tests, calculate the average to determine the approximate speed you are receiving.

While your internet connection may not be as fast as you’d like every time you boot up, you can rest assured that our team of professionals will astonish you with speedy service every time you use our print shop!

We love color, and we know you do, too. While budgets don’t always allow for four-color work, two-color printing projects don’t have to look drab or dull. Adobe InDesign allows you to define a whole range of swatches based on any two ink colors, providing you with the options you need to make your project look great.

So how do you go about using this feature? Here are the steps to take:

1. Open the Swatches palate and bring up its flyout menu. (Click the arrow in the upper right-hand corner to do this.)

2. Select New Color Swatch.
3. Create a color swatch for each of the colors you will be using in your design. (Choose Spot from the Color Type menu.)
4. Once both swatches are created, go to the Swatches flyout menu again, and select New Mixed Ink Group.

5. Click in the gray boxes to the left of your two swatches.
6. Give each color an initial value (we recommend starting with 0%), a repeat value (equal to the number of steps you’d like the program to take to reach 100%), and the increment you’d like the value to rise with each of those steps.

   Keep in mind that the final percentage cannot exceed 100%. That means if you start with 0% and choose a repeat value of 10, your increments would have to be 10% or less. Or, if you start with 0% and choose a repeat value of 4, your increments could go as high as 25%.

7. Once you’ve set your values for both ink colors, hit Preview Swatches. A list of swatch colors using varying percentages of each ink will then appear. Use these in your layout to add variations of color without worrying about adding another color of ink to the project.