Direct Marketing News

In the Sept/Oct 2007 issue of The Utne Reader, there is an article titled, The New Elders. The premise of the article is that the Baby Boomer Generation can still save the world. The premise of this post is that residual income is the door opener to making a difference in the world. If you have a source, or multiple sources of residual income (income that arrives in your bank account while you are doing something else), then you have the ultimate freedom in how you spend your time.

The Utne Reader article quotes author Marc Freedman (Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life). Freedman states, “Faced with the practical necessity of extended working lives, boomers have made it a virtue getting busy on their next chapters. A generation that set out to change the world surely did, by changing the way the world thought about the purpose of work….”

Because people are living longer and are vital longer, there is a tendency to take on a second “career”. Sometimes it is for financial reasons, and often it’s to keep one’s mind active and oneself engaged with the community. So here you have the largest generation ever, hitting 55 or 65 or even 70 years old and having the energy and the enthusiasm to devote to the needs of their community, the country and the planet. What an opportunity.

Network marketing is a means for creating passive, residual income. Though starting with a network marketing company is not a recipe for instant success, commitment, hard work and follow-through are the ingredients necessary to reach a point the residual income is appearing in your bank account on a monthly basis. If you talk to professionals in the network marketing industry, you will learn that though some make quick money due to their contacts and years in the industry, most people should expect to work hard and build thei (more…)

You can save a substantial amount of money by creating artwork for company printing.

If your company is using an advertising agency or a graphic designer to create printed company promotional & marketing material, here is an opportunity to save a substantial amount of money.

If you can master the art of designing company stationery in-house you can supply your own artwork to your printer & save a bundle. There is however much to learn in terms of design skills and how to supply a file in the correct format so your printer can actually use it.

Resolution, file type, fonts, graphics, links and the actual software that what used to create the document are all important issues that need to be addressed. It is best to start with your printer as the software and operating systems (MAC or PC) vary between printers and you need to know what your printer uses.

If you supply artwork in a file or software type that your printer cannot use, do not worry, hem will let you know quick smart that what you have supplied is garbage.

Printers are constantly being supplied with artwork files that they simply cannot use.

Your printer being up front with you is a good thing as some printers tend to accept any type of file then battle on trying to make it work only to find out that they are unable to or they print the job and have it rejected by the customer because fonts have defaulted, graphics have disappeared, tabbing has changed, etc, etc.

A basic rule to remember is this. If you create a document on a PC it will more than likely be unsuitable for offset printing.

Although files created in Microsoft software are fine to print to a laser printer or an inkjet printer they simply cannot be used for offset printing.

Here are some reasons why.

The files in a low resolution format which is fine for v (more…)

Here’s the Insider Secret that no one will tell you about (except me).

The single, biggest mistake most business owners and managers make is giving all the printing work to the same printer over & over again.

With most commercial services like accounting, IT, Travel Agents, stationery suppliers, etc you can pretty much find one supplier and stick with them. Returning time & time again, knowing what you’re getting is probably as good as it gets.

But commercial printing is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Ever wondered why the quotes that you get back from various printing companies, for the same job, are all very different. If you ask say 6 printing companies to quote on the same job, the difference between the highest and the lowest price can be quite substantial.

I personally have seen some quotes come in at over 70% higher than the lowest quote.

Or you may ask the same 6 printing companies to quote on your annual printing requirements which may range from business cards to letterheads to company reports. When you start sorting the quotes you find that the prices are all over the shop. Some companies are much better priced on some of the documents yet way over on others. One company may be cheaper on the reports & more expensive on letterheads and the next company may be the other way round.

Does this strike you as odd?

Why is it so?

Well it’s not as mystical as you may think.

Apart from the fact that some printers, at any given point in time, will be low on work so they may well quote a rediculas price to get your order. Or it may be a quiet time of year, ie just after Christmas so once again some printers will quote low to win the business.

Or it could be a result of -

The insider secret that no one will tell you about.

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