....and I want to be top of Google!

Oh how I love to hear the above phrase as I discuss a website project with someone who has a £300.00 budget...... Still with the right work and motivation and a willingness to put some effort in, you don’t have to pay silly prices to drive traffic to your website.

PROACTIVE is the keyword, now I am going to assume you want your business to succeed and that you want to work hard to make this happen, I will also make the assumption you have had a website made by a professional (not your cousin in his Bedroom for 50 quid) and that at least the basics are covered. Then the following should be what you’ve done or intend to do.

Key Words / Page Descriptions Analytics

You must know at this point what your traffic is like, what it is doing when it arrives and what to do with the results of analytics other than worry how many unique hits you get – I can offer help and advice here so feel free to email me (Andrew).

Ok so what words best describe your service / business? Don’t worry about the obscure terms, try and offer what you do – Here at Apple Print and Creative we print and design in Newbury so “Graphic design Newbury” or “Digital Printing Berkshire” would work for us, these specific key phrases or so called Long Tail Keywords tend to get a better conversion rate and lower bounce rate. Multi word phrases work better than single words as well when you are on a budget!

Make each of your web pages unique and give each one a description, spend some time on it or pay (me) someone to do it for you...don’t rush it – please make the content of your site relevant, make sure all the images have "Alt Tags" so google can index them, make sure it's interesting and update it all the time, I want something new every time I come back, if it’s a brochure site then get a news/twitter/blog/FB/Circles feed going. If you get those going get an RSS feed active .......ok ok....

..........all these terms can seem like a massive mountain to climb but we can help you plan and spread you budget, what you can do and what (we) your technical guys can do. There can be no NO.1 position promise – though results can be great.

More next week on this....remember that I am no marketing Guru but one thing for sure.... if you don’t do anything then your online position will suffer.

Follow me on Twitter, Apple Print on FaceBook and Linkedin to stay up to date with what we are doing. Re-Tweeting my blog is good for my rankings :) and will make you special!

Near Field Technology and QR codes....Variable printing and more......

There are more and more products coming to market that are helping the technology orientated printer / designers grow their businesses. I thought this week I would point out some of the emerging systems and talk about the ones I hope to see growing.

Variable Data – now this phrase is used a lot but I don’t think it’s truly understood or used enough to gain that extra impact. Send a 2D Direct Mail with personalisation and you are increasing your chances of the recipient following your call to action by 30%, who doesn’t like to receive a piece of mail with their name up in lights? So by Variable we mean personalised, directly targeted to the Person, gender, age or many other demographics if you have the data to support it – these days there is no excuse for not personalising DM campaigns of under 5000 runs, design and go.....the results speak for themselves.

QR Codes – Today our phones are smarter than us....with a QR scanner you can follow printed “call’s to action” from posters, Direct Mails and Point of Sale. QR codes are the Square 2D Barcodes turning up on stuff, Popular? I am not sure, they are being used and we are printing more of them on products but I think more people need to understand what they are for, both users and Business owner / managers need to understand where they fit in. A downside also is that for many people’s phones you need an App for scanning. There are also a couple of QR rules:

1.       MUST go to a Mobile enabled landing page – example scan the QR at the bottom. (Mobile Only) Although this is our main Url when you use a mobile it defaults to our mobile Url

2.       Must have the item designed with a QR, don’t just plonk into a spare space.

3.       If you are hoping to drive traffic to a main mobile optimised website.....have a little landing re-direct page so you can count the success on your analytics – if you have posters in multiple locations then use multiple landing re-directs to judge which location send the most traffic.

NFC Technology – Here is a new one, some phones and one day I imagine all phones will come with the ability to receive a RFID signal from a printed piece of Material. Here at Apple Print Ltd we can print a Label that transmits a signal that a phone or NFC enabled device can pick up, unlike QR’s there is no app required, you just need to move your phone to within 10mm of the transmitter / poster / DM. We can encode wrist bands, Business cards, Key Rings, Posters and Direct Mails with the ability to send the user off to a website, download contact info and many more applications. A great Client and Partner business, Kremer Signs, will be using them in Estate Agent boards to provide passersby with Property details with the swipe of a phone. This will be the big one, swiping for info will be second nature in a few years. Many of the rules for QR’s count here as these will be used by mobile devices.

Although I did not mention it above I am going to look into 3D printing over the next few weeks.....I will keep you up to date should we choose to invest. For now......give great Service and remember to tell everyone.

But I am not selling Elevators........

A few years ago I watched a presentation by Jeff Hayzlett on Social Media and Elevator pitches. Jeff called them your “One Eighteen” which was in reference to the average wait for an Elevator in NYC (18 seconds) and the average journey length (1 Minute), I may or may not have those the correct way round. What he was wanting was a short sharp pitch that summed up what you did and why the listener should care....to use a fishing metaphor, Hook you first and then reel you in, 18 seconds to hook and then one minute to reel in. If you get a chance look Jeff up and follow him on Twitter.....you will not be sorry.


With this in mind I thought I could give some details of how to approach your own 1-18 or Elevator Pitch.....Barbra has been working with Anthony, who was off to Speed Networking in Swindon, to make sure he used his one minute perfectly.....


1. Strong handshake.


2. Good eye contact.


3. Keep it brief – 60 seconds or less.


4. Try to follow the “W” technique
- Who are we?
- Where are we?
- What do we offer?
- Why choose us?
-
5. Be interesting. Don't bore them to death. Try to come up with ways to make your elevator pitch unique and exciting enough so that you will be invited to tell them more.


6. Be clear and concise. Tell them what you have to offer in easy to understand bullet points – DON’T USE JARGON unless you are talking to someone from a similar industry.




7. Be credible. Tell them how long you have been in business, awards won, tell them about client testimonials etc.


8. Be likeable. Be friendly and SMILE Give the impression that you are someone who is easy to work with and who is fun to be around. Show that even though you take your work seriously, you still know how to have fun.


9. Be enthustiatic. People want to work with people who believe in what they do.


10. PRACTICE makes perfect. Do lots of roll play with friends & colleagues until you are word perfect. Don’t um and ah – be confident in what you are saying. Don’t fidget.


If you would like to hear ours then please give Anthony a shout or alternately we could send you a written copy. anthony@appleprint.co.uk 01635 521654

Give your Business a Promotional Push in 2012

Give your Business a Promotional Push in 2012

Continuing with a marketing tips theme this week I asked our Creative and Marketing expert, Rebecca Miles, to share her top ten marketing ideas to help improve small business sales and customer relationships:

1.     Write a plan

Now this may sound obvious, but it's surprising how many companies don't have a well thought-out marketing plan. There's nothing wrong with being spontaneous, but the lack of focus can often lead to mixed messages as well as blowing the budget within the first few weeks! Take the time to really think about what you want to achieve and explore all of the avenues you can take to do this.

2.     What's your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

You need to know what makes your product or service stand out from your competitor's. This may inevitably be the reason that a customer chooses YOUR business. Again, this may sound obvious...but get it down in writing so that everyone is aware of it.

3.     Understand your customer

Who buys your product or service? You may have had an initial idea of who your target market was at the beginning, but have they evolved? There may be more than one category you can segment the market down to. Once you know this, you can easily tailor your marketing plan to capture each area and even target the segments in different ways. 

4.     Build a strong brand

Once you have a clear idea of your unique selling proposition and target market you need to determine your brand values and ensure they are kept consistent. Your identity, your staff, your advertising message and the product itself must reflect them. Building a brand can take time, but it will add value and recognition to your company.

5.     Use different media effectively

Would your customer engage with an interactive email or would a personalised leaflet mailed to them be more appropriate? There are so many ways in which to inform potential customers of your business, it's just about getting a good balance and more importantly the most relevant for the target market.

6.     Make sure you have a website and update it regularly

In today's culture, people like to be able to access information at any time of the day (or night). How can you expect potential customers to fully understand your company without having some form of internet presence. If you already have a site, you need to keep this updated so that returning visitors have something new to read and can engage in your company developments and up-coming events.

7.     Ensure search engines know you're there

First and foremost, make sure you register your site with the popular search engine using their webmaster tools. This ensures that they know you are there and will add you to their index. You also need to make sure that all of your pages have correct and relevant content and that the key words from this are added to the background coding to help with searching. Finally, you need to sit and wait for a while as it can take up to ten weeks for your site to be trawled and ranked.

7.     Try to use innovative advertising

It no longer pays to have a simple poster with your company name and contact information on... you need to really engage your client, their expectations and the environment in which the advert will sit. Having an innovative approach will help your marketing stand out. For example, if you know you are designing a billboard poster, try to utilise the surroundings of where it will be displayed.

9.     Simply – be green

Everyone is very environmentally aware now-a-days and it pays to let your customers know how your company conserves resources and cuts down on waste (it can actually save you money too!)

Ideas like turning your equipment off when you're not using them, encouraging more internal communications by email (rather than leaving notes) and choosing suppliers and services with green credentials can all be beneficial.

10.  Never underestimate word-of-mouth

Positive messages through word-of-mouth not only increases the reach of your marketing, but also builds upon your reputation and brand whilst being absolutely free! Clients will often refer their peers to a company who has shown them great service and this is no longer just by face-to-face or telephone. Social media has opened up a whole new scope of 24/7 conversations whereby messages can quickly be exchanged and company information sent at the click of a button! 

Whether you are after a complete re-brand, a one-off marketing consultation, a brand new website or simply ideas on alternative ways you can use print then Apple Print and Creative are here to help! We have over 25 years of experience within the print, design and marketing industries and work with clients to understand their existing brand or offer innovative solutions.

Marketing and Design

We can help your company and brand get noticed and will make sure your message is simple and clear but delivered with a considered strategy. 

We can help you make a measurable improvement to your business through web design, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and system integration and offer full business reporting and click-through feed-back to make the most of this resource. 

Print

We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and are proud to be part of the 5% of UK printing companies to have the prestigious FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) environmental accreditations.  

If you are interested in speaking to one of the team about your next project, simply give us a call on 01635 521654, send an email to hello@appleprint.co.uk or visit our website www.appleprint.co.uk

Running in (Google) Circles

It has been a big old week here and in many ways I am glad it’s coming to a close, I have a couple of major projects leaving the building in the next hour and I will then sleep better tonight. I have also still got a last thing (Pub) meeting with Cricketts about Mobile Web and an updates project to the site we developed two years ago.

So how are we going to approach 2012:

FaceBook – We are going to employ a new role at Apple Print of Social Monkey, a person who will work on our clients social media needs as well as our own, watch this space for more details.

Twitter – Carry on as we are, we are getting into some great conversations and feel we are expanding our reach in a great way - @Appleprintnews @MrApplePrint @AnthonyMeikle1 @Jamesshearne @mslade1969 for some Apple Tweeters

LinkedIn – Again we are aiming for more from this service in 2012, using it to effectively stalk potential new clients as well as keeping up with what existing ones are up too. Again find our team here...........

YouTube – in the past we have used this service for a bit of fun and testimonials, in 2012 we will be doing short interviews, Service offerings and much more.

Blog - well you are reading this so I will leave it at that.

Google Circles - *Shrugs Shoulders*

Reading, Berkshire is also going to be a target for the first 6 Months of 2012, our successful West Berkshire Marketing plan is going to be expanded in include our neighbour – If you are Reading based look out for our name at Reading FC, The Hexagon and local media. I have high hopes for this enlarged marketing plan and I am excited about the growth opportunities the expansion of our business is offering us.

Next week tune in to learn about our latest investments in technology......have a great weekend.

Social Media, is it Micky Mouse?

This week I have been pushed by a great client to update my blog, it's been a super start to the year on the back of record month after record month last year - Apple Print is running 25% more work now than this time last year, was that social media attention a great result or what?

It's various factors and social media had a part to play, with that in mind I had the below text sent to me by Richard Bett's, managing director of ECEX, he understands our business and Social Media and thought he could help me by providing some text for a blog....I thought it was worth using.

"The problem with being a media marketer is that unlike Disney’s Mouseketeers it is not simply a case of putting a Mickey Mouse hat on.  

Driving the changes through and providing Apple customers with maximum VFM (value for money) requires a commitment to all forms of media that were hitherto unknown.  

So every day must start with a Tweet or three before moving on to Facebooking and circling with Google.  

Social media completed and it’s time to start on professional networking with LinkedIn before dealing with emails and arranging appointments to spread the word according to Apple.  

Do I enjoy it?  

Of course I do because this is how the world turns on its axis nowadays.  

You have to be in it to win it and with Apple you always will be."

Thanks Richard - I think you understand us quite well and look forward to working with you in 2012.

Design for print.

Design for print.

Here at Apple Print Ltd we spend quite a bit of time making sure the files supplied by our clients are going to produce a quality product. There are challenges that make this difficult but we find that just communicating, from time to time, the kind off issues we face the most can limit the impact of these issues on both the printed product and the timescale of the job.

RGB - The RGB colour model is an additive colour model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colours. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colours, red, green, and blue. Our Apogee Pre-press can convert these colours to CMYK (the standard printing process colours) but these can be washed out by the conversion colour profile used. What’s best is if you are going to have something printed, Digital, Litho or large format, is to double check everything is converted to CMYK in the native programme before PDF’ing or sending to print. With this in mind if you do provide us with collected Indesign or Quark files we can sort these issues for you, it just may add some time to a job as we’d have to re-proof. Other creative programmes have the same issue like Word and Publisher, and we expect in these cases the files won’t be converted because they are not professional design applications, the issue is that if MS programmes are used and then PDF’ed we won’t find the RGB until we rip, again not a great issue but it all adds time to a project.

IMAGES – While making sure images are CMYK another thing that can be quite upsetting in a beautifully designed job is LOW RES IMAGES. Once again if you are not an expert we understand how this happens but unless an image is 300DPI at the size it’s to be used it can end up looking fuzzy. It needs to be understood that if you grab images / logos and bits like that off a web site then more than likely they are going to be 75dpi and whilst they’ll look great on a website they will look beyond awful when printed in hi-res – just contact us, chuck us a file and we’ll check it out for you.

BLEED - Bleed is a printing term that refers to printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet after trimming. The bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. This is very important if you have images / text close to the edge of the sheet and helps us to make sure we don’t have trimming issues and also on digital where we can get small 0.5mm movements when printing.

So just to re-cap here are a few helpful terms:

BLEED - Extended areas that extend beyond the ‘trim’ or the final finished size of the page. Without a bleed, we will find it near impossible to finish a job accurately and white edges may show where the pages are cut.

CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black). Printing requires this colour mode to create superior printing to that using RGB (Red, Green, Blue). Many digital cameras produce RGB JPGs which we will happily convert for you, but you will need to check you are happy with the colour conversion.

DPI - Dots Per Inch refers to the number of dots produced by a printer.

EPS - Encapsulated Postscript. These can easily be re-scaled without loss of detail. JPEG Joint Photo graphics Experts Group. JPEGs compress the file size, which means it is crucial to ensure

images are set at 300dpi or higher.

PDF - Portable Document Format. This is the most popular file type for transferring files between computers, regardless of their systems (ie PC to Mac).

TIFF - Tagged Image File Format. It is cross-platform compatible and retains better image quality than a JPEG.

Vector - These images are defined by mathematical formulae rather than built from pixels. This means they can be reproduced at any size without degeneration in image quality.

You can find this info HERE on our website and you can always call our studio on 01635 521654 if you have any questions.

So we are in full swing preparing for our 25^th Birthday Party on the 11^th of Aug, if you would like to come then please just drop Elle an email and let her know you wish to attend – click HERE for more details.  Also please all check out http://www.projectcolombo.com/ this great idea is being supported by a great client of ours and we hope we can support them with this worthy cause - @StrandUK on Twitter to also learn more about them and their business.