Maui Printing Company

It was almost the end of senior year at the university. Four close friends -- Sarah, Maria, Andrea, and Kaitlin -- were preparing to celebrate the momentous achievement of earning a degree. To make their upcoming graduation even sweeter, each had found employment that would begin a few weeks after they received their diploma. These girls had plenty to celebrate. To make some final memories before they headed off into the work world, they decided to take a trip together. They quickly realized, however, that each one of them had a different idea of what constitutes the perfect vacation. Sarah dreamed of spending days relaxing by the ocean, doing little besides napping by the water, swimming, and enjoying fantastic food by night. Maria desperately wanted to explore some fantastic cities. She had never been to New York City and thought the excitement of the Big Apple would be perfect. Andrea agreed that cities sounded perfect, but she thought one of the historic cities of E...

Constructive criticism is one of the most powerful tools available to businesses of all types today. After all, who better to tell you how you're really doing than the people you're supposed to be pleasing in the first place? Thanks to the Internet and the scores of online review sites that have cropped up over the years, you don't have to look very far anymore for someone's honest opinion of a product or service, especially now that everyone has an equal voice in the proceedings. However, the key word in the phase "constructive criticism" is "constructive." Online review sites tend to be a collection of overwhelmingly negative reactions, regardless of whether or not they have any basis in fact. As a result, many people tend to immediately discredit them or wash their hands of online reviews altogether. In reality, there's a huge amount you can learn from both the good and the bad online reviews -- provided you know how to wade through the no...

Imagine overhearing a conversation between a little girl named Sarah and someone else you cannot quite identify. Sarah is addressing this other person, telling them to get dressed for the day and eat their breakfast quickly -- they don't want to be late for school. It sounds as though this other person doesn't really want to get out of bed. Sarah turns to a more coaxing tone of voice, and you hear her tell this other person that she understands not wanting to confront a mean classmate, but that going and doing it anyway will make her feel better and put an end to the bad treatment. Finally, you catch a name. Sarah is speaking with someone named Samantha. Wait a minute. Isn't Samantha Sarah's doll? Children and dolls Have you ever met a little girl who loved her dolls? Most of us have. These small children can come up with elaborate stories about these inanimate figurines. They'll tell you the doll's name, her background, what she likes to do, and...

Do you think offline marketing is obsolete? It isn't...not by a long shot. In fact, you need to pay just as close attention to your offline marketing as you do to your online marketing in order to achieve success. Used in conjunction with online marketing, offline marketing can help ensure your message gets across to your audience in a variety of ways, making it more likely they will become customers. However, you have to go about offline marketing the right way for it to be effective. Here are four mistakes you could be making with your offline marketing and how to correct them. 1. Not Using the Phone Book Believe it or not, people still have landline phones, and many of them still use the phone book. You may have heard others say that people just toss the phone book into the recycling bin now and never use it. However, many people prefer to look things up alphabetically in a phone book, where it's nice and simple. Make sure you're not just listed in th...

The seventh grade physics class sat in their classroom eagerly listening to their teacher explain their next project. The class would be divided into 5 groups of 5 students. Each group would have three class sessions to design and test a small rolling car. They would all be given a variety of materials to use to design this car. After spending three days on design, there would be a competition to see whose car would roll the farthest. The winner would be automatically granted an A on a quiz that would be administered on the Friday after the competition. A chance to get an automatic A on a quiz? That was quite the incentive. The class eagerly organized themselves into their groups and began discussing possible car designs. They called upon all the teacher had already taught them about physics and began running formulas to find the perfect intersection of weight and size. Meanwhile, the teacher looked around the classroom contently. Getting the class fully engaged and interested ...

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms right now. As such, it's the perfect showcase for your business. With so many people using Instagram, you need to stand out to make an impact with your audience and gain new, devoted followers. This means thinking outside the box. Here are four extraordinary ways to use Instagram to boost your company's success. 1. Show New and Innovative Uses for Your Products Most of your customers and followers already know what your products can do, or at least what they were initially made to do. However, you can increase user engagement tremendously by showcasing lesser-known things your products can do. Come up with some novel and innovative uses for your products, then post photos of your products being used in those new and interesting ways. Take it a step further by inviting your followers to come up with their own new and interesting uses for your products. Have them send you photos for possible inclusion on your Insta...

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms right now. As such, it's the perfect showcase for your business. With so many people using Instagram, you need to stand out to make an impact with your audience and gain new, devoted followers. This means thinking outside the box. Here are four extraordinary ways to use Instagram to boost your company's success. 1. Show New and Innovative Uses for Your Products Most of your customers and followers already know what your products can do, or at least what they were initially made to do. However, you can increase user engagement tremendously by showcasing lesser-known things your products can do. Come up with some novel and innovative uses for your products, then post photos of your products being used in those new and interesting ways. Take it a step further by inviting your followers to come up with their own new and interesting uses for your products. Have them send you photos for possible inclusion on your Insta...

Driving somewhere new always comes with a certain level of stress. Even with GPS, there are worries about getting lost, ending up in the wrong location, or otherwise having a bad experience. When someone gives you directions, whether you enter them into your GPS or they get scribbled down on a notepad, you expect them to be clear and direct and help you get where you need to go. Imagine there's a new restaurant you've been meaning to try, so you call and get directions over the phone. You jot them down, as the GPS has not been working well. You know the general part of town where the restaurant can be found, but you haven't actually been there, so you feel a little nervous looking the directions over. You get in your car and start driving. Surprisingly, the directions seem to be taking you in the opposite direction of where you need to go. You decide to continue follow them a bit. The directions have you circle back around and eventually start heading in the right d...

Interestingly, the part of the brain most responsible for making buying decisions isn't the part that thinks logically. We make the majority of our decisions using what is commonly referred to as the "reptilian brain." This part of the brain is programmed for survival. It's perpetually evaluating choices based on the least possible harm to itself. Even when it's deciding whether or not to buy a product from you, it's performing a cost/benefit analysis. When you understand this truth about your customers (and the human brain), you can use it to guide your advertisements and how you frame your business to your audience. How perceived 'costs' impact customer buying patterns Let's say you've just built a landing page where people can sign up to download a free ebook. Even though you're not asking for money in exchange for your ebook, you want to keep the 'cost' as low as possible. If you ask for too much unnecessary informat...

When you think about all the different marketing channels you have at your disposal, they're really all working toward the same goals, though in different ways. Each one helps to spread the word about your brand -- or at least about a specific product or service you provide. Each channel also helps create new ways to interact with your customers in an intimate and meaningful way. Most importantly, they all give you the opportunity to establish yourself as a trusted source of information in your industry and build a reputation as a place people can turn to in their time of need. Though that description certainly applies to marketing channels like social media, direct mail print, TV and radio commercials, and more, it also describes one very important element of your business that people tend not to think of as marketing: customer service. The Role of Customer Service in Marketing When you set out to create a new marketing campaign, one of the first steps always involves ...