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Showing posts from June, 2021

The Do's and Don'ts for Taking Better Pictures with Your iPhone

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When it comes to great print marketing, high-quality images can make all the difference. Since most people today have a smartphone they use for taking pictures rather than a digital camera, here are five do’s and don’ts for taking better pictures with your iPhone. DO’S 1. Do use portrait mode when capturing pictures that focus on people. Many forget to make good use of the portrait mode when capturing a friend or family member. Portrait mode will focus on the person only and blur out the background. This mimics the effect that a professional camera reflects. 2. Do keep your “live” feature on when taking pictures of moving objects or people. Using the “live” feature comes in handy for things or people that move quickly, for instance – a busy baby or a sports game. After the live picture is captured, you will be able to go back, edit the picture, and choose which frame you’d like to be the key photo. 3. Do make sure your camera lens is not foggy or smudged. This is someth

5 Tips for Hiring Better Talent in a Virtual World

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Now that so many are accustomed to remote working, firms may face increasing demand to recruit and hire people without actually meeting them. If you feel uneasy selecting candidates this way, here are some tips to get you started: 1. Identify the Ideal Medium to Find Candidates It may require trial and error, but find your ideal medium and use it to streamline candidates that fit your specifications for experience, pay grade, etc. 2. Host a Virtual Career Fair or Company Presentation To build rapport before any interviews take place, consider hosting a virtual career fair or company info session to interact with prospects. Here you can weed out candidates you don’t want to interview or gain access to a more diverse talent pool. 3. Utilize Skill Assessments Training can be challenging if you hire a remote workforce, so hiring competent individuals is especially important. If you are onboarding offsite employees, you may want to add extra steps (like aptitude tests, wri

How to Inspire Action with Highly-Engaging Postcards

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What do dentists and direct mail have in common? New clients! Direct mail has proven to be a remarkable investment for small businesses of many kinds, especially for entrepreneurs looking to grow their client base. Dr. Diep Truong (of Viva Dental) gave direct mail postcard marketing a try in 2011. After streamlining a process for mailer design, demographic targeting, and ROI reporting, this Indiana-based facility consistently experienced a 400% ROI on their postcard campaigns, with a 50% conversion rate of inbound calls for scheduling appointments. As 2020 kept people closer to home, attentiveness to direct mail has grown. As a result, response rates are high, and now is the time to invest in sharp, unique direct mail campaigns! Postcards are a particularly good investment, with oversized postcards garnering one of the highest direct mail response rates. According to recent statistics, 23.4% of consumers say they would respond to relevant postcards of interest to them (compare

Raster Images vs. Vector Graphics - What's the Difference and Why is it Important?

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Do you ever wonder why something you printed turned out pixelated or blurry? That’s because the image used was raster -- meaning that it’s composed of pixels that can only be scaled to a certain degree. Therefore, to achieve a crisp and clean look, a file must be vectorized. Confused? Don’t fret. Continue reading to understand what these terms really mean. Raster Images The most common form of raster images are digitized photographs, detailed graphics, or scanned artwork. Raster images are pixel-based, meaning they’re composed of a grid of individual pixels in which each pixel is coded in a specific hue or shade. Because raster images are pixel-based, they suffer from image degradation (this is not a disease, rather an effect of a cause). The same way a photographic image gets blurry and imprecise when enlarged, a raster image gets rough and jagged. In order to maximize the quality of a raster image, the resolution must be high. Meaning from the time the image was created, it

How Print QR Code Cards are Marketing Genius

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Business cards, postcards, and other print marketing pieces with QR codes can be extremely effective in developing support for your business, especially when starting from the ground floor. Utilizing the Graphic Ease of a QR Code The QR code is ideal for an immediate and instant connection to a large range of audiences because it doesn’t require a lot of comprehension. Instead, the technology behind the QR code uses what people are already carrying, a smartphone or image-reading mobile device. So, all that needs to be done is for your audience to use the mobile device camera and capture the QR code. Then, it automatically provides a hyperlink to the given digital information associated with the specific image. Effective Communication Unlike QR images on doors, posters, or websites, did you know the QR code on a card or postcard can actually be retained better? While one QR code can easily be scanned right away, the problem is when a viewer has multiple QR codes to deal with

Add Zest to Summer Designs with 10 Hot Color Combos

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It has been said that color is a power that directly influences our soul. A common obstacle for designers is choosing colors. And you should not take this choice lightly! There is great energy in certain combinations – a good color palette will be unique, seductive, and harmonious. Warmer seasonal temps offer a great chance to color outside the lines with playful, lavish options. Need inspiration? Here are a few feisty blends for your summer design toolbox: 10 Feisty Blends for Your Summer Design Toolbox 1. Cool Gray – Neon Orange – Plum Purple These call-to-action colors bring a sense of health and vibrancy, with an air of sophistication and an invitation to adventure. 2. Magenta – Vibrant Turquoise – Black Fire up confidence with bright shades that bring flavor and fun! 3. Sapphire Blue – Shadow Gray – Neon Yellow Like a bright peacock feather, this gorgeous blue-green combination brings a royal, confident air to any page. 4. Bright Green – Dark Violet – Lava Gray

Why 2021 Direct Mail Marketing Still Matters for Retail Food Businesses

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While people are finally able to obtain a vaccine for COVID-19 and the ability to travel, move around, shop, and dine out is increasing, restaurants have a long hill ahead of them before getting back to a business “normality.” In fact, entire behavior patterns have changed in people after a year of completely living at home and avoiding regular work presence, school, commuting, and traffic. And that means businesses have to work extra hard in diversifying how they produce income and revenue channels to stay viable. Many restaurants realized early the only way they were going to stay in business was to boost their ability to handle delivery, ordering out, pick up, and other forms of fresh-cooked food transfer to customers who could no longer dine in. While people generally tried producing their food regularly at home, overall, Americans are used to picking up and eating out. So, the demand never actually left; it was stifled by COVID restrictions. However, even now, many communi

Employ This Unique Question-Storming Technique to Drive Creativity in Your Team

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A well-known pastor once said this: “It takes guts to get out of ruts.” In truth, it takes more than just guts. It takes inspiration, which is what drives courage and fuels life and new energy. When your team wants to create brain flow or stimulate innovative ideas, asking the right questions and getting others to ask them with you is one way to start. The Question Formulation Technique Most people spend a lot of time worrying about giving the right answers. But an answer can only be as powerful as the question it addresses. If you work with teams, one of your goals should be to draw on each person’s unique strengths and creativity. But this can be a challenge if you can’t get the ball rolling. If you want to try a different launch point for your next creative gathering, consider the Question Formulation Technique (originally formulated by the Right Question Institute ). Here’s how it works: Design a Question Focus Pick a problem or challenge that is important to you. It

Go Print When a Presentation Matters Most

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Given the restrictions of 2020 thanks to COVID, the term "slidedeck" has probably entered everyone's vocabulary far more than they care to know. With nearly everyone spending at least three hours a day online in digital meetings, digital slide presentations have become commonplace. However, that doesn't mean going digital is the best choice for those decision-making events. The Tangibility of Print The standard for a powerful presentation has been and continues to be the professionally printed presentation package. Why? In a word - tangibility. People are tactile creatures, especially when making big decisions that have significant ramifications. Print presentations finished in high-quality stock and graphics meet that innate drive to have something physical in hand before making a big commitment. 3 Reasons Digital Falls Short on Presentations Going digital with your presentation with a digital slidedeck doesn't have the same effect on people as prin