Promotional Work

This week I was determined to get my promotional materials replenished.  I am almost completely out of business cards and postcards, plus one of my magnetic signs came off of my car door on the Massachusetts Turnpike a few months ago.  I have been using vistaprint.com for a few years now for my cards.  They have great prices, the color is incredible and the service is wonderful.  They offer several free products on a regular basis.  I decided I would replace my 1 lone magnetic sign with 2 new matching ones. 

As mentioned, I was also in need of a re-order of my business cards.  I did not have my email address on the last set I had printed, so added it to this one.  I have to say, my only complaint with VistaPrint is that they are not Mac compatible.  Since I only have a Mac, I have to go elsewhere to make any new documents or changes to previous orders.  They always apologize about this, but do not seem to be making any real attempt to be Mac-friendly.

Since I now have 3 Learning Zone day care centers with my decorative painting on their walls, I decided to make a special postcard, just for the parents that use these centers.  The three centers combined, add up to almost 200 families.  That’s a nice target market for me.  Once the new additions are complete for 2 of the centers, the numbers will only increase.   I have been giving Melissa, the owner,  a very good rate in exchange for placing promotional materials in each center. 

This is the front of the card.

This is the back side of the card.  I no longer use the postcards as mailers.  I tried this a few times, with no results.  It’s too costly when you add in the postage.  Instead, I keep the front side the same on all of my postcards and just change the blurb on the back side to suit the market I wish to target.  Even though this particular card highlights children’s rooms, once prospective clients go to my website, they see that I do a variety of finishes for all rooms and surfaces. 

I can’t wait until my new magnetic car signs arrive!  Next up, I need to tackle my PictureTrail site and get that updated.  I have started to make some changes there, but have a long way to go.  I am adding some new photos and a new album or two. I have deleted some albums and photos and will continue to do more over the next week or two.  I’ve have gone back and forth a million times about switching to a real website.  I have always used this PictureTrail site for my website.  Finally, I’ve decided that it works, so why change!  Also, all my clients know that site since I’ve had it for years AND all my promotional materials spell out that site. 

Last year I made the decision to stop printing out the photos I take of  jobs and to just keep them on my computer.  Constantly printing out the photos and taking the time to update a portfolio to bring with me on consults was costly in dollars and time.  Now I just refer all clients to the PictureTrail site before I visit, then bring my laptop along that has all of my portfolio pics.