Print Pieces That Work, Using Print Effectively to Get Strong ResultsWritten by Josh Barinstein
It is plain and simple. There are two types of Print material: effective and ineffective. Most of it, unfortunately falls into "ineffective" category. This misfortune is not due to bad design or lack of content. What these pieces fail to do is engage their audience to take action—the kind of action that results in successful sales.If you are not convinced, check your mail more carefully next time. Sift through and separate "junk" from what really catches your attention and leads to something you are truly interested in. Now analyze junk mail. What is it about it that is not working? Is it impersonal appearance of envelope? Is it that nothing pulls you in to open it? And once you do open it (if you do!), is there nothing worthwhile within, no enticing message, no interesting call to action? And this applies to postcards or any other format, where glossy and colorful might be main focus... focus for them, but not for you! You quickly spot it and toss it in trash. You have to if you are going to stay sane... So what can you do on your next Print piece to avoid these common and expensive pitfalls? Here are some ideas that have worked time and time again: 1. Your piece needs both to inform and to prompt your audience to take action. For example, sending out a "we've moved" card and including a coupon for 10% off next purchase or project. Or, sending a holiday card for Thanksgiving and providing space for listing people to whom to give thanks. In both cases, you get your audience to participate and, in doing so, make a contribution to them.
| | Are You Sabotaging Your Site's Visibility?Written by Kalena Jordan
A recent study of New Zealand's Top 100 Companies by us here at Web Rank Ltd has revealed that every single one of New Zealand's leading companies have web sites that sabotage their ability to be found by Internet users. How did this happen? The study reveals that each site belonging to Top 100 contains design elements that in some way negatively impact their compatibility with and visibility in search engines. As a result, many of New Zealand's leading companies are not found listed in search results of most popular U.S. and New Zealand search engines, impacting their potential online revenue. Most Internet users rely on search engines to find product and service providers. Unless they know exact website address or search by company or brand name, they will try to find what they are looking for by using keywords that describe a product or service's features, benefits or attributes. By ignoring most important method used by people browsing Internet, these companies are sacrificing an enormous opportunity to attract more traffic to their sites. Websites are often a very large expense for these companies, ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars. To invest such a massive amount of time, money and effort into an online presence and not ensuring it can be found is like constructing a storefront without any doors. After all, what is point of paying so much money for a web site that will never be found? Does your web site contain any of same self- defeating elements? Let's take a look: ~ 25 percent of Top 100 New Zealand Companies could not be found for their chosen search terms in either U.S. or New Zealand search engines. Are you targeting most appropriate search terms for your site?
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