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Vistaprint is one of the best online printing services, not because they are so popular, but because they offer a well-developed, robust print-on-demand solution with a well-rounded set of features. Whatever you’re looking to print, Vistaprint can help, bringing quality and simplicity to the forefront. Vistaprint sets a high standard for other online printers to live up to with easy design features and flexible ordering.
Vistaprint Standout Features:
- Expert creative services available
- Huge (and growing) list of printed products
- Several free printed products available
Ease of Use:
Vistaprint is one of the easiest online printers to use, thanks to a straightforward online interface, simple online designer and ordering process. There are several small things that may not seem like much, but certainly make the whole process easier, such as the ability to save a project for later, and contextual writing advice.
If you have a Vistaprint account you can start a design or order and save it for tweaking later. Another nice convenience is when uploading files, you see a timed countdown so you know how long it will take (it’s usually pretty quick).
If you’re using a predesigned template, it’s easy to add your own copy. But if you’re struggling for what to say, Vistaprint premade templates includes suggestions and helpful writing tips to get you started.
Another easy tool at your disposal is downloadable templates. These templates are available for Photoshop, Illustrator, or Acrobat Distiller, and will insure proper resolution, color settings, and dimensions (as well as guidelines for bleed, trim, folds, and safe margins.
Selection:
Vistaprint has a huge selection of custom printing products available. They offer the traditional business identity products (business cards, note pads, envelopes) and marketing products (postcards, brochures, flyers), as well as signage (banners, window decals, posters). Vistaprint also prints a large variety of promotional knick-knacks and swag-worthy gifts like pens, mouse pads, magnets and keychains, as well as a few apparel items such as t-shirts and hats.
Design Features:
There are a couple of different design routes to choose from, and Vistaprint is able to take your project from idea to printed product, regardless of which direction you want to take. You can upload your own completed design, use their online design tool to conceptualize your design, or simple have Vistaprint’s professional design team do it for you.
If you’re uploading your own design, you can upload it from a huge variety of files, including files from Microsoft (Publisher, Words), Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat PDF), and a variety of other sources (JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, PIC, etc). After you upload you can see a preview to make sure the file transferred with the appropriate layout, orientation, colors, and resolution.
The online design tool is also a good way to go, and has a pretty easy user interface. There are quite a few premade designs that you can customize and use, or you can start with a blank slate. As far as online designers go, the utility is a little limited, but you can upload your own images, adjust layout and text, and rotate. Or if you need an even simpler, linear option, Vistaprint has a variety of step-by-step wizards to walk you through the entire design.
Vistaprint also has creative services available if you want to have an expert graphic designer do the work for you. They have competitive prices and one week turnaround.
VistaPrint Review
I too was curious about the VistaPrint ‘FREE’ Offer so I went by their website and checked it out. I initially thought that there was surely some kind of catch, as most of the other business cards I had checked out had fees, fees, fees.
Surprisingly, the only fee for receiving the ‘Free Business cards’ was a very reasonable shipping fee (I think it was 5 bucks or so). As I dug a little deeper though, I realized that the ‘Free’ Business cards from VistaPrint wasn’t even the best offer VistaPrint had.
Vistaprint has a very cool tool that allows you to design your business card from the ground up with your graphics, fonts, and whatever information you want. This tool is really what sold me on getting the VistaPrint cards. In Fact, when looking at the pricing, it was only a few bucks to upgrade to a higher quality card stock as well as get my logo watermarked on the back of the card.
All in all, I think I ended up paying around $20 for 500 completely custom business cards on medium to high quality card stock that was delivered to my door about 3 business days later.
This total cost blew away the other business card services I found, and I’ve since made several other purchases from them (More business cards as well as some post cards).
For any home business, advertising is the key to success, and printing postcards is one way of spreading the word. Postcard printing allows businesses to broadcast their corporate message and business identity to potential customers. Printed postcards have become an essential part of traditional marketing, due to their low cost and the ability to use high quality graphics and include a lot of information. Once the preserve of art and media companies, low cost postcard printing technology has dragged this useful marketing tool into the mainstream.
Finding the Best Company for Printing Postcards
It is very easy to find postcard-printing companies online and locally, due to the large number of businesses offering their services. This competition ensures that prices are low, but it creates another problem: The sheer amount of options makes it very difficult to decide which printed postcard specialist offers the right blend of price, creativity, and expertise.
Standard Printed Postcards for Low Budgets
Many postcard printing companies offer a standardized range, at a very keen price, where your personal and business details are superimposed onto a pre-existing template. These are good value for home businesses, where the advertising budget may be small. However, many of these companies, which offer ‘free’ printed postcards, include their own details on the back. This makes your home business look very cheap, and you should pay the extra to avoid this.
Small Printing Postcard Runs for Home Business
If you just want to test the water, some online companies allow small runs, so you can test their product and run small advertising campaigns. For small businesses, unable to match the huge advertising budgets of the big boys, this allows them to refine their method and focus their efforts onto target areas. Bear in mind that the price per unit decreases if you buy printed postcards in bulk, so try to balance the numbers and make your budget stretch a little further.
Personalized Printed Postcards – Forging a Business Identity
If a home business wants to push the boat out a little, they can opt for personalized postcards, which are tailored to suit, and project a powerful statement of intent. Many of the online companies offer in-house graphic design services, which will work with you to create a unique design.
If you decide to go down this route, it is better to hire a specialist graphic designer. The large printing organizations often work out to be more expensive, tend to recycle concepts and ideas, and are often reluctant to make modifications. A specialist freelance graphic designer, whether online or local, is far more likely to make sure that the product is exactly what you want, not what they find easiest. A freelance graphic designer is generally happy to make small modifications if, in the future, you want to refresh things or change the message.
As for the exact design, four-color postcards allow high-resolution designs and a practically infinite palette. The design really is limited only by your imagination and your budget.
What are the Benefits of Printing Postcards?
Printing postcards is an excellent way of generating business and keeping things low key. For example, if you blow your budget on a newspaper or magazine advert, the competition knows exactly what you are doing and what special deals you are offering. Printed postcards delivered to target areas, handed out in the street, or stacked in strategic locations, allow you to focus your marketing drive.
Printing Postcards and Corporate Identity
The other major benefit of printing 4 color postcards is that you can advertise your corporate identity; if you have a website and business cards, you can carry logos and themes onto a postcard and imprint your brand identity. Unlike bulk mailings and letters, postcards are always noticed and read, even if on the way to the recycling bin, so you still have a few seconds to grab a consumer’s attention. Junk mail, by contrast, usually goes into the office paper shredder unopened.
Four Color Postcards and Feedback
The handy size of postcards is a great advantage, because they can easily be slipped into a pocket or handbag. If you ran a campaign giving customers a discount if they bring the postcard to your premises, or enter a code on the card into your website, people will be encouraged to stash the card in their coat. This approach is excellent for gauging the effectiveness of your advertising campaign, because it will allow you to measure what percentage of the sent cards are used. If this is high, you can extend the campaign to include more potential clients.
Printing Postcards for the Home Business
For a home business, printing postcards is an excellent way to reach out to a target audience and ensure that consumers know exactly what services you provide. Detailed four-color postcard designs can be combined with masses of information, driving your home business to the next level. Customers love professionalism, and printing postcards is a good way to project the right image for your home office business.