Monthly Archives: July 2021

Business Card Clear Print

12 Creative and Inventive Ways to Use your Business Cards

Business Cards, Inspiring Design, New Features,

Giving out business cards is an excellent way to spread the word about your company, increase brand awareness, and generate sales. However, handing out a bog-standard, basic business card to a passer-by or at a meeting is only ever going to be so effective. Think about how many business cards the average professional gets handed on a weekly or monthly basis – you’ve got to give them a way to remember you!
Fortunately, business cards don’t have to be boring. We’ve come up with 12 creative and inventive ways for you to use your business cards. Read on to discover how to give your clients, peers and customers a reason to contact you again.

1. Loyalty Cards

People love to be rewarded – especially with discounts or freebies. So why not turn your business card into a loyalty card?
As people frequent your store, café or other establishment, they will get a stamp or hole punched into their card. When they get all of the stamps that they need, they will receive a reward and a new card. For instance, if you own a salon, they can get enough points for a free haircut. At a café, they may earn a free cup of coffee.
Just turning your business card into a loyalty card could be enough to make you stand out from your competitors. Be sure that you brand it well, making your logo and contact details stand out on the front of the card along with space for stamps or holes.

2. Appointment Cards

You can also use your business cards to remind customers of their upcoming appointment. These hybrid business and appointment cards should be designed with your company’s logo, branding and contact details in pride of place. Include a space on the card where your staff or your client can fill out details of their next appointment or meeting with you.
If you’ve got the space, add space to record not just the date and time of the upcoming appointment, but also who the appointment is with (if relevant) and other important notes – such as a deadline for cancelling or rearranging it.

3. Bag Stuffers

Including an eye-catching business card with every order that you send out can be a great way to turn your one-time customers into repeat clients. These aren’t just great to stuff in the bags of guests that check out at your company, but also for swag bags that you create for charity events or conventions.
When customers notice the business card in their bag (providing they liked your products or services, of course), they will keep hold of it so that they can contact you again!
Be sure that in addition to containing your contact information, your business cards use an exciting colour scheme or a call-to-action to encourage the customer to pick it up. Why not try a magnetic business card so that your clients can easily stick it to the fridge?

4. Discounts or Coupons

As we’ve touched upon already, customers love getting freebies, and discounts on goods and services. So, why not kill two birds with one stone and create a business card that also functions as a coupon or voucher?
Include all of the standard information that your customers need on the front of the business card, such as your company’s name, address and telephone number. But somewhere on the card, you can display a coupon code, money-off voucher or exclusive discount offer . This can be great incentive for new customers to check out your business – and it also forces them to keep your card, otherwise they won’t be able to take advantage of the offer.

5. Referral Cards

Referral cards are business cards that your customers can hand out to their friends and family to raise your brand awareness to other people. This can be an especially beneficial use of business cards for retailers, accounting firms, and tax preparation businesses.
These will look like business cards, but have spaces for the referrer to put their name on there so that you can know who gets credit for the referral. Just be sure that the referral cards follow along with your other branding to stay consistent with your company image – they should contain the same logo and colour scheme, for example.

6. Swing Tags

If you sell a physical product, you can consider using your business card as the swing tags on your merchandise! One side will have your logo and your contact information (email address, phone number, etc.) while the other side has the product information on it.
Your customers will automatically interact with the swing tag as they read the details of the product, such as the price. When they get the product home they can keep the tag as a business card, and this will make them more likely to do business with you again.

7. Event Tickets

Are you hosting an event, such as a special sale, an opening party or a late-night shopping event, where current and potential customers will be in attendance? Try using your business cards as event tickets too! You can get a barcode or QR code added to a business card to turn it onto a ticket.
Your attendees will be forced to keep hold of your business card while they wait for the event – and they can save the card after the event, which will inspire them to come to your business in the future, rather than patronising a competitor.

8. Convenient Price List

If you offer products or services that you frequently get price requests for, you can save yourself some time by creating business cards with a mini price list of your most popular products and services. The front of the business card might look like an ordinary business card – your logo, address and contact details prominently displayed – while the price list can be found on the back.
Whether you’re a bakery listing the prices of your most popular pastries, or you’re a hair salon and you want to let people know how much you charge for a dry cut or foils, a price list is super helpful. It gives your potential customers not only the answer for pricing right at their fingertips, but they also get your contact information so that they can get in touch.

9. Place Settings

If you are hosting a corporate event, using a business card as a place setting can be a great idea. This will not only be something the guests can take home with them, but also something that adds more branding (and professionalism) to your event.
Whether you’re hosting a fancy dinner to welcome some international clients, or a buffet for your shop’s grand opening, business cards make the perfect place cards. You don’t even need to order a specialised card – you can simply hand-write your attendees’ names on the back of your ordinary business cards. (Use a calligraphy pen for effect!)

10. Feedback Cards

Receiving feedback is absolutely essential for the successful running of any business nowadays. While most businesses rely on online feedback – such as Facebook, Google or TripAdvisor reviews – there’s nothing better than receiving hand-written feedback straight from your customers.
So, why not turn your business cards into feedback cards? Simply add some space onto the back or bottom half of the card for your customers and clients to leave thanks and suggestions. For best results, offer some incentive for giving feedback – such as the chance for whoever leaves feedback to be entered into a prize draw.

11. Promote Social Media Campaigns

Once you launch your brand on social media, you’ll need to find new ways to promote your social media pages. If your customers don’t know that you have a Facebook page, for example, you might not get any engagement there – particularly if a large percentage of your clientele are older.
So, once you’ve opened up your social media accounts, use your business cards to advertise them to your customers. Keep your standard details on the front of the card, for example, while the back proudly displays your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles. Again, incentives are key – why not advertise a special offer or discount only available for customers who visit your socials?

12. Raffle Tickets

Hosting a raffle is a great way of drumming up interest in your business. Who doesn’t love winning a prize?
Whether you’re hosting a raffle for charity and selling tickets to raise funds, or giving out raffle tickets for free with every order (with the grand prize, of course, being one of your bestselling products), why not use your business card as the raffle ticket? You guessed it: your contact information is on one side, while a unique identifying number is on the other.
Are you inspired yet? Head to 123Print today to browse our extensive range of business card designs, or even create one yourself from scratch. We print business cards to the highest standards using the best quality cardstock, and aim to dispatch all orders within 48 hours. With a 100% satisfaction guarantee, what are you waiting for?

Why Should You Order Personalised Address Labels for Your Business?

Building your small business, , , ,

If your small businesses regularly sends out print mail, brochures or notices to its customers, it’s crucial that your name and branding is on all of your marketing materials. Getting your company’s name out there can be a valuable marketing tool, for both increasing brand awareness and improving your business’s reputation. Personalised address labels are a cost-effective and easy way of achieving this!

If you don’t yet use personalised address labels for all of your company’s mail, now is the time to start. In this article, we’ll explore how personalised business address labels will benefit your business – from both a marketing perspective, and by simplifying your business operations.
Without further ado, let’s get into it. Here are the top reasons that you should order personalised address labels for your company.

1) Save Valuable Time and Effort

Using personalised business address labels can save you valuable time with every letter or package that you send out. Rather than having to write or type out your address every time you mail a customer or client, you can simply slap on a pre-printed label.
If you have a full-scale mailing list, or several longstanding clients that you post letters and parcels to on a regular basis, address labels can save you so much time. Each precious minute that you save on every letter will add up over the year, leaving you free to spend your time in more important ways – such as building up your marketing campaign or focusing on new product releases. You’ll find that stocking up on pre-printed address labels is a worthy expense – after all, nothing is more valuable than your time.

2) Make It Easier for Customers to Get in Touch

If you’ve had problems with people returning mail to you in the past, or it’s been difficult for customers and clients to find your address, personalised address labels are all that’s required to fix the issue. If your customers find it too hard to get back in touch with you, you’ll miss out on valuable opportunities to increase your company’s sales and turn your customers into repeat customers.

Having a good quality, easy-to-read return label clearly displayed on your mail (especially if it stands out in a bold font or bright colour palette) will make it easier for your recipients to find your address and to keep your contact information for future use.

3) Increase Brand Recognition

By ordering your business return address labels from 123Print, you’ve got a great opportunity to fully customise your stickers. We don’t just mean typing in the address of your business – you can also upload your business’s logo, and fully alter the colour scheme and font to match your company’s aesthetic. This can work wonders for increasing brand awareness and recognition.

Not only is this invaluable for creating and maintaining your brand identity, it’ll also keep your business (and the products and services that you offer) fresh in the minds of your customers. Your logo will become instantly recognisable to your clients, and could even become a household name among your target audience. In this way, each and every letter that you sent out could serve as a small marketing tool of its very own.

4) Evoke an Emotional Response

A plain white envelope with your company’s address printed in a simple black font is never going to evoke an emotional response in the same way that a customised address label could. Whether you’re going for an aura of calm, professionalism, friendliness or excitement, your personalised label can be designed to project anything you’d like your clients to feel.

For example, if you’re a company selling kids’ toys, you might want to evoke a feeling of childish glee and fun among your consumers. Designing a brightly-coloured address label in a fun font is the perfect way to achieve this. It can be so much more effective than simply typing your address on the letter in black-and-white.

5) Achieve an Image of Professionalism

Whether you’re just starting out as a business or you have been trading for years, if you aren’t sending a professionally printed return address labels with your packages, there’s a good chance that you could be perceived as unprofessional or ‘small town’.
All of the world’s largest and most well-known companies are already using specialty print materials and unique packaging designs when they send out items to their customers. Think of Amazon and their instantly recognisable Prime logo, which they print on all of their boxes. You could achieve something similar, no matter how small your business, by using personalised address labels.

The professional design touch of having a printed personal address label could be just what your business needs to be perceived as a real, professional competitor in your industry.

6) Stand Out in the Crowd

Many consumers have a tendency to sort through their mail very quickly – especially if they’re receiving plenty of flyers and “junk mail”. Having a vibrant return address label, or a return address label that evokes a specific response in your customer, will help ensure that your mail has better open rates than your competitors. At 123Print, we have thousands of different address label templates to choose from, with a variety of eye-catching designs (that you’re free to edit to your liking).

For any type of promotional or correspondence material, a customised return address label will help you stand out in the crowd. You’ll be recognisable when compared to your competitors, and this will have a knock-on effect on your sales. No company wants their mail to end up in their customer’s bin because it’s not eye-catching enough!

7) Establish Trust and Encourage Repeat Orders

As well as evoking a response and making sure that your mail gets read, return address labels can establish a level of trust between your customers and your business. If your customers need to initiate a return, or contact you to make an inquiry or place an order, they’re much more likely to trust in a professional return address label than look up the address online.

If you can give your customers all the information that they need right there in front of them, they’ll be more inclined to trust you as a business – not to mention, they’ll also appreciate the ease of finding your contact details. This will make them more likely to do business with you again in future.

Order Personalised Address Labels Today from 123Print

It should be obvious by now that investing in personalised address labels can help boost your business in many ways, no matter what size company you’re running, or what you sell. Whether it’s creating an aura of professionalism, increasing brand awareness and repeat orders, or simply helping your customers get in touch with you more easily – there’s really no downside.

123Print makes it easy for you to design professional, eye-catching business address labels that suit your company’s aesthetic. We’ll print your labels onto high-quality self-adhesive paper, and they couldn’t be easier to use – simply peel off and stick to any parcel or letter.
We’ll dispatch your order within 2 working days, and with our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can be sure that our labels will meet your expectations. If they don’t, you’ll get your money back!

How to Design and Use Appointment Cards for Your Small Business

Building your small business, , , ,

For the tiny slips of paper that they are, appointment cards are one of the most effective ways to spread the word about your small business, and keep customers updated on a variety of events. However, so many companies just aren’t using them to their full potential, or aren’t using them at all – meaning they’re missing out on the benefits of this vital piece of business stationery.

In this article we’re going to go over exactly what appointment cards are, how and when to use them, the benefits of using them, and how to design the optimum appointment card for your small business. Without further ado, let’s get started.

What Are Appointment Cards?

Similar to business cards, appointment cards contain proudly display your business’s contact details, making it easier for your clients to get in touch. However, they also have section on which you (or your client) can write the date and time of their next appointment with you. This may be at the bottom of the card, or on the back.
Appointment cards can have a multitude of different functions, but their two main purposes are:

1. Referrals. Similar to business cards, appointment cards contain your business’s telephone number, email, company name, company address, and so on. Handing them out at functions, seminars, and in informational packs is an easy way to refer your business to new clients.

2. Reminders. Almost like wedding RSVPs, appointment cards can be used to help keep your customers on top of upcoming events, or important meetings they might have scheduled. You can hand out appointment cards in person, or send them in the post.
At this point, you may be wondering: are appointment cards still relevant in the digital age? Won’t my clients prefer to keep track of their commitments digitally, such as using their smartphone calendar?

While many people do organise their lives digitally, having a paper reminder of an upcoming task or event (such as an appointment card) can be an extremely effective way of promoting your business. Clients and customers that don’t use digital technology will be particularly appreciative.

How and When to Use Appointment Cards

As we’ll touch upon later, the ability to print appointment cards in bulk is incredibly convenient and something that cannot be understated. If you haven’t already ordered your appointment cards, then this should be your first step before doing anything else.
After doing so, the best way to spread word of your business is to distribute these appointment cards as far and wide as possible.

1. Distribute them at business seminars and fetes
2. Send them out to your mailing list of existing clients, as part of a promotion or advertising campaign (for example, with a flyer or a free gift)
3. Hand them out to passers-by (be sure to check with your council first, as you may need a permit to do this)
4. Hand them to customers in person as they make an appointment or schedule a meeting with you
5. Post them to your customers’ homes to remind them of an upcoming appointment, if they booked it online or over the phone
6. Use them to jot down information for customers and clients, such as product pricing

Because appointment cards are so small and affordable, you can use them as liberally as you like. Any business, no matter what kind of product or service you offer, can make use of them. Provided you have clients that need to keep track of appointments or meetings, you can use appointment cards to help promote your business.

The Benefits of Appointment Cards

So, what are the advantages of appointment cards? Here’s why they’re worth investing in.

1. Your clients and customers will take their appointment more seriously if you hand them an appointment card, rather than just verbally telling them when to attend. They’ll be less likely to forget their arrangement with you (or simply not bother turning up), meaning you’ll save time and money.

2. They’re cheap to order in bulk. With 123Print, you can design and order appointment cards for as little as £4.95 (for 100 cards). And the more you order, the more you save, with our bulk discount! If your aim is to spread the word of your business in a cost-effective way, then appointment cards are certainly the way to go.

3.  They’re convenient – with most appointment cards fitting into the palm of your hand, the ability to carry an appointment card wherever you go is extremely convenient. If you happen to bump into someone who’s interested in your services, you can simply pull a card out of your pocket, with all the vital information they’ll ever need.

4. As appointment cards typically contain your business’s logo, they’re also handy for increasing brand awareness.

If you want to become a recognisable face in your industry, distributing appointment cards to anyone and everyone who may be interested in your services is the most cost effective way of doing so.

How to Design an Appointment Card

The first step in designing your appointment cards is to browse our diverse range of appointment card templates. There, you can select a design that fits with the theme of your business.

Once you’ve chosen your preferred template, click on it to start editing. You can use our handy editor to upload your business’s logo or other artwork, enter your company details (name, address, phone number, email, etc.) and anything else you’d like to add.

Here are a few tips on designing the perfect appointment card:

1. Consider your business’s aesthetic when choosing the font and colour scheme. For example, if you run a soft play or a childminder’s, a fun font in bright primary colours would be perfect. But for a solicitor’s or estate agent’s, you might want keep to a plain, understated and professional design.

2. Stay consistent. Don’t swap out your fonts for each new line of your card – pick a font and stick with it to emit an aura of professionalism. The same goes for the colour – don’t be tempted to choose several different shades, but rather use 1-3 for a cohesive theme.

3. Make it clear and legible. Don’t get carried away with uploading artwork and trying to recreate the Sistine Chapel on your card. Avoid using elaborate, hard-to-read fonts – the point of an appointment card is to convey information clearly and concisely.

You’ll be shown a preview before you can add your order to your basket. Make sure to triple-check all of the details for typing errors before you send your order off to print, because we’ll print your order exactly as you’ve written it. You don’t want to miss out on sales because you’ve accidentally swapped two digits of your phone number, for example!
When you go to checkout, you’ll be able to choose between various styles and weights of paper. A heavier card will be pricier, but will also give your appointment cards a sturdier, professional feel to them. The choice is yours!

How Many Appointment Cards Should I Order?

Unless you’re planning on changing your business’s logo or contact information in the near future, there’s really no downside to bulk-ordering appointment cards. You can keep them on hand or tucked away in a drawer for whenever you need them.
At 123Print, we offer the most competitive rates on appointment cards when ordered in bulk – you’ll find that the more you order, the cheaper each card works out. It’s always a great idea to order more than you think you’ll need – not only due to the amazing savings, but also because you never want to run out of appointment cards unexpectedly.
We aim to print and dispatch all orders within 2 working days, or the next working day if you finalise your order before 17:00 GMT. We also have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so if for any reason you’re not happy with the final product, we won’t rest until you are!

8 Amazing Tips to Boost Your Small Business in 2021

Building your small business, , ,

In the last decade, small businesses have been growing at a rapid pace. Technology and innovation have removed the barriers to entry for starting a business, and increasing numbers of people want to be their own boss.

But one thing that’s never changed about running a small business is the need for innovation in order to stay competitive. Every day, we see it: new start-ups are popping up all over while existing companies scramble to keep up with the new competition and changing customer demands or face extinction. So how can you make your business stand out from the rest? How do you plan on staying ahead of these changes?
Here are eight tips for boosting your small business in 2021.

1. Modernise Your Logo

The only real difference between a small business and a global enterprise is branding. You’d be amazed how many “global companies” are still run out of a spare bedroom in someone’s house, but customers think of them as big and powerful because they recognise their brand.

With that in mind, the first element of any brand is a stylish, modern logo. If your logo design looks dated or was made using a terrible old font (hello, Comic Sans!), it’s definitely time for an overhaul.

Here are some tips for a refreshed look:

1. Switch from black-and-white logos to colour images or use gradients that allow for more colours in one image
2. Clean up logos by removing superfluous details like extraneous words or squiggly lines (serif fonts are okay!)
3. Adjust typeface size, so it’s not too small and hard to read on small screens; consider whether upper case or lower-case letters work better depending on how formal/informal you want things to appear

The good news is, there any hundreds of quality graphic designers on sites like Fiverr and Upwork that will make you a unique new logo at a great price. If artistic endeavours aren’t really your thing, be smart and leave it in the hands of a professional!

2. Update Your Stationery

That new logo will require some new stationery to go along with your rebranding. We sometimes forget in the digital age, but customers definitely associate the quality of your business with the physical medium communications they receive from you. If you use any type of print, letterhead, or even packaging in your business, you definitely don’t want to skimp on your stationery.

When you’re redesigning your stationery, don’t forget to include:

1. Your new logo as a brand identifier on every piece of stationery and marketing materials sent out from your business. Your updated brand should stand out in everything your customers see! This means creating new letterhead with the updated design included and cards or envelopes for thank-you or follow-up correspondence.
2. Contact details – including full address, email address, phone number (including international codes), and hours of operation to make it easy for customers who want to get in touch directly.
3. Social media handles that are appropriate for professional use can also help build brand awareness across platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to encourage people to like and follow you on those accounts.

123Print offers professionally printed, high-quality business stationery at a price that won’t break the bank. Choose from hundreds of templates or create your own designs from scratch with our easy-to-use editing tool.

3. Use Quality Printing for All Your Marketing Materials

Gone are the days when you had to choose between affordable marketing materials and high-quality ones. Advancements in printing capabilities and small-batch production mean that it’s not only possible but profitable to invest in high-quality printing for your marketing materials.

Most small business owners know the value of a good flyer or brochure, which can be an easy and cost-effective way to get information about your company out into the world quickly. Just be sure that the image you’re projecting builds trust in your potential customers. After all, if your marketing materials look low-quality, doesn’t that imply your products or services are the same?

4. Modernise Your Business Cards

Despite all of the fancy technology we interact with every day, the good old-fashioned business card is still the best way to tell people about your business in person. If you’re still using cheap business cards with just a company logo and contact details on the front, it’s time to move into the 21st century!

Make sure your business card has:

1. Your modernised logo or at least an updated version of an old one. This will help customers remember who you are when they see that brand in the future.
2. A scannable QR code that allows customers to go directly to your site from the card itself.
QR codes are really taking off after years of people resisting using them. Adding one to your business card itself creates the perfect blend of old and new technology that everyone can use.

With 123Print, you can edit one of our fully customisable business card templates and upload your own logos and artwork with the click of a button. Or, if you’re feeling creative, create your own design from scratch!

5. Go Big on Social Media

It’s incredible how many companies still fail to take advantage of the reach of social media. If you have a small business and are not using social media for marketing purposes yet, now is the time to begin.

Start by making sure that your business profile on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – or any other mediums of choice – has all the contact information necessary for customers to reach you about buying services or products.

Next, sit down and make a 30-day plan for posting consistently about your business or services. The more you post, and the more times your small business is in a customer’s news feed per week (especially on their mobile device), the higher chance they’ll buy from you.

If you’re too busy to post on social media consistently, consider hiring a company or a freelancer to make daily posts to your accounts. For less than the proverbial cost of a cup of coffee per day, they’ll manage all of your business’s social media marketing for you. The key is consistency, so if you can’t do it yourself or delegate it to an employee, definitely consider using outside help.

Don’t Forget Google My Business

Many business owners don’t realise that they can also use their Google My Business (sometimes called the Google Maps page) to make posts, the same as Facebook or other social media platforms. Not only can you make posts on Google My Business, but you can also upload videos and make offers and promotions directly from there. And since Google loves its own products, those posts have a good chance of being seen locally when people are searching.

Don’t Forget Pinterest Either

Poor Pinterest – it sometimes seems like they went by the wayside in the face of overwhelming competition from giants like Facebook and Instagram. But here’s a staggering stat: Pinterest has 460 MILLION active and dedicated users. That’s more than the entire population of Russia!

And here’s a little life hack about Pinterest: Unlike most social media posts, theirs rank in Google search. That means your Pinterest post about your awesome carpet cleaning business has a great chance of appearing in Google when someone searches for it nearby, just like the Google My Business posts we talked about earlier.
So, small business owners: it might be time to start showing some love to Pinterest. When you post on Pinterest, make sure that everything is in a vertical format and links back to your website.
Wait, you do have a website, don’t you?
If not…

6. Get a Website for Your Business

It’s come into vogue in recent years, but there are still many people who believe that they don’t need a site if they’re only running a small business. That couldn’t be further from the truth! A blog is one thing, but you really should have an actual domain that reflects your name and location if you want to get taken seriously by customers.

7. Get a Business Email Address

Customers will subconsciously assume what type of business experience they’ll have if they see a small business sending out social media messages with an email address that says @gmail.com or something similar. It’s easy to get a dedicated domain email address through sites like Google or your web hosting company. Make an effort to appear professional, and your customers will assume you are.

8. Invest in Small Business Video Content

You’ve been hearing it for years…you HAVE to have a presence on YouTube if you want small business success. And the truth is, many prospective customers will go to YouTube before they search for your particular services on Google. In fact, YouTube is the #2 search engine by volume globally, second only to its parent company Google.

I bet you thought it was Bing, huh?

Nope. Google holds the number two slot for searches and is showing no signs of slowing down. What scares most people about becoming active on YouTube is the idea of having to create videos, or worse yet, appear in them. The great news is there are gigs on sites such as Fiverr that can get you high-quality videos made to show off your fantastic business at prices that are small business friendly. So, take advantage of the second largest search engine on earth to get some new exposure for your brand.

Make 2021 the Year You Go Big!

The time has never been better for small business owners to take advantage of the power of branding and internet marketing. As we move out of the Covid-19 pandemic, now is the perfect time to boost your small business and grow your sale and customer base.
From getting a website to using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram effectively, we hope you find these tips helpful as you work on increasing your sales and visibility online. And if you’re looking for quality printing and business stationery, visit 123Print and let us show you how affordable we can make it for your business!