Sales & Marketing Tools For Your Business- Finding The Right Ones

Tools are required for every business. Carpenters use hammers and saws. Doctors use diagnostic equipment. I don't need to tell you what dentists use. The point is if you have a product or service, you need advertising, sales and marketing tools. These can be in whatever media you wish such as your website, your business card, flyers, brochures, postcards, catalogs and posters. They all work in different ways producing different results to a common end which is greater success.

If you are going to have a successful business, you need to have the right tools to build it. The tools you use are intended to make you money and the better the tools, the more money you will make. I recently bought a leather punch in a hardware store. There were 3 different sets with 3 different prices points. I only had a few holes to punch and the low price caught my eye. My thinking was why pay a higher price for it when it would probably only be used once. I went home thinking I solved the problem and saved some money. About halfway through the job the whole thing just came apart. I had to go back to the store and try to get my money back, lost the day I wanted to do the project and paid more in time, money and gas than I needed to. If I had approached the problem correctly from the start, this would not be the case. Lesson learned!! The interesting thing is two weeks later I had a need for a leather punch again and it work great on got the job done.

Everybody in business needs business cards. If you google cheap business cards, there are over 2 million choices. Most of us never get passed the first or second page. We look and compare a few sites and make a blind choice based only on intuition. There are some very good companies out there. Will you be lucky enough to pick the best one? Remember top position does not guarantee top quality or service. Did you pick the lowest price or the best value?

It's always better to find the best value. Ask yourself- what am I getting for my money? What's included in the price? If you think all printing and printers are the same, you are making a very big mistake. How do I know this? The answer is simple. I have learned from the experience I told you about as well as others that it is not price but quality that counts. That does not mean you have to pick the most expensive one either. The best value always includes price, quality and service. It’s generally fair to say “you get what you pay for”.

There are some very good indicators as to how to find the right printer - one who offers quality and service for the lowest price. First, give them a call or email them a question. What kind of response did you get? Was it in a reasonable amount of time? Was the person knowledge and friendly? Did they make you feel comfortable? Ask them what kind of equipment they will print your job on. Is it a 4, 5, or 6 color press? Older press can't print as fine a line screen, therefore, less detail, than newer presses using state of the art printing technology. One way to tell if it is a newer full color press is to ask if it has coating towers that can apply earth friendly aqueous coating. Older press use solvent based varnish and these older 4 color presses cannot apply aqueous coating. Another factor is that most printers with older equipment don't offer coatings.

Many printers are offering fast turnaround times because they are using smaller presses. It may be a good idea to ask your printer what size press your job will be printed on. For most 8.5 X 11 sheets and larger, you get better, smoother ink coverage on larger 20 X 26 or 38 X 40 inch sheet feed presses. The reason is the bigger the rollers on the press, the smoother the ink coverage. If you have large areas of heavy ink coverage, smaller older presses tend to streak.

Another thing to look for in a printing company is one that will check your files. It's important for businesses to establish good communications with their printer. You want a company that will review your files and advise you of any problems that may occur. You want a company with a person on the other end that can answer questions and offer suggestions to help you create the best sales and marketing tools you can.

All these tools are important in helping you make the right choices and allowing you to achieve your final goal, success. Whether it is making holes in leather or producing sales and marketing tools that you can be proud of you must make sure you are getting value, not just the cheapest price. It would be best to add up all the reasons to choose provider over another by making sure you weighing in what you get for the price. Are there extra costs that are hidden in the order form that you don’t see up front or are they included in your price? Do they charge for overs? By asking questions and doing good due diligence, you are making sure the quality, service and value are the best you can find.

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