Online Printing and Design Just Got Easier!
CLICK ON THE ABOVE AD TO SEE FOR YOURSELF! PIP has taken online ordering a step further! We now give you the ability to jump start your businesses marketing by providing pre-designed and copywritten brochures, flyers, door hangers, business cards and much more! We then give you the ability to easily edit text, pictures and upload your photos. You can then buy the design to print on your own printers or order from us. It's the best of online ordering with live and (if you're near us) local support! 407-847-5565 | www.PIPMarketingGroup.com | dale@PIPMarketing.com
Improve Your Image…Improve Your Sign
We recently opened our signage division with two new major pieces of equipment, an HP FB500 Flatbed Printer that prints up to 5'x10' sheets of material and a 60" HP L25500 Latex roll feed printer. In that time since we added them we've been busy helping customers with their signage projects...including our own! Our front signs looked OLD! Old styling, cracks, on the side you can't see below one was cracked from a bottle someone through at it. So we took 1/4" sheets of white acrylic and with our flatbed printer, printed new, updated panels... [caption id="attachment_314" align="alignleft" width="517" caption="What a difference!"][/caption] What ...
PIP Opens It’s New Digital Sign Division
$100,000 Investment in New & Green Technology PIP Introduces it's new Sign Division, "PIP Signworks". PIP is please to announce that we are investing $100,000 in new sign making equipment and opening our new signage division officially dubbed "PIP Signworks" The production capability of this new arm of the business will focus around two key pieces of digital production equipment. Introducing... The HP Scitex FB 500 Flatbed Printer HP's New Flatbed, Printing a 4'x 8' Sheet! With the ability to print directly on a rigid sheet 8 feet by 4 feet, PIP now ignores ...
Florida Counterfeit-Proof Prescription Pads
Effective July1, 2011 The State of Florida enacted a new law that requires physicians to utilize counterfeit-proof prescription pads when writing a prescription for any controlled substance. Compliance is mandatory as pharmacies will soon refuse prescriptions not written on the correctly printed scripts. Due to the rapid implementation, the state has issued a 60 day Grace Period. However, offices have to be in compliance by September 1, 2011. After leading the nation in fraudulent prescriptions, (for some drugs, Florida wrote more prescriptions than the other 50 states combined!), Florida has taken some very appropriate action. Besides the prescription pads being counterfeit-proof, physicians ...
Top 10 Direct Mail Do’s and Dont’s…
The mast important part of a successful direct mail campaign is the target list. Your message has to get to the RIGHT PERSON at the RIGHT TIME to get acted on. [caption id="attachment_298" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The List is the MOST important part of your campaign!"][/caption] Successful direct mail is a lot more than the graphic design, some companies and advertising agencies will be focused on winning awards for their marketing... in reality, if they really wanted to make the awards relevent they would base them on how well they PERFORM, not how artistic or original they are! There are some key ...
Registering Your Website With The Search Engines
I just attended a Google Marketing and Adwords Seminar to catch-up on what the current trends and best practices are for online marketing. The search engines, and especially Google's, continue to get smarter about how they classify your website. For several years companies would load keywords and gimmicks on their sites so that they would rise to the top of the organic search results, but that is no longer possible with the new way that sites are classified. [caption id="attachment_286" align="alignleft" width="230" caption="Click on the above report, go to my request a quote page and ask me to email you a ...
9 Ways to Utilize QR Codes
You're starting to see QR Codes popping up all over the place, but may be wondering how you can take advantage of this new trend and way to easily get into the realm of Mobile Marketing. Here are 9 ideas that you can take inspiration from: 1. Business Cards: You are handing them out on a daily basis. There are a myriad of ways to use a QR code when you had that card off to a contact. It could simply have your contact information that when it is scanned by a smart phone, adds you as a contact to the individuals ...
DMA Certified Marketing Professional
I'm back! I've taken a leave from blogging for a time for two reasons (1) I've been working on completing my DMA Certified Marketing Professional certification and (2) The economy is rebounding and we've been very busy (good news for all of us!) The DMA Certified Marketing Professional certification as been incredible. The DMA Certified Marketing Professional Certification is a one-of-a-kind direct marketing certification program that provides the insights and knowledge necessary to excel in today’s increasingly digital climate. The program consists of 16 eLearning courses focused on all aspects of direct marketing. Ten essential courses deal with the core aspects of direct ...
9 Steps To Implementing A Social Media Marketing Strategy
[caption id="attachment_246" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="So Many Social Channels...So Little Time!"][/caption] I meet with lot of companies and discuss their marketing with them. We are working to help our customers implement integrated marketing strategies that include social media if it makes sense. There is the key, if it makes sense, I often ask my customers that have a Facebook Page or Twitter Presence "Why?". Why are you on Facebook, Twitter or any other social site for that matter. If you can't answer that "Why" question you might be wasting your time. Social Media is like any other marketing channel, you have to have goals, ...
Business Copywriting: “The Offer”; Part 5 of 5: Guarantees
Guarantees help reduce response resistance. [caption id="attachment_238" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Your guarantee can help customers feel good about buying from you!"][/caption] The final part of copy-writing a good offer is a reassuring guarantee or warranty. We all worry about buying something and it breaks... if one product has a good warranty and another has a poor one, we will generally go with the longer warranty. It can be a real selling advantage. Sears, who originated the sales catalog, achieved success in getting people to order,without seeing the product with the slogan "Your Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back!" A Guarantee can actually take several forms, depending on ...
CLICK ON THE ABOVE AD TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!
PIP has taken online ordering a step further! We now give you the ability to jump start your businesses marketing by providing pre-designed and copywritten brochures, flyers, door hangers, business cards and much more! We then give you the ability to easily edit text, pictures and upload your photos. You can then buy the design to print on your own printers or order from us. It’s the best of online ordering with live and (if you’re near us) local support!
407-847-5565 | www.PIPMarketingGroup.com | dale@PIPMarketing.com
Posted in Business Stationary Copywriting Marketing Printing by .
We recently opened our signage division with two new major pieces of equipment, an HP FB500 Flatbed Printer that prints up to 5′x10′ sheets of material and a 60″ HP L25500 Latex roll feed printer. In that time since we added them we’ve been busy helping customers with their signage projects…including our own!
Our front signs looked OLD! Old styling, cracks, on the side you can’t see below one was cracked from a bottle someone through at it. So we took 1/4″ sheets of white acrylic and with our flatbed printer, printed new, updated panels…
What a difference!
What we have done here we can do for you! Just give us a call at 407-847-5565 and we’ll come by for a free evaluation and estimate.
Posted in Large Format Marketing by .
than anything like it. It’s water based latex ink requires no hazard warning labels like solvent inks, no special ventilation, and it’s certified for use in schools. It’s quality matches the 500 and your banners have never looked better! It gives us the ability to also print on a wide range of fabrics, banner materials, vinyl, backlit film, even wallpaper! And with the least expensive ink in it’s class, you can’t beat it’s value!
Posted in Convention & Trade Show Large Format Sign by .
Effective July1, 2011 The State of Florida enacted a new law that requires physicians to utilize counterfeit-proof prescription pads when writing a prescription for any controlled substance. Compliance is mandatory as pharmacies will soon refuse prescriptions not written on the correctly printed scripts.
Due to the rapid implementation, the state has issued a 60 day Grace Period. However, offices have to be in compliance by September 1, 2011.
After leading the nation in fraudulent prescriptions, (for some drugs, Florida wrote more prescriptions than the other 50 states combined!), Florida has taken some very appropriate action. Besides the prescription pads being counterfeit-proof, physicians have to take other steps to prevent abuse including a written treatment plan with specific objectives, regular follow-ups (at least 3 months) and maintenance of accurate records.
Florida Counterfeit Proof Prescription pad
We are authorized by the state to produce such pads, which in order to meet the state requirements must meet the following requirements:
- Resist erasures and reproductions. The blank must be printed on artificial watermarked paper
- A blue or green background ink that resists reproduction
- Display the word “VOID” or “ILLEGAL”, if the prescription pad is copied
- Space for the prescribers DEA number.
- List the security features on the prescription pad
- A unique tracking number consisting of (1) a unique alphabetic prefix that identifies the vendor (ours is PPM as shown above). (2) The date of printing in a six digit format. (3) a batch number (which for us corresponds to the invoice number.
As a vendor we are also required to certify that the prescribing physician is authorized by the state to write prescriptions and any orders have to be signed for by one of the prescribing physicians in the office. We also have to account for any ruined sheets and destroy any incorrectly printed pages. In addition, we send a report of all orders to the state each month.
We can help you meet the state deadline and make ordering your counterfeit-proof prescription pads easy! Just click >>HERE: Florida Prescription Pad Order Form<< to download the pdf file of our order form!
Jun 11
16
Top 10 Direct Mail Do’s and Dont’s…
The mast important part of a successful direct mail campaign is the target list. Your message has to get to the RIGHT PERSON at the RIGHT TIME to get acted on.
The List is the MOST important part of your campaign!
Successful direct mail is a lot more than the graphic design, some companies and advertising agencies will be focused on winning awards for their marketing… in reality, if they really wanted to make the awards relevent they would base them on how well they PERFORM, not how artistic or original they are! There are some key things you can do to increase the success of your mailing, statistics show that the list is the largest factor, representing 40% of the success of your mailing!
Here are some things to focus on to make sure your mailing is successful!:
Top 10 Direct Mail Dos and Don’ts
1. DO use the right list. Make sure that you have identified your desired customer, there are so many selects you can target from income range, age of children, hobbies, homeowners/renters, credit worthiness, career, RV owners, and so on…
2. DO include compelling copy. It may be 100 or even 25 words, but they need to be the words that will evoke emotion in your reader.
3. DON’T forget a call to action, make it clear what the reader should do. It may even just be to get them to go to your website or Facebook page, but that is still the action you want to identify.
4. DO test. Make sure the piece makes an impact and measure it, there are so many ways to track it, use one!
5. DON’T use lists of features…Instead, highlight the benefits of your product or service. Focus on the solution you provide and how you make their life better, make it about them!
6. DO proof the copy. Proofreading is essential to all your marketing campaigns.
7. DO focus on your headline. After all, you only have a few seconds to grab the reader. This is critical on Postcards, many make the mistake of focusing on the non-address side, guess what…YOU read your mail over the trash can, do you look at the “front” of the card if the address side doesn’t catch your attention?
8. DON’T highlight form over function. Focus as much attention on the content as you do on the design elements. Remember…RESULTS not awards.
9. DO follow up. Call or mail additional information, or at least be prepared to fulfill requests for the product or for additional information.
10. DO tap into expert advice. Learn from experts in the field like your PIP team!
I completed my Direct Marketing Professional Certification this year…ask me how I can help you get more impact from your Direct Mail activities!
Posted in Direct Mail Direct Marketing Marketing Uncategorized by .
I just attended a Google Marketing and Adwords Seminar to catch-up on what the current trends and best practices are for online marketing. The search engines, and especially Google’s, continue to get smarter about how they classify your website. For several years companies would load keywords and gimmicks on their sites so that they would rise to the top of the organic search results, but that is no longer possible with the new way that sites are classified.
Click on the above report, go to my request a quote page and ask me to email you a FREE copy.
Sites are now ranked using a number of different controls. These include how often content is changed, added and updated. How many pages visitors go to when they drop in and somewhat the length of time they sit on the pages. Pages that copy content are actually penalized and original content goes a lot further. Now the content is becoming more important than anything else.
For many businesses, the face that their customers primarily see is their website. The days where a customer comes to your location can tend to be less and less, or if they come, it’s AFTER they have already been to your website to learn more about you.
A lot of small business owners don’t have the means for a lot of professional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), (which is now very tricky to fake, and if Google catches you cheating they will penalize you severely). Some even set up their own websites to get that presence going.
After your website is up and running, you don’t just sit there and wait for everyone to find you! Before anyone can find you the search engines have to find you. This is most easily done by simply going to the search engines and registering with them. They will then send “spiders” to crawl your page and learn what you are about. Your site will continue to be monitored to see if content is being updated and how often and consistently it is updated, and eventually patient massaging of your content and website can result in success!
The great thing is that registering your website is FREE! You simply go to each search engine and complete the registration process and then keep at updating your site. Now, only if someone had created some kind of guide that had instructions explaining how to do this with the main engines…Oh wait! We did! …and I would be happy to share it with you. As the above caption states, simply go to my request a quote page and ask me to send you a copy of the pdf file. If you live in the Orlando, Kissimmee, St. Cloud area feel free to request a printed copy and I’ll mail it to you!
Growing your sales is your ultimate goal. Is your website really working as part of that effort? And if by chance you’re not happy with your website, let me know at the above link and I would be happy to get you information on how we can help you improve it!
~Dale
Posted in SEO Web Design by .
Apr 11
15
9 Ways to Utilize QR Codes
You’re starting to see QR Codes popping up all over the place, but may be wondering how you can take advantage of this new trend and way to easily get into the realm of Mobile Marketing.
Here are 9 ideas that you can take inspiration from:
1. Business Cards: You are handing them out on a daily basis. There are a myriad of ways to use a QR code when you had that card off to a contact. It could simply have your contact information that when it is scanned by a smart phone, adds you as a contact to the individuals phone. It could link to a mobile optimized website (like mine does, see it here). It could link to a short video about your business or showcase your 30 second elevator speech.
2. Brochures & Postcards: The same principles mentioned above apply to your brochure. You could even have multiple QR codes tied to the specific topics or solutions the brochure addresses.
3. Envelopes: Wouldn’t it make your mailing more interesting if the envelope had a teaser with a QR code next to it? Your target might even scan the code before they open the envelope!
4. Trade Shows: Sometimes you have a little video presentation running on a screen in your booth, what if you could link a prospect to it? They can then have that link and view it later when it’s not so noisy and distracting. Put it high on a banner and big enough to be scanned from a distance. You should also have that relevant QR code on your literature you are handing out, they might not scan it now, but they will when they sit down to review the literature they picked up that day.
5. Handbooks and Manuals:I know of a large auto repair facility that put QR codes linked to instruction videos showing how to do certain repairs or procedures in their repair manuals so that the techs can so more than just a picture or written explanation. They had even already made the videos but hadn’t figured out a good way to make them available to their techs! QR codes solved this problem for them.
6. Vehicles:I have a 12” QR code on the side of my delivery van! Someone pulling up beside it at a stop light can scan the code from inside their car! I’ve tested it, it works.
7. Hotel Check-In Tour: I have a Hotel Customer that we are developing a quick 2 minute property tour that showcases the amenities available to guests. Their check-in folder will have a QR code with a note to scan with their smart phone and view a quick tour of the hotel amenities.
8. Newspaper or Magazine Ads: One of the main jobs of print now is to drive traffic to the web. Everyone reading a magazine or newspaper will have their phone sitting right next to them. Use your ad as a teaser to drive them to your website and add the QR code to allow them to do it immediately no matter where they are, in the doctor’s office, at home, wherever.
9. RSVPs: Did you know that we can generate CUSTOM QR codes specific to an individual you are targeting. For an invitation you can send the recipient to a personalized RSVP page that welcomes them by name and allows them to RSVP by simply pressing a single button and submit. Our system records the entry and can notify you by e-mail! You could also use it to allow them to specify meal preferences or capture other information when they RSVP.
You can potentially use a QR code in so many different ways! Any time you want to drive someone to somewhere on the web, you can use a QR code! There are even ways to easily track your QR code use and find out how often it is getting used. The great thing is that using the QR code itself is inexpensive, generate the code, print it on your piece and get going!
Posted in QR Codes by .
Mar 11
29
DMA Certified Marketing Professional
I’m back! I’ve taken a leave from blogging for a time for two reasons (1) I’ve been working on completing my DMA Certified Marketing Professional certification and (2) The economy is rebounding and we’ve been very busy (good news for all of us!)
The DMA Certified Marketing Professional certification as been incredible. The DMA Certified Marketing Professional Certification is a one-of-a-kind direct marketing certification program that provides the insights and knowledge necessary to excel in today’s increasingly digital climate. The program consists of 16 eLearning courses focused on all aspects of direct marketing. Ten essential courses deal with the core aspects of direct marketing, from creating the offer, database management, analytics, direct mail best practices and more; four advanced courses cover database marketing, direct marketing math and finance, social marketing and email marketing; and two elective courses complete the program. It is a college level group of coursework that took me 4 months to complete! (Each course takes 2-4 hours of self-paced online learning and study).
We have been steadily working to help bring “Integrated Marketing Services” to the small and medium business. As the below video illustrates, it can be critical to your message’s success. Let me help you take your marketing to the next level!
Posted in Marketing Uncategorized by .
So Many Social Channels...So Little Time!
I meet with lot of companies and discuss their marketing with them. We are working to help our customers implement integrated marketing strategies that include social media if it makes sense. There is the key, if it makes sense, I often ask my customers that have a Facebook Page or Twitter Presence “Why?”. Why are you on Facebook, Twitter or any other social site for that matter. If you can’t answer that “Why” question you might be wasting your time.
Social Media is like any other marketing channel, you have to have goals, objectives and ways to measure and identify if it is succeeding or not. Social media and and probably should be part of your efforts, but not necessarily ALL Social Media channels. The following steps can help you make sure that you have a solid strategy for your social media.
Step 1: SET GOALS - “Those that fail to plan, plan to fail”. What is your objective with social media it could be to: (a) Acquire new prospects or services, (b) Sell more products and services, (c) Support post purchase sales, (d) connect with fans, (e) extend your brand, …or others, …the important thing is to have a strategy
Step 2: TARGET YOUR MARKET - You need to understand how and why members of your target market use social media. Are they using it to learn more about your product or service? Learning how to use your product better? What are there demographics, though processes, technology level and behaviors (If your target prospect is 60+ you might connect on Face-book, but probably not Twitter or Stumble-Upon). What is their role in the process (90% will read what others say, 9% will comment and 1% will add content like pictures and extensive reviews/information)
Step 3: DEFINE YOUR ONLINE OFFER – Content is king! And people don’t want to connect with you to hear a constant sales pitch, typically you want 6-8 helpful posts, links or interesting items for every offer you send out. If you can keep their interest they will put up with an occasional offer and potentially respond to it! Your offer may not be a true offer, but additional information to help with the purchase process. Your offer may be follow up information that helps people be satisfied AFTER the sale.
Step 4: DEVELOP CREATIVE – Participate in social media with a human voice, write like you would talk and use personal stories. Use keywords…it can be part of your SEO strategy. Present Benefits, not features (people don’t care what it does, they care how it helps, saves, prevents…etc.). Have a call to action. Provide links to specific products and helps in the purchase process (3rd party reviews, pictures, development information…)
Step 5: PREPARE A CONTENT STRATEGY – Look closely at your target’s needs and interests and develop content that meets those needs. Include different types of information and use different content forms, blogs, micro blogs (twitter), video (YouTube), Linked In and connect the different forms together. Make your content easily shareable. Again, focus, focus, focus on the consumer. Your goal isn’t to get the most followers, it’s to communicate with your target group, no matter how big or small.
Step 6: ASSESS YOUR MEDIA – Look at what you do both online and offline, do you mail out a hard copy newsletter, e-newsletter, seminars, product brochures and information, websites, blogs, billboards, direct mail? All of these should tie together in an integrated effort to support each other. If you have a good face-book page, talk about it on your printed materials, put it on your billboard, link to it off your website. Capture online information and add it to your mailing list and personal follow up. Connect the dots, for an idea of what this looks like, you can see my marketing plan diagrammed here.
Step 7: CONTENT GENERATION – Content is really the critical part of the whole Social Media equation, and the old programming saying “Garbage In…Garbage Out” holds true, if you just throw stuff up to be posting something, don’t expect anything, there are too many channels competing for your prospects attention. Consider what content will interest your target; Information about your product? Related or complimentary items of interest? Humor? You also need to consider who will make sure you content generation is consistent, once you start, you can’t stop or you will lose all momentum. Generally one person needs to be in charge of the channel(s) and you need to have goals of how often and what kind of content will be generated.
Step 8: TEST & MEASURE – Social media is like any other channel, pay attention! Know how much you spend, how much revenue is generated, how may people have participated, and what kind of reactions are you getting. If it doesn’t seem to be generating revenue or benefits, try something different or maybe even a new channel.
Social Media is having a HUGE impact on the marketplace, it’s where most conversations about products are taking place these days. Go to where the conversation is taking place about your product or service and start connecting! (…just make sure you have a plan!)
Posted in Marketing Plan Online Marketing Social Networking by .
Guarantees help reduce response resistance.
Your guarantee can help customers feel good about buying from you!
The final part of copy-writing a good offer is a reassuring guarantee or warranty. We all worry about buying something and it breaks… if one product has a good warranty and another has a poor one, we will generally go with the longer warranty. It can be a real selling advantage. Sears, who originated the sales catalog, achieved success in getting people to order,without seeing the product with the slogan “Your Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back!”
A Guarantee can actually take several forms, depending on your goals or the objections that you are trying to overcome.
1. Product Warranty: 30, 60, 90 days a year? 2 years?! I bought a Fujitsu laptop, when they weren’t known for laptops because they sold it with a 3-year warranty! I use my laptop constantly, and in that 3 years they replaced the screen and the motherboard. I definitely bought because of that warranty, you just need to be sure of your product that you will not have excessive repair/replacement expenses.
2. Response Guarantees: “We will confirm your request in 24 hours”, “Your order will ship within 24 hours”, “our technician will arrive within 4 hours of your call”. Sometimes, if people are going to do something with you, they want a guaranteed time frame. We use big digital equipment, and much of our buying decision is based on the repair response time of the vendor. If they can’t guarantee same day service, or even better, 4-hour service, we will look at different equipment, even if it costs more.
3. Privacy Guarantees: “Your information will not be shared”, “No sales rep will call”. If you are asking for information, taking a survey, etc. People often won’t participate or share if they think they will then be bombarded with marketing. State clearly the use and guarantee their privacy.
A guarantee of satisfaction should be a part of any direct sales offer. We guarantee our customers 100% satisfaction, and these days, to do less is to ask to go out of business. If you DON”T take care of your customer, they will tell people on face-book, twitter, review sites and more! So if you’re going to do it, make it part of your offer to help overcome objections!
Posted in Copywriting by .
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