Here are some important steps that will help you to overcome with new difficulties that come along with good things for your business.

The first and the best thing you can do for your business is to make others aware about your business or the products you offer.

There are different ways to do so. First let your family and friends know; they are the first ones to support you, let them spread the word around. Secondly news on social media is contagious especially among today’s youth; open social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We suggest you to be very active; posting new things about your business, special offers or just fun post in general, that will keep your followers interested in. Make people talk about you, let you and the services you offer be on their minds, so next time they need your specific service and product your business will come to their mind automatically.

However along with social media popularity do not forget to send personal emails or mail letters. Doing so will have amazing outcomes. Especially mailing out an invitation letter inside of an envelope with your logo on it for your grand opening to people will make them feel very special thus they will most likely be present to your grand opening.

Your targeted audience gets to your door, (make sure you have a banner sign indicating “GRAND OPENING” with your business name on it) you are half way there. Now they have to enjoy your grand opening and have fun so they do not feel like they are doing you a favor by joining you but they are enjoying it. Be prepared for the day of your grand opening and make sure you have flyers printed out and coupons in different shapes to give out so they can use them when they come back. Post signs & posters or have someone in your business t-shirt standing and greeting your guests. Offer free products and do fun contest with fun prizes such as promotional items; which can include t-shirts, notepads, pens, hats (contact us for more info) and incorporate your business logo or name there. Offer live entertainment and make sure you have some free samples of your product. Do not forget to hand out your business card to all who came out for your grand opening. This is for the fun part and your grand opening was a success, now it is time to take important steps towards marketing that will make your customers come back. It is very important that people that attended your grand opening talk about it and keep posting on social media. Another good thing you can do after an event is to thank those who came in, send a thank you card for example showing how grateful you are, you can also include discount or free item for their next visit.

Consider printing flyers and handouts for your neighborhood. Let every business around your location hear about your business and offered services. Offer discount to neighbors and referrals. Print membership cards for loyal customer or set up a loyalty program.

Next start mailing out flyers or hire flyer distributor to drop your postcards in every single door in your area. United States Postal Services (USPS) has an affordable mailing plan called EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) which is a great way to distribute postcards and advertise your business.

Keep records of your customers and keep in touch. Send them reminders, email and mail discounts, inform them regarding your new products and special offers. Your loyal customers are the most important part of your business.

Build a Website. Keep it clean and easy to use. Website is another front desk (or office) of your business, so maintain it and keep it updated.

We wish you a successful going business.

Quick question: how would you let your neighbors know that you are running an offer or a special for limited time? Let’s say New Year special, or spring special etc? Think about it.

Often we see that people list their services on the back of their business card which is a great idea but not when you have a lot of services to offer. Ok, wait, I know you may think it’s even ok to have coupon on your business cards, but, I mean come on, that’s so unprofessional. Here is when the idea of using postcard pops up. They are at least double of the size, high quality and attractive in the same time. You can include all your company information, your personal information, list the services and offer your specials, coupons or discounts.
By having a postcard in hand you can walk into your neighbor’s shop, say greeting and ask their attention to the postcard, hand out and say “Hasta la vist”. The postcard will tell everything that you don’t have the time for. Don’t worry if your neighbor is closed at your visit, you can just slide your postcard under the door or mailing slit and as far as you have a nice message on your postcard it won’t be consider as solicitation.
You can also choose to mail your postcard, of course there are different ways and options to do that but I would choose to talk about that part maybe some other time.
Oh and I almost forgot, the good thing about postcards is that we offer variety of sizes. As small as 2×4 or as big as 9×12

Tip: If you have to carry your cards in your wallet, at least make sure they are clean and fresh before going to that fancy event.

The best way to carry business cards is in a separate business card carrier. These are smaller than a wallet, but they are designed specifically to protect your business cards and prevent them from tearing.

A small investment in a business card carrier will help you to retain the professional look of your business cards and present the proper image to customers. When you order your next set of business cards from HikePrint, be sure that you ask about a card carrier. Even the card carrier can be very impressive and it can have its own impression to your customers. You can have your business card carrier personalize in a very unique way. You can get something that is very simple but effective, or you can buy a fancy carrier with your or your company name engraved on it and use it as a conversation starter with prospective clients.

How a letterhead can improve company’s image?

Consumers will notice that a company is using a high quality, customized letterhead with company’s logo and information printed on it. This makes them to look at the business in a more professional manner. Using a customized and unique letterhead with a high quality paper and print helps consumers recognize the effort that a company puts forth when it comes to implementing marketing techniques, and consumers appreciate this effort. When you value your business and brand it will have positive impact on your consumers.

Customized letterhead and increase in brand awareness!

Having a custom-made letterhead helps businesses increase their brand awareness. Instead of having letters written on simple paper with no logo and contact information on it use one with preprinted high quality logo and present your company logo and brand the way it should be. Give value to your company and logo and you will see the effect of that simple decision in your business. Do not use low resolution or bad quality logo in your communications. Ask a professional graphic designer to recreate and redesign your logo in right size and format and ask HikePrint to print your letterhead on 70lb smooth white paper instead of 20lb regular copy paper. Some companies put their jpg format low resolution logo in Microsoft word program, type their letter and print with inkjet printer to send to their high class consumers. Compare that with printing your letter on thicker paper with high quality logo and nice layout letterhead. If you like the final product and you enjoy using it, it means your customers will like it as well and definitely it will have positive impact on them.

Increase in brand awareness assist businesses in boosting their customer count levels, as well as their profit margins.

Letterhead and the increase of website traffic or social media!

Companies that include their website address in their customized letterheads or the address of their social media such as facebook, twitter or blogs tend to receive an increase in their website traffic; this leads to an increase in profit levels.

If you are interested to get more information in regards to customized letterheads, contact us here at HikePrint today and we will discuss the options to help boost your business.

When you order business cards at www.hikeprint.com, you will see that most of the items have rush order option available. Order placed and approved before 11:00am PST will go to print the same day and will be shipped by third day.
If you are attending to a trade show or seminars or have a booth in convention center it’s better to have some nice and special business cards printed for that event with the same theme or your booth information on it such as table number or event name, something that will remind recipient where they got your card.
As you start to get low on our business cards it’s time to call HikePrint. We will be happy to take care of your business and printing needs.

One of the first ways is to have a business card created by a professional and creative graphic designer. A business card that is eye catchy and interesting will make people want them and keep them.

Another way to hand out a business card is to use it to give information to someone you are talking to. Simply write the information on the back of your business card and people will accept it at no question and no feeling forced. This is one of the best ways to make sure your contact and business information is getting out there.

Make sure your pocket is not out of business cards. You need to offer someone business card when they give one to you.

The point that should be noticed is that handing out business cards should not be considered as a professional thing all the time. If you want to give someone your contact information such as cell number or just an email address to send you photos, simply give them your professional business card.

And finally it comes to your business location; make sure that you leave some of your cards at your desk and front desk so anyone who visited your business location for any kind of services even to sell you something will grab one as they leave.

HikePrint is you best choice if you need help with your business card design.

Contact HikePrint and we will be happy to assist you to get it done as soon as possible

Serving our clients with excellence starts with high quality offset printing. Here is how we provide the highest quality products using offset printing processes.

Offset printing is a technique in which the inked image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called “fountain solution”), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Consistent high image quality.
• Offset printing produces sharp and clean images.
• The rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface and this unique process helps creating the highest quality images
• High quality printing at lowest possible prices
• High speed printing
• Good for long run projects.

At HikePrint for short runs we also use digital presses for our local customers and for rush orders.

In digital printing method the digital image (file) prints directly to a variety of media. In digital printing there is no plate used anymore but there are rollers that carry information about the media. The unite price for digital printing is usually higher than offset printing methods and it’s good for small-run jobs. Digital printing allows for on-demand printing, short turnaround time, and even changes on each image which is called variable data such as postcard printing with targeted customer.

We also use wide format HP LaserJet printers for poster orders. With Large format printers we are able to print on photo gloss and satin paper as well as vinyl material used for banners and signs.

To start any kind of business in any scale you have to have a business plan. In business plan you will have the way you are going to start and run your business successfully. In one world the business plan is your roadmap for your business success.
In your roadmap you will draw a three to five years plan. Where to start, where to go and where to get.

Step One:

First item in your business plan is the summary which is the most important section of a business plan. Summary talks about the situation of your business, where it is, where it should be and why you think your plan is going to work. The interesting thing is that your business plan summary usually comes first but it’s the last item you write.
In your business plan summary you can include your mission statement, your company information, your product and/or services and summarized future plans. In summary of your business plan you can also focus on your experience, background, and the decisions that made you to start your business.

Step Two:

The second section of your business plan can be your company description which provides information on what you do, what makes your business different than others and the area your business serves. In your company description you can describe the nature of your business and the market you are going to serve. It’s so important to list the advantages your company has such as your location, professional employees, the tools and the systems your are going to use and finally the ability to bring value to your customers.
If you haven’t done an Analysis on the Market that your are going to target then you are not done yet. This is your next step to find our more about the Market and your business industry.
List every thing you know about the industry, the information about your target market such as size, characteristics, potentials. You can also list the strength of your competitors in this section and study their product line and services.

Step Three:

Ok, now is the time to review your organization and the management of your company.
This is very simple but important step and information about your business profile.
In this section you are going to draw the structure of your organization and details about the ownership and management. It’s also about the professionality of people who are going to direct your company. It needs to be clear that who does what. It’s about their background and the ability they have. You need to have acceptable reason to have some one your the board of director and their responsibility needs to be clear. Make sure you choose qualified people for all the available positions in your company.

Step Four:

The next step is to list your products and Services with detail information. Answer the questions regarding the life cycle of your products, specific benefits or your products or services.

Step Five:

Promoting your products and sale is the next step. Not that you are going to sale right away. This is about the marketing strategy that you are going to use. How you are going to reach the market, how would you grow your business, what are the ways of distributions and how you will communicate with customers. These are your marketing strategy that will lead you to sales strategy. you can have sales people in your organization or different sales plan or activities such as online sales and marketing.

Some entrepreneur may have to look for funding for their business venture. They need to prepare a funding requests that includes the current funding requirement, future finding requirement for next 3 to 5 years, the way that funds are going to be used and some strategic plans for future financial situation.

Step Six:

After you analyzed the market you need to develop your financial projections to be able to allocate resources efficiently. If you have a business already you need to prepare some data sheets showing your company income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements for last 3 to 5 years.
The important thing whether you are a starter or growing business is to prepare a prospective financial data. These are all to submit to creditors to convince them invest in your business so make sure that there is no inconsistency between your financial projection and funding requests.

In the End:

In the end you need to make sure your business plan will stand out. So be clear about what you have to offer, show exactly what you are selling. Make sure you pointed the areas that you can win. These are areas that your competitors have ignored and are potential opportunities for your business.

Location:

Now that you have your business plan ready you can think about your business location.  Choose the right location  is one of the most important decisions that a small business owner will face, so it requires serious researches and planning. Factors that are important to choose a right place for your business usually are availability of customers, being close to customers, competition, being close to potential employees, space and potential for future growth, being close to your suppliers, safety and zoning regulations. Zoning regulation determines whether you can conduct your type of business in certain properties or locations. You can find out how property is zoned by contacting your local planning agency.
The process of choosing location does not end here, there are some hidden costs, income and sales taxes, property taxes, minimum wage, government economic plans etc. You may find the hidden costs some necessary items but costs like renovation, decorating, IT system upgrades etc are done on some locations and in some properties you have to spend to have them.
One of the best ways to get ideas about the location is talking to other business owners in the area.

Am I looking for a new career?

This is an important question. If you have a large network of professionals, friends or family and you made a decision to find a new career or you have a freelancing opportunity, then you will come in contact with a lot of individuals and more business cards will be required.

Do you change careers or phone numbers frequently?

If you are living in a rental home (in case of home business) or you rent your office location for short period of time and you move regularly or you change you phone number often because of your job as well as your email address more than once a year, you may not want to order too many business cards at a time.

Do you physically meet with clients often?

If you work primarily online and your network of professionals is not constantly changing, then you won’t have many opportunities to exchange business cards with others. That does not mean you don’t need business cards but not too many.

Do you use flyers to promote your business?

If you advertise your services and products using flyers, postcards or even online that means you reach your customers before you meet them and they may already have your contact information in their contact list. It means you do not need to order too many business cards unless there is extra information on your business card that your customers need to be informed.

What information do you put on your business card?

If you are using both sides of your business card and you put information about your offered services or something like appointment time and date then you should consider ordering more business cards as they will work more of advertisement tools for you.

To find out more information regarding quantity, printing turnaround time, design ideas or pricing contact us via email: support@hikeprint.com or call us at 866-668-7415 and we will be happy to hear from you.