One way that businesses can improve their savings and reduce wastefulness

June 16, 2011 · Posted in Company · Comment 

Almost all companies are constantly looking for ways to reduce their spending, but more often than not simple solutions around the office are overlooked. One way that businesses can improve their savings and reduce wastefulness is through recycling, according to All Business. Not only does reusing office supplies help lower the overall cost of resources, but it helps the environment as well.

To begin instilling green values into the office, companies are encouraged to educate their employees on how to reduce waste on a regular basis. Make it a habit to recycle everything your company uses and would normally just throw away. Just about any kind of paper you would encounter in an office, including fax paper, envelopes, and junk mail, can be recycled. Informing individuals on how to properly recycle is the first step to lowering the number of items that go into the trash receptacle. Place blue bins around the office for paper, plastics and other waste. Providing the resources to recycle is an effective way to get individuals to start thinking green.

Next, make it a point to stress the importance of saving paper. Oftentimes, a hard copy of a document is not necessary, especially when email exists. If printing is necessary, companies should encourage employees to utilize double-sided printing to reduce waste. Reusing sheets that have only been printed on one side is another way to cut back on paper usage.

Items, such as old binders, paper clips and pens, can often be reused around the office. Instead of buying new supplies, businesses should try to make do with what they have before willingly spending money on additional stationary. Replacing the ink in a pen with a refill can be more cost-effective in the end.

When the printer runs out of ink and toner, consider mailing the cartridges back to the manufacturer. Oftentimes, a company will refill the cartridge for free in order to comply with sustainable business practices. It is also cheaper for the company to refill cartridges over time.

To make the most of environmentally friendly practices, company managers are encouraged to keep an eye on the supply closet. If the staff is still running through paper and pencils without thinking of the consequences, a limitation may need to be instituted. Offer employees a chance to exchange their old stationary for new items to ensure proper disposal.

Businesses can also stress the point through hosting parties or company-wide events with the money saved through recycling. In the end, sustainable business practices can help a company brand its name as a reputable company in the industry.

           

Things to do to help you get the best from your Leaflets and Pamphlets

February 1, 2011 · Posted in Marketing · Comment 

Here is a Top ten checklist of ‘do’s’ to help you get the best from your leaflets and pamphlets.

– Objective & Audience
– Know what your leaflet is for. List your goals and check them throughout the design to make sure you’re on track. Understand your audience to make sure you’re speaking clearly to them – in both copy and pictures. If it’s useful, write a short paragraph explaining who they are. Headline
– Your brochure is competing with other brochures so make sure your headline draws attention to what you’re selling. Keep in mind that in some distribution racks, only the top third can be seen. Keep your headline short and to the point. Reinforcing Pictures
– Understand that copy carries your sales message but pictures reinforce it. Make sure they’re right for your target audience and remember that when your customer scans a rack of leaflets, there’s a lot of information competing for their eye so keep your images simple and uncluttered as this will help them understand your leaflet. Also, make sure you include a map if you’re wanting your customers to visit you. Concise Copy
– A leaflet can’t contain everything you probably want to say – so be selective. Make sure your copy is easy to read and is ‘skimmable’. Keep sentences short and break up blocks of copy by using small paragraphs. Use headings to help they eye find what it’s looking for more easily. Use a serif typeface as it’s easier to read. Full Colour
– There’s a reason most leaflets are full colour – research shows a 50-70% increase in retention of full colour leaflets over black and white. Perceived value is higher in your customer’s minds so they tend to keep hold of them longer. Get the Correct Size
– It depends on what you’re using your leaflet for and where it’s going to be displayed, but conventionally, most leaflets tend to be A5 (folded down from A4 or A3 size) or DL size (1/3 A4 folded). Producing leaflets this size should make them fit in nicely with most distribution racks and are a convenient size for most readers. Paper
– Floppy leaflets hide your message, slip from racks and might even get removed if they interfere with other leaflets. Make sure you print your leaflet on the right paper weight and cutting is done down, not across the grain. Don’t make your leaflets too tall and fold them down the left hand side. Vouchers
– Incentivise customers to pick up your leaflet by adding in offers or vouchers. Make sure you advertise them prominently on the front cover and it might be an idea to use the whole leaflet as the voucher as that keeps it lying around at home, reminding customers you’re there! Track response rates of your leaflet (to calculate a basic ROI) by adding in voucher codes and leaflet codes. Clear Call-To-Action
– Check over your leaflet, make sure you’re clearly asking readers to take an action – then run through everything that they’ll want to see to take that action. Phone numbers, addresses, maps, opening times, email addresses, website addresses – can all be easily missed off. Checking before Printing
Check your copy again and again – and get someone else to have a look too. Spelling mistakes and bad sentence structure can put off readers and reduce comprehension of your sales message. If you’re self-checking, leave a good night’s sleep before you re-check; It’s amazing what a fresh pair of eyes will spot that you missed before. Similarly, before you print, make sure you see at least a pdf proof before you push the button – mistakes are cheap to rectify before they’re printed, but costly afterward.

           

Know Your Customers to Get High Selling Point

October 3, 2009 · Posted in Marketing · Comment 

Offering a product to our friend can be so much easier than offering product to stranger. One of the reasons is because we know the character, condition, and taste of our friend. Of course, none of us wants to offer a product to a friend that seems uninterested in the products because it will be useless. Just like the example, if we are able to know further about our future customer, then we will not waste any time, money, and energy to offer our product to people who have no interested to our products. Random choosing on customer is not a good idea. One way to know our future customers better is by using marketing list. On the list, we will get clear information of prospective customers. The data will include specific things like gender, age, ethnicity, income, possession, and many others. Any of business field can get the mailing leads, including for us who have mortgage loan business.

Mortgage mailing list works effectively because through the data we will get information on customers’ financial condition and even their lifestyle. For the reliable marketing list, we can go to Heritagelists.com. Know your customers better and you will get higher selling point every month.