5 Easy Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

Don't get me wrong- Marketing is a process that requires a great deal of planning, but those plans are

meant to be changed. These 5 tips are great things you can throw in to your marketing mix when you feel like your plan needs a little jolt. Just remember- incorprate them in to your existing marketing plan and always measure your results.

• Give Your Stuff Away: Free stuff is ALWAYS popular. If you don't have a physical product, try giving away free consultations, or try using branded promotional products. Giving away your product helps people get a feel for what you have to offer, and can encourage them to come back for more. Just remember- make sure you have some kind of way to follow up with them, by collecting contact info, liking your Facebook page etc.
• Support a Cause or Organization: Throwing your financial support behind a charity or organization is a great way to get brand exposure, and can help you earn new customers. The members of these organizations always appreciate those who support them. And in addition to the obvious benefits for your business, you can feel good knowing your money is going to a good cause.
• Email Useful Information: A monthly email can be a great tool for marketing, and doesn't take up too much time. Just make sure to take a "soft-sell" approach. Meaning, don't simply tell your database about upcoming promotions, but give them great tips related to the benefits of your product.
• Choose 1 Social Network: If you find yourself overwehlmed by social media, don't try to do everything. Just because you can have a Pinterest account and a Facebook account and a Linkedin account, doesn't mean you need to. Focusing on being the absolute best you can be on one particular social network will go much further than spreading yourself too thin amongst several networks.
• Attend a Networking Event: Networking events may seem like an old school tactic but they made the list because they still work! Attending a local networking event where you can meet some other small business owners. It's a great opportunity to not only generate leads, but also to get advice from other entrepeuners.

5 Creative Designs for Your Holiday Card & Envelopes

The most wonderful time of the year is just right around the corner! While there's so many things to love about the holiday season, one of our favorites is receiving holiday cards from friends and family. It's not just hearing from loved ones, but seeing the fun and creative card & envelope designs they come up with. So with that in mind we did some searching around the Internet, and found some really interesting and creative holiday cards and designs to help inspire you this season:

 

 

Wooden Airplane Postcard

 

 

 

A seaon's greetings postcard and a toy all in one! This ingenious idea is a great gift to send nieces and nephews or younger cousins.

 

 

 

 

The "Awkward" Family Christmas Card

 

 

 

You've probably seen a few of these awkward family photos online. Whether you think they're funny, weird or a little bit of both, they'll definite get peoples attention!

 

Fingerprint Reindeers Custom Envelope

 

 

The reindeer family is creative enough, but they took a step further using each family members individual thum print to create the members of the reindeer family.

 

The Playfully Generic "Holiday" Card

 

 

Sometimes the best way to say "Happy Holidays" is to just....say it. This plain holiday card comes with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and is the perfect card for anyone with a bit of Scrooge in them.

 

 

3D Mailable Christmas Ornament

 

Why mail a card when you can mail a card that turns in to an ornament? These creative designs transform in to 3D ornaments that you can actually hang on your tree!

 



Can You Really Mail a Coconut? And 6 More Strange Mail Questions

A few months back we wrote a blog post about mailing a coconut through the USPS. Well, that got us thinking- What other type of strange things will the United States Post Office ship for us? So we called up our local post office and asked a few questions. While they were a bit puzzled, they were more than happy to oblige. Then we collect all of that info in to this helpful infographic. Enjoy!

5 Creative Custom #10 Envelope Designs

Think the old tried and true business envelope has to be boring? No Way! With a little creativity, custom #10 envelope printing can transform those boring envelopes into a unique part of your businesses marketing plan. Here's 5 creative #10 envelope designs:



1.

This creative envelope design from Japanese stationery company D-Bros features a cut out tab so that you can easily tear open each envelope without suffering any nasty paper cuts.

2.

These fun map envelopes are offered in a variety of different sizes and each continent has it's own envelope design!

3.

ChickChirik is a gift registry company that uses recycled and natural material for it's packaging. The design may be simple but it's execution is very effective!

4.

Need directions? These custom envelopes allow you to print the location of your event or place of business on the inside liner of the envelope!


 5.

 

 

These beautiful envelopes from Tower Twelve Studios features the same branding throughout all of the company's stationery.