People Pleasing Postcards

Why are more retail jewelers turning to full-color postcards as a key form of promotion? The biggest reason is the simplest: You don’t have to open a postcard. It won’t get lumped in with all the direct mail envelopes that people toss without opening.If the postcard shows a very glossy, well-photographed picture of attractive jewelry, the recipient will very likely look at the picture and turn it over to see who sent it. She might well put it aside and think, “Next time I’m near the store, I’ll go in and have a look.” The postcard often sits out as an easy reminder of your jewelry store.Cutting Costs on MailingsWhen the economy is a bit shaky, you should increase promotion to keep your name in the minds of customers, but you also have to keep down your costs. To get maximum return for your marketing dollar, you can mail postcards up to 4 1/4 by 6 inches for between 17.5¢ and 19.5¢ each first class (the cheapest letter rate is 19¢ - 24¢). If you find the right company, you’ll likely be able to have 5,000 postcards printed for less than $400.Finding the Right CompanyMost businesses don’t have in-house marketing departments, so find a postcard company to help you.

A postcard company can handle your mailing and save you money. It makes most of its profits from printing, not from consulting, selling, mailing lists and mailing, so it can often find you better deals on such services. The company should:• Specialize in postcards. It shouldn’t just do postcards among other printing jobs. You’ll pay less because the company gang-prints cards. In other words, the company will print many different postcards in one large press run.• Have some marketing knowledge and experience. The company should be able to advise you on mailing lists, design and quantities.• Offer UV coating (laminated), full-color and 4 1/4-by-6 in. postcards. This ensures you get the highest-quality look and the biggest post card you can for the lowest mailing rate. The UV coating is essential for a very high gloss finish to make your product look good.•

Help with photography. Getting a good picture is vital to the success of your postcard. You might pay $150 to $1200+ for photography and, generally, you get what you pay for. However, some photographers do a good job without charging the earth. Your postcard company should have contacts with photographers. Once you find a company (it doesn’t have to be local – many do business with stores all over the U.S.), ask for advice on creating the postcard. Many companies will help with everything from determining whether you should mail to your existing customers, mailing lists of potential customers or both. The company also will send you proofs. Make sure any corrections you request are made so you’re happy with the final product.

About the Author
David Phillips has set up several successful small businesses in the marketing and communications fields. He swears by direct mail marketing techniques which is why he writes for PostcardMania. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; by 2004 the company did $9 million in sales and employed over 60 people. Visit http://www.postcardmania.com

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN PHOTOGRAPHY

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN PHOTOGRAPHY by Jinky C. Mesias

Digital Technology is making its presence felt not only in the printing industry but more imminent in the field of photography. Digital photography has taken photographing into a realm of infinite possibilities. Digital technology has also offered great diversity when it comes to colors of pictures that were not possible with the use of traditional photographing machinery. Digital technology has also paved the way for express photography developing which only requires a minimum of 3 minutes to process pictures. This express picture development is great for rush picture requirements like personal id pictures as well as rush visa and passport photos. The best-suited camera used for express development is a digital camera.

The process of express development starts with the taking or the capturing of an image, which is a multi-process since it includes image display, as well as image printing by means of a computer and appropriate printer equipment. However, like any technology the digital technology is not without flaws, the use of an incompatible printer may have an adverse effect on the quality of the developed picture. In terms of the digital camera to be use, it is important to correctly choose the camera’s resolution in order to produce high quality photographs. For passport and visa photos a digital camera with one mega-pixel resolution is the best choice. Such types of cameras also have automatic features that are designed to control the numerous photographic qualities involved in the process of taking pictures.

Nevertheless, the photographer’s sensitivity when it comes to his or her subject must still exist since the automatic control of the digital camera won’t be able to choose from among the subject’s facial expression which is best to capture or decides on the clothing that would best reveal the subject’s features.Camera-to-computer interface are well suited for those photography activities that require the use of an external memory card. The transferring of data is also much faster and offers confirmation of the storage of quality images stored in the computer. Likewise, it provides a room for retakes and the images are easily stored in the computer, which is a good thing since it will be much easier to choose from among the taken images the one that really stands out.

The computer also plays an important role in digital photography since it helps in storing and displaying of digital images taken with the digital camera. The computer also enables for the printing of the images in various digital printers. And since digital photography makes use of high-resolution images it is vital that the computer should have a sufficient memory space as well as ample storage capacities. Likewise, a computer should also have a high-speed interface to the camera and printer and a speedy but reliable CPU in order to provide efficient image processing. For comments and suggestions regarding the article kindly visit Digital Printing Company

About the Author
Jinky C. Mesias is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Business Management. She is at present an Associate Manager of a Life Insurance Corporation and a freelance writer