Tips for budget advertising -flyers, business cards, etc

nickyjay21

Hi All,

i have started my own online photo manipulation business in my spare time and really need to get promoting it now.

been online for a while but done nothing by way of getting advertising sorted. can anyone suggest cheap places to get flyers and business cards printed?

I have my own designs all ready but have tried the DIY route and they look a little, well, naff shall we say! unless its the paper im using!

I really dont have much to spend on the flyers and such as its just a little spare time venture at the moment, but would like to get it off the ground!

TIA for any suggestions! xxx

jexygirl

http://www.vistaprint.co.uk

nickyjay21

do you know of any others? would like to get a few to compare if i can!

Savvy_Sue

If you search this board for 'cheap printing' you will find several threads covering this in detail.

However it could be the paper you're using - it makes a big difference!

Going into a local print shop to get a quote from them wouldn't be a bad first step, as you will SEE examples and can 'feel the weight'.

Also please take a look at the Forum Rules (at the top of every page) because your signature is in breach of them.

paulwf

Could I suggest getting your site 100% sorted before advertising? It's broadly ok but as it stands I wouldn't order from you, which is a shame because with a bit of tweaking I would. My reasons would be:

-there are no high resolution "real world" examples of your work. I want to see examples of the effects and all the various canvas sizes hung on an actual wall so I can get a feel for them (and the quality of your work). Sorry but a 128 x 128 pixel example that isn't on canvas simply doesn't cut it. Without showing off your work properly your order potential will be severely limited.

- Usability. Some of the info on the front page only comes up if you click on the revolving image which them seems to head off in the other direction. The text underneath it is greyed out. If you put information on a page for heavens sake let me read it in one place!

- You don't give a contact address. I never order unless I know a company has a real physical address. This is good practice anyway as Ltd's have to list an address so it makes sense for sole traders to do the same.

- You don't give a phone number, what if I want to call you to discuss my order? You are doing custom work, let me call you and discuss my requirement.

- What the heck is that submission code about and why does the page say the code doesn't match? Why is the box offset?

- You start a sentence with a small letter on the front page of the website. If you don't care about the first page of your website will you have the attention to detail for my print?

- Your terms, sitemap and feedback links all point to the FAQ. If you don't have terms then I would be concerned about ordering because you are doing custom work and I don't know where I stand if there is a dispute.

- I would also like terms to have assurance over the privacy of any image I send to you. Will you plaster it over Facebook or will you delete it from your PC?

- You have a competition page but the competition part is blank. Where is the blog that page refers to?

You're 90% there, please get as many people as possible to test and give feedback on your site, little things are really letting you down at the moment.

paulwf

Also picked up typo's on at least 4 other pages.

HappySad

Solopress.com are good. Order a sample pack from them. I have not used them but will be as their service is good... Yes their sample pack arrived in one day and they sent an auto email asking me if I was OK with the sample pack and if they can help me further. I was impressed with this so far.

Their prices are very good.

You need to advertise and start networking constantly to get others to know about your business. Read a few marketing books and go online on youtube to learn about marketing and sales. You local Council Business organisation run courses to support small business. Book course soon before the government closes them down.

Remember about 1/2 of our time will be spend getting in new business and the other half is spend admin/finance and offering the service. This is what I have learnt to far and it is proving to be very true.