Archive for September, 2009

The Virtues of Patience and Perseverance

Monday, September 21st, 2009

I was hiking Saturday on a trail that was new to me and encountered something really striking. I was climbing on the Oat Hill Mine Road trail which begins at the town of Calistoga in the northern end of the Napa Valley.

I came upon many instances of where the wagon wheels had created grooves in the stone!

Oat Hill Mine Road

It was nearly unbelievable to think that wagons could come down that road so often and so consistently in the same path that a groove would be created.

The road was begun in 1873 and officially opened in 1893. It is less than 20 miles long so it was a rather slow process and definitely hard going through the rocky terrain. It was built to give better access to a mercury mine in the mountains.

The words that came to me were patience and perseverance in all aspects of this endeavor. It is hard to think of a road taking more than a year to complete each mile. The circumstances of the work project are not known but it is clear that the going was slow and yet there was a committed determination to getting the job done. Someone really wanted it done to not be deterred by it taking 20 years to complete.

Then the wagons. How many trips needed to be taken to start wearing a groove into the solid stone? How many loads of ore were hauled down the mountain, wearing away the stone?

Patience and perseverance are certainly qualities that I recognize as necessary in a printing business. There is no hurrying good work. I have found that when I have tried to cut corners many times I end up spending more time doing it the ‘fast and easy’ way, rather than just doing it the right way the first time.

And there are many times when something isn’t going right that there is an impulse to just quit or give up for today. Often because of deadlines, the later option is not really possible.

So at Ajalon Printing we know of the patience and perseverance that is required to produce the printing that will satisfy our clients, whether it is something simple like business cards or keeping all the elements of a full color catalog together and in order so that the project is completed on time and on budget.

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Sustainability

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Sustainable, Green, Environmental

These are words that are used a lot today when talking about conducting business. Here at Ajalon Printing & Design, they are not just catchwords we recently started using. For over twenty years
we have always sought to reducce, reuse and recycle.

Twenty years ago it was difficult to find somebody who would pick up our paper to be recycled. We had to pre-sort it into coated and uncoated. Prior to this the paper had been going into a landfill.

There have been places to recycle metal printing plates (they are aluminum) and photo chemistry and film (they contain silver) because this made more economic, as well as environmental, sense.

We have collected our left over ink over the years and have disposed of it according to local and federal guidelines. I think some of it is incinerated in special facilities that capture the heat to use as energy and purify the smoke of harmful chemicals.

We have been using soy oil inks since they were first being produced over 15 years ago. We are always on the look out for better products to clean and leave our environment better off.

We reuse packing material that we receive, partly because it is cheaper to save it and reuse it, than to go out a buy it when we need it. It starts collecting around here and I go crazy with boxes of it sitting around so we then give it to neighboring businesses so they can use it.

For years we have cooperated with a local organization that provides surplus materials to schools and other businesses. It is gratifying to see teachers getting excited about paper that they can use in the classroom and that would otherwise just be recycled.

We have seen the transition from when we had to send proofs back and forth physically with cars being involved, to using the fax machine when it came out, to save time and expense in the proofing process. Today most all of our communication with customers is conducted by email, and there are no paper copies.

In the letterpress aspect of our printing, we use tree free paper that is 100% cotton. And if clients chose to use other alternative fiber material, such as bamboo, kenaf, or agriculture waste fibers, we have ready sources to obtain them.

polar Sustainability

So for us here at Ajalon Printing being environmentally friendly and saving the resources of our planet is not the latest business trend, but a way of life to which we have always been committed. Heck I have boxes of my dog’s hair that I have collected over the years when I combed him out that I hope to have woven into yarn some day. Hopefully it won’t smell like him.

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Beyond the Benefits

Monday, September 14th, 2009

You’ve heard about how marketers should list features, (which inform), and benefits, (which sell). Consider taking it a step further: go beyond the benefits, and relate experiences.

To truly build value in a specific product or service you’re offering, bring in the experiences of customers, either by quoting them or by explaining what those experiences are.

For example:

Your business offers quick mortgage closings. That’s a feature. Less time spent waiting, and the ability to move in to a new home quicker are benefits. Take it a step further by discussing the details of the family’s experience, preferably with a picture, and how it affected their lifestyle.

Talk about how they moved in with plenty of time to get settled before the new school year began. Talk about how mom was still able to continue running her business and dad was able to keep working without taking any time off to handle mortgage hassles.

Talk about how little Jenny never missed a ballet class, and you’ve got an experience that goes far beyond a benefit.

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The 3 Most Powerful Types of Ads

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Looking for a sure-fire method of coming up with effective ads?

The quickest way is imitation. If you can mimic a successful ad by using a style and format that has been proven to work, your own ad will be successful, too. Review the following ad types (all three tried and tested) and see what you can do to market your business’ products and services this way.

1. The Open Letter

An open letter doesn’t look like an ad, so it gets attention. It looks personal, so it gets read. It’s open, like a postcard, so it attracts people to find out what it says. Of course, the ad still must be a good ad, incorporating all elements of solid advertising. But this method can carry your message very successfully. “An open letter to all Employees of ABC Steel Co.” can be followed by the benefits of your product or service, and signed personally by the CEO.

2. Advertorials

Like an open letter, these don’t look like ads. An advertorial simulates an article written by a journalist about your business, except that you have complete control of the ad. Of course, you pay for the ad, and there’s a little disclaimer stating that it’s an advertisement, but if you keep the other elements of a good marketing in it, you’ll be able to pull off a more legitimate looking ad that is newsworthy and more believable.

3. The Direct Response Ad

In this one-step-selling ad, you’re looking for a response immediately. These ads look old fashioned, but they work. A good headline is important, because you want readers to be interested enough to read the entire article. A strong call to action with a coupon attached, or a toll free number to call, is an intrinsic part of this type of ad.

Keep your eyes open for these three formats when you read magazines and newspapers. Try advertising the business using all three formats.

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Are Your Marketing Materials Overdesigned?

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Are your marketing materials and website over-designed?

Design should support your marketing message, not get in its way. If you’re blown away at the beauty or cleverness of the presentation your designer has delivered, test it with both other business employees and customers. After a 10-second look, they should be able to tell you what the piece is about. Then give them another couple of minutes to read and ask whether or not they understand what they’ve seen.

If either of these tests fail, the impressive appearance may be doing you a disservice.

Getting compliments on looks can sometimes indicate that the designer should go back to the drawing board. Rather than spending time, money, and effort on a “pretty” website or brochure, see to it that it clearly communicates your marketing message.

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