The way people find businesses has changed, and now more people search online than anywhere else.  I don’t usually promote something so blatantly, but I think the possibilities of being found in local business listings can benefit any business. Google, Bing and Yahoo all do it for free and I will tell you how each does it.

Creating a listing through Google Places takes a little bit of time, but it makes it more likely that you can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.  And as I’ve said before, it doesn’t cost a thing.

Your business listing probably already shows up on Google, but by going into Google Places you can update information and verify that it is accurate.  You can also add notifications, which can give you a fresh, current appearance to your listing.  And you don’t even need a website in order to maintain your listing.

Customization is easy

One of the advantages of setting up your own listing is that you can add photos and videos.  You can create custom categories, personalizing your information, adding things like business hours, parking and even offer coupons to encourage customer to make a first-time or repeat purchase.

Verification is valuable

Google collects information to fill your business listing.  If you go in and verify that you are authorized to represent the company, Google then allows you to personalize your information.  In addition to being able to add your own details about your business, Google will also begin to collect data that can be helpful to you in running your business.  This can allow you to make changes that will help you increase your business.

Training Videos Available

Google wants to make this service accessible and useable.  There are numerous online videos which explain how to set up  your business listing.  It is clear that  the battle for people’s attention and search clicks is so intense, that the search engines are fighting for market share and your business can benefit because you can get great information out about your business onto the first page of a search.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

One of the good things about the growing use of the internet is that it is becoming easier to promote your business in your local community.  We are a printing business and we have been here in Sonoma County for over 50 years.  And we have experienced real pressure on our business because of computers and the internet.

But now there is an opportunity to capitalize on the fact that people are looking to find things in their own communities, like Sebastopol or Santa Rosa, not just buy things on Amazon or Ebay. On the whole people are developing in the use of their computer and are searching for services and products in their local community.  And the search engines have recognized that.

Google, Yahoo and Bing have set up local search results that help find local businesses that people are looking for.  And getting your name into these  directories is free.  The search engine companies realized that making it easier for people to find what they were looking for, especially on a local level, made the search engine more valuable because people would use it more regularly.  So they decided to add these local search capacities for free.  nadda.  zilch.

This is like being listed in the yellow pages for free!  I suggest you look into how to do this for yourself.  Below is a link to a youtube video where Google introduces their service. They call their service Google Places.

I suggest you check it out and consider making your business more findable on the internet.  This is something you can do yourself or we at Ajalon can help you do this if you don’t have the inclination or time to set it up.  The search engines are battling for this part of the market right now and you can benefit for free.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

Posters

Posters come in all sizes and formats.  You can have your posters digitally printed on a wide variety of materials.  Posters can be used to advertise an event, to draw attention to a particular presentation in a booth or to let people know of a drawing for a prize.  How ever you want to use a poster, we can help you design and print it.

Banners

Banner can be used indoors or outdoors.  They can be part of a large display or they can stand alone.  We have made banners for a company in Santa Rosa that wanted to prominently display rules for drop off that could be read from a vehicle.  Social or community events often use banners to announce the event and add to the festive atmosphere.

Once again Ajalon can help with your banners.  Our  vinyl banners are durable, affordable, and come with finishing options that make them easy to display. We can design any banner  so that you can fully customize what you need with images, photos, graphics and text.

Tickets

We have been producing tickets fund raising breakfasts in Occidental and Santa Rosa.  Casino nights in Windsor or silent auctions in Petaluma.  Whether you need books of tickets stapled together, pull off tabs or to have them numbered, we can handle it for you.

We have both a digital press and letterpress that can number, perforate and print, so whatever you need we are able to produce–pronto quick.  Call us and find out what Sonoma County’s oldest printer can do for you and your ticket needs.

Programs

After all the planning and getting ready, you might realize that now you need to tell people who come to your event or presentation what is going to be happening and where. Now is time for your program.

Often this item is left to the end because of all the other more pressing details of the event.  Ajalon can help you design and print your program quickly.  We have multiple machines available that make it possible for us to meet your deadlines and create exactly what you want.  You can relax knowing that Ajalon will take care of it.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

Invitations

We offer letterpress wedding invitations through our http://invitationsbyajalon.com website.  We also print wedding invitations digitally and by offset, thereby meeting each person’s expectations about cost.  Visit our website and see why so many are raving about our invitations.

Sakura Letterpress Wedding Invitation Design

Announcements

There are many different events that warrant announcements:  bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations, births and adoptions are just a few of them.  We can provide beautiful designs to match any theme you would like.  From the formal to the whimsical we love helping you express your desires.

Of courses for all these events it is important to begin the process earlier enough so that your guests have adequate time to make plans to attend.  And in the case of baby announcements, although it is not possible to know all the particulars ahead of time (after all, babies come on their own schedule!), basic design and format can be worked out in advance.

Baroque Letterpress Announcement

Customization and Personalization

Obviously with the vast assortment of fonts, papers, colors, printing methods, and designs it is possible to make your invitations or announcements exactly as you would like them at a price that you can afford.  Call us today at 707.528.0288 or visit our site at http://ajalon.com.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

There you go.  Somebody who I have not really met, remembered my business because of the notepads that I had passed out.  And he kept them.

What more could we want from a marketing piece.  Name recognition, positioning.

Notepads are appropriate for almost any business.  There are memo pads with your logo and some text, custom post it notes, a “to do list” notepad, notepads with individual’s names, graph paper notepads, and then a wide array of occupational notepads.

Persons in the medical, dental, real estate, building and contracting, professional, or services industries can all use notepads.  Whether you are a carpet cleaner, florist, photographer, dry cleaners, jeweler, electrician, architect or painting contractor, it can be profitable for your business that perspective clients have a notepad with your name, phone number and web page on it so that they can easily reach you when they need your services.

Ajalon can produce any size notepad you want with any number of sheets per page. We produce top quality pads at very competitive prices.  We print in one, two or full color and we offer free delivery in Sonoma County.

We can handle your artwork and design, use your graphics, do all of the printing and binding operations so that you can receive your pads quickly and at affordable prices.  Give us a call today.  707-528-0288

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

Here is just a short listing of the types of labels: anniversary seals, embossed anniversary seals, asset tags, bar code labels, bumper stickers, business card magnets, vinyl decals, fan folded custom labels, foil labels, hang tags, laser labels, name tags, roll labels, sheet labels, short run custom labels, tamper proof seals, security stickers, window decals. And did I mention wine labels?

In this dizzying array of offerings, it is good to have a printing business like Ajalon Printing to help you with your label printing needs.  We can help you sort through the many different requirements that you have for your label and help you choose the best product that will serve your needs.

We can simplify your label shopping by helping you decide what the best solution is to your labeling needs.  Applying the wrong label to a product can make the product unsellable.  That can be expensive.

And we can help you with your label design.  If you aren’t sure exactly what you want on your label, our designers can work with you in creating exactly what you want.

If you only need a few labels and you need them fast, Ajalon can step right up and help you. If you need thousands of specialty labels that have to be a specific size, again we can produce them for you.  Sheets of labels or rolls of labels, we are ready to help you.

What this means for the somebody who wants to get something printed is that with digital printing we can produce the quantity that you need at a cost savings to you.  This is particularly true with color printing.  Short runs of full color printing are now economically done.

It used to be that in order to produce a full color brochure the only way to do that was to put down the four process colored inks, cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black.  This was expensive and only made sense with long runs over several thousand.  Quality was good; however, set up expenses were high and short runs meant individual pieces could be quite costly.

With digital printing it is now possible to apply the same four color process, but it is done directly from a digital file.  This saves all the production costs of film and plating and the time to set up the proper inking.  All this means that we can produce printed pieces for you at a cost savings.

So printing and copying have changed and merged and the distinctions that used to be made no longer hold up. The old adage, printing is expensive, copying is cheap but the quality isn’t there, is no longer true.  Today printing is economical and copy quality is very good.  The two worlds continue to meld and the winner is our customers.

Ajalon has been helping businesses with their communication needs here in Sonoma County for over 50 years and we will continue to stay on top of the printing marketplace so that we continue to give you great service and value.

Catalogs and online shopping account for a large percentage of the total consumer sales.  L.L. Bean customers shop more via the web than traditional print catalogs, but print catalogs are a big factor in generating online customers orders.

In a study by the USPS (post office), consumers who receive catalogs in the mail are more than twice as likely to make an online purchase, compared to consumers who don’t receive catalogs, regardless of household income, education or geography.

A Direct Marketing Association survey showed that 59%of catalog shoppers will keep catalogs they from at least three months or until a new copy arrives.  Catalogs are used and do help sales.  They drive business to online shopping.

Ajalon Printing has been printing catalogs for many years.  I remember when most catalogs were in black and white and we had to paste up copy with artwork.  Today most of our catalogs are in color and everything is done digitally.

We recently looked at a catalog that was made up of cards that were laminated and then bound together.  The products were sold to manufacturers and catalogs are hung in harsh production environments, so they needed to be sturdy.

So when you need to get that catalog printed Ajalon is the place to turn.  And we can help you get your products online on your website.  We have onsite photography studios and a team of skilled designers waiting to help you.  Call 707.528.0288 or email us at ajalon@ajalon.com today.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

We’re all familiar with the normal pocket folder that is 9″ x 12″ and holds a full size letter.  But many businesses in Santa Rosa or Sebastopol have need to present and protect materials that are different sizes.

Gift Card Holders

Over the years we have made many different types of folders for gift certificates, or now in the modern era, magnetic gift cards.

We have a number of dies available for various sizes and can custom make just about anything you might need. Colorful gift card holders add value and allow the purchaser to write a personal gift message.

Warranty Papers or Contract Folders

A very popular size of folder is in the 4″ x 9″ size.

This versatile folder can safely protect warranty papers or other important documents (such as a contract) that are folded up.  Or they can carry a tri-fold brochure or rack card and other material for a streamlined, but effective, presentation.

Half Size Folders

Sometimes the best size is half size. For various reasons sometimes what needs to be kept together only needs a 5″ x 8″ size folder.  We have produced various models over the years.

Pocket Folders

Because of our invitation business we have access to a wide range of pocket folders for just about any size presentation. Click here to view available sizes and colors.

So we have been providing businesses from Petaluma to Healdsburg and Freestone to Sonoma with their presentation folder needs for many decades.  We offer letter size pocket folders, legal size folders, reinforced edge folders, small folders, box pocket folders, expansion/capacity  folders,  three-panel presentation folders, etc. all with attractive and custom designs.

If you are interested in letting people know of your new products or services, presenting your products at trade shows, or just want to make a good impression, Ajalon Printing can provide you with folders that guarantee a high marketing appeal and are durable and affordable.  Give us a call today or visit us on the web at http://ajalon.com.

Written by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design

No matter if you are a small start up in Petaluma or a established business in Santa Rosa, you want to present yourself well.  Making a good impression with well presented materials can go a long way in making a positive impression on your prospect.

So where do we begin?   For many years Ajalon Printing has been helping Sonoma County businesses with their presentation folders, They come in a variety of sizes and purposes:

• letter size
• legal size
• reinforced edge
• small pocket folders
• box pocket
• expansion or capacity folders
• foil stamped
• special shapes
• custom pocket
• embossed

What goes on it?

The first thing a person should see when viewing a presentation folder is your company logo and/or name.  Even if it is a small pocket folder, your company name should be clearly visible.  I’m often asked by clients if they should print their contact information such as address, website, etc. on the folder. Since it’s often that pocket folders aren’t ordered as regularly as letterhead or business cards, I encourage people to keep the information on the folder pretty limited. That way, if they move offices, change phone numbers or websites, the presentation folder will still be usable.

What size ?

The typical size of a presentation folder is 9″ x 12″ which presents full sized letterhead well with plenty of room for additional materials.  At Ajalon Printing we can provide you with special sized pocket folders that can hold a tri-fold brochure or even legal sized documents.  Whatever your needs are rest assured we can help you put your best foot forward.

What materials and colors?

It is best to choose a thick folder stock that is durable and will continue to look good. Glossy can look good, but darker colors can become marked with finger prints.  Obviously the colors and style should be consistent with your that of your company. Dark colored papers with vibrant foil stamping make a dramatic presentation for your company. If you’re after a subtle, elegant look, embossing your logo (with no ink at all) is a good choice.

What else should I be aware of?

Would you like one pocket, left or right, or two pockets.  There should be slits for business cards and in this day and age you might want a way to present your CD or DVD.  You may want special or custom features in your presentation folder, our experienced staff at Ajalon Printing can help you get just exactly what you want.

So the next time you are considering how to make that special presentation, give us a call or email us at ajalon@ajalon.com for prompt, professional service.

Wrtitten by David Walrath

Ajalon Printing & Design