Are you aware of what your customers want? Do your customers trust your product? When was the last time your customer shared your product or service? All these lie in marketing.

How you market your business determines if the company will be successful or not. Marketing is a tool used to create and maintain demand, relevance, reputation, competition, and more. Without marketing, your business is likely to close down due to lack of sales. So why is marketing so important? Check out these reasons why you really need it.

Marketing Is A Great Way of Engaging Customers

One of the most important things for your business is to engage with your customers. Marketing is a tool to keep the conversation going. Engaging customers is different from pushing your offers. Engaging involves giving your customers relevant information about your products and your business as well. It is all about creating fresh content. Tell your customers what they don’t know, let it be interesting and worth their time.

Social media is one of the best platforms where you can engage with your customers. By engaging with your customers, marketing gives them a sense of belonging.

Marketing Helps to Build and Maintain Companies Reputation

The growth and life span of your business is positively correlated to your business’ reputation, your reputation is determined by your brand equity.  A majority of marketing is geared towards building the brand equity of the company. Your businesses’ reputation is built when it effectively meets the expectations of its customers. The customer becomes proud to be associated with your products. Marketers use effective communication and branding strategies to ensure that the business’s reputation is maintained.

Marketing Helps To Build a Relationship between A Business And Its Customers

Businesses have to build a relationship of trust and understating with their customers. Loyal customers will have the confidence to buy more products from you. The trust and understanding between the business and its customers make your commercial activates more fruitful.

Marketing Is a Communication Channel Used To Inform Customers

Marketing informs your customers about the products or services you are offering them. The customers get to know about the value of the products, their usage and additional info that might be helpful to the customers. It creates brand awareness and makes the business stand out. There is a lot of competition in the market and you need to be a constant voice to convince the customers. Inform your customers of discounts and other competitive tricks you intend to use. Through communication, marketing helps your business become a market leader.

Marketing Helps to Boost Sales

Marketing uses different ways to promote your products or services. Once a product has been advertised, it is already on the radar and this increases your chances of selling it. Customers may want to try your product or service and this will trigger a purchase decision. When customers are happy about your products or services, they become your brand ambassador without your knowledge. They will spread the word and your sales will start to increase. Ensure you offer high-quality products and services to compliment your marketing efforts.

Marketing Aids in Providing Insights about Your Business

Every marketer understands the need for targeting the right audience. But you must have the right content to share with such an audience. Your marketing strategies can help you establish what business messaging will convince the target audience. You have to test different messages and see what works. Once you have tested different messages, you will find a viable baseline for your marketing efforts.

Marketing Helps Your Business to Maintain Relevance

Most businesses assume that they will always remain the client’s favorite brand because up to now the client has never complained. This is the wrong mindset. You need to find ways to remain at the top of the client’s mind. Every relationship needs to be maintained. Marketing helps your business to maintain a good relationship with customers. Don’t focus on gaining new customers before addressing the need to retain the present ones.

Marketing Creates Revenue Options

During the start-up phase, your options are limited since you are mostly cash-strapped. This limits your options. As your marketing strategies generate more customers and revenue opportunities, you will begin having options. Having options will help you penetrate new markets. You will have the freedom to start letting go of customers who are too demanding for your sanity and well-being. Without marketing, you will be forced to continue working with clients who you have outgrown and are paying you peanuts.

Marketing Helps the Management Team To Make Informed Decision

Every business is confronted with problems such as to what, when, for whom, and how much to produce. A process to determine your business’s survival. As a result, businesses rely on marketing mechanisms to make these decisions. Why should you rely on these mechanisms? They serve as a reliable link between your business and society. They cultivate people’s minds, educate the public, and convince them to buy.

Why Is Marketing Important In Beating Your Business Rivals?

Your competitor is actively marketing their products; does this not tell you why marketing is important? The only way to gain a competitive advantage over your competition is aggressive marketing. You do not have to be negative while marketing against your competitor. Simply conduct research on what your target market is expecting, and then find ways to deliver better products and services. If you are offering a product that is new to the market, you need to be more aggressive and strategic.

What is the difference between a web designer and a web developer? A web designer is a graphic artist who develops and styles objects for the website. A web developer develops applications and functionality for websites. Web developers usually focus on a few languages, e.g. one web developer will focus on the front-end programming of a site using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and another web developer will focus on server-side programming like PHP, Java, Ruby, and .NET.

Is It Better To Work With a Web Designer or a Web Developer For My Website Needs?

Web designers have a creative mindset, where web developers usually think methodically and logically. Because of the very different mindsets of designers and developers, it is very hard to find a good web designer who is also good as a developer. Web developers probably can’t create an attractive web design.

That being said, hiring a website company is your best bet to get an all-around perfect website. Website companies are able to offer you the best of both worlds by splitting up projects between their web designers and web developers. A website company will also have a project manager on hand, who will manage projects and make sure the developers and designers are on the same page. No one person can be an expert at everything. By hiring a website company like Foxx Design, your project will be managed and well planned.

Reliable web hosting is a crucial part of any successful website. When you are thinking about building a new website, your choice of host is probably one of the last things on your mind, but neglecting to choose the right host can have disastrous effects on your website and business.

With so many choices it’s easy to simply opt for the cheapest option. But web hosting should be seen as an investment in your business. Your host is the foundation of your website, you wouldn’t build a home on a shaky foundation, and neither should you build a website with a low-quality host behind you.

What Is Web Hosting?

If this is your first website, then you might not know what web hosting is. When you create a website, you essentially create a bunch of different files. These files need to be stored somewhere in order to be accessible on the internet. You pay a hosting provider to host these files for you on one of their servers. This is the monthly fee you pay your host. When you host your files on a hosting company’s server, they are available 24/7, so your website will always be accessible on the web.

What To Look For In A Web Host

There are virtually hundreds of hosting companies there and a variety of hosting types, and you do not want to choose one at random.

1. High Reliability and Uptime: This refers to how often your website will be available online. Most hosts stick to the rule of 99.9% uptime, this leaves room for any necessary server maintenance that might temporarily bring your site offline. Before you choose a web hosting service, make sure to verify their uptime policy and if they offer any sort of uptime guarantee. There is no point in building a website if it's going to be offline when you need it most.
2. Bandwidth and Storage: This translates to the amount of traffic and number of page views your website can handle every month. It is becoming common practice to offer unlimited bandwidth, however, there is a chance this could get throttled down and your site can do offline if you are experiencing a surge of traffic such as during a sale or one of your posts go viral.
3. Solid Customer Support: Customer support is something you don’t think about until it is too late. For some reason your website is offline and no matter what you do, you can’t get it back online. You have tried contacting your hosting company’s support team and they are non-responsive, plus you have a big launch day planned, this is not a fun scenario. For this reason, you will want to test the support yourself before selecting your hosting provider. Submit a question or two, and ensure their methods of support work for you. For example, some companies offer email support with a ticketing system, while others include live chat and phone support.
4. Domain Management Tools: When you start, you most likely only needed one website. But as your site grows, you may need to register more domains and set up subdomains for your existing domain. Your host should be equipped with these tools, such as cPanel, which allows for easy domain management.
5. Clear Pricing: Hosting price increases are pretty common practice unless you end up purchasing hosting for multiple years at a time. Price variances will happen but they shouldn’t come at a shock. Make sure you select a hosting company that has clear pricing terms so you know if and when a price increase is going to happen.
6. Ability to Scale: Finally, you’ll want to look for a host that can grow with you. Your site won’t stay the same size for its entire life. And if you are starting a site, then you probably want it so be a success, usually, this means more traffic. When choosing a host make sure they offer scalable packages, or the ability to upgrade to a different hosting plan In time. You always have the option of migrating hosting providers, but it’s often much easier to find a host you can stick with for the long-term.

Why Choosing The Right Web Host Is Important

Your choice of a website host will influence the overall success of your website. It may not seem like a big deal, but choosing a low-quality host can harm your site in a variety of ways.

1. Your Security Is On The Line: Website security is easy to overlook, and usually something we only think about once it is too late. Just like you buy alarm systems for your home or insurance in case of an accident, you’ll want to invest in proper security measures before anything bad happens. There isn’t a fail-safe solution for keeping your website secure, however, there are steps you can take to build a wall around your website, like firewalls, security plug-ins, keeping your site software up to date, and more. But none of this matters if your host doesn’t prioritize security. It’s like having the world’s best security system for your home, but you leave the front and back doors open. A high-quality host will have things in place, like regular website backups, firewalls, and other methods to not only protect the webserver but the datacenter as a whole.
2. You’ll Want Support For When Thinks Break: Having your site goes offline, or stop working altogether is no fun. Sometimes this is due to an error of your own, such as editing your site’s code and taking it offline. But on occasion, this can be due to your host as well. Whenever an issue like this arises you’ll want to have a dedicated support team behind you. Trying to resolve site issues yourself can be a hassle. Especially if you do not have any technical skills to rely upon.
3. You’ll Minimize The Loss Of Sales: If you rely on your website to generate leads, or you are selling products, then every minute your site is offline, costs you money. Your host does have an impact on this with something called uptime. If you constantly find your site offline, due to no error on your own, then it might be time to upgrade to a better hosting package, or even switch hosts entirely.
4. You’ll Boost Site Performance and SEO: Your site's loading speeds and overall performance have a correlation to your search engine ranking. If your site takes too long to load, then you will have a high bounce rate, and deliver a poor user experience to your visitors. Sometimes this is due to your own site, for example, you might be using a poorly coded theme, or have too many plugins installed. However, a lot of times it van be the fault of your host as well. If you have taken the time to optimize your own website, and still find it running slow, then it is probably time to switch hosts. Your site could simply be getting too much traffic for the current hosting package, but if this is consistent you’ll usually get an email from your host talking about an upgrade.
5. Your Site Content Will Be Secured: File loss does happen. Maybe you decided to host your site with a brand new host who ends up going out of business? Or maybe your host’s backup protocols failed and all of your site’s backups are list. This is one of the big advantages of choosing an established host, as you know that this will never happen. You might be able to save money by going with a new host, or one with a less established track record, but you might be hurting yourself in the long run.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, investing in hosting matters more than you might think. Instead of jumping at the cheapest deal, or the first host, you come across, spend some time researching all of the web hosting options you have available. You can always upgrade to a new host in time, but it’s always easier to make the best decision the first time around. It’s easier to find a host that can scale with you over the long-term instead of having to switch providers and migrate your entire site every time your site grows.

Business card printing is a service from Foxx Design. Business cards have always been a well-received network tool for a number of years and many people will not go to a networking session, or a one-on-one meeting with a potential client, without them. If you are too busy and need professionally designed business cards and do not have time standing in a queue, we at Foxx Design take a lot of stress off your shoulders. Small businesses may not have the same marketing budgets as large corporate companies, but we have made business card printing affordable for everyone.

Foxx Design has a wide variety of different business cards available, and allow for a few stunning finishes, so we can accommodate your unique requirements.

Start growing your business with our professional Business Cards Printing Pretoria East.

If you’re in business, handing out business cards is a given. But if you want to make an impression when you hand out those cards, the same old run-of-the-mill design people have seen a million times just won’t cut it. You need to think of your business cards as a piece of your brand, a piece of your brand that you leave behind with every potential client, customer or colleague you meet. And if you want your business card to stand out, you have to do something that stands out. In other words, you have to do something unique.

But how do you design a unique business card? What are your options? How can you design your business cards so that it jumps to the top of the pile and makes a real impact on your business? Let's take a look at some designs for inspiration.

Business Cards That Showcase Your Mascot

A corporate mascot is a character that acts as the face of your brand, and a lot of companies swear by mascot as a branding strategy that builds brand recognition and connects with customers. If you have a corporate mascot, chances are you put a lot of thought and effort into designing it, so why not use your business card as an opportunity to show off?

Putting your mascot front and centre on your business card design works best for companies that have a corporate mascot.

Business Cards That Take The “Colour Rules” and Throw Them Out The Window

Certain colours have a more universal appeal than others, but using the same old colours, and colour combinations aren’t going to do much in terms of setting your business apart. If you want to create a unique business card and get creative with colour combinations? Using colour combinations that you don’t see every day not only makes for a visually interesting business card, but it also makes for a business card people are bound to remember.

There are some basic rules you need to keep in mind to make sure your colour combinations are visually appealing. There are three different colour schemes you can use when choosing colours for your business card – complimentary (opposite colours on the colour wheel), analogous (colours side by side on the colour wheel), or triadic (three colours equally spaced around the colour wheel). If you stray too far from these schemes, say by choosing lime green and baby blue hues (which are two spaces apart on the colour wheel), you end up with a weird mishmash of colours that just don’t work together.

Business Cards That Think Outside The Box

When you think of business cards, what shape comes to mind? Most business cards are rectangular, but there is no business card bible that says you have to go square, so if you want to set yourself apart, why not go with different shapes.

Designing a circle, square, oval, octagon, or whatever other shapes you can think of a business card, is a sure-fire way to stand out from the crowd and win the title of “most unique business card"

Business Cards That Take Things to The Next Dimension

If your business is built around the idea that you’re cutting-edge and different, you want that to come across in your business card. Incorporating 3D elements, like a raised logo or architectural features, directly into your business card design is a great way to create a one-of-a-kind business card experience that your clients, colleges and customers are sure to remember.

Business Cards with Logos That Dare To Be Different

Sometimes it’s less about the business card design and more what’s designed on the business card. Your logo is the most powerful weapon in your branding arsenal, and how you want to be viewed in the marketplace. If you want your business cards to stand out, why not tackle first things first and design a logo that stands out on its own?

A unique logo tells your potential clients and customers that you’re a unique business. And because your logo is often the first thing people associate with your brand and the most prominent feature on your business card, it’s a great opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition and showcase who you are.

This design strategy is great if you want to stand out with your branding as a whole, not just your business cards.

Business Cards That Serve a Purpose

The main purpose of a business card is to get your name out there. But if you really want to stand out, try designing your business cards so they serve a purpose bigger than self-promotion

Functional business cards are a great way to stand out from the pack, and to provide some serious value to the person you’re giving the business card to. The key to success with functional business cards is to make sure the function your business card is somehow tied to your business. If you’re a craft beer company, a bottle opener business card makes sense, but not so much if you’re a graphic design firm. If you’re launching a beauty brand, a nail file is a great option for a business card, but not if you are launching a consulting business.

So you think you need to save a few Rands on your next business card order? You don’t need to buy an expensive business card to look good, you only need to avoid a business card that looks cheap.

First Impressions

We have all learned how important first impressions are. We are often obsessive about our actions during a first meeting (firm handshake, eye contact, pleasant cologne) while paying little mind to all the underlying details. A nice business card, just like a solid website and a good follow up phone call, is what separates the men from the boys (and the women from the girls)

A Nice Business Card

You don’t need to have a fancy business card if It is not your style or brand. What you are aiming for is an effective business card. If a fancy business card that wins design awards is your goal, awesome, add that to your list, but design awards are not the goal of most businesses.

Your business card is NOT an advertisement for your products, it’s an advertisement for the quality of the business relationship you are offering. You want to be a luxury brand of business relationships, regardless of what you are selling. And visually, a layout free from distractions implies luxury. Busy, crowded layouts imply cheap. Give your information some room to breathe. It’s easy to get excited about social chiclets and pretty fonts and a big photo and your mission statement and and and and… Don’t get distracted from your main message: The establishment of a great relationship.

Branding and Design

Whether they know it or not, every person and company has a brand. Even plumbers and landscapers need to demonstrate a high level of trustworthiness and quality. Your card is a physical representation of your business. Is your business cheap, flimsy, and hastily put together? Well, maybe it is, but no one needs to know that, least of all the person you’re trying to build a relationship with.

No Pre-Designed Templates

There is no way to use a pre-designed template without compromising your brand. To a template designer, successful templates are measured by the number of downloads. They are by definition, designed to be as generic and broadly appealing as possible, the brand equivalent of vanilla ice cream.

High-Quality Printing

You have poured a lot of TLC into your business card design, don’t go cheap now! Your goal does not need to be expensive. The goal is to not look cheap. Just like you would be wary of the cheapest contractor or supplier, you don’t want to go to the cheapest printer. They are the cheapest for a reason, where do they cut their costs?

Paper
You can save so much money on paper if you don’t mind ordering from an Asian sweatshop mill. They grab any cheap, clear-cut rainforest tree they can get their hands on. The cheap paper goes out the front door and awful chemical slurries get pumped out the back. Any respectable printer, orders papers from exclusive paper mills, whose trees are chain-of-custody certified and gave come from responsible, well-managed forests. The earth is more important than saving a few bucks.

Customer Service
Certain printers are proud of how robotic their print shops are. Digital orders come in, computers prep the files, digital printers spit them out, and a robot boxes them for shipping. It’s literally a really fancy office printer that ships to you instead of sitting in the closet next to the break room. You’re paying for experts who notice that your text is too close to the edge and might get cut off. Experts who notice you accidentally linked a lo-res file before printing. Experts you can call on the phone and talk to.

Quick, Not Quality
Cheap printers find ways to cut corners on your files. We won’t bore you with the technical details but what it means is that they have optimized their print process to what’s quick and efficient for them not what looks best for you. Improper rasterization leads to a fuzzy type that is hard to read. The crappy line screen means you see the ink dots on your prints instead of smooth colours. Rick blacks make fine details look blobby. You are better than blobby business cards.

Conclusion

When you introduce your brand, artwork, band, passion or small business to a new customer or fan you want to instill confidence, quality, and longevity. Sure, your business cards may be a small detail, but it is part of your first impression. How do you want to be remembered?

At Foxx Design, we keep to all guidelines to ensure you have the best business card, and we have also perfected the process that it does not cost you your entire salary. Get in touch with us and we will guide you.

Whether you are running a business or changing careers, you’ve likely been to at least one networking event. And like any attendee, you found yourself walking away with a handful of new contact and a pile of paper business cards. But in a world that is going digital, are printed business cards still relevant? Will virtual alternatives, like mobile apps and nameplate websites, replace or complement their paper counterparts? Here is a closer look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of paper and digital business cards.

Paper Business Cards

Benefit: Printed business cards give you an opportunity to communicate your brand with people you’d like to reconnect with in the future, starting with the first impression. In the age of visual content, these cards are a great visual reminder of who you are and what your business is all about.

Drawback: Did you recently update your phone number, email address, or website address? Are you changing your business name or undergoing a full-scale rebranding? Any changes made to the contact information provided on paper business cards calls for a new batch to be printed.

Benefit: Paper business cards come in handy at conferences, trade shows, professional lunches, and other in-person networking events. When someone asks for your cars, it means they want a reminder of who you are and how you met. Jotting a quick note on your printed business card will help them recall this information when following up with you later.

Drawback: Quantities are finite, as you can only pass out as many business cards as you bring. You need to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get them printed and shipped when you are running low.

Digital Business Cards

Benefit: Mobile Apps like SnapDat, One Card, and Handshake, allow you to share your electronic business cards with other smartphone users. You can create a personalized virtual business card (vcard) and easily send your contact information to other app users via their username. These apps also allow you to email your vCard to non-app users.

Drawback: Digital business card sites are hot one day, and gone the next. Contact sharing tools like Bump, Card.ly, BeamMe, and My Name is E was recently popular but are now defunct. Plus, not all mobile options are available on both iPhone and Android, and some free versions require both users to have the app installed on their smartphones. Other mobile apps only work if both parties are on the same WiFi network, which makes sharing information difficult if the connection, is poor.

Benefit: Web-based business cards can help you maximize your online networking and generate opportunities to be found online. Professional nameplate websites, such as about.me, re.vu, icon.me, flavors.me, allow visitors to discover more about you, learn how to reach you, and see some of your best work. Once your page is created, you can link yo your email signature and social media profiles for extra exposure.

Drawback: Want to link your vCard to a custom domain? Some nameplate websites allow you to link the two, yet often considered a premium feature. While more than affordable than designing a traditional website, you’ll be required to pay an annual fee (or essentially, rent the web design).

Better Together

Even in a tech-focused world, there is still a place for classic paper business cards. Here are a few easy ways you can merge your real-world activities with your virtual presence.

• Add digital elements. Use a QR code on your printed business card to making visiting your website or vCard easy.
• Leverage social media. You are particularly active on a couple of social media platforms, include their icons and your handles on your paper business cards so new contacts will know where and how to connect with you socially.
• Manage contacts efficiently. Instead of logging all you’re now contacts by hand, use scanning programs to digitize paper business cards. These programs will import the information directly onto your Smartphone’s contacts list and save you the hassle of entering all the data manually.

The impact of a high-quality business card cannot be overstated and there is a reason why they remain popular even in today’s digital age. They are a great networking tool and can be used to impress anyone that you meet, but in order to get the most out of your business card, it needs to have a good design and a good business card size.

The Science of The Perfect Business Card

There is actually a science to the perfect business card and business card size and it is important to be aware of what works and what does not – a study revealed that 40% of people had a negative perception of a company because of the quality of design on their business card. As you might expect, different industries and professionals had different ideas of what made a great business card so you need to keep this in mind when designing your own.

There are a few tips to keep in mind though which can be applied no matter what industry you work in, they are:
• Less is more
• Use an easy to read font
• Space out text
• Only include important information
• Logo no larger than 25% of the business cards

Business Card Colour

Colour is a very important decision to make. It is hard to go wrong with white as a background because it is crisp, classic and professional, plus the mind processes colour before words or shapes so it is good if you want people to focus on the text as quickly as possible. Other good colours for a business card are yellow (optimistic), deep shades of green (prestige), peach (peaceful) and blue (classic, trustworthy and versatile)

Designing Your Own Business Card

It is a good idea to use a business card printing specialist, as often these places have design templates which can make it quick and easy to create professional-looking business cards. They also give you the ability to try different designs and you could then ask for feedback to identify the best option.

Business cards remain highly effective for all professionals, but you need to take your time with the design and this could have a huge impact on your success.

At Foxx Design, we create the perfect business card, with the perfect business card size. Our high-quality business cards will surely leave your client with a smile. Trust us with your business card printing.

We live in an age of “do it yourself”. The internet has made almost anything possible, from learning to fix your own washing machine on YouTube to how to fix a coding line on your company’s website.

The same concept applies to website design. With sites like Squarespace and Wix, it seems easier than ever to make your own Custom Website with all the design aspects you want. Unfortunately, Website Design is a little trickier than you might think. While it might be tempting to just DIU a website, it is actually better to leave the work to the professionals. Here are a few reasons why it is better to hire a Web Designer than using Wix.

Customization

While sites like Wix are “fully customizable” as a marketing tactic, the truth is, they aren’t really fully customizable if you aren’t a Website Designer. Custom websites take time to build and require a general working knowledge of coding.

SEO Optimization

If you have not heard, SEO optimization is key to making sure your website performs as expected. While SEO tools on website builders work fine, they don’t actually understand SEO optimization. A website designer on the other hand can recommend the best ways to use keywords and where each keyword should go making your site SEO friendly in no time.

Digital Marketing Know-How

Do you know that the way your products or service look on your website actually impacts sales and return on investments? It is no longer true that just any old image and come copy will do. Website designers know all about digital marketing and can make sure that your site is built in a way that converts and gets you more customers and clients. Site builders simply do not have the ability to tell you if that image of the deck you stained for a client will help you get more clients.

Eye For Design

Website builders might tell you that they can make sure that your site looks professional, but they can’t tell you if the type of text you choose for the headers of each page clash with the text chosen for the body copy.

Website designers know what good digital design looks like. They understand colors, fonts, layout, and how they all work together to present your brand. This is something that a website designer simply can’t duplicate. It is always better to go with a creative professional than a pre-built template.

Help With Site Optimization

Do you know the site your photos have to e so your site doesn’t get dinged by google? Do you know the pieces of code you have to install to make sure that your Square Payments go through properly? Unless you are a Website Designer, we bet the answer to these questions is most likely no.

This is where a website designer becomes worth their weight in gold. They will know all the ins and outs of optimizing your website for both search engines and the customers and your customers and clients. Lean on their expertise to ensure that your website performs in the best way possible.

Contact Foxx Design for a quote on your new website (or a re-design on your old website)

We all want to cut costs wherever possible with our marketing expenses, and getting the best deal on printing is an obvious place to start, especially if you have a lot of prints planned for the year.

Are the savings you can obtain with a cheap printer worth it? We at Foxx Designs don’t think so as we know that delivering value represents more than a box of freshly-inked papers.

If you have a good printer, you can say “yes” to these points. If there are too many points that are no, we would suggest finding a new supplier.

I Can Count On Getting My Quote Request back Within 24 Hours

Once a printer fully understands what you want to accomplish, it’s a matter of plugging in numbers for materials, equipment, and time. Writing a quote is easy for an experienced printer to do. There is very little reason to wait more than a business day for a quote (if it is not a very custom request).

I know I Can Always Call and Get My Print Questions Answered. If They Are Not Sure, They will Call Me Back with an Answer within A Few Hours

When you call your printer with a question, it should be easy to access a knowledgeable person who understands your print job. A print company should have a well-oiled process for managing the customer experience. Instant answers are nice to get, but it’s reasonable to expect them to provide you with a confident answer within a business day.

I Know My Printer Is Available With Suggestions To Help Me Get The Correct Product.

If you cannot talk directly to a printer or experienced account representative for printing recommendations, stop right there. If you proceed any further with submitting your order, you are accountable for what is printed. No one will help you when something is wrong, looks funny, or isn’t what you expected.

You want a printer who works directly with you when making the final selection on paper, ink, and other customizations. If they are local, you have the advantage of reviewing samples to their office and perhaps even see their equipment and meet the staff. The personal interaction also builds rapport, which is important for all successful business relationships.

I Get My Proof within 24 Hours

You are sent a soft/digital proof before full production begins. A Proof is produced in the first stage of printing called set-up. The printer translates the files you have provided to work with the presses. Because of well-accepted printing standards for ink colors, most proofs are now digital. That means a printer who has all the files and specifications for a job can quickly generate the proof.

There is little reason why a well-run printing shop can’t turn this around to you within two business days. A delay in this step can indicate what may also happen with the entire print job. Perhaps the shop is not managed well, understaffed, or very busy. If it is the latter, then you should be notified up-front to when you can expect the proof.

My Proof Is the Right Size, Cut and Folded With No Errors

A good printer aims to provide you a proof without any errors. Sometimes there are errors in the content, like typos and missing information. Other errors can happen during the production of the proof during setup. The printer has to ensure what you’ve designed in the file sent to them is accurately translated to the orienting press’s language so it will produce the printed version that you want. Small things like a slightly different font type or size can affect the text wrap and push the bottom line of the text of the page. A printer should catch that on a proof before forwarding you. However, when you sign off on a proof that means you agree to all of it your mistakes and the printers.

When I Approve A Proof I Know That It Will Go Into Production Immediately

A printer isn’t necessarily “holding” the presses and their breath for you to return an approved proof. They have however placed your job into a production schedule, so when the proof is returned the print run can quickly begin. Because of a printers' schedule, it is important to respond quickly to proofs. Significant delays in this step could mean losing your “slot” for printing. A proof that is one day late can push the original run into the following week. A printer may juggle jobs around to fit yours back in, but that is not the norm.

My Printer Knows My Personal Print Quality Requirements

Opening a box that contains a new print order feels a little like Christmas. You know what’s inside the present, but you’ve waited and for so long it’s what to want. The feelings of pleasure or disappointment soon follow.

Everyone evaluates the quality of a print differently. What looks great to one person can look awful to another. A good printer wants to make sure the right person is satisfied.

My Project Due Date Is Not Considered a Suggestion, It’s A Real Due Date

Timeliness is huge for marketing on many levels. There are moments optimal for action, and when pieced don’t align at that time, the opportunity is lost. If you’ve worked hard to create an integrated marketing strategy that incorporates print, getting what you need on the agreed-upon date is not a suggestion. People rise to the level of expectation you set for them. An expiation that’s good for any time-sensitive and critical task is to ensure the doer understands the deadlines and the consequences. If any hesitation starts to leak our when discussing this, look for another printer.

If Something Goes Wrong With My Job, I Know I Will Be Contacted Promptly And Given Options To Resolve The Issues

Have you ever thought your print order would arrive shortly and then a week goes by and then another, you call the printer and find out, there’s a problem? The first thing that pops in your head is why didn’t notify you. As a customer, it’s not your responsibility to solve your printer’s problems, but you should be informed about them if it changes the status of your job. A good printer will notify the customer of a delay is even possible and what they are doing to address it. If it’s something they cannot fix themselves in a reasonable amount of time, they should have options for you to consider. If could be using a different printer they recommend or altering a custom element they can do instead. Problems or setbacks will happen, both with good printers and cheap printers. It’s the number of problems and bow they deal with them that make all the difference. A cheap printer tells a customer, tough luck. A good printer has backup systems, options, and resources so the job continues forward with little delay.

When My Job Is Completed, I Will Either Be Called to Pick It Up, Or It Will Is Delivered.

The simple gesture of notifying a customer their order is ready speaks volumes. A print shop that is proud of its work wants the customer to see it as soon as possible. The approval at this stage marks the job as complete. It should not be a mystery if the order is ready. Also, it should be clear if you are picking it up or if it’s being delivered. You need the right person to review the print products promptly so if there are any issues with it, the print shop is notified immediately.

My Job Is Boxed Correctly For Delivery. Version Are Separated, Packed Appropriately, and Is In a Good, Sturdy Box.

Similar o notifying customers' order is ready, how the documents are packed for transports says a lot about the care the print shop takes in serving you. Any printer that asks you to supply your own rubber bands, boxes, or delivers your materials in a used plastic bag is way off-base. Good printers have standard boxes with lids designed to handle the most common dimensions of documents in the print order.

Finding a good and reliable printer can take a lot of weight off your shoulders. You can be confided the job will get done in the timeframe you need, with little hassle. What is the value of piece-of-mind to you? The difference in cash you might save with a cheap printer may not add up. At Foxx Design we strive to ensure that all points mentioned are met.

UV Coating is a tough clear-coat applied over printed matter. It is applied in liquid form, then exposed to Ultra-Violet (UV) light which bonds and dries it instantly…. Hence the name “UV Coating”

Spot UV refers to the application of this UV Coating to a specific area (or areas) of a printed piece rather than coating the entire surface. Used as a design technique, Spot UV is a creative way to add depth and contrast through varying levels of sheen and texture.

Because the Spot UV technique creates a very distinctive look, it is often used on pieces that are promotional in nature, such as brochures and presentation folders. It is also a popular choice for Business Cards.

Spot UV can be applied over inked images to enhance a printed design. Or it can be applied directly to the paper substrate to create the design itself, without the use of any ink. If applied directly to the paper, Spot UV offers the best contrast when applied over a darker substrate.

If you have any questions about Spot UV, give us at Foxx Design a call on 076 9799 379.

In the digital age, printed business cards remain one of the most important tools for networking and business introductions. Professionals often need to exchange contact details at business meetings, events or conferences and a business card can be the first impression that the potential client gets of your company.

Specifications for Business Cards

There are 2 standard business cards size most commonly used:
90x50mm
85x55mm

The above sized are universally accepted and understood by printers. Business cards can either be printed in portrait or landscape, with the landscape being the most common option. It is popular to print smaller variations but be careful of straying too far from the standard business card format in order to maintain a professional standard.

By far the bulk of business cards are printed on 350gsm stock. There is a multitude of other speciality card and recycled card that could give that something extra to make your business card stand out.

Business Card Designs

The card and finish must compliment the design e.g. the impact of an upmarket speciality card may be a waste if there is a lot of ink coverage or the card is being laminated. Consult a design team for all aspects of a design and card selection.

Printing Process – Facts and Myths

There is often a perception that Litho Printed Business Cards are a superior quality that digitally printed business cards. Foxx Design offers both Litho and Digitally printed cards on top of the range of machines. The quality is comparable and your printing method may be reliant on your personal needs.

Digital printing does not have the same setup costs as litho printing, thus for smaller runs, digital printing can be more cost-effective. They are also more flexible and have quicker turnaround times. Litho printing is inexpensive once you start with bulk printing, something digital printing cannot compare to. Litho printing becomes necessary when:
• The card is thicker than 350gsm
• The volumes are so large that is the most cost-effective option
• Certain finishing such as UV Varnish is required
• Metallic inks or spot colours are required

Finishing

There are a number of finishing options that will make sure that your client takes a second look like your card. These options and their costs need to be weighed up against the costs as they may become more affordable with larger printing runs.

• Matt Lamination
• Rounded Corners
• Die-Cut To A Specific Shape
• Embossing
• Foiling
• Spot UV or UV Varnish

For more information about Business Card Printing, Contact Foxx Design Pretoria Today!

Promotional corporate gifts can be any product from pens and office supplies to USB keys that contain your company’s logo and name on them. Here are 9 ways in which give these promotional products as corporate gifts can benefit your business.

Develop Your B2B Relationships
Companies are comprised of people, and people just love receiving gifts. They are more likely to pay attention when receiving a gift. If the promotional product you give can be used frequently in an office environment. It will remind that office of your helpfulness and goodwill. This can go a long way when developing relationships with current and prospective clients.

Raise Your Brand’s Awareness
Using promotional material as corporate gifts quite literally puts your name out there. By distributing gifts with your business name, logo, and contact information, you are spreading awareness of your company. By receiving something free from your company, they associate with the gift and in turn, your company, positively.

Save Your Business Money
Corporate gifts are an incredibly cost-effective method of advertising. As they are usually retained and used quite frequently, the cost per impression is minimal compared to other forms of mass media or targeted advertising.

Maintain Customer Loyalty
Customers who receive corporate gifts are more likely to give you repeat business. It also enforces the partnership link between your business and stakeholders. Giving corporate gifts reminds the receiver that their business is important to you. This is a positive feeling that increases loyalty.

Improve Customer Image And Perception
By receiving a gift, you develop a positive perception of the giver. The idea of giving is associated with goodwill. By giving corporate gifts to your stakeholders and prospective clients, you improve your company’s image and increase positive perceptions.

Generate More Leads
By distributing your company’s logo, name, and contact details in corporate gifts, you increase awareness, interest, and curiosity in your business. You can use gifts as an incentive to capture email addresses or sign up for free trials. Customers are much more receptive to a company that gives them free gifts,

Generate More Referrals
Your customers are very useful in generating new leads. By asking them to provide referrals, you can capitalize upon their vast connections. You can use promotional products to encourage lead generation. Offer them as incentives to gain these referrals.

Increase in Sales
Customers who receive corporate gifts are more likely to spend more on products and services from the company that give it. Sales will also naturally increase in accordance with increased goodwill and brand awareness. Customers feel they get more value for money or are highly valued will buy more from your company.

Develop Employee Relations
By giving gifts to your staff, you can improve the attitude of your employees. By rewarding them for good work with company-branded gifts, it reminds them of how valued they are to the company. It motivates staff to win these awards and increased production. You can also reinforce a company’s ethos or slogan through a reputation on promotional products.

Promotional Corporate Gifts are a cost-effective and dependable way to give your company advantages in the business world. No matter what industry you are in, it is a good idea to incorporate promotional gifts in your marketing strategy.

Everything we do today is digital – sending mail, signing contracts, attending meetings, even networking. The business card is one thing that digital will not fully replace anytime soon.

Here are five reasons why old school business cards are still important and why you should have a pocket full of them at all times.

1. Swapping Contact Information Digitally Is Impersonal

Networking is about making connections. Sending contact information via text or email on the spot is convenient but it is also extremely impersonal. Engaging in eye contact and actual conversation is how a real relationship begins.

Two individuals with their hands buried in their phones typing away won’t create any kind of significant memory of the encounter. You can easily transfer the information from a business card to your mobile device after the conversation.

2. They Are The Most Effective Direct Marketing Tool

Email marketing, search engine optimization, and paid medial all do a great job in attracting leads and prospects, but they still aren’t as effective as an in-person meeting sealed with a handshake along with a business card exchange.

You can encounter a potential lead or contact at any time – tradeshows, industry conferences, happy hour, airport lounges – and arming yourself with business cards at all times will ensure that you never miss an opportunity to make a valuable business connection. Keep some in your pockets, wallet, money clip or laptop bag so the next time you encounter a prospect you are prepared.

3. A Business Card Is The First Impression Of Your Brand

When you meet someone that could potentially be a great prospect or connection, don’t you want him or her to walk away with a great first impression? A memorable business card does a lot more than just pass on an email address or phone number.

When you make a connection via a business card, you don’t want your brand associated with the word cheap. Your goal is to make a memorable first impression. All our business cards will make a great impact. A unique business card will fuel a conversation even further.

4. Creative Business Cards Get Shared, Continuing To Market For You

A business card is a physical object that a potential prospect leaves the encounter with. Your brand stays with them. If you meet a prospect and exchange email addressed and phone numbers you each walk away with another contact on your mobile phone and It ends there. If you hand over a creative business card that makes a great first impression that a person is likely to show it to other people, putting you and your brand in front of additional prospects.

5. Business Cards Show You Are Prepared

Have you ever had someone write his or her contact information on a napkin and hand it over to you? How about someone that had a mobile phone with a dead battery? It isn’t the most professional approach.

If you met two individuals and one was scrambling to find a pen and something to write on and the other person simply pulled out a business card, who would you want to do business with? Showing that you are prepared at all times is a great indicator that you are professional.

Every website you have ever clicked onto is “hosted” on the internet, but what does that mean, and how do you go about getting a host for your new website? When you visit a website the data you are looking at is stored on a computer somewhere in the world.

So How Do You Get A Website Hosted?

You go to a hosting provider, who will usually maintain a large “bank” of many servers, and pay them to give you an agreed amount of space on one of these computers to store your website. Their job is then to maintain the servers, fixing them if they break down, and keep your website online to the best of their ability.

What Makes A Server Special?

Web hosting servers are not so different from your home computer, but they have a number of small changes to optimize them for the job they do. Stability is hugely important, you want your server to be online without interruption as much as possible. Because of this a lot of web servers run with the operating system Linux because it is more suited to the web hosting environment.

Servers have many of the same key components you will be familiar with as a home desktop user, they have an amount of storage which determines how much “webspace” they can offer to the sites they host, they have RAM which allows them to run smoothly and they have the software installed on them which enables the websites held within to operate more complex features.

Shared Hosting vs. A Dedicated Server

Web hosting can be expensive for larger sites which handle a lot of traffic, shared hosting is a way of bringing down the cost of hosting your website. With a shared hosting account, your website will sit on a single computer along with other websites. Each website hosted on the server is sharing the cost of keeping that server running, so the amount you pay is considerably less. If you are starting out with your first website then shared hosting is a great way to get up and running at a low-cost, you can also scale up as you go, so if you are not sure how much web space you will need, you can start small and add more as your site grows.

Shared hosting technology is very secure, however, it is worth remembering that with this kind of shared server access, if another website on your server is infiltrated by a hack or virus, this may also affect your site indirectly.

Large sites that receive a high volume of traffic, or contain a huge volume of data, will run on one or more servers of their own, this is called dedicated hosting. When a website has a server all to itself this can make it load faster, gives you considerably more web space and bandwidth to play with plus more flexibility when customizing server software packages. However, you will be covering the cost of running the server entirely so this is more expensive.

What To Expect As Standard

The following are often includes with any basic level of paid web hosting:

Control Panel Access: You will be given access to your hosting package to maintain and manage it, depending on the control panel your hosting company offers, this can contain many useful free features, including web traffic reports, bandwidth reports, webspace stats, and email management.

Email Addresses: Your domain will have a limited number of email accounts you can create, but you should expect some to be included in any basic hosting account. You can then purchase extra accounts if required.

Backups: It is usual for a web hosting to run scheduled backups or your website on a paid plan, which is good for peace of mind, but you should also make sure you have a local backup which you have access too should you wish to move the site to a new server.

Web Hosting Products You May Need To Pay For

When you purchase web hosting you will be presented with many packages, tiers of quality, and add-ons which will incline in price.

Web Space: This is the physical space that your website will sit on, think of it as space on your computer for storing files. It is important to remember that everything you put online has to be downloaded by the viewer through their internet connection, this means web content is optimized to be smaller in size. The amount of space you require will depend on what you want to do with the site.

Bandwidth: Data transfer is important, think of it like data usage on your phone, if you run out before the end of the month your website can be cur off and will not be live again until the next billing period. Bandwidth is used every time someone visits your site and loads the content on it. Bandwidth can be increased as your website grows, so start small then scale up from there.

PHP: This is a popular server-side programming language used to code complex scripts on the website. Server-side means the code you add to your site will only activate when it runs from the server, so you must ensure your server has PHP installed before adding code to your pages, or it won’t work. PHP is extremely common among paid hosting plans as a default feature, you should not expect to pay additional costs to have this added to your hosting package.

Databases: You may want to store data on your website, either publicly or privately. Almost any advanced web-based platform is going to require the use of a database. A single database can be utilized for multiple projects, so you may only need one, but you should expect to pay an extra fee for use of one or more databases. You may never need to access the database directly yourself if you’re unsure what you will need you should consult your web designer with an outline of what you want to achieve.

Paying For Your Hosting

Web hosting companies usually offer monthly or annual payment terms. Shop around before you buy as there are a huge number of suppliers offering a wide variety of packages. The cheapest provider may not always be the best.

Moving To A New Host

Moving your website from one host to another can be simple, depending on the complexity of your data. For a basic collection of text and image pages, you need only download your complete site and then upload it to your new hosting account, or upload directly from a local backup on your computer. A web host may be able to help you move your site, so don’t be afraid to ask.

Conclusion

Now that you know a bit more about website hosting and what it entails, Foxx Design is here to assist you with all your requirements when it comes to web hosting.

In everything, we do as brands, context matters. Beyond the basic actions taken to protect employees and businesses during a crisis, brands can either help or hinder our collective experience. So when a moment shifts as dramatically as it has in the face of COVID-19, it is important that brands address the issue with tact, empathy, and mindful marketing.

When it comes to current and planned campaigns, marketing teams face unique challenges during a crisis. While every brand is different, this is a basic plan that can help brands of all sizes make the right choices and avoid serious mistakes.

1. Adjust Marketing Campaigns and Scheduled Content Timelines

Some brands are able to produce quick-turn campaigns created for a specific moment. These are always impressive, but there are prohibitive risks involved that make this king of war-room action unrealistic for most.

• Decide what you should be paused immediately. Push timelines back on major campaigns, or pause entirely if you are not sure if the content is appropriate. Just because a campaign has some elements that aren’t appropriate right now, doesn’t mean it needs to be scrapped altogether, it is likely that many things will be fine once the outbreak subsides.
• Consider what to prioritize or pivot. You may want to move some things up in the interim, or look for ways to successfully pivot some messaging. For example, a campaign centered on the theme of “Get Closer To Your Customers” can pivot to “Support Your Customers” or “Customer Relationships Matter.” Audit your campaign visuals as well.

The good news is that content break may give you an advantage once things resume as usual. For now, you can start to prepare for the “next” cultural moment (post-quarantine) and determine what content will be most relevant and impactful then.

2. Evaluate Your Imagery And Language

Visual communication is powerful, as is the word we use, so it is important to think about the messages your brand is sending.

• Avoid visuals of crowds of people touching. This includes people working in offices or at social gatherings out of the house
• Refrain marketing language that describes close interaction. Reconsider language like “get in touch”, “work hand in hand”, or “get closer to your customers”. Messages that encourage immediate interaction may be deeply scrutinized.
• Swop out visuals. If you have current or upcoming campaign visuals that may be tricky, revise the imagery now or push the timeline to later in the year.

As this quarantine period is expected to be temporary, visitors will likely have some forgiveness about pre-existing contact. More permanent brand elements (eg. Your logo) or “pull” content (eg, your homepage) can remain intact – unless you are actively promoting a large social event on your home page, or your hero image depicts large crowds of people touching.

3. Don’t Capitalize On The Crisis

• Keep people informed. Brands do need to communicate in response to the crisis, as it pertains to their business. You should communicate about the proactive measures you are taking, store closures, or policy updates related to COVID-19. Although these messages might be getting memed on social media, they do add value to customer relationships because they are informative.
• Don’t be an alarmist. It is important to keep people informed, but don’t add to the panic. Be mindful of overly dramatic language, as well as any additional information you are sharing.
• Avoid bragging. Remember that many people are not working during this time and are genuinely worried. As a default, a spirit of humility and empathy should be a filter for anything your brand says in the near future.
• Mind your tone. No “Hot COVID-19 Sales!” or other tactless messaging.

4. Be Positive, But Not Ignorant

• Look to your brand heart for guidance. Times like these are when the work you have done is to create a brand strategy that can be incredibly valuable. Use your brand heart (purpose, vision, mission, and values) as your north star to remind yourself what your brand stands for, and what that means in the context of COVID-19. Lean into human stories, let your principles set the tone, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.
• Be personable. You don’t have to strip your brand of emotion. For Example, offering you're good wishes or using imagery of people smiling isn’t offensive. In fact, it can be refreshing for people to recall normal life, and to be hopeful for the quarantine’s end.
• Create employee-generated content. Poll your teams for their favorite Netflix binges, share your tips for maintaining office plants while everyone is away, or post fun photos from your video conferences. What are your employees doing in their spare time? How are people working together to keep things light? What are people doing to stay healthy and prepared? The quarantine is an opportunity to spotlight your people and your culture. Remember, people will crave more human interaction through social media, video conferencing, etc. Fill that need for both your employees and customers.

Remember, the more you show your human side, the more we can all feel connected. It might sound cliché, but it is true: we are in this together.

5. Highlight How Your Brand Can Help

Brands exist to provide value, and the products/services that help during this stressful time deserve the attention of those who can benefit from them. If what you do supports or enhances people’s lives while quarantined, tell that brand story.

• Communicate your benefits. Does your product give people things to do at home? Does it help people do their jobs without face-to-face interaction? Clarify your brand’s potential unique value in this cultural moment and share it.
• Create helpful content. Even if your product doesn’t directly help people deal with the quarantine, your brand can still provide value to people. How can you educate, entertain or inspire people?

As long as you keep the focus on helping people (and not patting yourself on the back), your marketing doesn’t have to stop.

Remember: COVID-19 Won’t Last Forever

We won’t speculate too much about when the “end” of this period will come, but we encourage you to prepare for transitions throughout and proactively.

During times like these we’re reminded that the stakes of marketing are not for life or death, but we are also reminded that feeling productive, and feeling like we add value to the world is very meaningful. We’re aware that many people who rely on this feeling may hove lost it suddenly, or may feel unmoored by what’s going on, and our hearts are with them.

We wish everyone health and safety during this unusual time.

This question haunts the thoughts of thousands of small businesses and start-ups. As a designer, I have come across this thousand of times, and I have had my fair share of clients that understand the value of my work to request discounts as they feel that Graphic Design is not an important part of their business.

People tend to believe Graphic Design is just “slapping ext and colors together”, in order to make ordinarily looking flyers or other printed material. They also seem to think that designers only need to sit in front of their screen and that (somehow) the work will magically get done with 2-3 clicks. The worse I have gotten is that people think Graphic Designing is not a real job! These misconceptions are similar to saying that all polices officers do is eat donuts, or that CEOs only sit at their desks all day doing nothing while their employees do all the work.

Being a designer is a blend of research, hard work, and creativity

A designer that obtained a diploma or relevant certificate will usually charge at least R400-R750 per hour once they graduate. It may sound like a lot, but in reality, it is not. Graphic designers have to constantly be on the lookout for new clients and act not only as a creative but also as their own secretary, salesperson, research assistant, accountant, and customer sales representative. They do ALL the work, which is included in their hourly rate. The price each designer charges per hour also vary according to their skill level, education, and professional experience. The more they know and the more they have done, the more they can charge.

A graphic designer will estimate how many hours your project will take them to complete, including a few revisions and consultations. Many graphic design projects may take hours. For example, a minimalist poster will generally take less time than that of corporate identity and branding of a company, which usually includes a logo, business cards, letterheads, and email signatures at the very least.

Printing Costs

Another factor that will greatly affect the final price tag is the printing cost of a project. A client on a tight budget will look for smaller, more economic sizes and thinner paper, and bigger firms for instance usually invest more in printing and getting high-quality material to “wow” their clients. In the end, you get what you pay for.

A graphic designer will often shop for the best prices and will contact several print-shops before giving you a quote. Usually included in the price they charge is the time spent at the printing place asking for proofs and taking all the burden and admin on their side.

Actually, Graphic Designers Are Not That Expensive

In the end, when you analyze everything a graphic designer has to do, you realize that the service they provide is actually not expensive. Sure, there are some designers that will try and charge you more than what they are worth, if you stumble upon one of them, stay away, and the same goes for designers that charge way less than other quotes you receive. Both their body of work is generally unimpressive. Good designers work hard and deserve every cent they receive for their work.

We have been in the industry for 10 years, building experience, learning new skills, failing in other skills, too, in the end, bring you the best experience for you and your business. We believe in having close relationships with a business to truly understand in the way they want to grow and support them in any way possible. We are not just designers, but long term partners.

Foxx Designs will be the only marketing company you will need