Notes on Addressing Graduation Invitations

Posted by Shelly on April 23, 2012

Graduation is approaching fast and it’s time to get your invitations in the mail. If you haven’t addressed invitations before, this can seem intimidating. You want to make sure the invites go to the right people and give the urgency intended in asking someone to attend your once-in-a-lifetime event! Some things to consider:

• Not all schools allow an open-ended list of invitees. There are sometimes limits to the number of people who can attend the actual ceremony. So before you send out an invite to distant Great-Aunt Mary, make sure you know how many guests you or your child are able to invite.
• Some people send announcements separately. If you are using your invites as your announcements as well, assure that the good news is apparent on the invite. This is not just another party, but the culmination of years of hard work for you or your graduate.
• Use as many photos as you can (being considerate of the fact that colored ink can be hard on the budget). Many people hold on to these types of invites as keepsakes.
• Use clear and reader friendly fonts. Some people love to play with fonts and though it may seem truly ‘designer’ to use very flowing scripts with lots of curly-cues, or maybe a severe font with a steam punk look, avoid this kind of personalization on the invites. Save those for the posters and decorations.
• Not only will the Postmaster thank you, but your relatives and friends will be glad to have clear time, date and location information. Even include a map of the locations you will be using for the day. This may include your school and home, or a reception site.
• When addressing the envelope, you may have 2, one is the outer mailing envelope and the inner one is the personal announcement envelope. Make sure you use full names and salutations for the person you are sending to on the outer envelope. Have your printer fill in the entire address, without abbreviations. On the inner envelope, you can personalize or have your printer use more personal wording such as ‘Grandma’ or ‘Aunt Suzie’.

The most important thing for your graduation invitations is to make them special and personalized to you. If you need some help or inspiration, just bring your pictures and specific information into Insty-Prints in Rochester and we can help come up with the perfect invitation with you!

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For our Business Friends who use Facebook:

Posted by Shelly on April 23, 2012

Timeline Image Changes: This Week in Social Media
By Cindy King
Published April 21, 2012

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?
Facebook Timeline for Business Image Changes: On April 26, Facebook will be updating the display size of the profile picture/avatar on all Facebook pages. If you have a tightly integrated design, you should be aware of this change. Be ready to update your profile picture on April 26. The new profile picture will be 160 x 160 pixels and will sit at 23 pixels from the left and 210 pixels from the top of the page.

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Like April

Posted by Shelly on April 20, 2012

As I was waiting for my coffee to brew this morning, I noticed how amazing the green of the grass was and how full the leaves were already. Here in Minnesota we know that April can be one of those difficult months. Spring is coming, but the sting of winter can still linger. Most of the plants peek through the ground and delicately begin to grow and eventually with warmer temps and more sunshine, will really burst forth with robust colors later in the spring. And then I thought, wow…. people must really “Like” April. As if April were a facebook page and with enough people ‘liking’ it, the plants and flowers have grown. But this is truly how an online presence can grow your business. Here at Insty-Prints, we know how important a marketing plan that includes online media can burst your company ahead of your competitors. We have all of the resources needed to create an entire marketing campaign so stop in or call to ask about our marketing services. Let us show you how to be likeable on Facebook, Tweet like a bird, get your Blog rolling, and make sure you are Linked In because Youtube need on online presence!

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Need some inspiration?

Posted by Kay on April 6, 2012

 

brochure design

Innovative Brochure Design

40 Creative & Unique Brochure Designs

Brochures are one of the important segments of all business activities now a day. They are essential parts of all sorts of campaigns. They can be used in all sorts of advertising campaigns too. They play a major role in audience attraction and their interest in the respective thing. The quotation that “first impression is the last impression” completely fits here because the brochure is always the face value of your project, company, business and organization.  Read More…

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IF YOU HAVEN’T TAKEN MARKETING SERIOUSLY, READ ON…

Posted by Robin on April 2, 2012

Have you ever been suddenly awakened at night, leapt up in bed, and felt the drip of a cold sweat as you wondered if your business was going to make it or not?  Unfortunately, the only comfort you may have at that time of night is an antacid or, like a few folks I know, a bottle of scotch!  It isn’t easy owning a business and what makes matters worse, it isn’t easy watching a competitor take you to the cleaners.

So there you are at 3am, sitting up in bed wondering, “how come they’re so successful? I attended that free marketing seminar and spent a couple hundred bucks on an ad.  I don’t get it!”  And you know what?  You won’t get it if you keep tossing your money and efforts into the dark.  A wise person once defined insanity as, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.  I know this sounds a lot like the coaching strategy of the Vikings, but unfortunately a lot of business owners follow this same approach.  The key to success is identifying a goal and developing a strategy to get there.  Sure there will be obstacles, but you need to anticipate them and redirect your efforts.  Kind of like finding an alternate walking path through historic 3rd Street when it is being redecorated by all of the crows!  Just like walking in downtown Rochester, you want to avoid getting your business stuck in a bunch of…well, you know what I mean.

Okay.  So I hope I’ve gotten my point across, because if not, I’m fully capable of rambling on.  Just ask my wife.  But for the sake of word count in this article, I’m going to let the topic rest by concluding in saying that marketing isn’t a throw-it-out-there-and-hope-it-sticks kind of strategy.  On the contrary, a marketing plan is a significant component of your business plan and therefore should be designed to accomplish those wonderful objectives you created when you built your business plan.  Assuming you have a business plan.  You do have a business plan, right???

In closing, I’d like to mention that Insty-Prints is now a single source marketing resource company.  Our team of professionals can help you not only develop or renew a marketing plan, but provide the tools and capabilities in rolling that plan out to your market place.

Happy Selling!


Bob Tremain

Contact Bob Tremain by phone: (507)254-3834
or by email: bobt@instyroch.com to further assist you with your marketing needs.

Posted in Marketing, Print, Sustainable Marketing, Traffic Generation | 1 Comment