Fighting the Competition

These days, even small businesses are creating knock out materials that really pack a punch. With the accessibility of computers and the ease with which small businesses can create promotional materials, small business owners are finding few excuses for unprofessional looking materials.  It used to be that small businesses couldn't compete with large companies when it came to their materials, but technology has dramatically increased what small businesses can do with a limited budget.  Today, small businesses have access to low cost alternatives when it comes to creating sales presentations, proposals, brochures, banners, and even posters.

With a working knowledge of what is available, and how to best utilize your limited budget, now you too can take on the competition.

Promotional Signs
Every small business has promotions from time to time.  Whether it's a summer sale or an after Christmas blow out, signs, posters, and banners are key elements to any promotion.  Remember that color and scale can mean the world in promotions.  The larger your signs, the more you'll get noticed.  Until recently, large signs have been very expensive to produce and difficult to acquire.  With the advent of large format digital printers, running small quantities of signs, posters or banners is now affordable and cost effective. 

The creation of large signs and posters is really no different than designing small flyers.  Just keep in mind several things.  First and foremost, keep it simple.  Signs and posters are often read from a distance, so small type will most likely be missed.  Also, use contrast.  Keep your text bold and dark.  Lightly colored images and text will be missed, especially if they are placed over photos.  Test your poster by printing a small version on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Hang it on the wall and step back about 10 feet.  If it's not legible, simplify it more and make the remaining objects larger or more clearly defined.

Presentations & Proposals
Often, the small business owner is confronted with the frightening words, "send me a proposal."  No longer do those words need to send shivers up your spine.  With the help of color printers and desktop computers, the fear of proposals can be a thing of the past.   Now you can create your own striking professional presentations as well by adding a little color, some dynamic graphics, and beautiful photos to your work.  Also, don't forget that large posters with graphs, charts and your logo work well in most situations.   They also help to improve your clients' impression of you, your company, and its products.

Brochures
It seems that almost every business today needs some sort of brochure to encapsulate in a brief page or two what their business does.  It used to be that small businesses could only afford to run cheap one or two color brochures.  Today, with ever-increasing access to color printers, even the lowest budget can generally afford full color. 

The importance of color should not be overlooked.  It has been proven many times that color not only improves memory retention, but also aids in the comprehension of the material.   That's right.  Color brochures have a better chance of being remembered than black and white ones.  Furthermore, different colors convey different feelings.  Be sure to choose the right color for the feeling that you want your design to convey.  If you want your audience to feel hungry when they see your poster, use reds and other warm colors.  If you want them to understand that you are a high tech company, use gray.  For more on color visit www.pantone.com.

Remember to keep a consistent look in all of your promotional materials.  This includes your business cards, letterhead and envelopes, your brochures, Web site, fax sheets, presentations, and more.  If this proves to be too large of a task, we are always here to help you with all of your marketing and design needs.   Red Rocket is always busy launching creative solutions.