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You’ve smartly decided that adding gift cards or loyalty cards is a next step in marketing for your business. One of the key items to consider in this process is the design of your card. Let’s explore some of your choices. There are some common errors people make in this process, but with a little help you can avoid those mistakes.

Standard or Custom Designs?

After you have teamed up with a gift card provider to help launch your program, you will discuss various design options. One of the questions will be whether you want a custom card design or whether you can utilize a standard design. Custom cards help marry your existing marketing initiatives and branding as completely as possible.

Standard cards are designs offered by your supplier that are already produced. Standard cards do not have to be bland in their design – many vendors offer a wide range of standard card designs that accommodate a number of specific vertical markets or categories of business. Standard cards can often be personalized with the merchant’s business name, their phone number or website address – even their logo (usually in one color).

The question is deciding which option is the best for your business? There are a few items you need to take into consideration before you can make that decision. Let’s take a look at some of the pro’s and con’s of each option. Custom cards are the choice of large retailers since they are specifically designed to maintain their branding. They are attractive cards, which can increase impulse buys if promoted well at the point of purchase. Custom cards also give opportunity for uniquely shaped designs, including special die-cuts (cards in unique shapes) and even some advanced features such as cards that will play music or have additional digital info. The downside to some of this is that these cards will cost a bit more and are not as quickly produced.

Standard cards can also utilize unique printing features like metallic inks, clear card stocks and die cuts. However there are limitations as to how much a standard card can be personalized. You may be limited in terms of how many characters of text you can use. There are usually only certain color options for the overprinted type. And the number of standard card designs available is a limitation. But there are advantages to standard cards as well. Standard cards are usually less expensive for most businesses because the vendor has printed a large quantity of each design. Standard cards can be personalized and shipped in a matter of days instead of the several weeks it takes to design and produce custom designs.

Artwork Considerations

With standard cards, the task is pretty simple — pick a design and choose how you will personalize it for your business. With a custom design, however, you have some additional decisions. Likely, you’ll work with either your existing agency — if you have one – to create your card design, or you’ll work with your supplier. Many gift card companies have their own in-house design departments. Regardless of whom you work with to create your design, you’ll need to give them some direction. In many cases, this means supplying artwork so they can base your card design on something that you already use in your business – for example – your original menu art if you’re a restaurant. You can also submit the files used to create a brochure or advertisement for your business. This will enable a designer to create your card design so it fits into the rest of your marketing initiatives.

Some additional Do’s and Don’ts for providing you artwork:

1. DON’T take the art from your website. These graphics often aren’t of high enough resolution to use for printing.

2. DON’T provide graphic images than must be enlarged. This will, again, not give a high enough resolution to the images as they lose quality when enlarged.

3. DON’T utilize images that have been commercially printed. These images usually have “dots” that comprise the printed areas. When you reprint these images, they often develop a “moire” pattern that makes for low quality.

4. DO find your original computer files of these various materials and use these. These originals will likely be of high quality and will allow the designer to quickly convert the images into a good design.

5. DON’T make your design too busy. This is probably the most common mistake made in the design process. Putting too much information into a small area minimizes the impact the card has visually. It looks cluttered and loses its message.

6. DO take advantage of your logo. Your logo is a constant branding image that your customers actually expect to see on your various advertising and marketing creative. A gift card or loyalty card is like a pocket-sized billboard for your company. Take advantage of your logo. You want your clients to remember your name.

7. DO coordinate your card with custom merchandising tools. Creating an attractive package with custom designed gift card hangers, card carriers, display racks — all of these tools help not only to raise the perceived value but sell more cards.

Whether you opt for a personalized standard card you can begin to sell to customers next week or a custom-designed card/hanger combination that will coordinate with your other marketing materials, there is nothing quite like opening up that box and seeing your colorful gift cards for the first time. Whatever you choose in terms of design, be sure to make your customers aware that you offer gift cards as soon as they arrive at your door. Soon you’ll enjoy additional revenues and new visitors to your business.

Al Duggan is an expert in custom gift and loyalty cards and is the Vice President of Business Development for Valutec Card Solutions, LLC, the country’s largest provider of gift card solutions to small to mid-sized companies.

categories: gift card,giftcard,gift certificate,loyalty card,marketing,promotion,business,retail

Now that you’ve made the wise decision to incorporate gift and/or loyalty marketing into your business, you’ve got a number of decisions to make. One of the first – and most critical – is the decision regarding the card you will offer to your customers. In this article, we’ll examine your options and explore some common design and artwork mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.

A Custom Card or a Standard Card?

Once you’ve decided on a supplier, they will discuss card options with you. There are two ways you can go here – custom or standard. Custom cards are unique to every business. Custom cards incorporate the business’ identity in terms of using their logo and artwork that reflects the business’ look and feel.

Standard card designs are pre-made designs that can be personalized in a variety of ways. These cards do not have to be boring or bland. In fact, many gift card suppliers make available a variety of different designs for a variety of different business categories or vertical markets. These standard cards also can be personalized with your business name, your retail website, your phone number or other items, including your logo (although it may be in one color).

Choosing the best option for business takes an understanding of your options. Custom designed cards have several key advantages. You will often see the “big box” retailers use these because they are able to carry their same branding and marketing with a custom design. These custom cards are usually very attractive. An attractive card makes an attractive gift and you can often increase impulse buys with this added eye appeal. Merchants also can try some unique things such as custom die cuts to make specially shaped gift cards. Merchants can use more distinctive materials (such as metallic inks, foils and different card stocks). There are even some cutting edge ideas where the cards have additional digital information or can even play music. The two disadvantages to a custom card design are that the price is more expensive and that the turnaround takes a little more time.

There are many unique printing features you can do with standard cards, such as adding clear card stocks, using metallic ink, or even some die cuts. Personalization is limited with a standard card. The amount of text you can use, the color choices on overprinted text, and the number of standardized designs available are all some of the typical limitations. However, there are many advantages. Standard cards don’t usually cost as much since the card supplier has large quantities in stock. Standard cards also have the advantage of speed to market since the turnaround time is days instead of weeks.

Some Things To Consider About Your Artwork

With standard cards, the task is pretty simple — pick a design and choose how you will personalize it for your business. With a custom design, however, you have some additional decisions. Likely, you’ll work with either your existing agency — if you have one – to create your card design, or you’ll work with your supplier. Many gift card companies have their own in-house design departments. Regardless of whom you work with to create your design, you’ll need to give them some direction. In many cases, this means supplying artwork so they can base your card design on something that you already use in your business – for example – your original menu art if you’re a restaurant. You can also submit the files used to create a brochure or advertisement for your business. This will enable a designer to create your card design so it fits into the rest of your marketing initiatives.

Some additional Do’s and Don’ts for providing you artwork:

1. DON’T try to use the images right off your website. These are often not of high enough quality and resolution for card printing.

2. DON’T provide graphic images than must be enlarged. This will, again, not give a high enough resolution to the images as they lose quality when enlarged.

3. DON’T utilize previously printed images. Art that has been printed commercially has been converted into small “dots” that create the image. When you reprint these previously printed images, you often get a moire pattern that makes for poor quality images.

4. DO find your original computer files of these various materials and use these. These originals will likely be of high quality and will allow the designer to quickly convert the images into a good design.

5. DON’T clutter your design with too much info. It’s a very common error that people make, trying to hit every marketing point. Keep the design simple to keep your visual impact high.

6. DO take advantage of your logo. Your logo is a constant branding image that your customers actually expect to see on your various advertising and marketing creative. A gift card or loyalty card is like a pocket-sized billboard for your company. Take advantage of your logo. You want your clients to remember your name.

7. DO look into using custom merchandising vehicles. By coordinating your package (which might include a custom card on a custom card hanger or card carrier) you help increase your perceived value…and that helps improve sales.

Whether you choose to go with a standard card with some personalization and want to begin in a week, or whether you want to go for a full-custom package and coordinate all your marketing efforts, there is nothing like receiving that first box of cards and seeing your attractive, glossy gift cards. Once you start making your customers aware that you offer gift cards, you will also love the increased revenues to your business.

When operating a trade show booth, you have to do things that will make customers want to look at what you have. That requires you to be very creative, though. If you’re not creative, then you’re going to be doing the same exact things that everyone else is doing. If that’s the case, then you’re not exactly going to stand out amongst the rest. You’re going to be ignored just like the others who have not used their imaginations.

So what should you do to really make your trade show booth look really interesting? Try doing special things for your customers and dress up your booth to the point it cannot be ignored. That doesn’t mean that you need to paint it hot pink with neon green letters on it that say “Come to by booth and see my goodies.” You don’t want your booth design or even your other ideas to seem desperate. You just want your customers to enjoy what they see and have a great time.

Giveaways

The way to a customer’s heart is through giveaways. People like things that are free. You can even go as far as giving away bags of popcorn or items such as pens, pencils, key chains, mugs, and so much more that has your logo on them. If you give them something with your logo, then you are giving them a constant reminder that you exist. To them, they are receiving something free, but when they look at that item they will remember that you have something they need.

Here are some other things that you can do to make yourself stand out and attract more visitors to your trade show booth:

- Play games with your customers. Have a spinning wheel that they can spin to win a price. You can give them gift certificates that they can use toward a purchase at your booth or you can have prizes lined up.

- Have things for the kids. Something as simple as a balloon will make their day. Parents will appreciate anything you give their children to keep the kids pacified. Rent a helium tank, buy some balloons, and you’re in business. If you really want to make the balloons work for you, then you can have some printed up with your company logo on them.

- Do a raffle for a particular product that you’re displaying at the show. Let the customers know that you’re doing it at a certain time and let them know that they have to be present to win. That means they will come back to your booth. If they didn’t buy anything the first time, then perhaps they will the second time.

The booth

The trade show booth itself needs to be dressed up for your customers. You have to be really creative with it to make it stand out amongst the many others at the trade show. This means using stage lights to highlight certain items. You may even wish to have special flooring around the booth so that the customers feel like they’re walking into an actual store and not just a booth. People who feel like they are in a store environment are more likely to feel comfortable being there. They feel like they are not amongst many people, but that they are free to browse as they please.

You can also use a booth with a curved wall. These types of trade show booths are very unique and they certain gain the attention that you wish to have. Incorporate all of these elements to have a trade show presence that will dominate on every level.

Whether you’re a new business just opening or a growing business with a substantial bank of customers, you have one goal in common: you want more. More traffic. More loyal buyers. More revenues. And everyone through the door or on the phone has a plan to get you there. Confusing? Sure it is, but no one said your climb to the top would be easy.

One of those strategies you will need to make a choice on is gift cards. Are they for you? Can they really help your business? It may not appear to be an easy choice to make from the outside, but achieving “more” in your competitive market often requires you to explore effective ways to build your profits and increase customer loyalty.

There are certain categories of business — such as restaurants, spas and beauty salons, and specialty retail — where gift cards have supplanted long-standing paper gift certificates as the preferred means of pre-selling products and services. If you’re in these types of businesses, chances are you already have a gift card program in place. But plastic gift cards have found their way into many, if not most, non-traditional businesses as their general popularity grows among consumers. Automotive and motorcycle dealers, grocery stores, even pet-sitting services have had great success with gift card programs. But is it right for YOU? Here are three reasons you need to consider a gift card program for your business, regardless of what you sell.

Gift Cards Are Desired by Your Customers

It’s often said that gift cards aren’t a creative gift. The demand for them, however, tells a different story. Plastic gift cards were among the top of the most-asked-for gift items (clothes and media/electronics are the other items in the top three). Whether it’s because of a gift card’s ease of use and delivery; or because the gift-givers want to introduce their friends to a service they like; or because there are more and more creative choices that will be appreciated by the recipients … gift cards continue to rise in popularity. More and more consumers expect business establishments to offer gift cards. If they don’t, they often find a competitor that does.

It’s All About Image

A gift card program goes beyond the card itself. Your image and brand is reinforced to consumers in a variety of ways. A gift card becomes a pocket-sized, shiny billboard that promotes your image with class. Larger gift card manufactures can provide you with multiple design solutions — from simple, standardized designs ready to be shipped to full-color designs that carry your logo, colors, brands and imagery. Along with the gift card, you also have a variety of methods to promote it. On-site merchandising tools can include custom card displays, card carriers and hangers, attention-grabbing posters and more. It’s very simple to build an integrated gift card promotional campaign that not only markets your card, but reinforces your brand.

Driving Your Revenues

I’m going to take a wild guess that you probably wouldn’t turn away more revenues, increased traffic, and additional loyal customers, right? A gift card program addresses all of these aspects of growing your business. A single gift card will represent at least two visits (maybe more) to your business — the first visit when a consumer purchases the card, the second visit when the card bearer returns to use the gift. Additionally, these card bearers also may be new to your business. A percentage of them will return to your business. And many will even tell their friends about your business. You’ve just leveraged an existing customer into creating new customers. And the purpose of all these consumers with gift cards is to buy something … and quite possibly something more expensive than they would have without the added benefit of the card.

There is a vital benefit that every gift card program provides your business. It’s a sale that’s booked. The card may be purchased today, but redeemed tomorrow, next week or never. Regardless, that is money in the bank. Money you can use today for your company. This is an ideal situation for any business, and a good gift card program is a superb way to achieve that.

You can increase your marketing exposure effortlessly by placing your ad on free stuff, then allow other people to give it away. The more people that give away your free stuff the more your ad will be seen.

Most free stuff can be created easily and without little or no expense. Electronic freebies are perfect because with these types of freebies there’s no shipping or physical material costs.

Below are some popular types of electronic freebies.

Free e-Coupons/e-Gift Certificates-Give your visitors free electronic coupons and gift certificates for your products or services.

Free e-Books-Give your visitors a free electronic book. The e-book should be related to your web site theme.

Free e-Reports-Give your visitors free electronic reports. The reports could be in autoresponder form or in text format.

Free e-Courses-Give your visitors a free electronic courses. They could e-mail your follow-up autoresponder and be sent a lesson each day.

Free Software-Give your visitors free software. It could be a game or a useful utility. Just have them download it right from your web site.

Free Online Services/Utilities-Give your visitors free online services or utilities. They should be ready to use right from your web site.

In conclusion, when you use this marketing strategy it will quickly spread your advertising all over the internet. —-

For the fastest and most secure methods of sending money online the top affiliate programs cater to every day people. Because everyday people pay bills, cash checks, deposit and withdrawal money continually.

When there is an emergency what happens then? When you need money now or need to send money expeditiously what happens then? This usually takes time using credit unions and banks.

Speed is of utmost importance as well as affordability when it comes to receiving or sending money online. The Internet is far more superior for speed and accuracy. Let’s view some common options available to people.

Local banks: They’re usually want you to make a deposit and become a member.

Ikobo money transfer on line: They charge $5 a transfer and a bare minimum of $.99 monthly.

Insta financial transactions: a company that is not very reputable, their registration process is easy but they have misspelled phrases on their website. Their help line usually disconnects you after a short period of time. They also have refunding problems with their customers.

The Money Gram International: this is a very professional company mainly catering to larger than normal transactions. Just make sure you don’t use your debit card because your funds are frozen until the transaction is complete. They also work on their own operating hours. They also use RRN and pass code numbers.

The Western Union: Their major drawback is 90% of their transactions are done in person. They usually assign an agent. They are a very reputable company but because of their lack of clearly displaying their prices, an agent might be necessary.

Xoom.com: Identifies itself as an inexpensive way to transfer money online. They compare themselves to the Western Union but this is rather exaggerated. They’re bad point is if you are from the UK you lose. Because their customer service is based in the United States.

If you want to do further research on any of the financial Money transfer organization above, simply type the name in your search engine to verify this information.

One of the most important necessities when sending money online is security. Computer hackers and thieves are everywhere in our world.

Comfortability is of utmost importance when sending money over the Internet. As a PayPal member and doing a variety of research, PayPal’s online security is superior to having your own bank vault.

PayPal offers a free high quality Internet money transfer program. Their affiliate program gives you $5 per referral. You also can make purchases and transfer money by e-mail through a secure server online.

PayPal gives you the option to add a order link and shopping cart on your website. In just 2 easy steps you can send or receive money on line. With their one-page registration form you can create your PayPal account.

PayPal also gives you the privilege to link your bank account to fund your payments or transfers. But what makes PayPal superior is their e-mail to e-mail immediate transfer to anyone in the world.

If you and your friend have a PayPal account you can send money from e-mail to e-mail account. It’s simple and fast, the transaction is made immediately.

PayPal is ranked superior to a majority of online financial companies for many more reasons. You can do more than just transfer money. Here are a few more benefits below:

Receive a PayPal MasterCard account

A PayPal debit card

A PayPal gift certificate program

A PayPal plus rewards services program

But what I like most of all about PayPal is there cell phone bill pay or money transfer program. If you’re on the go as long as you have your cell phone and PayPal you can make financial transactions over your cell phone.

When you see all the benefits available to you as a member of PayPal, especially the ability to send and receive money through e-mail. You will not want your friends to miss out on this valuable information.

PayPal pays you just to tell your friends and this is why their one of the top affiliate programs online. With a PayPal account and your computer or a cell phone you have the power of online financial transactions.

In seeking a business idea, many people take a traditional route, such as looking in a newspaper’s classified section. However, the Internet now offers a great alternative in one’s job search. Many people are also using the Internet’s power as a way to make money online. A few of the many online jobs available are outlined here.

One common way to make money online is using an auction site. People can sell their possessions very easily with the advent of these types of websites. Some opt to sell things they already own (e.g. clothing they no longer wear or gifts that were never used). In a sense, these online auction sites have become like giant virtual garage sales! Other times, people seek out items that they can buy cheaply and then sell at a profit; outlet stores are great for these types of endeavors.

Small business marketing is yet another option for profiting online. For anyone who is moderately skilled with web design, local businesses are likely to be interested in your services for website creation. Since this is an internet age, it is crucial for the majority of businesses to have online presence. Small businesses will be looking for your services to create a simple website that their customers will be able to find via search engines. This work will require a little bit of offline sales, but the majority of the work that you do will be done from your computer at home.

There are websites that have been created to allow people to contribute their experiences and knowledge of products and services. Many such sites will pay people to write about these products and services, as well as pay per reader. Only your writing skills and product/service usage can limit the possibilities.

Some websites will give you “points” for choosing to conduct your business with them. If you’re already doing online shopping, taking surveys, and reading emails, why not do it at places that will reward you for your behavior? These points can be traded in for gift certificates, prizes, or even cash, depending on the website.

An indirect approach to make money online is to create free content, such as a blog. How does free content generate income? Advertisers pay to have their banner ads displayed on popular web sites. They usually pay based on one of two methods. The first is “per impression”, which means for each visitor. The second is “per hit”, which means they pay for each click on their banner ad. It is vital to have meaningful content that consistently attracts visitors.

The article mentioned just a couple of the ways a person can make money online. It isn’t hard and can be done without much work. There are many other options beyond what the article talked about. Some are more difficult than others. It is possible to have a good idea and turn it into a money making venture. Good luck in your efforts to earn money!

Traditionally, in looking for a business idea, you might consult the classifieds section of their local newspaper. Today, many people turn to the internet to conduct their job search. However, many are now beginning to harness the internet’s true power, and seek to make money online. There are several types of online jobs; this article will explore some of them. Another way to profit online is via small business marketing. If you are moderately skilled at web design, you can reach out to local businesses to create websites. Small businesses may be willing to pay you to design a simple webpage so customers can find them via internet searches.

- Richard Lee