Digital Original: Inexpensive Solutions to Help Your Bottom Line
It's the little things that make a difference between profit and loss. Too often, lucrative deals are lost because of a lack of clarity, communication, or otherwise solvable issues. Here are seven simple business tips and tricks to help your bottom line.
It’s the little things that make a difference between profit and loss. Too often, lucrative deals are lost because of a lack of clarity, communication, or otherwise solvable issues. Here are seven simple business tips and tricks to help your bottom line.
Video conferencing is becoming more common and can help a design staff better understand their customers. A video meeting can quickly clarify what a customer wants and help your team complete projects faster as you work together in real time. It also allows for the review of changes and corrections, moving along the proofing process. A good webcam costs less than $50, and there are several free online video conferencing services available. Gotomeeting.com offers a free service for up to three participants, that gives its users free audio and screen sharing when using a Chrome browser. Join.me, Skype, Zoom, and Webex also provide free or low-cost conferencing services.
A free alternative to Microsoft Office is Apache OpenOffice. It contains a suite of free word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation applications similar to the Microsoft Office programs—but without the subscription fees. The OpenOffice files are compatible with Microsoft Office files on both Windows and Mac computers, but some formatting issues can arise. OpenOffice is a great alternative to installing pricy copies of Office on all of your computers, just to handle word processing and spreadsheet files.
Don’t pay for both Adobe InDesign and QuarkXpress if you only use one of them. Markzware offers low-cost conversion solutions that opens Quark files in InDesign (Q2ID), and conversely opens InDesign files in QuarkXpress (ID2Q). Markzware even has a program that converts PDF files into editable InDesign files (PDF2DTP). The utility programs are perfect if you’re only looking to use one major page layout program.
QR Codes are back. Now that a QR reader comes standard on Apple, and other smartphones, more companies are adding QR codes to their printed material. The thing printers need to do is get a dynamic QR code generator. This allows you to change the content of your QR code as many times as you want without having to reprint it. Avoid static QR codes because they can’t be changed. You should also make sure to get a QR code generator that has beautifying options to make your QR code’s appearance more attractive. You can change the code’s color scheme, round its corners and even add your own logo right in the middle of it. Many generators will create QR codes that can be tracked, so giving customers the option to add a QR code will be a hot item for printers in the coming year.
Ever get a low-res logo from a customer because they couldn’t find a good one? The next time this happens, all you need to do is hop online, where you’re likely to find a high-quality sample logo for free. Brandsoftheworld.com is the largest free library of downloadable vector logos—and has most of the Fortune 1000 logos available for use. Brandsoftheworld.com also has a service for graphic designers who want to have the logos they create critiqued. And if you’re still having a hard time finding the logo you’re looking for you can go into Google and type “.pdf site:(site of the company).” Additionally, numerous companies and organizations have their branding material online as PDF files, and you can often find a high-resolution vector logo. If finding images proves to be problematic for you, try File Juicer. File Juicer is a $25 (Mac-only) application that allows you to extract images from a Powerpoint or PDF file. File Juicer can also extract video, audio & text from files & folders. Just drop a file into the program, and if it finds an image, audio, or a video file File Juicer will save it to your desktop, or any folder you choose. File Juicer can also help you recover images from a damaged or erased memory card from a digital camera, in addition to extracting media from Canon’s RAW files.
Talk to your customers about using a customized stamp for their mailing. Photo Stamps are available in both small and large quantities. They’re real US postage, and they can include your logo, or a promotional message. If you have a customer trying to make their mail stand out, a unique stamp might be exactly what they’re looking for.
