It’s been a few weeks since my last post, I’ve been keeping busy and I hope you have been too.  One of my recent projects was a postcard mailing campaign.  It was a ton of fun and beautifully executed.

I designed the postcard – which was geared for parking space leasing – with an industrial feel to it.  The client ordered 5,000 postcards and we went to town with the mailing campaign.  We sent out 3000 postcards to begin with to leads all over Florida.

Check out the project pics below.

This project was fun, effective and affordable.  If you have a postcard campaign you’d like to do, don’t hesitate to contact us – we will be happy to help you out.

We can print as little as 200 postcards up to as many as you need.  For a quote, send us a quick quote request in less than a minute.

I hope you have a great day!

Suzanne Rosales

Global Swan

From my experience, here are some guidelines to always keep in mind when thinking about point-of-sale material:

1. SPECIALS? – Always ask about what specials the printer is running. Many times you think you have to go with the cheapest stock to stay within a budget, but printers are always running specials and often times you can get better quality stock for your print job for the same price as the cheaper stocks.

2. BEWARE! – Make sure you find out whether your printer will do small jobs. There are a lot of printers who won’t even touch a job that’s less than 2000 – 5000 quantity order – these companies are usually offset printers and can offer good deals on higher quantity print orders. Let’s face it, most small business owners won’t blow through 2000 – 5000 or more flyers for a LONG time – you might even find yourself using these extra materials for packing material 2 years down the road when the information is out-dated. Smaller orders require a digital printer – they can usually hook you up with 1 copy or 200.

3. ALWAYS GET A QUOTE – Sounds elementary, but you’d be surprised. Make sure you are covering all aspects of your print job. Add-on services like folding, round corners, spot UV, perforation etc. are extra, make sure to find out how much more they are. Don’t forget about shipping costs, design services and tax! All this will add up if you don’t do your homework in the beginning.

4. COLOR MAY VARY – Remember, the color that you see on your screen is NOT guaranteed to be the color you get on print. “Why?!” You ask. The answer is simple – the color on your screen may be a few shades lighter or darker than what the printer’s color calibration is set to. There are a ton of different settings that your screen can be turned on to – cooler, warmer, brighter, darker; that affects the way your artwork looks. So yes, it may look visually stunning on your end but the printer’s calibrated settings is what you will receive. All reliable printers will calibrate their machinery to industry standards. So don’t freak out if you get your materials and find it to be a few shades off of what your computer screen reflects.

5. SHRINKAGE – Larger runs are subject to shrinkage. What does this mean to you? Your orders might be short or over (usually short) 5 – 10%. So keep this in mind, and order higher quantities to ensure your full order is received or make sure your job can do with a little less.

Global Swan readers who are looking to get started on some marketing material – I’ve put together the following specials!

*Prices do not reflect design services as all clients have the option to design their own artwork or use their existing business card artwork.

Free template guides to guide you in creating your own artwork are provided HERE .  Also, don’t forget to check out our free PSD (photoshop) designs – which you can fill in your info and will be ready to print in a matter of minutes! Click on the previews below to download the free templates.

POSTCARD TEMPLATES	BUSINESS CARD TEMPLATES
Click the pic! Distressed Wood_Front 4x6 Postcard Template	Click the pic! Modern/Sleek 3.5 x 2 - Business Card Template
Click the pic! Ombre Sunset Postcard_Front 4x6 Postcard Templ	Click the pic! Color Splash 3.5 x 2 - Business Card Template

Well, my friends, that’s it for now. I hope this article has helped you some and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me via the website www.GlobalSwan.com or you can e-mail me at Suzanne@GlobalSwan.com.

I founded my company to be budget-conscious as well as to focus on design, promotion and print — because I know firsthand what it takes to run a small business! I’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you out in any way I can.  Thank you all for taking the time out to read this post. I will be back in a couple of weeks to talk about web design and blogs! So please stay tuned… Wishing you all a beautiful and productive week – may success and joy abound!

Warmly,

Suzanne Rosales

Feel free to read the Fauxology Blog, it’s one of my daily reads as well! www.Fauxology.com

Online Banner Ads, Craigslist Ads, and even newsletter blasts – Digital Media Artwork can be useful for your business and help you with your online presence.

This gallery is still being updated, please check back with us while we continue to build our portfolios!

Wow this week is blowing by super fast! Where is the year going? How is it almost JULY already!? Next thing you know, it’ll be Christmas! Well, I hope your week is going great and that it’s been super productive.

This past weekend, my siblings and I were featured on a Blog Talk radio show called Artistically Speaking. It’s geared towards artists and faux finishers and features other creative entrepreneurs in all sorts of industries. Last weekend, we were featured as one of our other personalities – Sibling Artistry by Garay Artisans. Most of you probably don’t know this, but I also work closely with my siblings and help them run an award-winning faux finishing firm, Garay Artisans, going on 5 years now. I do marketing and promotions and assist them with their online presence, websites, point-of-sale material, and pretty much anything else marketing-wise.

We had one heck of a fun time chatting it up with Rebecca Parsons and Lyna Farkas of Artistically Speaking. They asked us about our award-winning strategies, and how it is working together as a family. If you’re interested in hearing all the banter and advice, please listen to our show here: Global Swan on Artistically Speaking.

We’ve had a lot of great response, and I’m eager to hear your opinion on the show. Let me know your thoughts if you have some time. Again, thank you so much for visiting and taking the time to read our blog today.

Next blog I’m going to write is going to be about some print specials we have going on. My favorite special is on the business cards – 1000 qty for $35! So stay tuned my friends.

Warmly,

Suzanne Rosales

Originally, I wanted to build Global Swan around graphic design and print. I started the site as an e-commerce but later found that I was bored with it. I didn’t want to be like any other e-commerce out there, and we have way more to offer than just graphic design and printed material, so I decided it was time for a redesign on Global Swan. Now, we’ve got this fresh new look which is super hot! It’s got a great slideshow and showcases our portfolio plus it gives you a better idea of what we can do.

I’m excited about blogging too. I’m going to make a valiant effort to blog on a regular basis and (hopefully) keep you entertained. I’ll be uncovering articles and useful information that will be helpful to you and your business and, providing you with some insight to marketing, websites, and graphic design. My main squeeze, Andree will probably be blogging right along with me. He’s got a great sense of humor and a lot of great information to share with you. In addition to all that, we’ll also be posting some free goodies every now and then, so definitely bookmark us so that you can take advantage of them.

With the Global Swan redesign there’s also going to be access to our online store for the purchase of services or custom packages. If you would like to talk to us about any projects you have in mind, feel free to leave us a comment or contacting us directly through our Contact Us form.

I’m going to be continuing to update the site in the next few weeks, but I’ll keep you posted on our changes. Thank you so much for taking the time to read us today! I look forward to posting again soon!

My best,

Suzanne

You can also have an e-commerce website that works with PayPal or other payment systems. You can also take advantage of features such as newsletter blasts, discount coupons, gift certificates, featured products, quantity discounts and much, much more!

Browse our online store to get an idea of the type of e-commerce site you can have! www.GlobalSwan.com/store