Think before you print!!!

January 21st, 2010

Until there is quantifiable evidence, we can consider email as generally more environmentally friendly form of communication than sending letters by post.  So here is a quick list of enviormentally friendly statements that we have come across over the years.

Sample:   Think before you print

There are a few reason people include these statements.

  1. It promotes a positive message
  2. It is often part of the ethos of the company or business
  3. It is a gentle subliminal reminder about the environment
  4. It raises awareness.

Our sample list

Here are six of the best we have seen:

    • Think before you print
    • Help the environment – please don’t print this email unless you really need to!
    • Before printing, think about the environment
    • Please consuder the environment before you print
    • Think responsibly only print this email if you need to
    • Environmental note:  Before printing please consider whether you need a hard copy

      Source: Our Customers
      Product: Email Letterheads

      Related Reading:
      http://www.returnpath.net/blog/2009/05/is-email-impacting-the-environ.php

      Please feel free to comment

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      Changing Windows 7 file permissions

      January 14th, 2010

      A customer has just been in touch to explain how to change the file permissions for Windows 7.  It seems that the new operating system returns a message saying something to the effect of “speak to your administrator”, which naturally is you.

      In the words of JC Plumbing, here is how you change it:

      • Go into your Control Panel
      • Go to User Accounts > Make changes to User
      • Click “Change User Account Settings”
      • That should open a menu on the left hand side
      • On the vertical slider, move it to “Never Notify”
      • Click “OK”
      • Then restart for changes to take effect

      JC Plumbing felt this may be a useful thing to share with other who are having difficulty with Windows 7.  This is provided as free information.  You may like to consult further guidance before making changes to your system settings.

      If you wish to comment, please do.

      Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

      Customer Blog: Julie from OddJobSwap.

      January 4th, 2010

      ojslogoOddJobSwap is a UK swapping site, for people who wish to swap their service with somebody elses. It is aimed at individuals and targetted towards the swapping of knowledge, skills, talents and abilities within the same local area.

      Twitter Background

      We have had two revisions now, each one inline with our growing business and marketing message. The background informs visitors to our Twitter page who we are and more importantly, what we do. Not everyone bothers to read a twitter profile.  It works really well and as soon as Twitter members click on my page they can see from the background exactly what our site is about.

      How we found Digital Stationery…

      osjtwitterDigital Stationery provide fully branded items without reference to themselves.  This matched our requirements – we wanted something professional without a designers signature on the bottom. After the initial consultation, we decided to have the work performed by them. They were true to their word with both the work they offered and the delivery. We are most pleased with our Twitter background and the service provided by Digital Stationery who were very helpful and efficient, throughout.

      We are continually striving to build the OddJobSwap database and the team are working very hard to promote the website in order to match people who are swapping.

      More about us…
      My name is Jule and together with husband Peter, we run OddJobSwap.  OddJobSwap is only very young, but we have been on the radio and attracting new members through referrals and social media.    Twitter is proving to be a useful tool.

      Drop by register and join in with the swapping. Also visit us on Twitter @oddjobswap.

      Customer: OddJobSwap
      Review provided by: Owners of the business
      Purchased: Twitter Background

      Website URL:  http://www.oddjobswap.co.uk

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      Building better Business in 2010 #12doc

      December 10th, 2009

      A marketing tip to build a better business

      happyThis feature is our submission to Day 5, of the 12 Days of Christmas campaign organised by Intuit. They asked for a “Marketing Tip” to be included in a free guide for Small Business to help support business development in 2010. We decided to put something together and email it in that would give every small business a little guidance.

      If you are new to Digital Stationery, be warned.  We sell things.!!!

      1. Acquire new business

      All good businesses advertise, take part in some form of networking, do a little publicity and generally receive referrals from existing customers.  This is all quite normal practice.  What many businesses fail to do is really capitalise on the acquisition of a customer, i.e. continue to sell the add-ons, additional benefits and extras that usually come post sale.

      2. Capitalise on past customers

      To really capitalise on your past customers, you have to do more than the original sale. Most products and services require additional support and if your business proposition doesn’t include some form of continual ongoing support you probably need to re-think where you’re going.  This really is the next step in building a business.

      3. Have a communications plan

      A communications plan is essential.  For a small business it really is a good idea to have a specific plan that details what happens once the relationship with the customer ends.  A simple communication method is email – we are not referring to sending individual messages to people, but the transmission of the same message to your whole customer database in one big swoop.  If you have delivered to 10 new customers every week, over 52 weeks, you now have 520 customers.  How about thinking carefully about marketing a new service that compliments the original sale?

      4. Low cost marketing to existing customers

      emailOne of the preferred ways to continue to build an ongoing relationship with your customer base is to periodically send a communication that offers the customer either an update or useful information that relates to the original purchase.  Email really is a perfect tool for this.  It is direct and because the communication relates to the original purchase it is quite legal to send the material without the requirement for special permission.  Email is also a relatively low cost communications tool.  The best campaigns are based on a single regular communication that is broadly useful to all your customers.  The return is easy to measure…your phone will ring shortly after the communication.

      5. How do you get started?

      First you need to maintain good records and secondly you need to maintain a computerised list of your customers contact details.  Preferably including the customers name and when the original order was placed.  This information can be quickly paired with a marketing communication.  Whether you use email or you use the postal service to send a letter, the planning process is the same.  Email is obviously our proposed method because we deliver email marketing and we enjoy being able to track and measure the performance of a campaign through our management information system.

      If the above information is a good narrative of where you are up to, we probably need to talk.  We build and design email campaigns, we have a UK facilities and offer a full range of email marketing services.

      callback

      Written and prepared for Intuit as part of the 12 Days of Christmas campaign,

      Let us know what you think, feel free to comment.

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      Twitter: #FollowFriday (4th Dec 2009)

      December 4th, 2009

      Twitter: #FollowFriday (4th Dec 2009)

      twittereggAs a company, we would like to say thank you to Helen Stothard from HLS Business Solutions (@hlsbs) for showing us the direction to prepare a blog for the company and leading us through the process.

      December 2009 is a good time to start…

      It is well recognised that Email Marketing and Social Media spend is going to increase in 2010.  We are a provider of UK based Email Marketing and we are looking to take advantage of the expansion in Social Media during the next 12 months.  We have already identified a series of products that we can deliver in the social media setting.

      We recommend that you have a quick look The Direct Marketing Association (@DMA_UK) and their news article on Email and social media marketing’ will be top areas of investment in 2010.

      Working with people on Twitter

      As a company we have also had the pleasure of working with two new customers on Twitter and we would like to draw attention to the first @oddjobswap.  We have produced some advertising stationery for them and we have also produced a Twitter background for them as well. Perhaps, we will look at doing a special feature on them later in the month.

      A hive of business activity

      What we have been most impressed with is the amount of activity on Twitter.  We have engaged in the 12 Days of Christmas twitter event run by Intuit, the provider of Quick Books.  Their interesting campaign has allowed us to send in our tips to help other companies with their businesses, with a view to being selected in a special 2010 Small Business Guide.

      A product Fan Page.

      At Digital Stationery our products are simple, effective and keep the wheels turning for people.  There is nothing worse that getting bogged down with learning un-necessaries when you need to be looking after your own customers.  One of our products deserves a lot of credit and we have created a fan page for it.  See our Digital Letterheads fan page on Facebook, click here to find out more.

      Thanks to our first followers

      We would also like to thank the following people for following us on Twitter.
      @ncikjohnston who is also based in Surrey. @RebeccaIntuit from Intuit who is running the 12 Days of Christmas Campaign. @CreditManDotNet who we believe has also started a blod at the same time as us and @RolandMillward who is also following us.

      Our final recommendations…

      1. #followFriday @RebeccaIntuit – for running the 12 Days of Christmas Campaign
      2. #followFriday @CreditManDotNet – he started his blog at the same time as us.
      3. #followFriday @ ncikjohnston – he joined our Digital Letterheads fan page.
      4. #followFriday @OddJobSwap – we enjoyed working with them and they have a great concept.

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      Reduce Paper: Use Digital Letterheads

      December 3rd, 2009

      digitalletterhead2

      digitalletterhead

      Using Digital Letterheads can help reduce your need to consume paper. We like them, we produce them and they can reduce your print bill, allow you to work electonically and can increase efficiency and professionalism.

      A good deed…

      We have made a fan page for our special “save the planet” products. To use them, you do however need a computer. They are only really applicable if you already use a computer….otherwise you would increase your energy consumption by adopting them.

      Our view on Digital Documents…

      If you are using a computer for your business, you may as well use Digital Documents and reduce your consumption of paper. A letterhead whether it be for Email or Standard A4 is a good start to working efficiently.

      Become a fan…Become a Fan

      We have set-up a special dedicated fan page on Facebook. You can join an post comments on the page. The fan page is more about the idea of Digital Letterheads than it is about the actual product.

      The best thing about Digital Letterheads

      1. They reduce the need for printing
      2. They cut down on paper and ink
      3. Save money on postage
      4. Great for mobile and remote workers
      5. Print out only when you need to
      6. Easy to install
      7. They are affordable, £ 69.00ea
      8. Special combo price is £ 59.00ea when bought together.

      That’s why we like them…

      | Promote your Page too

      What’s so special about our Digital Letterheads

      We’re not quite sure, but we supply them to lots of businesses, large and small. The most important point about your letterhead is that it contains all the legal jargon that it needs to. We do this part and take pride in it.

      Sole Traders & One Man Bands

      There are specifics that you are supposed to have on your letterheads. Many come to us simply because we not only do the layout and design, but we also sort out your regulation/compliance statement too.

      Partnerships & Companies

      Although you are two different groups, we are forever correcting the disclosure statements because people seem to get Directors, Partners & Company requirements all mixed up. Remember, we also do the layout and design – all we ask is you come with your logo and business identity so we can turnaround your jobs without any fuss.

      Give us a whirl…proofs out next day..!!

      If you are keen to start working smarter, then try us out. Our simple approach works with most of the common software. We only accept your order once you are happy with the proofs.

      To give it a whirl, complete a Call Back Request and we will be in touch.


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      We had our arm twisted…

      November 23rd, 2009

      We had our arm twisted…

      Having surveyed the social networking scene we have realised that there are rssopportunities for Digital Stationery to develop new products for our existing customers and also to bring our existing product range to the attention of the social networking community.

      We are also keen to integrate social networking in to our existing line up of products.

      Being creative with news…

      Repeat orders and referrals have always been our business.  But to stand out in the social networking scene we are going to have to do something a little different.  This means to create something interesting from the everyday jobs we do without disclosing confidentials.

      We’ve consulted our customers over the past few weeks and there seems to be a mixed feeling about how to integrate with social networks. However, several customers seemed happy with the idea of receiving a mention; so, we will be giving customers a positive mention if and when it fits.

      Everybody enjoys the things that we leafenjoy

      From what we have seen most people online seem to enjoy the same things as us:

      • Making things digital
      • Saving money
      • Being a little greener
      • Keeping things simple

      We should be okay.

      A unique opportunity…

      Many of our customers don’t currently utilise Social Networks.  Perhaps they should, some could really benefit, and it would be just as relevant and effective a networking tool for them as it has been for some of the people we have met online.  Hopefully we can open the door for them.

      So why are we blogging?

      Obviously it will give our business a little visibility, but we also aim to give people something interesting to think about.  We hope to create a talking point and raise awareness of what we do within the social networking community.  We are also really keen to help our customers move forward.

      And quite frankly, we had our arm twisted into giving it a go!  Someone told us that we needed to let people on the social networking scene know we were here, and to shout about our products.    So here we are, however, it’s not our style to shout, so instead we will interact and converse with you, something we are much more comfortable with.

      The plan for Digital Stationery…

      We do stationery, not marketing, although we do supply marketing assets as well.  Everything we supply is usually bespoke, but sold as an “off the shelf item”.  Some of our products need a little development, but we are hoping that you can help us and we can take interested parties on a journey that helps others.  Who knows, you could become a customer or supplier in a few months time.  (Wink, wink)

      Who we would like to thank

      hlsWe would like to thank HLS Business Solutions, who has simply shown us “the light” on how blogging can be used effectively.  It would appear that the professional coaching she received from @efficiencycoach has now filtered through to us.  So thank you both, there is a kind of Karma passing around.

      We learnt that two other companies have also followed Helen great example.  For these reason, our first Twitter FollowFriday recommendation is @hlsbs.

      Comments

      As we have said we really would like to interact with you and welcome your comments on our blog, be it regarding our products or your suggestions or experiences in relation to social networking.  Feel free to comment.

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