During this holiday season, one person can make a difference.

There are many deserving organizations that contribute time and resources to our community. To highlight a few we have partnered with several arts organizations to promote how they are collaborating with charitable organizations to make a difference in someone’s life during the holidays.

Please visit Make-A-Difference.me and see how you can make a difference when you attend one of your favorite holiday performances this month.  It could be as simple as bringing an unwrapped gift for a small child. Whatever you do will be greatly appreciated.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Printing Partners.

QR Codes, Should you or shouldn’t you?

QR Codes are all the rage right now. We are seeing them in many places. But how and where is the right use for these codes? A QR Code is designed to give someone more information. It could be contact or product info, directions or a promotion.

The first consideration should be your audience. What are you trying to say and to whom? Sometimes using them “just because you can,” isn’t a solution. Remember using a QR Code requires a smartphone and reader app, but not everyone has a smartphone, yet, so know your audience*. And not everyone knows what a QR Code is, so remember to include instructions on how to use the code.

There should be a reason to use the code. What will the user get for scanning the QR Code? Is what they will get clear to them? Offer them something that they will value or find informative. Remember they are paying for a dataplan, so don’t waste their time and kilobytes.

Placement is important. Putting a QR Code on a billboard along the highway, probably isn’t a best practice. A person needs to be able to get their phone out, launch the scanning app and focus the smartphone camera on the QR Code to take a picture. That is hard to do at 55 MPH. Make sure you are using the code in a way and place that allows someone to scan it without causing an accident.

Make sure the destination is mobile friendly. Don’t send someone to your standard website, they aren’t typically designed for small screens. You will frustrate your visitor and could lose them. Make sure the QR Code links to a mobile friendly destination.

QR Codes can be personalized and are trackable. Consider that you can make codes that are unique to each recipient in a mailing. If you do that, you can personalize their experience (in print & on the web) and track who participates.

Instant feedback. People don’t have to wait until they get home to enter a code or get on their computer. You can get immediate feedback or participation. Think of how and where you are using the code. Are you at a tradeshow or event? You could create codes for information, contact, or even a contest that you redeem instantly.

QR Codes can have a positive impact on your marketing and your brand, but make sure you are using them appropriately and with the right audience. Otherwise, they can have a negative affect.

Be creative in their use. Many companies just use them as links to web pages with text. Do something unexpected, have fun. Remember the audience using smartphones and QR Codes tend to be a younger audience.

If you would like more information on QR Codes and personalized QR Codes in particular, give our sales staff a call. We would be more than happy to answer your questions and work with you on a campaign.

* The Pew Research Center in July of 2011 estimated that 35 percent of American adults own a smartphone device. The types of people adopting smartphones vary, but the highest concentration of individuals range from “financially well-off and well-educated; under the age of 45; and African American and Latinos.”

Are you ready for the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl is February 5^th, that is less than 90 days away!
Unfortunately, I don’t think the Colts will be playing.

Will your company participate in the festivities?

Do you want to have things to pass out to your customers / visitors?

Have you thought about signs / shirts to commemorate the event?

Is your company in the “Fan Zone” area of downtown?

Will you need to remind customers of street closures?

A lot will happen in the next few weeks as Indy gears up for this great (big) event. Keep in mind that Printing Partners can help with all your printing and signage needs as well as ad specialty products that you can distribute.

Give us a call or talk with your salesperson to see how we can make this an event to remember!

Michael and Joel just wanted to remind you, that we can get foam cheese block hats with your company logo imprinted on them for the big game. Go Packers!

The loss of an Innovator

With the passing of Steve Jobs on Wednesday, we as an industry have lost an innovator. Steve Jobs had a vision for what people wanted and that made him unique. But did he know how much his vision for an affordable, easy-to-use computer would affect the printing world?

The introduction of the Macintosh started a revolution for our industry. A computer that was designed for graphics, postscript fonts, laser writers and a development platform for three small companies Adobe, Aldus and Quark. A day doesn’t go by that we in the printing industry don’t touch a Steve Jobs inspired device or medium. If we aren’t working on our Macs, we are listening to music on our iPods, or designing content for the iPad. We all owe Steve and Apple a great deal of thanks. His vision and enthusiasm for the future will be missed.

Hopefully the people at Apple will continue to innovate and bring us the things we don’t even know we need yet. And we will carry on, working-on and developing-for the devices he had the passion to create.

To quote a 1990’s Apple campaign:

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Thanks Steve, for helping all of us “Think Diffferent”.

Mailing Discount for QR Codes!

The United States Postal Service is offering a promotional discount of 3% on First-Class, Standard and Non-Profit mailings if you include a functional QR Code on the piece. This promotion Ends August 31st, so don’t delay.

The USPS, Printing Partners and the marketing community understand that the mobile market is growing leaps and bounds and shows no signs of slowing down. This promotion is a reminder that by using a combined strategy, you can effectively use print and mail to drive traffic to your web and mobile sites and information.

To be eligible for the discount the QR Code must be functional and may not link to malicious content. One-dimensional barcodes do not qualify for this promotion.

If you want more information on this promotion you can visit the USPS site, or if would like to take advantage of it and want a little guidance, talk with your salesperson to get more details. We are more than happy to assist you with your mailings.