THE QUESTION we're most often asked is how to increase visibility and sales on a small budget. We think the answer is our email platform. It's a tool that helps you meet ethical standards and federal regulations so you can send out letters, promotions, surveys, newsletters, fliers or special offers via email to large groups of addresses.

Sending 1000 pieces by mail would run from $290 to $440 just for postage. At a minimum, you can double that to include the cost of printing — so now you're at $580 to $880 — and that's not even factoring in the time it takes to label, address, meter or stamp what you're mailing.

If you send the same information or offer by email, you pay a one-time html set-up fee of $295 and thereafter just $30 a month for 1000 emails. That's like paying $295 for a postal permit that lets you mail 1000 pieces every month for three cents apiece — forever. Prices are even lower at higher quantities.

If you're sending mass emails now without the required opt-out feature or other federal requirements, you risk getting blacklisted or having your message automatically junked. The alternative of sending large numbers of emails one by one is too time-consuming to even consider.

We know of no other medium that offers such a favorable cost- benefit ratio. While itʼs difficult to accurately compare every feature and capability across the email marketing spectrum, we can tell you a few reasons why our service stands out from the crowd. Here are five:

The interface      
Our intuitive interface makes even the most sophisticated email-marketing features easy for anyone to use, saving you time and effort and allowing you to let non-technical staff members help you manage your lists, content and account.

The relationship     
Whether youʼre just getting started or you have a question about a campaign or its results along the way, we stay involved to make sure youʼre getting the most out of your email marketing account.

The custom designs     
Whether youʼre utilizing our professional design services or creating your own campaigns in house, weʼll help you create and send great-looking campaigns every time. No pre-fabricated templates here, just professional designs created just for you.

The flexibility of it all    
From signup screens and database fields to campaign templates and content, thereʼs little about our service that canʼt be customized to suit your particular projects and process. All you have to do is ask and thereʼs a good chance weʼll say yes.

The price
Our startup and activity prices tend to be lower than that of comparable services, particularly when you factor in our custom designs, extensive features and customer support.

You can also schedule emails in advance to go out automatically on dates you've pre-selected, allowing you to work ahead, and you can make as many separate lists as you want. For example, if you have seven unique business audiences, you can have seven different lists and customize the message for each.
 
Unless you're trying to communicate with the afterlife, you ought to have this easy, inexpensive platform!

HERE ARE the basic principles our award-winning designers use to create graphics that work!
 
1. Make them stop and look
In just three to five seconds, graphics should communicate who you are, what you do and how customers can benefit. Graphics are the first impression an attendee has of an exhibitor at a trade show, so it is important to make the right statement.
 
2. Consider your show goals
Consider how to convey your show goals graphically. Aim to grab attention with full-blown, interesting and vibrant graphics. Make graphic images life-size or greater for the highest impact.
 
3. Project the right image
Understand what image you want to project: traditional, hi-tech, dependable, etc. Your company's image will dictate choices in typefaces, artwork, color, etc.
 
4. Design for the audience
Design your graphics to your target audience. Focus on customer benefits. Use your graphics to show how your company differs from the competition. Design images to stimulate your viewer's imagination to think beyond the con- ventional. Avoid designing down to particular audiences, e.g. white for doctors, diagrams for engineers. Convey technical information using good design principles and carefully planned graphics.

5. Use different types of graphics
There are a variety of graphic solutions available including front and backlit photographs, digitally printed images, murals or detachable signage.  Your trade show consultant can also show you how you can build dimensionality into your graphics, using standoffs or spacers.
 
6. Have an integrated approach
Plan to use your graphics on other collateral material for a thematic, integrated look. For greater memorability, use color rather than black and white.
 
7. Use light
If you don't adequately light your graphics, you may as well not have done them.  Lighting is one thing that's hard to overdo in a trade show display.

8. Include special effects
Pull in your audience with graphics coupled with other effects. Attract attention with movement. Consider adding an LED message sign to your display, adding motion or using 3-D imaging.

9. Limit copy
Limit the total amount of copy as people rarely spend time reading a mass of type on a graphic panel. Use simple language. Write copy in short sentences and keep your paragraphs short.
 
10. Avoid
Superlatives, or the "brag and boast" syndrome, clichés and overused metaphors, superimposing copy on your illustration or reversing out large amounts of copy (white type against a black background), and periods at the end of headlines as they stop the reader from reading any further.