CCA Celebrates it's 10th Anniversary

This month marks the 10th anniversary of CCA.

Welcome New Artists

Here are just a few of the talented new artists to join The Community. All of their templates can be found at PrintBusinessCards.com were you can design business cards using the simple yet sophisticated design online editor.
 

Jan Kranendonk

 

Athos Boncompagni

Jan Miks

Andrew Kazmierski

Marketing Code of Ethics

Marketing professionals are responsible for following a professional code of ethics. This code of ethics, which is written and monitored by the American Marketing Association, outlines how marketing professionals should act and how their services should be formatted and distributed to the public. If you are a marketing professional, or if you are responsible for your company's marketing, then you need to learn this code of ethics and apply it to your marketing strategies.

Trustworthiness

The first element of the marketing code of ethics is trustworthiness. This characteristic not only needs to be applied to the marketing professional's actions, but it also has to be applied to their marketing products. To comply with this segment of the marketing code of ethics marketers need to create marketing campaigns that accurately reflect what the product is intended to do and they also need to sell their services to new clients based on their actual qualifications.

Do No Harm

Another important aspect of the marketing code of ethics is the "do no harm" clause. This clause simply means that marketers follow all marketing laws and that they follow professional codes of ethics for the industries they create marketing campaigns for. For example, marketers cannot make statements about a product that they know to be false. This is why the advertisements for psychic lines have a disclaimer printed at the bottom of the screen or ad that informs people that the line is for entertainment purposes only.

Respect

Respect is yet another important element of the marketing code of ethics. This element is very important for marketers to master, as a lack of respect will hurt their business and the businesses that they create marketing campaigns for. To comply with the respect clause of the marketing code of ethics, marketers need to listen to and respect the opinions and desires of their clients, as well as create marketing campaigns that are respectful of people's differences.

Citizenship

The final element of the marketing code of ethics is citizenship. Citizenship, in regards to marketing, means that the marketing professional is an active and valuable member of their community. To accomplish this professional goal the marketer needs to protect the environment, give back to their communities via volunteerism and they need to promote fair trade practices. Finally, acts of citizenship will focus on creating a stronger and more effective marketing community.

Gayle Hawks president of Color Card Administrator is the author of this content. Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Cards website, we're eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management.

The Term Social Marketing

The term social marketing has been used to describe two different things. The first thing it is used to describe is a process of marketing to improve the social condition of the world. The second definition is used to describe the process of using social networking sites and online tools to market a company. I will be using the second definition as my focus for this article.

Social marketing made a big splash in the world of Internet marketing just a few years ago. New Internet activities like blogging, video clips, and other viral marketing devices caught on quickly, and soon outpaced established online advertising methods like keyword ads and banner ads. Because of this new trend in online advertising, many companies have begun to broaden their marketing campaigns to include social marketing strategies.

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and GoWalla

These social media sites are receiving the most attention these days from online marketing experts for companies large and small. The power to influence yielded by these websites is immense. There are many excellent articles that have been written detailing good methods and strategies to employ for companies large and small who desire to engage the public using these sites. Even if you're not actively marketing your company on these sites, it's important to maintain a presence on them so that you can monitor what is being said about your business and about your competitors.

Blogging

Blogging is still one of the most popular social marketing strategies currently being used by companies and websites to attract customers and web traffic. Blogging is a web log that provides readers with a periodic posting of information. This information is written by a topic expert and usually relates to the focus of the website or a company's products and services. In order to be successful, a blog needs to be formatted as a discussion or informative article, it needs to include links to the site's product and services pages and it needs to offer a way for readers to leave their comments and carry on discussions with the blog writer(s).

Viral Video

Another popular form of social marketing is the use of video. This marketing strategy involves uploading fun or interesting video clips to a website, such as YouTube and Vimeo in the hopes that people will like it and tell other people to view it and pass it on. This creates word of mouth advertising that can spread like wild fire. Think about the effects of some of the popular videos that you know of ("Charlie bit my finger!", "United Breaks Guitars", and a host of others. Videos, when they're effective and truly go viral can generate millions of views.

eBooks

An older, but still effective form of viral marketing is the eBook. An eBook is basically a short manual or basic "how to" guide that is offered free of charge to people who complete a requested task. For example, you can offer an eBook to people who sign up for your website's newsletter or who enter a drawing on your site. The main purpose of giving away an eBook is to attract people to your website, however, it can also help you to develop an opt-in mailing list for your company. In order for an eBook to be a successful social marketing tool, it will need to provide valuable information.

Social marketing online is an ever changing, evolving landscape. It's important to engage, participate, and monitor what works and what doesn't work. Most importantly, social marketing allows your company to have a direct link with customers and potential customers. It allows you to directly engage your niche audience and strategize a method to reach them that is beneficial for your company and for them as customers.

Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Cards website, we're eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management.

David Ogilvy - The "Father of Modern Advertising"

David Ogilvy is considered to be the "father of modern advertising." His methodologies and professional philosophies revolutionized the marketing industry, and they continue to play an important role in the marketing industry today. The foundation of his marketing principles was comprised of four major components: research, creative brilliance, professional discipline, and results. These components are incredibly important to look at and very helpful to owners of businesses - large and small.

Research

Research is one of the cornerstones of the Ogilvy's marketing success. This is because his background was in research, and this is what he knew. David Ogilvy felt that the success of any marketing campaign was dependent on the amount and quality of research that the marketing professional did. He felt that it was very important to know the target demographic that you were trying to reach before you started working on the advertising campaign. Do you invest a lot into researching tactics and products that are offered by your competitors? It's something to consider and think about...

Professional Discipline

Professional discipline was another cornerstone of Ogilvy's marketing philosophy. This element of his philosophy put a great deal of stock in the importance of professional training. Ogilvy felt that knowing your craft was as important to a successful marketing campaign as the creative aspects of the campaign's design. Again, this is one of those points where it's good to do some self-evaluation. Are you well-versed and skilled in your profession? Are there some things that you should brush up on in order to make you more effective and valuable to your customers and clients?

Creative Brilliance

Another important element of the Ogilvy marketing machine was creative brilliance. Ogilvy felt that generating ‘the Big Idea" was key to the success of a marketing firm, and a marketing campaign. Ogilvy himself was credited with several "Big Ideas" during his career including the slogan, "at 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock" and many, many more.

Results

The final element of Ogilvy's successful marketing philosophy was results. He felt that creative genius was basically useless if you couldn't sell your ideas afterward. This means that successful marketing executives not only needed to be creative professionals, but they also needed to be able to sell themselves and their ideas to their clients. Are you seeing results from your efforts? Do you have metrics in place to measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies?

Learning More About David Ogilvy

During his life David Ogilvy wrote three books on marketing and his marketing philosophy. These books included "Confessions of an Advertising Man" published in 1963, "Blood, Brains & Beer" published in 1974 and "Ogilvy on Advertising." All of these books are great reference materials for marketing professionals and small business owners.

David Ogilvy's strategies are ones that we try to employ daily at CCA. We work hard to research new business avenues, refine our customer service, sharpen our design skills, improve our websites, and create useful tools for our clients. We are a results driven company. How do we measure results? We measure them in the number of happy, satisfied customers. We aim to please every customer that orders business cards from our company.

Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Cards website, we're eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management.

Personal Cards Don't Have to be for Business

Business cards are an important staple in the business world as a means of communication and introduction. This extends into the small business community and self-employed where just about any business owner has created a card to market his or her business.

When Business Becomes Personal

But business cards don't just have to be about business. They can also be personal. Most people today communicate via email or their cell phones for text messaging as well as phone conversations. Whether you are a student, a housewife or a clerk in a drug store you probably use these means of communication – and you probably should have a personal business card so you can easily transmit this information to others.

Personal Cards Introduce Your Information and You

Like calling cards of days gone by when people left their cards in a tray when they visited, personal cards have become a form of introduction and a means of relaying personal information without writing it down on a scrap of paper. Everyone has a phone number - sometimes more than one - along with an e-mail address, a Facebook or Twitter account and often their own website whether they have a business or not.

Unlike a scrap of paper that is easily lost, a personal card is more distinctive especially if you use color or a graphic that stands out in the crowd. It is a great means of communication when you meet someone new or want to establish your identity to someone.Personal business cards can also display other information about you if you have a part-time business like a band or that you belong to a biking club or other activities.

Keep in Touch With Your Personal Card

Personal cards are a means of keeping in touch with friends and when you meet someone new, it is so easy to hand them a card rather than explain everything or try to find a pen or piece of paper. If you are looking for a job, it is a great way to introduce yourself to a prospective employer who should be impressed that you have your own personal business card.

Use a Photo on Your Business Card

Some might think that having a photograph on a business card is a little bit hokey – especially when it is a picture of you. But in some businesses, having your photo on your business card is an essential part of doing business. Other types of photos can also be used and might be more representative of the business that you are in - such as photography or a fishing boat charter business so you might have a photograph that represents the business rather than you.

A Photo Showcases Your Business

People have more confidence in your abilities when they see a photograph on your card because they like what they see. Realtors almost always have a photo of themselves on the card that readily identifies them for clients and potential customers. This will reassure people rather than put them off because people want to be comfortable with who they are doing business with.

A photographer might specialize in child portraits so that type of photo should be shown on the business card. If the person is a wildlife photographer you might see a photo of a lion or the other types of animals that he most often photographs. A charter boat owner or limousine company might show a photograph of his boat or limo on his card so the client knows exactly what he is going to be using.

First Impressions Are Important

A business card with a high quality photograph makes a great first impression and is always an important means of attracting new customers. Quality counts and if you take the time and effort to portray yourself and your business in such a positive way it will be worth the effort as business cards are usually the first things that a potential client sees – sometimes even before you have met. Photographs are great marketing tools that should enhance your business and attract customers while it shows off who you are and that you care about images as well as succeeding in your business.

So take a look at your business and decide if a photograph on your business card might not be a good idea for you and for your business. It is certainly worth looking into. It's not hard to find an online business card printing company that features photo business card services. Photo business cards are easy to create using the simple to use Card Editor at PrintBusinessCards.com.

Author Detals: Gayle Hawks is President of Color Card Administrator (CCA). CCA is comprised of a combination of online industries involving business cards, stock photography, and e-commerce Professional business cards software licensing.

Five Tips for Creating a Great Business Card for Your Company

The following is an excerpt from an article we recently published at ArticlesBase:

Some business cards look great while others definitely give an amateur appearance. Many cards give the impression of a well-established business while others exude a different feeling altogether. What is it that makes some business cards give off a different impression? There are several things that can affect the overall impression of your business card when you present it to a prospective customer, client, or in some cases, employer. By focusing on 5 major areas, you can create a business card that is more effective and professional in its impression.


Visual Appearance
The first thing to keep in mind when designing a business card is its visual impact. Most modern companies have fortunately started exercising more creativity with their cards and have moved away from traditional, plain looking business cards. Many business owners now see and understand that those little 2" x 3.5" cards are important marketing tools. Be creative with the use of color, fonts, and imagery.

Paper Quality
Paper quality is judged and notated in many confusing different ways. For example “80# Text” and “80# Cover”, the first is thin like writing paper and the second is thicker, like a thin business card. There are three things that matter in determining what paper stock is going to produce a quality business card.

1. How thick the business card stock is.
2. How dense/compressed the business card stock is.
3. The quality of the finish on the business card stock that will be printed on.

One point is equal to 1/1,000 of an inch for card stock. Therefore, 15 point card stock is .015 inches thick. Paper with more points is thicker but not necessarily sturdier and paper with fewer points is thinner. Fifteen point paper is good for business cards if the paper is also quality made. It is common to have thick, cheaply made paper.

Let me discuss items #2 and #3; these two issues are more important to consider than the first. Most people, however, focus solely on the first question, “How thick is it?” Paper density and the finish quality of the paper that will be printed on is determined by how the paper is “calendered”.

“The calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to form or smooth a sheet of material. The purpose of a calender is to make the paper smooth and glossy for printing and writing.” -Wikipedia

Think of it this way - in terms of bread. A slice of Wonder bread is much thicker than pita bread. It is how the bread is made that is more important than its thickness. Pita bread is denser than Wonder bread. When it comes to online business cards, not all thick papers are created equal either. You can have a 15pt thick card that feels cheap and spongy, yet it is still 15pt thick. On the other hand you can have a 15pt thick card that feels stiff like a metal blade. More expensive and higher quality papers are highly calendered and have that feeling of quality, thickness, and snap everyone desires for their business card.

To read this article in its entirety, please go here.