3 Tips For Next Year’s Tax Season

Posted on April 26, 2019 Written by

Take a deep breath. Tax season is over and you can take a moment to relax. Breathe a sigh of relief. Have a cup of coffee.

And now that you’ve had your moment, it’s time to start preparing for next year.

As much as you are probably glad that tax season is over for the year, it’s a great idea for you to start thinking about how to make next year’s tax season come together with ease. Here are our 3 tips for things that you can do now to make the next tax season go smoothly.

1. Start Preparing Now
Remember that bit of panic that started when you started your taxes for the year? Get ahead of that stress by starting early. Keep your paperwork organized in a way that will make it easy to use when tax season comes around. Update your spreadsheets periodically. And, when tax season comes up, get your paperwork done with plenty of time to spare. Not only will preparing early allow you to get your taxes done quicker, but it will also give you extra time to handle unexpected questions that might come up.

And speaking of that preparation…

2. What Stressed You Out This Year? Take Note of it For Next Year
This is probably the simplest way to make next spring go more smoothly for your tax preparation process: if anything caused you additional stress this year, that’s the first thing you should try to improve for next year. Did you have to track down a number of digital invoices last minute, for example? Consider printing those invoices to file with physical documents or keep them on file in a designated folder. If you can create better habits throughout the year, you can decrease your stress for all future tax seasons.

3. Stay Up-To-Date on Tax Law Changes
Tax law is always changing, and it’s much easier to read up on the legal changes once every month than it is to try to catch up come 2020. Do your best to stay up do date on any changes to tax law that might be relevant to your business and you won’t be blindsided come tax season.

Do you have tips for other things that business owners can do to get ahead of next year’s tax season? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Education, Marketing, News

The Importance of a Well-Coordinated Stationery Suite

Posted on April 25, 2019 Written by

Your customers come to you for a lot of different reasons. Maybe they need business cards for an upcoming event. Maybe they have to create a brochure for a new product. Maybe they want folders to keep organized at their business. However, if your customers are ordering their stationery pieces individually, they might not be taking advantage of the benefits that can come from coordinating their print pieces with each other.

Make Their Business Look More Put-Together
This is the biggest reason for your customers to coordinate their print pieces. When their print pieces look coordinated, it makes their entire business look a little more polished and organized by extension. This starts with their more traditional pieces, of course—a well-matched stationery set is the foundation of professional corporate communications.

Your customer can also extend this idea to other pieces. From keeping offices organized to presenting ideas to customers, branded folders can add a special touch to your customer’s print order. When the time comes for your customers to send out announcements for company news or invitations for their next big event, creating announcements that coordinate with their existing stationery can be a great way of ensuring the event feels connected to your customer’s brand. And when your customer matches their brochures, sales sheets, and rack cards to their other print pieces, it will make sure your customer’s brand is top of mind when their clients think of the new products and services that those print pieces promoted.

Create the Right Mood with Every Print Piece
When your customer coordinates all of their print pieces, it ensures that every piece creates the right feel. After all, once your customer has chosen a business card stock that conveys quality or a print process that creates just the right look for their brand, it’s easy to create that same feel by matching other pieces to that business card.

That doesn’t mean they all have to look exactly alike, though. By using an accent color, on the other hand, your customer’s stationery suite will continue to look cohesive but have a more varied, creative look. This is an ideal option for customers who want to convey a lively, friendly, or artistic personality with their print pieces.

Make Your Customer’s Brand Instantly Recognizable
The more your customer’s brand is seen, the bigger the benefits for their business. This means that every piece of print that they send out—from the branded business envelope that holds an invoice to the business card that accompanies a sales representative to an official meeting—is a chance for one more impression. Not only does this make your customer’s brand more recognizable, it keeps their brand top of mind for their clients.

What are your customer’s favorite print pieces? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Business Cards, Folders, Marketing, News, Print Products, Stationery

5 Tips for Designing a Better Sales Sheet

Posted on April 24, 2019 Written by

designing a better sales sheet, flyer, personalized printed newsletter, full color sell sheetWhen your customer is creating an informational flyer, a sales sheet for meetings, or a company newsletter, it’s important that their design guides readers through the information and makes it easy—and enticing—to take the next step. If they come to you for guidance on designing their sales sheets, it’s important that you know how to make their sales sheet effective. Here are our tips for designing a better sales sheet.

1. Start With What You Want Your Flyer to Achieve
No matter how stylish your customer wants their flyer to be, it’s important to remember that every print piece has a purpose. That purpose needs to be the foundation of the design for your customer’s flyer. The information and images on that flyer need to support your customer’s goal, and anything that doesn’t should be left out.

2. Keep Things Easy to Read
Whether your customer wants their sales sheet to be text heavy or wants to let images take the spotlight, it’s important that their text is easy to read. Keep information concise, and choose simple, readable fonts that will make the sales sheet easier to scan.

This goes double for your customer’s contact information. You want anyone reading their flyer to be able to find this information as easily as possible, whether that means putting their web address in a bold font or leaving white space around that information to ensure that it is easy to pick out among the other text on the flyer.

3. Short on Space? Make a Grid!
One of the easiest ways to make a flyer readable and easy-to-navigate is to make it in a grid. Not only does using a grid make it easier to budget your space during the design process, it also is a style your customer will be familiar with and that will make it easy for them to quickly read and absorb the information.

And if your customer wants to change things up, consider placing that grid at an angle, tilted slightly. You will still have the easy organization and readability, but the angle will add a touch of visual interest.

4. Add Color
When your customer wants to create an informational piece, color is key! Use blocks of color to emphasize text or important ideas, use one or two photographs to add visual interest, or use your customer’s brand colors to add a splash of recognizable color. Color is a great way to reinforce the message of the sales sheet and make it more entertaining to read.

5. Have a Call to Action
What’s the next step? You don’t want readers to have any doubts about what to do next once they’ve read the sales sheet. Highlight your customer’s website, an “order today!” message, or other information to make that next step clear.

What do you think makes an effective sales sheet? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Design, Education, News, Print Products, Stationery

4 Communication Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Meetings

Posted on April 19, 2019 Written by

communication mistakes that could ruin your personalized print staff meetings, sales meetings and moreWhen you carve out time in your busy schedule to hold a meeting, you want to make sure you use your time effectively and make the most of your time together. However, if you aren’t communicating well, you might be ruining your meetings. Are you making these mistakes—and do you know how to keep them from ruining your meetings?

1. Forgetting the Important Information
If you have important information that should be reviewed before the meeting starts, don’t forget to share it! Not only will this ensure that everyone is on the same page, but it will also save you time in summarizing that information.

2. Having Too Few People at Your Meeting
Have you ever been at a meeting and, midway through, wished that you’d included someone? Sometimes, your meeting can grind to a halt when you don’t have that person there, even if you’re able to track them down or reschedule.

However, there are definitely ways to keep this from making too big of an impact. Did you forget someone important? Was someone not able to be there? Make sure that you take the time to catch up with them after the meeting. This can mean taking notes of all the decisions made at that meeting, keeping note of the questions that you want to ask them, and the pros and cons of undecided issues.

Of course, having too few people at your meeting isn’t the only numbers issue you might face…

3. Having Too Many People At Your Meeting
If you’ve been to enough meetings, you’ll probably have come across an overstuffed meeting before and be very familiar with the issues that these meetings face. It can be hard, with so many people, to have important points heard. And if your meeting has too many people in it, you might find yourself facing another issue…

4. Having Multiple Relevant Conversations Going on At Once
Have you ever been to a meeting where the attendees walked out of the meeting feeling like the group came to very different conclusions? One of the reasons for this might be that the meeting splintered into a few different conversations. This can easily lead to different attendees hearing different information and coming to different conclusions about what the next step is, and that can be a big problem for your projects.

So how can you fix this when two groups of people within the meeting need to address focused points? Don’t just let the meeting wander off into multiple conversations. Instead be intentional when these conversations break off, and make sure to share the decisions with the group when you come back together.

Have you made these communication mistakes? Are we missing a mistake that has impacted your meeting? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Misc, News

3 Ways to Use Spot Gloss Print

Posted on April 18, 2019 Written by

A few weeks ago we debuted our new selection of enhanced finishes, and we wanted to take a moment to highlight how you and your customers can use one of those finishes to create striking design. Spot gloss—also called spot UV—applies a shiny, flat coating to specific areas of a design, and it could be just what your customer needs to make their announcement, business card, or postcard a striking success.

1. Emphasize Design Elements
We’ve paired our enhanced finishes with full color print, so it is easy for your customer to emphasize just the most important elements of their design. Gloss can be applied over a full color logo, the most important text in the design, or even specific elements of an illustration like the moon in a starry sky. This use for spot gloss print has become increasingly popular in recent years, and you might have seen spot gloss adding a bit of extra shine to specific areas of book covers or business cards.

2. Add Accent to Solid Blocks of Color
If your customer is looking for a way to add spot gloss to their print piece, adding spot gloss to an area of solid color could also be a great addition. Consider printing a spot gloss version of your customer’s logo over a solid block of color for an unexpected design element or add a pattern like stripes or dots to a color block border.

The shine of spot gloss will provide the greatest contrast when applied over a darker or more saturated color, but spot gloss can also be striking on lighter colors. And speaking of light colors…

3. Let Gloss Take Center Stage
Whether your customer is looking for an unexpected design element or loves a minimalist look, spot gloss could help them create a stylish print piece all on its own. When spot gloss is applied to white stock in lieu of ink, it creates a design element that commands attention. It’s a good way to create a subtle design on the front of an announcement or use spot gloss to show off your customer’s logo on one side of their business card.

If you’re using spot gloss as the central element of the design, think about it like spot color printing, but the color is a clear shine.

Want to promote this print process to your customers? We’ve created this flyer to help you show off what spot gloss print can do. And, when you’re ready to order, you can order either through our catalog or on Navitor.com.

What do you like best about the look of spot gloss? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Business Cards, Design, Education, News, Print Products, Stationery

Add Style with Engraved Portfolios

Posted on April 17, 2019 Written by

Are your customers looking for a way to celebrate big events or for the perfect gift to impress their most important clients? Personalized portfolios make a perfect gift for the busy executive, new graduate, and much more. Are these stylish personalized pieces right for your customer?

Personalized and Practical
One of the biggest reasons for your customer to consider engraved portfolios is that they are as practical as they are stylish. Each one includes a wide ruled memo pad, three inside pockets for easy storage of pens or other daily essentials, and a business card slot. All of this makes the portfolio a great fit for anyone who might need to take notes at meetings, keep track of top points for presentations, and more.

All this practicality comes with lots of personalization potential, too. Personalizing your customer’s portfolio starts with choosing from three shades of faux leather and two different sizes. Engraving extends that personalization potential with a design in the center or corner of the faux leather cover. These engraved designs can feature logos, monograms, text, and more.

An Elegant Gift for Big Events
Because portfolios evoke polish and professionalism, they’re a great fit for special occasions like graduation. After graduation, portfolios are a polished way for new entrants to the workforce to keep notes and a spare copy of their resume on hand for interviews. They are also an excellent way to celebrate new jobs, especially jobs in industries that value that extra bit of elegance like positions at law firms or agencies.

Honor Employees or Impress Important Contacts
While portfolios are a common gift for occasions like graduations, they are a great fit for a wide variety of different elegant gifts. Does your customer have a top employee who they want to recognize? A portfolio is a gift that shows how much they appreciate those efforts. Do they want to impress a client with a gift at a big meeting? Elegant engraved portfolios could be the perfect finishing touch to their sales pitch.

Ready to learn more? Take a look at our catalog for more information.

Have your customers ordered these portfolios yet? What do they like most about them? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Misc, News, Print Products

4 Networking Tips You Must Know

Posted on April 12, 2019 Written by

networking tips for small business personalized print sales and marketingWhether you are looking for a way to connect with new customers or you’re hoping to have a good conversation with other professionals, a networking event could be a great way to create those new connections. However, these events are what you make them, and creating a quality connection is as much about your skills at networking as it is about the event. Here are four networking tips you must know.

1. Listen When You Join A Conversation—And Show That You’ve Been Listening
When you’re approaching a group of people already engaged in conversation, take some time to listen. Not only will this allow you to have a good understanding of what the group is talking about, but it will also give you a chance to figure out if the conversation is relevant to your interests.

And, when you do join in yourself, acknowledge a point that has been made rather than refocusing the conversation on yourself. Not only will this ensure that you enter the conversation smoothly, but it will ensure that you maintain a friendly tone.

2. Don’t Focus on What You Want—Focus on What You Can Offer
You’re going to the networking event for a reason—usually to make new business connections and possibly make a sale—but don’t let that reason keep you from having a good conversation! Focus on what your customer is saying and how you can speak to the challenges they are facing in their business.

And speaking of that focus…

3. Polish Up Your Elevator Pitch
We’ve talked about elevator pitches before, and a networking event is tailor-made for these one-to-two-sentence summaries of your business. And you can tailor your pitch according to the event. If you’re going to a networking event for social reasons, keep your pitch focused on who you are as a print professional. If you are going to the event to connect with prospective customers, keep the pitch focused on what your business can do for them.

4. Find a Reason to Follow Up
If you’ve established a rapport with someone, keep that relationship going! Once you’ve got their contact information, be sure to reconnect within a week of meeting them. Whether it’s sending an article relevant to the topic you discussed or giving them a call to discuss their product needs, finding a practical reason to follow up can help keep the conversation going.

How do you make the most out of your networking efforts? We’d love to see your suggestions in the comments below.

Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Misc, News

Want Proof That Your Enhanced Finishes Design is Perfect? Order One!

Posted on April 10, 2019 Written by

We understand that when you place an order for one of our new enhanced finishes products you want it to be perfect. Because of this, we’re offering you the option to place an order for a single announcement, business card, or postcard to proof your design! This allows you to check a printed proof of the design for a small fee before committing to your order, and it allows you to adjust the design as needed for a small additional fee for each proof.

How it Works
These proofs can be placed as a manual order or online orders—simply place your order with a quantity of one! Proofs cannot be ordered alongside any other products, but you can order press proofs of multiple Enhanced Finishes print pieces in one order. Once you’ve ordered, we’ll print it for you and send it via 2nd day air so that the proof is in your hands quickly.

The Next Step if You Ordered Online

Like what you see? Your file’s ready to go! If you placed your order online, go to the My Account page, click on Reorders (online orders only) and select your order of one via order conformation, PO number or customer information and click Start Reorder. Once you’re there, select Edit next to Product Specifications, and update the quantity.

Once you’ve taken a look at the proof, you might want to adjust your file. To order, go to the My Account page, click on Reorders (online orders only) and locate your order and click Start Reorder. Once you have located the order, click Edit next to Front Artwork to upload the new artwork and order a single-quantity proof of this new version.

The Next Step if You Ordered Through the Catalog

As with online proofs, once you have examined the proof you can contact us to order a higher quantity of the proofed item or adjust your file and create another proof. If you would like more guidance when creating another proof of your artwork—or if you want additional guidance before you start—contact your customer service team to learn more.

Ready to get started? Take a look at the updated digital copy of our catalog or visit the Enhanced Finishes page on Navitor.com to place your order.

Filed Under: Business Cards, Misc, News, Print Products, Resources, Stationery

Labels Play A Critical Role The Healthcare Industry—No Second Opinion Needed!

Posted on April 10, 2019 Written by

Thoughts of hospital and medical supplies might conjure up images of a healthy amount of bandages, swabs, and tongue depressors, as well as linen storage with an unending supply of unflattering hospital gowns. But it takes much, much more than cotton balls and ill-fitting gowns to make a medical care facility run well. Along with all the medications, monitors, medical devices and paperwork, labels play an integral role in the smooth and safe operation of a hospital, clinic, or other healthcare facility. Before you request a second opinion on that, let’s take a look at some of the ways labels are put to work in the healthcare setting.

Patient identification and charting labels immediately pop to mind when discussing medical labels. These play a vital role in safety and organization. Whether affixed to conventional paper charts, applied to lab orders, or adhered to patient wristbands, patient ID labels provide clear, concise information that is easy to read and won’t fall victim to spills or daily wear and tear.

Prescription alerts and allergy notification labels are just as important in the healthcare setting, and can be found on charts, wristbands, and prescription bottles. Thermal or direct transfer stocks facilitate easy printing of patient information on site. These labels work wonders at keeping things moving in an efficient and quick manner. Emergency rooms are no place for ink cartridge crises!

Equipment identification labels assure that medical equipment can be returned to the proper department, and can also document proof that each device is serviced regularly. Operating instructions or caution labels affixed to hospital beds, IV pumps, and other machinery and medical equipment ensure proper usage and minimize the risk of accidents or injury.

For younger patients, what would a trip to the doctor or hospital be without some fun stickers? Sticker sheets are a phenomenal way to keep little ones’ imaginations engaged while in an unfamiliar environment that might be a bit scary. Medical-themed sticker sheets can even serve as a helpful tool to introduce children to some basic concepts of the healthcare world. Dressing up teddy in a lab coat and stethoscope can help allay some fears or anxiety children may be experiencing. These sticker sets also transition beautifully to promotional or community event giveaways, as they can be customized with the name and address of healthcare facilities. Parades, blood drives and health fairs are the perfect spots to hand out some fun healthcare-themed stickers sporting logos and branding – high interest, yet low sugar!

Other popular uses include:

  • Hospital visitor passes
  • Tamper-evident stickers for lab specimens
  • Lab communication labels (Refrigerate, STAT, Serum, etc.)
  • IV labels
  • Maintenance inspection record labels
  • “Sterile” labels
  • Allergy notifications
  • Prescription bottle instructions or warnings
  • “I Got My Flu Shot!” stickers

Additional options that are vital in hospitals and clinics include:

  • Thermal or Direct Transfer Stocks: Print patient information on site
  • Tamper Evident Stocks: Crucial for prescriptions and medications
  • Barcoding & Consecutive Numbering: A must-have for equipment and patient identification
  • Durable Stocks and Finishes: Perfect for abrasive and harsh environments, bleach and industrial medical cleaners won’t damage these hard-working stocks and finishes!

Medical and healthcare industry labels improve the internal processes of healthcare facilities and enhance the care and experience of patients. Whether it’s a fire engine red warning sticker on equipment or medicines, or a smiling teddy bear sticker, hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes are home to many, many labels and stickers. Trust Label Works to meet the needs of your clients and customers. Contact our customer service department today at 800.522.3558 or customercare@labelworks.com to learn more about our medical and healthcare label options.

Looking for a sample back of medical and healthcare labels? Look no further. We’ve compiled a sample pack your customers can touch and feel and features popular label applications. Simply click here!

Or personalize your own sales flyer geared towards the healthcare and medical market here.

Filed Under: Education, Labels, Marketing, News, Print Products

They’re Here: NEW Enhanced Finishes!

Posted on April 5, 2019 Written by

raised foil, spot uv gloss, raised spot uv gloss for postcards, business cards and announcementsAre your customers looking for a way to add polish to their business cards to make a more memorable first impression? Do they want to make their announcements for an upcoming event extra-special? Do they want the postcard for their next mailing to be truly showstopping?

We’ve got the products for you.

Navitor has debuted three new print processes: raised foil, raised spot gloss, and spot gloss. These processes are a striking addition to a wide variety of print projects. Here’s what you need to know.

Raised Foil: Nine Colors to Choose From

Raised foil creates the look of foil with the tactile appeal of a raised surface, and we’re excited to debut this new print process with a wide selection of foil colors! If your customer is looking for a classic look, take a look at gold and silver raised foil; these are classic metallic colors that are a great fit for brands looking for polished, professional appeal. They can also consider dull gold and dull silver for a similar look with more muted shine.

But their options don’t end there. Your customer can get creative with light blue, red, green, or black at the same price point as classic gold and silver options. And if your customer is looking for a trendy way to capture attention, holographic raised foil is available at a slightly higher price.

Spot Gloss: Just Where You Want It

Does your customer want to add emphasis to the most important parts of their design? They should consider spot gloss. Spot gloss, also called spot UV, allows them to apply a glossy coating in selected areas. They can use it to highlight their logo, the most important text on their print piece, part of an image, and more.

You can also achieve a more subtle look by using spot gloss as a design element in areas where there is no print or in areas where you have used a flood coat to apply a single color. This will create a surprising pop of shine from certain angles, making it a great way to add an unexpected design element or to create a pattern with flair.

And if your customer wants to add dimension to their spot gloss print…

Raised Spot Gloss: Bringing Gloss to New Heights
Love the look of spot gloss but want the tactile appeal of a raised surface? Raised spot gloss is here to deliver! You can use raised spot gloss similarly to spot gloss, but in addition to the pop of shine it will create a raised surface for even more emphasis.

Want to Know More?
If you’re looking for more information, we have a variety of different options for you! Click here to explore the products available, or download a flyer to help you introduce these new print processes to your customers. If you want to learn more about how to create the designs for these print pieces, click here for the detailed instructions you will need to create your Enhanced Finishes press files.

Are you excited about these new print processes? We’d love to see you join in the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Business Cards, Misc, News, Print Products, Resources, Stationery
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