Print Products

4 Ways to Use Post-it® Notes in the Holiday Season

Posted on September 20, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

The holiday season is fast approaching—do your customers have the print they need? Not only is the holiday season a great time to order your customer’s tried-and-true favorites, it’s also a great time for them to get creative with their print orders. In that spirit of creativity, we wanted to share a few ways that your customers can use Post-it® Notes during the holiday season!

1. Coupons
Coupons are a great way to bring customers into crowded stores during the shopping season. For coupons that really stick—tucked into mailed orders, stuck to receipts from in-store purchases, or handed out to those browsing before the holiday season—consider Post-it® Notes. Not only do Post-it® notes stick securely and remove cleanly from wherever they are placed, they’ll stay where they are placed until consumers are ready to use them.

2. Donation Drives
Is your customer looking for a way to give back to their community during the holiday season? Post-it® Notes are a fun visual way to keep track of their donation drives. They can be displayed on a wall, used to fill a chart, and be an inspiration for others to donate, too!

Post-it® Notes can also be a good way to show community members what to donate. Personalized with the name of the charity, these sticky notes can be labeled with the needs of a single person in a sponsored family or the needs of the entire family. Post-it® Note adhesive makes them easy to display on walls or bulletin boards for donors to browse and plan their donations.

3. Gifts for Employees or Customers
If your customer wants to use the holidays to recognize employees for their hard work or to connect with top customers, Post-it® Notes make great gifts for employees or customers! Not only are they practical, making sure that employees can use them in the office and customers will use them time and again, full color print allows them to be versatile. Your customer can match them to company branding, event décor, and much more.

4. “From Santa…” Notes
If your customer works in retail, Post-it® Notes could be the perfect addition to their holiday gift wrap station. Adding a “handwritten” note from Santa either inside the wrapping paper or on the outside can be a fun addition to gifts wrapped for children, and the note is easily removed from the packaging when it’s time to play.

Do your customers get creative with Post-it® Notes for the holidays? What’s their favorite use? We’d love to hear more about their favorite uses in the comments below.

Filed Under: Design, Education, Marketing, Print Products, Resources, Stationery

The First Word in Safety: Label Works’ New Reflective Stock

Posted on September 18, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Labels are an efficient way to call attention to important information in a host of different settings. But what about poorly lit areas? It’s hard to read information that cannot be seen. Do those areas just become no-label zones? Certainly not!

Some labels are necessary even in less than optimal conditions. Low light settings, dark environments, and poor weather conditions can pose a challenge. But at Label Works, we say, “Challenge accepted.” We’d like to introduce you to our Retro-reflective stock! This stock works wonders in dark and poorly lit spaces. Retro-reflective stock renders high visibility even in low light, and also remains visible through poor weather conditions. We like to think that labels have a place anywhere and everywhere – you just need the right tools to get the job done!

Retro-reflective stock is slightly different than true reflective stock. Ready for a bit of a physics lesson? Here we go! Reflective stock reflects light in the same manner a mirror does. Light hits the mirror (or reflective stock) and bounces away at the same angle of entry but in the opposite direction. Imagine bouncing a ball away from you on the floor. The ball will hit the floor but bounce away instead of coming back toward you. The same is true of light hitting a reflective stock. Retro-reflective stock, on the other hand, works with innovative technology to optimize the use of what little light is available. The surface of the retro-reflective stock is covered in very small glass spheres. The rounded shape of each glass sphere creates the retro-reflectivity. Light hitting the surface of the stock is reflected directly back toward the source of the light. Imagine shining a flashlight on an item in a dark room labeled with retro-reflective stock. The light won’t reflect and bounce away. It will be reflected directly back at you, resulting in high visibility of the label. Voila! Label visibility even in the darkest of places!

Now that we’ve touched on the science of the retro-reflective stock, let’s shine some light on the practical applications for this stock!

Safety decals
Warning and security stickers
Hard hat stickers
Parking permits
Emergency service vehicles, equipment, and tools for Police, Fire Department, and EMTs and Paramedics
Outdoor enthusiast organizations and associations, including motorcycling, bicycling, snowmobiling, boating, sailing, skiing, hunting, and fishing
Warehouse rack labels where messages need to be easily seen when hit with a beam of light
Security and Warning applications
HVAC, Well and Pump
Shelving labels, pallet labels, and asset labels

Retro-reflective stock is a hard-working label which comes with permanent adhesive and lamination for extra protection from the elements. Because of the nature of many reflective labels, this stock has to be tough, and ready to take on less than perfect weather conditions. A few things to note about this stock:

Retro-reflective stock appears slightly grey in color rather than a true white due to the glass bead technology used to produce the reflectivity.
It is thermal-transfer compatible (recommended to test ribbons).
Retro-reflective stock bounces the light back to the source, therefore making it a great option for scanning. This stock is especially productive for long-range scanning.

Curious to learn more about our new Retro-reflective stock and the host of possible applications for this innovative technology? Call Label Works at 800.522.3558 to speak with one of our Customer Support team members and we’d be happy to send you more information!

Filed Under: Education, Labels, Marketing, Resources

5 Creative Uses for Trading Cards during the Holiday Season

Posted on September 12, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Whether your customer is gearing up for a big holiday season or is preparing to simply get through that busy time and start strong in the New Year, considering creative print should be on their schedule! Trading cards might seem like a simple print piece, but they’re a great canvas for creative print, and that creativity can cut through the clutter of the busy holiday season. Here are our five top choices for using trading cards during the holidays.

1. Previews of New Products
Does your customer have new products coming in the New Year? Trading cards are a fun way to preview those products and cut through the increase in marketing during the holiday season. Include a photograph of the product and the high-level details about that product to provide a preview that packs a punch.

2. Something Different From the North Pole
Is your customer hosting a “meet Santa” event at their retail location? Consider trading cards as a fun giveaway item for kids. This is an especially good fit for stores that specialize in sports and games, but it could be a fun addition to any retail location.

For an added bit of fun, Santa can “autograph” these trading cards for the kids.

3. Fundraisers
If your customer is looking for a lightweight piece to sell for their holiday fundraisers or a fun “thank you” piece to send to donors after a successful holiday fundraiser, trading cards can be a great fit. Instead of player statistics, trading cards can also be created to highlight different aspects of a nonprofit’s mission, different nonprofit employees, and more. They could also be printed with the statistics of a nonprofit’s 2019 activities, the results of holiday fundraisers, and more.

4. Checklists
Whether creating blank wish list cards or highlighting the favorite new products that could make great holiday gifts, a trading card makes an excellent canvas for a pocket-sized checklist. Use one side of the card to highlight what store provided the checklist and the other to create the checklist itself.

5. Creative Event Tickets
Printed with artwork that matches your customer’s event décor or their branding, trading cards could be a fun, creative ticket option for their holiday event. For company events, they should consider including an employee photo for the front.

And, of course, your customers can create much more with trading cards. These small print pieces are an excellent canvas for creative employee profiles small informational pieces, and more!

Do your customers order trading cards? If they do, do they keep things traditional or get creative? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

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

4 Creative Ways Your Customers Can Use Personalized Playing Cards

Posted on September 11, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Are your customers looking for a print piece that is as fun as it is practical? Are you looking for more options for your print order that are just a click away?

Playing cards are available for order on Navitor.com!

If you haven’t given these personalized print pieces a closer look, it’s a great time to talk to your customers about the possibilities of playing cards. With pre-designed faces and full color backs that can be personalized with your customer’s chosen image, playing cards have plenty of personalization potential alongside easy-to-read card faces. And, with a bit of creativity, your customer can use these print pieces to give their marketing a boost! Here are four options.

Fundraisers
Personalized with your customer’s logo, a full color photograph, or even a “thank you” message for donors, playing cards make excellent gifts for donors to nonprofits. They can also be a great item to sell! Even better, these cards will keep the nonprofit’s branding in the public eye with every game, whether that game is solitaire or a round of poker.
Promotional Gifts
If your customer is looking for a way to impress their top customers or for a gift when someone visits their facilities, playing cards are an option that will be used time and again. They can be printed with a branded image like your customer’s logo, a photograph of employees, a “thank you” message from your customer, or even the name of the recipient!
Party Favors
Playing cards are a promotional gift that has almost universal appeal. Not only are there a wide variety of different games that can be played with playing cards, but many people collect decks of playing cards as well! They are an especially good fit for gaming events like a poker night, but they can also stand out as a favor for your customer’s upcoming holiday events.
Add an Element of Fun to Classrooms
Whether they are used to illustrate numbers, organize classroom games, randomly select students, or provide kids with an activity for when their homework is done, playing cards can be an excellent addition to classrooms. And because they can be personalized easily and in low quantities, the back of these cards can be marked with any information your customer wants—the name of a teacher to ensure that they are returned, the school’s mascot to encourage a bit of extra school spirit, or the school’s name so that the same design can be used for gifts and classroom use.

Do your customers order personalized playing cards? How do they use them in their business? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below?

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

Perfect Print for Boutiques

Posted on September 5, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Whether your customer creates the products for their own store or gathers the very best to offer consumers, boutiques are a market where print is one more chance to make things extraordinary. Print can help add branding and style to every angle of a boutique’s business, from personalizing the building to adding an extra special touch to every product. Here are our picks of print pieces perfect for boutiques.

From the Moment They Walk Through the Door
One of the first ways that consumers connect with your customer’s brand is in their storefront, from their window display to their signage. And that signage is an essential way to personalize storefronts of all sorts. For an unexpected touch, your customer should consider clear window clings or vinyl wall art to reinforce architectural signage; these decals can be used to show off brand imagery and colors, display store hours, and add a bit of extra style.

Badges and Signage Bring Branding Indoors
The consumer is in the door—now what? Signage can also be used to brand a store’s interior to keep that branding going. Wall art can add style to the décor, signage can help guide guests through the store or provide necessary instructions, and decals can be used to highlight new products or special buys in glass product cases.

And your customer should be sure to match their badges to that signage. Even when employees don’t wear uniforms, branded badges create a polished look and make them easy to find when a shopper needs assistance.

Business Cards Add Polish and Professionalism
Business cards are a classic piece that many businesses use to connect with customers and investors, and boutiques are no exception. For boutiques, however, your customer might want to add an extra special touch to their business cards to match their extraordinary product offering. Consider adding color core stock for an unexpected pop of color, glitter color core for sparkle, or pearlized stock for a subtle shimmer.

Labels and Tags for Products
Boutiques specialize in well-chosen products, and the right product labels and tags can help add a special touch to this hand-selected flair. Your customer should consider using labels to add a branded touch to boxes, brown paper bags, and other preexisting packaging.

Branding with Every Buy
Does your customer want to keep the branded appeal going when a purchase has been made? They should consider adding personalized plastic bags to their business. Not only do these bags give them the chance to create one more touch point for their brand, they add a polished advertisement to each additional person they pass by.

And keep an eye out for new products that your customers who own boutiques will love!

Do you do business with boutiques? What print pieces are their favorites? We’d love to see your feedback in the comments below.

Filed Under: Design, Education, Labels, Marketing, News, Print Products, Promotional Products, Stationery

5 Fall Events in need of Tickets

Posted on September 4, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Event tickets are a versatile print piece. Does your customer want to host a raffle? They’re ready to go. Do they want to create stylish tickets for a gala? Event tickets are there. With so many opportunities, we wanted to highlight some of our seasonal favorites. Here are our picks for fall events in need of personalized printed tickets from your business!

Outdoor Concerts
The weather might be cooling down, but outdoor events are still going strong and personalized event tickets are a great way to keep track of attendees and manage entry. Tickets can be coordinated with event posters and décor to make the experience feel complete.
Fundraisers
As we mentioned before, event tickets are ready-made for raffles—they even feature perforated ends that are easy to separate for drawings. Full color print makes them a great canvas for nonprofit branding and messaging.
Fall Commencement
While spring is a more common time for graduations, if you work with customers in higher education you might want to mention tickets for fall commencements! While fewer students finish their college careers in the fall, these are still events in need of tickets. Even better, you can use this order to get your foot in the door for commencement events in the spring.
Employee Appreciation Events
Adding a ticket to an employee appreciation event can be an excellent way for your customers to add a bit of polish to employee appreciation events. A personalized event ticket makes the event feel more exclusive and more exciting. And with temperate fall weather, it’s the last chance many of your customers will have to take advantage of outdoor spaces before winter weather sets in.
Pre-Holiday Previews
Some businesses host previews of the new products they will be debuting for the holiday season, and while these previews already feel exclusive an event ticket can help add to that feeling. This will make the event—and by extension, the products on display—feel just that more important.

What fall events are your customers’ favorites? How do they use tickets to add polish to these special occasions? We’d love to see your suggestions in the comments below.

Filed Under: Education, Marketing, News, Print Products, Resources, Stationery

Speed Up with Faster Print Quotes

Posted on August 30, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

Sometimes your customers need their quote fast—what can you do to get your quotes faster? As it turns out, there are a few things you can do to help ensure that nothing gets in the way of your quoting process. Often, your quote will arrive faster if we have more information about your order. So, how can you get your quote faster? Here’s what we need to know.

Start With Your Name, Contact Information, and Account Number
Because we work exclusively with resellers, we need to know that you’ve signed up for a Navitor account. That’s why it’s a good idea to put your account number and contact information upfront; it means that we can confirm your account quickly and ensures that we don’t need to double-check your information before getting your quote.

For an additional boost of speed, put your account number in the subject line. It’s an easy way to ensure that we get right to pricing your print products. And speaking of those products…

Product Details in Detail
What do you know about the print piece your customer needs quoted? We can give you more accurate information when you include as much information as possible, and it will cut down on back-and-forth while we try to get the specifics of your order. What information should you include?

A basic description of the order. What products do your customers need? Do they need sales sheets? Are they looking for a custom-sized folder?
What quantity?
What is the finished size of the piece?
Does your customer want a stock from our standard selection, or are they looking for a custom-ordered stock?
What type of print do your customers need? Do they need spot color print? Full color? Are they looking for a specialty process like enhanced finishes?
Does your customer need bleeds?
Will the piece feature single-sided or double-sided print?
Does your customer want a proof? Will digital work best, or do they want a press proof?

This list can seem like a lot of information, but it really does allow us to create a better and more accurate quote.

Instant Quoting for the Truly Speedy
Our quoting department isn’t the only way for you to get a quote. We also offer our online price calculator for real-time pricing. Simply select your product line from the drop down list on our homepage and click “Go” to start. Once you’ve clicked, you can select your product category, subcategory, and then product details. The calculator will instantaneously calculate online pricing for your order and your order’s production time. You can even click a button to start immediately.

What suggestions do you have for print buyers looking for printing quotes? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below.

Filed Under: Design, Education, Marketing, Print Products, Resources

Create an Autumn Marketing Strategy that “Falls” Together

Posted on August 29, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

We’ve talked through marketing strategies for spring and summer—now it’s time to plan for fall! As the weather gets cooler and the leaves start to change color, your marketing strategy has the chance to change, too! Fall is a great time to regroup before the busy holiday season and much more. Here are our tips for creating your autumn marketing strategy.

Update Your Social Media Look
If you’re looking to dip your toe into a seasonal aesthetic, social media is a great place to start. Share photographs of samples in fall colors—we recommend our education vertical market kit for a splash of orange and back-to-school appeal—and make the most of the warm weather to show off your storefront and outdoor activities. Because social media moves quickly, you can use it as a testing ground for seasonal marketing in your business. Do your customers respond to

Take Advantage of the Nice Weather While You Can
Does winter put a damper on walk-in business? Embrace the fall weather while you’re able to do so! Host an outdoor event like a lunch-and-learn at a local park to teach your customers about new or popular print products, put signs up on your storefront to promote your business, and maybe get involved in some local outdoor charity events when you’re able.

Encourage Early Holiday Shopping
It’s never too early for your customers to start preparing for the holidays, and you can create a marketing message that speaks to that. Whether they want to create a direct mail campaign, craft print for a celebration, or simply need to stock up before the New Year arrives, early holiday shopping can help your customers ensure that they have the print they need on time. And it will give you the chance to take a little bit off your plate at the end of the year—a win for both of you!

And speaking of the holidays…

Work Ahead Where You Can
The holiday season is coming faster than you might think, which makes fall the perfect time to stick to your tried-and-true marketing strategies. Not only will this help streamline the process of creating your marketing strategy, it will give you more time to work before the busy holiday season hits.

How do you market in the fall? Do you have any tips to share? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Deals, Marketing, Print Products, Resources, Stationery

4 Sales Call Mistakes Your Customers Have Probably Heard This Week

Posted on August 28, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

No matter who you are talking to, a sales call can be a challenge—especially if your customer has been the recipient of several sales calls recently. Not only are you trying to make sure that your customer knows the benefits of the print you offer, but you’re trying to stand out from the crowd. By avoiding these four sales call mistakes, you’ll stand out from the crowd in the best possible way.

1. Being Too Aggressive
Whether it’s talking about yourself too much or pushing your products even after your customer has said that they aren’t interested, being aggressive is one issue that your customers are familiar with and it probably loses your competitors sales. Instead of being very aggressive with your customers, make sure that you balance your confidence with creating a connection with them. Ask questions about their print needs, offer options, and remember that the final choice of what print to order ultimately belongs to your customers.

2. Using Jargon
Your customer probably has some experience in print, but that’s no reason to fill your call with as much jargon as possible. Many salespeople use jargon in an attempt to sound like an expert, but it can alienate customers and make the call take longer than it needs to be because the customer may need to ask questions later about what those terms mean. If you need to use a technical term—bleed, for example—make sure that you’re also defining the important term in your sales pitch.

Speaking of important information…

3. Lack of Information
Whether it’s fumbling to find important information or talking only about the business itself and not about the products, a lack of usable information can make your competitors seem like they don’t know what they’re doing. Remember that you are the expert—be sure to have the information you need at the ready to ensure that your expertise comes across to your customers. Have your supplier’s catalog bookmarked so you can find that product at a moment’s notice. Keep your notes about previous conversations on hand. Not only will this help the call go more smoothly, but it will also highlight your expertise.

4. Not Giving Your Call a Clear Call-to-Action
Imagine how your customer feels when a sales call ends and they don’t have a clear picture of what’s next. Will they be sent a digital copy of a catalog to browse? Will you be calling back with a quote? What phone number should they use to contact you if they have questions? If you can give a clear call to action—a clear next step to your customer—it makes the sales process easier for them and helps ensure that you’ll get that next call!

What do you consider a big sales call mistake? Did we miss the biggest mistake on your list? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Filed Under: Education, News, Print Products, Resources

Poster vs. Poster

Posted on August 23, 2019 Written by Navitor Team

When you think about a poster you probably envision something pretty specific, a concert poster on a bedroom wall or a poster on a bulletin board to advertise a performance. And it can seem like posters are essentially all the same.

But are they really?

As it turns out, they aren’t! The different poster options that we offer—one in our stationery product line and one in our NSP product line—give your customers different things, so we’re bringing them together to compare.

Sizing Things Up
When your customer is looking for a specific size of poster, you want to know which product will give them the right size for the job. This is another difference between our two poster options. The posters from our stationery line are available in four different sizes:

12” x 18”
13” x 19”
18” x 24”
19” x 27”

NSP’s posters, on the other hand, are available in a wider variety of sizes, both smaller and larger. The full list of these posters includes:

8 ½” x 11”
11” x 17”
16” x 20”
18” x 24”
22” x 28”
24” x 36”
27” x 40”
36” x 48”
40” x 60”

What’s Your Preferred Paper?
Paper selection is another way that these poster options differ. NSP’s posters are available in Standard Matte 33 lb. Bond Stock, Super Heavy Matte 55 lb. Bond Stock, Semi-Gloss 100 lb. Cover Stock, and Gloss 100 lb. Cover Stock.

Posters from our stationery line, on the other hand, are all printed on White Gloss 100 lb. Text. This stock is lightweight and ideal for larger orders. Speaking of larger orders…

Just a Few or Many More
One of the biggest differences that you’ll see between these poster options is that posters from our NSP product line are available only in smaller quantities. This product line allows your customer to order between 1 and 50 posters for their smaller projects.

Posters from our stationery product line, on the other hand, are available in many more quantities—many more, in fact. You can order as few as 5 of these posters or as many as 5,000 through our catalog.

Want to order a poster? You can find more information on the posters from our NSP product line here, and you can our sales sheets to help you sell, simply download the sales sheet and add your company information. If you want to order online, you can also click here to order online.

Filed Under: Marketing, News, Print Products, Resources, Stationery