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Fargo Logo & Design: A great logo should:

• Distinguish your company from your competition

  Don't try to emulate another company. Be your own brand. Less than a decade after Coca-Cola was born, Pepsi quickly became successful by setting themselves apart rather than trying to emulate the leaders.
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• Use meaningful colors

  Different colors and shades can have different effects on people because of color association. Green is associated with the environment and is an appropriate logo for a company like the Sierra Club or Greenpeace. However, green is also associated with motion sickness so would be a poor choice for the interior of a car.
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• Use an appropriate font

  You may generally gravitate to bold, exciting fonts, or feminine curvy fonts but if you are a ballet company, you should probably avoid harsh, clunky lettering, and if you are a football team, you should probably avoid graceful, delicate lettering, even if it's more attractive to you.
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• Be simple

  Your logo can have some elaborate features but it should be simple enough to make a quick statement.
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• Be memorable

  Your logo should make a statement about your company. The next time a customer needs your kind of business, he'll choose you just because of brand recognition.
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• Avoid distracting elements

  Your logo does not need, LLC, Inc, and other details. That type of detail can be saved for documentation about your company. The next time you are driving past businesses, take a look at the logos around you and see how other successful logos are handled.
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• Avoid taglines if possible

  Taglines can be an important part of a company's image but should be separate from a logo. The size of the text in a tagline is so much smaller that it often forces the logo to be bigger in order to accommodate the text.

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Fargo Logo & Web Design
1. Make sure the ad has a strong headline and call-to-action. What's the one thing you want to convey and what do you want prospects to do next? Make sure these two elements are strong and clear.
Fargo Logo & Web Design
2. Stir up some emotion. The most powerful buying triggers are emotional benefits. Success and admiration can be strong motivators for business buyers. So is fear -- fear of failure, being beaten by the competition, etc. Your messaging should focus on emotional benefits and how your product delivers them. To achieve this goal, you really need to know your audience.
Fargo Logo & Web Design
3. Speak to your audience. Going beyond #2, design your entire ad to grab attention and appeal to your target audience. Consider your headline, copy, photography, typeface and layout. If your target audience is C-levels, your ad should be eye-catching and communicate the benefit in the headline or image – a C-level cares about results and is less likely to read the rest of the ad than, say, an IT manager or technician who will need some degree of detail before responding.

Also, if your product or service is new to a particular audience, pay special attention not to use jargon or industry lingo.

Fargo Logo & Web Design
4. Building on #3, don't dump all the information about your product or service into your ad. Usually this isn't the time to list all of your features & benefits. Give prospects just enough information to grab attention, feel pain and identify with the problem, then contact you for your solution.

Fargo Logo & Web Design
5. Treat the other ads as competitors. The average American is exposed to 1,000+ messages per day. And the print publication is probably full of ads and articles that are competing for the attention of your prospects. How large are other ads? Full color or spot color? Photography or heavy copy? Size up the competition and make sure your ad stands out.

Fargo Logo & Web Design
6. Make it easy for prospects to contact you and get the exact information they want. If you only provide a phone number or a generic URL, you're going to lose valuable prospects – not everyone will be ready to pick up the phone, and it can be tough to find specific answers from your home page. Instead, provide a URL to a unique landing page that focuses on converting prospects for this particular campaign. Use a phone number to a specific sales rep or a group that can help on the spot. And include an email address to a spam-protected email address.

Fargo Logo & Web Design
7. Be scrupulous with your proof. A typo or poor grammar can damage your credibility and wash your investment down the drain. And pay special attention to your contact information – it should be large, legible and correct. Dial the phone number directly off your ad proof – do it several times to make sure it's correct. Do the same with the email and URL. A mistake here will ruin your response.

Fargo Logo & Web Design
8. Make sure your offer will generate qualified leads. You don’t want to artificially create a lot of sales appointments that will inundate the sales force with unqualified leads. Remember, it’s not necessarily the response rate that matters – it's the return on your investment. Focus on driving profitable revenue, not just a long list of names for your database.

Fargo Logo and Design: Creating a Brand on a Budget in Fargo Moorhead

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Tips on writing a print advertisement

A good advertisement should have:

• an interesting headline
• clear design
• well-written copy

Headline

• A good headline should catch the reader's attention and make them want to read on. It might ask a question or inspire curiosity. For example, a bed manufacturer might ask if readers want to know the secret of a good night's sleep.
• Don't overplay the actual message - people will feel let down if they read on and their expectations are not fulfilled.
• A headline will encourage people to read on if it offers a clear benefit - such as "buy one, get one free".

Clear design

• The way an advertisement looks plays a big part in attracting and retaining the reader's interest.
• Avoid small or complicated typefaces that are difficult to read. And don't mix too many typefaces in one advertisement.
• Don't clutter the layout - keep plenty of white space in the advertisement - avoid the temptation to say too much.

Well-written copy

• The amount of text you include depends on the purpose and size of the advertisement. Businesses that want to advertise a sale might have a very limited amount of text accompanied by a headline and a picture of some of the items on offer.
• If you're writing a lot of text, it should follow on logically from the headline, build a convincing case and prompt a response from the reader. Back up any claims with facts.
• Good copy draws attention to the benefits of the product or service rather than focusing solely on the features.
• All the reader wants to know is "what's in it for me?"

Remember that businesses have a duty to ensure their advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful.

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In my conversations with ISPs, most have told me that print advertising doesn't work for them. However, I can't help but wonder if those ISPs could have run their marketing campaigns better. Here are some things to remember the next time you try print advertising.

1. As in all advertising, repetition is required. The prospect may not be interested in your service offering this week, but next week they might be. It will take between fifteen and twenty-one exposures of your name before the light goes on in the prospect's mind. So don't base results on just one or two ads! Keep them running for a while.

2. The headline you use is extremely important. If it isn't compelling enough to get the reader to actually stop and read your ad, then you won't be selling anything. The headline must grab their attention and interest, and pull them into your ad. Headlines do not have to be cute, or fancy, or rhyme; but they absolutely must grab the reader's attention and stop them from moving on to the next ad.

Have the headline tell the reader what your ad is about, such as Free Internet for a Year. In the body of the ad you can say, "when a 3 year contract is signed", or whatever conditions you want to attach to it.

3. The ad should have a call-to-action such as "while supplies last", "3-day offer", "this week only", or some sort of phrasing that will get the person to actually pick up the phone and call you. Avoid phrases like "call today" or "call now" because they have no sense of urgency. In contrast, "last three days" lets the reader know that after that time they have lost out.

4. Please don't use reverse copy. White lettering on a dark background is difficult to read and reduces the chances of your ad being looked at—especially if there is a lot of copy.

5. You don't have to tell the entire story in the ad. Instead, bulleted points or statements can give the essence of what you have, allowing you to expect the reader to call or come by.

6. Remember the old marketing K.I.S.S. principle: Keep It Simple Stupid, or Keep It Simple & Straightforward. Either way, keep your ad simple and to the point.

7. If you can afford color in your ad, then by all means have color. Red indicates action and blue coveys trust, so use blue with "Guarantee", "Family Friendly", and similar phrases. Red would be used with "Last Three Days" and other call-to-action phrasing.

8. Graphics should enhance and support the message, so don't have a graphic just to have a graphic. Sometimes graphics can pretty much tell the whole story, and if that's the case for you, then let the graphic take center stage and have the copy support the graphic rather than the other way around.

9. In general, the bigger the ad the better. When you read the newspaper or look at one of those weekly ad flyers do you take the time to actually look at all those small one-inch ads? Probably not, and that's why I don't recommend small ads. Your ad should be large enough to get noticed by just about every reader, and that means a quarter-page ad at the least.

Yes, they are more expensive, but they are also more likely to be seen and read. So if you are going to spend hard-earned money on an ad, then it should be something that people actually can see with little or no effort on their part. Why spend money on a small ad that few people see and fewer read?

10. Contracts with the Magazines are good. Many people don't want to sign a contract because they don't understand what the relationship with the Magazine is. When you sign a contract for display advertising you are committing to a specified number of insertions (ads) in a given amount of time, usually a year. You are saying "I will place multiple display ads in your Magazine if you give me a discount." For example, if you sign a contract for 12 insertions that means during the next twelve months you will place 12 ads. You are not committed to the size of the ad.

Print advertising can work when done properly, but as in any advertising, one ad will not cause the phone to ring off the hook. Repetition is paramount. You must get the prospect's attention, you must give them a compelling reason to choose you, there should be a call-to-action, and please don't forget to include your phone number in the ad.

Fargo Logo and Design: Creating a Brand on a Budget in Fargo Moorhead

Fargo Printing: Save Money with us Locally Fargo Moorhead Printing Service
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Fargo logos and Design: Making Your Print Ad “Pop”: Adding Color Can Help Increase the Effectiveness of Your Marketing Campaign

An effective ad is an essential element of any successful marketing campaign. It is a visual introduction to a company and the product or services offered. It also provides

potential customers with important information, such as the benefits of a product or service and contact information.

In creating your ad, a key goal is to make it stand out from the rest. There are a number of ways to do this. One of the most commonly used methods is adding color. Using color can help you distinguish important elements in the ad. For example, it can be used to emphasize an important piece of information such as a product name or a web address. Color can also establish hierarchy, giving the reader cues as to where their eyes should go first when viewing the ad. Read below to learn more about how you can enhance your print ad campaign with color.

Fargo Logo&Design: The Psychology of Color

Color can be quite powerful and can help you illicit a particular response or convey a specific mood or tone. For instance, red invokes feelings of excitement and passion; yellow is cautionary and used to give warning; blue is cool and authoritative; and green is reassuring. So when creating a print ad, it is important that the psychology of color is kept in mind and that the use of color is consistent with your goals.

Color can also be subjective. According to Gwen Roy, Senior Art Director of APA’s Monitor on Psychology and gradPSYCH, bright colors, but not fluorescents, seem to be most pleasing. “Basic shades of reds, blues and yellows are good,” she says.

Fargo Logo&Design: Four-color or Two-color?

Placing a color ad entails not only deciding which colors to use, but how many. Four-color ads are extremely effective if color is used properly. Roy cautions that you have to know when to stop. “Too many gradients and colors can be distracting and can take away from the ad,” she says. “If there is too much of anything, it will not work. There needs to be some white space, some breathing room in the ad.”

Two-color ads can be equally successful. According to Roy, depending on the layout, a simple two-color ad can be just as effective as one that is 4-color. “A two-color ad stands out because it doesn’t look like the other ads nor the editorial that surrounds it in the publication,” she says. “One of my favorite ads is from Wide Range. It is really nice because of its simple use of color. It is a 2-color ad, but it is still very interesting and pleasing to the eye. I always notice it.”

Fargo Logo&Design: The Challenges of Color Reproduction

In creating color ads, getting accurate color reproduction is always a major challenge. What you see on your computer screen is not usually what you see in your printouts nor on the final printed piece. “You can’t trust what is on the monitor and in your printouts. The white light on the screen causes the images to look different than on paper,” Roy says.

Another reason for this color shift is because scanners, computer monitors, laser printers, printer proofs, and printing presses define and display colors differently. For instance, computer monitors and offset printing presses use different color systems. Images on the monitor are displayed using RGB — colors produced by combining red, green, and blue. On the other hand, offset printing produces color by mixing cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) ink.

Fargo Logo&Design: Converting RGB Files to CMYK

When supplying your 2-color or 4-color ad for publication, it is very important to save any RGB application files and graphic elements as CMYK. If an ad is converted from RGB to CMYK during the printing process, chances are the end result will be very different than what is expected. “Ads are printed in a CMYK environment. So when RGB files are converted to CMYK there are algorithm shifts in color,” explains Paul Bellis, Electronic Prepress Technical Support Leader at Fry Communications, Inc., in Mechanicsburg, PA. “Proofs generated in RGB do not look like the final piece that is printed with CMYK inks.” For example, an RGB file may appear to be blue on your monitor screen, but when it is printed on an offset press it looks purple. This shift occurs when a combination of 100% cyan and 100% magenta is used to reproduce the RGB blue.

Ads using PMS or spot colors should also be supplied in a CMYK color space. The reason explains Bellis is that in the proofing environment the proofers do not have all of the actual Pantone colors to use as reference. “We don’t usually have the entire library of colors. So ads simulated as CMYK give us some guidance.”

Fargo Logo&Design: Using Color Management Systems

While there are color management systems, such as the PANTONE Matching System or Kodak Digital Science Color Management System, available that attempt to make colors more consistent across different devices, the reality is that exact color matching is almost impossible. Investing in one of these formal systems, however, can help you match colors as accurately as possible. You can also use simple reference guides, such as the PANTONE swatch book for screen builds, to see how a printed version of a built PMS color will appear. Rather than trying to match color on screen to the final output, Roy recommends using a PMS swatch book to produce color. She advises building PMS colors and then converting them to CMYK in an application program, such as QuarkXpress, used to design the ad.

Fargo Logo&Design: Supplying Color Proofs

When submitting your ad to a magazine or newspaper publisher, be sure to include a color proof. Color proofs are very important tools. Serving as a reference guide, they help the proofers at the print shop determine if the final printed reproduction will be close to the original proof. “Having a proof gives us some color guidance,” says Bellis. “If we receive an iris or match print proof, then we can match colors more accurately at the proofing stage.”

Because there are a wide variety of sources that can generate proofs, Bellis advises the use of color laser printers, such as Kodak or Epson, that have been SWOP certified. SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications) is a set of guidelines established by the Magazine Publishers Association to specify standard ink colors and dot gain tolerances. This gives print shops an acceptable color variation range in which final printed pieces can fall within. For yellow, magenta, and cyan, the range is generally+/- 0.02. For black, it is +/- 0.04.

A Final Note

When planning your marketing strategy, be sure to consider color in your print ads. It can enhance your message and make your ad stand at full attention. If you decide to go with color, keep in mind the tips above so that there are no major surprises and you are awarded with a successful marketing campaign.

Fargo Printing: Save Money with us Locally Fargo Moorhead Printing Service
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