Have you ever taken an order from a client knowing that there was very little immediate profit from the order for you and your company? Perhaps you sold someone an order and when you finished you most likely wondered why you did all that work for little or no profit at all. It seems that we all think about this little scenario around tax time every spring. We'll take a look at the volume handled and the amount we still have, then will stand there with a mystery to solve -- what happened? This is one of the reasons to constantly monitor our businesses in order to know where we are and to avoid getting into a problem before it's too late.

Often, clients will look to us to solve a problem they have with obtaining a product or a service that is foreign to our offerings. If we really want the loyalty of our clientele, we must service their requests for help even before they ask for it. We must learn to anticipate their requests even before they make them because if we do not help them, someone else will be there to take care of these needs, and possibly their future needs.

It is very common to get requests from clients for very small things, especially in the sign supply and advertising business. You may come across someone who wants one or two small items printed and/or installed, and it may seem not worthwhile at that moment, but that small service will often propel you to landing a much larger order. We must care for those who have a need, even if it isn't to the greatest of profits. It takes a lot of money to keep your business moving, and the margins of profits you must maintain are essential to your continued operation, but sometimes you need to plant some seeds that might take a little longer to give you a good harvest. There is a time for all things, and when you service your clients, that might be the right time for you to give service because the client has supported you.

We all have a treasure in the accounts we now have, and selling to them is much easier than attempting to sell a new account. You may be surprised at what kind of orders you can obtain simply by asking for them!

Running a business in a competitive economy means that you have got to be on your toes when it comes to market sharing. It is a basic survival rule! If you are running a business in the field of graphics, printing, and advertising, the idea of market sharing is even more important. Clients look for the easiest, most cost effective routes now, and in the printing industry, flatbed printers are a viable option to gaining expanded business!

The flatbed printer brings easy printing capabilities that can cut out, all together, the need for vinyl application onto substrates. Many local companies in South Carolina already come to MN Designs because of our flatbed capabilities, and it had expanded their markets greatly. The greatest capability of the flatbed printer is that it can print directly onto a substrate. As noted before, this eliminates the need for vinyl application which saves time, and ultimately saves money. Most flatbed printers use UV curable inks that when ran through the printer, are instantly cured. This shortens the amount of time a customer would have to wait to have their print installed. The type of substrates a flatbed can print on is really only restricted to the height at which the printer head can be raised. MN Designs can print on substrates up to 2" thick, and that has definitely been taken advantage of. From magnetics, to glass, and even to doors, flatbeds are a great tool to utilize for direct printing.

MN Designs offers wholesale digital flatbed printing on a wide number of substrates. More information on substrates can be viewed at the official MN Designs website.

When working with a customer's needs in a way that will make them remember you, and ultimately continue to use your services, one of the most important elements is that of design. When working with vehicle wraps, it is extremely easy to use a live picture, a company name, and company contact information, but what exactly stands out about that? I bet when you're driving around and notice vehicles with graphics on them pertaining to construction, they all look just about the same. There in lies the problem. They are not current. They are not creative.

The main key and focus when starting a new wrap design project is to attack it with its impact in mind. What you are going to want to do is appeal to your customer's needs. Make sure everything they require is completed, and done so in a way that makes what they were thinking of themselves seem one hundred times better. In order to do so you must first gain a thorough understanding of what your client is asking for. The best way to do this is through direct communication. Spend time with your client. This enables you to feed off of each other's ideas, come up with solutions, and build a relationship. With a final concept completed, always print a proof to show your client. Chances are there will be a few minor changes to be made, but once you get the go-ahead, you'll be ready to take everything on!

It's also very important to remember that with all the media that can be produced with digital printers, you and your company should morph with the times. Keep up to date with the services that can be provided to you through companies who have the ability to keep you current. When you're current, you will be able to offer intelligent designs that focus directly on the customer's product and needs.

In Part 1 of our two part text effect rundown we covered some nifty and simple effects, like multiple outlines and modifying fonts, and we even lightly touched on the difference between Photoshop and Illustrator. For Part 2 we will continue to look at simple, yet effective ways to make your text stand out!

We will first start off with yet another technique that is super easy to do in Illustrator. With a few simple and well planned out steps, Illustrator can create what appears to be interlocking characters. Start by generating two overlapping characters on two separate type paths. Convert them to outlines and use the multiple outlines technique that was described in Part 1 to create a colored outline around each of the characters. Select everything with the Selection tool. Now, here is the magic touch. Display the Pathfinder and click the Divide icon to divide all of the overlapping parts into separate paths. Individually select the overlapping areas with the Direct Selection tool. With the Color Sampler tool (the eyedropper), sample the color from the adjacent non-overlapping area to fill the region with similar color.

Illustrator is also the software to use for threading text when you want to flow text from one shape to another or for wrapping type around a shape. You can also use Illustrator to create multiple columns or rows of text, whereas Photoshop does not offer any of these features.

Photoshop has two system for generating type. It can generate type as a layer that produces fully editable, vector-based text. It can also produce type as a type mask that creates a selection marquee in the shape of a type character. Both have their uses, but to create type characters that contain an image, we'll use the Type Mask tool.

Open an image in Photoshop. Chose Select > Select All and then Edit > Copy. This, of course, copies the image onto the Clipboard. Choose the Type Mask tool. In the Options bar, select a typeface and a type size big enough to reveal a good portion of your image. Click on the image and you'll see a blinking insertion point on red translucent mask. Type the text.

To reposition the text press the Command (Mac) Ctrl (PC) key and drag the text into position. To resize the text drag one of the corner points. When the text is set to your liking, click the checkmark in the Options bar. The mask converts to a selection outline.

From the Edit Menu, choose Paste Into, and the image you copied to the clipboard will be pasted into the text. Do note however if the original layer is visible, you will not see any changes unless you click the visibility icon in the Layers panel. This technique produces a layer with a layer mask in the shape of the type that can be scaled and positioned with the move tool.

And there we have it! These are just a few effective tips to help your designs more personable and creative.