Are Your Marketing Materials Fresh?

By Bonnie Boots

I know it’s still snowing across many parts of the planet, but here in Florida, it’s spring. With spring, of course, comes spring cleaning so I’ve been busily cleaning out all my worlds, both real and virtual, and it’s amazing what I’ve found.

On my hard drives, I found tons of files and even a few software programs I could delete. I also uncovered hidden treasures—valuable software I didn’t know I had, complete articles I’d neglected to publish and several products that are all but finished save for graphics and sales pages. That’s way better than finding a bit of small change in the couch cushions!

After a few sweeps with system tools to clean out adware and unwanted cookies, remove some programs from my start up folders and defrag the discs, my computers start and run faster and have more free space available.

If only spring cleaning were that easy in the real world!

Out here, spring cleaning takes way more time and effort. I use an actual broom to clean out the real cobwebs. Old files must be boxed up and hand-carried out to the very real trashcan in the alley behind my home. And sorting takes forever as I open old boxes and have to decide—is this trash or treasure?

One box I opened contained trash, but sorting it all out brought home a lesson that I will always treasure. I found a box that contained my master marketing materials from 12 years ago. It held the masters—the original paper paste-ups—that I used to create my business cards, brochures, and several printed products I was selling through mail order.

As I looked through that box, I was amazed at how crude my old marketing materials seemed. When they were new, I was often complimented on their distinctive look. They made me stand out in my market and brought me a lot of business. But when compared to the promotional materials I produce today, those old cards and booklets look like a child’s craft project.

That’s because 12 years ago, “desktop publishing” was still a relatively new concept and “ecommerce” was an idea whose time had not yet come.

In 1996, I was creating my marketing materials in much the same way they had been created since the printing press was invented. I began by taking photos with an SLR camera, getting the film developed at a camera shop, then cutting and pasting pictures and text onto actual paper masters. Then I drove to a print shop to pay seriously high prices to have my cards, brochures and products reproduced.

But after 1996, everything changed. Today, my office holds the equivalent of not only a print shop but also a motion picture studio. I can create the masters for sophisticated print materials like cards and brochures and either print them myself, or email digital files to one of several print shops that will show me a proof online and print the finished product for incredibly competitive prices. I can just as easily transform my print materials into web pages and put them on the internet, or create videos that deliver my message with live action and animation.

With the press of a button, I can burn that video to a CD and mail it to a prospective client. I can just as easily publish a web page with the information I want them to have, or direct them to look at my online portfolio. I can link them to any of my social networks and allow them to download my digital business card directly into their email program.

In geologic terms, the earth has circled the sun just 12 times since I made the print materials I found in that box. But in marketing terms, those old cards and brochures are so fossilized they could stand alongside the dinosaur fossils in the Museum of Natural History.

I had a bit of a shock when I opened that box. The contrast between what I use today and what I was using just 12 years ago was sharp and pointed. The point being that the tools used for communication have changed—and continue to change—at a breathtaking rate. People and businesses that do not keep up with those changes risk looking not just outdated, but also antiquated.

Your marketing tools are tools of communication. They communicate a message to your potential clients and customers. There is the message you choose to communicate in text and pictures, such as “My name is Joe Doe and this is my phone number. Call me when you need a plumber.”

And there is the message you communicate unconsciously, such as “I haven’t changed anything since the 70’s. Not my business card and probably not my plumbing techniques. If you’ve got any modern gizmos like tankless water heaters or sauna-showers in your house, you better not call me.”

Our Joe Doe may well be a splendid plumber who prides himself on keeping ahead of the trends in plumbing, but he won’t communicate that with outdated marketing tools. And if up-to-date marketing tools are important for a plumber, think how much more importance they carry for people like us who are out here doing business in the digital market place.

Joe Doe the Plumber has one advantage that allows him to skate by with his outdated marketing tools. His customer base is entirely local. When I call a plumber, I don’t call the one with the snappiest web site. I call the one who is closest.

You and I do not have that advantage. By doing business in the digital world, we have chosen to put ourselves in competition with every other digital business on the planet. The customers we work to attract have a million choices available to them.

In that competitive atmosphere, it’s important to present yourself with the best marketing tools you can afford.

Fresh, up-to-date communication tools are critical to your business. This spring, when you do your digital housecleaning, take a good look at your marketing materials and ask yourself if they are trash or treasure.

Do your print cards and brochures say 2008 or 1980?  Does your web site say, “I’m a proud professional.”? Or does it say “My 15-year old nephew made this for me for free.”

One thing is sure. If you’re using any marketing tools that haven’t been updated in at least 3 years, the look of your marketing is badly outdated. And this is a problem you can fix for just a few dollars.

With a simple Google search, you can find businesses that will help you turn your inkjet-printed business card into an embossed or photo card. Your brochure can even be put on a CD the size and shape of a business card.

You web site, too, can be redesigned. Find a web site whose look and feel you like, one that makes you sigh and say, “I wish I looked like that!” Then go to eLance, post the URL’s of both your site and the other, and ask designers to give you a bid for a makeover. The response will give you a wide range of options in all sorts of price ranges, at least one of which you will be able to afford.

Because in the world of digital business, you can’t afford to look outdated.

About the Author

Bonnie Boots is the publisher/editor of The Internet Wizards Magazine for people who want to create their own products and market on the internet. Register for your free 1-year subscription at http://www.theinternetwizards.com