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From Karen Saunders

Your Branding, Marketing & Self-Publishing Coach



Archive for the ‘Graphic Design’ Category

July 27th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

Design your Product Packaging with Maximum Impact

If you’re a speaker, author, or small business consultant with recorded presentations, teleseminars or workshops, you should think about leveraging your knowledge and expertise into products. You can create audio CDs, video DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes and sell them on your website or after your events. You may want to sell them separately, bundled together or consider doing a joint venture product with someone in a complementary field. You can hire a service to transcribe your recordings and create an ebook or printed workbook. The quality of your products start with your recordings and ends with your packaging design….

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June 19th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

I’m Celebrating Again with CIPA Book Award Winners!

On June 17th, Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) held their annual “EVVY” Book Awards Banquet. My company was a part of the design team for 3 publishers who received 1st Place awards for their books. It was a privilege to share the honors with these outstanding writers. This brings the total book awards for clients of MacGraphics Services to 21 in a five-year period! Randy Chapman, Esq., and Mary Anne Harvey of the Legal Center accepted multiple awards for their book, “The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law.” The book won a 1st place CIPA EVVY award in the “How-To”…

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May 19th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

What Makes a One-Sheet A “Must-Have” Marketing Tool?

Suppose you meet someone who could hire you for your expertise and services. In the spirit of getting to know you, that decision-maker asks, “What do you speak about?” or “How do you help organizations?” or “Which groups have you worked with?” These questions become your opening to convey how you assist people and why you’re the one experienced to do so. That’s exactly what a marketing one-sheet does, too. To convey that you’re a “must-have” expert, your one-sheet needs to be written and designed effectively. Answers Key Questions Your one-sheet, in effect, succinctly answers these seven questions that decision-makers…

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April 8th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

Create a Giant Postcard to Market Your Business and Get Results Fast!

A wonderful, hardworking marketing tool is a giant postcard! With colorful eye-catching graphics on one side and your promotional copy on the back, it will grab attention faster than an email, ad or sales letter. Make it BIG A giant postcard, also called an oversized, jumbo, or #14 postcard is a low-cost, effective device for branding your business and creating prospect response. Start with a 6″ x 9″ or larger size postcard and print in full color to make it stand out from the stack of white envelopes in today’s mail. Postage is the price of a first class stamp….

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March 21st, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

Color Meaning—Unlock the Symbolism and Color Psychology of Common Colors

Color is a magical element that gives feeling and emotion to art, design, and advertising. By understanding color meaning, (or the psychology of color) you can choose the right color to support and emphasize your design. A dominant color or overall color scheme can determine the tone of your document. Certain colors will help your product, corporate document, or advertisement attract specific target audiences and evoke desired responses. The information below provides generally accepted guidelines on the symbolic meanings of color and how you can use color more effectively in your marketing pieces. The meaning of the color yellow (including…

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March 9th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

I was part of Mark Victor Hansen’s MEGA Marketing Magic event!

Attending my first MEGA event was a wonderful experience for me. Here you can see Mark Victor Hansen interviewing me on the main stage during my giveaway–I am wearing my “magic hat.” I gave away a copy of my book, “Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal” along with $280 in bonuses. The lucky winner climbed over tables to race up to the stage to get my book! If YOU are interested in ordering my book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com As an exhibitor, I was given a breakout session. Mine was called “Graphics Wizardry: Turn Your Branding Concepts into Designs that Magnetize…

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February 19th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

10 Easy Ways to Make your Flyer Stand Out in the Crowd

A flyer is an inexpensive and highly effective way to grab attention in a very busy marketplace. How do you make your flyer stand out in the crowd? Here are some techniques that professional designers use to make flyers “pop.” 1. Write a snappy headline or title. Make it memorable, unusual or provocative using a few carefully chosen powerful words. Popular titles contain one or more of these words: Easy, The Secrets to, Unlock, Finally, Insider, Time Sensitive, How to, Free Bonuses, Now You Can, Discover, Proven. 2. Use colorful or striking graphics. One large image will have more impact…

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January 17th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

How to Make a Book Cover Design that Flies Off the Shelf!

According to The Wall Street Journal, “The average bookstore browser who picks up a book spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds reading the back.” You can’t tell — but you can sell — a book by its cover.” Here are a few powerful book cover design techniques that professional book designers use: The Essential Elements For Your Front Cover The front cover presents your book title, subtitle, and your name. Golden opportunities often overlooked are including endorsements and short testimonials from VIPs. Think of your cover like a billboard. The best designs communicate the book’s…

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January 10th, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

What is Good Visual Branding — and Why Is It So Important to Your Business?

Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding. But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers. Let’s say you have been traveling around town without your morning coffee and are getting just a little…

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January 3rd, 2006 | By: Karen Saunders

Five Design Techniques to Turn Your Marketing Pieces into Marketing Masterpieces

It’s almost 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon. Do you know where your newest marketing pieces are? If you’re a small business owner, they may be buried on your desk because you’ve got so many other important details to handle. Or they’re still sitting on your assistant’s desk where she’s staring at them hopelessly. She’s an admin assistant, for heaven’s sake, not a designer, and she knows what she’s produced so far is not very memorable or effective. All of us would like to think our product is so good, our services so unique, they’ll simply sell themselves. Not so! Strong…

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