Businesses Should Set New Year’s Resolutions Too!

Compared to challenging personal resolutions we often make like quitting smoking or losing weight, here are three easily obtainable New Year’s Resolutions for your business:

1.    Save your company money:  Invest the time to listen to new vendor’s pitches—they will most likely cut you great deals to win your business. Then, negotiate prices for the biggest buying picture for the year, the quarter, whatever time frame makes sense. Changing suppliers can be stressful and risky so check websites for testimonials and, of course, Google and Yelp for more first-hand feedback on your prospective partner. Then, build those relationships throughout the year by sending the new vendor the business!

2.    Clean out unused office equipment and supplies (you will never ever need those countless hanging folders again, really):  Give and get by donating those valuable items then promote your goodwill internally and through local media outlets. Or, sell off the items and donate the proceeds to a local school, food bank or other organization that fits with your company culture. Maybe use the funds to support an in-house celebration in a now-spacious lunchroom or supply room?!

3.    Freshen up the visual appeal of your business:  By thoughtfully placing affordable wall murals, canvas prints and floor graphics with attractive, relevant signage, you can effectively use your wall and floor space to reinforce your branding with the key messages you want to convey to your employees and visitors. Check out How the Color of Your Office Impacts ProductivityHow the Color of Your Office Impacts Productivity published by Entrepreneur Magazine for more information on color theory.

These resolutions are a piece of cake compared to dieting! (Did someone just say cake?!)

SpeedPro Imaging of Denver has worked with hospitals, schools, corporations, advertising agencies, casinos, real estate companies, lawyers, and shopping centers to visually add interest to lobbies, conference rooms, hallways, elevators (doors and interiors), windows (inside and out), and cafeterias. 

Then our clients come back to us to provide great big graphics for internal and external special events and to wrap their fleets! 

Check out our impressive and extensive portfolio then contact us at 303.426.4199, denver@denverspeedpro.com or www.speedprodenver.net

Convey Your Business’ Market Position with Your Vehicles

When you arrive at your customer’s residence and expect to be welcomed and trusted to be let onto their property, you better believe they are looking closely at your vehicle. So use it to claim your market position.

If your business is named Budget Plumbing, a few simple decals with your logo, phone number and web address are appropriate and what bargain-hunters want to see and will choose. On the other end of the scale, if you’re a high-end bathroom remodeler, for example, you can show two key visuals that tell a before and after story and still have room to list the high-end neighborhoods you serve (or want to!). 

If you’re in real estate, you can convey the type of listings you want with the impression your vehicle gives off:  a Mini Cooper with cheery decals conveys fun and modern but frugal; a fully wrapped Lexus with metallic accents projects high-end and successful. 

It’s Your Reputation and Your Vendors

Your wrap graphic designer/printer/installer should understand that your reputation is riding on the quality and visual interest your wrap conveys. If you’re a memory care facility, a calm palette with basic information may be appropriate. If you’re a hard rock radio station, well, the sky’s the limit.

At the same time, your vendors’ reputation is out there every day too. Is the install done perfectly? Do all the colors match exactly from truck to truck? What about maintenance? How will wraps affect the paint or not? What about removing the wrap because the company logo changed or they want to up their market position?

You can use your vehicle wrap to differentiate your brand from competitors by showing something unexpected or memorable such as a clever tagline or a one-line quote from a satisfied customer. By doing that thoughtfully, you can reinforce your brand and market position so what your customers think of you and what you want them to think become more closely aligned.

SpeedPro Imaging of Denver has worked with a fleet of one and fleets of 600. We’ve got your vehicles covered, you focus on your customers. Reach us at 303.426.4199, denver@denverspeedpro.com, www.denverfleetgraphics.com or www.speedprodenver.net

Retailers, We’ve Got Your Signage Covered: Inside, Outside, Offsite and On the Move

Let’s take a walk in your prospects shoes to “see” what they see:

We walk into a new store. The storefront images were eye-catching and we see an engaging graphic on the ground. We are intrigued enough to open the door with the business’ logo on it. There is a second entry with another transparent panel. There, we notice a frosted version of the logo prominently displayed.

After entry, signage behind the check-out and at counter-level is keeping us engaged, visually directing us and encouraging us to purchase.

As we move through the store, we see the logo boldly placed on glass jars and baggie labels for smaller items. We notice that even items like lighters and free samples are branded!

 We make our purchase and notice the clerk is tucking our items into a bag with a logo’d decal. Then, a custom “Thank You for Shopping at Acme” sign is the last impression as we walk out the door.

Now let’s go behind the scenes as the owner or store manager:

Off the retail floor, you may need signage in the form of high tack adhesive labels for inventory management, and poster-sized informational signs with employee rules. We also find fun, motivating messages about the stores’ culture.

Heading outside, there are many more branding opportunities:

If you’ve noticed colorful vehicles strategically parked but don’t yet have fully wrapped mobile advertising or even simple door decals, you are missing out on an inexpensive but highly effective opportunity. And, if you own the building or can lease any outdoor surfaces, visualize wall murals you have seen from down the street and see your own brand there!

Are fairs and festivals part of your marketing mix? Do you host parking lot events? Your logo’d tents with fluttering flags and tables with customized throws, skirts and runners are sure to enhance your visibility with a welcoming look that drives traffic.

SpeedPro Imaging of Denver can design, print and install every item listed in this blog for your shop. Reach us at 303.426.4199, denver@denverspeedpro.com or www.speedprodenver.net

Question: How to Confidently Manage Your Event Planning Long-Distance?

Answer: Hire a local company that’s been there and done that countless times!

You’re an event planner and you love it. As the conductor waving your wand over suppliers, you thrive on the pressure of managing your event that’s going to take place in Denver from your East Coast location. So on the checklist with all your large format printing needs listed, choose a locally based, proven printer, and keep your focus on putting bodies in the seats.

In the early stages of your event planning, taking a virtual walk-through of any venue without flying out is a great option to increase your comfort level. Plan and address those details of the visual path your attendees will take using a variety of apps like Google Duo, Tango and ooVoo Video Call. These walk-throughs from your out-of-state location are a breeze with a local printer! And, a local printer will know the venues rule and regs for hanging signs, options for wayfinding signs, podium signage, oversized agendas, oversized speaker promo boards and trade show booths. 

Hiring local also gives you the benefit their familiarity with the in’s and out’s of delivering to all the big venues and hotels around the metro area. For example, at the Colorado Convention Center, deliveries for trade show booths without being an attendee must go to a specific security gate to ensure the delivery gets to the booth in very short order. Conversely, at The Denver Mart, print vendors can hand-carry deliveries right to your meeting room or booth.

Choose SpeedPro Imaging of Denver and you’ll experience the same high-level of service as our two clients’ quoted on this blog!  Reach us at 303.426.4199, denver@denverspeedpro.com or www.speedprodenver.net

Consider the workhorse banner.

You see them everywhere in your personal life from your local watering hole promoting happy hour specials, strewn across downtown streets announcing a Bronco’s playoff win, at fairs and festivals year-round, and when you’re crossing a finish line or watching someone else cross one.

The common banner is still an affordable and valuable attention-getting tool because its size with an interesting message and visuals can tell a quick story:  “Stop here for cheap booze!” “Don’t miss us, we’re amazing!” “Join the celebration now!” For business-to-consumer audiences, banners can be basic because the shelf life may be relatively short but they will look professional and are generally effective.

In your professional life, for business-to-business uses, banners can be designed with more longevity in mind. So, for example, when your marketing plan has your company exhibiting at three major industry trade shows a year, it’s worth considering the banner placement options:

·         Where is your booth location -- corner versus mid-row?

·         What size is the booth and many staffers will be working it at one time?

·         Will the banners be hand-carried or shipped directly to the booth?

·         Can banners be placed to be viewed from both sides?

·         Will there be room for floor banner stands and a back wall banner or would floor banners that extend to seven feet both provide impact and be chosen for the ease of handling?

Consider the shipping and handling of a six or seven foot back wall banner versus stand-alone banners designed with attention-getting messages at the top. Then, consider vertical banners that can be designed to retract cleanly—eliminating those worries about creasing your investment when packing up; just retract and go with the two or three foot case. There are even tabletop retractable banners that can extend to 24” 32” or 40” high—perfect for a smaller booth!

Great. Big. Graphics. It’s what we do. Contact SpeedPro Imaging of Denver to learn about the wide range of banner options available, tell us your situation, and we’ll suggest the best banner for your setting. 303.426.4199. www.speedprodenver.net denver@speedprodenver.com

How to Get Your Staff Excited About Working Trade Shows

Present the most eye-catching, stop-in-your-tracks booth graphics!

Before the doors open and all those wonderful potential customers flood into the event hall, a lot of the hard work is done. The planning, “should we invest in a full booth or create a booth-in-box?” and most importantly what to “say” with booth graphics will be decided along with considerations such as should an event within the event be sponsored? Who will work the booth? Who will handle the set up and tear down?

Trade shows are hard work but with the right messages presented in an interesting way, you can have booth graphics that stop prospects in their tracks or at least slow them down. Then, booth staff can feel more comfortable approaching prospects who have already engaged with your business even at a minimal level and they’re more likely to listen to the 15-20 second pitch your staffer has on the tip of their tongue.

Let’s say you are a company that is going to do numerous regional shows. A booth-in-box; a back wall banner, a table skirt and throw with a couple of pop-up banners may offer enough flexibility in booth size and placement to be an affordable, luggable option for a start-up. If you are more established, it might be time to invest in bigger, more complex booth properties. 

Choose Your Vendor from Design through Delivery

Since your booth properties are an investment, it will be worth-while to spend some time choosing your printer/producer. Longer-term relationships such as these are valuable and will save you time and ultimately money. You want a vendor that understands the context the properties will show in and that they are producing investment properties that will be used over and over. So not only do they have to be visually a stand-out, they need to pack and travel well too.

Plan and produce every over-sized print piece together. For example, if you’re sponsoring a happy hour, you’ve purchased a signage opportunity so a simple but interesting banner with your logo on it, of course, with a drinks on us sentiment hanging overhead can make enough of a statement. Having one printer produce all the items for an event will ensure continuity in the look and feel of the pieces--not to mention perfect color matches.

Make your staff feel proud and excited to represent your company confidently by choosing well-designed, colorful, show properties and it will pay off in goodwill and in leads!

Great. Big. Graphics. It’s what we do. 

Contact SpeedPro Imaging of Denver for a quote on your new trade show properties. 

We’ve delivered to all the big venues and hotels in the metro Denver area for years. 

303.426.4199 www.speedprodenver.net denver@speedprodenver.com

Florence Nightingale Was Right

Sometime before the turn of the last century, “The Lady with the Lamp” advocated the use of natural sunlight and soothing colors to create a relaxing setting that would encourage healing. Research has confirmed that Florence Nightingale was right¹. Patients in well-designed hospital rooms experience less anxiety, require less pain medication and have shorter hospital stays, according to The Center for Health Design, an organization of health care and design professionals that uses evidence-based research to develop standards for functional hospital designs.

Hospitals have always employed architects, of course, but didn’t necessarily heed Florence’s advice. That has been changing and in a big way. “Positive distractions,” such as beautiful artwork, give patients something to focus on, other than their discomfort from medical procedures.² Sky Ridge Medical Center in south Denver ranked an impressive 7 out of 25 in The 25 Most Amazing Modern Hospitals in the World published in April, 2015 by the Best Master of Science in Nursing Degrees organization. The ranking came in no small part to its extensive art collection with pieces selected specifically “to bring aesthetic beauty and a sense of home to guests.” Note they don’t have patients, they have guests!

Still, we tend to visualize hospitals as well as urgent care facilities and out-patient treatment centers as bright white boxes that we’d rather not go to. So maybe we just haven’t noticed the shift going on because it can be as subtle as a soft yellow paint instead of a jolting white, wall murals depicting outdoor scenes in a waiting room, or elevator wraps with cheerful seasonal messages.

Most healthcare providers know they realistically can’t obtain a pricy art collection to raise the aesthetic beauty of their facility, but may not know where to start to bring in some color. SpeedPro Imaging, a large format print studio, has worked on-site at hospitals to develop those “positive distractions” for their waiting and patient rooms, as well welcoming outdoor banners and wraps for elevators. Creating interesting graphics is what we do.

Sources:

1 International Network for Neuroaesthetics, Published July 17, 2012 Written by Meika Jensen

2 Positive Distractions, published March 11, 2012 by Debajyoti Pati, PhD, for HKS Clinical Solutions & Research in collaboration with American Art Resources designed a study to examine the influence of positive distractions in the dental and cardiac clinic waiting areas at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. A positive distraction has been defined as “an environmental feature that elicits positive feelings and holds attention without taxing or stressing the individual, thereby blocking worrisome thoughts.”