My Promotional Material

I’ve finally got all the big pieces of my promotional package finished. It feels like it’s taken a long time to get to this point largely due to my procrastinating last year. In reality though, it’s all been done within a month so it’s not bad at all.

I put this post under Trumpet Kit because it’s absolutely essential to have a good card that accurately represents you as a musician in order to expand your work.

I.e. If having your number written on a toilet roll accurately represents you as a musician you should have a think about your future.

(Relax, it’s only a joke. 🙂 )

To see where this started abd how the design came about you can follow this link: My New Business Card.

I now have a nice looking card, flyer and motif that I can translate to letter heads, envelopes and eventually my site.

I’ve already given a few out whilst networking. It not only gave a much stronger impression but I felt much more confident knowing that I didn’t have to pretend that my card wasn’t crap. I hope that I’ll be able to use my flyers just as effectively as I use my cards. Hopefully I’ll be posting about how fantastic it’s all turned out and how it’s doubled my work… time will tell.

In a previous post I mentioned that it was tricky to find a decent printer without having a review to go on. Therefore I’ll tell you about the printers I used and hope that it’ll at least give you an idea of the service and the price that’s out there. The following should also give you an idea on how to prepare your designs.

What You should Expect From Your Printer

The printing company I used were called Overnight Prints and like most companies they give the option of making your own card using their online “wizard” but I’d advise that if you want a professional looking card, design it yourself.

The site was very simple to use and to upload your own designs to. It gives you detailed instructions on how you should prepare your files with properties including the DPI (Dots Per Inch – this governs the quality/ resolution of the final product), the type of file that should be uploaded and the image size. I should also mention that you can chose either single or double sided cards and it even lets you decide how you want your card to be flipped (i.e readable from a horizontal or a vertical flip).

Once uploaded the site provides you with a virtual proof (something that other printers charge for) which shows you where the card will be cut, where the ink will bleed to and where the text should be within. This again helps you see several of the main problems before you send it to the print:

1) If it’s a colored card it needs to go beyond the bleed and the cut lines to avoid white lines on the edges.

2) To avoid text hitting the edges of the card you can use the text lines.

3) You can actually see if it’s centered, if it all fits and if it looks good.

The price was fairly reasonable in comparison to other sites I saw and the service that they offered. I spent about £100 for 250 cards (double sided) and 250 flyers (single sided). As with all printers it’s the start up cost that hurts the most so make sure you order enough to keep you going.

Apart from the virtual proof the other great thing that Overnight Prints has going for it is the after order service. You can keep an eye on your order from “waiting to be printed”, “waiting to be shipped” and then via UPS you can watch it every step of it’s journey from them to you. They are however based in Europe but it arrived within the week and UPS allow you to pay for 2 day delivery if you’re desperate.

These features made life very simple and are why I’d recommend these guys to you as a printer. The quality and service were all excellent.