Kim: Greener Printer is one of my favorite online printers because not only are they a certified green printer (using only recycled papers with soy inks and following sustainable business practices), but they also offer high-quality, affordable printing. It’s the best of both worlds! Greener Printer offers a wide range of templated products such as business cards, brochures, and even catalogs. In addition, they can do custom sizes and quotes as well. Their website is easy to use, allowing you to quickly calculate printing prices, with simple upload options. My only negative for this printer is that their turn-around time is not as fast as some of those “other” online printers.

http://www.greenerprinter.com

Moo

Kim: So, I’ll admit it, I’ve only recently come across Moo, but so far I love them! Their website not only offers great pricing on products such as business cards, mini cards, postcards, and more; but they also offer some great resources for design inspiration and printing tips. One especially cool feature on moo is their unique Printfinity technology, which allows you to print a different design on every single card in the pack! Um, did someone say, AWESOME! (oh, wait, that was me). My only negative for this printer is that while they continue to add more, their current product options are a tad limited.

http://us.moo.com/

SmartPress

Tobin: I just recently used this printer for an online job and I was very impressed by the quality of the user experience, paper choices, and pricing. They really seem like they have a good process and system in place to make your account accessible as well. I like being able to see all my jobs in one place, and that is a nice feature. The proofing process was really easy and approvals seemed to be well controlled. I plan on using this printer for a few more projects to see how the other product offerings turn out.

http://www.smartpress.com

VistaPrint

Kim: Good, old VistaPrint. The positives for VistaPrint are their 1) speed and 2) amount of product options. The negatives for VistaPrint are their 1) speed and 2) amount of product options. VistaPrint is a great go-to, online printer when you need something fast and cheap. While their quality is not bad, it’s not super impressive either. As a general rule, I only use them for postcards and 4-color digital business cards…materials that don’t need exact color matching, and things that I need in a hurry. I find that lately they almost have too many product offerings, which can make it a little confusing when trying to place an order. While they don’t offer live chat or email customer service, their customer service via phone has always been extremely helpful.

Tobin: I’ve only used Vistaprint on one occasion for some folders a few years back. The quality was well done, but price was not the cheapest, which was something to be considered for my client. Everything was done on time, and I have no complaints about the service. I get TONs of emails from them now, which is good and bad.

http://www.vistaprint.com

Got Print

Tobin: Quality and price are both above average among providers although shipping price is a bit high from some others I have used. I’ve never had to send any work back, but I’ve not been blown away by good quality either. The biggest problem I find is the turn-around time. I’ve sent jobs and not heard from them for a week. If you’re trying to meet a tight deadline stay away from this printer.

http://www.gotprint.com/

Overnight Prints

Kim:
I do not recommend using OvernightPrints, and will never use them again. A few years ago, I was happy to send small, quick-turn-around runs for business cards or postcards to OvernightPrints. Unfortunately the last 3 orders I sent to them all returned with errors including trim mistakes and inconsistencies on business cards, major color errors, and in one case, a client’s entire logo did not even print on his card (even though the files were set up correctly). While they offer extremely low pricing, I’d much prefer to spend a little more to alleviate the poor quality and errors this company has recently been producing.

Tobin: While product is speedily delivered, quality is sacrificed. Approximately half of the business card related print jobs I’ve requested were received with errors and I’ve had to send the work back and have it reprinted. The quality of brochures and envelopes, in my experience, has been fine.

http://www.overnightprints.com/

The site was built using Wordpress, utilizing many plug-ins to make the site cost effective, yet robust for SEO and customizations needed by the client. The content management system allows the client to update any page within the theme as well as track statistics and customize meta descriptions for continual search engine development.

Sailing Michigan, LLC is a sailing-services company based in Southeast Michigan whose mission is to promote sailing within the state of Michigan and support recreational sailors. Whether you are an experienced sailor or are just learning, SailMichigan.org has everything you need to know about sailing in Michigan.

The ceremony was held on March 11th at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD and Lehman was present to accept the following awards:

• In the category of non-traditional advertising a silver ADDY™ was awarded for the Spires door hanger for Spires Property Services.
• In the category of Web site, B-to-B HTML/other, services, a silver ADDY™ was awarded for the Rudderow, Hill, and Associates Web site for Rudderow, Hill, and Associates.
• In the category of elements of advertising, a silver ADDY™ was awarded for the Hall Coaching logo for Hall Coaching

Upon receipt of these awards, Lehman remarked, “Each of these awards were for projects that the client really trusted me and my firm’s creative abilities. Not only was the client happy with these pieces, I am thrilled that other professionals feel that these pieces were exceptional as well. I can’t wait to tell my clients!”

Lehman wishes to thank all of the clients who made this possible and would like to recognize their work and contribution which helped make these pieces award-worthy. He is confident that many of his current partnerships will lead to further recognition at the 2011 ADDY™ Awards.

The site itself is built on Wordpress, using plug-ins to support the SEO and contact form functionality. An overall light installation make the framework expandable for future pages and posts within the entire site.

The conference provided the opportunity to participate in many thought-provoking workshops, listen to some very talented speakers, talk to vendors, and mingle with the design elite. These conferences, in their basic form, allow us as an industry to share stories from our practices, discover new inspiration, discuss design theory, and develop new skills with the hope that everyone returns to the office with renewed passion for the design process.

This hope was realized in the office of Tobin Lehman. With numerous ideas to integrate into our clients’ projects, and new tools to create more successful work, this conference may be a turning point in our work.

Interested in seeing it for yourself? Check out the following links to some of the conference’s best speakers. (Videos will be posted soon via AIGA, so many of these are simply for reference.)

David Butler, VP of Global Design, Coke
Roger Martin, Author
Al Bell, Founder Stax Records
Stefan Sagmeister

As the Internet continues to be a wonderful place to explore, participate, and consume, the technology we use to engage this plane of reality is in a constant state of development by software developers and their communities. As builder of sites that use this technology, we must provide the most progressive and robust experience possible to our clients and their customers, keeping up with these advancements. In this progressive response, we must also leave behind software of the past to continually provide a cost effective solution to our clients. The following list states the current minimum browser standards covered in our development projects.

Microsoft: Internet Explorer 7

Mozilla: Firefox 3.0, Camino 1.5

Apple: Safari 3.0

In addition, as future Web browsers emerge on the market, compatibility for your site and these new browsers may become suspect to new issues. As a proactive approach, you or your marketing department should be conducting an evaluation and review of these new browsers as they emerge. Happy browsing!

http://eternalmoonwalk.com/

You can’t work this fast. Something like this can only come from a community of devout, passionate people who care more about what they are doing than anything else. I don’t think there is a firm on earth that could promise this to a client in less than 3 weeks, then generate enough viral traffic to have such an amazing site flourish so quickly. It seems that passion is stronger than budgets, sleep, and eating.

Do you see people putting Dell or HP stickers on their things?

No. Their brands are not cults.

As business owners and marketers the greatest achievement we could ever have is to see our brands followers be as devoted to our brand as the example above. Putting the mark of your brand on to other products in their world could only be one of the highest marks of transcendence and flat out love for your brand possible.

By cult of course we are referring to the more positive definition of the word;

[usu. as adj. ] a person or thing that is popular or fashionable, esp. among a particular section of society : a cult film.

Apple achieved this cult status in its early years, when owning a MAC was to be a part of something special. This group of users fit the definition perfectly. A small niche of customers had an overwhelming affinity for this product. Now as the iPhone and iPod have redefined this company to the general consumer, you can still see some Apple computer users who still retain this passion and affection for this brand from those early days. Some could say that the power of this brand started in those early days and it is that strength that carries the brand today. You hear Seth Godin talk about his niche theories, and this fits the bill perfectly.

So what can we do to make our brands or our products, cult building? I don’t think there is a recipe for success for every business. But if you are looking for a few simple steps, it might look something like this.

1. Define your section of society. That’s right. We can’t be everything to everyone. Define who it is your want to reach and target your product and resources about solving a problem for those customers. Cults are small passionate groups!
2. Provide the best service and product possible to your target. Invest in the ability to support your cult whether it be in social media, forums, telephone support, events or community groups. Allow the passionate to communicate with each other and keep building momentum from within.
3. The most important step, give out some stickers…

If you are a golfer, or know anyone who does, please pass along this link and encourage them to sign up. This year’s course is the infamous Musket Ridge golf course, which is one of the top courses in the area. The fee alone to play this course is over eighty dollars, which makes the 125-dollar ticket not that hard to realize, when you throw in the food and beverages included in your fee.

Any what could feel better? Doing something you love to help people in need. This is a true, win-win.