Tech Tools For Event Planners

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks in the MagCloud offices. Our friends at SmallBiz Technology gave us a great shout out on their blog! In 7 Tech Tools to Help You Organize Your Next Successful Event, Ramon Ray names HP MagCloud as an “awesome service for printing your event program.” Being featured is great kudos in itself, but we’re mostly thrilled that we are considered a go-to, reliable service for printing your event materials.

 

We’re always looking for ways to make MagCloud better for you, and it’s moments like this that make us feel we’re getting the job done. Thanks, SmallBiz Tech!

Are you putting together an event soon? Will you be using MagCloud’s print and digital services? How about the other superb companies mentioned in Ray’s article?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

 

Easier Access to Publisher Tools

With our redesign of the MagCloud home page we’ve put the most important publisher tools just a few clicks away. Now when you sign-in to MagCloud you’ll immediately have access to a variety of publisher tools including  sales stats, publication drafts, promotion tools, recent orders and much more.

Your personalized home page will dynamically serve up content that is most important to you:

  • Sales Information: If you sell your publications via MagCloud, you’ll automatically see your pertinent sales stats: page views, recent sales, digital downloads, your followers and your sales earnings.
  • Publishing Tools: You’ll have easy access to your latest drafts, and one click access to promotion tools, your address book, a pricing calculator and your entire publication library.
  • Recent Purchase History: You can easily access recent order details and available digital downloads.
  • Recommendations: We’ll recommend other publications you might be interested in based on other publications and publishers you’ve shown interest in.
  • News Feature and Tips Updates: We are constantly adding new features, offering new templates and giving out design tips to make your publishing lives a little easier and you’ll be able to access the latest information directly from your home page.
So sign-in to MagCloud to check out our new home page design and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Brochures that Engage and Inform

MagClouders are creating some truly attention-worthy brochures for their businesses…and it’s reaping rewards for their bottom-line. For example:

Wendy Whittemore’s Aerial Innovations Brochure mixes striking images with an eye-catching layout.

 Stanley Harmsen van der Vliet’s AML Training Center Brochure presents a lot of copy in a clean, easily-digestible format that somehow manages to offer plenty of white space and images to break up the content.

Ben Gin’s IADLEST Conference Brochure fills up every space with the retro look and feel of the conference location: Opryland in Nashville, TN.

These folks and others are creating amazing marketing pieces with MagCloud! If you’re working on a brochure project, we highly recommend you check out the work already published on MagCloud.com for inspiration.

A great brochure grabs the reader’s attention with eye catching images, great layout and of course compelling content. Here a few design and content things to keep in mind when developing your next business or event brochure.

Include stunning images, but make sure they speak to the purpose of the brochure

Maximize the white space – find a way to tell your story in fewer words and with smaller images. No one wants to read a brochure that fills every nook and cranny – it’s not very attractive to a reader.

Design within a real-life context. If your brochure is for an upcoming Harvest Festival, don’t forget to give a little nod to the season with a few Fall leaves. (Be careful, too much of a good thing is no good either – don’t go overboard).

Assume this is the first time the reader is hearing about your organization. Prominently feature the most important piece of information you want people to take away after reading the piece (product sale, mission statement, event date/location, etc.).

This is also your chance to clearly define your brand with a logo, tagline and color scheme that complement your other brand assets. In other words, make sure your brochure is consistent in design and tone with your company website, social media profiles and other printed materials.

Use persuasive language that focuses on the key differentiating factors of your product, company or event from the competition. You’re offering something unique—here’s your chance to tell the world!

Don’t forget the call to action – tell the reader what you want them to do when they’re done reading the brochure (call this number, visit a website, register online, etc.)

Bring in visuals. We’ve written about this in a previous post and recommend you take a look at our Trends and Resources for Great Looking Business Collateral for a refresher. In short, bring in images, infographics or quotes to highlight that will bring your story to life.

Be concise! Don’t try and tell your whole story within a brochure. Just remember, would YOU want to read a long brochure?

Let us know if you have any other tips for creating brochures. Or, post a link to a great brochure that inspires you in the comments section below.

New Brochure Template for Adobe InDesign

Need a little help getting started creating your next brochure?  We have added a new brochure template to our free template collection.

This four page template is for Adobe InDesign users and is perfect for product or service brochures.  We’ve created a sample publication using this template to show you how easy it is to make a great looking brochure that is MagCloud-ready.

If you are new to using Adobe InDesign to create MagCloud-ready publications make sure to download our Adobe InDesign Getting Started Guide for tips on settings for trim, bleeds, image resolution and more.

Let us know what you think of the new template in our comments section below.

A Helping Hand

Need help creating or marketing your next publication?

Our Help section now includes a directory of templates, photography, design, advertising resources and more.  You can also find the the most popular design tips from our blog and latest How to Guides.

Still can’t find what you are looking for then visit the Ask MagCloud section to browse frequently asked questions about publishing, printing and shipping with MagCloud.

Our support team is also happy to answer any questions you can’t find answers for on our website.  Simply contact us so we can help you get the information you are looking for.

Know of a great resource that would help the MagCloud community?  Please drop us a line, we would love to hear about them.

To Serif or Sans Serif? Typefaces Make A Difference

Typography is the cornerstone of graphic design. It’s what brings character to your magazine, catalog, brochure or newsletter. It should never be overlooked or left to the end of your project. Typography should be considered during initial design phases and should be allowed to impact your layout and image choices. Why is it so important? Because the typography you choose sets the tone for your readers. It helps you tell your story in a way that an image (or even your copy) can’t.

Being fans of infographics, we came across this little gem recently which has generated quite a bit of conversation in the office. It’s sort of an ABC guide to typography which has also sparked interest on our Facebook and Twitter channels. The MagCloud community is clamoring for typography tips so we thought we reiterate these 4 professional tips from the Noodlor infographic:

1. Limit yourself to a maximum of 3 well contrasting typefaces.

2. 95% of graphic design is typography. Treat it well!

3. First, start off on paper, then move on to your computer!

4. When you’re stuck…discard old ideas and start fresh!

Still need convincing? Check out this video from typographer and graphic designer Erik Spiekermann. He breaks down the elements of typography and explains what makes it such a key part of any design.

Erik Spiekermann – Putting Back the Face into Typeface from Gestalten on Vimeo.

Also check out our recent blog post on Typeface Do’s and Don’ts for additional insight in how best to use typefaces in your next portfolio, magazine, brochure or other print project.

Share your thoughts on the art of typography as a comment below. Is it something you spend a lot of time on when designing your MagCloud publication?

Vote for MagCloud in the SXSW PanelPicker – Ends Friday!

SXSW 2012 is prepping to bring the most captivating speakers, interesting topics and creative panels to film, music and interactive enthusiasts attending their Austin, Texas gathering March 9-18, 2012. Once again, they’re giving the public a voice by opening up the SXSW PanelPicker and letting YOU cast your vote for your favorite panels.

The MagCloud team has entered two great panel submissions to the PanelPicker featuring MagCloud publishers.

We hope you’ll vote for us in hopes we can bring these presentations to the biggest interactive conference in the U.S.!

Print Pioneers in a Digital World is about capturing the attention of your customers and getting your story heard by those who really matter. The panel will feature Roseann Hanson of Overland Expo and ConserVentures, Atlanta-based editorial photographer Zack Arias and Paul Lips of online children’s wear retailer ToobyDoo. For more on this panel and to cast your vote, go here.

The PB&J Effect: How to Publish in Print & Digital is about the perfect combination of print and digital and how perfecting that balance will help you reach a bigger audience. Joining us on the panel are Gizmondo’s Senior Reporter Mat Honan (also known as one of the editors behind Longshot Magazine), well-known photographer Trey Ratcliff and graphic designer/illustrator Craig Frazier who recently debuted his new Living Letters font. For more on this panel and to cast your vote, go here.

If you like what you see, all you have to do is create a free account (it’s easy!) and hit the thumbs up button on our panel pages.

Want to help spread the word. Tweet or Facebook about these presentations:

 Hurry! Deadline to vote is 11:59 CDT on Friday, September 2.

Tell us you voted by leaving a comment below.

Possible Shipping Delays Due to Hurricane Irene

HP MagCloud customers may experience some delays in receiving their shipments because of the severe weather resulting from Hurricane Irene.

USPS and FedEX are experiencing service delays due to widespread power outages, local road conditions and some office closures.

Please check their websites to see if your area may be impacted:

USPS Mail Service Updates

FedEX Service Delays

If you have any questions regarding your order please contact us.

Publisher Spotlight: Sell With Your Ears

President Obama once asserted “small businesses are part of the promise of America.” At MagCloud, we wholeheartedly believe this statement and strive to provide small business the opportunity to market their products with style and quality without demanding a hefty investment.

One such small business owner who relies on MagCloud is author and sales strategist Bill Zipp who published his publication, Sell With Your Ears, through MagCloud as a way to market his business and provide a valuable resource. Sell With Your Ears presents Zipp’s unique approach to the marketplace and resource and tips for uncommon ways to build a smarter, more profitable business. It represents Zipp’s thought-leadership in his industry among business owners and key stakeholders responsible for generating revenue for their business – large or small.

As a business owner himself, Zipp is responsible for promoting his brand at all times. His publication is a conversation generator in networking settings and helps spread his message to even wider audiences. “I give my publication to clients to give to their friends, essentially serving as a sophisticated, and powerful business card.”

One element we are proud of at MagCloud is the quality of the printed materials we produce every day for publishers and readers. Time and again, we hear from our customers that the quality of the printed magazine, brochure, flier, etc. exceeded their expectations and that of their readers.

Additionally, when customers like Bill who publish with MagCloud, they are take advantage of the print on demand feature which affords customers the ability to fulfill orders as they come in vs. having piles of magazines or books in their homes and offices waiting to sell and ship. (Or as Zipp explains, “I don’t have to store thousands of books in my garage.”) Bulk printing is no longer the standard in publishing thanks to print on demand.

We encourage you to learn more about Bill Zipp’s publication here, and hope that you are inspired to become an even savvier marketer with MagCloud.

Have you ever considered publishing a book through MagCloud? What marketing materials are you publishing using MagCloud? Let us know by posting below.

Good Things Come In Small Packages: New Digest Size

Many publishers have asked for more product sizes. Well we are happy to announce a new product type called Digest. At 5.5” x 8.5” it’s approximately half the size of our current Standard product, and is available in both perfect bound and saddle stitch versions.

And with a smaller size comes a smaller price point. While there are lots of things that go into creating a high-quality finished publication, another benefit of Digest is that it allows us to reduce our overall production costs, specifically those related to paper and ink.  Those savings help bring our per page cost down to $.16 per page vs. $.20 per page for our larger format. Smaller publications also mean lighter packages, which can reduce shipping rates.

The Digest product offers an overall more compact and affordable publishing solution.

Publishing for Digest is similar to how you publish today you just need to modify your PDF settings for a smaller trim size (5.25 x 8.25).


For step-by-step instructions on how to create your PDF, check out our Getting Started page.

Let us know how you plan to use the new Digest product in the comments section below.