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Print and Digital: A Winning Combination

Patty2 Comments

Print vs. digital has long been hotly debated. Recently, we’ve seen several experts weighing in on the topic, arguing that print and digital can coexist and will in fact strengthen a brand when used together. Of course, we’ve always known this at HP MagCloud (check out our Jan. 5 blog post), and we are thrilled when other people realize it doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition. The challenge is finding the right medium to use to tell your unique story, so that it’s heard and understood by your audience.

So what are people saying? Novelist Dave Eggers in the Guardian said, “It’s our admittedly unorthodox opinion that the two can co-exist, and in fact should co-exist. … But they need to do different things. To survive, the newspaper, and the physical book, needs to set itself apart from the web. Physical forms of the written word need to offer a clear and different experience. And if they do, we believe, they will survive.”

When should you choose digital? “For news, facts and information, let’s tell stories as they unfold: a tweet here, an update there, a database, a video clip, a timeline, a slideshow, a conversation, a list. Let’s master the tools of digital storytelling and learn to match our tools and techniques to the circumstances,” stated digital guru Steve Buttry on Poynter.org.

What about print? “Let’s respect the pure, traditional story – the narrative string of paragraphs – by reserving that form for real stories,” Buttry added.

We’re fortunate to live in a world where we have both options.

In telling your story, you’ll want to rise above the chatter. It’s a good idea to participate in the online conversation by using Facebook, Twitter, email newsletters and more to share what’s happening in the moment. You’re demonstrating your knowledge about your industry and connecting in a more immediate way with your audience.

Meanwhile, a print publication showcases your photographs and carefully crafted story to an audience who wants to linger over and slowly digest your content. No matter how great digital content is, readers can stash magazines in their purses, dog-ear the pages and tear out their favorite articles. Quoting The Economist (June 9 issue): “As long as there are coffee tables, people will want things to put on them.” The high quality of print makes you proud to display your work to clients, and likewise, your clients will be happy to share your magazine with people they bump into.

HP MagCloud provides both print and digital offerings because different stories beg to be told in different ways. Plus, you might reach new readers who prefer to read content on their iPad or smartphone. We realize there is much to consider, and one of the main deterrents of print is the expense and complexity. With HP MagCloud, it costs only 20 cents per page for Standard and Square products, there are no upfront costs and everything can be done via our website with a few clicks of the mouse. So a small business on a tight budget can afford to self-publish their content.

For a small business, blending print and digital elements into your marketing is a win-win. Does your business plan include both digital and print? If not, here’s your chance to consider both.

MagCloud for the Wedding Photographer

Lauren5 Comments

Whether you are a professional wedding photographer with a studio space and a team of five, or you’re flying solo, it’s important to present your business in the most professional and appealing way possible to your clients. MagCloud is an easy and affordable way to publish lookbooks, promotional tools and affordable products that that you can sell as a part of your business’s offerings. With easy publisher settings you can offer any, or all of your publications in both print and digital formats.

A number of photographers have already discovered the value of MagCloud for their business. They are using the service to promote themselves at trade events with a brochure or glossy catalog, provide lookbooks to potential clients, print proof books for existing clients; and even as a sales tool intended to up-sell clients to an entire gallery of prints rather than just one or two.

Let’s explore some of the options available for your wedding photography business:

Portfolio and Catalog:

At just 20¢ a page for Standard size or 16¢ for Digest size, MagCloud offers full-color, full-bleed printing on HP’s beautiful Indigo presses–a true advantage for today’s professional photographers.

For example, if you want to create a full-color soft-bound book to highlight your photography and present your services, you could do so in a 28-page Standard-sized perfect-bound publication for just $6.60 a copy. Yep, you read that right, $6.60 a copy. And you don’t have to buy 100 to get that pricing, you could order them one at a time if you like, or drop-ship them to an address list of potential clients who have seen your work online and are interested in learning more.

**Want to create one of your own? If you use Microsoft Publisher, we’ve already got a great basic 4-page catalog template to get you started. Don’t use Publisher? Feel free to use the design as inspiration for your own services catalog.

Lookbook:

If you’d prefer to woo your customers before revealing all of your pricing, or would just prefer to have something less time-sensitive for showing off your work, we suggest creating a lookbook. Lookbooks are a great way to express your style, showcase your best work, and really tell your potential customers who you are.

Some publishers have started to use our ultra-portable Digest Landscape format to create a marketing piece that shows off their best work in a portable format that doesn’t break the bank.

What’s great about this idea is that the Digest Landscape’s compact 8.25″ x 5.25″ size makes it easy to keep on hand. Should you meet someone who is interested in hiring you, you can easily hand off the book to a potential client and not cringe at what it costs to replace. And with a max page count of 384, you could create a lookbook that includes hundreds of images, worthy of your coffee table. At just 16¢ a page for our Digest Landscape publications (plus $1 for perfect binding), you can create an impressive 60-page lookbook for just $10.60.

Album for family and friends:

Waiting for that big beautiful album can sometimes take weeks, or months, so while your bride is still excited about the wedding and singing your praises, why not surprise her with a mini photobook, or cool glossy magazine of photos from her big day? She’ll be thrilled to show off your work to her friends and family, and with our 3-day print turn around time, you could surprise the happy couple before they get home from their honeymoon.

You could also create a similar album as a product for your newlyweds to give as a thank you gift to extended family, bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Sales tool:

If you sell more than just digital packages, you know how hard it can be to sell prints–especially large prints (like the elusive 20″ x 30″ canvas) or collections of images, intended to be displayed as galleries. Most clients can’t envision what a gallery of their images could look like–”How would they arrange them? Where would it go?” That’s why some photographers have created booklets to help their clients place their orders. Diagrams and examples can help customers to envision a gallery in their home so they can select prints that work well together. If you went so far as to create this publication and save it as a template, you could drop a few of the customer’s images into the gallery diagrams creating a customized booklet to really seal the deal.

Proof Book:

It seems just about everyone has made the switch to online galleries for proofing, but there is something to be said about proofing photos in print, especially when you are planning to buy them in print.

So why not put together a proof book for your client to accompany that online gallery? This way your bride can have something in hand when she talks to her parents or grandparents about that 20”x 30” canvas. You could even go so far as to include your print pricing, packages or gallery inspiration guide into a custom publication to help encourage larger sales.

Showcase for Vendors:

If you’ve been in the business for awhile, you probably have already had a number of referrals come not just from happy brides, but also from vendors. You know that impressing a location rep means your images might get highlighted when they tour brides-to-be around their venue. Event planners love to show off your beautiful photos of their meticulously-planned soirées, so why not give them access to your photos in a way that not only highlights their work, but at the same time shows you off? We’ve seen photographers partner with venues and service professionals to create custom showcase publications for their specific businesses, but imagine how popular you’d be with everyone down to the makeup artist if you created a showcase book for each wedding and shared it them for their own promotional uses? Every time they show off that booklet, their client will see your brand.

Annual Retrospective for past clients:

If you do more than wedding photography, it makes sense to remind your clients of this. Then, as your wedding clients become growing families, they can make you their photographer for life – there to document their pregnancy, baby photos, family portraits and even high-school seniors.

Creating an annual retrospective photography magazine to highlight favorite sessions from the previous year is a great way to remind customers that you do other types of photography. Similar to a portfolio, this sort of publication can really highlight events, press-opportunities and sessions that occurred during the past year. Clients highlighted in the publication would surely love a copy to show off to their friends, and it keeps you top-of-mind for their next photo-worthy occasion.

Client Gifts:

A number of wedding photographers send gifts to their couples at their anniversary, or around the holidays, so why not create a calendar template that you can customize for each couple?

Swap in photos from their big day, add their anniversary to the calendar, and voilà! You’ll have a product that costs you $5.60 + shipping (a 28-page Standard publication) and reminds your bride how fabulous you are every day of the year.

Print or Digital? Why Choose?

There is a constant debate about print vs. digital, arguing why one is better than the other. Here at MagCloud, our motto is “Why choose?” What’s great about all of these ideas is that if you like, any one of them could also be enjoyed and shown off on the iPad or as a digital download to any PC or tablet device. With just a few clicks you can use one PDF for both print and digital purposes, just opt-in for digital distribution when you select your print pricing and finishing options.

More:

Along with all of these great ideas, you can also use MagCloud to print professionally bound Contracts, Employee Handbooks, Style Guides, Posing Guides, Workbooks, and Lighting How-to’s for workshops. Want more inspiration? Browse more wedding photography publications on the MagCloud website.

Have you used MagCloud as a promotional piece or product for your wedding photography business, or have you been inspired to create something from this post? Share your ideas in the comments section below.

Vote for MagCloud in the SXSW PanelPicker – Ends Friday!

PattyLeave a comment

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.

Publisher Spotlight: Sell With Your Ears

Patty2 Comments

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.

Publisher Spotlight: Overland Sourcebook

PattyLeave a comment

With more readers accessing their news, schedules and more on the go, having a publication available in print and digital is gaining importance and publishers are noticing.

As the Overland Expo team was developing their expo guide, they knew it was essential to use both print and digital formats when reaching out to their thousands of global attendees each year. They needed a service that provided online and print-on-demand resources for their readers.

That’s where MagCloud comes in.

Founded three years ago in Arizona by Roseann Hanson, the Overland Expo is held every spring and tailored to adventure travel enthusiasts. As part of this year’s Expo, their team published Overland Sourcebook, their first MagCloud magazine, because they saw that 34% of their email news subscribers access their news via iPhones with now iPads becoming another source. “We must be ready to provide material to this market,” she exclaimed. “We see the ‘writing on the wall’ to provide digital as well as print materials.”

As a 60-page listing for all things adventure – vehicles, motorcycles, accessories, camping equipment, services, information, trip planning, business consultants, fabricators, and much more – the Sourcebook became a convenient and well-received guide for the Expo’s attendees.

Hanson attributes their Sourcebook’s success to their marketing plan which combined traditional and social media efforts. “Word of mouth, in today’s high-paced, noisy world, just doesn’t work any more,” said Hanson.

Hanson noted how MagCloud “is so easy to use” for both their team and customers. Pointing out the speed and ease of uploading their digital files to MagCloud’s timely support, Hanson advised new MagCloud publishers to “test, test, test and give yourself plenty of time to get things right as well.” The Expo team also loved how easy it was to integrate the Sourcebook with iPad. “[Our readers] were very impressed and the quality is wonderful.”

If you love the outdoors and are always on the lookout for adventures that await in the unknown corners of the world, you can also own the inaugural issue of Overland Sourcebook for $13. Overland Expo donates a good portion of their proceeds from the event to support ConserVentures, a program in place to promote the exploration of the planet and conservation of its natural and cultural resources.

Summer Festivals Galore!

PattyLeave a comment

Summer is a great time for vacations and relaxation. It’s also the season for many music festivals and film festivals. For the behind-the-scene teams that organize these events, it’s hard work right up until that last note is played and the final credits are rolling.

At MagCloud, we’re here to help make sure your event goes off without a hitch. We can make you confident that your printed programs, brochures and handouts are of the highest quality without breaking the bank.

Get started and create a PDF file of your publication, easily upload it to http://www.magcloud.com, preview your work, then select your print options. It’s that easy! It costs $0.20 per page and note that all orders for 20 or more print copies receive a 25% discount off the productions costs. Plus you can make the same PDF available in digital format for festival goers who want to enjoy the program on their mobile device or computer.

One of the perks of using MagCloud is that the connection you create with your audience doesn’t have to end at the event. We encourage you to publish a post-event roundup and share it out with festival goers via mail, email or your favorite social network. It’s taking that extra step that will bring people back next year, and it’ll be a fun, unique way to remember the festival long after the summer fades.

Need more details on what the process actually entails? We’ve got you covered. Remember, if you ever run into trouble or just need to learn more, you can always visit our Ask MagCloud page or find us on our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn).

Wishing everyone a happy, fun-filled and rockin’ summer!

Trim, Bleed and All That Jazz

Meghan Cordella6 Comments

One of the trickiest things about designing for print is understanding trim size and all things related to it.

After the printed pages come off our presses and are bound together, they need to be “trimmed” so that each page is exactly the same size.  This ensures each page in your publication is even, giving it that professional look.

While we always try to trim as accurately as possible, it’s natural for the trim line to vary slightly in one direction or the other, which is why we recommend that you include a “bleed” and work within a “safe zone” when you design your PDF.

Bleed

To ensure that no important parts of the page are cut off in the trimming process a “bleed” area is defined.  The “bleed” extends beyond the “trim” for when you want a photo or color to extend to the edge of the page.  For Standard, Digest, and Digest Landscape publications, the bleed is the top 0.125 inches, the bottom 0.125 inches, and the outside 0.25 inches of your PDF. For Flyer publications, the bleed is the 0.125 inches on all sides of the 8.5″ x 11″ PDF.

The reason to include a bleed in print files is to ensure that images you want to go to the edge of the page always do so, regardless of how exact the trim is.  If an image is cropped at the 8.25” x 10.75” trim edge on a Standard size publications, as shown in the below diagram on the left, and the print is trimmed slightly wider, then there will be a white bar between the printed image and the edge of the page.  If the image is extended all the way to the 8.5” x 11” PDF edge instead, filling the bleed area as shown in the below diagram on the right, then the printed image will go all the way to the edge of the page regardless of where the actual trim occurs.

Safe Zone

The “safe zone” is the area inside the trim line where your text and graphics are not at risk of being cut off or lost into the binding in the final print, regardless of any variation in the trim.  For MagCloud publications this area is 0.25 inches within all sides of the trim edge.

Any content that you want to appear completely within the final printed publication should be kept inside the safe zone.  Placing content too close to the top, bottom or outside edge of the PDF could result in that content being cut off during trimming.  This is something to keep in mind when adding page numbers to your publication, as those tend to be placed closer to the page edge.  Similarly, placing content too close to the inside edge of the PDF could result in that content being lost into the binding if your publication is perfect bound.  By keeping your content within the safe zone, you ensure that it will appear completely in the final print and digital copies of your publication.

For more information and step-by-step instructions to set up your PDF with the bleed and safe zone in mind be sure to check out our Getting Started page.

Next up in the MagCloud Design series: The Importance of Layouts and Templates

What Does The Future Newsstand Look Like?

Patty4 Comments

We’re all curious to know what the future holds for the magazine industry. The digital space has become a second home for print publications, but how will the newsstand evolve? Let’s look at a few of the key trends affecting the newsstand, as we’ve known it.

1.  One trend that the publishing industry simply can’t ignore is the emergence of digital platforms. The tablet platform is a game-changer; and plays a strong role in helping publishers expand readership, provides more opportunities to repurpose content libraries and creates new business models. Publishers that embrace new ways to integrate print and digital across platforms will put themselves at the forefront of the publishing industry transformation.

2.  The new frontier for magazine publishers is interactive media. Whether print or online, it’s essential to add a social layer to the content experience in an effort to stay relevant in an over-populated space. It may be a QR code, a Facebook promotion or a section featuring the up-and-coming blogs in your field, but print media should not be shy about showing off the latest tech innovations. For instance, companies like Microsoft came bursting onto the scene with programs such as Tag, which launched in January 2009, and spent their first year making a splash in the print magazine industry with partners like Condé Nast Traveler and Lucky.

3.  The social revolution also brings recognition and credibility to bloggers in a way that just wasn’t done five years ago. Style Sample, a fashion magazine promoting independent style for all, knows the importance of bloggers in reaching the budding-fashionista masses. The idea behind this trend is to leverage the readership of these blogs, which can even reach in the millions! Magazines are another medium that bloggers can use to develop an even closer and authentic bond with their readers. By embracing this new reality, any person who has a voice to be shared and a community to reach can become their own publishers. From bloggers to associations and non-profits to marketers, your magazine can help broaden your audience and provide new forms of engagement.

We’re just scraping the surface of what’s possible in publishing as more technologies emerge and content continues to evolve.

Where do you see the newsstand heading? And, more importantly, how do you intend to keep ahead of trends? Leave your comments below.