Friday, June 27, 2008

Newspaper Printing Transcending Time

Newspapers have been a remarkable part of human society way back some five centuries ago. Newspapers especially in Renaissance Europe are hand written and then privately circulated among merchants since the most common topics discussed are all about wars and then economic conditions that affect society. The first ever printed newspapers appeared in Germany in 1400 in the form of pamphlets or broadsides which are often times exaggerated in content. Its usual topic concerns German's atrocities like the famous folklore about Count Dracula.

The earliest predecessors of newspaper in the English-speaking world are called corantos which are small news pamphlets that contained noteworthy events. And the very first consecutively published newspaper was titled The Weekly Newes which was made available in the year 1622. Numerous newspapers of different titles also followed but they copied the format of The Weekly Newes.

The first ever published true newspaper in English was the London Gazette which was distributed in the year 1666. This newspaper was officially approved among the vast number of periodical titles and lasted for about a century.

The first newspaper printing press was used by Ben Franklin which was called the Ramage Press. This printing press was constructed entirely out of wood however there are also some parts that make use of iron. This printing press is now displayed at the National Museum in Washington. Another printing press was developed by Earl Stanhope but this time he created his printing press frame using entirely iron. For the power he combined toggle joint and lever.

The quest for perfecting the printing press technology has continued to great parts of the world until the year 1850 to 1860 which showed great advancements in the presses. It was during these years that fast printing was developed to answer the ever increasing demands for newspaper. But there are some problems with the created presses and it has something to do with the plates used for the presses. However, this problem was solved in the year 1861 by the application of a steam bed that is used to dry a novel style of paper mache mold. This novel style of paper mache mold is use to make a stereotype replica of the type pages which are in the form of plates which are fitted around the cylinders. The process usually takes an hour or so to come up with a single plate.

On the contrary the present day presses are capable of creating plates in minutes and has the ability to print on both sides of the paper while passing through the presses. The octuple machine is one of the most awaited printing press at present since it has the ability to fold and counts 96,000 complete 8-page paper per hour or 48,000 complete 16-page papers at sizes like that of the ordinary daily newspaper. Right now only one of this machine is placed in operation and can be seen in the printing room of the New York World.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Using Printing Industry To Spread Business

The printing industry has changed immensely and the greatest proofs are imminent especially in book printing. In ancient times, only a limited number of books are published since very few authors are willing to write their books. You see books during those times are all hand written. Writing a book may take a year or so to finish. And of course we all know that handmade products are usually expensive so just imagine how much a book would costs during the ancient times.

If the actual writing already poses a problem just think of the problem in reprinting the same book. But thanks to the development of printing technology more books and other printed materials are easily printed today. Aside from that, there are also other options that are available to improve the quality of each book printed. As much as there are so many types of books there also numerous book printers and publishers that offers varying costs and benefits.

Book printing in its simplest sense is the method of having a book printed. But is it really all printing? Or is there something more to it that meets the eye? Book printing should never be confused with traditional publishing. Traditional publishing refers to the entire life cycle of a book starting off with the development of the book, then the creative design for the cover followed by printing, manufacturing, distribution and then the marketing of the books. Book printing is more of “your-own” publishing and printing scheme since you are the publisher and at the same time the printer of your own book.

At present there is a vast number of book printing presses already used by publishers as well as book manufacturers. Nevertheless, there are also local print shops that offer book printing services. The difference between professional book printing and your local print shop lies on the quality of the output. Books that have undergone professional book printing press procedures are more superior in terms of prints and then the colors used are more impressive compared to the quality of books that are simply done by inexperienced local copy shops.

An excellent choice of book printing company is one that takes the time to explain to its customers the benefits that may be derived from the technology in order to help their customers in correctly choosing the correct format, page count, ink type, colors as well as provide their customers with the quotes to help them with their budgets.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Catalog Utilize For Growing Business

As a business grows so is its need for better and cost-effective advertising materials. One option that business owners may try to consider is catalog printing. Catalogs are not only known for its ability to effectively grab the attention of customer but it is also famous in terms of the convenience it brought its readers. Convenience in the sense that it can be easily browsed and especially when done in full colors can really left a mark on the minds of its readers.

Catalogs are best option for businesses who may want to increase their sales. Another advantage derived in employing catalogs is that it saves the business time and money. There would be no need to employ separate advertisement materials for each product and services since everything are incorporated in a single catalog. The catalog will not only showcase products and services but will also show the prices as well as the individual description of each products and services. Customers are therefore provided with ample information that assists them in deciding whether they want to purchase or not.

Catalogs also provide a source of future sales since customers who may not have at present the money to buy any of the products and services on display would tend to keep the catalog for future reference of any product and services they may want to purchase. The significance of catalogs in promoting business is undeniable that is why it is important to hire only the best catalog printing company there is.

A well crafted catalog can tempt customers to take hold of products and services even if they don't have a need for it yet. Professionally done catalogs are like nymphs seducing customers to indulge and take hold of products and services. You can attest to the catalog's effectiveness in captivating customers, how many times have you ordered products that you don't necessarily need, simply because the pictures look so tempting that you feel you just have to have one of those displayed products? I for one have always been a victim to the allure of catalogs. I just can't seem to resist astounding pictures of cosmetics, bags, shoes….you name it, I ask you what a girl to do especially when the catalog is teeming with great discounts?

And how about catalogs on cars? Those awesome full color catalogs that seem to say go and ask your bank if they can grant you a loan right away! The effects that catalogs have on its readers are simply amazing that is why it is important to hire only the best catalog printing services available.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Good Business Impressions By Brochure Pinting

A full color brochure is a great means of showcasing your business and products. Brochures are usually done in three standard sizes and these are 8 ½ x 11, 8 ½ x 14 and 11 x 17. The different brochure sizes have its specific use or purpose take for example the unfolded 8 ½ x 11 which is commonly used in creating product sheets or may be tri-folded if ever to be used as a company's brochure. However, for those companies that want to economize the 11 x 17 brochure may be employed. These 11 x 17 brochures are simply folded in half.

There are certain things to consider when creating brochures. First you have to make the cover as interesting as possible. Bear in mind that it's the cover that will be the first thing that your customers will notice when they received your brochures. The cover will determine the very first impressions of your customers toward your business.

Likewise, try to create a theme in which your customers may relate to and then make use of this theme all throughout the content in your brochure. Make use of one large illustration that illustrates a story that has significance to your readers for a much greater impact. In terms of pictures to be use for your brochures again it is best to choose photographs that provide an idea on the message that you want to convey. And then put captions on the cover to further provide your readers with ample information on what's in store for them.

Try to have as much information in your brochure. Don't be afraid to include every important information you deem helpful to your clients. And then highlight every facts that you want your customers to remember about your business like business hours, your business address, your business phone numbers, costs of products and services. Then make use of photos instead of drawings since photos suggest realism and is known to increase retention by 26%.

Then lastly try to make your brochures worth keeping. Make use of convincing words to encourage consumers to continuously support your business. Have your brochures printed by only the best brochure printing company available. Remember that your brochure acts as your representative to your customers so make sure you make a good impression.

by: Jinky C. Mesias

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ways to Optimize Blog

There's a lot of blogs out there a lot so getting yours noticed could be difficult. The good news is that it can be done and those who have done it are willing to share a few tricks of the trade.

Editor's Note: A lot of the plug-ins recommended in the tips are for WordPress blogs. Do you know of other great free plug-ins or optimization techniques not mentioned here? Let us know in the comments section.

"There are 93.8 million blogs worldwide," says SEO-PR president and co-founder Greg Jarboe. "Getting excited about getting a blog is like getting excited when the phone book arrives."

"Yeah, but, it's your name in print," says Navin Johnson.

That's not a reason to not have one though. A blog is still an effective way to get noticed and to gain an audience. "Things will starting happening to you now," reminds Navin.

But only if you do it right. "If you don't have a blog, go ahead and start one," says Jarboe, "but the whole industry has moved on. It's now about performance; it's now about results."

Okay, so how do you get those results? Well, there's probably not a finite set of things, but there are some good suggestions. Jarboe suggests staying away from turf already claimed. "Look for emerging terms. Find terms that are upcoming or growing in importancethat don't have five years of entrenched bloggers competing for them."

But if you have to enter ground already well-traveled, it's a good idea to get in good with those that know the road. Join their conversations, get their attention, earn a link.

Jarboe joins Stephan Spencer, Founder and President of Netconcepts, LLC in providing some expert advice on optimizing a blog, and we've organized that advice into a neat top ten list. The plugins recommended are all for WordPress.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

10 Ways To Optimize Your Blog

Below are 10 way to optimize your blog:

1. Tag clouds and tag pages; check out Ultimate Tag Warrior plugin for creating these. Spencer says he doubled traffic to one his blogs by adding it.

2. Add a "Related Posts" feature. Spencer recommends the Contextual Related Posts plugin for WordPress.

3. Top Ten posts feature to display most popular posts

4. Add "next" and "previous" post buttons

5. Build inbound links

6. Title tags – use SEO Title Tag plugin for WordPress to assign unique title tags to individual posts.

7. Claim your blog at Technorati and use Technorati tags

8. Use "sticky" posts that always appear at the top of the page as a way to add a keywords-rich introduction to category pages. Adhesive plugin works for this.

9. Use the Buzzlogic tool to find out which bloggers are most influential in conversations – refer to them and try to get them to link to you.

10. Get into other bloggers' blog rolls (trackbacks and comments won't help in link gain.