Traditional Print Advertising

Business Cards, Letterheads, newsletters, product briefs, catalogs, newspaper classifieds, magazine ads - all form the basis for a complete print advertising campaign. You can include your entire brochure on your business card by just adding your URL, and this same theory can be applied to almost everything else. Once you have a Web site, that URL can appear on everything you do.

Once you have a site address, you should include this address on everything (EVERYTHING) you print. Your letterhead, brochures, business cards—everything. It's one line of text, and there's almost nothing that doesn't have enough room for one line of text.

Hopefully, you've taken our advice and have registered your own domain name. Doing this allows you to be sure that your address won't change, since you can move your domain name to any server. This way, your printed materials won't become outdated.

If you already have a warehouse full of printed material, and you aren't willing to trash thousands of dollars of printing just to add your address, you've got a couple of options. The first is to apply adhesive labels (stickers) or stamped text to your materials, which give the URL of your site. Unfortunately, applying a sticker or ink stamp to a well-designed four-color piece will often reduce its effectiveness. It's not in your interest to degrade your collateral just to add your URL.

Your second option is to design a special piece that can be included with any outgoing print communications. An insert that lists your URL and gives a little hype, if designed to work with the look and feel of your existing print, is probably the better option.

If you currently produce a newsletter for your clients (or even your personnel), the main story on your next issue should be your leap onto the Web. It should cover the background of the medium, your goals, and quotes from the top brass of your company (even if that's you).

Print Advertising

Print advertising generally refers to the advertising space you purchase in newspapers and magazines. Adding "Visit us on the Web at " to your display ads is usually a simple procedure. You may not even need to reproduce your pre-press art, depending on your layout, as most design departments will be able to strip in a line of text with no problem.