Did you know we do Ad Specialty items? Ad Specialty is the industry term for all the things that get imprinted on “stuff” instead of the more common substrates like papers.  These are things people buy for advertising their business, thus the printers who specialize in this type of work are “Ad Specialty” printers.

Here is a button that came in this week for the Pacific County Economic Development Council, who wants you to “Get Your Smile On!”

This magnet showcases the logo of the Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge:

And these double-sided window decals are fresh off the presses for members of the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau:

New to our community is an increasingly full-service Ad Specialty Printing lab at Ilwaco High School under the business name Ilwaco Industries.  Students are creating banners, posters and signage, as well as items that are digitally embroidered, silk screened, use dye sublimation printing (think that photo coffee mug you got at the mall) and more.  Future plans include laser etching and 3-D printing, which will allow them to create a vast array of custom products.

We’re so impressed with our local high school for taking on this lab as part of their vocational program and want to support them however we can.  At this point, design isn’t part of the curriculum so businesses should use a shop like ours to create the image they want printed.  Anyone can create an image and get it printed.  For your business’ presentation a professional designer knows how to prepare art for the specific print medium (the devil is the details).  Once you have your design, having Ilwaco Industries do the production will save you money while helping them learn.  We can work with them on your behalf, or you can save a few bucks and work with them directly.  Expect a few less-than-perfect pieces, but take those back and they’ll re-do them for you!

You’re not alone.  The rules are changing quickly;  social networking and mobile-friendliness are as, if not more, important to most businesses than the mighty search engine rank.

QwikCall.com is an example of a site that did the deed, and with a high degree of professionalism, I might add.  The site owner, Patricia, had two clear goals; she wanted to make the site easy to edit and also optimized for search engines.  I thought the static site’s design needed a bit of professional polish and Patricia wasn’t afraid to update her look.  We were able to make a plan with quick turnaround because Patricia had already gathered all the information needed to complete the project.

I re-created their static website using WordPress, using a pre-designed theme that just needed a little customizing to make it uniquely ‘QwikCall’.  Approaching a site build in this way is efficient, which translates to less expensive, and is a perfect match for clients who aren’t already heavily invested in a visual brand.

Using keywords within the text of the page, our team reworded much of the content to make it ’search-engine friendly’ and created a meta tag set using the same carefully chosen and researched key words.   Since QwikCall.com was an aged domain, we then just had to sit back and wait for Google and friends to re-index it so we could see the results of our efforts, which pleased us and, more importantly, Patricia.  Great project!  ~Karl

We pride ourselves on keeping our customers’ return on investment in view when making recommendations.  We like a car analogy; while we always want to build a Lexus, sometimes a Kia will get the job done just fine, leaving more cash in the pocket of our clients.   So, when I recently heard a customer ask Sue, “Why should I buy a stamp from you when I can mail order one for half that price?”

Sparing our dear customer one of my cheery orations on how every dollar spent in a locally owned independent business returns about 80% back to the community, and how that dollar returns to the same community an average of five times through taxes, wages, purchases, contributions, etc., I told her I would find out.  After all, I knew the question would wear like a pebble in my shoe until I fully investigated the answer.

So why should you spend $30 or $40 on a rubber stamp when you can mail order one for half that much?  It turns out you really do get what you pay for.

1. Do you need only letters & numbers, and you aren’t too picky about font or size? An inexpensive mail order stamp might be a good fit for you.  In fact, we have recommended to several non-profit organizations that they buy a half-dozen of the inexpensive stamps for ‘mailing parties’ as many hands make light work.  Each stamp has a shorter lifespan, but they’re inexpensive enough to buy multiples.
2. Do you need a custom design, your logo, a special font or special use? Notary stamps, custom sizes, “green” plastics, multiple colors in the impression, custom designs and other special requests are better served using a professional designer that can match your stamp design to a stamp making house suited for your specific job’s needs.
3. Do you need a stamp pad-style stamp? It’s fun to make stamps with wooden handles and see them used by scrapbookers with custom inks.  These are typically the least expensive of all the stamps, too. But don’t buy your ink or other stamping supplies from companies like ours.  You’ll have a much wider assortment of color choices, and likely lower pricing, if you go to your favorite scrapbook supply vendor.
4. How many impressions do you need it to make? Stamps have a lifespan rating.  All those we offer rate for 5,000 impressions before re-inking.  Some produce 10,000 or 20,000 impressions before quality begins to degrade while others include a lifetime guarantee.  Those super-inexpensive mail-order stamps are typically lower quality;  you can generally expect to need to re-ink them at about 750 impressions and enjoy 1,500-2,500 impressions before they lose quality (and if all you need it for is to pay bills, that is a very good solution!).
5. Do you want a stamp that inks itself? Self-inking stamps have a pad built into the stamp handle and the rubber flips up to ink itself between impressions.  We guarantee our self-inking stamps for 5,000 impressions before the pad needs re-inking.   Pre-inked stamps are impregnated with ink; these usually offer a higher quality impression and last longer.   The X-Stamper, above, rates  for 50,000 impressions before re-inking and has a lifetime guarantee.  Just try to wear it out!

Does that sound like more thinking than you want to do just for a rubber stamp?  Not to worry;  Sue and Wendy are happy to take care of all the decision making for you, if that’s your preference.  If you’ll let them interview you a bit, you can rest assured they won’t sell you more stamp than you need.

A lot of people don’t know we have stellar pricing on carbonless forms.  Available in 2, 3 and 4-part, our carbonless forms print on 21# (not the flimsy 15#) paper, giving them a quality feel.  They can include consecutive numbering, backside printing and even be padded into booklets like those you see above.  This is a great feature; it includes a manila flap to slide between the current and next form.  Standard ink colors include blue, black, red, green (pick your favorite without increasing the cost).  Full color is also available.

If you know what you want, pencil it out; that’s all we need to get started.  If you aren’t sure what you need, we have boilerplate for the most commonly used forms, or we can come up with something specifically for you.

Don’t settle for a form anyone could have, with flimsy paper and your stamp or label at the top.  Let us customize a form that fits your needs and makes you look good at the same time.  We bet it will even cost you less than you’re paying now.

I had fun playing with the look and feel of this site build.  The management team wanted the site to reflect the relaxed personality of the lodge and incorporate the colors of their new logo.

Left and right-hand sidebars offer space for:

• webervations integration (online reservation service)
• Newsletter sign-up for emailed announcements of specials
• Weather info from 642weather.com
• rotating quotes from customers
• “banner ads” for the hotel itself: child friendly, pet friendly, restaurant on site

Slide shows on home, gallery, and rooms pages offer lots and lots of views of the lodge interior (each room type has its own slide show) & exterior, as well as plenty of beach sunsets.

Chautauqua Lodge is nestled in the dunes, a few steps from Discovery Trail.  They boast an indoor heated pool, hot tub and dry sauna, conference center, on-site restaurant, volleyball court and more.  Affordable, casual beach lodging for families, couples and groups.  ~Sabrina