Vistaprint’s SiteBuilder will help you to achieve the layout and design you want, but here a few extra tips…

• First, choose a website that matches your existing marketing tools i.e. business cards.
• Go for colours already associated with your corporate colours. If you want to promote special offers or sales, bright colours can help to attract attention.
• Your website is an opportunity to provide more information for your clients, however, don’t write too many long paragraphs. Use lists, bullet points, and be concise.
• Use a slightly larger font for the important messages that are there to hook the reader.
• Promotional offers need to jump out at the reader immediately, so make sure they are noticeable without ruining the look of your website.
• You can add photos, but make sure you only choose pictures that are of a very high quality in terms of resolution, composition and subject matter. They must complement your text, or they should not be used.
• Explain to your customers how to contact you. Ensure your contact details are easy to spot, and give them an extra helping hand by including a map so they can find you!

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First things first, what’s so special about your restaurant?

• What type of cooking? Which products do you use? Can you use their exceptional freshness/ quality in your promotion? Are they locally sourced etc.?

• Is there anything distinctive about the layout of the restaurant, i.e. exposed kitchen area?

• What style or atmosphere have you created?

• How do your prices compare with those of your competitors?

Basically, you need to define the qualities that make your establishment stand out from the crowd.

From there, you will be able to sketch out a profile of your typical client and pin down the targets for your marketing campaigns.

Once you know what you want to sell and who you want to sell to, you can work out the best marketing strategy and products you need.

Vistaprint have product packages you can customise according to your needs, so that you can choose whatever is best adapted to achieve your goals.

Here are a few ideas:

• Business cards are essential… You want your clients to have your details to hand whenever they want to book a table.

• Web sites are also now a business necessity… Post your opening times, your contact details, and most importantly, your menus! What better way to attract customers than by making their mouths water?

• Flyers are a great way to promote meal deals or discounts.

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• You could give an embroidered polo shirt decorated with the initials of the recipient, and choose a motif depending on their hobbies or passions…

• Add a touching and special message for Mother’s or Father’s Day…

• A personalised cap or polo shirt would be just the ticket for a ‘special’ birthday (18, 21, 30, 40 years etc)!

• For fans of a sports club or a sports event such as a marathon, an embroidered polo shirt would make a great present…

• If a colleague is leaving or retiring, tell him or her how much you will miss them with one of our personalised embroidered gifts…

So, to make a change from the printed T-shirts, think about giving an embroidered polo shirt or hooded sweatshirt the next time you are looking for a personalised present.

As a souvenir:

• When you leave university or school: club together with your friends to get ‘Class of 2011’ embroidered sweatshirts, as a reminder of your class mates…

• When you move house: ask your friends for help and get polo shirts for the whole team. Don’t forget to organise a BBQ both to thank them and as a house warming…

• For a sporting event: caps and polo shirts show everyone you are a team!

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T-shirts
Create unique t-shirts for any family or social occasion: barbecue, picnic, parties, family get-togethers… Choose your colour, add text, move elements and personalise the verso side…

Mouse pads
Add a personal touch to your office or give a mouse pad to someone else. There are models for all activities and you can also add a personal message or a photo.

Key rings
Give this practical and personal gift to your guests as a party souvenir or even instead of thank you cards.

Cotton bags
Forget plastic bags! These cotton bags are perfect for shopping, for going to the beach or the swimming pool, or for carrying all of baby’s stuff!

Photo books
The gift idea that can’t be overlooked when you want to get something really special… Include all your shared and unforgettable moments, and create a lovely gift that will give pleasure to the owner for years to come.

Magnets
Add your favourite photo and a personal message to one of our magnets and you have a great personalised gift. They are practical for sticking notes or lists to the fridge, and you could add a calendar, just to make it even more useful!

Mugs
For home or the office, personalised mugs are perfect for someone who appreciates their tea or coffee break! Make their break even better by putting a photo on their m

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You need to take your time to find something that sounds good and that will stand the test of time. So, pick up your notepad and pen and get ready for some thinking time…

A few pointers:

• First of all, you need to define your brand (market, product, service, position, USP…).

• At this stage, make sure you write everything down, as you will have time to discard ideas afterwards.

• Talk about it with your family and friends or colleagues and see whether they have any ideas to add to the pot.

• Once you have a list of ideas and criteria, start writing down key words. At this point, start looking for synonyms for the key words.

• Have a look through the phone book and take a note of any names you like and the reason why.

• Prioritise the characteristics of your company – which message has to shine through?

• Now play with the words you have: words that represent your concept; play on words; create a new word from others; foreign (but recognisable) words etc.

• When you have a few ideas, ask the opinion of your nearest and dearest again.

• Once you have chosen, you are one step closer to designing your brand image that will feature on your business cards and other marketing tools!

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• Write a party plan and make sure people know exactly what they have to do and when.

• Give people enough notice, and make sure you make it crystal clear on the party invitations that they are sworn to secrecy!

• Decide on the time of the big surprise – make sure you tell people on the invitations to arrive 1 hour before, and if they can’t get there then, make sure they won’t turn up at the same time as the guest of honour!

• Check with close friends and family that you haven’t left anyone important off the list.

• Plan another bogus event on the day, so that the person doesn’t decide to go off and do something else.

• Decide on the location – if you live with the person, it may prove difficult to organise it at home.

• Organise a playlist of music for the night – you can compile it based on the person’s likes – or you could ask guests to suggest music that reminds them of this person and include that on the playlist.

• You could also get t-shirts made for the moment when the person discovers the party. Get a surprise message and a photo printed onto the t-shirts and make sure everyone’s wearing them when the person walks in. They can also double as souvenirs for the guests.

• Also make sure they all have streamers, party poppers and balloons to make the moment more dramatic.

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Having a stock of Mummy cards in your pocket or in the car means you will never need to rummage through your Mummy handbag again in desperate need of a pen and paper…

As well as your pocket and the car,

• keep a couple in your child’s bag or coat pocket,
• give them out to other parents at school or nursery when arranging play dates,
• make sure you give one to your babysitter, and
• pop them in with the RSVP for birthday parties.

Choose a design that’s stylish and suits your personality – you can even add a photo of your child or your family to the card to personalise it.

Once you’ve chosen one of our designs, what you write is up to you, but most people put:

• contact details (mobile, home, work telephone numbers; email address),
• emergency contact details, and if appropriate,
• any medical or allergy information.

Personal business cards, like the Mummy cards, can be a practical and fun way of handing out your important information – if you move house, get yourself a stock of cards so that you can tell everyone quickly about your new address.

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• Think of a theme – whether it’s pirates or fairies, or both, the theme can apply to fancy dress, decoration and the games. Let your child choose his or her favourite theme and then get the family together to make the decorations yourselves. It will add to the excitement for your child, and give you something to do on rainy Sundays!

• Invitations – remember your theme when choosing your invites. Of course, you need to put the time, date and place, but also remember to say when the party will end. A couple of hours is long enough for little children who tire quickly, while older kids can cope with three hours.

• Party food – prepare a simple buffet with plenty of drinks to rehydrate excited children. Remember to keep the table decoration in line with your chosen theme.

• Activities – Organise the classic games like pass the parcel, but think of activities such as a treasure hunt for a pirate-themed party. You could also organise creative activities that involve paper, colour, sticking etc. Face painting is another fun activity that can be linked to your chosen theme.

• Thank you cards – Try to note down who brings which present on the day. Within two weeks of the party, send all the guests a card to say thank you for coming and for their gift.

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• You don’t need as much time to prepare a postcard marketing campaign. For a start, you have less space to fill – your message must be clear and concise. Whilst this could feel like a challenge itself, once you have decided upon the reason for sending the cards, it will be much faster to fill a postcard than a brochure with several pages.

• Postcards are cheaper to send than traditional mail shots. There’s no need for envelopes, no brochures to produce and print, and postage costs can only be lower as size and weight is kept to a minimum.

• If you create an original and attractive image or offer, thereby creating a positive impression in the customer’s mind, your postcard will hopefully end up pinned to the fridge or the noticeboard for future reference! Postcards can be keepers, perhaps for practical reasons if you are offering a valuable service that’s in demand, or maybe because you have designed an aesthetically pleasing card that people don’t want to throw away.

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As you step through your sister’s front door, you pretend to be casually glancing around. However, you are actually checking to see if she has finally updated the family photos displayed on that shelf by the fireplace. Wow! You still have hair in the latest photo, which means it is at least six or seven years old. Why doesn’t she ever put the new family photos you give her on display? Do you look that bad bald? Since you are not one to beat around the bush, you decide to ask her point blank. Sheepishly, she shows you an entire stack of photos and a few battered frames. It turns out she just doesn’t have the time to mat, frame and display new photos.

Now that you know the reason she isn’t displaying photos, you can whip out your solution  the photo magnet. VistaPrint makes it simple to create photo magnets from any family photo and hanging the new photo is just as easy. Push a few of those pineapple magnets youve been collecting on family vacations aside and stick the photo up. You have a new photo of your loved ones on display and it only took about three seconds to hang.

For more information about photo magnets and Vistaprint, please see our Homepage – Vistaprint.co.uk.

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