How to Boost the Sale of Your Food Products with Innovative Package Design (Pt. 2)

 

Bio-Forge ProMax Health Supplement Label

(Continued)

Barcodes

UPC barcodes stand for Universal Product Codes. They were originally created to help grocery stores speed up checkout and assist with the tracking of inventory.  They became so popular that they spread to other retail stores and manufacturers and now are almost standard on almost all product packaging.  While the standard UPC code has been around for many years, a new 2-dimensional barcode called the QR code is being used by more and more product manufacturers in the United States.

How to Boost the Sale of Your Food Products with Innovative Package Design

Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer, Created by Pat Brady

In the intensive competition for food product sales, many business owners do not realize the importance that the package design of their product plays in their product’s marketing.  Unlike the popular erroneous belief, package design is not just designing “a pretty face”.  While the main purpose of product package design is to make the packaging more attractive; it also combines pertinent information with graphic design elements, typography and the packaging ultimately used.(i.e. clamshell, blister pack, cardboard) as well as including all necessary barcodes.  All these elements are combined so that the customer can make his preferred selection from all the competing products or brands available.

But what exactly are these elements? The following is a brief summary of some the graphic elements involved.  You should review the following points and write down a few ideas so that the graphic designer you hire can incorporate the items that best reflect your product and business.  Having pre -planned what you want included in your product packaging will assure that a professional graphic designer will develop the design that you desire.

3 Reasons Video Should Be Included in Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

Your Business Video

The buzz on the internet regarding Youtube and video marketing is taking the internet by storm…and for good reason!  Youtube has over 80 million visitors per month and on average Youtube viewers spend 164 minutes online everyday.  Several industry developments in recent years have contributed to these changes, for example, broadband high-speed internet is becoming readily available and more affordable for most households. The cost of consumer video equipment and video editing software is reaching affordable levels bringing down costs making  a very good quality video home studio that can be assembled for under $500 and comparable video editing software for your PC or MAC can be purchased for as low as $100.

There are several video sharing websites such as Vimeo, Dailymotion, Revver, Google Video, etc., that make hosting videos relatively low cost or in some cases free. In addition, many newly designed smartphones and iPhones are capable of creating short fairly good quality videos and many people are using their mobile phones to upload their videos to video sharing and social media websites.  No these are not professional quality videos; but many small business marketers begin with these tools and upgrade their video quality with their successes.  They don’t wait for the ideal time to jump onto the video marketing bandwagon.

In some cases, as incredible as it sounds, you don’t even need video equipment or software, as video creation business services such as Animoto will combine current pictures, images or mini video clips from your business and create compelling 30 second to 10 minute videos with sound and sophisticated transitions that you can than use to promote your business or service. If you are a solo professional, freelancer, independent contractor or small brick-and-mortar business you should consider including video marketing in your small business marketing mix.  With all the new tools coming online it makes more sense now more than ever!

The Journey Begins…

The Long & Winding Road

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step…so goes an old Chinese proverb. So this is the first step as a blog writer, in what I hope will be an exciting journey for myself as well as my readers.

This is the place where I will be writing about graphic design, print media, web design, motion graphics and on occasion other interests related to the design field.  In addition, I will also write about some aspects of print marketing and online advertising, after all that is the business we are in. Since I do have a background in fine arts, there will also be a few resources for fellow artists and graphic designers included in this blog.

My desire is that you will get information that is relevant to your small or mid sized business and real tools that will help you be more productive. Yes, I run my business with the idea that as the old axiom goes, people like to buy products or services from people they know, like and trust. Here’s looking at a fruitful journey together!