It's time to update my review of the VistaPrint site. I spent last week purchasing new business cards and matching accessories. And I do mean purchasing--because nothing is quite free on VistaPrint. Its business model and methods of monetization are very carefully worked out and--don't get me wrong, VP offers a good deal on business printing--as a business buyer, you must read all the fine print, and be aware of VistaPrint's marketing game.
1. Play the Waiting Game
Roving the VistaPrint site, there were many interesting marketing avenues to pursue: not just business cards but Premium business cards; free matching websites; free matching e-mail marketing programs; free logo design; inexpensive hats, t-shirts and address labels--all with a newly created, customized logo.
2. Define "Free," Please
When you visit your shopping cart, you may be in for a nasty surprise--all this free stuff costs money! So, okay, you added to or upgraded most of the "free" offerings. And given other printing operations, VP is still quite reasonable. You get quite a bit of highly sophisticated customization and a level of creative control that you won't get, sad to say, from most local print shops, which deal almost completely in set templates. However, once you've made your selections, that is the time to leave the VistaPrint website--before buying anyting. Just leave, and let your Cart "rest" for a day or two.
3. Within 24 Hours Make an Offer Prospective Customers Can't Refuse
Is your business this responsive? VP knows you've paid a visit, considered some stuff and gone away. VP wants you back and will now offer you more things for free or deeper discounts. If you go back to your original Cart, all the original prices are there. But if you click on, say, Free Premium Business Cards in the marketing e-mail they send you, there will be a new Cart, and your prices will have been automatically discounted.
4. How Much Time Will You Devote to Haggling?
Having done the waiting thing, as I went to check out, I got a message that the matching address labels I had bought for $5.99 were now $3.99. So I clicked and added the $3.99 labels. But there was no way to remove the $5.99 labels! So I had, in effect, just added $4 to my total. How much patience do you have? I actually emptied my Cart and started over, including redesigning my business cards--but then that's something I consider fun. My husband Stuart, faced with a similar dilemma, simply picked up the telephone at that point and spoke to a VP customer service rep--that's how he managed to get 250 two-sided, full color cards on heavy stock for $12.99 shipping.
5. But Your Time Is Money, Remember?
After I redid my Cart, taking advantage of all the new lower prices, my order page looked much better because it was filled with hot orange type announcing that I had gotten a slew of 25% discounts, a matching hat for $1.50, not $11.40, labels for $3.99 not $5.99, saved a couple of bucks on my "free" logo (which costs about $20 if you want to download a copy to work with and own and was now $18.74). The $20 premium cards were now $15, and the heavy stock and back printing $9.74 instead of $12.99. My total order was about $15 less than my first attempt. Would I save even more if I called a customer service rep or waited another 24 hours and redid my Cart again? Maybe, but I decided to select the slowest shipping (21 days, $9.15, down from $9.50) and get this done!
6. Simplicity
Stuart kept his order simple--he only needed basic cards for special purpose networking; he already had business checks, address labels, etc. He chose a standard business card template. (Most of them are amateurish looking, but he selected a very dignified style and customized his colors and fonts.) Then, as I say, he got on the phone and talked his way into free printing on the back and free heavy card stock, paying only $12.99 shipping. On the other hand, when he went back, after receiving his cards--to see if he could make a couple of changes and get another 250 for $12.99--VP was having none of it, he was going to have to pay for all the extras. VP has monetization down; obviously, it has spent some years nailing it, but I'd say that the site hits a perfect balance between freebies and discount pricing, and that the marketing strategy is impeccable. And you'll be okay as long as you read all the fine print...
7. Control
Unlike Stuart, my primary goal was to get a simple logo done cheaply. I had already checked that out, and you can actually get a real human designer to create 3 logo choices tailored to your business for $67. At VP, however, I chose a template logo and selected the colors--it's a little generic, but with some imagination, its simple elements of a sphere with three white bars conveys World Wide Web and digital and text fairly well. If I left it to VistaPrint to imprint this logo on everything for me, it would have been free. As it was, I spent $18.74 for a logo I can use on e-mails, website, even create my own letterhead with--so I consider that a great deal.
8. "Free" Websites Are Not Really Free
Read carefully, only matching your logo is really free. VistaPrint has many offers that are free for 30 days, and then you pay monthly. In my opinion, their website offer is not truly competitive. Matching the style is a great idea, but the samples using my logo were unimpressive, to say the least--more like depressing. Also very important, VP provides a weird URL ending in "vp," not a dot com. And the pricing is $14.99 per month, and up. GoDaddy and BlueHost are both much cheaper and less tricky. Also, as a small business, you need to be aware of SEO (search engine optimization services), visitor tracking and ad testing, none of which were mentioned by VistaPrint. Google offers much of this, truly free.
9. "Free" E-Mail Marketing Plans
I looked at this for awhile and decided it was much too generic for my purposes. Besides, I don't have a large enough list at this time to make it worth the monthly costs. I ordered my logo, so I'll be able to customize my own e-mails. When I generate a large-enough list, I may look at this option again. After all, only the initial setup is free; after that there is a fee schedule, so make sure that this option will be worth it to your business.
10. What's Worth It, What's Not, and the Downside of Control
- Stuart's cards turned out nice, but you need to be aware that while paying for a "proof" to be e-mailed to you is not worth it, you must proofread extremely carefully--have at least one other pair of eyes look at it for you before you sign off, and proof again and again after every change you make.
- Stuart's design has white type popping out of a dark teal background--gorgeous, but the font and size he chose make the printa little too spidery to show up well: It needed to be sized up or bolded.
- If you don't know anything about color palettes (choosing two to six colors that harmonize and sticking to them), get help from someone with design or printing experience. (VistaPrint offers this, too.)
- The "foil" option isn't worth it--it's tacky and adds cost.
- The heavier stock is nice but not absolutely necessary.
- If your business is mostly localized, car magnets from VistaPrint can be a great marketing investment and may even earn a tax deduction for your car.
- Do-it-yourselfers should follow this one rule: The safest way to get an impressive result is to keep your business materials Simple and Consistent.
Posts
