Using your laptop as a marketing tool

Any business owner or marketing personnel will know how vital it is for their company to present the right kind of image to attract customers and also that this image needs updating from time to time. The most important part of this image is usually the corporate logo that is used on product labels, stationery and company literature so it is worth taking the time to get it just right. If your organisation advertises on television then the visual appearance of your logo on an LCD TV will also be something to take into consideration. Modern sets are capable of reproducing colours more accurately but there are always minor differences between the colour of ink used in printed materials and the colour that you see on a screen. There are still quite a few people with older sets as well but most companies will concentrate their efforts on how things look on a liquid crystal display rather than an old CRT model. There are many applications that can be used on a notebook to design logos and company brochures or you can hire a professional graphic designer to do the work for you. The type of portable computer to buy for design work will need to be fairly well specified with a decent amount of memory and a high-end video card, in order to be able to work with large media files. There are a number of manufacturers producing such machines so prices should be quite competitive at the moment.

With the growing popularity of HD TV sets there is an opportunity for a new style of television advertising that takes advantage of the extra detail and clarity on offer with these appliances. Depending on the individual’s level of skill they could either be a graphic designer’s dream or nightmare. A good business owner will constantly be seeking out new opportunities for getting their message across and despite the technological developments we have seen over the past couple of decades sometimes the most effective advertising can utilise old-fashioned methods. A netbook and some imagination is all that is necessary to hammer out some effective copy for a promotional flyer or leaflet. These diminutive machines are good value for money if you are looking for a mobile computer that performs basic tasks well and is easy to carry around. Busy executives often have to work late into the night, especially sole proprietors who are trying to get a new business up and running and it can be nice to have something to watch once you finally get home. With a new DVD recorder there is no need to miss any programmes that you regularly watch, or exciting sporting events. There are many models to choose from ranging from basic machines that get the job done to the latest ones that can play and record in high resolution. Watching the box might not sound very productive but it is during downtime that people sometimes have the best ideas for a new approach.

A good tool for testing out new promotional films is a multimedia laptop owing to the decent sound systems and displays that they are generally equipped with. They are also usually powerful enough to do basic editing of videos and when making a presentation can be taken to clients’ offices and used in conjunction with a large monitor, assuming they have one handy. The kind of material to use in a presentation for a business proposal will obviously differ from that used to attract new customers. Watching one of your advertisements at home on a high definition TV, your potential clients will hopefully be impressed with your creative use of the graphical capabilities that their television has to offer and remember your product or services. Future business partners will appreciate a more factual approach with no unnecessary exaggeration. Larger organisations will be able to afford to put together a professional film by hiring a team of cameramen and technicians but smaller companies may have to utilise the skills that their existing staff possess and the availability of equipment like a digital camcorder to produce their own videos. Either way the content will need to be well thought out in order to end up with an effective advertisement. Modern cameras come with a range of preset themes that make shooting in various conditions relatively simple and usually have a manual override function for the more experienced cameramen. Whatever is produced should be in keeping with the rest of your promotional material.

For companies that decide to collaborate with an outside graphic designer, a good quality, modern laptop will be one of the most useful tools at their disposal. Ideas can quickly be swapped via the internet and if necessary video conferencing can be carried out on a small scale. All portable machines on the market have a variety of ways to connect to the internet such as a wireless card and a socket for a LAN cable, so getting online is a simple affair. Your home entertainment equipment can also be used for business purposes; with the use of a reasonable DVD player you can evaluate your marketing team’s latest video ideas in the comfort of your own home. The discs they use are much less bulkier than old VHS tapes so sending copies to your graphic designer is much easier too. Whatever type of player you happen to own the picture quality will also depend on the rest of your appliances. After doing some research online and having a look round the local electrical stores most people would agree that for a new television LCD models are probably the best option at the moment. The alternative is a plasma screen but these are more common for larger models so unless you need something over 32 inches in size then they probably will not figure in your considerations. New videos should be tested with all types to make sure that they look good whatever the technology being used by your customers.