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March 2009
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PEREGRINE ASSOCIATES
(215) 343-2499
(215) 343-4895 FAX
info@peregrineassociates.com
Showroom:
968 Easton Road
Warrington PA 18976
Mailing:
PO Box 721
Warrington PA 18976
www.PeregrineAssociates.com
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From the nest
Greetings!
Mark Twain once wrote:
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years."
Today, those words ring with such truth, except with my daughters turning 13 this month, I have become the father he is referring to.
When they first learned to walk, I swore they were sneaking into my room at night and sucking out my brain matter -- helping them get smarter and making me dumberer.
I thought it was tough enough when they became tweens -- the awkward age where they ride the cusp between childhood and the teenage years. Their dad is no longer the smartest or even the coolest guy they know. According to them, I know nothing about computers, smart phones, iPods, the Jonas Brothers or even, dare I say, clothes!
 My friends who have been through this guarantee that when they get to be about 21, once again, I will be cool to hang with. And, they might even reflect on these trying years they were forced to spend time with me on vacations and other outings, were in fact, the 'good old days'!
Until then, I have installed a double-sided, keyed-only, touch-sensitive, audible-alarmed, electrified dead bolt system on my bedroom door. Come on, I need to hide what ever brain matter I've got left...there are two of them remember! | |
Wearables
Hip with Hyp - Wearables geared towards those young adult customers that seem to have an unlimited amount of disposable funds. Younger clients are demanding more trendy wearables. Hyp has come to the rescue with T's and fleece perfect for this generation.
HY210 Hyp 7 oz. Raleigh French Terry Track Jacket
 - 80% cotton, 20% polyester french terry
- garment washed
- 1x1 contrasting rib neck, cuffs and waistband
- contrasting stripes on sleeves
HY309 Hyp 7 oz. Augusta French Terry Cropped Pants
- 80% cotton, 20% polyester french terry
- double-needle stitching throughout
- dyed-to-match herringbone tape drawstring
- contrasting stripes on side seams
Colors Selection: Crocus/Storm, Flamingo/White, Sky/Storm, White/Hawaiian Blue
10% off all Hyp Clothing from March 15 though April 30.
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Ad Specialties
Umbrellas
March is National Umbrella Month. Here are two of many different varieties of umbrellas available.
Folding 5-section polyester umbrella with deluxe zippered carrying case with matching trim. - Plastic handle
- Aluminum frame
- Wrist strap
- Silkscreened on umbrella handle or carrying case
- Colors - blue,green, pink, orange, red, yellow
- Setup Charge - $45.00
100 @ $9.00 500 @ $8.50
60" Arc Golf Umbrella (#4021)
 - Metal Shaft With Wood Handle
- Closed 40"
- Colors - Pewter/Black, Blue/Black, White/ Blue, White/Teal, White/Red, White/Green, White/Black, Khaki/Navy, Khaki/Maroon, Khaki/Black, Khaki/Green or Red/Black. Combo: Red/White/Blue. Solid: Blue, Khaki, Red or Green.
- Silkscreened on one panel
- Setup Charge - $50.00
25 @ $9.33 100 @ 8.67 500 @ 8.25
April Showers bring May Flowers
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Printing
Outdoor Banners
Make your next event a big success with an outdoor banner announcing your company, products or specials.
- 13 oz Scrim Vinyl Banner
- full color
- grommets
- hemming
- matte finish
Specifically intended for outdoor use, these banners can also be used indoors. Inks are UV Cured (dried). Waterproof & durable. This material is typically used for billboards, building wraps, banners, event flags, trade show signage, parades, etc.
Spring Special (March 20 to June 21) $6.00 per square foot (regular price - $7.00)
Design & layout and shipping are additional.
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Learning to Fly
Money is tight and the economy is not expected to improve anytime soon. Many businesses have had to tighten their belts and are looking for areas to cut expenses. Sadly to say, one of the first areas cut is money for marketing. However, this is a double edged sword. Marketing brings you clients who bring in revenue. No marketing, no revenue. So before you think of cutting your marketing budget, how about evaluating your marketing plan first by asking the following questions?
- Are you spending money where it makes the most sense?
- Have you evaluated the returns for each marketing project?
- Do you know who your target marketing is?
- Are you utilizing your current customers to the fullest extent?
- How are you handling past clients who haven't done business with you recently?
- Have you evaluated your competition recently?
Once you've asked those hard questions, let Peregrine Associates help you find the solutions that will give you the best response for your money. Give us a call and we will be happy to sit down with you and help you plan a creative and cost effective marketing plan.
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Marketing University 
30-Second Elevator Speech
Quick, you're in an elevator and someone turns to you and asks what you do for a living. Can you, between the first and second floor, without any 'mmm's, errr's or even you knows' give them a quick commercial about what you do?
Start off with how you are the solution to their needs. For example, it's not enough to tell someone you organize offices, get their attention by letting them know that research shows an organized company typically has 20-30% higher profit m argins and you can help them achieve that goal!
You should, without hesitation, explain the who, what, where, when and most importantly, how you can help their company. Your 30 second commercial needs to be flexible depending on who you are talking to at the time. Your presentation to a group is different than one to a potential client at a picnic.
One of the most important aspects of this task is practice, practice then practice some more. 30 seconds is a very long time. But, if someone interrupts with a question, you need to be ready to continue on without hesitation. And that only comes from practicing in front of a mirror, friends and business associates. You should be fluid and not make it sound like a sales pitch.
There are many wonderful articles on this marketing technique. Just Google the subject! Then practice!
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Peregrine Associates and Long Term Care (LTC)
We're starting our own direct marketing campaign geared towards the Long Term Care marketplace. These include Independent Living, Assisted Living and Nursing Care communities. To give you an idea on how a campaign can work for you, here's our own plan:
 First, you need to determine who you want to market to. Although a simple statement, you need to ask yourself some tough questions in order to create your list of potential clients. For us, we wanted LTC facilities in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties. Our list contains about 500 potential clients!- Next, we will be making phone calls to each facility only to confirm a name and contact number for the head of the Human Resource and Marketing departments.
- A full color, #10 envelope will then be mailed including a brochure specifically designed for the LTC market along with a personalized letter and our business card.
- 4-5 days later, a box will be shipped out. Included in this box will be a heart-shaped stress item with our logo on it. A fold-over business card will have our logo and the message: "Now that we have our feet in the door...let us take the stress out of your marketing and advertising".
- 4-5 days after that, a phone call to each department head will be made. This phone call is to qualify the recipient, to make an appointment, or to allow us to quote on any projects they are currently working on.
Our telemarketer will be trained not only in how to handle each step and every phone call, but to make sure they are comfortable with their '30-second' commercial and making sure they understand all the services that we offer.
A budget has been determined including the cost of the list, mailing materials, postage, creative/design/layout of the brochure, ad specialty item (heart stress ball) and sales rep.
As you can see, there's more than just printing and mailing post cards. If you want to make your next campaign work for you, give us a call. We'll be happy to help your marketing efforts become a success!
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Business Cards
Newtown Township PD
Looking to do something more than just a basic business card, we scanned their shoulder patch, cleaned it up and used that as their logo on this full color card. We then took the same scanned image, lightened it up -- known as a phantom print -- and used that for a background image. There is no copy on the back, but other officers have listed important phone numbers like the radio room, district court, headquarters, etc.
Definitely, not your typical police business card!
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World Wide Web
Email etiquette
How many times do you receive an email from your Uncle Joe, best friend's dad or even your own friends that have been forwarded so many times, you have to scroll a mile down just to find the joke or picture or quicktime movie?
These forwards are perfect for spreading viruses and other bad stuff. Hackers love your friends that do this because they attach their software to those jokes, pictures and movies so it can grab the email lists posted in the "To" and "CC" fields. And, of course, opening these attachments provides the portal into your own PC to wreak havoc with your system.
If you want to forward one of these attachments, use your virus protection software to check it first. Then, if you insist on sending it to a few dozen friends, type your list into the "BCC" (Blind Carbon Copy) field. That way, no one else will see every one else's email addresses. Another big No-No!
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Graphics/Design/Layout
Un-Retouched photos
What does that exactly mean? You edited it, but then you didn't re-edit it? I'll leave that to the legal department, but from the photo department, just about every photo needs to be touched up. We do ours in Photoshop.
Here's a picture given to us by a client along with the steps we need to take to make it punch!
#1) In the original photo, there are certain issues that need to be addressed: perspective, contrast/brightness, hue/saturation, elements in the photo that need to be removed and cropping.
 #2) Let's fix the perspective problem first. If you look at the original, the garage looks like it's leaning into the house. We fixed the lean as well as the shortness of the overall look.
#3) Next, we fix the 'hazy' look by adjusting the contrast and brightness of the photo. Then, we added some color to the lawn and flowers through hue and saturation.
#4) Check out the right side of the lawn, you'll see wires and a telephone pole. No, we didn't call PECO, we were able to take them out ourselves.
 #5) Now, look over the front lawn. We have a white pipe sticking out and unsightly bald spots.
#6) Finally, when you reduce a photo (raster image) in size, the pixels that make up the picture get squished together causing the image to soften up. You need to resharpen the photo to add that punch. It's the difference between an okay photo and one that will be remembered!
Here's the final image. Cropping the picture just right keeps the important elements of the photo in view while what's distracting is removed.
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Final Thoughts...
Brain Teasers, etc.
First, the answer to last month's question: Answer: 1. d), 2. c), 3. a), 4. b)
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· We're waiting for the Peregrine Falcons to return to Rochester.
· Red-Tailed Hawks are nesting on the Franklin Institute Building!
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A few quick math questions: If 36 = I in a Y means 36 Inches in a Yard, try the following:
#1) 20 = Y in a S
#2) 4 = Q in a G
#3) 1000 = M in a M
#4) 5280 = F in a M
#5) 366 = D in a LY
#6) 64 = S on a C
#7) 52 = C in a D
#8) 3 = V in a T
#9) 6 = S of a H
#10) 12 = E in a D
Answers next month!
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