2012 will be an exciting year at Sharper Cards!  We’ve recently updated our logo and slogan to reflect our commitment to helping you build strong patient or client relationships to grow your practice or business.  For over 27 years, Sharper Cards has provided they very best selection in personalized healthcare and business -themed card designs.  Don’t forget we also offer practice or business essentials including magnets, tote bags, promotional giveaways and more.

Our mandate to our customers is to help build loyalty and acquire new patients or clients.  Our cost-affordable products take the leg work out of designing effective communication and promotional materials.  If you want to customize any design you see, no problem!

Another new and exciting feature that we care excited to offer to our customers is the ability to fully customize your postcards, front and back! Our NEW Customizable Postcards enables you to choose a design and customize it to your liking.

At Sharper Cards, we understand that prospecting is crucial for success.  Whether you’re looking to grow your practice or business, or simply maintain a constant base, you must bring in new patients or clients to compensate for the natural process of patient  or client attrition.  Not sure where to start?  We will make the whole process easy!

Customizable postcards are powerful marketing tools professionally designed to give you the flexibility to change as little or as many elements as you need.  With no additional fees, it is an easy and affordable way to grow your practice or business.  Here is an example of what you can do with our Customizable Postcards:

For easy ordering, please visit our website at sharpercards.com to shop and personalize all of your favorite products online.

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Sending postcards is one of direct marketing’s best kept secrets! It’s a simple and economical way to promote your services, stimulate referrals and reach out to patients or clients to keep your appointment book full.

Make sure to maximize your efforts by including some of these great ideas in your message:

• Differentiate your practice or business. Incorporate your logo or a free Sharper™ logo for visual impact.  Include a mission statement or an inspirational quote.
• Engage prospects. Spotlight your message with an exciting offer or coupon.  Include a listing of your unique services, a map of your location, and don’t forget to add your website address if your have one.
• Motivate existing patients or clients. Emphasize the importance of oral health by including an interesting statistic or fact.  Encourage patients or clients to come back in for their regular preventative appointments with an effective recall program.
• Appeal to new and former patients or clients with relevant imagery and message. Sharper’s selection of postcards offers a wide variety of designs to target different groups of patients or clients.
• Generate patient loyalty and keep your practice or business name top of mind. Send birthday greetings, wishes for the holiday season or simple reminders.

Send a postcard today and watch your practice or business grow!  Click here to shop our complete selection of postcards.

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At Sharper™, we believe that practice success begins with great products.  That is why our new Fall 2011 Dental Catalog is packed with hundreds of  great ideas to successful market your practice.  In this season’s book, we are featuring our new Seasonal Collection line of Thanksgiving and Holiday Cards, 2012 Calendars and much more.  In addition, we’ve got great seasonal savings that you can take advantage of to showcase your practice while saving you money.

Building patient loyalty  and encouraging referrals are the two most important cornerstones for your dental practice success.  At Sharper™, we understand every dental practice is unique.  Which is why we offer a wide selection o f personalized patient communication and promotional products.  You choose what’s right for you and your patients or colleagues from hundreds of popular character and dental-themed designs.  The quality of your dental practice will be reflected in these exceptional and unique products.

Here is a preview at what’s new in our Fall 2011 Dental Catalog:

NEW Holiday Card Designs

NEW Thanksgiving Card Designs

NEW Character Seasonal Card Designs

NEW 2012 Magnet Calendar Designs

To request a copy of our Fall 2011 Dental catalog, click here to order or call 1-800-561-6677 and one of our Product Consultants will be happy to assist you.

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Summer is just around the corner and what a better way to celebrate the warmth and beautiful weather than with bright and colorful personalized products.  To help get your practice busy for the summer season, Sharper™ has just released our new Summer 2011 Dental Catalog!

In this book, we’ve got everything from personalized recall postcards/laser cards to tote bags and peel and stick appointment cards.  Click here to view our new Dental catalog online.  If you prefer to have a catalog mailed to you, click here to order or call 1-800-561-6677 to request a copy.

Sending personalized recall products to remind patients of upcoming scheduled appointments or return visits is an easy and affordable way to promote good oral health and motivate patients to maintain a healthy smile.

Here are some of my favorite recall postcard designs that also comes in a peel and stick, business card and tote bag formats:

Portray a professional image by coordinating designs for all your patient communications. This will help build your brand and also save you money.

Purchase 3 products – 15% OFF – Promo Code MATCH3
Purchase 4 products – 25% OFF – Promo Code MATCH4
Purchase 5 products – 30% OFF – Promo Code MATCH5

Ordering is easy!  Visit e-sharper.com or call 1-800-561-6677.

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At Sharper™, we greatly value the feedback we receive from our customers when they complete our “Would You Recommend Us” survey.  Our customers tell us the things they love about our business, but most importantly they tell us the things that create customer service issues for them.  We also receive a ton of recommendations on how we can improve our business processes to better support our customers and their goals of growing their practice or business successfully.

An important trend with our customers has been the migration of ordering products online at our website www.e-sharper.com.  Since the majority of our products are personalized with contact information and branding like custom logos, we have heard a lot of feedback about how our site did not allow customers to quickly see how their products would look when printed.  They would have to request a proof, which would be sent by email or fax.  Way too labor intensive in this day and age of technology.

So we challenged our IT team to find an easy to use application for our website where customers could enter in the information they wanted to have printed on their product, change fonts, ink colors, logos, etc.  And boy, what they found for us was great!  If you have not been to the Sharper™ site recently, please visit www.e-sharper.com.  Boasting some exciting new features including a revamped look, our website will now allow you to easily search for your products and personalize it with our online personalization tool.

Furthermore, if you create a web account, your name and address information will auto-populate…saving time from manually keying it in.  All of this information is then stored in your account for easy retrieval when you reorder.  You will also see a digital proof which represents how your products will look when printed.  Don’t like the look – then quickly change it.

Needless to say, we love technology and I know our customers will too!  Happy shopping…

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If you’ve ever had a chance to look through our catalogs, you’ll notice that in every book we have chosen a few special card designs to help you achieve success in your marketing strategies.

Here is a quick glance at a few of our Top Pick to help contemporary health professionals grow their practice or business:

Perfect for patient or client referrals:

Ideal for patient acquisition:

Ideal for increasing patient or client loyalty:

Great for patient or client retention:

Perfect for patient or client reminders:

Looking for more ideas to build your practice or business? Request a copy of our latest Contemporary Health catalog today.  Simply click here or give our customer service center a call at 1-800-561-6677 and one of our product consultants will be happy to assist you.

As a Call Center representative I get asked a lot, “What’s the difference between a
standard and a laser postcard?”  Well, it mostly depends on if you use a computer program to print your postcards yourself, or the standard version if you prefer to have us print them for you.  They are the same cost either way.  A lot of offices prefer to print them themselves so they can print the mailing label information at at the same time.

Most of our Laser cards come 4-up, which is 4 postcards (divided by a perforation) on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet printed on premium stock (Paper – 105 lb. Fortune Matte Reply. Finishing – Aqueous Gloss Coat. Perforated).

We also carry 3-up versions,

if your computer program or printer requires it.  Please see our website or ask one of our very friendly representatives if you have any questions at all.

The great thing about these Laser cards is that they are not only available for Dental recall cards, but also Massage Therapy postcards, Financial postcards, Veterinary reminder cards, business moving announcement cards and many others!

My favorite thing about our laser cards is that they come in assortments with 4 different images on each sheet instead of having to choose one design for all 4 cards.  We have approximately 25 different assortments to choose from.  My favorite is our National Geographic Assortments (Items numbers LA-122 or LA-118).

You’re moving to a new office and wondering how you’re going to let everybody know where the new location is?

With business moving announcement cards from Sharper™ of course!

Sending out moving postcards is a time saving, effective way to let all your patients or clients, suppliers and colleges know that you are moving.

As with all our cards, our moving postcards are available in a new large size format. At 8 1/2 by 5 1/2  inches this new larger card will certainly get you noticed. Not only will the size get you noticed, but we can also include a map of your new location and/or use color or yellow highlighting to emphasize important information.

So let Sharper help you in your quest to advise all your patients, clients, friends and family of your new location.  And don’t forget to update all your business cards and appointment cards with your new address as well!

Sharper’s business moving announcement cards are an efficient tool to promote patient and client loyalty by letting them know about your new address and to advertise the advantages of the new facility. It is also possible to provide the clientele with a map on the back of the card and to highlight other important changes like new business hours, additional products and services, public transit information, website address, special pricing to celebrate the move, etc. Another option to make changes more noticeable is a second ink color. Choosing our larger postcard format (8.5 x 5.5 compared to the standard size of 5.75 x 4) is another option to enhance visibility and to advertise the move to a new location. Some of Sharper’s moving postcards also come as laser cards and offer the perfect solution for customers, who prefer doing the printing on their office printers.

Business moving announcements should serve the dual purpose of being both informative and promotional. The most obvious reason to send business moving announcement cards is to let patients or clients know about your impending move.

However, if you don’t take advantage of this opportunity to both connect with current and former patients or clients, then the promotional possibilities of moving postcards will be lost. You can also use this opportunity, depending on your type of practice or business, to reach out to potential prospects by letting people in your new demographic area know of your presence.

Here are some simple DOs and DON’Ts:

• DO proof your communications carefully. You don’t want a mistake in your new address getting mailed out.
• DO add a map and/or message highlighting. Anything to make it easier on your patients or clients is a good idea.
• DO plan an open house and/or promotional offer as a grand opening celebration. This is a great way to gain new prospects and stimulate new business with lapsed patients or clients.
• DON’T rely on signs and/or website alone as communication of your move.
• DON’T let your patients or clients lose trust in you, by not allowing enough time to mail out your moving postcards. Having patients or clients receive them 2 weeks prior is optimum, and even more time during busy, holiday seasons is ideal.

There is nothing like moving with a big bang… but don’t forget to let your patients know! A great feature item here at Sharper is our large moving postcards. With a size of 8 1/2 X5 1/2 you definitely cannot go wrong

These Business Moving Announcement Cards are great for patient acquisition with a large amount of space to include details about your new location as well as your logo and map to help your patients find you.

Even better, the personalization’s is FREE! With many options on how you can print your information on the back, it will make these moving postcards great for any type of business.

Check out these top selling moving postcards:

We carry a lot of different products here at Sharper, but hands down the most versatile is the simple postcard.  It has been the mainstay of our business, and can be a great tool for operating and growing yours.  Here are some ways to take advantage of the amazing postcard!

• Reduce missed appointments with reminder postcards. As an example check out our Orthodontic Recall Cards.  And if they still miss their appointments send them Missed Appointment Cards!
• Send a card to your clients on special occasions. See our Financial Holiday Cards and Dental Birthday Cards for some ideas on how to impress your loyal clientele and encourage repeat business.
• Get new clients by sending postcards to your potential customers. We have cards for different specialties, like our Massage Therapy Postcards.
• Inform your patients of changes. Announce new staff and re-locations so patients always know where to find you.  Look at our Business Moving Announcement Cards.

It’s March already?! What happened to February?

I guess I was too busy being glued to the Olympic mania that the last half of February has escaped me.

That being said, it’s time to take a look at some of our most popular postcard designs from the past month. There’s definitely some interesting top picks!

This is an interesting top seller for this time of year. With Easter a little more than a month away, this design is a great choice when purchasing your dental recall cards. Especially if your practice is child-focused, add a message wishing them a Happy Easter and encourage good oral hygiene during the sugar-filled occasion.

Contemporary Health

Traditionally, the top choices for chiropractic cards were typically clinical. More and more designs are lifestyle-oriented and focusing on overall good health. These designs are a great way to influence new patients to try your practice and try to encourage more consistent visits from your existing patients.

Vision

Maps… what an amazing tool. If you’re anything like me where North is South and East is West, you need someone to point you in the right direction.

If you’re planning on moving, wouldn’t it be nice to show people where you’re moving to? There’s a great selection of business moving announcement cards available with free messages to boot! If you don’t see a message quite to your liking, then why not write your own? Only you can be you and maybe you have that certain “style” you want to show through your message.

What about your custom business cards? I know how much you’ve been thinking, “I hate this big empty space on the back. I need to fill it with something.” Why not fill it with a map?

When you send us your map, you can either hand sketch it and fax/email it in, or many people supply a screenshot of an online map source (such as Google or MapQuest). All you need to do is keep it simple; highlight the streets that are important to you and need to have included. Landmarks are a great way to let people know that they’re in the right area. We can even print one of those directional compass things with your map; that way the navigator can tell the driver “Honey, the map says North’s behind us – turn around.”

So give it a try, maybe fewer people will get lost on the way to your office or clinic – okay, I’m sure the GPS told me to turn left…

Ease the transition to a new location by printing a map on the back of your postcards so patients and clients can quickly reference your new address. Providing a location map is also a great way to familiarize prospective patients or clients with your current address. Visit the Sharper website to find out more about adding a custom map to your standard or moving postcards.

Relocation is a common decision for many practices and businesses. Whatever the reason, your efforts in communicating this change to your patients and clients should be well thought out in order to ensure no patient or client gets left behind.

Here are some tips to ensure you have a successful move!

• Two months out from your expected moving date, start telling your patients and clients that you are moving.
• Place a plaque with a custom message announcing your move at your reception desk. Make sure you state the month of the move if you don’t yet have the actual moving date.
• Have magnetic business cards and new appointment cards made up with the new address. As your office staff schedules the patient’s or client’s next appointment, use the new cards. A magnetic business card makes sure your new address is always kept easily visible and never misplaced!When you order the appointment cards and magnetic business cards, go ahead and have your new stationary, business cards, appointment reminder postcards, reusable tote bags and other products done, too. Make sure all of your communication and promotional products are up to date!
• Two weeks prior to the move, send out a mass mailing of business moving announcement cards to your patients or clients announcing your relocation and giving the date you will be in your new offices.
  • For a one-time fee of $45 add a custom map to your cards!
  • Or add message highlighting for just $25 to ensure your new address is remembered.
• Change the message on your voice mail to mention the upcoming move, giving the date and new location.

A relocation always has its stressful times, but you can make it easier on yourself and your patients or clients by having a relocation plan in place for all of your marketing communications!

Show your consideration for your patient’s or client’s time by alerting them when you are relocating your practice or business.  Sending out personalized business moving announcement or moving postcards is a great way to inform them of your new address, and by including a map with the personalized message, you will make their search for your new office much easier.  Avoid having them show up at your old location, only to realize you’ve moved.  There may be very unkind words for you next time they visit.

Sharper™ also carries a great selection of full color business cards that you can also include, and if you really want to celebrate your beautiful new office, having a grand opening or open house event is the way to go.  Sharper™ also offers perforated postcards. They are available exclusively in Canada.  Just select a design, then personalize with one of our messages, or customize it by writing your own.  Designs may be mixed and matched in lots of 50.  Blank envelopes are free with your order of folding cards, or for $25 you can have them personalized, regardless of quantity. Prospect new patients in the area by including them in your mailing list as well.  Let them meet your staff, see your facilities and get to know you better. You may even want to include a black and white photo of your staff on the back of the postcard along with the rest of your personalization.

So, good luck with the move, and if you get those moving postcards mailed way ahead of your dreaded packing, I assure you, it will be a breeze!

Relocating your practice or business? Moving postcards are a time saving way to let patients or clients, suppliers, and colleagues know that your practice or business is moving. They’re also an effective way to announce a new team member, an open house, or a phone number change. Personalize your postcard with a location map or include a promotion to entice patients or clients to follow you to your new address.

In addition to ordering your moving postcards, be proactive and update all your other marketing materials with your information. Getting your recall postcards, appointment cards, magnets, business cards, and other personalized communication products before the move will help ease the transition.

Start shopping Sharper™’s selection of moving and announcement postcards