For all that we hear about online marketing - and I agree that it is becoming more and more essential every day - there is still a place for traditional marketing and high class print design.

Print design - what is it?

If you've ever used or have seen brochures, flyers, business cards, billboards, newsprint ads, etc., then you've seen print design in action. Someone had to design those marketing materials. Logos, which you use for your print marketing collateral as well as your online marketing materials, are usually created by a graphic design expert. Most graphic designers built their skills on print design projects and then later applied them to online marketing strategies.

The best marketing today is an effective integrated strategy involving online marketing tactics alongside print design and traditional marketing methods. That includes, but is not limited to, having a website, a set of business cards, brochures, letterhead and envelopes, online display ads and pay-per-click advertising, a newsletter (maybe a print edition as well as an e-mail edition), and more. When you incorporate print design into your overall marketing strategy, you are saying to the world, "I still operate in the real world; I'm as brick and mortar as you are."

When planning your next marketing strategy, don't leave out print design.

When it comes to print design, you have more than one option open to you. There are many ways to brand your company and do it on a small budget.

Here are 10 print design products and how you can make them work for your business:

1. Business Cards - The essential tool for any business.
   
2. Brochure - Two-fold, tri-fold, or custom-fold, a brochure can be distributed from your countertop, through the mail, or by handing them out at the local mall.
3. Calendar - Everyone needs a calendar. Give them away as marketing freebies and they'll think about you all year.
4. Greeting Cards - Send them out to your customers on birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas. Custom designed just for your business.
5. Invitations - Like greeting cards, send them on special occasions. Get them custom designed just for your business.
6. Letterhead - No matter who you correspond with, you can do it in style with your own company letterhead.
7. Magnets - When your prospects look at their refrigerator doors, they'll see you. Your phone number will be in a handy location.
8. Mouse Pad - When your prospects and customers use their computer, they'll see you and your business right at their fingertips.
   
9. Outdoor signs - Whether you need a business storefront sign or a billboard, signage communicates your brand, your values, your business.
10. Poster - Hang it on your business walls or give to your customers to hang on theirs.