Conversation with Veridian Design

This is the start of communication with myself and Veridian Design, who are a design company in Montreal who deal with branding, logos and websites in a eco friendly way.


Hi Rebecca

We use various method to promote our business, which has evolved over time. I will divide it into part A ant part B, part A being methods used when we first started our business 2 years ago, and Part B being methods that we have evolved to use or are currently working on. 

Part A

Word of Mouth

Initially, this was the only way we promoted our business. We picked up most of our contracts through existing relationships Heather and I had made in our previous employment or through freinds. Currently the majority of our business is through word of mouth.

Referrals 

After being in business for about a year, we began getting business through referrals. These always came from clients that we had done work for, who were happy with our work and recommended us. 

Website

Through our website, we promote ourselves using free downloads, like icons, and plan to add more free downloads to attract new visitors. 

Business to Business

Another portion of our business comes from tracking and identifying businesses in our region that may need our services. Typically we will contact them directly and go and meet with them to show them waht our capabilities are. 

Part B

Email Newsletter

We are currently working on an email newsletter to show off recent projects, but to also help our existing clients network their products or services. 

Blog

We have been talking about implementing a blog element to our website to post interviews, tips, other artwork, etc. THis is still on the back burner. 

Printed post cards / flyers / leave behinds. 

This is printed material that goes beyond a business card in explaining what our business is about. It is important to have these for any situation where you are meeting a new group of people. Also great for posting in local business, and to share with our client base to help encourage referrals.  

Printed ads

We have started to identify a few local publications that we can put printed advertising in. We are focusing on very specific publications that we think will speak to our client base. It can also become very expensive to pay for advertising space.

In regards to your question about business processes, you are correct that we are involved in all aspects of our business, as it is only Heather and I. We will work as part of a larger team depending on the size of a project, but we normally have a good understanding of what all needs to be done to take a project from beginning to end. 

in regards to eco friendly printing & materials, there are a lot of resources online such as treehugger.com, as well as several books that outline what materials & services are the most friendly options.

some interesting books (not specific to printing):

http://www.amazon.com/Eco-Design-Handbook-Complete-Sourcebook-Office/dp/0500288399/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257774793&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Worldchanging-Users-Guide-21st-Century/dp/0810970856/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257774843&sr=1-2

I've been told that waterless printing is a newer technology that is green in printing, however I have not done any research to confirm. It is always good to not rely 100% on the printing industry's claims on wether something is environmentally friendly, and to try and verify their claims on websites like treehugger. Often there are a lot of claims, but not a lot of data to back it up.

Hope that helps  -

James

James McLean
  -
  Veridian Communications & Design
  Home Office 519 265 3355
  Cell 519 760 0748
  -
  http://www.veridian-design.com
  http://www.hotpierecords.com
  http://www.twitter.com/veridiandesign
  Our business is bullfrog powered with 100% green electricity.