20 Things You Didn’t Know about Vistaprint
If you watch any amount of television whatsoever, you have no doubt seen the ads for Vistaprint at least a time or two. If you own a small business, you might even have employed the services of this company more than once for yourself. If that’s the case, perhaps you want to know a little bit more about this company, such as how they got their start and what they’re really all about. All you need to do is read through the list below and you can find out 20 things about Vistaprint that you probably didn’t know before.
1. They sell unique business cards at the touch of a button
The thing that really sets this company apart is the fact that they sell business cards and other promotional materials at the touch of a button. All you have to do to get the materials you need is go online and choose whatever it is you’re looking for. You can go from there and order as much or as little as you want. Even for first-time business owners that have never done any type of marketing in the past, Vistaprint makes it easy and pain free.
2. You can customize those business cards to fit anything you want
It doesn’t matter what type of business you have, you can customize your cards to fit that business to a tee. Even if you operate a number of different businesses, you can place an order with Vistaprint for all of your business needs and get everything that you need right then and there. That’s one of the best things about the company. You don’t have to go from one place to the next trying to get all of your marketing needs handled and you don’t have to do it alone.
3. They specifically offer discounts for first-time customers
Another thing that makes this company so user-friendly is the fact that they typically offer discounts for their first time customers, as well as for loyal customers that routinely order from them. They make it point to create affordable options and more often than not, you can get as many as 500 business cards for around $10. It makes it much easier to get the materials that you need in a timely fashion without breaking the bank in order to do it. That’s another reason that so many businesses utilize them, because it’s almost impossible to beat that deal anywhere else.
4. They also sell signs and posters
If you need more than business cards, they have that covered, too. They also sell signs and posters. Just like the business cards, you can customize the way that these signs and posters look as well as the verbiage on them. This gives you the opportunity to be in control of your marketing materials and you know that when you order something from them, you’re going to get a high quality product in return.
5. They even sell customized stationery
Vistaprint makes every effort to ensure that you have a number of marketing options available to you and as such, they also sell customized stationery. If you need business cards and stationary, you can order both from the company or you can choose one or the other. It’s entirely up to you. The thing about customized stationery is that it gives you an opportunity to send a personal message to your customers and let them know that you’re thinking about them. This is one of the most important things that you can do to ensure that you keep your customers coming back to your shop again and again.
6. You can get clothing there, too
If you’re looking for truly unique promotional materials for a certain event or something similar, you can even get clothing and bags with your logo printed on them through the company as well. In reality, there’s almost nothing that you can’t get there and since you have the opportunity to customize it all, you can create exactly the type of items you want and you don’t have to have an account with several different companies in order to do it.
7. In fact, you can get virtually any type of marketing materials you want
One of the things that makes Vistaprint the company that it is today is that they are versatile. They realize that small businesses and large businesses alike use marketing in very different ways in order to accomplish their goals. No matter what your particular goals might be, they have something that will work for you. They’re more than capable of handling exceptionally large orders and they routinely do smaller orders for home based businesses and other types of endeavors. Whatever you need, you can probably get it through them.
8. They can become your one-stop-shop for all of your marketing needs
The fact that it is a one-stop-shop for all of your marketing needs is invaluable when you’re running a small business. Lots of people run businesses out of their homes and they may not have previous business experience, at least not when it comes to running one. Frankly, the entire process can prove to be overwhelming from time to time and when you’re only one person, you have to do everything from creating the products or delivering the services, as well as handling the marketing, accounting and legal needs. Having someone that knows how to market with high-quality materials in your corner just might be the difference between success or failure.
9. They also specialize in digital marketing
These days, digital marketing is one of the most important ways to reach customers. While you can’t rely exclusively on digital marketing, you do have to use a combination of traditional marketing methods in conjunction with digital methods in order to reach the greatest number of people and increase your customer base. When it’s all said and done, it’s good to know that you have a company you can rely on that specializes in all types of marketing across-the-board because that is the key to getting the greatest number of customers possible.
10. They have only been around since the late 1990s
The company has been around in its current form since 1999. Granted, that’s almost 20 years but when you look at the grand scheme of things, they haven’t really been around all that long. Many companies that have been around for several decades haven’t been able to keep up with what Vistaprint has done in a relatively short amount of time. It just goes to show how well-versed they are at what they do and how much they’re willing to go the extra mile to help small business owners find the success they’re searching for.
11. The company is based in the Netherlands
A lot of people think the company is actually headquartered in the United States because they see commercials for the corporation all the time. In reality, the company has its headquarters in the Netherlands. Since its inception, it has been a company based overseas. That being said, it certainly hasn’t stopped it from finding success in many parts of the world.
12. The company also maintains offices in several other parts of the world
In order to facilitate operations, the company maintains offices in a number of different locations. For example, there are offices in the United States, Canada, Spain, Asia, Australia, and Europe. In some cases, they will operate more than one satellite office in a specific region. Much of it depends on the number of orders that they typically get from that particular area and whether or not that volume necessitates having an additional satellite office where they can get orders processed more quickly in order to get those orders to their customers in the shortest possible amount of time.
13. They have more than 5,000 employees
At last count, they had approximately 5,600 employees that worked in different offices around the world. That’s a lot of people, but when you consider how many satellite offices they have and the global reach that this company routinely deals with, it’s really not such a big number. As a matter of fact, many people end up being surprised that Vistaprint doesn’t employ more people when they figure out just how big this company really is and how much business it does on a daily basis.
14. They have been trading publicly for more than 10 years now
In 2005, the company decided to go public and it started being traded on NASDAQ. Since then, the company has been consistently traded and it has proven to do well for itself each and every quarter. That’s not something that a lot of companies can say but this one has managed to improve on its performance at almost every turn.
15. The company is actually based on a desktop publishing company that was started in 1995
Before the company became Vistaprint, it was actually a desktop publishing company that was started out of the very home of its founder back in 1995. Just four years later, he changed it to this marketing format and changed the name to Vistaprint. If it hadn’t been for his desire to start that desktop publishing company, Vistaprint might not exist as you know it today.
16. The whole company was started because its founder wanted to help small businesses
If it hadn’t been for his desire to help small businesses succeed, it’s highly unlikely that this company or its predecessor, the desktop publishing company, would have ever been developed in the first place. It’s all based on his own personal experiences in an attempt to market his own small business and his desire to help other business owners so they wouldn’t have to go through all the struggles that he did. In other words, he took the challenges that he had to deal with on his own and turned them into a company in its own rite that helps business owners from all walks of life get the marketing that they need to succeed.
17. Like most companies, they’ve had their fair share of controversies
It’s virtually impossible these days for a company to exist for any length of time whatsoever without having its fair share of controversies and it’s happened even to Vistaprint. For a while, they had a rewards program and many customers didn’t feel that it operated the way that it should. Eventually, there was a class action lawsuit brought against the company regarding the rewards program and once that was settled, this program was actually dissolved by Vistaprint in an attempt to avoid having a repeat of that experience.
18. They have a remarkably fast turnaround time
One of the things that small business owners like so much about this company is that it doesn’t take them long to get the job done. From the time that you place an order, you can expect to receive your business cards or other promotional materials in 10 to 14 business days. Considering that it typically takes about seven business days for something to reach its destination in the mail, this is a remarkably fast turnaround time. It’s also one of the things that has made this business so successful. Small business owners can’t wait around for the materials they need and the fact that they can order something and get it quickly makes all the difference in the world.
19. Much of their manufacturing process is automated
If you’re wondering how the company manages to get everything done so quickly, it’s because they automate their process and they multitask so that the same machine is processing several different batches of orders at any given time. They also have a quality control section that makes sure that orders are correct before they’re shipped out. This minimizes the possibility that something might go out with an error on it or be shipped to the wrong address.
20. The ordering process is quick and easy
Even if you have never ordered these types of materials in your life, all you have to do is go to their website and fill out a simple form. They make the entire process as quick and painless as possible and it only takes a few minutes to order the materials you need. In fact, they have one of the most user-friendly websites that you’re likely to find, regardless of what type of product you’re talking about purchasing.