How to Print and Use Flyers

[Z-Mania]

*Updated* Thanks Dashe for the suggestions about posters and tear off flyers especially!

Here is a guide on printing and using fliers to promote the MML3 cause.

I have provided an album of flyers that I found on the 100, 000 Facebook groups "Flyers" album to use. If anyone wants to contribute thier own flyer creations please do in the comments section. I will add them to the album and lend you the necessary credits.

photobucket.com/MmlFlyers

On to the tutorial...



Okay, so the first step is choosing flyers you want to use. You can use the ones provided in the album above or create your own. Here is an example from the album of a basic hand-out flyer:

You can also use these to make posters. Also, you need to figure out what type of flyer you want to make. Some flyers like this one (included in album) made by Raven8 have tear offs:

In this case, instead of lamenating (as you will see below), go to a print shop and ask about pro grade laser prints and what types of heavier paper they offer. Lamentating on flyers with tear offs is not a good option because you can't tear them off. Doing this instead, though I imagine slightly more pricey, will allow you to have the same resistance as lamenation while allowing for tear offs. Thank you Dashe for providing this tip regarding tear off flyers. The rest of the guide focuses on regular flyers that are a bit cheaper, but still done professionally.

Once you select a flyer, the second step is printing them.

If you don't have a printer:

1) Ask friends or family if you can borrow thiers.

2) Many local libraries, private or public, will have services for printing. Generally these are small-fee and pay per print. If you have a membership at a local library, give them a call and inquire about thier printing services.

3) There are also a ton of buisnesses out there dedicated to printing services. Chances are theres one in your area. Check your local buisness brochures (for example, books like yellow pages or similar) for listings. You can compare thier charges to the ones at the libraries and determine if getting a membership at a library is more cost effective.

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For flyers, it is recommended that you make a print on both sides of the paper. While you might be thinking, if somebody puts these on thier wall then they won't even see the other side, so why bother with dual printing? But you need to remember these are flyers, thier are meant to be seen. If someone drops it somwhere on the wrong side, it will look like a blank peice of paper that no one will notice. Plus, it just looks more professional. Having prints on both sides ensures it gets noticed and doesnt get lost as easy. If you wanted to make a poster specifically, you wouldn't need to do this. Posters have thier own place and usage, and would be perfect for posting on walls in windows, and are actually more effective for that purpose. However, they are bigger and less transportable, so keep that in mind. With some printers, it can difficult to determine which side the printer will print on at first glance.

How to determine which side your printer prints on:

1) If the printer is not yours, or you recently got it from a friend, you can ask them to see if they know.

2) If you have the instruction manual for it, you can look and see if its mentioned in there. Alternatively, some companies offer the manuals online for free so if you know your printer's model information you can look it up on thier company site.

3) Finally, my personal favorite. Open up your printers blank paper holder if its not already exposed. Grab a marker or some form of writing utencil, and make a mark on the top of the next paper thats qued for print. Then, tell your computer to print off a blank page. If you don't have that option, open up a notepad by right clicking your desktop and selecting "new" and "text document" in windows and go to "file" then "print". You don't have to type anything. If you are mac user, I imagine they have something similar you can do. Be creative!

Now that we have determined what side your printer will print on, we know which way to put our flyers in for printing on the other side of them. On to the third step.. Lamenating! Now, this isnt necessary if your on a tight budget I susspose, but I highly recommend you lamenate your flyers. If you don't know what lamenating means, its a technique where a special machine seals your flyer inside of a plastic cover. Think of it as a sheild.

Why you should Lamenate your Flyers:

1) Lamenating protects the flyers from rain, snow, spills and easy-wear and tare. Look at this way. People might want to take these things home, post them on thier walls or maybe they will just shove them in a drawer. Non-Lamenated flyers will probably turn into crumpled up garbage before they even reach home. Thus, they'll get thrown in the trash. Now imagine if that flyer was lamenated, it didn't get junked and got put on someones wall or left in a drawer. The person throws a party, friends see the flyer up on the wall or while skimming in a drawer. They just get caught up in the animations and pictures, or maybe they have played legends and didn't know about our cause. Either way, thats +1 for our movement, thanks to some lamenating.

2) Lamenating looks alot more professional than a simple unfinished peice of paper. A peice of paper for megaman legends is probably going to look like some kids thing to those who don't understand. Lamenating helps show a sense of seriousness to the project.

3) Last but not least, a shiney surface/light reflection is created that helps pull peoples eyes in. We are naturally allured by shiney objects and lights. Look at humanities obsession with the sun! Or for a more modern example, metallic stuff. This will help it stand out and grab people.

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You can use the exact same strategies for "If you do not have a printer" for finding a place to lamenate. Who knows, if you ask family or friends maybe they know some CEO of a print company you can a discount for. Anyways, libraries and print services will have them.

So finally, what do I do with my flyers?

How to use Flyers:

1) You can hand them out at local comic cons, gaming cons, and festivals.

2) You can drop them off at local comic/fan stores, and gaming shops. Ask if they would be willing to hand them out to guests, or even better, put one up for display in thier front window or elsewhere.

3) Always carry some with you. You never know when you might meet someone knew who is an anime/gaming/legends fan.

4) If your brave, you can hand them out to random people on the streets.
If you have a company you work for, clear it with your boss for handing them out to co-workers. If you go to school, hand them out to fellow students.

5) Some cities offer paid and/or free bulletins for posting flyers. Contact your city about possible options.

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Following this, there are some things to remember when using flyers. Please be cautious!

What NOT to do with flyers:

1) ALWAYS check what your local advertisment laws are before using flyers. In some places, posting on bulletins require that you pay a fee. Some places don't allow for people to run around making random street advertisements like handing flyers out. If they catch you doing this, your looking at potential fines or arrests.

2) Leaving flyers around your city on the streets is considered litering in many places. If caught littering, you could end up getting a fine or even going to jail. Again, always check with your city about these laws!

3) Posting on bulletins without paying a fee, or posting flyers on buildings around your city are also a no-no in many places. Again, were talking fines and possible jail time. Avoid this until you check on your local laws first!

Neither I, nor anyone at Legends Station is responsible for your misuse of this guide. Potential risks were clearly outlined and we (including I) take no responsibility for any unwanted results following the use of this guide. Use at your own risk. [/b]

[Dashe]

One other tip--different types of flyers have different uses. It's a good idea to evaluate how you plan on distributing them before settling on a design and a method of printing.

Say, if you're going to use raven8's template, which includes tear-offs, you'll probably want to splurge on pro-grade laser printing on a slightly heavier type of paper (like at a printing store) instead of lamination. It'll give it the same pro effect without making your tear-offs permanently attached. At the very least, you won't have to worry about the ink running if it rains. If you laminate it, then people won't be able to tear off the tear-off portion and the point of the whole thing becomes moot. Also, that's more the kind of flyer you'd want to tack onto a bulletin board instead of hand out to people.

When you make a flyer to post onto a wall, you'll want it to be eye-catching and easy to process. Most people don't have ten minutes to stop in front of it and read all of the information, so something like a giant laminated QR code might not be a bad idea in that regard. Less is more in this case. And if you're posting it onto a wall, I wouldn't bother getting it printed double-sided. Nobody's going to see the back.

When you hand out flyers on an individual basis, you can afford to put more information on it, like the version Score and I collaborated on (which was handed out at New York Comic Con and will be passed around at MAGFest later). You can go in-depth and really try to sell the cause on the flyer. This is where, if you want to splurge on front-and-back printing, you'd do that.

So yeah, make sure you evaluate the way you plan on distributing the flyers before you settle on a design, or create a design in the first place.

[Z-Mania]

Oh thats excellent! Ill be sure to change up my guide. Lol its gonna be longer then it already is now. XD Well at least it will be thorough and serve its purpose. Im not that experienced with this kind of thing and ive never used a print service before, so I dont know alot about it.

Yeah but its better to keep it a double sided flyer because ppl can still use it for thier wall, but many ppl who arnt fans of anime/legends/gaming probably wont put it put up thier walls. So I think its better to keep it in flyer form. I think what your suggesting would be more for poster hand outs, which is different. One of these days when I have the experience, im considering writing a comic con tutorial that could include the use of poster hand outs. Somebodies kid might even want the flier. A flier has the advantage that its more easily transportable and thus more promotable that way, say someones kid sees the flier and they want it, they could carry it with them. A poster is specifically meant for a wall, but in that case handing out posters to random people would probably be a waste unless they say they want it, cuz they would prob just toss it.

I think we should hold a contest on here for flyer creation. Im not an expert with photoshop and I dont have plethora of time so that would be wonderful. Ill be making flyers myself once I can secure a job, actually if I can get my hands on some xmas money like im hoping I might use some of that. Anyway, the current ones are nice but I feel like the text info and flyers in general could use a bit of work in correspondence with what your saying, they have alot of imagery appeal which def sells the cause for that, but perhaps there could be something better done.

Also do you think the usage terms at the bottom was an ok idea? I mean, its good to be vigilant, but maybe it would turn people off?

Edit: I updated the paragraph before the dual printing tut, to include poster information. =D Thanks Dashe as always ^.^ Im really glad you brought that up actually, it gives more ideas for promotion. I didnt even think to include a poster reference in the guide, just excellent!

Edit 2: Added the info you provided for tear off flyers, thanks Dashe!

[zetta]

So I was thinking that when we post flyers that we should use Servbot heads covers on the pins. I think it gives the flyers more "pop" .Here are some pics.


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