the joy of stickers - ©2012 stickernation.com - all rights reserved

8/3/2019 The Joy Of Stickers - 2012 StickerNation.com - All Rights Reserved

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The Joy Of StickersBy StickerNation.com

Page 1The Joy Of Stickers


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stickers get you noticed. Everybody loves stickers

With stickers of your logo, you will have durable tool that is portable

and fun. Stickers are great icebreakers and party favors that spread

any message. You can give them away at conferences like SXSW or

send them in the mail to promote your band to radio stations and

magazines. In this guide we will go over some of the best ways to

deploy stickers in order to engage your audience and place your

project front and center. If you like this report, please spread it to as

many people as might make use of it. You can forward this at will.



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Picture yourself in control of the success of your projectsYou spend hours every week creating through your project. Taking

time out to actually get people to check it out is often not as much fun.If you are in a band, you play songs, fix them up, rehearse, find shows,get airplay, and connect with your fans. If you're launching a startup,

there are an infinite number of details to attend to, and most of them

relate to delivering a quality product. If you are in a sorority, your

time is caught up toward meeting activities and whipping up morale.

If you are a preacher, you decide what to cover and do your best to fill

the pews. If you run a blog, you worry about what to post next.Creative people are superbusy creating; small wonder they onlyrarely find the time, energy, for budget to promote what they have

worked so hard to deliver. But popularity is so much fun!Somehow, the creative task becomes a joy every time you connect

with a fan. Having an audience makes creativity flow. But the task of

promoting your own creative efforts can feel forced, egotistical and

tedious not to mention expensive, if you consider placing paid

advertisements anywhere. We wanted to make promo a breeze.One's instinct as a creative is to feel that the quality of your creation

will be so powerful that it promotes itself. Occasionally, creatives get

"lucky" I doubt the Jonas Brothers had to tour in an Econoline van

but even such "lottery tickets" have strings attached that personally I

don't think would suit me, such as utter lack of creative control.This guide addresses several types of people that could use custom

vinyl stickers to him prove their situations. I switch among these use

cases fluidly in my writing, addressing musicians, bloggers, people in

faith-based organizations and small retail businesses. This is because

everyindependent project can benefit from stickers. Let's begin!



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Every project needs an audience to unlock its full potentialSometimes I fool myself into believing that I create in a vacuum. I am

so delighted by the results of my own creativity. Frankly, I think I'm a

genius. I certainly have my flaws, but when it comes to my creative

output, I believe that I am unique and without equal.I hope you feel that way too. If not, don't despair; I only feel this way

because I have gotten used to surprising myself with sudden flashes

of inspiration that channel through me like lightning. These

spontaneous bouts of genius are almost involuntary, and as a result I

can barely take credit. Creativity to me is more than just fun. This attitude in and of itself is incomplete. Try paying the rent onpure self-appreciation and you'll quickly find yourself on the street.

Today, everybody can publish and is publishing. Social networks like

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr occupy the attention of

toddler and grandma alike - which is why selling to people who take

these networks seriously forms the core of our business. That means

there is a lot of competition for attention and you are going to need a

method to help your efforts shine through, promising an amazingexperience to the unaware. Only a certain kind of person is up to it.

You have every right to demand attention for your creative outputAll art and creative output is inherently narcissistic. Every quality

creator of anything believes they are doing the best possible job

according to their own tastes and priorities. In the case of

corporations, the priorities of profit and homogenization outweigh the

craft and attention to detail of projects such as yours. Even forced

labor knows they are doing the best they can, under the ghastly

regimes under which they toil. We all feel we are the best artist.



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Because each creative "knows" they are valid, unique, and perhaps

even the best in their class, it's hard to avoid the "look at me!"

syndrome when showing your work or finding new fans. Therefore, all

marketing is egotism. Except I define the "superego" as being akin to

the zeitgeist. Therefore, all marketing is superegotism - an effort to

influence the collective soul of society or a subculture - or just one

person - to place your soul at the center of attention for a little bit. Your own ego and the value it generates through its glorious

creativity has every right to influence this collective superego just

as much right to my mind as the insipid brands that parade across

the ad spots during the Super Bowl and the nightly news. Your

project, indeed, has even more right to my attention then somecorporate brand I already know about. After all, your small project is

probably news to me. That makes it worthy of my attention. So give

me a sticker so I'll remember to check it out when I get home!Good promo happens one person at a timeHow does someone like you get attention? You can seek publicity in a

variety of ways, or you can grow your audience organically. To groworganically, often you've got to give something away. You could give

your music away on CDs, or you could give free coffee away with

every breakfast sandwich but you could also give away stickers.

And charge for your CDs and coffee.Picture yourself in a crowd of people who you would love to have as

users, customers, or fans. How would you make that happen? With

1000 stickers to give away, you would have a pretty good chance. Allyou have to do is design what goes on those stickers in such a way

that you get people to really want them to want several, in fact. Visualize what it would do for your creative motivation to have an

active, engaged audience. Imagine your retail business drawing foot



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traffic would that not make you improve your store faster? The

quality of your own creative efforts is just unfolding if you have not

yet found an audience. Capture an audience, captivate them over

time, and you can (and will!) create anything you want for that

audience. They'll even pay you to do so. I call this "creative control".Don't be a victim of the ignorance of the modern, hectic marketplace

of attention. Give them a reason to pay attention to you by being the

very best that's a given. But once you believe in yourself, reach out

to the marketplace with stickers. Make the scene know your name.

Don't let unawareness of your project douse your creative spark.Say It With StickersIf you create something that is hard to describe, you will find it a

breeze to hand out stickers that lead people to a website where you

can describe it fully, rather then engaging in a complicated song and

dance to explain your project anew to each person to whom you'd like

to evangelize it. It's easier to give someone you meet a sticker than

onlysay"go to my webpage" or "I'm an artist, really" or "we're a band". Many modern products are virtual. Whether you are promoting a

mobile app or a rock 'n roll band, a blog or an independent movie or

radio station, it's hard to spread the word without some tangibility.

Stickers can make virtual projects tangible, letting you literally hand

an avatar of your project out at a conference or slap your logo and

value proposition up when you come across the perfect social surface.

Even if your project is tangible, create a logo that when printed on

stickers will spread word further than your physical products alone.All brands are intangible. The products they represent may be

tangible, but the emotions and associations each product triggers can

be included in the concept of "brand". We don't pay the full price for

the commodity of the physical object we tend to pay extra for the



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right "brand". You could almost say that the profit margin of any

product or service lies not in its existence on the material plane, but

rather in the ethereal psychological realm of "brand value". Stickers can make brands like yours spread socially in the fastest,

most economical and fun way. Every project that considers itself a

brand can boost its acceptance and cultivate its phenomenology

through spread on custom vinyl stickers. Don't just create; LAUNCH.Stickers are also reliable. They will show up on your doorstep and you

will start spreading them. It's so easy that anyone can do it. Give out

stickers every month and you will find an audience looking forward to

your next batch every time - and tuning into your podcast as well. Your stickers can change every month, and bringing people into your

shop for the new design on a regular basis, and letting you spread

your brand further than the confines of your four walls. Having a

regular, dependable promo strategy like this can give you security

that you will remain top of mind in your category despite any ruffles

in the economy. If you give out stickers, you will get attention back.But the stickers aren't going to spread themselves. You're going to

have to put muscle into getting them out there. One word: teamwork.To get an audience for your project, you must promote your projectBe realistic: there are millions of ways people can spend their

attention and your project is not beginning at the top of anyone's list.

Expect your genius to be drowned out unless you take serious control

of its promotion. Do not expect more than a modicum of attention for

your creation without taking into account exactly how awareness of it

will spread. Clever creative execution can do tons for inherently

spreading awareness, but you are talented we know that. Not

enough others do yet, though. That's what stickers can solve for you.



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When something you create must be kicked off in some way, it's time

to consider promo. See stickers as the fuel launching your rocketship.Promo should be considered part of your project. As your band writes

its first songs, start a notebook to collect promo opportunities and

ideas, and keep on the lookout for more.You can wait for traffic to

come to your website, or you can go out there and grab it by the horns

and bring it in. I can't do anything about the quality of your project

if you can't play, get off stage, for God's sake! but I do know that

stickers have helped thousands of bands get recognition in their

scenes. So harness the power of printing custom vinyl stickers for

your project to spread in your social environment.What would happen if nobody paid attention? How would that make

you feel? What would you do to make sure that your band has fans

that will support it? How will you put a smile on the face of your

coffeeshop customers as they get their morning latte and croissant?Don't leave the success of your project up to the whims of your

marketplace. Lots of other projects are competing for the same fixed

pie of attention. Take control over the future success of your projectby budgeting and planning to engage in promo activities as you begin. Stickers make these activities easier to visualize. Rather than some

vague milestone of "launch our promo campaign", you can simply

start by ordering a batch of stickers and seeing where those get you.

By testing your imagery, message, and colors on stickers first, you

avoid wasting money on more expensive promo options until you

have a "hit". You can also put your sticker design up on Twitter oryour website for feedback from fans before even printing it.



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Spreading your logo on stickers takes the stress out of promoIt can be really hard to break the ice with people. But doing so

systematically is the key to getting your audience off the ground. Sure, you can publish your music to your hard drive and leave itthere forever. It can be inherently satisfying to make music, to create

a website, to bake the most delicious cakes in town. Your activities,

when pursued to exacting quality standards, can generate a fan base

on their own. You might play your music for friends in your living

room, and they might demand that you bring them cd's, after which it

magically gets heard by some hipster at Vice Magazine and your

entire life becomes a rock 'n roll fantasy. I wish the best for you!Or, you can methodically meet people at parties and give stickers.

They'll then visit your site, listen to your music, and start spreading

the word for you. You can go to the flea market and spread stickers

for your tumblr or cause or campaign. You can get out there and meet

the market where it is congregating, rather than waiting for some act

of social networking grace to propel you to the spotlight. If possible,

go with your bandmates or cofounders to whip up more magnetic pull if you're meeting the people that could make you, you should have

all hands on deck. Bring stickers: "you can't fish without bait."Perhaps you do not you want the spotlight, and perhaps you hold

such concepts as fame in disdain. I, too, prefer leading a relatively

private existence and do not yearn for attention. Still, I have come to

realize that creative projects with insufficient attention paid to them

by their relevant subcultures can only be characterized as hobbies. Level up turn your sticker jets on full blastIt is critical that you invest in generating attention and catalyzing a

critical mass. Once you have built a phenomenon of your project, your



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options will multiply substantially, and you won't have to sell your

soul to an agent or the entertainment industry to get there.I'm definitely biased, but I believe that without custom vinyl stickers

as part of your promo toolbox, you are missing the boat. Getting

stickers out there is fun, social and easy compared to saving up your

pennies to place ads in Google or cutting your prices to throw some

Groupon special. Spreading stickers is like sowing seeds.People need to come to your bandcamp page if they are going to buy

your music, right? Showing up at the club you want to play at every

weekend with stickers for your own band will get your existence

known to the people running the club fast. Bring stickers and use the

popularity of other bands to build your own. Use your stickers to

network with other bands and promoters and radio stations too.Musicians have long known the power of custom stickers, and all they

have to do today is upload us a logo through our website to get

started. This is 2012 and we have crafted a service that we believe

will map onto your expectations of modern e-commerce while

providing you the classic promo firepower of custom stickers withyour logo and design on them. Don't forget to include your website

URL in your design - the synergy of stickers and the Web is a classic!Achieve awareness across the planet by spreading stickersYou must take control of the destiny of your project through creating

and implementing an effective promo strategy. Stickers are the

easiest way to do this. Regularly spreading stickers through your

potential audience will guarantee their awareness of your efforts. The

unknown reaches of your projects potential can only be made

manifest if it is enjoyed by an audience and ultimately gets you and

your project the result it seeks: to exist as a serious cultural

phenomenon within that audience. Mail stickers to everyone.Page 10The Joy Of Stickers


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Stickers are portable and delightful and classy way to convey a

strong recommendation that a person that you might encounter

should check out your project. Can you envision the perfect place to

give away a bunch of stickers to drive awareness of what you're

working on to the perfect potential fan base? Your stickers will even

show up ambiently in photos if you put them up at clubs along with

everybody else's stickers. Walls of stickers are prominent features of

many hip nightspots and you or implicitly invited to slap up your logo

too. All you need to do is place an order with us to dive in.Spreading stickers the right way can make people aware, curious, and

interested with no work at all other then getting your art, address

and payment to us through our website. Stickers, particularly shortrun stickers you designed yourself, almost spread themselves and

you will learn to tap into an almost biological enthusiasm for human

beings to customize their surroundings with stickers if you take into

consideration the tips in this guide. The sooner you start, the better.When you give a sticker to someone, you get their full attention.

You're offering them a free gift that cost you some money to create.

Custom vinyl stickers are like invitations to a secret party that youare throwing on your website. Make sure everybody you want to

attend gets a sticker. If you initiate the audience development, you'll

see how exciting it is to gain new fans and customers from your direct

contact with them in real life situations. Give a sticker for your band

to that cute girl who works at Whole Foods and see what happens! :DSimply offering free stickers in your ads will bring people into your

store. Printing custom stickers complements any strategy that you

may currently be using to drive awareness. These promotions are

easy to put on a calendar and operationalize so every month your

sticker giveaways are a breeze.



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Promo can be a messy and multifaceted affair, and making the spread

of custom logo stickers the core of your marketing activities lends

them the focus and discipline missing from most promo campaigns

and outfits. I'd like your project to be equipped to succeed.Giving away stickers at your concerts or even the gigs of other

bands that are like you will hit the target audience you seek, as

nobody I have ever met at a concert can resist a free sticker given out

by a new band. Show up at big show with 1000 stickers and it will be

as if your band played. You will get people checking your music out as

soon as they get home. I know, because that's exactly what I do !The Cure If You're Obscure

Why risk the disappointment of no audience for your hard creative

efforts? If you believe something, and that drives your commitment

to your project, articulate that dream and vision and spread that

message prominently instead of just your logo. Your goal is to get

others to identify strongly with the sticker you are giving them. The

more they identify, the more they will want to learn more online and

spread awareness of you. A really funny slogan on your sticker willget it put on car bumpers, not just tossed in a pile somewhere.Custom stickers provide you a brand-new type of blank canvas for

your creativity, in addition to their inherent promotional firepower.

Be creative and confident. If you take risks with your design, you will

stand out from the crowd. Be aware that the overall impression

people will have of your project is inevitably linked to the first

impression you make with your stickers.Album cover art is important for musicians. Make artwork part of all

of your creative projects, because people can get their minds around

unique artwork easily and build memory associations that lead them



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to becoming your fan. Great ideas crave well-designed promotions,

and often the people attracted to StickerNation are capable designers. If you are lacking those skills, use our text sticker tool and we will lay

your message out for you, or tap your personal network to find

someone who can design and is willing to pitch in. I urge you to

consider carefully the power of design to inject emotion and

subcultural resonance into your project. Help people file your project

psychologically in the folder in their brain labeled "learn more ASAP".Stickers do more than just attract attention. Stickers are persistent,

like a tiny billboard that gets stuck on someone's refrigerator.

Stickers continue to exist months or even years after they are stuck

somewhere. In marketing terms, this is called "bang for your buck"

thousands of people may lay their eyes upon your sticker over the

course of its lifetime. Your stickers act like tiny landing pages, links

spread through the real world that lead to your website. When someone puts the sticker that you give them of your project up,

it's like they are posting a link to your site - a tacit endorsement in

their apartment or on their guitar. The more attention they get forthemselves, the more folks will see your sticker. Trading stickers is a

fantastic way to convey scene solidarity. Bands small businesses

and bloggers too should support one another, as they provide

together a powerful counterpoint to the dominant corporate culture.What are your promo goals?What promo goals do you hope to accomplish? Don't be realistic. I

encourage you to shoot for the moon. Why shouldn't your bakery be

written about in an airline magazine? Why shouldn't your high school

musical be a phenomenon that catapults the leads into performance

careers? Why shouldn't your project be a hit? Isn't it awesome?



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All of these forms of success become par for the course after you have

assembled an influential enough audience. Think of each person you

give a sticker to as another link as you try to set off a chain reaction

across society. You need critical mass so assemble it one person at a

time, since each link must be a loyal, spread-the-word fan to trigger

the tipping point. At the tipping point, an entire tribe falls in love. Giving out stickers at a conference or show is an intimate way of

meeting people, more promotional and effective then simply handing

out business cards or flyers. Vinyl stickers are psychological triggers

that convey value instantly. After all, if your project was worth

printing stickers for, it's probably worth checking out, right?Do you want more people to come into your hipster boutique? Would

you like more energy to emanate from your student group? Would

you like everybody at your birthday party to walk away with your

stickers to build your cred as a street artist around town?Exactly who are you trying to impress? What do you want them to

do? Check out your website, tell their friends about your store, bring

their cousin to church? People behave inertially, like balls on a pooltable. You want your sticker to impact their situation in such a way

that they grow curious about what it is you do. Give people a nudge.The more carefully you can define the behavioral modification you're

after, the better informed your task of sticker and website design will

be. It is hard to bring people to your website without handing them

something tangible, and stickers are the perfect vehicle for this

exchange. Don't be at your next event without making stickers first!Where can you find the people you want to reach with your project?

Do they all congregate at a convention or a club? Are there online

forums which would be open to you offering free stickers?



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If you are creative with distributing your stickers, you can whip up a

frenzy of enthusiasm among your friends or customers.How to use stickers to delight your audienceCan printing custom stickers actually help you get more people awareof your project? People love to augment identity with cool new stuff. Have you heard of this service called foursquare? Foursquare users

"check in" to various locations around the planet to "achieve badges"

or something like that. Personally, I don't use foursquare, but you get

the idea. People are crazy for badges and feel like they have earned

something when they get them. We sport badges to form our identity.Custom stickers are badges that you can print in order to leverage

this facet of human nature. People collect stickers, as well they should

they are unique works of art that rarely are mass produced. When I

was growing up we didn't have stickers as a phenomenon that the

kids could access, so I collected stamps instead. Punk rock led to a

proliferation of zany stickers and I created StickerNation to help

everybody access the phenomenal power of custom vinyl stickers. After a few runs of spreading stickers, you will be shocked at the level

of awareness and engagement you will be able to achieve. We've

helped bands, blogs, bakeries, businesses and Burning Man camps use

custom stickers to delight and grow their audiences, so consider

deploying stickers to achieve success with building a fan base.First, what are custom vinyl stickers?

Vinyl bumper stickers have been since the 70s a perennial feature of

American automotive life. Over the last two decades, stickers began

popping up elsewhere on guitars, refrigerators, and high school

lockers. People customized their car bumpers with slogans and jokes



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meant to invade the space of other cars, an act of creative passive

aggression that served as a forerunner to today's Tweets and Likes.For decades, it was hard to find a printer for stickers. Unlike T-shirts,

which were relatively easy to print, custom vinyl stickers required

heavy duty inks, elaborate set up, and the skills of layout that only

began to proliferate after the advent of desktop publishing.Adobe Illustrator gave thousands the tools of vector illustration that

when combined with the art of screenprinting and the heavy-duty

platform of sticky vinyl yielded powerful synergy. The first outfits to

take advantage of this were the punk rock bands of the very early

90s, whose logos festooned my guitar and amplifier at school when I

was trying to emulate Kurt Cobain. (No recess!)I began printing stickers for my own ideas, partially because I felt

that stickers were cool. This was back in 1994. Since that time, I got

excited about the access that I carefully built to great sticker printing

resources, and decided to start printing for other people in 1999.I quickly discovered that people of all walks of life were interested in

harnessing the power of stickers to move the needle for awareness of

their projects. By printing custom stickers, every job we did resulted

in a unique, limited edition work of art, and bolstered our own unique

collection of stickers. We've printed for all kinds of projects.Custom vinyl stickers are not:1) Individual, one off stickers they are meant to be given away or

sold, not just for your own personal identity but for purposes of

spreading an image or a icon through a local idea ecosystem2) Throwaways, like most paper products expect your stickers to

hang around for a while, particularly if you give them to people

who already love what you do, to ambiently promote youPage 16The Joy Of Stickers


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3) Meant to be very large our standard size, for instance, is around

14 in., which is height times width - ideal for stashing in your

wallet or back pocket for distributing at the next street fair or gigPrint stickers rather than printing T-shirts or flyersStickers are way cheaper than T-shirts. If nobody buys your T-shirts,

you're stuck with a large loss of money. When people watch your show

live, that doesn't necessarily mean they want to walk out with a bit of

fashion. Stickers are way easier to handle than T-shirts, and if you

want you can sell them for $2 even though they cost only 60 each to

make or less. Everybody jumps for free stickers, too, of course.Stickers should probably even be created before your band releasesthe CD, because they're so cheap and fast compared to the elaborate

layout and mastering tasks that must precede having a solid CD in

your hands. Web startups and app developers can give away stickers

to tantalize bloggers and convention attendees well before launch, or

give out stickers to power users so they can invite more people to join.Here's what you need to know: 1) Stickers are easier to spread then anything printed on paper

because people want stickers and will often throw away fliers,

postcards, or haphazardly distributed business cards 2) People want aesthetic beauty and/or words of wisdom, not just a

marketing message, so put some soul into your design3) Make sure your art is at least 200 dpi or vector (go Illustrator!)4) Parties and events are the best ways to get a bunch of stickers out

fast to the right crowd



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Stickers operate on a subliminal wavelength. If your stickers are

posted in public spaces, they act like tiny broadcast stations that

being your project logo to only those attuned to this wavelength. In

many urban areas, the "sticker wavelength" represents a constant

stream of subcultural communication. The good news is that you

don't have to litter to make a big impact with stickers.Stickers work best when given to people, not just slapped upPeople will place your stickers on their own surfaces, the ultimate

endorsement of your project.You should be after the ambient

recommendation that such a "personal placement" represents.Custom stickers are not just a fad. When very high profile projects

begin spreading stickers to attune their environment towards paying

attention to them, it's a promo tactic worth closer examination.Intimacy is a core advantage of small projects. Big brands that

advertise on television or in newspapers do so because of the

difficulty they face presenting their inane ideas in intimate settings.

Giving out stickers personally is something only a small project

person can do. I want to empower small projects, as I view them as

the repository of true quality and craftsmanship today. Every furniture artist can use custom vinyl stickers to draw people to

their website and instill in them a vision of someday owning custom

built furniture. The advantage for consumers who are offered the

option of small producers is that they no longer have to remain

ignorant of the high-quality alternatives that are made by projects

like yours. Big corporations mass market. Beat them on the ground.Three big advantages to custom vinyl stickers to promote:1) Vinyl stickers are perceived as a gift: an opportunity for your

recipient to decorate something their own wayPage 18The Joy Of Stickers


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2) Paper gets thrown out or ignored, but usually I stick the sticker up

somewhere; you control who gets one (precision targeting)3) If you do nothing but connect electronically, you might forget to

follow up the sticker is persistent and accomplishes follow-up

awareness for you - a great way to thank mail-order customersDon't pass up opportunities to expand your audience when you are

out at an event.You never know when you might run across

somebody who would really love what you do and wants to work with

you. Having custom vinyl stickers in your pocket beats just giving

them a business card or getting their email address. How to win friends and influence people without even talkingI have found that my custom vinyl stickers have been a great way for

me to connect on a more personal level with people I run across at

parties and concerts. I use them to break the ice, not forcing people to

have to endure me talking about my project but summarizing it in a

cool way so they can follow up and find out more by checking out the

URL that I always lay out on the bottom right of my sticker design. It's hard to quantify the impact of a sticker campaign.You won't get

statistics for how many people see your stickers, for instance but

you can track the number of stickers that you have given out or

otherwise deployed. Stickers are part of a complete promo toolkit. Imagine what giving out vinyl stickers of your logo pointing people to

your website could do for the profile of your project. With an

enhanced cultural profile, your project will attract the attention and

perhaps even the funding that it requires to get to the next level. Providing stickers to your audience translates into more excitement,

and in the long-term, custom vinyl stickers helps drive fans, who will

spread your project by word-of-mouth; not just people who will buy



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but people who will adore you just a little bit for giving them

something unexpected and cool that you made yourself.I have personally connected with thousands of people I otherwise

wouldn't have, and they have warmly supported me for many years

with their attention. I've set my stickers to the task of promoting my

website, where I sell a range of T-shirts. I can afford to give away the

stickers because I want to drive more traffic to my website. The only kind of advertising that people actually likeThe stickers cost money they aren't free, even to me which makes

this an advertising spend. But stickers are so well targeted that

they're a no-brainer. Stickers are way cheaper than T-shirts and stillmake a more deluxe, lasting impression on the people that I really

want to check out my music or website or T-shirts than flyers.Advertising intimidates many people who are just starting to create

with their projects. Don't be shy. Consider advertising as an inherent

part ofyourproject. The more creative you are, the more you will

want to control your own advertising, no matter how successful your

project gets. Developing a core competency in describing and

articulating your project value in image and text will help you

maintain control over time as well as build your audience faster now. I think of it as evangelism, more than advertising. Like any creative, I

have faith in my creation and believe it is valuable. But value is in the

eye of the beholder, and unless my creation is beheld, its value

dissipates. It falls to me to take responsibility for introducing my

creative work to others in a casual, effective and friendly way. Every sticker we print is an act of faith, and faith emanates from

stickers because it is clear that someone felt the message or image on

it was important enough for investment. Have faith in your genius!



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Whoever said "ignorance is bliss" was hopefully being sarcasticDon't let your tree fall in the forest with nobody there to hear. Attract

other people to share joy in the output of your creative effort. If you

leave the promotion of your project up to chance, you risk low social

awareness of its amazing value. If you are counting on word-of-mouth

to spread awareness of your project, turbocharge word-of-mouth with

custom vinyl stickers. People will return the favor by talking you up.A great sticker can hijack the attention of anyone who notices it for a

second. Seeing your sticker several times can yield the multiple

impressions that it takes to really get someone to pay attention to

your project at all. The word "hijacking" can seem sinister to the

uninitiated. This is where faith in the value of your project comes in. If you aren't that good yet, perhaps printing stickers is premature.

However, I believe that if you print stickers that look amazing, you

will improve to the level of those stickers quickly. Printing stickers

and giving them out is an act of confidence in yourself, your team, and

what you have made or offer. When your stickers show up in the mail,

you will get this emotional rush your project, which perhaps wasjust you and a guitar in your living room, is suddenly real and ready

for the world. Your stickers will signal that you're better than most. Stickers promised in an email blast can fill seats at your next event.

Because they are easy to pass out and inexpensive to produce in bulk,

stickers are a fantastic way to let people express that "they were

there". Conferences give out stickers to attendees to grow awareness

and make nonattendees jealous. They're great at parties too.Attention is like the sunlight without which your project may wither.

The attention of others is vital for your success. How annoying, right?

But it is true with an audience, creating is way more fun.



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Stickers seem to access the subconsciousCouples getting married often print vinyl stickers with us for their

guests to treasure as keepsakes. Stickers are a way of placing a

virtual "bookmark" in the environment of those you endeavor to

reach. Memory is malleable if you deploy such bookmarks in the

social surroundings of your desired audience, or "scene". When walking around Hollywood, I run across stickers all over the

place. The streets are an art gallery in my neighborhood. The stickers

I see can be beautiful, shocking, or mundane but each reflects a soul

of mischief, reminding me of the creativity bubbling under this fine

city. Messages on stickers slide into my consciousness because I am

attuned to the "sticker wavelength" that eludes squares but drives

curiosity among the right people. Secret symbolic interchanges make

urban life a frenzied, glorious exploration of collective humanity.Every brand on TV is an attempt to manipulate the audience into

focusing attention where they otherwise wouldn't. You may feel guilty

that you are engaging in a parallel practice, but consider wouldn't it

be better for people to discover your creative output than to watchyet another terrible television drama? No coercion is involved in your

pitch to hijack their curiosity. If your sticker does not generate

interest in the recipient, they are of course free to ignore it.You need to feel confident that your project is worthy of attention, at

least to those to whom you give your stickers. Things do get

discovered on the Internet by random surfers, sure, but why wait

when stickers can act like a magnet to attract them now?Heed the economics of attentionJust as there is an economics of money, there is an economics of

attention. Attention, like money, is not a game everybody can win.



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Of course if you have big money you can spend it any way you choose.

But stickers as the fuel of your promo efforts is still the efficient way.You need to connect with emotions and trigger reciprocity by giving

small free gifts or samples to a huge number of people of whom

perhaps only a few will care. Focus on other people and what they

want or need or dream about, not what you want to sell them. Achieve

a fit between your product and the audience you'd like to serve.Help people FEEL the way they want to feel. Entice them by

stimulating their emotions. Consider in advance exactly what you

want to achieve during your next interpersonal opportunity, how you

are going to do that, how you will respond to questions or concerns,

and exactly when you will stop talking. Preparation is essential.Control the outcome of your sticker campaign by envisioning exactly

how you plan to deploy them. You can't control much in this world,

but you can plan to spread a given quantity of stickers at certain

specified locations to specific types of people in a short timeframe.

Rally your team to pitch in, because stickers provide a focus for

promotional teamwork, making the critical task of promo a piece ofcake and fun too. This is what rock'n'roll is all about!Select success as your destiny. Success means people paying attention to your creative output, and

getting paid for the excitement that you and your ideas are able to

whip up. You will achieve success, if you do a good job on your project

and promote it properly. Some people can promote by getting

discovered by some major-label talent scout. Most of those, too, have

to earn every scrap of attention. There's no such thing as a free lunch.Stickers are a fantastic way to get started with promo. They're easy,

fun, inexpensive and clearly convey the value and aesthetics of your



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project in a fun and clever package. Everybody who puts your sticker

up looks like a fan of your project, even if they haven't checked it out

yet! When someone puts your sticker on their car or guitar, this

intimate endorsement can make their friends aware of you. No other

object you can give people packs such a powerful potential promo

punch. Stickers will make the once mundane duty of promo a joy.Really work on your sticker design. If you put time and care into

making sure your stickers are aesthetically appealing, they could

take a life of their own. Everybody wants cool stickers. If you start

with an attitude of helping other people decorate things, you can

control your destiny because people will do the work of spreading

your ideas for you assuming you print enough stickers. Skill andcraft put into design pay off when people associate the precision of

your sticker artwork with the quality of the output of your project.We've got to stick togetherGiving stickers to people is a great way to kick off a relationship with

them that could extend over many years as long as you have

creative energy to pump out, your fans will stick with you if youinitiate your relationship with a cool gift like a sticker. You should try

giving if you want to receive. Reciprocity is the core of relationships,

and relationships with people are the most important output of your

project. Let your stickers be an ambassador for the awesome

experience you have in store for the people you meet.Get obsessed with building relationships with the people who can

make you successful. Every single potential fan could be able tospread word of your project nationwide. Stickers don't just get thrown

away they get stuck up somewhere, a perpetual reminder of the cool

stuff that you offer through your project. Work on your website too.



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Giving someone a sticker shows them that you care what they think.

Human nature dictates that they will care for you and your project in

return. We are social beings and we hate being alone. Stickers help

you bond with your scene. The glue that makes stickers stick helps us

humans stick together too. And the people who get your stickers form

an in-group that binds them together apart from outsiders like a cult.You have invested a lot into gear and time to make cool stuff happen.

Stickers give you a way to promote that ranks up there with the ease

of use of a well-crafted musical instrument. Your stickers are an

extension of you.You are what you print on stickers. Stickers give

you a way to show off your creative soul. There is no accounting for

the joy that you'll feel when people find you giving away the coolstickers you designed. It always inspires me to do my best to deliver

even more value on my websites - to match the excitement people

exhibit when I give them stickers. Delivering your art is rewarding. And when people see your stickers everywhere you become a

"phenomenon", a mental landmark worthy of tribal consciousness.

Like it or not, we are affected by celebrity culture, and stickers can

create a micro celebrity out of your project. Like gravitational pull,giving away stickers creates a social attention-energy swirl around

your project. Become a cultural touchstone with your sticker design. Bands that promote are clearly "better" than bands who just wait and

watch while others get the gigs and light up the Internet. This doesn't

mean the music is better, but they're better at promoting, and

promoting is part ofindependence. Other bands shouldn't have a tool

that you lack. Giving out stickers implies a confidence that

presupposes that people who get the stickers will dig the experience

laid out for them at the website. This confidence breeds respect.Everyone knows stickers cost money. Unlike cheap paper, stickers

convey prestige and are a step up from business cards when in the



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promotional battleground of the mediasphere. If you show up with

stickers and everybody else doesn't, you will be able to make a serious

impact on the people there. Stickers impress others, every time. Stickers are highly visible. You can add a visual element to your

music through a clever sticker design. Your website logo is a work of

art, so hit the streets with it. Your church group wants to evangelize

in a clever new way that will get words of spiritual insight through

the strange media ecosystem modern man inhabits. Stickers cut right

through, particularly when they are giving out personally with a

smile. Spreading stickers for your project together is a lot of fun.All custom stickers are inherently limited edition. Your stickers will

only be spread to the chosen few. It's a lot of fun to visualize the

proper spread of your idea, and stickers give you a concrete tactic for

enhancing this spread. Your stickers are highly visible, not something

that is tucked away in a newspaper that nobody reads anymore. You should aspire to be a phenomenon. Stickers can help.Your aesthetics are highly refined. You're a creative person who has a

unique style from which others can draw inspiration. You're doing the

world a favor by sharing your visual expression on vinyl stickers that

people can treasure and use to customize their surroundings.

Unleashing your artwork on stickers will lend it a sense of superiority

that will delight your friends and vex your rivals. Get your art up!If you don't invest in your design, you're letting it gather dust instead

of conquer hearts. Our world is altered only through the efforts of

creative people. Stickers are an atomic form of creativity they're so

very basic, and yet they are the easiest way to turn any artwork into

something valuable, something worth two dollars if it is funny or

beautiful. When you give stickers away, you are simultaneously

promoting your own project while giving out a cool, personal gift. Page 26The Joy Of Stickers


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Thank your customers with neat stickers with every purchase, and

watch your coffee shop become a popular ritual for your community.

Only the small businesses that harness such creative, almost

subversive means of promo will slip through the cracks of

commoditized mass manufacturing, advertising and culture.After you place your order, you will immediately feel the excitement

and anticipation while we take your artwork and lay it out for the

press. When your stickers arrive, you'll feel the power of your

investment in your hands. Nobody else will have these stickers

you're in complete control of who gets them. These unique items will

drive the popularity of your project to where you want to go.This is what you'll achieve by having custom stickers printed:1) You'll have something to grab on the way out of the door with

which you can spread the word either ambiently or aggressively2) You'll have something cool to put in your mailings and lay out at

the coffee shop across the street to find clients or fans locally3) Your friends and even strangers will ask you for them - it's cool!4) You won't kick yourself at gatherings and conferences because you

forgot to bring something cool to promote your project with5) You'll be able to trade stickers with a worldwide network of artists

if you so choose, and conveniently share your art with friends6) You'll be able to put a smile on the face of anyone who buys your

products at retail, through mail order, or at a live event7) You'll be able to put a tool for amplifying awareness of your project

in the hands of your most excited fans, parishioners, or users



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8) You will execute a creative design that adds a powerful aesthetic

dimension to your project heretofore unexpressed9) Spreading the word about your ideas has never been so much fun10) Maybe the people you give stickers to will spread word furtherGet curious about discovering the potential of your project

What if you are the greatest new blog mankind has ever seen? I don't

want to see you toil in unnecessary obscurity for much longer.

Creative people are always on the lookout for new ways to spread

word of what they have done. Stickers accomplish this task efficiently.Stickers are a new way to solve an old problem how to get people to

discover your output. By discovering yourself the potential of custom

vinyl stickers to drive interest in what you do, you will embrace a

unique strategy for sculpting the attention of your chunk of society. Only you will own these stickers a unique expression of who you are.

Rather than being subject to the judgments of others, define your own

identity through a quick sticker campaign for your newest creativeeffort. By introducing your original project, you will uncover at last

the secret of improved attention tactics for guiding your team to the

success it deserves. Stickers help others discover what you do.Enjoying the pleasure of an audience can make you a much more

effective creative. Knowing that people are excited to meet you and

consider your opinions will transform your social interactions.

Having stickers on hand at social affairs is a great way to startconversations and make new contacts that can help you in oblique

ways. Letting them in on your secret project in this very personal

way makes people feel exclusive and smart. That's a win/win.



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It is unknown what your project can accomplish with proper

promotion. The sky is the limit. There are many ways to promote

your project, and the very best way is probably through making sure

your output is top quality as far as you are concerned. But building a

tiny bit of promotional karma into your origins as a project can sow

seeds for bountiful harvest of attention and influence as you progress.Stickers, word of mouth and design

As new project perhaps without many existing fans or friends, you

may be relying on your social network of sympathetic contacts,

neighbors, and people you know from events and the Web. Schedule a

time to meet with everyone on your team to discuss promo strategy.If you already have fans, customers, or users, consider printing

enough stickers to mail several to each. Word of mouth is commonly

understood as the highest form of endorsement, and stickers can

facilitate its power through giving people the opportunity to advocate

for the awesomeness of your output. We change the future together. While designing your stickers, keep in mind that you are you trying to

distill the essence of why someone ought to get curious about your

project. There are several strategies to convey the core on stickers:1) Straightforward and professional - your sticker simply states what

you do, or conveys your logo and the URL - a perennial favorite2) Artistic a fine way to grab attention and make sure your stickers

are highly valued when you're passing them out3) Statement oriented where you are trying to get across a phrase

and have your project as a subtle tagline4) Photographic our sticker press can handle photos, and you can

lay words over the photos for added articulationPage 29The Joy Of Stickers


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Invite your team and even your fans to contribute ideas and designs.

If they feel buy-in early on during the design phase, they will pitch

and more passionately when it's time to spread the stickers around

the scene. Again, think of it like you are passing out party invitations. Invite your friends to come by your website and leave a comment

Facebook is particularly powerful as a platform for encouraging this

kind of viral endorsement. Identify among your network people that

would pitch in fully during your sticker campaign. These allies can

make you immune to concerns about coming across as overly self-

promotional. It can become lonely pitching your own project solo.Collect people who might help you spread your stickers further than

your own social circle. Mail stickers all over the country to make a

splash in remote regions. Do this with force after you have printed up

a small run to make sure your stickers are having the desired

behavioral impact. Are people you are giving your stickers to reacting

with curiosity and the light? If so, do your best to accelerate your

campaign because you could trigger a tipping point.

Stated simply, a tipping point is when your project becomes aphenomenon. Suddenly, a large group of people (a "tribe"), linked by

common interest or need, discovers and standardizes on your output.

A tribe of Brooklyn hipsters begins recommending your music, or

your restaurant is mobbed with diners. It occurs in specific

situations, and once achieved, forms of foundation for all kinds of

future fun. Their help will lend your product credibility you don't

tell your friends about something unless they think it is for their

friend's own good. Get others to publicize you. Stickers can help you

reach a tipping point in any tribe if deployed with solid strategy.You want each of your fans to bring three more people into your

circle. You have a powerful network built up and stickers make it



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sizzle with synergy behind your project. If you give stickers to your

network, they'll build your phenomenon with you and each other.Building up your fan base organically like this makes you

indispensable to it, because they will be invested in your success and

tuned in to your future output - part of your own tribe, as it were,

with your project defining its membership and rituals. A congregation

or a class can be electrified into an force through the power of custom

stickers. If you are an activist, clearly a pile of custom vinyl stickers

to support your cause or protest something awful makes sense.Get into an action frame of mindIf you had printed stickers for your project six months ago, where

would you be now? Wouldn't those stickers be pointing more people to

you today? I can't believe how much time I wasted before grabbing

the bull by the horns and printing stickers with my ideas. Once I got

started, personally, I never stopped!The fact that you are reading this guide probably indicates that you

have never printed custom stickers before. I want to welcome you to

my world! The power to turn your ideas into a stack of cool stickers

that people will really want is intensely gratifying. Almost no matter what is printed on your stickers, people will be

attracted to them and ask you for them. If you design your stickers

with aesthetics in mind, you'll find your stickers cropping up all over

the place without much effort at all. Stickers are a win/win for you

and your fans alike, the only type of advertising people enjoy.People enjoy advertising tiny projects. It makes them look like they

are in on something when they can sport a sticker that supports your

band or small business or blog. Most web oriented projects have little

tangibility, making it difficult to engage in guerrilla marketing.



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Escape the virtual world with your promo. If you need attention,

invade the real world with custom vinyl stickers that point people to

your wonderful website. So give people the opportunity to promote

you! Indeed, they're all looking for cool new stuff to share right now:1) it makes them look hip for knowing about something obscure2) It lets them put your logo in the proximity of their friends3) If the sticker is rad, it'll make something they own look cool4) Every time they see your sticker, they might think about your

project it's like having a tiny billboard in their houseFor those about to print custom vinyl stickers, we salute youThis was a lot of fun to create, because I truly believe in the power of

our independent creativity to transform the world. I hope you do too.The balance of power in the culture must shift. I believe that

independent projects must promote independently as well, rather

than waiting for the media to pick up on them spontaneously. Take a second to consider what a really enthusiastic crowd of engaged

audience members or customers would do for your life. Your

creativity should be in the spotlight. Your power to transform raw

materials into something timeless is what being human is all about.

You've been denied the tools to advertise your project properly on a

human to human level for too long. Let's get your vision on vinyl. Your independence is the core value of StickerNation. Your freedom

to create on a blank canvas is precious, as is the creativity you have

already executed. We are here to help you draw attention to it. By

empowering you to promote, we are doing what we can to tilt the

balance of attention back in favor of independent projects like yours.

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