When David Freitag’s Dinosaur Coprolite 2019 Calendar came across my desk, I was immediately interested and had to call him to get more information on these dinosaur nugget calendars. David created his Coprolite Calendar because he didn’t have a calendar at the time. What he did have were hundreds of photos that were taken for his eBay Rock Store, which he started 5 years ago.

David’s Backstory

David used to gold mine for over 15 years in Wyoming out in the desert. He wrote the story, “Wyoming’s Billion Dollar Nugget,” which was published by the California Mining Journal many years ago. “After we reclaimed our gold mining site, I was tired of gold and wanted to hunt fossils again,” says Freitag. In doing so, he found huge deposits of Dinosaur Coprolite along with Dinosaur Gizzard Stones and other dinosaur relics.

“After some time went by, I was sitting in my easy chair one night, just about to drift off, when I heard Rick from Pawn Stars on the TV. He said, ‘You know, in the 25 years since I’ve been a pawn broker, about the only thing I haven’t seen come across the counter is dinosaur poop.’” “Well,” thought Freitag, “I have 3 pallets out back with some of the finest dinosaur poo you can buy.” After doing a web search and contacting the show, 5 months later he was in Las Vegas filming his sale of Coprolite on Pawn Stars. Rick bought the piece featured on the 2019 calendar’s cover for $1,100! Shortly after being featured on the show, David heard a Jade collection was for sale and bought 6 pickup trucks full of the gemstone. He then began his rock store on eBay and it has grown very nicely.

Choosing the Print Shop

“I chose PrintingCenterUSA over the others because your front page says that you have been in business for 40 years. That sold me.” says David. He liked the price we offer over other online printing companies, as they are more reasonable prices. “The quality is great and I can say nothing but good things about your products.”

David now sells his calendars on his eBay Rock Store. He has since bought 3 more Jade Collections and is now the largest seller of Wyoming Nephrite / Jade on eBay worldwide! Freitag says, “I have had great interest in geology and rocks for over 40 years. Why will I keep doing it? Because Wyoming Rocks!”

“If you love what you do and believe in your product, you can't fail.”

- Founder and Editor, Nealie Sanchez of Texas Dog Magazine 

Nealie has been a dog lover for her entire life. While in high school, Nealie realized that the school magazine interested her. One day in June 2017, she was having a conversation with her stepmom, Deborah, and said, “I want to start a printed dog magazine, that is my dream job,” to which Deborah replied, “Do it then.” The very next day I created the Texas Dog Magazine website and registered my business!

Texas Dog Magazine (TXDM) is dedicated to advocating for our four-legged friends. In this edition, TXDM has made a small donation to The Love Pit (TLP), a 501(c)(3) foster-based non-profit dog rescue in Dallas-Fort Worth.

TLP’s mission is to reduce the homeless pit bull population through rescue, rehabilitation, training and advocacy.

Its goal is to educate the public about a breed that often falls victim to breed specific legislation, discrimination and cruelty, in addition to promoting responsible pet ownership through spay/neuter initiatives, vaccinations and training resources

According to TLP’s website, more than one million dogs are euthanized each year, and it's estimated that 40 percent of those are pit bull breeds.

Donations to TLP go toward medical care for ill and injured dogs, training classes prior to adoption and education and community support to reduce the number of dogs in shelters.

Through donations, TLP has been able to save more than 300 dogs since 2015. TXDM is proud to support TLP’s mission.

Texas Dog Magazine uses some of the proceeds each quarter to make donations to rescue, shelter or foster organizations in the State of Texas. It is their goal to help all dogs. In Nealie's experience, she said, “We know the best way to do that is by supporting organizations that advocate for and actively help dogs.”

We asked Nealie, "How did you find out about PrintingCenterUSA?"

I found PrintingCenterUSA after a month-long hunt for a printing company. Many of the people I reached out to locally didn’t get back to me and I was very nervous about outsourcing the work to another state. After reading reviews online, I decided to take the leap and use PrintingCenterUSA as my magazine printing company. The reviewer that stuck out to me the most said that even as a first-time publisher, PrintingCenterUSA had treated them as if they were a big name magazine. This review was important to me choosing the company.

Advice from Nealie

Understand your timeline so that with design, production, printing and shipping you are not rushing your project. Additionally, the staff at PrintingCenterUSA have been so helpful from the beginning. When I email or call, a real person is there for me promptly and truly cares about resolving any concerns or questions I may have.

Nealie’s Future Vision for Texas Dog Magazine

“I can't wait for the day we have an office independently and each of my employees can bring their dogs to work. I am also excited about hosting Texas Dog Magazine events in the future and increasing the circulation of the magazine and implementing subscriptions.”

Magazine Printing Resources:

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There are many reasons to create a calendar. You may be working on a fundraising project for your . Perhaps you want to showcase your photography and sell the calendars to make a little money.  So where do you begin?

1. Choose Your Audience

Are you selling you  to the general public? Are you giving them as gifts to your best customers or the parents of your school? Once you have determined who your audience is, you can start to choose the types of pictures you want to include in your calendar. 

For example, The Highway 1 Project is an organization dedicated to raising money to improve Highway 1 in California and to protect parks along the Pacific Coastline. Their calendar features gorgeous scenic pictures. This entices people to purchase the calendars and it reminds them throughout the year that they supported a good cause.

2. Are You Going to Include Advertisements & Sponsors?

This will be a factor when you are designing you calendar because you will need to include space for the "thank-you" page and for advertisements throughout the grids. To learn more about calendar fundraising, click here to download our free calendar fundraising guide.

The image to the right shows how the Knoxville Ice Bears Booster Club placed sponsor logos throughout their calendar on different dates in the monthly grids.

3. Choose Your Photos

One great way to choose photos for your calendar is to first choose a theme. There are many themes to choose form, here are just a few to give you an idea:

• Picture or collage of photos on the top of each month - for example, September in a school fundraising calendar could say, "Welcome Back to School" and show a photo of the football team.
• Places or things that relate to your cause or organization.
• Pictures of peoples' favorite animals.
• Photos from previous events or trips.

The possibilities are endless! Just remember, your pictures need to be high resolution for them to print looking clear. If your images aren't at 300DPI (dots per inch), there is a chance that your images will appear pixelated when your project prints.

4. Time to Design!

After you have chosen your pictures it's time to start designing! You can design the calendar many different ways. Most calendars have one large, full-size image on the top half and the calendar grid on the bottom half. I have also seen calendars that have a collage of images or a single image with a nice background around it. The sky is the limit!

If you already have pictures and a project in mind it's time to get down to work and actually start designing. You can design a custom calendar using programs like Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator. If you don't want to start from scratch, check out our  to get you started. Using a pre-designed template will ensure that you have the correct size and will save you some time!

We also offer a free calendar online design tool. I love this tool because it makes it incredibly easy to put a calendar together. Just upload your pictures, drag and drop them into place and voila! A finished calendar design.

Remember - 

To start designing a 2018 calendar you must first choose your audience. Decide what kind of pictures will appeal to them the most and design your calendar with your audience in mind.

When the time comes to put the calendar together either design online or use our  in a design software like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator.

If you are starting a calendar project and would like to speak with an expert, feel free to give us a call at .

Ordering custom printed notepads is quick, simple and easy with PrintingCenterUSA. Notepads can be included in promotional packets to attendees at school, business, professional, corporation, education or organization conference events, trade shows, career fairs and much more. At PrintingCenterUSA, we offer competitive pricing and amazing customer service, guaranteeing customer satisfaction. Interested in seeing how one of our custom printed notepads look? Request a free sample pack to receive one of our company's custom notepads.

When Are Notepads Used?

From jotting down an important idea to making a rough design sketch, printed notepads are used in a variety of different ways, especially when it comes to the work place. When looking around the office, it’s almost impossible not to find a writing pad lying nearby. Even with technology use increasing, this timeless tool is still one of the most utilized items in the workplace. But to think of a notepad as just blank pieces of paper bound together would be putting your company at a disadvantage. Notepads can be used as great marketing tools for you and/or your business.

Marketing Your Business With Notepads

More and more companies find themselves creating customized notepads. As stated before, notepads are one of the most utilized tools in many office spaces. Who knew they could also be used to market to potential clients? Use brand colors and your logo to help with brand recognition. Add your phone number and email address to help increase the response rates. Not sure how or where to start with your notepad design? We have organized a team of professional graphic designers to help our customers with their custom notepad printing design needs. If the thought of designing is overwhelming for you or you just don’t have the time to do it yourself, reach out to one of these graphic designers to help assist you with your project.

Customize Your Notepads For Print

When it comes to customizing your notepads, there are endless possibilities. Keeping in mind the use of your notepads will help when approaching its design. You would want to leave empty space if you were to use it as a sketching pad or have lines so that it makes taking notes easier. You can utilize your logo as a watermark or go with an artistic border on the edge. At PrintingCenterUSA, we offer different paper types, sizes and even glue placement to give you a variety of customization.

Cheap online poster printing is perfect for schools, sporting events, real estate, movies, and many more types of posters you may need for marketing. PrintingCenterUSA is a leading online poster printing company offering affordable printing prices, 24/7 online ordering, expert technical representatives, and fast service with a customer satisfaction guarantee.

When your success rests on the effectiveness of your poster, you want to make sure your design elements and printing are perfect for the delivery of your message. The purpose of a full color printed poster is to get your message across within seconds, attract attention, and leave a memorable impression. For best results, your design needs to be executed properly whether it's a printed poster to promote an event, sell a product or service, or to develop a positive brand image. Refer to these design and print ordering suggestions to help you create a vibrant poster to get real impact. 

1. Mapping Out Your Poster

Before designing make sure to plan ahead. What is the goal of your poster? Brainstorm and formulate layout ideas, poster concepts, the goal of your poster, the specific point of your message, and all advertising and promotional ideas. Keep your target audience in mind when formulating these ideas. What purpose does each element serve on the poster? Since posters are larger than flyers and many other marketing materials, you'll want to make sure that everything is precise since it will be viewed by a larger audience than usual. You'll also want to keep in mind where these posters will be on display. Knowing your audience will put you at an advantage by changing the way you approach your design. By keeping in mind how many posters you need and the overall design, it also puts you at an advantage when it comes to check out. Properly mapping out where your posters will be placed and how many you'll need will affect how many posters you'll order, preventing any possible waste. By using our instant poster pricing tool, you can easily calculate a quote for your next poster project.