Reality Check: The Perception of Printing

optical illusion illustration by noma bar of a shark

I record and produce a significant number of episodes for Podcasts from The Printerverse. Discussions about printing, print business, print sales, and print marketing are often playing through my computer, earbuds, car speakers, and voice assistants like Alexa. When I have some mindless admin work to focus on, I click on my pop culture podcast […]

How to Respond to Questions About Sexism in the Printing Industry

Caution Tape danger sexism in printing industry

With just a few minutes before the first, women-only panel discussion on the main stage of Dscoop ended, the audience at Edge St. Louis was asked if they had any questions. The mic goes out to the audience, a gentleman stands up. With what I interpreted as a mixture of nerves, uncertainty, and a splash […]

The Perfect Partnership: Collaboration Between Printers and Designers

multicolored blocks stacked in a blue background to illustrate creative collaboration between printers and designers

In the world of printing and design, collaboration is key. From business cards to banners, brochures to billboards, the collaboration between printers and designers each bringing their unique skill sets to the table is a crucial element in producing high-quality print materials that stand out in a competitive market. Now, I realize that this concept is […]

Authenticity Matters in Brand, Print Business and Personal Messaging

a blue image of fake and fact written into blocks

Authenticity for brand, personal, and print business messaging has become more important than ever. Whether it’s in advertising, social media, or everyday conversation, people want to feel that the messages they receive are genuine and truthful. Last week was International Women’s Day and the flood of messaging on March 8th showing support for women was […]

Five Signs You Are a Print Junkie – 2023 Edition

cmyk ink in cans are you a print junkie print media centr

Do you see print everywhere? Do you count down the days until the new printing press or finishing equipment arrives at your print shop? Do you know what Pantone color the sky is? Do you make vacation plans around printing industry events or incorporate them? Do you look at digital marketing and come up with […]

2023 CMYK Manifesto: Disrupt, Disclose, Do Better

Greetings Citizens of the Printerverse and welcome to a New Year! For the first time in 3 years, it feels like an actual NEW year and not a continuation of what I refer to as the uni-year. The uni-year covers anything that happened between March 2020 and December 31, 2022. All the maintaining status quo […]

Twitter Advertising is Dead. Long Live Print!

mario gives the finger from fake Nintendo Twitter account

Print has always been a potent channel for direct marketing and communication, and one of the safest. This is not new information to us. But recent events on Twitter including the image above sent out by ‘Nintendo America’ have sent shockwaves through the socialverse. The reputation and stock prices of brands caught up in the […]

How to Tell if You Are Considered a Print Vendor or a Print Partner

a purple image of a climber offering a helping hand to another climber

If print customers are thinking of you as a print vendor and not as a print partner, you are in serious trouble. You are interchangeable. You are competing on price. You are a number on a spreadsheet. You aren’t top of mind for recommendations or referrals. You are on the way out and you probably […]

3 Ways to Earn Trust Through Collaboration with Print Customers

creative collaboration

The secret to earning referrals and long-term loyalty with print customers for their printing and print marketing needs is really no secret. Creative collaboration is the key to success. Collaboration can take many forms. On the lowest end, we have information exchange and administrative collaboration: emails, calls, job status, pricing, billing, and so on. The […]

What Do You Think? Was This Marketing Campaign a Success?

Does everyone on your marketing team know what success means? Does the owner know? Here’s an example of the disconnect between the owner and the marketing department. I asked a printing company owner to give me an example of a marketing campaign that was successful and one that was not. This one, he said, was […]