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 […]

Do First Things First When Marketing Your Printing Company

woman's hand thumbs up coming through a yellow background

When creating a new marketing campaign for your printing company, it’s good — no, it’s imperative — to do the first things first. Successful marketing teams look at the big picture, outline the program, create a plan that everyone understands, and – only then – take action. If that doesn’t happen, even an experienced team […]

Cookie Cutter Print Marketing Doesn’t Generate High ROI

cookie cutter gingerbread man and cookie dough

Print shop owner #1: “Lead generation is hard, expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating.” Print shop owner #2: “We are getting great ROI on our marketing, our customer base is growing, and we get new leads all the time.”  Both these printers are doing the same thing. One is winning and the other is wasting. Marketing ROI […]

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 […]

High-Speed Digital Print and Finishing at Hunkeler Innovation Days 2023

a woman with black glasses behind a green plant

This international print industry event showcases innovations and further developments in high-speed digital print and finishing HUNKELER INNOVATION DAYS FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 2, 2023 • LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND Learn more here HUNKELER LONG AND PROSPER! Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international industry speaker and […]

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 […]

Busting the Hustle-Bro Marketing Myth

salesman with beard holding money

What does it take to succeed at marketing in today’s printing business? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t take. Buying into the hustle-bro marketing mythology. What is hustle-bro mythology? If you watch YouTube, you see snippets of pre-roll advertising that feature earnest, fast-talking “hustle bros.” These dudes talk about how their program made them millions […]

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 […]

Are You Getting Noticed by Print Customers?

a spotlight to shine on your business to get noticed

Are you getting noticed by your print customers? Do you know how they found you? I recently sat in on a client’s sales call with a prospect. When asked the proverbial “how did you hear about us?” question, the prospect answered, “I don’t know. You guys are everywhere.” Well, they’re not actually everywhere. But they […]

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 […]

How to Attract the Best Print Customers

a multi color illustration of standing out in a crowd

“Nobody ever asked me what customers I wanted before.” This was told to me by the VP of Sales at a $25 million revenue commercial print business a few years back. Throughout his career, new print customers came in seemingly randomly by referrals, leads from the website and the phone, and hunting sales reps. So […]