Why Digital Marketers Like Direct Mail to Close the Deal
Back in the 1980s, I met my future and current wife who grew up in the family print business. I loved walking around the shop and seeing, and sometimes feeling (I couldn’t help myself!), all the cool jobs flowing through the printing and bindery processes. But I was a design engineer. My world was numbers. […]
Print, Design, and Cities of the Future
Walking around my neighbourhood has been very strange for a while now, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it. I live right in the heart of my city (Bristol in the UK), which is usually bustling with people in the bars, restaurants and cafés, especially at this time of year. But since […]
A Single Toe Can Help You Get a Foot in the Door
In times of uncertainty, look for toe holds where you can wiggle into new verticals or open doors in your market. Small openings can lead to big opportunities. Toe holds are especially important when your competitors are distracted and not paying attention. Stick your toe in their business! To get started, have a meeting with […]
Hey! Stop the Green Acres Email Thinking and Plan for the Future
Many printers I talk to act like email is some fancy new invention. It’s been around for 25 years as a business tool. It’s going to be around in the future. It’s here to stay. Email should be a key item in your printing sales toolkit: Setting appointments A place to deliver quotes Stay-in-touch emails […]
Three Tech Trends for Print… in 2020 and Beyond
Happy 2020! That number alone sounds pretty futuristic – I’m sure if our child selves were asked what 2020 will be like, many of us would have conjured up images of flying cars, robot helpers, and food replacement pills. Well, we’re not quite there with the flying cars, (although the recent CES show did see […]
Is Your Marketing Program as Attention-Grabbing as a Tricorn Hat?
Create a three-cornered marketing communications powerhouse to open doors, get recognized, and make yourself indispensable. I am a huge believer in print plus email as a powerhouse marketing combination, and I write about that topic a lot. When you add a third element, you become irresistible. Adding a third marketing channel to your powerhouse combo […]
Printing United Provides Sweet Revenge For Print Lovers
It has been almost a month since Printing United opened its doors and ushered in a long-awaited trade show that brought much of the industry together under one gigantic convention center roof. Powered by SGIA and NAPCO Media, the show expanded beyond the traditional wide format, screen, and specialty printing offerings found at the annual […]
Taming Your Business Marketing Beast – Here’s How!
I’m sitting down with a solopreneur to help get marketing under control. “It’s been about five years since I really worked on marketing,” she says. “It’s a real beast.” Beastly — ha! — I like that. Yes, I can see how business owners would view their marketing program as a beast. So how do we TAME […]
Whether it’s Time or Tea… Always Leave Them Wanting More
Freshman year in college, a friend “willed” me her work-study job in a campus library. Located in a beautiful white marble building, the library was a simple room with glass-front barrister bookcases, glossy wood tables, and clerestory windows. In the afternoons, the sun would shine from above, illuminating the director of the library and giving […]
Building a Better Print Business with Dawn Olson, Konica Minolta
At the InPrint USA show in Louisville, Kentucky, Deborah spoke to Dawn Olson, Director of Production Print/Industrial Print Client Business Development at Konica Minolta Business Solutions. Dawn delivered the first keynote presentation of the educational programme at InPrint USA in April, in which she talked about business development for clients in industrial and production print […]
Is Your Email Marketing on Life Support? Revive it Now!
Did you take a gap year with your email marketing program? You’re not alone. Printing businesses often launch their email marketing with an ambitious schedule and then settle down to a reasonable pace once they see the discipline it requires. When the program stalls or stops completely, however, that’s bad. From a marketing perspective, your […]
Print is Perfect for the Off-The-Grid Demographic
Believe it or not, there are people in the U.S. and the world who don’t have regular or continuous access to the internet. In these places, the people have a much closer relationship to print, printed media and mail. These folks interact with print in the way we did 20 or 30 years ago. I’m […]
