How to Sell Print to the Real Estate Industry
No matter what’s going on in the economy, there’s money to be made for printers who can get in the door with real estate brokers. To sell deeply and profitably, you must develop relationships and earn a seat at the project planning table. To do that, you need to work with the brokers and top […]
2021 CMYK MANIFESTO: REFLECT, RELEASE, RECOVER and REBOUND
Greetings Citizens of the Printerverse and welcome to a New Year! It is a new year, right? The calendar has changed but, in many ways, it feels like 2020 is still lingering. This annual post has traditionally focused on what is in front of us, but honestly, there is still a lot of uncertainty to […]
Print Samples! Let’s Get Started!
Over the decades I’ve developed a love affair with print samples. It started back in high school when I worked in a print shop that had been in business since the 1700s. We ran a web press in house, though the newspapers were done over at Princeton Packet. Promotional printing and inserts were done in-house […]
Comms 2021: Employee Ambassadors and Data-Driven Culture
What comes to mind when I say ‘influencer’? It might be impossibly perfect people in designer gear on Instagram, gamers racking up millions of views on YouTube, business thought leaders who represent brands and organisations at corporate events – the list goes on, with influencer continuing to be one of the biggest marketing buzzwords of […]
Three Ideas for Prospecting Print Sales in 2021
Imagine having to drive 45 minutes for a haircut, or to get clothing altered. Imagine no malls or shopping centers to stroll through on a rainy Sunday. Imagine no family-owned restaurants to bring out of town guests, no local bars to watch the big game, no local small businesses when you need to run and […]
How to Make Business Decisions for a Wonderful Life
A printer came to me with a dilemma. One of his customers wanted to buy his family printing business and turn it into an in-house print-design department. Since he owned the only print shop in his small town, he felt a responsibility to stay independent and serve the community, just as his parents did before […]
9 Tips on How to Get New Customers From a Nine-Year-Old!
Is it possible to get new customers in this topsy-turvy time? Here’s a story about a little kid who not only did it but created a winning nine-point formula. My son, Nate, was nine years old when I was laid off from my corporate publishing job. The business had not bounced back from the Great […]
2020 Marketing Trends to Watch For Print Business Growth
COVID-19 has brought us the future of digital marketing even faster than the rapid pace we were experiencing. These changes are not something we can wait out until things return to business-as-usual. This month I’ve looked at 2020 marketing trends and how a commercial printer can respond. When faced with unknowns, I look at what […]
Buckle Down and Write for Crisp Communication
Just for fun, I get together with copywriters, speechwriters, ghostwriters, and all kinds of cool writer types. We practice persuasive writing as a group. We use games, prompts, and timed sessions to keep ourselves “fit.” Quick and confident writing. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Why we should be reaching out through the written word Whether you […]
Are You Effectively Communicating To Your Customers During A Crisis?
Change. Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, is credited with saying “The only constant in life is change.” While this is generally considered true, particularly in these technology-infused times, change is not constant. It sometimes comes in disruptive leaps and bounds. We’re in one of those times today. In last month’s blog post about Business Communication […]
Working From Home With Kids | #WFHWK
In the eternally wise words of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air… “Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down.” (Thank you https://www.azlyrics.com/) There is no other way to say this than that we are living in strange and challenging times. The COVID-19 virus, from the professional perspective, means […]
Are You Selling Print Like It’s 1989?
In 1989 fax machines were state of the art communications. America Online was still in its early years. Batman was playing in the movie theaters, rejuvenating the superhero genre and reestablishing the Batman brand. Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall were in the news. People read their monthly trade journals, went to trade shows, and relied on their […]
