Carpe Printum: New Ideas to Help You Seize the Print!
When you visit the Printerverse, you learn how printers can Carpe Printum — seize the print and get ahead of the competition! The Printerverse is a cool trade show feature at Print / Graph Expo. It is brought to you by Print Media Centr and its Intergalactic Alliance of the Printerverse. This year, the Alliance […]
Print 17 May Be Over But the Printerverse Continues!
As previously announced, I rode a CMYK rainbow of fun and friendship to Print 17. It went fast, but I’m still savoring the afterglow of the camaraderie, information sharing, and alien-approved ridiculousness. I got exactly what I wanted out of the event: met the fleshy avatars of digital #PrintChat friends, made new connections, opened new opportunities, […]
How Many Printers Does It Take to Print a Light Bulb?
Q: How many Printers does it take to print a light bulb? A: You don’t know, you don’t print light bulbs… right? Because anyone can print a light bulb. You don’t want to be in the light bulb business. If you are, then you compete with everyone – including online discount light bulb printing factories. […]
Understanding The Magic Inside Your Digital Front End
If you own a digital print device, somewhere in your life is a Digital Front End. The Digital Front End (DFE) is the workflow touchpoint that accepts a print file, commonly a PDF or PostScript file in today’s print environment, and turns that file into a format that the print engine (toner or inkjet) can […]
Embracing The Freedom and Power of the Terrible
A lot of people have a lot of opinions on fear. Some say it is a great motivator. Others will say that you should never let it guide you. There is no denying, though – most of us do experience fear of SOMETHING at SOME point in our lives. Being afraid, or worried, about something […]
What an Arcade Game Can Teach Us About Printing Sales
Remember Pole Position, the popular video arcade game of the 1980s? I loved it. Amazingly, the things I learned while playing helped me in the print sales world. Pole Position is a classic auto racing game. You have to be able to predict and control the timing and placement of other cars on the track. […]
The Day the Workflow Stood Still
The print hardware often gets the blame when there is a shop slowdown. Misfeeds, wrong stock loaded, paper transport issues, and even finishing equipment glitches can pose some challenges. But when the workflow has a problem the challenges can be greater because sometimes no one notices until nothing is flowing. You never want your workflow […]
2017 Survey Says: Print Buyers Need Time and Have Money
Greetings Citizens of the Printerverse! This post is about results from my 2017 Print Buyer Survey. The survey background info can be found here. If you haven’t read it please do that first, it will be helpful. Additional results can be found in this post: 2017 Print Buyer Survey Says: When it Comes to Driving Print Sales, Stay in […]
Personalized Product Marketing: What’s In A Name?
I was speaking at an event recently. During the Q&A I was asked if I thought we had reached peak personalization? My answer was a firm no. Through the ages, we have added value to many things with the addition of initials – cuff-links, handkerchiefs, shirts, jewellery etc. Even Henry VIII had his current wife’s […]
When Worlds Collide: Meeting an Old Friend in The Printerverse
“There is a Printerverse” was my very first Print Media Centr column. Look at me then: full of wonder at how the knowledge, technologies, interests, events, and organizations shared among ink-sniffers formed a culture and a “Printerverse.” Can you believe we were ever that young? As I write this, I’m on a pre-summer business and […]
Forget Winter, Earth Day Is Coming. Prepare for the Paper Battle!
Greetings tree killers. Oh, you don’t believe you’re still considered a tree killer? You rock your FSC seal and use recycled paper and believe that gives you a pass? Think again. April 22nd is Earth Day, the Red Wedding of “alternative facts” regarding the use of paper and print. You have been sitting in the stands […]
Casting A Spell on Workflow Automation
Over the past couple of months I’ve been to more than a few conferences and vendor events where workflow and workflow automation have been on the agenda. Everyone has a spin on what workflow automation means, but when I listen to their press conferences and look at their offerings, finding end-to-end automation is harder than […]