When Print Sales Are Down, Who’s Really at Fault?
When printing businesses see their sales drop, there are gaping organizational issues that can be the root cause. The printing company itself may be the one at fault, and that’s the core reason the sales team struggles to do its best work. We’ve talked about how print sales teams can hold companies back. In this […]
Is Your Print Sales Team Holding You Back?
In my work consulting with sales and marketing teams in printing companies, I hear a common refrain from the marketing side: “Sales reps want more print sales from leads, but they’re not converting the ones they have.” Sales managers agree that “lead burning,” as I call it, creates morale issues and generates antagonism between sales […]
Do First Things First When Marketing Your Printing Company
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 […]
How to Break Through the Creativity Block
You can have all the right people in the room and still have a creative block when you do marketing for a printing company. Here’s my perspective on how to get the creativity flowing when you do print-digital-media marketing in the printing industry. This story is about a client who does specialty screen printing and […]
How to Build Your Print Business From the Inside
Want to see what a difference it makes to have a well-built business? It can mean more sales, higher profits, and better morale. Let’s talk about how to build your print business from the inside so it works better on the outside. Working on the inside of the business sounds lofty and philosophical, but what […]
7 Items for Your Print Business Year-End Checklist
End-of-year business planning is a time of opportunity. It’s a chance to make your print business more powerful and strategic. It should happen across all departments and be handled systematically and proactively. Is that how fiscal year-end works in your company? Most printing companies do not have a documented year-end process that gives them enough […]
How to Get Your Marketing Program Unstuck
Whether you are marketing yourself or marketing your printing company, it can be challenging to get rolling again if you’ve gotten off track. Here are some easy ways to get your marketing program unstuck and on the road to success. WHAT’S REALLY HOLDING YOU BACK? When I work with clients who are not looking forward […]
Quirky or Classy, Your Newsletter is a Gift to Readers
The following customer success story will help you improve your newsletter engagement and content marketing results. For my birthday, my cousin ships a gigantic gift box filled with unusual items she collects all year. Might be silver ornaments shaped like body parts to protect me from illness and injury. Could be a six-fingered glove, with […]
We Want You: Using Variable Print at Recruiting Events
Are you focused on recruiting new members and getting buy-in from your prospects? Try using variable print when holding your recruiting events. Personalizing the marketing package helps you gain trust and commitment. I’ll give you two examples of how to combine personalized print when recruiting. My friend was a designer for an event organizer. She […]
A Coffee Table Book for Your Company? Do Tell!
Your business deserves the very best treatment in telling its story. Elevate it with print! Here’s why, and I believe this with all my heart: Print makes stories memorable. It gives ideas stature. Statistically, most of us have written carefully-crafted information about our companies. Yet it resides only on our websites! Why? What if you […]
Is it the Right Time to Sell Your Print Business?
Printers ask me: “When is it time to sell or exit from my business?” Good question. Whenever that time is, we can’t wait until the last minute to position your business to attract a buyer. Here’s one way to see where you are on the “readiness to sell” scale. Think of a strike price. A […]
Is Empathy in Your Marketing Toolkit?
I was brought in as an expert by another marketing consultant. He was working with an international company, and one of their tried-and-true lead gen programs was not doing the job anymore. We met with the corporate marketing people, and they explained the program. Then we got on a Zoom call with the salespeople, and […]
