Want More? Archives - Page 9 of 13 - Marketing, content, & technology to help printers sell more printing

With the release of Avengers: End Game this spring, many Marvel fans find themselves wondering how they even ended up joining this superhero bandwagon. Before Marvel released their characters onto the silver screen, they began by creating comic books that were seen as a unique art form appreciated by only select few. Which begs the question: how did Marvel become so popular amongst such a diverse collective? The answer is branding. What’s the Big Deal about Branding? Branding is a necessary (and ongoing) process that helps businesses thrive. As printers, it’s crucial for each of us to establish our own identity (or brand) to help us securely develop and grow our print businesses. It’s not uncommon for people (even printers) to think when it comes to branding, creating a logo is the only step. This is far from the truth. While creating a logo does help with the visual aspect of your branding, it’s important to think bigger. Many things encompass the idea of branding and what needs to be done to create the foundation of your image. Branding Means Culture Before jumping into logo creation every time someone mentions the word branding, keep in mind that good branding is

What separates the leaders of the pack from everyone else? While there’s no “one size fits all” answer to that question, here’s one of my favorite answers: The Entrepreneurial Operating System®, or EOS®. Quoting directly from the EOS website, EOS is… a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses. Gino Wickman (literally!) wrote the book on EOS. In his book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, Wickman details the Six Key Components™ of any business that must be managed and strengthened to be a great business. Those components are: Vision People Data Issues Process Traction® We want to help make it easier for printers like you to sell more printing, and the Entrepreneurial Operating System has the power to do just that. EOS works best for small businesses with ten to 250 employees. It’s been a huge benefit for how we do business here at Marketing Ideas For Printers, and based on our experience with EOS, I’m confident in saying that EOS could be a good fit for you, too. Here’s a brief summary of each of the Six Key Components, along with a small insight as to what that component

I’m not a smart guy. I’m smart enough, don’t get me wrong, but I’m no brainiac. I do work really hard, though, and I’m proud of my work ethic. Actually, I’m very proud of all of my ethics. I always try to do the right thing even if it’s not the right thing for me or my business. Do you know what I am good at, though? Sorry, that’s not right… Do you know what I am exceptionally good at? Branding and messaging. That would make sense since I’m good with words. At one point, I was a Writer, Author, and Speaker (WAS). But, let’s get back to you. 3 Ways to Understand What You Are Selling What are you selling? Is it quality printing? (Yawn) Put me to sleep. Do you think the other guy is selling crappy printing? Is it fast printing? If so, then you need to be Amazon fast. Here are three things you must do to understand your value proposition and what you’re truly selling. 1. Know your company’s strengths and what you excel at. This is an honest evaluation, not a nostalgic view, or even worse, a sentimental yearning. Times are always changing, and print

printers, marketing ideas for printers, small business, passion

Have you ever been called a “People Pleaser”? I have. Early in my career in the printing industry, I had aspirations of my company being the largest printing establishment in the Universe! To accomplish this monumental task, I had the mindset that I would never use the word no when a customer or prospect asked if we could produce their product, no matter how ridiculous the request was. In those days, printing 50 wedding invitations were just as important to me as printing 5,000 full-color sell sheets. Circling the Energy Drain It was evident to me that some customers were more profitable than others. However, I couldn’t help but think about those I would help with their tiny little jobs may eventually turn into something bigger. You never know who someone knows that may be the decision maker of the big insurance company down the street, and we know that they do a lot of printing! Therefore, I would spend a lot of time and energy on tiny little projects for “consumers” hoping that one day my ship would come in as a result. Taking A Hard Look at Our Customer Base One day a couple of decades into my

In just a few short weeks, hundreds of printers from across the nation will join up in sunny San Diego for the 7th Annual National Print Owners Association (NPOA) Spring Conference. We’ll be there, and we hope you’ll stop by and see us! This conference will be a fantastic opportunity for you to get away from the day to day of your print business and be able to invest the necessary time to work ON your business. If you’re getting ready to go, you can look forward to learning about what’s happening in the print industry as well as take advantage of the chance to connect with other printers in the same daily trenches as you. To make sure you make the most of this incredible networking opportunity, here are five things you can do to pump up the experience. 1. Get Social! Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, some of your greatest connections might not even need to take place face to face: Don’t miss these social tips: Follow the NPOA Facebook Page to stay up to date on the latest things going on at the conference and to stay connected with others who will be in attendance. Take

Print marketing, goal planning, marketing

As small business owners, we wear a lot of hats, making it nearly impossible to give our complete focus to every role. That’s usually why when it comes to the marketing and selling for our print companies, we often rely on what we’ve always done simply because it’s comfortable. After all, it’s easier to focus on other pressing responsibilities. Over time, though, a lack of fresh ideas can leave your sales and marketing efforts on an unpleasant plateau and cause you to fall behind in an industry that is continuously moving forward. Those strategies that worked in the past may still have a place in the future, but it’s critical to take a step back every so often to take an inventory of what’s working and what’s not. When you reassess your objectives for the year and explore how these objectives will align with your marketing strategies, you’ll be able to look at your printing company through a fresh lens. Here are four steps to help you get started: 1. Examine What Worked, What Didn’t, and What is “SO Last Year.” Every year (at least!), these are the types of questions you should be asking yourself to ensure your business

print owner, success, traits, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Leadership

The print industry has some of the hardest working and committed individuals on the planet. So much so, that I am continually inspired to be a part of it as the Marketing Director at Marketing Ideas For Printers. But as with any industry, I’ve also witnessed the flipside of that coin with printers who are stuck in their ways, who seem content to let the world pass them by, and would rather wait things out until retirement or they’re bought out. As time wages on and I continue to work with printers more directly, I’ve come to recognize that printers who are most successful share some common traits. Here are five of those traits that are pretty consistent: 1. An Undaunted Passion Across the board, the number one thing that stands out to me among these successful printers is passion. Apathy and complacency? These words aren’t even in their vocabulary. These are the guys and gals that wake up and hit the floor running. They don’t stand for good enough, and they’re in constant pursuit of refining, of growth, and of being better today than they were yesterday. This passion seems to keep all discouragement at bay, and it ignites

Easy design process, tips, Marketing Ideas For Printers

The design process can be extremely fun to be a part of when done right. There are some challenges, however, that will pop up along the way within the design process, and it’s essential that you’re ready for them. Challenges like: Communicating with the customer Understanding the size or orientation of the piece Ensuring that the design layout is successful As simple as these concepts may seem, executing them is a whole different story. Here are three easy tips to help you streamline the design process for your team and your customer. 1. Know What Your Customer Wants Before starting any design, you must fully understand what the customer wants or has envisioned for the piece. Many customers know what they want and aren’t afraid to tell you. When this is the case, your primary job is listening. Once you’ve gathered all of the information from the customer, confirm and confirm again. Not only will it save you precious time and money later by making sure the piece is correct, but it also shows the customer that you are listening and that you care by taking the time to gather the information correctly. Other customers do not know what they want

fresh start, printers, marketing ideas for printers

Two words. Two words are all it takes to put the past behind you and look forward to the new year with optimism. Fresh Start There’s something magical about one year ending and a new one beginning. You get a clean slate, a chance to try new things, and unbridled excitement for what’s to come. As you plan for this next year for your print business, here are five tips to help you make this next year your best year yet. 1. Review and Reflect Without a good, hard look at where you’ve been, you’ll never get a clear path forward. By taking the time to reflect on the past year, you’ll be able to: See what you did well. Reflect on the skills, knowledge, and new tools you’ve acquired. Honestly acknowledge where things didn’t go as planned and use them to make better decisions in the future. Figure out if your unique selling proposition (USP) accurately reflects what you offer and if it’s useful. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to reviewing and reflecting, consider setting aside a few minutes to ask yourself the following questions: What would my customers say is the number one thing we

Have you ever heard the saying, “Never do business with friends.”? Maybe you’ve even said it yourself, or it’s a rule that you live by. No matter the case, for some reason doing business with friends can feel like we are giving more than we are getting. Because of that feeling, it can tend to put a strain on the relationships with those friends. In reality, that feeling is just a trap that we set for ourselves. I’m sure we all have those friends or acquaintances who are looking for a deal and want to leverage your relationship for their gain. However, I believe that in most cases, our friends are merely trying to help us out. They need the product that we produce, so they ask us to help them with it. We’ll see to it to create whatever it is that our friend needs, but then for some reason, we feel like we need to treat them differently than our regular customers. “Different” can mean a lot of things. Maybe we think that because it’s for a friend, we aren’t going to charge them full price (or maybe not charge them at all!). Maybe we decide that this

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