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Reigniting your print business takes work.

As this series comes to a close, here’s a recap of the different ways you’ve learned to fan the flame of your print business.

Today, we’ll look at one final spark that can help with ignition: information.

The Frustration of No Information

One of the biggest frustrations to any consumer these days is not having the information they’re looking for as they go about their buying journey.

You can probably relate.

For example, consider the current state of the paper supply chain. Many printers are increasing paper inventory months in advance of projects to ensure they can meet the demand of their print buyers. In fact, we recently spoke with a printer who said, “Paper ordering used to be a 20-minute job, and now it’s three hours. We’ve even nicknamed one of our team members ‘The Paper Hunter’ because of how much time and effort it takes to get paper.”

Imagine if that Paper Hunter not only couldn’t find the paper he needed but couldn’t find out any information about the paper as well. What if the paper’s prices, inventory levels, and general information were all held behind the gate of a salesperson?

While 20 years ago you might not have thought much about it, today’s buyers expect information at the click of a button. So much so that many will click on through to an online competitor rather than reach out to you if they can’t find what they’re looking for on your website.

Buyers have been trained to be their own guides in their buying journeys. They approach their purchasing the same way they do at the self-checkout at Walmart – “I can do it myself.”

What does that mean for you?

It means if you want to reignite your print business, you have to ensure your website features the information your potential buyers are looking for. Here’s how.

3 Types of Information Your Print Buyers are Looking For

Playing the role of the helpful guide on your website comes down to providing three basic informational and functional needs.

1. Content

Providing informative, educational, and inspiring content on your website offers a reason for your potential and current buyers to come to you instead of you having to chase them down.

A content net offers you the ability to:

By figuring out what your prospects and customers need and then building a content net around meeting those needs, you can get out of your own way. You can focus on building relationships by being helpful and not wearing yourself out trying to chase people and sales down. And the bizarre part? Your print buyers will love you for it!

A content net allows you to keep your prospects and customers exploring happily in the net until the time is right for them to make a purchase.

2. Price

Whether or not to display pricing on your website has been one of the greatest debates of nearly every small business. But love it or hate it, your website visitors are searching for pricing information.

Two Objections to Pricing on Your Website

“I won’t be able to compete with _____.”

If you’re worried about what your prices say about you, remember these two things. First, know your worth and the value you bring, and secondly, consider what no pricing is saying about you.

In her book, Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution, author Brené Brown says, “In the absence of data, we will always make up stories.”

When your potential clients see an absence of your pricing data, what story are they making up about your print business?

“I don’t have the time or know where to start.”

Adding pricing to your website can feel like an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to feel that way.

If you’re feeling bogged down by the thought of adding pricing information to your website’s order forms, you can save a tremendous amount of time and get the leg-up you need by using the streamlined approach of Industry Standard Pricing.

Industry Standard Pricing preloads the pricing data results of the most recent National Print and Sign Owners Association (NPSOA) pricing study right into your website’s order forms! This pricing survey included printers throughout the United States and is the perfect starting point for adding pricing on your website’s order forms.

3. Online Ordering

Lastly, don’t forget the most crucial part: turning all these pieces into more print sales for you!

Once you’ve established yourself as a trusted partner through your content and answered their questions (even the difficult ones, like price), all that’s left is to provide these potential buyers with the path to follow through and place their order.

Content and online ordering work as two prongs of the same plug-in. You can’t get any power with only one prong, just as content without online ordering will fall flat.

If you have content without online ordering capabilities, you’ve most likely reeled in clients by proving you’re credible, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. However, your print-sales fire is still smoldering because you’ve provided no way to order from you online.

On the other hand, if you have online ordering capabilities without content, your prospects can order printing, but they have no compelling reason to want to order from you or ever return to your website. They don’t know you, they haven’t built up any trust with you, so they have no desire to take a risk and order online from you. It’s those things that are accomplished through your content.

Just as a fire needs critical ingredients, such as fuel, oxygen, and a spark, the fire of your print business needs content and online ordering to keep it burning bright.

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

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