We’ll be traveling to Chicago this September to take part in the Print 17 conference, and we want you with us! If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend “the largest gathering of print and graphic communications buyers, decision makers and suppliers in North America,” here’s your chance! The Print 17 Conference is coming this September 10-14th, 2017, to McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. We’ll be at the conference in Booth 351, ready to visit with you, and we’d love for you to join us! If you’re thinking, “what’s the big deal?” here are five reasons why you should attend and meet us there: 1) Learn What’s Hot See what’s new in the printing industry! You’ll walk away from the conference with an excellent grasp on the latest trends and innovations, and be able to bring yourself up-to-date if you haven’t made it out of the shop in a while. 2) Flirt With New Ideas Discover your next great idea in an environment that inspires creativity. Whether you’re looking for new products or ideas to overcome business challenges, or simply seeking knowledge to increase your productivity and efficiency, you’ll find that your experience and participation in the show will have an


A few weeks ago at Graph Expo 2016, we presented the alpha release of “Odyssey,” the codename for the new Print Management Information System (Print MIS) designed to end printers’ double-entry dilemma. We thought, “If a print buyer is entering order information on a printer’s website, why does the printer have to re-enter it into their Print MIS?” Removing Steps to Eliminate Print MIS Double-Entry One of our biggest sources of inspiration for building Odyssey is a yellow book titled Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal. In his book, Eyal refers to another book (Something Really New: Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products, by Denis J. Hauptly) when he says this: First, Hauptly states, understand the reason people use a product or service. Next, lay out the steps the customer must take to get the job done. Finally, once the series of tasks from intention to outcome is understood, simply start removing steps until you reach the simplest possible process. That’s it! Odyssey removes steps (the steps that are responsible for double-entry of order information) and helps you reach the simplest possible process by reducing six touchpoints in the order entry process down to two! The result? No more double entry in your Print


All-in-one Print MIS, Web-2-Print and Marketing solution changes the way printers do business. ORLANDO, FL, Sept. 25 – There was a time when taking print orders over the web meant re-entering that information into the Print MIS (management information system) and added time and errors to a printer’s day. Today, Marketing Ideas for Printers (MI4P) announced the alpha release of “Odyssey,” the codename for its new Print MIS designed to end printers’ double-entry dilemma. MI4P is previewing Odyssey at Graph Expo Sept. 25-28 in Orlando. “With Odyssey, we’re staying true to our mission to help printers sell more printing,” says Dave Hultin, President, MI4P. “Eliminating the double-entry headache that has plagued printers is important, but Odyssey will provide value all along the print buying cycle – before, during, and after the print order.” That’s because Odyssey is designed from the ground up to be more than “just” a print MIS. “With Odyssey, the website IS the print MIS,” Hultin says. “Entries made on the web form are automatically updated on the MIS side. If pricing or a schedule changes within the MIS side, the changes are automatically reflected for the print buyer.” In addition, Odyssey expands the scope of Print MIS


How many customer lists are you currently maintaining? One of your most valuable customer lists is the one in your print management information system (Print MIS). After all, that’s where you’re keeping track of everyone that’s placing orders, and everyone that’s paying you for the privilege of doing business with you. That’s a pretty significant list! When do you add people to that list? Do you add them to your Print MIS before they order printing from you? No, because that’s when they’re on your prospecting list. However, that’s also a pretty significant list because, after all, that’s where your customers are coming from. Prospecting for Print Buyers How do you turn prospects into print buyers? It starts by building relationships. Think back even further. How do you build relationships? By telling your story and starting a conversation with your prospect. Consider this: If your goal is to turn your prospects into customers, and your customers are managed by your Print MIS, doesn’t it make sense for your Print MIS to manage the marketing campaigns that target those prospects (i.e. your soon-to-be customers!) right from the start? Shouldn’t your prospect list and your customer list be managed together, as one list? We think so, which is why


We’ve heard over and over again about the challenges printers face when they receive an order online and then need to re-enter the same information into their print management information systems (Print MIS). Copy-paste makes the job easier, of course, but who wants to sit around copying and pasting all day when you could be spending that time working and selling more printing? Odyssey Changes Everything! “Odyssey” is the new Print MIS we’ll be revealing at Graph Expo, and Odyssey changes everything! Odyssey powers not only the Print MIS but also the order forms on your website. Any information your customers provide when they place an order on your website instantly and seamlessly becomes data in Odyssey. With Odyssey, your website is your MIS, and that means no more double entry! When your website and your Print MIS are two different systems, online print orders look like this:   But when Odyssey eliminates double entry by keeping all of your data in the same system, the process flows smoothly, like a peaceful stream, like this:     Six touchpoints are reduced to TWO! Not only is double entry eliminated, the whole workflow is streamlined, communication with your customer is more efficient, and you get more done


A print management information system (or Print MIS) helps printers manage their day-to-day production activities. Would you agree that a Print MIS should connect you with your print-buying customers from the time an order is placed until the time an order is completed? That’s common ground that we can all agree on pretty easily. Would you also agree that you should be communicating with your prospects and customers even when they aren’t ordering printing? Once again we can all come to a pretty quick agreement. Communication is, of course, important. It’s what leads to relationships. You can (and should) be building a relationship with your customers and prospects even before production begins, before they place their very first order! And after the job is complete, you can (and should) continue nurturing and growing those relationships with your customers to make sure they come back to place even more orders! Limits of a Traditional Print MIS What if your Print MIS not only managed your interactions with your customers during the production of their print jobs, but it also helped you communicate with your customers and prospects before and after the time they were buying printing? If your Print MIS removed the “before” barrier,


One of our core values at Marketing Ideas For Printers is Positive Attitude. A slightly longer version of that core value reads like this: Positive Attitude: We find the best in every experience. It’s easy to “find the best” in good experiences, but we desire to find the best in every experience, including the not-so-good experiences. We had one of those not-so-good experiences happen a little over a year ago when a customer left us. Finding The Best Gut check. What just happened? Why did they leave us? Their answer: they were frustrated that their website wasn’t communicating with the technology they used to manage production. They wanted a website that communicated with their Print Management Information System (Print MIS). They wanted the efficiencies that would result when a website and a Print MIS can have a two-way digital conversation with each other. What they wanted wasn’t happening. That was the moment we said, “We can never be in that position again. A lack of integration with a Print MIS can never again be the reason we lose a customer.” Print MIS Integrations How do we “never be in that position again” and get our websites and Print MIS talking with each other? We could pursue integrations with existing Print MIS systems, but we’ve been


We’ll soon be headed to Chicago for Graph Expo, and we’d like to show off your real-world Ink Inc. direct mail advertising pieces at our booth! We’re giving away up to fifteen $25 Starbucks or Amazon.com gift cards (your choice!) to Ink Inc. customers that send us samples of their Ink Inc. direct mail advertising as it’s being used in the real world. Here’s How to Get Your Gift Card(s) We are looking for customers of each printable Ink Inc. product (Printer’s Press, Business Forum, FastStart, ColorMatters, and Dingbat/Coffee Break) to send 25 to 50 printed pieces. We’ll take the first three submissions in each product lineup. The first step: Contact Rachel Nies (Rachel@MarketingIdeasForPrinters.com, or 800-736-0688 x 7014) to let her know what Ink Inc. package (or packages) you’ll be providing samples for. We’ll take the first three requests for each package. The guidelines: One customer may submit multiple packages. You’ll receive a gift card for each package you submit. The sample collection may all be provided from one issue, but we’d prefer that your samples include several issues. Sending your samples to us means that you’re giving us permission to distribute those samples to visitors at Graph Expo. Samples must be delivered to us by Monday, September 6, 2015.


Graph Expo will be here before you know it … the show runs September 13-16, 2015, in Chicago’s McCormick Place Conference Center. We’ll be there in Booth 457, ready to visit with you. Plus, we can get you in the doors of McCormick Place for free! We have a limited number of free, exhibits-only passes for you (a $45 value), available until August 28, 2015. Marketing Ideas For Printers provides the websites, direct mail advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing technology that helps printers sell more printing. We can help you, too! Graph Expo Show Special Here’s a sneak peek at a show special we’ll be unveiling at Graph Expo. We’ll waive the monthly fee for new customers on all Marketing Ideas For Printers services until January 1, 2016! This show special starts when Graph Expo opens on September 13, 2015. At that time, we’ll waive monthly fees for the rest of the year for all new customers using The Buzz (Social Media Marketing), Ink Inc. (Direct Mail Marketing), ezMail (Email Marketing), and of course a website from Websites For Printers. You can get a head-start on the show special for the Websites For Printers website by starting your own personal Websites For Printers demo website right now!