MIS Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Marketing, content, & technology to help printers sell more printing

five things im thankful for, Odyssey, Print MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers

Here’s a quote that has really impacted me in recent days: …there’s a danger in overfocusing on the finish line. When you do, you lose the power of seeing how far you’ve come. ~ Jon Acuff When working on a project as big as Odyssey, our Print MIS, that finish line can be elusive. The truth is, there is no finish line for Odyssey because it makes its home in the cloud. The cloud is never “done.” Instead, the cloud allows for a neverending stream of updates that will enable Odyssey to grow well past any finish line. Finish lines are so limiting! There is no finish line, but there’s a definite starting point, and in the spirit of this season of thanks, when I look back at the starting line I see so many things I’m thankful for. When looking through the lens of the work we do here at Marketing Ideas For Printers, here are five things I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving season. Our wonderful team. There’s power in numbers, and there’s super-power in a team that’s united for a common purpose! The support of Odyssey’s Early Adopters. These are Odyssey’s very first customers; we would have never been able

Print 17, blog, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers,

By now, the list of excuses for not joining us at the Print 17 conference in Chicago this September should be pretty small. After all, we’ve already laid out 5 Reasons You Should Join Us At Print 17, and we’ve topped it off by offering you free, exhibits-only passes to the show. Do you really need one more offer? Well, alright, we’ve got one more for you. The Timing Couldn’t Be Better Odyssey, our new breed of Print MIS, is now available, and with it, we’re offering you a chance to take advantage of a special offer and claim a free gift with your purchase of Odyssey! One of those free gift options is a One Night Free Stay during the Print 17 Conference. This is excellent timing for you, and it’s simple, really. By making the decision to purchase Odyssey now, you’ll not only get an unfair amount of attention from our team to help you get Odyssey up and running smoothly but you’ll also get your choice of a free gift!! Take advantage of a free night’s stay during the conference or choose from other options like an Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, or a pizza party for your entire team!

Here's How You Eat An Elephant, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey, MIS

You’ve started your next big project. It’s the big idea that will leapfrog you past other printers competing with you. It’s the revolutionary change that will usher in your next period of success. And it’s intimidating. You’ve lost your momentum, and you’re stuck. The mighty elephant in the room is your obstacle. It’s easy to see, but at the same time you don’t know how to get past it, so it seems even easier just to ignore. You can beat the elephant! How? You beat an elephant the same way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. We’ve Been There Our “next big project” is our Print MIS called Odyssey. Building a new Print MIS from the ground up is challenging. It would be nice if we could say that we perfectly executed a plan that took us from concept to launch with no surprises. The truth is much different, of course. There were days we’d have a stare-down with Odyssey as we tried to figure out how to move past the elephant in the room. If you’re stuck on your project, borrow some ideas from us. Here are three ideas the team at Marketing Ideas For Printers

The Power of Good Content, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Websites, MIS

Does this sound familiar? Hmmm. . .what should we say in this blog? It should be something that inspires our customers. Yeah. Innovative. Powerful. Or maybe an educational piece? That could work; something like 3 Steps to. . .Hmmm. . .3 steps to what? What about. . .[ding]. Oh, look, Jim just emailed. No, stay focused – working on content here! Harder Than It Looks If you’re like most companies trying to reach customers through good content, you recognize that coming up with and writing good content is hard! First, there’s coming up with ideas on what to write about and planning when and how to publish. If you’ve managed to make it over that hurdle, then you’re on to the next mountain: eliminating distractions and creating a scheduled writing time, researching, and editing. Then, just when you think you’ll nail it, you still have to win that stare-off with your blank screen and blinking cursor to actually formulate your ideas into words on a page! Are you exhausted yet just thinking about it? Are you thinking, “Can’t someone just do this for me?” Content is What We Do Helping you fight that content battle is why we’re here. In

MIS, Odyssey, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Print MIS Reliability Check: Hard Drive or Internet?

A frequent question that comes up when printers explore moving to any cloud-based service is: What happens if my internet connection goes down? Our new Print MIS, Odyssey, is a cloud-based service, so it’s important to us that you get a clear answer to that question. If internet reliability is a concern in your area, then a cloud-based MIS service like Odyssey may not be the right choice for you. You may be better served by a legacy Print MIS like Printer’s Plan or PrintSmith Vision that resides on a hard drive. However, hard drives have reliability issues too. Whether your internet connection goes down for a cloud-based system, or your hard drive crashes for a legacy system, your primary concern is to get access to your data. So, when data access is needed, which option gets you there quicker and with less hassle? Let’s take a look at both contenders. In Corner One: Hard Drives Hard drives are not immortal. In fact, it’s just a matter of when (not if!) your hard drive dies. When that happens, think about this: what if that hard drive contains all of your Print MIS data? Now, calculate the time and hassle required to recover from a

Each week we present two webinars to talk about Odyssey, the new Print MIS from Marketing Ideas For Printers. Last week’s webinar was one of the best because Cindy Heitman and Don Jones joined me. (That means you don’t have to listen to me drone on and on!) Cindy and Don both have a unique perspective on Odyssey, and you’ll find it helpful to learn more about Odyssey from a different viewpoint. Cindy is on our sales team and helps printers see the benefits Odyssey offers. Don is Odyssey’s lead developer and shares his excitement of Odyssey from the perspective of all the technical details that make it work. A New Print MIS: The Odyssey Live Event Web Meeting Enough of my words, let’s get you watching and listening. Here’s a recording of the Thursday, March 16, 2017, Odyssey webinar: Table of Contents Miss a spot? Here’s a convenient table of contents for you to get to the exact right place, along with links to pages referenced in the webinar: 0:45 – Book: The Influence of “Hooked” on Odyssey (Blog post: http://on.mi4p.com/hooked-blog) 3:55 – Odyssey from Cindy’s Perspective 8:53 – Meet Don Jones (Blog post: http://on.mi4p.com/meet-don-jones) 9:22 – Odyssey from Don’s Perspective 12:40 – Demo of

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Can I Import My Existing Print MIS Data Into Odyssey?

Sometimes Odyssey prospects fall in love with Odyssey (our new Print MIS) when they see it, then second-guess their new-found affection by letting this thought rattle around in their brain: What will I do with all my customer history and existing Print MIS data? I’d make the move if that were easier to deal with. Respectfully, if you’re thinking that thought, then you do not see Odyssey’s true potential, and you might be acting lazy and a little selfish. Don’t Be Selfish Remember, your Print MIS isn’t about you; it’s about your customers. Which MIS solution is going to serve their needs best? A modern, cloud-based Print MIS that puts them on the same platform as you and your team, or a legacy MIS that puts a digital wall of separation between you and your customers? Sure, it’s easier to stay with your current Print MIS, but is it better? If you think about what’s easiest for you without thinking about what’s best for your customers, selfishness is creeping in. Someday, maybe even today, you’ll be vulnerable to losing your customers to another printer that does see how a cloud-based Print MIS allows their customers to do business more efficiently. When that happens, it’ll

MIS, Odyssey, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey is a Print MIS for Online and Legacy Success

As I’ve visited with printers about Odyssey and told them that Odyssey is a Print MIS that directly connects to their website, it’s easy for them to see that Odyssey easily manages online print orders. Because of Odyssey’s seamless connection to websites from Marketing Ideas For Printers, printers can sometimes overlook how well Odyssey handles legacy orders too, which leads to printers asking this question: How does Odyssey handle legacy orders? Here are three of the entry points for print orders in Odyssey. Self-Serve Online Orders These are the online orders placed by your customers with no assistance from you. Your customers sit at their desk at work (or at home in their pajamas, for that matter), fill out an order form on your website, and click the Place an Order button. Just a fraction of a second later, there’s an order in Odyssey (your Print MIS), and everyone on your team is alerted that print production can start. Guided Orders Guided orders are like self-serve orders because they also use an order form found on your website. But, these order forms are intended to be used by your team to guide your customers through the process of ordering printing. Your team will want to

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey Print MIS Customers Get Unfair Attention

I’ve been “going public” with a lot of the questions we get from prospects checking out Odyssey, our new Print MIS. Some of the questions can be presented almost verbatim. Other questions are more “question behind the question” type questions, like today’s question: How can I get started with Odyssey without being overwhelmed? Here’s the simple answer to the question behind the question: By intentionally limiting Odyssey’s growth, we’ll be in a position to give an unfair amount of attention to the printers that use Odyssey day-to-day. Limiting Growth for Maximum Impact New software is exciting! But we get it; being on the front end of something brand new (like Odyssey) can be somewhat scary if you feel like you need to go it alone. But you’re not alone! One of the very best ways we can remove your fear of the unknown is by ensuring you get all the attention you need when you need it most. With Odyssey, by intentionally limiting the number of customers that we accept in the early days, we’ll be in a position to give Odyssey’s customers an unfair amount of attention. We’ll able to move very quickly to address the items that are the most essential to the success of customers using Odyssey. Our Core

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, NO-DATA-CUSTODY-BATTLES-HERE

Recently, I published a blog post to make the case that Odyssey and Marketing Ideas For Printers are built for the long haul. You’d expect to hear nothing less, right? But what if you’re not using Odyssey for the long haul? Smart businesspeople make decisions influenced not only by the adoption of new software, but also by the departure options provided by that software. That’s why a question like this comes up sometimes: I like what I see in Odyssey. What if I get started now, but in a few years decide I want to move on? How do I get my data? Let me first start by saying we have no intention of running some “data extortion ring” here. We’re not going to hold your data hostage; that’s just not who we are. It’s your data, and we’re honored you entrust us with it! If, for some unknown reason, you find it necessary to part ways in the future, it’s still your data, and you’re entitled to it. Export Your Data That’s why you’ll see plenty of export buttons in Odyssey. As long as you’re a subscriber, you’ll always have the opportunity to export data from Odyssey’s reports. How About a Different Format? In a perfect world, software

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