Printer in Transition: Influence Graphics Rediscovers the Internet

Influence Graphics, a small, short-run, digital printer in midtown Manhattan, was first formed in 1985 as Ron Sizemore Visual Productions (RSVP). The firm provided creative services for presentations, desktop publishing, color copying, and 35mm slide imaging services, until Sizemore had to reinvent the company after tragedy hit New York City.

RSVP's business model was to provide outsourced corporate graphics to mostly Fortune 500 companies (primarily in financial sector). RSVP grew quickly, and had more than 50 employees by 2001, but the catastrophic events of 9/11 caused the company to lose more than 80 percent of its business overnight.

Hoping to pick up the pieces during the aftermath, RSVP merged with another firm in an attempt to rebuild the business, but "after a couple of years, we realized the original business model was no longer valid, and we would need to reinvent ourselves," offered Sizemore.

After 9/11, RSVP was no longer outsourcing presentation work, and shortly after dabbling in printing, the company began receiving requests for printing short runs of brochures and booklets. RSVP was successful in building that business but it became a daily struggle to put out quality materials, since its equipment at the time consisted mainly of Xerox copy machines. In 2005, Sizemore invested in a HP Indigo press.

"The Indigo turned out to be a great return on our investment and within months, our business was increasing and our clients were very happy about the higher quality we were able to produce," he noted.

A New Business Model

In the past, the company's sales model involved making cold calls to try to book appointments. As time when on, this model proved ineffective.

"In 2006, I visited a friend who was building a vacation home, and he kept pointing out everything that he purchased for the house and how he found it online. I realized that by now I too was turning to the Internet to find whatever I needed to purchase. It didn't take long before I came to the realization that our business customers were probably also in the same mode (most of our clients are younger than me anyway). So we decided to try our hand at advertising on the Internet," explained Sizemore.

The company's Internet advertising started with a basic Web site, and soon it began generating a few thousand dollars of business each month. "It was truly exciting to get those first few jobs from our Internet advertising," he recalled.

Over the past couple of years, the company revamped its Web site several times and increased its advertising budget.

"In 2007, my current partner Al Weiss and I bought the business back from the company we merged with after 9/11, and we have been able to grow the business (now Influence Graphics) more than 25 percent in each of the last two years. In 2008, we will have generated more than a million dollars in business from our Internet advertising. We spend roughly 10 percent of that amount with Google," Sizemore explained.

He pointed out that Influence Graphics doesn't try to compete with VistaPrint by only accepting online orders. In fact, Influence doesn't have an online store. The company has found that the majority of its customers want to speak to customer service representatives.

While Influence Graphics still has account executives to handle the large corporate accounts, most of its growth now comes from smaller companies through Internet advertising. "Prior to 9/11, my customers were huge Fortune 500 companies, and if I lost them, the business would be in jeopardy. Now, most of the revenue comes from small to mid-size companies," he said.

Sizemore added that the new model makes the company much less vulnerable to a lot of the bankruptcies and corporate mergers currently taking place with the larger companies. Influence Graphics currently averages between 1,000 to 2,000 new visitors per week to its Web site.

Switching the sales model to the Internet required some major changes in workflow and staffing. Sizemore had to hire more customer service representatives to handle incoming calls, implement a job quoting system, and drastically increase the size of its prepress capabilities: Since many Internet customers have somewhat limited graphic abilities, the staff often has to tweak their files.

Using Google Advertising

Sizemore explained that there are two ways to get noticed on the Internet: paid advertisements and organic listings. Paid ads involve paying Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft to display an ad. A company owner must develop a set of keywords that he or she thinks describe the business (digital, printing, offset, brochures, etc.). Once the keywords are developed, the created keywords list creates text ads displayed each time any of those keywords are searched. Influence Graphics currently has more than 3,500 keywords working within its advertising.

Organic listings (or sometimes called natural listings) are Google's ranking of a Web site based on a very complex algorithm which tries to find the Web site that best matches what the person is searching. Google will search (or spider) the site and make a record of the wording used in the Web site. It will also look at who is linking to the Web site and other data within the coding of the site (meta tags).

"The trick is to build your site in such a way that it is search engine optimized (SEO) to be ranked high for the keywords that you think will drive the type of customers you are looking for to your Web site. For example, the keyword 'printer' is actually not a great keyword. Think about it, 'printer' could include people looking to purchase an inkjet printer for their home or someone looking to get T-shirts printed. A much better keyword would be 'professional printer' or 'brochure printer.'

Remember, you are paying money every time someone clicks on your ads, so you want to weed out people who are not your potential customers. This is where hiring an expert can actually save you money," he advised.

While Influence Graphics Web site has improved, Sizemore is constantly refining it. "We've had to struggle with the look and feel of it. Too 'corporate' and we turn off the small customers and too 'flashy' and we turn off the corporate customers. We are also getting ready to launch another new Web site that will feed our large-format department by allowing customers to customize banners and signs online. Bottom line is that when the world around you changes, you must change with it and that is what we have tried to do," Sizemore continued.

Looking Ahead and Beyond

Influence Graphics has certainly made progress from years ago, when Sizemore would attend Graph Expo each year and sit in the Heidelberg booth, hoping to learn as much as he can about printing. In fact, Influence Graphics is now competing with offset printers.

"We recently printed a book for Marvel Comics and we're inviting people to take our challenge: I hand the book to people and ask them whether it's printed digital or offset. Most people don't know the difference, but as you can see, the Indigo produces offset quality," he explained.

Sizemore pointed out that Internet advertising plays a major role in the company's current success despite the economy.

Influence Graphics also offers wide-format printing and a live customer chat on its Web site, where potential customers and clients can speak to customer service via the Web.

One way to prosper in a declining economy is to find a niche and focus on it. There is demand for just photo books, calendars, or personalized wrapping paper, and if printers focus on printing even just one of those, there is money to be made.

"It's all about finding a niche. I suggest reading the book, The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson. The book illustrates some pretty important concepts. For instance, think back 10-15 years ago. You would buy music at a music store. A small band who sold roughly 1,000 copies wouldn't be in a NYC music store, but now if you go onto Amazon or iTunes, you can find just about anything on demand. Years ago, companies made a lot of money by selling limited copies, but now there is an unlimited amount online," he said.

For 2009, Sizemore is looking to add more finishing equipment and possibly another Indigo. The company recently added a third shift and purchased a Duplo saddle stitcher.

Many of its competitors moved out of New York City, creating an advantage for Influence Graphics. But through it all, Sizemore feels that printing will remain strong.

"This is the city that never sleeps: People always need something printed," he concluded.