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  • Join the Social (Media) Club
    By John Giles - Thursday November 18, 2010
    Keeping up with social media is tough. Between onsite visits to help printing companies prosper and use the new technology, researching how to use all the new tools, and writing about them, I try to keep up with my blogs, twitter posts, LinkedIn discussions, and Facebook visits. If you are sticking your toe into the social media pool, then you know what I mean when I say that “it is hard.†My problem is time, but for most printers I talk to, their problem is content. Printers continually tell me they don’t know what to post on the various social media vehicles. A number of printers think that just posting on social media will make them look “needy†and like they are “begging†for work. They cannot...

  • Will Graph Expo Hold Answers For Future?
    By John Giles - Sunday September 12, 2010
    How relevant will this year’s Graph Expo be to most quick and small commercial printers? As printers prepare to descend on Chicago, they are pondering the questions about the evolution of printing and where it will be over the next decade. Will the trade show offer a “killer app†to drive customers to printing? Will there be a new development exhibited that will eliminate production problems and guarantee profits? Will printers see the future when they walk the floor of the expo? Graph Expo will only be as relevant as the attending printer makes it to be. Everyone knows the industry is changing. The printing pie is shrinking and the shift of work from offset to digital is well documented. Printers shouldn’t...

  • Make the Call Today!
    By John Giles - Thursday August 19, 2010
    Many of the printers I work with on a daily basis are reporting increased customer activity as schools start around the country. It is always good to hear about a bump in business, but it doesn’t overshadow the news of the demise of other printers. Printers continue to close their doors because they just don’t have enough business. There is still printing to be had out there, but you have to work harder to get it. One basic task that will help quick printers survive is having sales activities. Customers need to know where you are and what you do. The only way that will happen is if you tell them. Printers have to get on the telephone and out of their offices to ask customers for their printing business. How many sales...

  • Is a Black Hole Sucking Away Your Future?
    By John Giles - Thursday July 8, 2010
    Is your prepress department ready for the future? The role of the prepress department will expand and evolve as more services are added to the arsenal of products sold by printers. But before any printing company can add services, it has to be sure that the prepress department can handle the services now being sold. Typesetting, design and file output are the standard services now offered by most printing companies. If you look closely at most financial statements, you’ll see that the prepress department is losing money because the printer isn’t charging enough to cover the department’s cost. As John Stewart says, prepress is a black hole. To survive the future, the typical printers will have to attempt to reinvent...

  • Listen for Success
    By John Giles - Tuesday June 15, 2010
    Quick printers have a lot of technology at their fingertips, but it isn’t worth much unless customers need it. PDF files can automate the workflow, but printers don’t tell customers the benefits or how to use it. Online ordering is easy to provide to customers, but how is a customer suppose to learn about it? Printers buy technology because they think it will increase their sales. When it doesn’t, the printer is disappointed and disenchanted with technology. The problem is that printers aren’t listening to their customers. Printers are just telling them about technology and hoping the customer is interested. They should be trying to find out what their customers need and what they want. They must find out the...

  • Social Media Only Part of Sales Solution
    By John Giles - Monday June 7, 2010
    This morning another printer asked me the question, “How can social networks such as Facebook and Twitter help my business?†That’s a good question because without a plan or focus, the printer may only be adding to the noise and clutter on the Internet. Social media tools need to be part of a complete selling program or they will just waste printers’ (and their customers’) time. Facebook and Twitter are great tools to keep your face in front of the customer and develop a dialog about what the customer’s printing needs are and how you can fulfill them. Printers can use social media to promote their expertise and become a source for print information in their local cyber-community. With this viral...

  • Do You Have A SmartPhone?
    By John Giles - Wednesday June 2, 2010
    If you are printer, you need to invest in a smartphone. A smartphone is a cell phone with an Internet browser and a camera. What it does is open a new service opportunity for printers called mobile marketing. Mobile marketing links the print world with the Internet. By scanning a QR code that is on a printed piece, a smartphone user can be instantly directed to an Internet page on their smartphone’s browser. Mobile marketing is big in Europe and the Far East and it is just hitting the US. Printers should see any company that sells a product and has a website asking about including a QR code on their printed marketing material. Haven’t heard about QR codes? A recent episode of CSI New York featured a QR code as a clue in an...

  • Getting Personal Online
    By John Giles - Thursday May 27, 2010
    People buy from people, but for some printers, it looks like their shop is a cold and impersonal facility with equipment and that’s all. Most quick printers could benefit by making their websites more personal and welcoming to customers. Photos of the staff and facilities will make the site more recognizable to visitors. Personalization should also include individual email addresses for the CSR, prepress, and bookkeeping staff to make customers comfortable with contacting specific individuals. Many printing websites avoid any personalization. It is almost impossible to find a photo of an actual employee. I dare you to find contact information for a real person other than the company telephone number or a generic email address such as...

  • Quit Complaining and Sell Something
    By John Giles - Friday May 14, 2010
    Does anyone have anything positive to say about the quick printing industry? Many of the quick printers I talk to have a negative attitude about quick printing industry. They lament the changes and talk about how their customer base is shrinking. They point fingers at competitors such as Staples and Office Max or FedEx and the UPS stores and say those businesses are taking their customers with cheap copies. They complain about lazy employees who won’t do anything or equipment suppliers who keep the costs high. Everyone is out to get them. I can’t agree. Most of these complainers are business owners who are in charge of their own destinies. They just fail to do the basic business functions any business needs to do to survive...

  • Putting the "Service" in Print Service Provider
    By John Giles - Thursday May 6, 2010
    QP Editor Bob Hall's recent comments about offset being at the crossroads are correct. Printing is changing and the equipment used to produce the equipment is changing. But just because the amount of offset sales dropped doesn’t mean the end for the printing industry. Many quick printers build their business on providing convenience printing for the printed material needed to run a business. The desktop computing revolution has eliminated that work. No longer does a business stop by to get copies. Almost anyone who owns a computer has a printer attached that can take care of those needs. There is still money to be made in printing, serving the small business customer. The printing shift is from functional forms to sales material...

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