Blog Archives




 

  • Is My Phone Smarter than Me?
    By Karen Hall - Monday June 13, 2011
    The world may truly be coming to an end, although I won’t go so far as to predict a date. The sign that tipped me off was when Bob and I finally caved in and got smartphones. We put it off for a long time, but even in West Virginia you have to move with the prevailing technology sooner or later. I was reluctant to make the change because I was quite fond of my stupidphone. It did what I needed it to do and never made me use bad language – at least not until a few months ago when it began randomly turning itself off for no apparent reason. I had even managed to upload some of my music, and would sometimes embarrass Bob by talking too loudly in airports because U2 was wailing in my ears. The new smartphones allow us to go...

  • In the Eye of the Storm
    By Karen Hall - Monday May 23, 2011
    Spring is always a busy time for the Quick Printing staff. First there’s the Annual Franchise Review in the April issue, followed by the Top 100 for the June issue. Spring and number crunching just seem to go together around here. This year’s Top 100 is finished and looking good. Overall sales were up by 7.27%, sales per shop was up, sales per employee grew, the number of locations held steady, and for the first time in years, the number of employees was also on the rise. In previous years that would be a job well done and we would settle into the rhythm of our regular production schedule as we reach the season for attending franchise conventions. That’s not the case this year. We have a new project in the works that is...

  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
    By Karen Hall - Monday April 18, 2011
    For quite a while, I was a somewhat reluctant adopter of social media. LinkedIn seemed a promising tool for business and Quick Printing had a semi-lively discussion group. Twitter was a good way to push breaking news out into the marketplace for those who cared to follow. But for the life of me, I just couldn’t imagine what advantage Facebook would offer to a B2B magazine/website/information source such as ours. Unless you’re an advertiser, we don’t sell anything. Even if you are an advertiser, we don’t send out coupons or offer surprise weekend specials. We don’t have roving celebrities, so there’s no need to post our whereabouts for people who want to snap our photos or ask for our autographs...

  • QP Gets a New Look
    By Karen Hall - Monday January 17, 2011
    Thank you to those of you who have already sent feedback about Quick Printing’s new logo. It first appeared on the January issue and is now on our website and e-newsletter. So far, everyone who has commented on the new look has been very positive. A couple of you even noticed the new layout for our feature articles. Everyone who works on this publication is very proud of it and deeply committed to the industry we serve. So when we had a chance to not only give QP a makeover, but to do so with the guidance and advice of J.C. Suares, we jumped at the opportunity. J.C.’s name may not be familiar to you, but you have certainly seen his work. He has redesigned some of the hottest selling consumer publications on the market. We are...

  • $ocial Media. Cha-Ching!
    By Karen Hall - Monday December 13, 2010
    Holy dollar signs, Batman! I was talking to John Giles yesterday and nearly fell out of my chair. We got on the subject of printers providing social media services for their customers and he told me what he has learned from some of his recent research. John told me that a lot of companies are paying service providers from $500 to $1,500 a month to manage their marketing messages. It works like this. The service provider creates the content that drives the company’s blogs and social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook—if they are using it); ensuring that the message delivered is fresh, timely, and above all, consistent. Some of the more advanced service providers also make sure that the client company’s website is...

  • One of Those Moments
    By Karen Hall - Wednesday November 10, 2010
    Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something pops up that just makes your jaw drop. I had one of those moments recently as I settled in to check my email. Press releases tumble into my inbox like the oak leaves that cover my yard. What can I say? I’m on deadline—I don’t have time to rake. The press releases are another matter. Every day they show up, I read them, do a little (very little) tweaking, add the HTML coding, and post them on the appropriate websites. The subject lines that crowd my inbox spew hyperbole. Apparently, that’s what PR people are paid to write. (IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I write this, acknowledging that some of these same PR people are friends I’ve known for years. Hey...

  • Doing the Daily
    By Karen Hall - Tuesday October 12, 2010
    Graph Expo 2010 is now in the rear view mirror. After so many years of attending the show, I got a really different perspective on things this time around. You probably know that the Cygnus Graphics Media group, which includes QP, produced the Graph Expo Show Daily this year. What you may not realize is that this was the first time ever that the Show Daily was available in digital form. That's not only a technological step forward, it also means that this was the first time the publication was ever available to people who were not actually in Chicago to attend the show. That was brought sharply to our attention when we received a call from a non-exhibiting vendor on the last day of the show asking if they could buy an ad in the Show Daily...

  • Emergency! Danger, Will Robinson!
    By Karen Hall - Tuesday September 7, 2010
    I didn’t need a sci-fi robot to warn me of danger this weekend when a friend’s car accidentally crashed through the wall between our garage and our living room. There was no time for warnings. The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was standing in the garage waiting for the driver to back in, the next second there was a gaping hole in the wall, the freezer was folded in half, and the back of the car was rolled up on top of the freezer and jutting into the living room. Electrical wiring, insulation, drywall, and busted 2x4s littered the area. The upside is that everyone is safe, including our pets. The car only has a few scratches on the bumper. We are all well insured, so it’s just a matter of...

  • Life is Tweet, So Be a Friend and Link Me In
    By Karen Hall - Monday August 30, 2010
    Everything in business seems to be changing so quickly. And I’m not just talking about the printing industry because these changes are being felt by almost everyone. Most people cite the beginning of the recession as the ignition point where the real sea change began, but it was coming even before that. Social media appears to be the driving force because it has changed the way people, in general, communicate with one another. That includes the way businesses communicate with their customers and prospects. Let me get this off my chest before going any further; personally, I don’t like social media. But that doesn’t mean that I have the option of not using it. Quick Printing and its sister publications in the Cygnus...

  • Grab the Brass Ring!
    By Karen Hall - Monday August 16, 2010
    Who deserves to be recognized as the Printer of the Year this year? Perhaps you would like to nominate someone for the Industry Award of Distinction, which is presented to a non-printer who has done a good job of serving and promoting the industry. As a past winner of that award, I can tell you that the honor of being singled out for such a thing is nearly overwhelming. Maybe you know of some unsung hero or outstanding printer who deserves shining moment in the spotlight. If you are a member of NAPL/NAQP and would like to nominate someone, now is the time to act. The call for nominations is open, but time is running short. The call for nominations is also open for Product of the Year and Supplier of the Year. Act quickly because the...

Directories & Guides

Featured Links

Industry Events

More