When confronted by difficult or complex situations, it’s
normal to look for easy solutions, painless cures and so-called “magic bullets”.
Magic bullets supposedly work almost instantly, require no significant effort
or investment and have no adverse effects. Small and quick printers need not
search for magic bullets to improve their businesses…they can get them from any
unicorn. Seriously, you can find magic bullets if you look in the right places.
Not-So Magic Bullets
Before telling you where to look, it’s important that we
understand why so many supposed magic bullets have proven ineffective…why so
many printers get so little out of the vast array of tools promoted by the
print industry. Suppliers may argue to the contrary, but most magic bullets are
too expensive, too complicated and/or require skills small printers don’t have
and can’t readily acquire. Many magic bullets may work well for larger print
shops with adequate financial and staff resources, but for small and quick
printers they’re duds right out of the box.
The website development magic bullet, for example, doesn’t
work for many small printers because they don’t have the necessary skills of online
marketing, copywriting, programming, search engine optimization, etc. Marketing
services might seem like a viable magic bullet for small printers, but the
websites (or lack of thereof) and online presence of many small and quick
printers indicate this is likely to be another misfire.
Many magic bullets such as QR codes, promotional items,
email campaigns, signs and banners never left the gun for many small printers. Perhaps
the classic case was the variable data printing magic bullet that ended up
being nothing more than a very loud blank cartridge. Small printers bought VDP
software by the truckload but were thwarted by the breadth of skills and extra
software needed to create data-driven print files.
What Are Magic
Bullets?
All of this points out that magic bullets for small printers
must be affordable, easy to use and sell and require minimal or no additional skills
in order to be beneficial. See if you think the following three examples meet
the criteria of magic bullets:
Magic Bullet #1 – DIY
Mailings
You print pre-addressed postcards on your digital press
using print files made from your customer’s design and address list. You cut,
sort and drop off the job at the post office…done! You do all of this without
buying any software, without studying the postal regulations, without cleaning
up the customer’s address list, without filling out the USPS paperwork and
without selling anything. If you know how to print, cut, count and the location
of your post office, this is a potential magic bullet for you.
Magic Bullet #2 – Simple
Personalization
Your customer needs tickets or forms which include unique
numbering and a custom barcode. You send out the customer’s artwork and
numbering/barcode requirements to a vendor who sends you printer-ready files,
imposed the way you want, for your digital press. You print, cut and deliver
the job without knowing anything about barcodes or creating them and without
any new software or special skills. This fits the requirement of a magic bullet
and you probably don’t even have to do any selling (customers usually don’t care
how you things done).
Magic Bullet #3 –
Capturing VDP Opportunities
Your largest customer says his new marketing campaign
requires mailing 20,000 self-mailers per month for about a year. He then says he
needs to include some variable data such as image swapping, personalized
salutations and the local agent’s contact details for each recipient. You
simply say. “Send me your artwork and data and I’ll take care of it”. You
contact your VDP print file vendor and forward him the customer’s material. Your
vendor does all the data and address processing work and creates the VDP files for
you to print. After printing and approving the proofs, you print, cut, sort and
mail the jobs…month-after-month. Your biggest customer has become even bigger. You’ve
done little more than find your vendor, take an order and do what you do best:
printing and satisfying customers. Wouldn’t you call that a magic bullet?
Look again at the three situations above and see how they
fit the requirements for magic bullets:
- Easy to use (you outsource the data and print file work then
you print and deliver)
- Easy to sell (in many cases, selling isn’t necessary)
- Minimal or no additional skills needed (any skills relate
primarily to taking orders)
- No upfront investment (services are pay-as-you-go)
- Immediate application (you can start selling and using
today)
- You’ll have to trust us about the cost…but that’s a great
reason to call
We aren’t unicorns but we do have plenty of magic bullets for
you. Get yours and put them to work.
Phone: 888 977 4711 x134
