Are web to print solutions the exception or the rule to your customer order entry process? In my opinion, too many web to print solutions are exceptions – this avenue is for “special” jobs like variable data, or reorders from a catalog. If you see web to print as only a path for exception jobs, [...]
Software used to be expensive. I remember thinking how lucky I was to have access to all the latest software working at Kinko’s because it was EXPENSIVE. This year I have done the following with internet software and spent exactly ZERO: Started a blog (WordPress – free) Sent some e-mail campaigns (MailChimp – free) Added [...]
In any business decision, investment decisions get weighed against returns or ROI (return on investment). Moving your business online is a business decision, a web to print solution is an investment, hence you should understand how you will measure your ROI before you invest. One of the most important aspects of ROI is the timing. [...]
When asked this question are you tempted to do the following? 1. List your printing equipment (e.g. HP Indigo) 2. Name your print manufacturing type (e.g. offset) STOP right there. You do not sell equipment or a type of print; you are in the business of COMMUNICATION. Print is your communication medium, the equipment and [...]
What problems are you trying to solve by moving your print business online? Yes, this is an important question to answer before you get involved with potential vendors. If you don’t have clearly articulated problems to solve – problems will be provided for you. What do I mean by this? What problems do you think [...]
I recently read the book, Drive by Daniel Pink (highly recommend it). He talks about what really motivates us, I’ll summarize in case you don’t have time to read the whole book. People are motivated by autonomy (self direction), mastery (learning), and purpose (make an impact), not by the traditional carrot (incentives) and stick (getting [...]
In the early 90’s my challenge was to convince the employees of Kinko’s to embrace digital printing as a superior alternative to analog copies. I know this sounds funny now. Convince – what could be more obvious you say? Yes, it required convincing, the behavior changes required to move from putting a “master” on the [...]
Today WhatTheyThink published my paper titled: Insider Perspective: 10 Web to Print Mistakes to Avoid. This paper is a result of direct experience with hundreds of web to print projects of all sizes over the last 16 years. I wrote this paper because there is too much time and energy wasted in the process of [...]
There is a plethora of web to print technologies and obviously printers need to take advantage of the Internet as a new front door to their business, so what is keeping the two parties from coming together in a manner that is mutually beneficial? I believe we have a serious last mile problem – not the [...]
So you’re a printer and you want to start conducting business online, if you follow the industry buzz words – you’re off to shop for a web to print solution. Please pause right here, before you talk to a single vendor, get clear on what you want to actually do online FIRST. As you know [...]