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Six Things You Should Know: A Guide for Players in a Mature Industry

As you’ve progressed in your career and grown your company, you’ve learned a great deal. You’ve seen change in the industry, and you’ve grown with it. Here are six things that you should know in order to compete in today’s print world:

1.  Digital Asset Management (DAM) is becoming increasing important to your clients.
As the number of digital pieces of artwork, graphics, fonts and text come into the prepress department, the method in which those files are handled and stored becomes increasingly important. Some printers subscribe to third party web-based software to help manage customer files; some take the home-grown approach. Either way, the sheer volume of files that are taken in by a printer today means that a system needs to be in place. You need to keep files in a safe place so they can be used by the right people when the file is needed. The need can be immediate for jobs currently in progress, or it can be a future need---for a repeat order that may come two years from now. As a printer, you’ll show your proactiveness by letting customers know that your company is storing all customer files in a repository set aside for them, to be used in jobs now and jobs in the future. Most customers just want you to take away one of their pains, and this qualifies as a dose of needed medicine.

2. Direct mail is the darling product of the major digital production equipment suppliers today.
According to a major digital press representative at the On Demand Expo, direct mail is bringing more profits for digital printers than any other print product segment. Business forms and document printers could use this situation to their advantage. Forms and document printers are well positioned to transition into direct mail as it requires minimal equipment reconfiguration. It’s no secret that digital pages are up and the cost to produce a digital page is lower. Entrance costs are lower too, which means printers will see more competitors coming from various “fringe” players that don’t understand how to make attractive business and direct mail documents.

3. A refresher on “how to exhibit at a trade show” is always in order.
Most of the items below are fundamental, but are often ignored. Examples of all the “don’ts” were seen at a recent national trade expo.

• Do not eat or drink in your booth. This is one of the most broken fundamental trade show rules. Prospective customers do not want to see you eating, nor do they want to see a half eaten plate of food on a table in your booth. Resist the temptation and eat in designated areas.
• Do not sit down in your booth, especially when prospective clients are walking by. The only time you should be sitting in your booth is when you are in a discussion with a current or prospective client.
• Make sure the booth is tidy and clean. Materials should be in their place. Don’t keep boxes and extra supplies in plain sight. 
• Make sure that you have enough materials, business cards, and any other marketing samples that you want to share with prospective attendees.
• Take time to see what is around your booth. It is better to be informed than to answer “I don’t know” Also, read the Show Daily to see what people are talking about, and what the hot topic may be for the show. Chances are your products may be related in some way, which can work to your company’s advantage.

4. Always use a signature block in all your email communications.
Creating a signature file, or online business card, to appear on all outgoing email messages is a very useful form of Internet marketing.  Most email programs allow a user to set up a signature.  Include your company’s web site, a brief tag line, plus pertinent contact information.  Savvy emailers may create several signature lines storing them as templates.  You can then target-market to the recipient of your email with a signature that draws attention to a particular product line. 

To create a signature file in Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools, Options, then choose the Mail Format tab.  You can then click on Signatures to create your first file.  Give each file a unique name for marketing purposes.  In this module, you can also designate a standard signature file to appear on all outgoing emails (new emails, as well as replies and forwards) in cases where a unique template has not been chosen. 

One helpful hint—make sure your signature block is concise.  Many users make the mistake of creating signatures that are longer than most emails. 

5. Know your new username and password for DMIA’s web site, which has been redesigned and restructured. 
Now each individual—as opposed to each company—has a unique password for the DMIA website.  To request your password from DMIA, please click the following link, www.dmia.org/password.aspx.  Your username is your email address.  If you do not have an email address or wish to change the email address in DMIA’s membership database, please send an email to dmia@dmia.org or call 800-336-4641.  If you wish to change your password to one that you’ll remember more easily, please click the following link, www.dmia.org/changepassword.aspx.  In the past, DMIA’s web site required a separate login for company principals to access principals-only areas of the site.  Your new password is “smart”, in that it recognizes your membership status and Principal/Non-Principal designation. 

If you experience problems logging in or have questions about your password, please contact DMIA at dmia@dmia.org, or call 800-336-4641.

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