Some of the best ways to get publicity today is from your own achievements and product offerings. Media outlets-- local news or business journals, and industry trade magazines such as Print Solutions, are always looking for content. Why not give it to them? The key to getting your information published is to submit a well-crafted press release. We suggest that you do your homework before submitting a press release.

When looking for some "good ink," familiarize yourself with the publications, news organizations or web sites you're targeting. If you’re seeking freelance writing assistance, next time you read an article about something similar to what your company does, note the name of the writer. Call or email the publication or writer to find out they can help you. When communicating with publications, ask about their policy for submitting press releases. Find out if they have a specific format or if it should be sent to a specific person at the publication.

A well-written press release should be factual and concise. It should sound newsworthy and not contain puffery. Your writing should follow the fundamental principles of journalism: who, what where, when, how, and why. Remember that the less overtly promotional your release is the better chance it has of being published.

You should know that the focus of the DMIA’s manufacturer meeting---aka the Printers and Suppliers Executive Conference, is on taking all the technologies that we’ve heard about over the past few years and putting them together. How can manufacturers adopt new technologies and workflows? How can a manufacturer put all the technology together to position the company for sustained growth? If you attend the event later this month, you’ll find out how.

The 2007 program was created with a traditional manufacturer in mind. We have hired some of the best speakers to help you with all the “keep-you-up-at-night” issues like changing workflows, incorporating new products, print sales for tomorrow, putting it all together and much more.

We have an amazing plant tour of a large Madison-based commercial printer, Suttle Straus lined up, and the CEO is going to tell us how the company got to where it is today.

One of the speakers is Jeff Allen, the former VP of business development at Standard Register. He was instrumental in developing the “SMARTWorks” business unit of Standard Register. Allen is going to tell attendees how they can actually apply today’s technologies to develop their own cohesive plan. Full details at this link.

Receipt fraud is on the rise. U.S. stores lost over $16 billion in fraudulent returns in 2003. The rate of growth for this type of crime has grown about 20 percent annually because technology and retailers’ lenient return policies work in the criminals favor.

A big part of return fraud involves counterfeit receipts, where the forger makes up bogus receipts using either real or forged paper documents, and then returns store items that were previously shoplifted or just pulled from the shelf. Receipt rolls, which are often not a controlled financial document in a retail store, are sometimes sold in the underground market, providing the best reproduction possible for the forger. In other cases, store receipts are scanned and reproduced from scratch. The practice has even developed an underground market for selling live store receipts for cash so that the same items can be shoplifted and then returned.

All this activity points to a need to control store receipt tapes and provide tools to allow stores to battle this problem. Pre-printed store receipts should be treated as securely as other security documents such as checks. The receipt stock should include some type of security feature. Stores also should adopt tracking systems that know when an item has been returned, and not allow the same item to be returned on a duplicate receipt. This is why some of the big retailers print a verification bar code on each receipt. What does this spell for the distributor? This is an opportunity for a creative secure document solution.

You’ve likely run into the new hot buzzword pURL (personalized URL). The next logical question is “OK, so what about the URL part?” A URL is just another name for a web address and it stands for “Uniform Resource Locator”, but most people are fine with using the term URL.

A pURL is a personalized customized web address that’s part of a larger direct marketing program. The direct marketing program may involve the use of printed direct mail or email. For instance, you visit the GMC web site to look at new cars. You select “build your vehicle” and you play with some of the tools there. You sign up for more information. A few days later you get a postcard at home that shows the car you built. The postcard asks you to visit a specific web address for more information or specials, mostly relating to how GMC can put one of its new cars in your hands. This specific web site that they built for you (it sometimes has your name spelled out in the address) is the “pURL.”

This is red hot technology that is highly appealing to designers and marketers. A number of DMIA manufacturers have the ability to put the whole package together for your customer. Call the Source Hotline for sources and more details.

The art of print sales is changing rapidly as buyers become accustomed to the types of printing they can order. For years, digital print has been working its way into the marketers’ minds, and for the first time, it seems like the power of digital print is being recognized.

Print sales for tomorrow must not only focus on the products, but the whole system or marketing program that’s in place (or the system that needs to be built). In this sense, the actual printed piece is analogous to the ignition key that starts a car. Interestingly, at a recent Print on Demand Initiative (PODi) Conference, one of the consensus issues that came out of the event is that traditional sales reps will NOT be able to make the transition to selling these new solutions.

At the 2007 DMIA Conference and Expo, we are addressing this concern. We have created an entire track devoted to “The Future of Sales” --the track will demonstrate how selling programs vs. taking orders will increase your sales.

We have sessions lined up to show how your sales reps can prove ROI on a digital print sales job; how you can effectively partner with the right digital printer; how to sell to the right C-Level person; how to position your company for digital print sales, and much more.

Make no mistake. Someone will sell digital print programs to your customer. Distributors have two choices when it comes to selling these solutions. They can let someone else sell this growing product, or they can take the initiative to learn how to sell these products and services. It is that simple.