After Ivan, Companies Off to a Slow Start
Joe Webb of distributorship Formsystems Inc., Pensacola, Fla., considers himself lucky and blessed. He and his wife survived Hurricane Ivan that made landfall just west of Pensacola Sept. 15, lashing the area with sustained winds of 130 mph and torrential rain.

Now, the storm, formerly known as Ivan, is gathering strength spinning toward Texas and threatening to cause flooding in Louisiana.

Webb's house and company suffered only minor leaks in an area where buildings have been flattened, trees uprooted and bridges torn apart. Many of the company's partnering firms have experienced major losses--some office buildings have no roofs and products such as envelopes destroyed. Customers have been calling the company to check on the Webbs and the company's seven employees, some still without power at their houses.

"Most people are trying to get their lives together," says Webb as he chokes on his tears. "People are trying to get a roof on top of their homes before there is normalcy [in business]. It's one day at a time."

Charles Griffin knew the hurricane would bring damage to the Gulf Coast, so he evacuated last week from Mobile, Ala., driving 220 miles northeast to Auburn, Ala. When he returned last Friday on back roads, he stopped at a rest area and had to use a flashlight to see. "No one had power," he said. "During the drive, I saw effects of the storm everywhere-power lines were down, trees were in houses and few gas stations were open. It was eerie."

Griffin's Mobile-based distributorship, Form Solutions Inc., lost power from last Thursday evening until Tuesday morning. But its building wasn't damaged, thanks mainly to Ivan's eastern shift toward Gulf Shores, Ala. Griffin said Ivan had only a minimal impact on the distributorship's service to its 400 customers. He purchased a generator last Saturday so the business could operate during temporary power outages this week, which occurred. "We're up and running again, and we're thankful because the storm could have been much worse around here," he said.

PrintXcel, a Quality Park Brand, employees were relieved to discover that Ivan caused only minimal damage to their Fairhope-Ala.-based administrative building and manufacturing plant. Most of the manufacturer's employees evacuated the area after the plant closed Sept. 14. "Virtually all of us were calling in on cell phones from far, far away," says Deanna Day, marketing manager.

Winds tore siding from the building, and the order-entry department suffered minor water damage. Staff returned over the weekend to clean the facilities and prepare them to reopen. The utilities companies restored power on Sept. 19, and "Ever since Monday [Sept. 20], it has been business as usual," Day says.

PrintXcel informed customers that they were operational and gave them updates about the location and status of their shipments. Most area businesses are back to work, Day says, but the town still reels from Ivan's aftermath. "It's very hard to find food. There's no meat on the shelves. There's no canned foods. There's not even a jar of peanut butter."

New Name and More Services for The Vallis Companies
Metro Label, Form Service, Champion and Vallis have announced that the companies will now market their services as The Vallis Companies. The combined entity is already offering newer and more personal services as part of a larger move to expand its base of national independent distributors who demand increased levels of service, faster turnaround times, high quality printing and competitive pricing. The Vallis Companies also added five distributor relationship managers in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City. The managers are Jack Bowen, John Gearhart, Richard MacCarthy, Stan Stimac and Roy Strom. The company likely will fill manager positions in Atlanta, Baltimore, Memphis, Tenn., and Tampa, Fla.

Wilmer Introduces PS Mailers ISM
Wilmer, Dayton, Ohio, introduced PS Mailers ISM for smaller businesses. Customers processing 6,500 documents per year can now use PS Mailers ISM. It folds and seals all popular fold styles (V, Z, C, and EZ) with no add-on parts or additional charges. Adjustable fold plates allow variations in documents and accommodations for custom folds, the company said. Wilmer will feature the product at booth 507 at DMIA's Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo Oct. 5-7 in Chicago.

Deluxe Launches Anti-Identity Theft Software
Deluxe Financial Services, St. Paul, Minn., introduced Deluxe ID TheftBlock(SM) suite of monitoring and protection services. The program enhances traditional identity protection tools by adding check order screening, daily credit monitoring, access to fraud resolution assistance and a comprehensive membership kit, the company said. It provides daily credit monitoring and offers consumers the option of mail or email notifications on unusual credit activity.

Sales and Marketing Tip
Focus on a Trade, Not a Discount
Smart buyers will always ask for a better price. Unfortunately, too many sales reps and business owners automatically think that reducing their price is the most effective way to respond. Full story.

E-Commerce Spotlight
Build Traffic with
Compelling Content
One of the most stunning mistakes web site owners make is to pay too much attention to first-time visitors and too little to repeat visitors. Full story.

Product of the Week
2004 Distributor Compensation
& Benefits Report
The 2004 Distributor Compensation & Benefits Report is here! This 294-page report includes actual compensation for all positions at a distributorship. The data is broken down by sales volumes to compare your company to like-sized firms. The report also includes sales per sales representative and sales per employee for six levels of distributorships. You can see how sales representatives are paid, benefits, experience levels, and more. Code: DICOMP. $149. To order, click here, or contact
Tina Davis.

Hot Sites
NFL Stadiums
No one's claiming that football stadiums are as revered as baseball parks, but this charming site makes a fine case for looking both back and forward at gridiron environs. The writeups are serviceable, but what you're really visiting for are the photos and sketches presented in abundance. There's also a link to a Division I version for fans of college ball. Visit the site.

Hepster's Dictionary
This dichty site republishes Cab Calloway's 1944 guide to the language of jive. No clambake here, and not corny even at 60--collar it and get your boots on, gates and queens. This site is the mezz. Visit the site.

Sell Solutions, Not Products
Although office products account for 75 percent of distributorship S&T Office Products Inc.'s sales, Vice President Patrick Crowley talks more about selling productive solutions than selling ink cartridges and pens. In June, a sales representative from the distributorship suggested to a law firm that it could increase productivity by improving its filing system. The law firm agreed, and S&T Office Products won a $35,000 order. Full story.

You Can't Miss Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo
Are you looking for products to sell that have a margin of 30 percent or higher? You'll find them at Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo, Rosemont, Ill., Oct. 4-7. The exhibit floor will feature two product theaters featuring presentations on selling specific products and/or services with proven margins of at least 30 percent. Click here to see the schedule.

New this year for your pre-conference planning is an interactive, online floor plan and show guide! Click here to check it out. You can search and sort the floor plan by product or simply click on a booth number to see what each exhibitor offers. For example, if you sort on plastic products, you will see highlighted on the floor plan all the booths featuring that product line.

Here are this week's top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. Menu; 21" x 31"; prints 4cp/4cp; score and folds; eyelets/grommets; QTY=500
2. Cut Sheet; 12" x 10 1/2"; prints blk/blk; final folds to 6" x 3 1/2"; 35# - 40# weight stock; QTY=200
3. MP3 Player; 1-2 color imprint; QTY=100-200
4. Ticket Strip Point of Purchase item; 2" x 53 3/4" and 2" x 70 3/4"; prints 1 color with bleeds; on .030 styrene; will wrap around the item; QTY=200-2M
5. Fly Swatter; prints 2 colors, die-cut in the shape of an Indy and Nascar automobile; QTY=10M
6. Cake Boxes; 12" x 12" x 6"; prints 4 spot colors; Q=700M
7. Unit Set; must be a union shop; 8 1/2" x 11 3/4"; two parts carbon interleaved; affixed 9" x 12" Brown Kraft envelope; both print 1 color; QTY=5M-10M
8. Paper Coasters; prints 4cp/1; die-cut in the shape of a donut; QTY=10M
9. Cut Sheet; from provided 23" x 35" sheets; die-cut a window and affix a Mylar patch; final size is 8 1/2" x 11"; QTY=2.5M
10. Plastic Tub Lid; 12 1/16" x 12 1/6"; die-cut; prints 2 colors; Tyvek material; 3/8" adhesive strip around the edge; QTY=50M-100M

If you have a source request--for anything--call the Hotline at (800) 333-2828 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or use the Source Hotline Database online. For new sales ideas every day, try our 1,000 Sales Ideas Database. Manufacturers, if you produce any of these items and would like to check your listing with the Source Hotline, please email Cheryl Rush.

The E-weekly is designed by Christine Kenny and edited by Preeti Vasishtha with contributions from Darin Painter
and Andy Brown.

Contact us at eweekly@printsolutionsmag.com. Visit Print Solutions Magazine at www.printsolutionsmag.com.
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