Newsletter Front Page July Issue

We’re no experts, but the evidence seems to suggest that the economic roller coaster we've been riding these past 9 months may not have slowed quite as dramatically as some thought just a few weeks ago. Exactly when the ride will come to a complete stop is a question we'll leave to more qualified economic minds, but preparing now for a few more hills and dips would probably the safest way to ensure that you're ready for whatever lies ahead.

One way or the other, you can count on ON DEMAND to be right there with you. Through this newsletter and the show that sparked it, we'll help keep you strapped in and ready to take on the next hairpin turn. So be sure to take a look at this month's articles for nuggets of knowledge from people just like you...seasoned and forward-thinking print professionals who are also feeling their way through this period of unprecedented change and who have promising ideas to help you predict and prepare for the next big loop in the track.

Stay tuned. And, as always, please let us know what we can do to help you more efficiently and profitably manage your print business. That's why we're here, and we'd be thrilled to hear from you.

Best,

Debra Brown, Event Director
ON DEMAND Conference & Expo

Tom Bliss, Conference and Content Director
ON DEMAND Conference & Expo

Top Stories

10 Tips to Drive Business in This Economy
While the current recession is challenging for the print industry, it’s also a time of redefinition. Media choices are changing and, in the long term, company market shares will shift. Print jobs lost now are unlikely to return in the same form. That said, the pages that remain will have higher value based on increased relevance, timeliness and integration with electronic media.

Observations like these were made during the Real Business Live panel discussion at the recent On Demand Conference & Expo and attended by more than 200 print providers. The panel consisted of myself and three industry experts: Howie Fenton, senior consultant, Production and Digital Technology, National Association of Print Leadership (NAPL); Dr. Joe Webb, director of the Economics and Research Center, WhatTheyThink.com; and Barry Yarkon, senior vice president, Product Management, HammeriQ, a graphic communications provider. continued

MSP Wannabe? Look Before You Leap
We’ve all cringed at least once as a job passes through our presses that we know won’t help our customers achieve their business goals and, if it’s bad enough, might actually hurt them. Maybe it’s a poorly designed layout, excessive copy, a loud logo or one too many starbursts. You also all know that it’s much less expensive to keep your existing customers than it is to attract new ones, so it doesn’t take much hard thinking to connect those dots and determine that a one-stop shopping experience for all your customer’s marketing needs — from consultation, to design, to printing and maybe even distribution — makes some degree of business sense.

In fact, the revenue potential associated with doing that may have you scratching “& Marketing Services” into your logo as we speak. But as you’ve probably guessed, it’s really not as simple as a logo change, and it’s important to thoroughly understand the scope of the commitment before taking any leaps of faith into the world of MSPs. Because having a poor reputation as a marketing services provider is far more damaging to your core print business than not having one at all. continued

Web-to-Print: A WIN-WIN Solution
Now more than ever, we live in a world where the ability to find faster, simpler and less expensive ways of doing business can make or break a company. No business process can be left unscrutinized, no opportunity for improved efficiency can be left untapped, and no cost savings – large or small – can be left on the table.

In a perfect world, a company’s efforts to boost it’s own efficiency and/or reduce it’s costs would deliver some sort of business value to its customers. But in reality, that is seldom the case. In the world of print, however, the emergence of Web-to-Print (W2P) technology is proving that both printers and their customers can benefit simultaneously from its adoption. continued

Mind Your Own Business

Your Top Customers Hold Key to Your Company’s Profitability: How Well Do You Know Them?
“I need to visit our top ten customers. If you know who they are, please let me know.” Does this sound familiar? When was the last time you asked finance and operations about your top customers? This article recommends five questions you should ask to obtain critical information on key customers that will not only help to improve the quality of your business decisions, but just as important, your company’s profitability. Before you go out on the road, be sure you have the facts on your key accounts.

Who are your top ten customers?

If you define your “top ten” as simply your “largest accounts,” you’re still lacking critical information. But take heart! You know more than you think you know but you still need to dig deeper into your company. You can do this by retrieving that Excel spreadsheet that your multi-disciplinary business team produces to obtain crucial customer profitability information. Review this information — weeding out peripheral factors — and focus on information that gives you insight into how your customers’ purchases contribute to your company’s profitability. Ask your team to meet more regularly to produce this information and make sure they provide you with the information. If your company does not have a group who gathers such data, then you need to create one. continued

ON DEMAND 2009 Conference Slides

Profitably Pricing Web-to-Print Solutions
G. David Dodd
Principal, Point Balance, LLC

Winning Investments: How to Make the Right Equipment Buying Decisions
Charlie Corr
VP, Corporate Strategy, Mimeo

ON DEMAND 2010 Show Highlights

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