THIS IS column Number 239, which brings the total words I’ve written to 310,700 during nearly 22 years. If I’m not mistaken, that’s more words than “War and Peace.” According to my roster of readers (a sophisticated, digitized database), there are seven people who have read all of those columns. Unfortunately, they are confined to the “home” for life and I’m unable to speak with them. All regular readers of DeWese on Sales know June is the month of my birth and that typically my June column shamelessly celebrates my life. Over the years, I have shared a multitude of my life successes with Printing
THE ECONOMY is irration-ally exuberant. Consumers are borrowing and spending in advance of expected higher prices, and businesses are robustly investing in both productivity (read “down-sizing”) and market development. This year is on track for nominal GDP growth of 6.5 percent, with printing sales up more than 5 percent. As economic power concentrates, nearly half the power of print will coalesce into finance, publishing, health and technology (nine of the top 25 demand sectors). Salespeople: focus below and cash in. Banking and Insurance ($2.9T in revenues; with over $15B to print, +8 percent) is the biggest buyer and beneficiary of print. Sub-prime
CHUCK NASON admits he wasn’t fully prepared for the effects of global competition as it accelerated in 2001. The president and CEO of Worzalla Publishing, a Stevens Point, WI-based book manufacturer, watched as a significant portion of the company’s four-color children’s book work went to China. “Global competition has affected us in a major way,” Nason contends. “It caused us to suffer a five-year slide in annual sales from just over $62 million to $44.4 million a year ago. This has meant little or no wage increases for our employees and a freeze on capital equipment purchases for four years.” Nason points out what
WASHINGTON, DC—Commercial printers who thrive on mailing must hope that the Senate and House of Representatives can quickly find common ground in order to send meaningful postal reform to President Bush. Other-wise, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has proposed an 8.5 percent rate increase that would likely take effect next May. Still, it might be too late to head off this most recent postal rise, which comes on the heels of a 5.4 percent increase that took effect in January. The recent USPS request would cost mailers just over 11 percent more to mail a magazine, while package services and special services would see
Horizon Celebrates Factory Opening BIWAKO, SIGA, JAPAN—Standard Finishing Systems joined Horizon International for the ceremonial grand opening of Horizon’s newly expanded post-press equipment factory here. This state-of-the-art facility is now 25 percent larger and has been further modernized with more than US$20 million in new machine tool, injection molding, parts logistics and assembly technology that will permit faster and more flexible production. Manufacturing capacity is expected to increase by nearly 30 percent when the Biwako factory reaches full-scale operation. Stitching Addition Expands Range DENVILLE, NJ—RedmondBCMS provides a diverse range of services—from business communications and marketing support, to printing, mailing and distribution. Now, RedmondBCMS is also poised
WESTMONT, IL--On the heels of its sale to a joint investment company, MAN Roland Druckmaschinen saw a Q1 US$37.9 million increase (to $17.6 million) in operating results over the same period in 2005. On the sheetfed side, MAN was able to break even with a $32.8 million gain. The web business increased to $17.6 million,…
SOME 40 percent of the 2,000 largest (non-printing) companies are using what’s called “Dashboard” software technology. That’s the estimate of analyst Keith Gile in a recent Business Week article. (Giving the Boss the Big Picture, 2/13/06). These include Steven Ballmer at Microsoft, Ivan Seidenberg at Verizon Communications, James Campbell at GE and Robert Nardelli at Home Depot. Why? “The more eyes that see the results we’re obtaining every day, the higher the quality of the decisions we can make,” according to Seidenberg. Well, what’s a “Dashboard?” Some new computer gizmo you’ve gotta have that’ll solve all your problems and make you rich? No way. You
YOU ONLY get it here folks. “It” is the inside stuff on selling printing. “It” is the revelation of facts about some dumb owners who park their Porsches out front, nap during a short workday in huge offices, and chase the gals in Accounting and the Bindery. “It” is the assemblage and explanation of the secrets that lead to success in print sales. “It” is the destruction of the myths about the printing industry. If you’re reading this, you are so lucky! Every month, BAM, BAM, BAM! I try to make your life better. “BAM?” Can Emeril sue me for using “BAM?” Here comes some
THE OBJECTIVE of marketing your business is two-fold: to build market awareness about your products and services and to generate qualified leads. Both are important elements of the customer acquisition process. Building market awareness makes the sales process easier. Prospective customers are more likely to talk with a firm that has a recognized name. And lead generation, if done correctly, provides you with information about qualified prospects that are likely to purchase your products or services, reducing the amount of time your sales force must spend on expensive, and often unproductive, cold calling. In previous columns, I have shared ideas about how to build market
MAILING HAS been rapidly evolving from being seen as an opportunity for diversification and differentiation to a standard offering of full-service print providers. This is particularly true for shops that have moved into digital printing and variable data marketing services. Variable data and mailing are a natural fit for obvious reasons. For one, the same database that drives the variable content of a direct marketing piece is also used for the mailing information. Controlling both stages of the process gives the printer advantages in terms of on-time delivery of mailed pieces. Being able to apply mailing expertise at the production stages also puts a
