If you are not CRUSHING your sales goal, you should be working until AT LEAST 5:00 each day. It is cool to head out early once in a while to get nine in before dark or stop off to buy your wife some flowers on the way home, but really folks, hard work results in higher sales. Cutting out early should only be for those of you who are beating goal by 120%.
Printers and merchants who are benefiting from low-priced paper imports are against the duties; those who have to compete with them are in favor of the duties. It’s not ideology; it’s business. Let’s try to clarify a few things.
There are two reasons why Paula is my fave. First, she displayed a courtesy to me unlike any other I have ever experienced. The second reason why Paula is my favorite has to do with her business acumen. Paula has the perfect attitude regarding her sales force: Let them sell.
We’ve all heard a ton of buzz about how the “great thing” now is marketing your printing business on Twitter and Facebook. Being in the direct marketing arena...it’s no different here. But, I really don't see a whole lot of benefit for those companies that have jumped on the bandwagon...at least with how they’re doing it.
The key ingredients of a successful broadcast e-mail program are self-developed opt-in lists, trackable click-thru links to specific products and services, and close integration with a company’s sales efforts. The best performing e-mail campaigns are often designed to look like useful information, but provide only a paragraph or two of teaser copy and a picture and a link.
In the past, well-known companies could rely upon a brand’s major awareness image in the market. Today is different though. With the Internet came a level playing field. That means that whoever has the best, most innovative idea usually wins. This is great for smaller and/or newer brands that sell into niche markets.
If you’ve been following the coated paper anti-dumping case, the final determination by the International Trade Commission (ITC) is due tomorrow, Oct. 19. The ITC has to decide whether the dumping and subsidies have “materially injured” the domestic market. Unfortunately, material injury is not well defined.
Self-mailers allow interested recipients to easily respond to your promotion. Because they don’t require an envelope, self-mailers remove a step from the direct mail reply process and, therefore, make it more likely that recipients will respond. In addition, companies willing to standardize their mass-mailings according to USPS guidelines can greatly reduce postage costs.
Selling has one objective. Get more sales! New sales often start with marketing ideas. In today’s tough economic climate, finding ways to increase your business without increasing your cost curve is a smart approach to take whenever possible. Here are three ways to grow your business without growing your budget.
The biggest issue with VDP is the data. Companies typically have horrible databases. They are either outdated or just plain wrong. “Own the printing plates, own the customer.” is now “Own the file, own the customer.” The future of the printing industry belongs to the technically superior.
