‘Hard-Working Printer Does Everything but Sing’

I spotted the above headline in the Wall Street Journal recently. Did I really read this right? Finally, one of the best newspapers in the world writes an article about an industrious printer.

Be still my heart! Walter Mossberg’s tuned into the plight of commercial printers! Maybe this kind of press will bring the sexy back to the print industry.

If only.

In reality, my favorite tech journalist was writing about a new HP desktop printer and describing its every bell and whistle.

And yet, this was too good a headline to ignore. It seems to me that printers are doing everything but sing these days. Some of you have decided that you’re no longer ‘just’ printers, but marketing service providers. (Let’s not go there; many of you know I don’t agree with this.) Others are adding more manufacturing capabilities to capture additional business from existing customers.

I know of very few printers who are standing still. Most companies have added new services so that they can offer more value to prospects and customers.

Whatever you offer, make sure your market knows it. Although few printers have on-staff marketers, you should still have a procedure for marketing everything you offer.

Let’s say you have a new mailing division, digital press or the capability to produce and manage a QR code campaign. Let everyone know!

You’d be surprised how many customers don’t really appreciate all that you can do for them. If they’ve been working with your company to produce a certain product—like data sell sheets, for example—then they probably think that’s pretty much what you do. You need to remind them of other strengths.

Feature your new services on the home page of your Website. Include an easy way for visitors to tell you if they’d like more information.