Moving Beyond On Demand

• Will print be viable in 10 years?

• If so, what equipment, support and skills will be needed by a printer to succeed?

• Is database management and data mining an income source for the printer of the future? If not, what will be?

• Will a printer even be a printer in the future? I have been told that a research firm in the U.K. has developed a dynamic white paper that actually says agencies as we know them today will under go the same radial transition that printers have experienced.

I would on face value alone—since I was unable to review the report (Hey Outsell, send me a copy please!)—agree. I have owned an integrated marketing agency for over 30 years and I have seen the writing on the wall for a while. If agencies under go a Darwinian change, who will replace and supplement their support skills?

It is simple to see that in publishing, publishers need to step up and fill the gap, but what about printers? No, they should not become agencies, but there needs to be a hybrid—a firm structured in a way that combines the very best of what each service offers.

Please let me apologize...I lied, I do need to talk about On Demand one more time. Charlie Corr of Mimeo was a keynote speaker at the event and what he presented was the start of the next generation of printer business owners. In fact, on the company’s Website (www.mimeo.com), it presents a broad array of savvy ideas, some print based and others, well, not print based, but all are business supportive and profit based.

Maybe we need to change the definition from a printer to profiteer. I am a strong believer in the concept of mantras, and if you set the bar to profits, well then that will happen. Say 40 mantras a day for 40 days and the wishes are visualized. “I am profiteer,” “I am a profiteer”...in the good sense of course.