Printing

Does your business provide business cards to its employees? Stupid question, you say. So how do you order them? A lot of companies email them to the printer or an online service, after which proofs go back and forth, there could be several rounds of approval, and then finally the cards go to print . . . it’s a process than can take a week or two instead of a couple of days.

Or maybe you order online, get pdf proof approval on the fly . . . but when the cards arrive you find them a bit disappointing. Only then do you read the fine print about how the color is “pleasing” and that uncoated paper is not an option.

Let’s answer a couple of questions. First, why do so many online print companies not offer uncoated paper? The reason is simple: their digital press doesn’t print well on uncoated stock, because baking toner on uncoated paper doesn’t work. Stafford Printing, on the other hand, uses the HP Indigo digital press, which means that uncoated paper prints beautifully because we use liquid ink rather than toner.

The second question concerns the mysterious description of “pleasing” color. What exactly does that mean? It means your business card is batched and printed with about fifty other card orders, so your particular color won’t be matched exactly – it will only be close to what you expected. For one order the color might be a little darker than it should be, and the next order will be a little too light. At Stafford Printing, our process doesn’t require “ganging,” i.e. printing multiple different orders on a single sheet, because our digital technology exceeds what is the norm in the industry. We usually print your order by itself to guarantee color accuracy, a claim few in this industry make.

The best way to see the process is to schedule a plant tour, and we will print and cut your cards while you wait.

Consistent color and paper are important when it comes to branding, which means that the printer you order from is also important. Stafford Printing offers the convenience of a global online printer, but with the standards of quality that only a local service can provide. And today, more than ever, it’s comforting to know where your printed materials are coming from – from the paper to the local people who produced your job to the box in which the cards are packed.

So remember Stafford Printing for your online print ordering and business cards!

How many obituaries do we have to read proclaiming that print is dead? I call BS on that, and here’s why.

No matter where you look, print is everywhere. You see it all day long, from the moment you wake up in the morning – it’s on everything from your tube of toothpaste, to the cup of coffee you bought on your way to work. Pretty much every item you encounter in your daily life has print on the label, the box, or the instructions. You can’t avoid it!

For well over three decades I’ve been hearing about the paperless office, and while it’s an interesting idea, it doesn’t fully reflect the reality of how businesses actually operate. Granted, you can email an invitation, a brochure, or a newsletter, but print delivers more, and I can prove it.

We had a client call us in a panic. After months and months of advertising, marketing, public relations – all digital – seats remained unsold for an event. Obviously this was a huge cause for concern. The client called us and said that they needed postcards, thousands of them, as quickly as possible. So Stafford Printing produced some snazzy postcards that could be returned without a stamp . . . and suddenly the responses flooded in. Within the first week there was a 3% response rate from prospects saying that they wanted to buy seats, at an average price of $1,000. With an anticipated conversion rate of 10% – meaning one out of every 10 respondents will purchase – a minimum of $100,000 in revenue is anticipated on a campaign that cost $19,000 to produce. It will be interesting to see the final numbers . . . but print came through in a pinch to generate revenue for the client.

The key to the program was a targeted audience. This was not a shotgun approach, but rather a purchased list identifying demographics that would be interested in the product.

Print isn’t dead; it’s just being utilized differently. The value of print is not only that it’s beautiful, but that it can evolve along with the marketing landscape.

Clients have a vision for what they want to achieve; it is up to print service providers to demonstrate how print can be the best way to make that vision a reality.

Tag: Printing

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Is Print Really Dead?