Complete our survey for a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Winner will be drawn on August 17th, 2012.
Printing Market Survey-Win an Amazon Card
Reply
Category Archives: Marketing
The most important marketing link you will ever click on
|
|||||||||||||
|
PagePath Technologies Announces Selling based on personalities webinar
Plano, IL August 23, 2011: There is a science to success in, not only being a profitable printer, but being the most profitable printer in one’s market place.
What would a printer give to have more leads, better leads, and stronger leads?
Printers need to considered that different personalities react differently to the various messages that we send?
Mark Boersma, President of Synergy Solutions, Inc., & Joe Kern, Vice President of Marketing at PagePath Technologies, will walk you through the four basic personality types, how to recognize them, and how to design a marketing and sales strategy that will increase your lead conversions.
This session is not only designed specifically forPrint/Marketing Service Providers, but for their customers as well. Printers should free to invite their clients so that they too can benefit from this selling magic.
This is the second of a series of Webinars that will be held Friday, September 2nd at 11 am (PDT), 12 pm (MDT), 1 pm (CDT), and 2 pm (EDT).
Space is limited. Register now by clicking the link below:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/376934274
If you are not able to attend but would like the recording of this session, please register and we will send you a link after the recording is posted.
PagePath Integrates Onpoint Connect Shipping into MyOrderDesk
Plano, IL November 30, 2010: PagePath Technologies, a leading software as a service (SaaS) provider of Web2print, announced today that it has partnered with Onpoint Connect Shipping a multi-carrier shipping solution from Onpoint On Demand.
PagePath’s leading Web2print solution, MyOrderDesk now seamlessly integrates with Onpoint Connect Shipping. The integration enables MyOrderDesk users to ship via UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, company truck and local courier from a single, web-based interface. The tight integration allows for scheduled shipments to flow from MyOrderDesk directly into Onpoint Connect Shipping, eliminating manual keying. In addition, tracking numbers and other important data flow back to MyOrderDesk as part of an automated reporting workflow.
“Our goal is to integrate with leading partners in our space to extend the value and usability of MyOrderDesk,” stated Jim Dummer, VP of Sales at PagePath. “It’s part of our commitment to continually innovate MyOrderDesk to meet the changing needs of our customers.”
“We are very excited to be integrated with MyOrderDesk,” Gary Noseworthy, CEO at Onpoint On Demand. “We focus on delivering affordable, effective software solutions for printers, and we believe that Onpoint Connect Shipping delivers real value for MyOrderDesk users.”
About MyOrderDesk
PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, automated pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.
With MyOrderDesk, a print shop can provide its customers with time savings and convenient 24×7 ordering while the print shop enjoys increased production efficiency, reduced turnaround times, and increased profitability. A demonstration site of MyOrderDesk’s capabilities is available at www.PrintVia.com
About PagePath Technologies
PagePath Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. The firm pioneered the use of the Internet to place orders and transmit documents with an easy to use “point & click” system in 1996. MyOrderDesk was twice named “Product of the Year” by PrintImage International & “Best of Breed” by Xerox.
More information on PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is available at http://www.PagePath.com, or by calling 866-770-7561.
About Onpoint On Demand
Onpoint On Demand is a software company focused on delivering innovative and effective automation solutions to the commercial print industry. We focus on delivering affordable solutions that help printers increase margins and reduce costs. More information at www.onpointondemand.com.
Here’s how to grow your printing business
When Fortune magazine interviewed leaders of large and small firms, they gave a few eye-opening pieces of advice on how to grow a business. Check these out to determine whether any of their formulas could be pivotal growth-growing points in your printing business.
- Find an edge over competition. Look at the industry’s biggest cost and time constraints and focus on those areas of your business.
- Describe your business in one or two words. Own a phrase that illustrates your company or service. Then Google it to see if you have chosen the right one. A beverage company used “enhanced waters.”
- Focus on one measurable priority for your company, not a dozen. For 90 days, focus on one problem in your business.
- Control your cash flow. Construct a business model that fuels your growth without the need for outside financing.
- Use blogs, white papers, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to flood the Internet and align the business with the phrase you own. They recommend checking out The Shipping Bloke Blog.
- Make changes faster. The fastest-moving companies huddle daily, as if in crisis mode, to drive their priorities.
Joe Kern is Vice President of Marketing/Customer Service at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.
Hey Printers! Develop a Killer Marketing Strategy
A marketing strategy can either make or break your printing business. As you know, there are many aspects to a good marketing strategy. So which marketing strategy is right for you? How do you know which marketing strategy really works? Obviously, the best strategy is the one that gains profits. In this article, we will discuss some aspects of a great market strategy.
First and foremost, look at your website. Make sure your design is eye catching and easy to maneuver. Make sure that you have attractive pictures or illustrations that get your customers attention. Customers don’t care about your new press or copier, so don’t clutter your homepage with your proud new pictures. People like to see people. Especially people like you. If you can, stay away from stock photography and hire a professional photographer to take pictures of you and your staff. Tell your customers how you can solve their problems, don’t sell them on the fact that you do great stationery. Sell them on the fact that you can solve what ever problem or need they have.
A second marketing strategy is to promote you service. Get yourself noticed. Send out flyers, business cards, post cards, etc. Hey, you sell direct mail, why not use it to promote yourself. Get yourself noticed on the web as well. Become entrenched in various social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Delicious, etc. The more access/touch points you have for your customers and prospects, the better off you will be.
Number three, get set up with a good email marketing program. Web applications like Constant Contact are a great way to send marketing materials as well as track your success. Constant Contact also offers autoresponders. This automated form of a marketing keeps your customers and prospects informed about your services automatically. You literally write the messages and autoresponders send them out on set schedules. Once you set it up the first time, the program does all the work for you. Using an autoresponder to send out advertisements of your product is fast and convenient. Everything is done by email.
Try developing a catchy slogan for your comapny. Think about it, how many slogans can you name, and how many products to you remember because of that slogan. This is a great marketing strategy because it is a way for people to easily remember your business. If they remember or recognize you, they are likely to use you.
Another powerful marketing strategy is the use of SEO (search engine optimization) tactics. I will admit that there is a lot of speculation and false information buzzing around about what is effect SEO. Many place will sell you there SEO services for a couple thousand dollars. I stay away from those people. Buy a book like SEO for Dummies or subscribe to a training service like Lynda.com and do what you can on your own. Effect SEO takes a little work, but most printers are capable of doing the legwork themselves. Using SEO correctly will attract more people to your site. More people on your site means more exposure. More exposure means more leads. More leads can turn into more sales. Get the picture?
Finally, the last marketing strategy is to have great public relations. With good public relations, your business will prosper through word of mouth. Allow customers to submit feedback of your business. Place positive feedback and testimonials on your website. It makes your business look good and customers tend to prefer to use businesses that have positive feedback.
A killer marketing strategy will cost you some time and money, so don’t be fooled by thinking you can do it for next to nothing. But if you look in the right places and follow some good advice, your marketing strategy should leave you coming out on top.
Joe Kern is Vice President of Marketing/Customer Service at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.
PagePath Announces Marketing4Printers
PagePath Technologies, a leader in the Web2Print market since 1982 has developed Social Media Marketing Classes specifically targeted for printing and graphic arts related companies. Classes are designed to teach printers how to leverage the benefits of Social Media in their marketing efforts. You will learn how to harness the strength of Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and LinkedIn.
Class registration, $49 per class, will give participants access to the live webinar classes as well as the recorded video of the session and any slide deck or class materials. To register for a class, click the links below. If you have any questions on the classes themselves, feel free to contact Joe Kern at 866-770-7569 or by email at jkern@pagepath.com
Facebook Marketing 101 for Printers
Next session, Janaury 15, 2010 at 1:00pm Central
Twitter Marketing 101 for Printers
Next session, Janaury 22, 2010 at 1:00pm Central
Blog Marketing 101 for Printers
Next session, Janaury 29, 2010 at 1:00pm Central
The Top 5 Reasons Why Print Buyers Should Use Twitter
Today’s post is a guest post by Margie Dana. Margie is well known throughout the printing and buying community as an independent marketing specialist who focuses on improving the printer-buyer relationship. She was a corporate print buyer for 15 years. In 1997, Margie founded her first business (www.printconsulting.com) to shine a light on the printing industry. She’s an accomplished copywriter, marketing specialist, and popular public speaker. You can reach Margie at (617) 730-5951 or send an email to mdana@BostonPrintBuyers.com.
1. You’re in the Communications Business.
Whether or not Twitter is a flash in the pan or here for the long haul, it’s currently gaining popularity among adults. (According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1 in 5 Americans use Twitter or another social service.) It’s a very popular way to communicate digitally. Try it if only to know what it’s like. Take part in the digital dialogue or risk being left behind.
2. You Can Build Relationships for Business.
Find & follow other print buyers as well as designers, paper pros, printers, mail specialists, direct marketers, and on and on. These relationships can and do yield value. You’ll get questions answered, discover new resources, and learn about events, books, articles, and news items that are meaningful to you.
3. You Can Keep Up with Industry Changes.
Breaking news in and around print and the graphic arts, as well as the ‘bigger picture’ of Media, is reported on Twitter. If you follow the right people as well as the right media outlets, you will regularly be in the know.
4. You Can Add Value for Your Employer.
The role of the professional print buyer is changing radically. Now is the time to actively add value as you evolve to reflect current business trends. Being on Twitter will open your eyes to new ways of doing business, new ideas to bring to your firm. If you’ve chosen your followers wisely, they will all have something to offer you. And if you’re looking for employment, you might get some solid leads. If nothing else, people in the field will get to know you.
5. It’s Free, and It’s Easy.
There’s really no excuse for you not to give Twitter a shot. Participate as much or as little as you want. I visit it a few times each day to see if there’s news or posts or events or fresh ideas that intrigue me.
I find that being on Twitter gets me outside of my own head. Tweets by folks I follow expand my world cumulatively – 140 characters at a time. I learn about all kinds of creative ways to be a professional communicator as well as a professional in communications. If this old dog keeps learning new tricks, you can, too.
Social Media for B2B. Is it effective?
As I was scanning through my RSS feeds this morning, I came upon a blog post from HubSpot that really hit the nail on the head as far as using Social Media for B2B applications. I often hear from many people that Social Media is ok for B2C, but not as effective or relevant for B2B. I disagree, and so does HubSpot. Here is their post from this morning.
Imagine this: Your best friend comes to you one morning and tells you she’s had it with her telephone. She’s throwing it away because it doesn’t help her with traditional handwritten communication.
Crazy talk, right? Your friend doesn’t need a different tool for traditional communication, she needs a new approach to communication.
Traditional B2B marketers who resist social media aren’t much different. They resist social media because it doesn’t work when they use it as another outbound marketing channel.
Instead of rejecting social media as a channel, traditional marketers need to reject their outbound approach to marketing.
Traditional marketing — outbound marketing — is about buying attention. You figure out where your target customers hangout, then you buy access to them. You fill the pages of trade publications they read with print ads. You interrupt them with unsolicited phone calls at their office. You send out mailings that they throw away.
These tactics are incompatible with social media. If your Twitter account is simply a product information broadcast, you won’t have many followers. If you don’t share any helpful, interesting or fun content on your Facebook account, your pages will get little traffic.
On the other hand, if you reject this approach to marketing, and use social media as part of an inbound marketing strategy, it will become a core part of your marketing mix. If you engage with your industry’s community on Twitter, if you share top-notch content on Facebook, and build relationships on LinkedIn, social media will work for you.
“Wait!” you say. “We’re a B2B operation! We don’t have social-savvy customers like B2C companies.”
Lame excuse.
No question, social media grew out of the consumer space, and B2C examples of social media success are easy to find. But take a step back. Look at the value that businesses get out of social media. You’ll see it’s not specific to B2B or B2C companies. Consider the three main benefits marketers get from social media:
- Listening — Every company needs to listen. Doesn’t matter if you sell solder paste, CRM software or fencing supplies. You need to listen to your competitors, your customers, your prospects — your community. Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook make this easier.
- Reach — Reach is important to any marketer. It’s the number of people you can communicate with directly via email, telephone, or any other channel. You need this whether you’re selling to consumers or businesses. Social media tools media it easier to build.
- Nurturing — Nurturing is another critical marketing task for all companies. Regardless of what you sell, you need to build trust with potential customers and educate them about your company and your products. Social media facilitates the development of personal relationships at scale. This makes it an ideal tool for nurturing in any business.
How do you use social media at your company? Have you found it useful in a B2B context?
I think they have some valid questions. I would be interested to know your opinion on this. What do you think?
PagePath Technologies is “Doing it Right!” Are You?
Ok, it is time for us to brag a little, and challenge a little. PagePath Technologies has been working very hard lately on developing tools and resources that will help those in the Print and Graphic Arts Industries, and we got noticed.
HubSpot TV, a weekly live videocast talked about PagePath Technolgies’ recent launch of TwitterPrint.net. See the video below.
Our challenge for you today is two-fold:
- First and foremost, what are you “doing right”?
- Have you thought outside the box recently about your sales and marketing efforts
- Have you reached out to your customers today and figured out how to better SERVE them.
Second, have you joined twitter yet, or increased your Social Media Marketing presence? If not, we can help. Within the next few weeks, PagePath will be launching our Private Social Media Coaching Sessions. Watch here for details.
Oh, and by the way, you can watch the full episode of HubSpot.TV on the web here, or subscribe via iTunes. Great people, great content! Special thanks to @KarenRubin (follow her on twitter, she can use it) and @MVolpe (follow him too) from HubSpot.
