Margie Dana

When the Scent Grows Cold

Scent A peculiar thing happens when a writing assignment is put on temporary hold once the writer’s already begun. The momentum is lost, and like a popped balloon, all the air goes out of the project.

Weeks or months later, when the job starts up again, the writer in a sense has to start anew. The mood has been broken.

The energy that initially fueled the assignment, be it through discussions with the client or research done online, has vanished, like the scent of a crime in an open field after a downpour.

Imagine dating someone you start to fall for – then he disappears into the blue for months. When he returns, it’s like starting all over. Hopefully, you can reclaim the magic.

The bigger the assignment and the longer the hiatus, the more likely this predicament will occur. Content quality can suffer when writing assignments are interrupted by fits and starts.

5 Things on Print Customers’ Wish Lists

Print customers in business settings are always eager to share with me what they want from their printer partners – not in regards to the holiday season, but all year long.

Their wish list includes things that range from enhanced customer service to a deeper understanding of certain technologies and manufacturing processes. As the year nears its close, I’ve put together this list of the Top 5:

1. A better understanding of personalization applications and options available to them. Help your customers appreciate how easy variable data printing can be. What should they know about putting together the right types of data to be used in campaigns? Can you help? I’m being facetious. Of course you can.

2. Educational information throughout the year. This can be done in so many ways: seminars, lunch-n-learns (or breakfast meetings), after-work events, webinars, videos, valuable blogs or enewsletters. So many options. Pick one or two. Just do it.

3. Insights into new printing technologies and applications. Most print customers do not attend print industry events, and they’re not particularly proactive in learning about the latest manufacturing capabilities from industry web sites. It’s up to you to tell them what’s new.

4. Recommendations about how to make their print materials more effective. Give them ideas that will improve their jobs. Is it the process, the format, the substrate, the design – or literally the whole approach that needs to be rethought? What would you have them do differently so that the results are better? Do you even know what results they expect? I’m pretty sure once you know, you’ll have suggestions for improvement.

5. A relationship built on honesty, professionalism, and trust. Print customers want a lasting relationship with a printing company. It’s too much work and definitely too stressful to replace printers. If your capabilities and price points are both good matches for a customer, the rest is up to you. The people in your company who serve your customers are crucial in the world of print buying. Customers need to trust you. You need to be responsive. Qualities like integrity and honesty come up a lot in conversations with buyers. Without them, you’re doomed.

If you’re a printer, why not tackle any or all of these as your New Year’s resolution? They’ll help strengthen customer relationships, which leads to more business and more referrals.

Why a Printer’s Gallery Page Is So Important

How good is your gallery?

I’ve discovered something interesting about commercial printers’ web sites: often it’s their page of Sample Products, AKA “Gallery,” that is most important.

Here’s why.

If the site copy elsewhere doesn’t make it clear to visitors what you’re really good at, and what types of printing you do, the Gallery Page can tell the story better than any words. And much faster.

This happens frequently. I land on a site and can’t tell what the company’s sweet spot is. Then I move to the Gallery page and think, Oh……NOW I get what they’re about.

I like seeing a variety of products on this page, plus a short description of each image (Chalkboard Printing, Floor Graphics, Posters, Catalogs, Variable Data, etc.). It gives me a good sense of the breadth of your offerings.

Based on this one page, I might decide if you’re a good fit for my business or not.

My hunch is that corporate and agency print customers (including marketers and purchasing pros) will do the same thing – zip on over to your product sample page and decide on the spot if a printer’s a good fit.

So when words fail you, good images won’t.

Shop Around for a Better Experience

Keep your eyes open.

Sometimes it’s the experience that makes the difference between service providers.

That includes doctors, dentists, mechanics, health clubs, hair stylists, and yes, even commercial printers.

I’m not trying to dissuade customers from being loyal. Rather, I hope people recognize the value of testing the waters to see if they could get a better experience elsewhere.

It’s easy to move on if a current provider is not delivering the product or service to your liking. Something negative is propelling you out the door. I’ve switched doctors and other professionals, not because they weren’t qualified, but because of the experience. It was negative enough to make me leave.

I switched primary care physicians once, because my doctor consistently kept me waiting over an hour and never acknowledged it. I switched an eye doctor because the practice was run like an assembly line. I was passed from one eye technician to the next like a hot potato and then hustled out the door so the next spud could be handled.

A customer experience typically means how you treat your customers when they’re interacting with you. It’s what you say and how you say it. It can be subtle, but when it’s negative, it can trigger our search for your replacement.

What if you’ve been dealing with the same service provider forever? You’re comfortable, but (let’s be honest) you have nothing to compare it with. It’s still smart to check out the competition from time to time. This goes for commercial printers. How else will you know if there’s something incredible, or new, or both, that you’ve been missing? What if you could be treated better elsewhere?

Recently I took a few fitness classes at a different club than the one to which I belong.

The dance moves were the same.

The music was the same.

The instructor was the same.

But the experience was totally different. It was a combination of a few things, but taken together, they made the classes refreshing and fun and brand new for me – after all these years. Based on that experience, I joined the club. Experiencing working out in a new environment was a change I didn’t know I needed until I tried it, purely by chance.

So for any print customers reading this post, keep your eyes open. Visit new printers from time to time to see if the experience they can offer you is different in a positive way. Talk to some of their existing customers. Think of it as a test drive. Maybe you’ll find your current provider is still the best choice for you, and it’ll strengthen that relationship. But maybe you’ll uncover something that blows you away for any number of reasons, and you’ll make a switch, or add this printer to your group of providers. That’s what I did with the gym.

Printers reading this post should recognize the importance of customer experience. All things being equal, would your customers say that none of your competitors could beat the great experience you deliver?

My Preferred 5-Part Blogging Process

Freelance blogging requires lots of reading and writing, but (thankfully for me) no arithmetic. I’ve developed my own blogging process. Here you go.

Discuss the topic with client. A phone conversation is preferred, as it lets me get all my questions asked – and answered – before I dig in. I need to understand what’s expected and who the audience is. I take notes as we chat.
Ponder the post. I think about the key points I want to make.
Do research. I take to the Internet to learn what I can about the subject, if I’m not familiar with it. This step is critical. I create a Word document just for this research, jotting down the URLs and key phrases or ideas that will be fodder for the post.
Ponder the post again. Looking at my client notes, my research notes, and my client’s website, I form the thesis in my mind.
Write. Now I’m ready to rock and roll. At this point, I know where I’m going with the post and have decided which points to make and when hyperlinks will help support my work. I suggest a few headlines, review my writing, and send it off to the client.

This works well for me. The research notes keep me honest and careful, and if the client wants to see them, I send them along. Some bloggers “dump” everything they know about a topic onto a clean Word document and whittle it down from there. I can’t work that way.

What’s your process?

If Your Employees Are Unhappy, Your Customers Will Care

Photo courtesy of Luminaire Foto

I love the lazy river that the just built at their Bonita Springs property. For a different reason, so does at least one of their employees.

This gorgeous and relaxing new attraction had a soft opening on Monday, our last day in Florida. The sun was shining as I practically skipped down the sidewalk to take another ride. I couldn’t help but share my delight with a man working on finishing touches at the property.

To my surprise, he exclaimed, “I love it, too! It’s so easy for us to work on this!” He smiled broadly and continued his task.

This short encounter impressed me. I literally thought, “Great – everybody’s happy. Not just us guests, but also the people building this attraction. Good on Hyatt.”

It reminded me of comments I’ve received from print customers when asked what qualities they look for in printers. Many cite the well being of a printer’s employees.

You see, print buyers pay attention to this. Sales and service reps are pretty quick to share their sentiments with some customers. Even if they don’t come out and say whether or not they’re happily employed, customers pick up on what’s what.

A while back I interviewed some experienced and pretty powerful print customers about plant tours and prequalifying potential printers. What do they look for? One thing they notice is the demeanor of people working in the plant. Do people seem happy or sullen? Do salespeople treat pressmen and –women with respect and civility, or are they rude and dismissive?

Bottom line? Your customers pick up on how you treat your employees. If customers spend time at your facility or interact regularly with staff members, they’ll get a sense of how people are treated. They’ll recognize misery if it exists. And it will reflect poorly on you.

Remember to Frame Your Blog

A great blog post includes an engaging intro and a final wrap-up. I call this one-two combo “The Frame.”

Every post makes one point. Use the guts of the post to state your position, identify the main issues, and then articulate your solution.

Within these paragraphs, you may choose to support your main point with a few links to other articles from third-party resources (experts, trade organizations, newspapers or other publications).

Strengthen your blog with a short introductory sentence or two to hit your readers between the eyes. Grab their attention. Make them want to read more. Then, when your argument is made in the body copy, bring it all home with a closing sentence that wraps it all up memorably.

This formula for a blog makes for a complete content package with no loose ends or unanswered questions from your readers.

So always bookend your blog post with one or two carefully crafted sentences at either end. The opener will set the stage, and the closer will bring your point home.

How to Put Together a Winning Print Buyer Panel

Building a winning print buyer panel

A print buyer panel is always a popular draw for any print industry event.

Printers in your audience, as well as other print buyers and industry suppliers, will all benefit. But you must build such a panel with purpose.

I’ve done panels for countless trade groups since 2005, and I’ve learned from my rookie mistakes. Now I want to share my eight best tips with you.

Have a panel of three, maybe four, panelists – tops. Typically a panel discussion lasts 45 minutes to an hour, and a panel of four is the max you should have to allow everyone time to contribute. Consider having a back-up in case someone has to cancel.
Engage a facilitator who’s qualified. Don’t underestimate the role and the value of a good moderator. (Just watch the current election debates if you don’t believe me.) The moderator should know the industry intimately, be assertive, know how to advance the line of questioning, and be astute enough to digress. This requires someone quick on her feet.
Have a focus. There’s no way you can cover a broad range of issues in an hour with three or four panelists, so decide what the primary issue should be for your audience. Examples: How millennials view/work with the print industry today and what would influence them regarding print? How do print customers choose their printers and what qualities/services matter the most? How are marketers mixing print into their campaigns?
Inform your panelists about the topics to be covered. Call each of them to go over the agenda, the event’s goal, the audience, and what’s expected of them. Make sure they’re OK with the overall plan and that they’re excited to participate. Get short bios and headshots to use in your event promotion.
Choose panelists who like to talk – but not dominate. Not everyone is comfortable being on stage and speaking extemporaneously (same goes for webinars). So each panelist should have a suitable personality as well as the right amount of experience. And no one panelist should dominate the discussion. If you don’t know your panelists, you won’t know if this is a potential issue unless you do a dry run ahead of time. Regardless, the moderator is responsible for dealing with “over-talkers” during the live event.
A little controversy ain’t a bad thing. Don’t try to get four people who you think will agree on every point and tell the audience what they think they want to hear. Live sessions are much more interesting when different viewpoints surface and panelists are frank.
Diversity is preferred. Unless you have a reason to build a panel of print customers in a particular vertical, one that’s made up of professionals from different fields is a better event. Also, have both men and women on a panel. Bonus tip: mix up the age range.
Share your questions with the panelists. Everyone should be prepared to discuss the same key issues. Solicit panelists’ input as well. In my vast experience, print buyers know what’s going on and can identify the hottest issues they face. Good communication is vital, with the panelists as well as the facilitator.

If you’ve done your work building a strong print buyer panel, everyone on that stage will be comfortable, well prepared, and excited to participate. The discussion will be lively and enlightening, and the audience will get more than their money’s worth.

Are You Using Eye Catchers in Your Content?

Eyeball Think about what catches your eye as you read blog posts, newsletters, and other long-form pieces of content:

Color, visuals, headlines and subheads, white space, bold or italicized type, unusual typefaces, “chunked-up” copy

We scan and skim when we read a lot of copy these days, right? Especially with online content, we don’t lean back in our chair and settle down for a nice, long read of anything.

And we’re an impatient bunch. So format your content with elements that make readers stop and pay attention.

Don’t overdo it, or your piece will just look ugly and unprofessional. Here’s my two cents:

Color always attracts the eye, whether it’s in the design, type treatment or imagery.
Visuals are the first thing we notice.
Clever and catchy headlines draw readers in, like moths to a flame, while strong subheads help organize the copy.
White space frames your content. It can inject drama into a design, making the reader focus on the copy. It also acts as a visual aid to readers. And it’s soothing.
Type treatment Use bold or italics to set words or phrases apart. Choose a different typeface for your headlines to make them distinctive.
Chunked-up copy may be my personal favorite: I prefer shorter paragraphs to accommodate readers’ shorter attention span.

What eye catchers do you prefer?

Why I Prefer Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

Though they’re my husband’s favorite cookies bar none, chocolate chips are my go-to cookies to bake for one reason: I don’t have to grease the pans.

Know that I’m a baker. Whether we’re talking cookies, pies, breads, scones, brownies, muffins or the occasional cake (a small family can’t eat through a whole one), I LOVE to bake.

But chocolate chips are my fallback cookies to bake because they save me a few steps. They’re efficient and quick. And I’m a busy person. Frankly, I don’t even like them all that much.

Which brings me to your printing company. If you use a process or a technology that shaves time off of customers’ jobs, well, toot this horn early and often.

Is it a proofing procedure or review process? Is it a production capability or a finishing technique? Do you do things inline that speed up a job’s time-to-market?

Tell your customers. Tell your prospects. Your step-saver may be the sweet solution they’re looking for.

Page 1 of 612345...>>>

Yearly Archives: 2016