Stop chasing people down

Here’s an interesting thought for you: if someone is chasing you, is it your natural reaction to turn around and start running to them with open arms? Probably not. If you’re like most people, being chased means you’re going to kick it in high gear and high-tail it out of there!

A better way

What if instead of chasing down prospects you could set them up to want to build a relationship with your brand and pursue you? Aren’t those the types of customers you’d want anyway?

Dan Kennedy, author of Magnetic Marketing, makes this point beautifully when he says,

“When you stop chasing, you no longer have to resort to gimmicks to set yourself apart from the pack of hungry competitors running alongside you – like slashing your prices, or grouponing specials – they are magnetically attracted to you. Attraction brings to you clients who are more committed and likely to remain with you over the long term. Another benefit is that customers who come to you through attraction are naturally inclined to remain with you and do business with you over and again.”

Attracting clients rather than chasing them is not as difficult as it might seem, and it’s ultimately more natural and more effective. Here are a few ways to attract your audience and leave the chasing to the other guys.

Dangle the carrot To attract print buyers without chasing them down, you have to show you’re worth pursuing. That means using nothing more than the value you bring as the “bait” to reel them in. There’s a confidence required for this approach because instead of running after clients and trying to sell to them in desperation, you’re laying it all out there. You’re saying, “This is the kind of printer we are, this is the kind of value you can expect, here’s why we’re different and why you should print with us.” Prove yourself to be helpful and show them that you know what you’re talking about. Use website content tools such as case studies and blog posts. Better yet, send your own direct mail so they can see the quality of your printing right in their hands. The idea here is to provide prospects with anything that showcases your knowledge and expertise and proves to them beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re the best printer for them. Content is your entry point Once you have nailed down offering content, the next step in attracting people to your print business is to take that content anywhere your audience is likely to be. • Promote your latest case study via your social media channels. • Build an email drip campaign around your latest or best blog pieces. • Use your whitepaper as gated content. • Create digital ads that focus on your content being the initial value given, leaving prospects feeling the need to reciprocate with sales. This is why having consistent content is so valuable to your print business. It’s the entry point to get the attention of your audience and how you begin to build a trust relationship, so they’ll be comfortable buying from you. Recommend complementary products Recommending other complementary products or services is another way you can provide value through your knowledge. You are offering ways to be helpful by providing that gentle nudge or reminder to add business cards to their letterhead or create a flyer to pair with their new banner. Whatever you suggest, remember that the objective is to be helpful. The product of that helpfulness equals more sales. It’s not more sales disguised as being more helpful. See the difference? You’ll know you’re in the right place when you can look at the services you provide against the backdrop of your target market’s needs and say, “We’re not able to help them with [blank]. We need to either create a way ourselves to fill that need or we need to partner with someone else that can help.” Your mindset should be: see a need, fill a need. When your prospects and customers recognize that’s your mindset, you’ll start becoming the one who is chased.

Give them a reason to stay engaged with you Once they’ve fallen in love with your brand, you have to give them a reason to stick around. This means you need to continue making deposits into their “value bank” through helpful, educational, engaging content and your service and product delivery. One of the biggest mistakes printers can make here is to have a static website – as in, nothing ever changes. Once a prospect visits a static site, there is absolutely no reason to revisit the site because all of the content will be the same. If they have no reason to come back, why would they? To keep them engaged, regularly supply new content like tips and tricks pages, blog posts, whitepapers, affiliate links, and more. It’s time to stop chasing. It’s time to get your magnets out and start attracting your print buyers to you.

Dave Hultin is the President and visionary behind Marketing Ideas For Printers. He’s on a mission to lead printers to success by providing powerfully innovative online ordering solutions and impossible-to-ignore content. If you’re looking to sell more printing and grow your business, follow him on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davehultin

High-production sheetfed colour presses Ricoh USA’s Pro C5300s and Pro C5310s digital sheetfed production presses combine high-quality colour, powerful performance and a wide range of finishing options “at a more accessible price point.” They’re aimed at in-plants and agencies, and can deliver “professional-looking presentations, vibrant proofs and attractive, finished booklets,” said the OEM. Commercial and franchise printers can also use them as higher quality proofing devices that can accommodate specialty stocks, synthetics, envelopes and oversized sheet options. Finishing options include saddle-stitch booklets, course guides, marketing materials and high quality presentations. Both provide 2,400 x 4,800 dpi at up to 80 ppm. Built-in sensors aid front-toback registration on media up to 360 gsm. Each has a Smart Operation Panel that makes managing the many substrate options easier. An intuitive Paper Library can contain up to 1,000 preset or custom profiles. Trained Customer Replaceable Units (TCRUs) allow users to execute routine maintenance on their own schedule. Both the Ricoh Pro C5300s and C 5 3 1 0 s a re Energy Star Certified and carry an EPEAT Gold Rating. Ricoh Pro C5300s Sheetfed Colour Press

A customized wallpaper ‘factory’ Canon Solutions’ UVgel Wallpaper Factory is an integration between the OEM’s Colorado printer series, UVgel technology, and finishing partner Fotoba. It’s ideal for automated production of customized wallpapers as a complete, end-to-end solution for new customers, and as an upgrade for current Colorado roll-to-roll, large-format clients. The modular workflow solution consists of a motorized Fotoba Jumbo Roll Media Loader (JRL) connected to the front of a Colorado Series Printer to automatically cut flexible media into custom sizes and lengths. With its embedded taping unit, print jobs can be as simple as "print, cut, rewind, and tape," allowing wallpaper rolls to be available for quick delivery. For regular print jobs, the two media drawers of the Colorado remain accessible. Its automated, unattended printing can be integrated into existing workflows due to the Colorado's open interface structure. UVgel technology delivers brilliant colours, even across multiple printers and at different times, and doesn’t require heat to dry, thus eliminating media distortion and virtually guaranteeing colour consistency with each print.

Canon UVgel Wallpaper Factory

CAD production and wide-format printers Epson has added three new SureColor T-Series Printers for entry- and mid-level CAD production, and general purpose wide-format graphics. For personal workspaces and home offices, the Epson SureColor T2170 24” desktop printer delivers high quality output “at an incredible value.” For small- to midsized workgroups, the 24” SureColor T3475 and the 36” SureColor T5475 deliver precise printing while providing “outstanding productivity” with new high-capacity 700 mL cartridges. Their Epson PrecisionCore MicroTFP print heads yield fine lines and exceptional details for client-ready technical output and corporate graphics for industries such as architecture, construction, engineering, graphic design and education. The T2170 produces an A1/D-sized print in under 43 seconds, and the T3475 and T5475 produce an A1/D-sized print in under 25 seconds. T-Series printers also feature UltraChrome XD2 pigment ink that dries instantly, yielding durable output that’s ideal for blueprints, line drawings and posters. A 4.3” colour LCD touchscreen and integrated wireless and Wi-Fi Direct allow connectivity for printing directly from smartphones and tablets. Epson SureColor T3475 (left) and T5475

Wide-format photorealistic output for signage Mimaki USA’s 64” ColorPainter M-64s Traffic Sign Printer, 64” ColorPainter M-64s Graphics Printer, and 104” H3-104s Grand-Format Printer, feature photorealistic quality and production print speeds, Dynamic Dot Printing Technology to control and optimize dot size and density, SX or 3MTM SX eco-solvent inks with extended-CMYK configuration options, and outdoor durability with comprehensive warranties with or without lamination, to support any application. Unique among the new series is the OEM’s Traffic Sign Printer, an application-specific model that can help prints expand their businesses to serve the continuous need for traffic, wayfinding and safety signage. It supports SX spot inks in seven approved traffic colours (red, green, blue, brown, black, yellow and orange). The printer also includes special media-handling features for thicker films designed for outdoor traffic signage, and can print directly onto a variety of retroreflective sheets. The printer comes with a 10-year warranty.

Mimaki M-64s Traffic Sign Printer

A roll-fed toner-based production printer The Xeikon SX30000 roll-fed, toner-based, 5-colour digital colour production printer features Xeikon’s new SIRIUS technology that focuses on toner options, imaging and fusing technology, and media versatility. Competitively productive across a wide range of cutsheet and roll-fed applications, it has speeds of 98 fpm (404 A4 ppm), is 50% faster than its predecessors and faster than any other B2-sized digital printer on the market, said the OEM. The new printer can handle a wide variety of substrates, including synthetic media from 40 to 350 gsm, while maintaining increased productivity across weights. The SX30000 also accommodates a wide range of technical and specialty toners, including those used for security printing. The new printer utilizes Xeikon-produced eco-friendly toner and ‘green energy.’ It also features Xeikon’s new EkoFuse technology, a cooling drum that boosts quality and productivity, and inline cameras to better manage colour quality and consistency.

Xeikon SX30000

Desktop UV flatbed for customized products Roland DGA’s compact VersaUV LEF2-300D UV Flatbed Printer is ideal for personalized and customized products and can support a height of up to 7.87 inches – making customization easy while enabling users to print text and full-colour graphics directly onto an even broader range of objects. It uses UV-LED lamps to instantly cure ink, making direct printing onto plastics, leather, wood, fabrics and other materials, simple. Users can add “ultrarealistic” graphics and simulated embossing to a wide variety of items such as smartphone cases, awards, souvenirs, giftware, leather goods, electronic devices and more. Features include a Start Timer Function that completes print head cleaning set-up and white ink circulation automatically by your designated start time. Its new cleaning system helps reduce ink consumption during maintenance. A Multiple Print Func tion allows users to print the same data again with the touch of a button, while a Printer Status Monitor can check the operating status of multiple printers in real time.

Roland VersaUV LEF2-300D

A fast kiss-cutter to automate label production Intec Printing Solutions’ ColorCut LC600 on-demand digital sheet label cutter provides fully automatic cutting for digital print production. With no dies or set-up costs, users can cut any shape of label instantly. Ideal for unattended production, the LC600 combines reliable sheet feeding with instant job retrieval for fast and precise kiss-cut labels. It can cut mixed batches of label jobs and read a QR code to instantly recognize the associated cut file on every sheet on the fly. The feeder/ stacker can take up to 250 sheets of varied stacks of jobs and cut one after the other in a seamless flow and with accurate SmartMark registration every time. Its ColorCut Pro software applies an auto assigned (editable) QR code to each of the designs and saves the cutting file to a Job Library that can be automatically retrieved before cutting. The digital cutting head can cut at up to 960 mm per second, enabling users to produce from one to hundreds of sheets and thousands of labels quickly. A Dual Grip Feed System holds the media during cutting on both sides of the cutting head, enabling it to cut closer to the media edges than most other types of cutters. Intec ColorCut LC600

Offset image quality and production inkjet savings Canon USA’s varioPRINT iX-Series of advanced sheetfed inkjet press utilizes iQuariusiX technologies that combine the image quality of offset with the productivity and cost efficiency of production inkjet – to support customers with production volumes of one to 10 million letter images per month. Offering an average 94% uptime and virtually eliminating the need for daily calibration and maintenance, the series streamlines productivity and helps to improve overall running costs. Users can print up to 4,500 12” x 18” sph (or up to 312 letter images a minute) on a wide range of media, including offset-coated paper ranging from 90 gsm to 350 gsm, with 1,200 dpi resolution. This feature allows customers to produce high volumes of commercial print applications – from marketing collateral and premium direct mail, to catalogues, magazines and books. Nozzle Uniformity Control (NUC) technology uses an inline scanner to automatically check and align single nozzles during a production run to help eliminate streaks. Nozzle Activity Control (NAC) controls nozzle performance and supports automated corrections when needed. Availability is set for Q3 of 2020.

Canon varioPRINT iX-Series

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