Author: ColorFX
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FREE Shipping in California!
Hey California! We have you covered. You are now eligible for FREE Shipping.
Even for the heaviest orders!
ColorFX, Inc. has announced that it is offering FREE Shipping to all of California on most products and locations. We aren’t kidding!…This is an amazing offer!
When ordering just enter your address and if you are in California you will get the FREE Shipping on most products and zip codes. Once you place your order, under the shipping options you will see Free Shipping. Note that free shipping cannot be combined with any type of promotion or coupons. Also Loyalty Rewards are not granted when using this option.
Business Cards, Postcards, Banners and Custom Orders are excluded. Rural routes (areas that are not urbanized) are excluded.
For complete details read Shipping and Tracking page of ColorFX.
Marketing and Consultative Selling
Although the use of marketing has increased in the Printing and related Graphic Arts industries over the last ten years, it is still not practiced to the degree it should be. There is no other industry with annual sales over $130 billion that employs so few marketing tools.
When printing companies do prepare a marketing plan and execute promotion programs, all too often it is done ineffectively, without proper measurement, or follow up. Is it any wonder that many of these companies abandon their marketing efforts complaining that marketing does not work or is not necessary in the printing field.
Unfortunately the “good old days” when a printer could simply purchase a new press, fill it with work and make a profit are long gone. Competitive pressures and the inherent challenges of over-capacity in the printing industry, require a more strategic approach.
More that ever, the printing industry must embrace the disciplines of marketing. Most important, printers need to do a better job of positioning themselves through differentiation strategies. What good does it do to invest money in sales materials, advertising, or any form of self-promotion that do not clearly communicate how the company is different or better than the competition?
The Printer and the Designer
A few nights ago for the umpteen times, I was watching the film version of Rogers and Hammerstein II great musical Oklahoma! But this time, a particular song impressed me with a new meaning. The song goes something like this —-“Ho, the farmer and the cowman must be friends. The one man likes to push a plough, the other likes to chase a cow, but that’s no reason why they can’t be friends”. The lyrics of this songs deals with the struggle between farmers and ranchers. Oklahoma’s story was derived from the lyrical play set at the turn-of-the-century in the Southwest called Green Grow the Lilacs. It was a battle for turf rights, The lyrics continues—“I’d like to say a word for the farmer: He come out west and made a lot of changes, he come out west and built a lot of fences, and built ‘em right across our cattle ranges.”
So, the song and lyrics The Farmer and The Cowman lends itself to another theme in today’s printer and graphic designer relationship. The printer and designer are also dealing with turf rights. The feeling among many young designers is that the printers are encroaching upon their turf, mainly graphic design. Due to the number of design and production computer programs that are available today and the relative ease of use and reasonable cost, it is tempting for many printers to offer graphic design services to customers. With the availability of this service, the printer can now truly become a one-stop shop. It’s all done here. From the design, to production, and finally, the finished printed piece, such a-deal! Some printers say that,”it is a logical service”, because they will have complete control of the job and it will be done technically correct. No missing typefaces, EPS, and TIFF files, or incorrect trappings and weird computer outputs. With that premise, I have no argument.
Digital or Offset Printing
For years, it was assumed that digital printing was simply a lower quality process than offset printing. Customers were often disappointed when they learned their small color print jobs called for digital printing because they wanted the better quality of offset. However, in today’s digital printing world, this method is becoming more widely used around the country.
Offset printing involves burning plates and a much more involved set up process, which pushes the upfront set up expense, which is often the best choice for high volume printing runs. Offset printing has a better quality finished work, which is a definite advantage. Digital printing is a less expensive alternative because it does not require the elaborate initial steps to set up, making it a great choice for low volume printing.
Although offset lithography still has a slightly better quality, digital printing technology has improved a great deal in recent years and the novice will at times find it difficult to distinguish between a digital and offset printed product. For short run color brochures or trial run postcard marketing test runs digital printing is defiantly the way to go.