Kendall Press Blog

"If you really want to optimize your site, you have to love what you do," says Sage Lewis of SageRock Digital Marketing.

We agree. We love this world of business communications. More and more often, people are asking us to print 'just in time' and "help us find a better way to succeed at a given task or goal." We're a commercial print shop. We feel the change in the way people communicate. We feel the change in printing services and color printing in Boston and Cambridge if not throughout the world. Print for less. Print only what we need, but print it immediately. We love to print. We love to create output that makes our customers dance with delight in the printshop.

It happened yesterday. I kid you not. A science community presenter found himself without his display and as the timeclock counted down the minutes of his distress, our print production team turned themselves into a pretzel to keep him on time and the Boston printing jobs on schedule.

His comments "thank you, thank you, this is incredible, it looks great; I can't believe you got it printed like this." I only wish I had a camera from Pixability to have captured the whole exchange, lest someone accuse me of exagerating. Really, he had to shake hands with Eric - the guy in our shop that cut and packaged it just in time. Who would want to be a presenter with their materials not all in order. Who needs that stress?

But the world is changing rapidly. Social media is changing the way people communicate about business, themselves and the things that do and don't bring satisfaction. So we too, have had to change how we communicate just how very serious we are about making our customer's more successful. We are walking the same paths and we are all about our client's success.

We also look to Craigie on Main. Just a few blocks away. They love what they do. It's a family affair. Just like here. Everyone has skin in the game and plays for keeps. In their words, they are walking the walk
Feeling right, about food, commitment, environment, family....all good things to focus on.

What do we know about optimizing our website? Come in and ask us all about it. We're glad to share. But to give you a hint... it's starts and ends with doing what we love; helping our clients be successful. Whatever it takes.

Keith@kendall-press

Here at Kendall Press, we are fans of David Meerman Scott and have been since before his book "new rules of marketing and PR" came out. That book just confirmed his guru style wisdom to us. He's a marketing strategist with a sense of humor and I mention him today because he has just posted a MARKETING STRATEGY PLANNING TEMPLATE allowing free download and use.

This is a guy who practices what he preaches. Daily. And while this blog post is not meant to fixate on DM Scott, it was totally inspired by his musings and sharing. He is a master at putting the customer first, and marketing to reach his audience in ways they wish to be approached.

The rules of marketing and acceptable approaches to discovering prospects are changing. Rapidly. Revolutionary too, given changing consumer expectations.

We like his marketing strategy planning template for it's simplicity - WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE, HOW and WHEN. We also like it for its total focus on the client and that is truly the way to reach today's buyer.

Keith

Labels: DM Scott, new rules of marketing

"It's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate" says Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics. The statistics speak for themselves. WE BELIEVE; we are part of that shift. We've integrated PRINT and SOCIAL MEDIA for business communications. We have done it for ourselves and we are doing it now for our clients. We know that less printing also can mean a more valuable print product if a well thought out communications campaign is launched. Today, neither vehicle (digital or ink) works well all by itself. Creative, Quality, Personalized approaches work. Anybody go to the yellowed pages recently? How's your email inbox doing?

Qualman says companies need to focus on providing things of value not empty promises. Good references and word of mouth travel fast. So does bad news. So, for all of us, it is the ongoing conversations that will make the difference. Unique. Important. Daily.

Do check out this video from Qualman. The statistics he has compiled is compelling. We are taking action. How about you and your organization?

How often do we hear that expression - don't print it out - save a tree. Well I've just finished reading some articles that challenge that expression in a thought provoking way. Want to encourage greenspace...well it has to make economic sense to really succeed these days.

The following material comes from International Paper's web pages "DOWN TO EARTH"(tm) -their look at environmental issues and trends http://www.internationalpaper.com/Apps/D2E/Down2EarthOnline/
index.html

The quote that caught my eye and my business sense first is one from Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and chief scientist at Greenspirit strategies. Inc.....

"Forestry is the most sustainable of all the primary industries that supply us with energy and materials...... to address climate change we must use more wood, not less.

Using wood sends signals to the market place to grow more trees"
The emphasis is my own ah-ha moment. Use less paper and the marketplace reacts by planting fewer trees. I get it. Want more green space- create the demand.

Also, I took note of this page from their website and must admit to feeling better about paper after reading it, particularly after upgrading my PC, laptop and smart phone for the third time in as many years.

RAW MATERIALS: ARE THEY SUSTAINABLE?

PAPER: One of the great things about paper is that its primary raw materials are renewable. The paper and forest products industry replenishes more than it takes and ensures the sustainability of our forests by planting 1.7 million trees every single day, more than three times what is harvested. And the U.S. Dept. of Energy has stated that the carbon sequestered on forested lands in 2006 was greater than the carbon released from harvesting wood over the same period.

ELECTRONIC: Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals, including gold, silver and palladium, as well as the extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. The lifespan of a computer is short, and electronics have become the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

So, bottom line. Plan your printing just as you plan other facets of your business printing and don't be deterred by out of date concepts. Sustainability is the new conservation of resources.

Keith

I read the following 68 character TWEET today:

"Loyalty - Evangelism. The be all end all Social Media success metric"

by our friend Dave Neumann, a home town guy done good and now a social media guru down in NY. He is also looking for more Linked IN connections in the internet marketing social media space.

These 68 Characters do sum up very neatly the best of what one can accomplish using Social Media to reach your customers, prospects and therefore, future customers.
Simple at face value but you need to work for understanding so many actions and complexities to finally create a following that is both loyal to you and evangelical about your value-add as a business.

So many people still don't get it but the basics are what matter most. Do Great work; anticipate customer needs -better yet - put yourself in your customer's shoes; ask as many questions as you need to in order to deliver the best possible results; add value everywhere; don't ever overpromise or underdeliver; be reliable; valuable; accessible. Say thank you....and really mean it because if you don't really mean it, someone else will do a better job just because they care more. Don't let that happen or you'll need to find something else to do. There are too many competitors in every field so you better love and live what you do to be the best. Always.

Seems straightforward if not exactly simple. But all the blogs, tweets, facebook fan pages and google rankings in the world won't help you if others don't believe in you.

Sixty Eight characters of truth - but still only a metric. You have to deliver in the real world and in real time for it to matter. The future of communication lives here. Each and every time. The future of printing? It lives here as well.

Keith

Labels: facebook fan page, the future of printing, tweets

WHOLESALE LAYOFF OF SCRIBES. Gutenberg and industrial revolution leads to massive layoffs among scribes. New employment lows. Well, that was AD 1450.

Just recently, we've seen Rupert Murdoch's papers state that they will charge for all sites while Sergey Brin (Google) gives out ANALYTICS for free, because with facts in hand, marketing people spend more.

Showdown at the OK corral? You betcha! So, What's your Google Strategy?

The real change out there that media buyers, marketing and sales organizations need to be aware of is the change from

AN IMPRESSIONS MODEL (think Arbitron and Nielsen)
to
A PAY FOR PERFORMANCE MODEL (think Google adwords)

We're in the print industry. We believe print on paper will continue to decrease. We also believe that we and our clients can grow with the right strategies in place.
Business Communicaton Materials Are they digital, or print or a combination of the two?

Can't find a good scribe anywhere these days, but we sure could use some graphic artists with fast keystroking skills. Darwin rules.

keith

Labels: business communication materials, Google, Rupert Murdoch

Creating and Maintaining a great Business identity. What does that mean? It used to mean Business and marketing collaterals. Letterhead, Stationary, Business cards and the like. A quick call to your local printshop and whip up something consistent and useful.

Social Media - TWITTER, FACEBOOK, YELP, etc. has changed all that. A great business identity today requires these three considerations:

• WHAT DO OTHERS (outside the company) THINK AND SAY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS?
• ARE YOUR PRINTED MATERIALS CONSISTENT WITH YOUR ON-LINE PRESENCE?
  
• WILL YOUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT CONSULT WITH YOUR IT DEPARTMENT AND IF NOT, WHO TAKES THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSURING A CLEAR AND CONSISTENT VOICE (AND PAIR OF EARS)

You may have not noticed, but Massachusetts has become a hotbed of development for Mobile applications - think iPhone and Androids. QR codes (for quick read and delivery of information) are showing up more frequently and have greater value as the apps become available.

If you're not sure what this all means to your advertising, marketing and sales efforts, call us, we can help. We firmly believe that the FUTURE OF PRINTING is here.

For more information on Mass Mobile go to http://massmobile.com
and see --Gregory Bialecki, leading Governor Patrick's Innovation Agenda as Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. It IS that important.

See the amount of activity taking place around us. Consider the implications to your business. We have.

Labels: Future of Printing, Mass Mobile month, QR codes, social media