AI & AEO April 20, 2026
Why Your Content Needs a Human Behind It
Something interesting is happening in print industry marketing. Businesses that went all-in on AI-generated content are starting to feel the ground shift beneath them. Our SEO analysis recently flagged something worth noting: AI-generated content may not maintain its search rankings as well as expert-written content.
Content Marketing November 7, 2024
Don't Just Slap 'Marketing' on a Salesperson's Title and Hope for the Best: A Conversation with Patrick Whelan
Most B2B sales are a two-part process. Marketing is what happens before the buyer contacts you (part one). Sales is what happens after (part two). A printer's salesperson only has control over part two, and that's the shortest window in the B2B sale.
Content Marketing October 11, 2023
Unlocking Print Sales Growth: Mastering the 3 Fundamentals of Content Marketing
57% of the selling process is completed for buyers before a company has a chance to interact with them. This means that print providers need to inject themselves into the sales process much earlier. Forgo targeting the 3% ready to buy now and, instead, go after the 97% who aren't. Be the brand they reach out to. A simple content marketing strategy can achieve this.
Content Marketing June 2, 2020
Content Marketing is Surging
During the last few months, digital content in the form of blogs, social media, and email was highly effective at allowing companies to stay engaged with mostly remote audiences. With some degree of distancing now part of our foreseeable future (possibly culture), this trend will continue. Do not ignore this. Your only choice is change!
Content Marketing January 28, 2020
5 Thoughts on Marketing Your Print and Mail Services
Make sure to utilize current trends and technologies. Are your website and email efforts optimized for mobile? Employ a multichannel strategy to engage your target audience, including, but not limited to, print, email, website, and social media. Ignoring even one of these can hurt your credibility and create a competitive disadvantage. Don't allow that.
Content Marketing December 18, 2019
3 Things Printers Must Know to Grow in 2020
Commit to being the catalyst for growth in 2020. Utilize content marketing to build awareness and position your brand as the trusted resource. Don't let your website put you at a competitive disadvantage: 67% of prospects go there first to form opinions about your company.
Branding January 18, 2019
Focus on Marketing and Branding Instead of Selling
Today, as in the past, there are too many service providers chasing too few jobs. Many still believe that the answer to survival is finding a new salesperson who promises a large book of business or perhaps a better motivated and skilled sales staff that excels at prospecting, time management, and closing. The answer, however, lies elsewhere. Today's providers can generate greater revenues by focusing more on marketing and less on selling.
Customer Retention December 19, 2018
3 Simple Ways to Grow Print Sales in 2019
Commit to growth in 2019! In many cases, this also requires a commitment to being a change agent. The following are three things to consider as you plan for a successful 2019:
Customer Retention May 10, 2018
The Opportunities for Print Providers
Don't rely on business growth to come from an improving economy or from finding the next great salesperson. Print providers need to be the catalysts for growth. They need to utilize marketing to differentiate themselves and give their sales staff a competitive advantage.
Content Marketing March 28, 2018
Where Most Print Sales Are Lost
Credibility and trust begin at your website. Your website is the first place that 67% of prospects visit. Even existing customers are influenced by your site. Many sales are lost there. Conversely, having an active website will give you an advantage over many of your competitors.
Customer Retention January 18, 2018
Client Retention: The Case for Customer Engagement
Commercial printing has always had a sales-focused culture. When it comes to growing their businesses, printers have always invested heavily in sales training focused on prospecting and closing techniques. While these skills are important, the ability to retain existing clients has a much greater impact on your ability to grow sales.
Customer Retention October 5, 2017
3 Marketing Ideas for the Fall Season
Sell your customers on the role print plays in an effective marketing strategy. Print companies that had double-digit growth last year supported their sales efforts with marketing collateral. Content is king. Sell client retention programs for a truly unique selling proposition.
Content Marketing September 7, 2017
4 Quick Marketing Tips to Grow Sales
I want to tell you about four quick tips I recently shared with my clients. The first is a key take away from research produced by InfoTrends (Lisa Cross and Kate Dunn) that identified best practices from print providers that experienced double-digit sales growth in the past 12 months.'While engaging potential customers in person is essential, it is also important to support those efforts with printed and digital communications to create a productive sales force.' (Source link)
Customer Retention March 28, 2017
3 Quick Thoughts on Marketing Print and Direct Mail Services
I wanted to share a few thoughts on marketing your print and direct mail services. See Me, Trust Me, Like Me is your marketing objective. The customer's perception is your reality. 80% of the buying process is complete before a prospect makes contact with you.
Direct Mail & Print April 7, 2015
Google's 4/21 Deadline and 4 Other Quick Marketing Tips
1. Less than two years ago, Google's new Hummingbird algorithm shook the SEO world. As usual, there was no advance notice. The next big event will be 4/21. This time, Google has given notice. If your company website is not mobile friendly by this date, it will have an adverse effect on your search rankings. Not sure if your site is mobile friendly? Google provides this simple tool to let you know if it meets their mobile-friendly standards. Don't wait. Try it now here.
Branding October 24, 2014
LinkedIn and 3 Other Marketing Musings for Printers
Do you have a LinkedIn strategy? If not, you should. To get the most out of your marketing content you can't stop at mailing, emailing, and posting to your website. Leverage LinkedIn both from a company standpoint and an individual standpoint. Do you use Slideshare to share content on LinkedIn?
Branding October 2, 2014
How 4 Printers are Growing Their Businesses
In the last 2 weeks, I’ve witnessed and spoken with printers who are reporting fantastic results. Here is a summary of what four of them have done.
Branding June 10, 2014
Effective Content Marketing Grows Print Sales
At the end of the day, it's all about trust. Most often, people will give the job to the company they feel has the greatest amount of competency and then come up with ways to justify not giving it to someone else. The most effective way to influence your brand is to produce content that reflects your expertise. This means content that is better, more relevant and more sophisticated than any of your competitors. Use this content for both inbound and outbound marketing efforts.
Content Marketing April 6, 2014
If I Were A Printer
Here are some things I would absolutely do. I would make sure that my website was better than any of my competitors. I'd obsess about this, plan quarterly meetings to discuss improvements, and make sure new content was being added at least monthly.
Content Marketing December 31, 2013
2014: The Outlook and Opportunities for Print Providers
This is a copy of the end-of-year letter I recently sent to all of my clients at Great Reach Communications. I wanted to share this with everyone because I think it contains valuable, actionable advice that can be utilized regardless of whether you are a client or not.
Social Media December 20, 2013
10 Marketing Ideas to Help Printers Prosper in '14
Take the challenge and be the catalyst for change in 2014. Try at least four of these ideas for six months and see what happens. I'd love to hear your results and get your feedback. We can help you implement several of these if you choose.
Branding November 13, 2013
Most Often It's About Trust, Not Price
Brand is simply a mental creation to help people understand one company and its services over another. How aware are people of all your services? If you still hear 'I didn't know you could do that', chances are your branding efforts are failing.
Content Marketing October 8, 2013
Five Things You Need to Know About Content
These days content marketing is the big buzz. I've spent the last 18 years providing content marketing solutions to the print industry so this is an area of expertise for me. If you are currently utilizing or plan on utilizing content to help grow your business, here are 5 quick things to think about.
Content Marketing March 4, 2013
How to Become ConTENT with Your CONtent
Content Marketing has quickly become one of the most vital parts of any online marketing strategy. Businesses are discovering that they can generate significant returns by creating their own blogs, videos, newsletters, white papers and other content.
Content Marketing January 9, 2013
5 Quick Things Printers Should Know About Content Marketing
Create content with your customers' needs in mind rather than the needs of SEO, your company newsletter or social media. Too many companies are misdirecting their focus. If it doesn't present strong value to your customers, then it's not going to help you with the other areas either.
Content Marketing December 4, 2012
9 Tips to Improve Your Website's Effectiveness
Your company website is the FIRST place prospects go to evaluate you. How does your site compare to those of your competitors? Are you putting your company at a competitive disadvantage right from the start? Here are some things to consider: