| What's In Your Closet? By Ryan Pogue |
Are you afraid to open up your marketing closet to see what is really in there? When was the last time you accessed anything that was in
there? Do you ever stand back and ask yourself who purchased all this stuff? The truth is that while your boss is trying to cut costs and
shrink budgets, you are tasked with trying to squeeze the marketing dollar to make it go further in this new economy.
Over the years, owners and marketing professionals are just plain scared to open the infamous closet because they know what they will
see: an extreme waste of paper, time and money! Marketing kit folders that have seen brighter days; brochures by the thousands collecting
dust; stationery with the company’s old logo with an old address – all because they were told they needed to order large quantities just to
get the cost per-piece down to something that company personnel could live with.
In today’s on-demand marketplace, printers respond to corporate needs by producing high-quality collateral pieces that are more efficient in
even small quantities, resulting in much less waste. Many have made substantial investments in high-quality digital presses, and designers
can have 2-color pieces printed up at a fraction of the full-color process pieces you might be accustomed to – without sacrificing the quality
you deserve.
Since you cannot know what the landscape will look like in twelve, six or even three months, you should be prepared to order only enough to
get by and to allocate financial resources to the many other tasks and initiatives which help create more traffic and sales. If you run out, you
can always order reprints. If you have been forced to operate under tighter budget restraints, then you should only be spending to get
through the current market demands and initiatives and be smart about your print purchases.
Throw out the old and bring in the new! If it does not need to be there, have the next printer take it away for you so they can properly
recycle the paper stock. That stuff is just being neglected – use it or lose it! Make sure you get at least two other estimates from
neighborhood printers that can do the job for you. You can guarantee that your customers are shopping and comparing your products or
services, so please don’t be afraid to do the same with your vendors. A good vendor will be looking out for your costs and the bigger picture
– your budget.
Some print brokers, consultants, and the like may suggest you deal with the printer directly, or they will manage the projects individually
based on your needs and actually work for their commissions. It is in their best interest to try and save you money on the production of your
pieces so your budget allows for additional ways to increase exposure, traffic or even sales within the organization. If your printing is
handled out of another department’s budget, stay involved with the process as those dollars directly affect your budget later on!
As you get a handle on what you’re spending for the materials in your closet, you will no longer be afraid to open up that closet in your
office! If you need assistance in recapturing your closet space, please let someone know right away – and start increasing your bottom line
by trimming out the unnecessary spending.
Ryan Pogue is a partner at Birchtree Creative Services, in Gilford, a full-service design and marketing firm and serves on the board of
directors at FocalCast Media, located in Londonderry, NH. For more information on Birchtree, visit www.birchtreecreative.com
or contact Ryan directly at ryan@birchtreecreative.com, 603-387-3308.
there? Do you ever stand back and ask yourself who purchased all this stuff? The truth is that while your boss is trying to cut costs and
shrink budgets, you are tasked with trying to squeeze the marketing dollar to make it go further in this new economy.
Over the years, owners and marketing professionals are just plain scared to open the infamous closet because they know what they will
see: an extreme waste of paper, time and money! Marketing kit folders that have seen brighter days; brochures by the thousands collecting
dust; stationery with the company’s old logo with an old address – all because they were told they needed to order large quantities just to
get the cost per-piece down to something that company personnel could live with.
In today’s on-demand marketplace, printers respond to corporate needs by producing high-quality collateral pieces that are more efficient in
even small quantities, resulting in much less waste. Many have made substantial investments in high-quality digital presses, and designers
can have 2-color pieces printed up at a fraction of the full-color process pieces you might be accustomed to – without sacrificing the quality
you deserve.
Since you cannot know what the landscape will look like in twelve, six or even three months, you should be prepared to order only enough to
get by and to allocate financial resources to the many other tasks and initiatives which help create more traffic and sales. If you run out, you
can always order reprints. If you have been forced to operate under tighter budget restraints, then you should only be spending to get
through the current market demands and initiatives and be smart about your print purchases.
Throw out the old and bring in the new! If it does not need to be there, have the next printer take it away for you so they can properly
recycle the paper stock. That stuff is just being neglected – use it or lose it! Make sure you get at least two other estimates from
neighborhood printers that can do the job for you. You can guarantee that your customers are shopping and comparing your products or
services, so please don’t be afraid to do the same with your vendors. A good vendor will be looking out for your costs and the bigger picture
– your budget.
Some print brokers, consultants, and the like may suggest you deal with the printer directly, or they will manage the projects individually
based on your needs and actually work for their commissions. It is in their best interest to try and save you money on the production of your
pieces so your budget allows for additional ways to increase exposure, traffic or even sales within the organization. If your printing is
handled out of another department’s budget, stay involved with the process as those dollars directly affect your budget later on!
As you get a handle on what you’re spending for the materials in your closet, you will no longer be afraid to open up that closet in your
office! If you need assistance in recapturing your closet space, please let someone know right away – and start increasing your bottom line
by trimming out the unnecessary spending.
Ryan Pogue is a partner at Birchtree Creative Services, in Gilford, a full-service design and marketing firm and serves on the board of
directors at FocalCast Media, located in Londonderry, NH. For more information on Birchtree, visit www.birchtreecreative.com
or contact Ryan directly at ryan@birchtreecreative.com, 603-387-3308.
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listings of Restaurants, Weddings, Female doctors and Hotels. It also includes a number of informational pages with links, articles and RSS feeds
to both local and national websites of interest to women in NH & n. MA.
applaud local women. The core of the magazine is our inspirational women's articles, most of which feature local women but occasionally we are
able to interview national women who we feel provide a unique inspiration for our readers. Our other articles cover topics of interest such as food
recipes, home, garden, beauty, health, fashion, dating, parenting, seniors, finance, business, hair care, skin care, advice, real estate, insurance,
weddings etc. Each issue has a feature section as well. Many of our articles are written by local business people who provide information
relevant to their business expertise. The Applaud Women website is also a resource center for local women including the most comprehensive
listings of Restaurants, Weddings, Female doctors and Hotels. It also includes a number of informational pages with links, articles and RSS feeds
to both local and national websites of interest to women in NH & n. MA.
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