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Hotline Cy: Door Openers to Books
Crouser Report OnLine April 14, 1996
Transmitted from Owensboro, Kentucky
Cy s Hotline Newsletter is presented as an additional service. If you would
like a brochure on the Helene s Hotline source database (BFP) and/or the Ad
Specialty database (ADBFP), email Hotlinecy@aol.com your request for BFP
BROCHURE and include your fax number and address.
When I go to trade shows I spend a great deal of my time looking for obscure
potential profit centers or ideas that the small to medium size printer can
take advantage of.
One nifty little item I ran into at the recent Atlanta Show was in Aaron
Hyte s EMA booth (Envelope Mart of Atlanta).
Down in the lower corner of Aaron s display of envelopes he produces was a
little 2.25x3.5 Tyvek envelope. Nope, it wasn t a floral envelope, but rather
a credit card protective envelope.
Some time back I received my updated American Express card in one of these
envelopes. I never thought much about it at the time, but for several years I
have kept my card in that little protective envelope. After literally
hundreds of times in and out of my wallet that little envelope is as good and
as servicable as it was the day I received it. It shows a little scuffing and
it s a little dirtier than it was the day I received it, but for all
practical purposes it is as good as new.
The envelope protects the magnetic stripe as well as keeping the card looking
like new.
Prospects are banks, credit unions, savings and loans, department stores that
have their own credit cards, country clubs, etc. It even is a pretty nice and
inexpensive ad specialty item that you could have your own imprint on and put
on your front counter for customers to pick up. Every time they use their
credit card your name is in front of them.
Rather than going into a potential customer s office and offering to quote on
whatever printing requirements they might have, go in with the idea of
presenting them with a new idea. Once you get your foot in the door, go after
the rest of their business. If you would like to follow up on this, you can
reach Aaron at (800) 347-7921, or fax him at (404) 355-4083. Tell him you
heard about it from Helene s Hotline.
Speaking of new ideas, many printers are familiar with the various companies
who offer newsletter shells that you can add your own name to and mail
monthly to your customers. My favorite one is one that I used off and on for
the over 35 years I had my own printing company, Printer s Idea Service
(PIS).
In addition to the monthly newsletter PIS also includes in their
subscription camera ready art for a number of different items that you can
offer to your customers. The sale of a single one of these ideas will more
than pay for the monthly service. Some of the ones I have used over the years
that come to mind are: a little brochure for churches to give members the
opportunity to check off some things they would like to see the church get
involved in; a pocket size folder for gift shops or department stores to give
to their male customers so they can keep a record of their loved one s sizes;
boilerplate ads for various service companies; and more, and more, and more.
After being a subscriber for several years you will have a very nice
collection of things that you will find is exactly right for that particular
customer. The thing I liked best about PIS is that while the ideas they offer
are timely, they are also not timely. In other words, there were occasions
when I went back to artwork I received from them 25 years ago and used that
artwork to open the door to a new account.
You can go into a customer and tell them that you want to quote on their
printing requirements or you can go in with a new idea. I think that Dave
Fellman, our industry s sales guru, would agree that the right new idea will
go much further in helping you capture that new account and endear you to
your existing accounts.
Printer s Idea Service can be contacted at (402) 558-6133 or by fax at (402)
558-0017. Their address is 2106 Military Ave., Omaha, NE 68101.
Quite often I receive inquiries from printers around the company who either
want me to bid on a short run book (which I don t do any more since I sold my
printing company) or give them ideas as to how they might more economically
produce the job in house or outsource it.
A recent inquiry came from Ed Fogde of Tehama Trader Plus, Red Bluff,
California.
Ed s requirement was for either 300 or 500 copies of a 200 page book, printed
in black ink on white 60# offset. It has 6 tab dividers and the front cover
is printed on 80# coated stock, one side. Trim size is 8.5x5.5 and the tabs
and cover have a 1/2
tab extension. The books are to be spiral bound.
My suggestions follow...
Ed:
Thanks for the opportunity to quote on your cookbook. Unfortunately it
doesn t fall in the area where I could be competitive as a trade shop because
of the index tabs. I would have to outsource those. Also, if you are talking
about wire spiral, I do not have that capability.
This would be a very easy job to do in house if you have a good high speed or
mid range copier (providing there are no photos and all copy is black on the
insides).
Set your pages up on 8.5x11 - 2up. That is 2 of page 1 on one sheet, 2 of
page 2 on the next, etc. You will have 200 originals. Since you need prices
on 300 and 500 books, you would price it as 150 or 250 sets (you are getting
2 out of one 8.5x11.)
I used a Xerox 5365, but someone like Richard Dana at Copies Tomorrow in
Houston could do it for much less on his Kodak high speed copiers. Richard
owns his copiers and as an ex-Kodak service man, does all of his own service
on them. Thus his rate of under $.02 per click (netting you less than $.01
per click because you are getting 2 out of each 8.5x11.)
Richard can be reached at: 800-733-5247 or (713) 999-1006.
Print your covers offset and have a local bindery produce your tabs.
Your 200 page cookbook will come out sorted correctly, so all you have to do
is cut the sorted books in half, insert the tabs, and send it back to the
bindery to do the spiral binding. Send the covers separate - not collated.
What you would be getting prices on would be the following:
300 and 500 8.5x6 (8.5x5.5 plus a 1/2
tab extension
)
covers *15,000 2-sided
copies for your 300 run or
25,000 2-sided copies for your 500 run
300 or 500 sets of 6 tabs printed 2-sides
Inserting the cover, punch and spiral bind
You could take a 30-40% markup easily on this job even in a competitive area.
If you are in the boonies, I would go for 50%. Even better, try and find out
what the customer s budget is and come close to that price.
Don t forget to include any shipping charges and take your markup on those
charges also.
Turn around time should be two to three days outside at the copy shop, no
more than a week at the bindery, plus your shipping time.
I have done scores of cookbooks like this and to an individual my customers
love the quality and the price.
Things to watch out for...
If you aren t doing the high speed copying in-house, make certain you are
dealing with someone who knows what he is doing. I like dealing with Richard
Dana because more often than not he has saved my butt when I had left out a
blank page or ended up sending a page that had a mark of some kind or another
that we had overlooked.
Don t try to use this process on halftones unless your customer is willing
to settle for the lower quality. I did a $5,000 family history book for a
customer who not only loved the price, but also the way the photos turned
out. Her previous book was printed offset by a very sloppy printer. She still
refers people to my shop (which I don t own any longer). Make certain they
approve the quality of the copier output - not your original.
Don t brag about the fact you are running the job on a copier. Many lay
people have the wrong perception of the quality that can be achieved on
today s machines and feel they are getting a lower quality product. Also,
your competition can brag about how they are quoting on a
printed
book
while you are quoting on a
photocopy
.
I would always run one copy of the book on the paper the customer desired
and have them check it and sign off on it - letting them know that this was
not a proof, but an actual copy of the finished product.
Good luck...
C.D.
Cy
Stapleton
Helene s Hotline
Commercial...Having the Hotline database on your own computer will probably
be the best $99 investment you have ever made towards adding identifiable
profit to your bottom line. For a descriptive brochure, email me with the
message HOTLINE BROCHURE and leave me your fax number. The software has a
30-day no questions asked money back guarantee and with over 3,000 copies now
sold, I have yet to have anyone take advantage of this return policy
guarantee (other than a couple of Mac users who did not understand that the
software was a DOS program that required the Mac utility SoftPC or one of the
later Macs with the dual chip).
C.D.
Cy
Stapleton
Helene s Hotline
Box 151107, Lufkin, TX 75915
Fax (409) 637-7475
Email - hotlinecy@aol.com
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Crouser & Associates - Helping Printers Prosper Since 1985
Crouser & Associates Performance Group program includes two on-site evaluations
by Tom Crouser each year along with two group meetings. Management training is held during the group
meetings along with participation in a meeting with non-competing printers. Join others who have decided
to run their business instead of the business running them. Reply to by Email to
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