The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Online printing company needs marketing ideas

5 Responses

1. garthgibsondotcom Says:
   February 9th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

   One idea.

   Hook up with a charity.

   How about providing free printing supplies
   for kids in the New Orleans school district?

   How about free printing supplies to the kids
   of the Katrina victims? This might give it
   more national interest since Katrina victims are spread out across the nation.

   Oprah is building a whole district for girls
   in South Africa, are you giving her school supplies
   to help her see her dream come true?

   How about a Paper A Day Keeps Dropping Out Away campaign?

   Encourage kids to write one essay a week
   about what they like about themselves.

   Building self esteem lowers drop out rates.

   Supply the paper for them to do it. Maybe best if they do it on some kind of cool looking paper.

   Come up with a cool prize that would appeal to
   the kids.

2. Jaya Schillinger Says:
   February 9th, 2007 at 11:36 pm

   I would like to suggest being as successful as Kinkos–but not being them. Make yourself the “quality” option.

   I’m already a Printing for Less customer, and since I’m a business coach, I send my clients to you as well. Just this week, one of them was thanking me profusely because you treated her so well.

   The thing that makes you unique us that you have these 2 things down pat:
   1. A great online ordering interface.
   2. Fantastic real people that follow up on your order.

   So the high-tech meets high-touch aspect is where you blow Kinko’s away.

   If there was an area where you could expand that, and garner my loyalty for life, then it would be expanding your “green” options, and PUBLICIZING THEM.

   I’m now a certified green business, and was just about to break up with you (sniff, boo-hoo) because I need to go with a recycled paper & soy-based ink printer. What I learned after 6 hours of research, is that I can get greener options than PrintingforLess, but their websites are lame, which makes me nervous. When I emailed my PFL team to say I was sad to go, they said you do have green options, they’re just not online. *sigh* So it’s possible, but I’ve got to work harder to get them. (Bummer, I don’t want to work harder. I like ordering online.)

   ==> So my coaching for you is to basically follow a Whole Foods Market approach. Make your company HUGE, but focus on a Quality/Caring/Green value proposition.

   Sorry for the long comment, Joan. But I’ve been hoping PFL is wanting feedback! I really want to stick with them, while also staying green.

3. Eric Gruber Says:
   February 10th, 2007 at 1:12 am

   Hi Chris:

   If you want to become the first national brand name in the printing industry, then you must collaborate online public relations and traditional public relations methods.

   You should be writing and submitting press releases online directed towards your business audience and not just reporters. You should also be writing and submitting articles online. There are thousands of sites, directories and ezines that accept tips, how to, trends and many other expert advice article submissions. By writing and submitting articles online you will build your prospect list, create a constant flow of traffic to your site, increase branding and exposure on the Net, and improve your SEO rankings all at the same time. For more information on article marketing, check out http://www.articlemarketingexperts.com

4. Mark Rose Says:
   February 14th, 2007 at 3:05 am

   1. print a copy of the Constitution for every homeless person in New York and hire a helicopter to drop them from the sky.

   2. paint every poodle in New York with the logo and phone # of your client.

   3. start a national printing day and have Britney Spears be photographed “commando” while accessing your client’s website.

5. Carolyn Says:
   February 17th, 2007 at 5:23 am

   As head of the Beanery Writers Group I deal with persons who want to self-publish. This is a popular idea today, for better or worse—and I do believe competition will separate the so-called sheep from the goats. For example, our group is unique in that it has a blog, http://www.ProBlogs.com/beanerywriters, which is the top site at ProBlogs.com, receiving 125 hits (and increasing) daily. I believe we’ve reached this lead because we emphasize GOOD writing, regardless of the genre.
   We are not the only writers group with self-published members. Perhaps this is a direction for you to investigate.

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