Question

Topic: Strategy

Printing Services

Posted by rav.jaiya on 8/30/2013 at 1:11 PM ET 500 Points
Dear Sir or Madam,

PRINTING SERVICES

I am an experienced Sales & Marketing Professional and have recently created a Unique website with creative/bespoke Greeting/Invitation cards. The designs are Unique as they appear in 3d style, reflections, shadows and shading, giving each design more appeal.

Whilst this is more of a hobby, I fully understand the fierce competition in the marketplace, survival through uniqueness and differentiation.

My site is complete with a Corporate, yet professional website, eye-catching logo, new designs added regularly to the creative portfolio, the ability for clients to create individual customisation of cards, text style, fonts, pre-defined verses, own verses, cards sent to the customer or recipient etc...

The issue I am facing now is how do I go about Printing these designs with economies of scale.

SCENARIO
On a typical day I may receive the following orders:-

Day 1
10 x Valentines Cards
50 x Wedding Invitation Cards
1 x Retirement Card

Day 2
20 x Halloween Greeting Cards
30 x Kids Birthday Invitation Cards

I've printed off some sample designs for my portfolio.

QUESTIONS

1. As orders may vary each day, I'm seeking advise on the best way for me to approach printing in this instance. Would it be better for me to negotiate some sort of rolling printing contract with a local supplier? Or a national printing supplier? Have boxes of cards readily printed, then print the inserts/text when the card is required?

I want to achieve maximum economies scale and impressive ROI, for my initial costings, in terms of income and expenditure. I would strongly appreciate recommendations?

2. Copyright of my designs. I have WATERMARKED my designs on my website, so clients cannot just log- on the site and steal my designs without making a purchase. What other steps could I take to protect my identity, website and confidentiality?

I trust the above makes sense and I'm happy to elaborate further if required.

Kind regards,


Rav



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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/30/2013 at 7:54 PM Accepted
    As this is a marketing forum, it's unlikely many of the experts will have expertise regarding printing efficiencies. If it was me, I'd consult with a number of local (smaller) printers and consult with them about how to make things a win-win (speed - quality - price).

    Regarding copyrights - just because you have one doesn't mean people can't (or won't try) to copy your original work. The challenge is twofold - 1) identifying copycats and 2) being willing to prosecute them (perhaps internationally). It's a challenge that requires deep pockets to pay for the legal fees.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 8/30/2013 at 9:43 PM Accepted
    Registering a trademark and then every design may be cost prohibitive. Short of anchoring JPEGs on your site pages in such a way that they can't simply be copied and pasted into Photoshop, a watermark may be your best bet to protect your intellectual property.

    As for printing your stock, you may want to work with a local printer and then ask them to store your stock (for a fee) until you're ready to insert whatever custom text customers ask for. Another option is print on demand, so that you print only what's needed as and when it's ordered. This way you trim costs on production and you don't have to carry inventory. Your ROI will depend on your overheads, your mark-up, and on your price point. What kind of print are your looking for? Offset will give you a range of options in terms of images, but letterpress will give your range a more distinctive look. The downside to print on demand is that it's often a digital, ink-free process. What look are you going for and what look do you want to be know for? On top of these questions, where in the world are you and who is your ideal buyer (and where are your ideal buyers)?
  • Posted by Moriarty on 8/31/2013 at 5:47 AM Accepted
    This clearly comes down to your costs. I know of several companies offering the sort of service you are, and have in-house digital printing to this end. They've costed things out so that they outsource their services to an offset printer when demand has been generated.

    As to costs, that's not something that's easy to determine. My suggestion would be to either lease some equipment or buy second hand and upgrade as funds allow. Leasing will give you a clearer idea of costs, when your office, staffing and the rest are all considered. Speaking to some local printers would allow you to see where their services become optimal. Obviously they're going to have a very different price structure from van den Bergh who are 300m down the road from me!

    As to copyright, that's fine only my approach has always been to offer service and quality products - yielding customer satisfaction. This trumps copyright every time, and will trump your competition for those who appreciate those aspects of your services. This is taking you away from the price comparisons so beloved of undifferentiated corporates like supermarkets.

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 8/31/2013 at 9:32 AM Member
    In a court of law (should it ever come to you being in such a situation), you'll find that registered copyright trumps customer satisfaction.
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