printhog thanks for the straight firing! really appreciate the brutal truth you have pointed out.
OK, I completely get you, and understand where you are coming from. I think its all about the target market all different printers are targeting. So everyone's opinion about the sector is going to be different. My target audience is SME, 98% B2B small businesses, who start their hunt for a supplier online, that cannot afford professional designers, but dont want to pay for design, or simply dont have the time, as at the moment its a grey area in terms of do we pay for design first? what if i dont like it? will i get a refund? can i get unlimited changes? So to make things simple, I will not be the cheapest, but will be very competitive on volume if thats the USP for the client, hence I have more than one site, one for trade/volume no frills, and one for SME's. So I will not be alienating anyone who just needs a print supplier that wants to give volume, and also not too corporate to alienate the SME's, where I think the bigger bucks are on a daily basis.
I have had a look at Circle Graphics, to be honest, I cant get a price without contacting them, let alone addressing any design services. So they must have other websites that can do that, or maybe they dont and rely on resellers and affiliates to make all the money and they just do the donkey work. I am not in this game to do the donkey work on production, I am happy to do the donkey work on design side, which will satisfy a massive SME sector. 90% of my customers would visit Circle Graphics website, take a look around, and move on to the next site which has straight forward pricing, easy design service and a next day delivery option. I hope I am not coming across as arrogant, but like I said, every printer has their own target market and approach to acquiring customers. Its obvious Circle Graphics are hugely successful in the sector they are in, but my approach and my ideal customers are completely different.
Currently 90%+ of my customers are B2B, and 70% are repeat customers who now simply will not buy banners from anywhere else regardless of my price. Like I said, I am not the cheapest, but what I can say, my design is free, I do the donkey work to help SME customers with their design and they stick for good. 35% actually give us their design work for other things, which we charge for.
The model is proven to be successful in the UK. The US market is 3 times bigger in NY alone. My approach and strategy is no secret, its solving a problem, and I believe, if printers dont adapt to online trends, and changing customer buying behavior online, businesses with printers, ink and media alone will be going out of business, or they will be heavily relying on online sellers via a re-seller program or affiliate, hence making very little profit.
I am very delighted with your contribution, I am very passionate so please excuse the over burn! I would really like to keep in touch!
BTW, any advice on which courier company can deliver next day to most states? with a good reputation and also economical? Many Thanks
