One of the best things about living in this day and age is the amazing amount of technology that we have available at our fingertips. Take the printing businesses of today versus printing business of 25 years ago. Printers of times past were only able to provide a very limited number of services, mainly basic printing and copying. However, today’s modern printers offer more than just printing, they offer complete business solutions. Below is a brief list of services offered by most printers today.

Website Development

Initially, many small to medium sized business owners opt to develop their site in-house, using off-the-shelf software, only to discover later that building a successful and profitable website requires time and a specialized skill set that their organization does not have. A professional developer can analyze your business to make the most appropriate suggestions for your business’ specific needs. The developer can then implement matching solutions using industry standard technologies. Also, a professional developer can analyze your business to make the most appropriate suggestions for your business’ specific needs. The developer can then implement matching solutions using industry standard technologies.

 

Advertising & Marketing Pieces

A good design staff can take your ideas, words, or images and produce eye-catching promotional pieces. Or, if you already have camera-ready art, they can print or copy your document on a variety of stocks. Printers can design and print business cards that incorporate your personal or company identity or create a corporate identity package for you, with an integrated system of business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. By using color, photos, charts and illustrations, printers can create newsletters, websites, brochures, manuals, catalogs, and booklets that demand attention. Generally, all that you need to do is bring your files on nearly any storage medium and tell let the graphic deign or printing staff know what you want. Then, they can print it, revise it, or change the layout and graphics.

 

Direct Mail

While direct mail is an important part of any marketing campaign, it is critical for your piece to catch the eye of your prospective customer or it will get tossed in the trash without being read. If you’re planning to use direct mail as part of your marketing campaign, consider using a graphic designer to develop your direct mail piece in order to develop an entire campaign. When it comes down to it, a graphic designer can create a marketing piece for less time and likely for a lower cost than doing it yourself. More importantly, using a graphic designer to create your marketing campaign pieces frees you up to focus on your core responsibilities of being a business owner.

 

Graphic Design

A graphic designer has the marketing expertise and tools to create a creative marketing piece that effectively delivers your message.  A graphic designer can work with you to design the right promotional piece for your budget and audience, whether it’s a simple postcard mailer or a full color brochure. You might think that you can create a marketing piece that is “good enough” yourself. But unless you’re a graphic design and marketing expert, and you have the necessary tools, how can you be sure that your effort will be effective? And is “good enough” sufficient for your marketing?

 

Online Quoting and Ordering

Many digital print and graphic centers now offer customers the ability to price and order their marketing and print materials online. This allows business owners to have a better idea of the costs of their projects prior to being completed, as well as the convenience of being able to regulate shipping dates, times and costs. Now business owners can have high-quality marketing materials delivered to their door, without ever having to leave the office, giving them more time to focus on other aspects of their business.

 

Promotional Items

Generally, your local print provider will be able to provide you with a catalog of the promotional items that they are able to produce for you to use to promote brands, products, and corporate identity. Many companies use these items as giveaways at events, such as exhibitions, trade shows and product launches. Almost anything can be branded with a company’s name or logo and used for promotion. Common items include t-shirts, caps, key chains, posters, bumper stickers, pens, mugs, or mouse pads – there are hundreds of thousands of items!

 

Shipping, Mailing & Postal Services

As an added convenience, many print centers now offer the ability to mail and ship items directly from the center, offering store owners another source of revenue, as well as providing an added convenience for the center’s customers.

Scanning, Data Back-up & Digital Files

Photo and document scanning is now available at many printing and graphics centers. Due to the amount of physical space that hundreds of documents take up, as well as the fact that important photos and documents may be lost due to fire or water damage, or even just poor organization, this service is becoming more and more popular with customers.   This service can save customers storage space, time and money.