Change Isn’t Coming, Change Is HERE

The last handwritten letter I got in the mail was from my Grandmother. It was 1993, and I was spending the summer in Texas, and she wrote to tell me all about her Myrtle Beach vacation. I remember how excited I was to open the letter, and read in her own handwriting about how much fun she had. It meant a lot to me. I’m not sure I would place the same value in a Facebook post or a Tweet. Regardless, the way we communicate has changed, and like it or not, change is here to stay.

As consumers of content, we exchange ideas and information in a number of ways. We email, we post, we tweet, we text. We do all of this in compartmentalized chunks of data broken down into (sometimes) 128 characters of type, but no matter far the digital divide continues to expand, we still print things. We print books, we print posters. We like to hold things in our hands. That will never change. What will change is the way we combine traditional methods of delivery (postcards, catalogs, annual reports) with more rapidly developing new media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and even personalized (one-to-one) marketing and print with QR codes and PURLs. What this represents for you is the opportunity to more effectively communicate with your constituencies, your clients, and your coworkers, whether you are educating an audience, or selling a smoothie. As digital printers, we can help you understand, and embrace, the opportunities that are out there.

A lot has changed since 1993. I miss getting hand written letters. I miss picking up the phone and talking to someone instead of sending a twit or a text, but if you think about it, social and digital media have not only changed the way we communicate with each other, they have really changed the way we live our lives. Ready or not, change is here to stay. Deal with it, or be left behind.

OK, I am a printer

OK, I admit it: I am a printer. There, I said it. At my company, we like to call ourselves marketers and communications specialists, but at the end of the day, what we do is put ink on paper. We are printers. Printers used to be like used car salesmen, using slide of hand to trick buyers into upgrading their paper and spending more money, and like used car salesmen, there are some pretty bad printers out there. Me, I like being a printer. I am pretty good at it. I don’t sell lemons.

What does this have to do with the sales and marketing nirvana? Well, actually, a lot. Many people today define themselves by how they want people to perceive them, not by who they actually are, and in a society where consumers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages (over 4000 a day) people are tired of being tricked into buying things they had no intention of buying in the first place. The miracle weight loss pill, the magic squeegee, the “limited time offer”. What message do we send when we market ourselves this way? The message is simple. You can’t afford NOT to buy us. I call BS on that.

Be true to your message. Tell people what you do, and why they should buy from you, and they will either respond, or they won’t. Use too much spin, trick them into buying, and they won’t come back. That is a guarantee. The same is true in real life as it is in business. We all know people who talk one way but act another. We tend to faze them out over time. The same thing is true in printing. Be true to who you are, but also be honest with yourself about who you want to be.