I have two custom printing clients who are bucking the trends. They are self publishing books, but they want me to hook them up with offset printing companies. They have chosen not to self-publish with online, on-demand printing companies. They do not want to send their custom printing jobs to vendors in China. They want actual ink on paper, printed locally.
I read an article today suggesting that on-line flyers would replace print flyers, not immediately, but in the next five to ten years.
When you read a magazine or catalog, you're thinking about content: the message it imparts, the articles, photos, and perhaps even the ads. When the publisher of the magazine looks at an issue, he or she must think about ways to pay for producing the magazine. This funding may include ads other companies have paid to insert in the magazine, but it may also include marketing items for the magazine itself. Subscription offers fall into this category, and there are several ways to add these promotional cards to a print catalog or a magazine.
On a recent trip to Ocean City I made it a point to determine exactly what kind of custom printing market existed. I wanted to expand my print brokering reach into this Maryland city, and I was doing some market research. I was able to enter the environment as an objective observer and identify what was, and what was not, being printed and to see how this reflected the characteristics of the audience, the visitors to this ocean resort town.
People say that print is dead, but I know better. Every time I look in the mailbox, I have a stack of mail.
From what I have read in trade journals, direct mail magazines, on-line news, and Post Office publications, although the stream of First Class mail has slowed down (due to online banking and email), direct mail marketing has actually increased its scope. And what better, cheaper, and more effective mode of direct mail can you choose than marketing postcards? Particularly when combined with Internet landing pages.
A client of mine recently reprinted a small booklet. It actually wasn't due to any errors. The book was just very popular, and she had run out of copies. My client had initially printed 300 each of two versions (one in Spanish and one in English) at a custom printing vendor with both offset and digital equipment.