The stores at Brookpark Farm include a
golf shop, tack room, nut company, antique shop, pet supply store and the
signature store--the Pennsylvania House Outlet and Gallery. The renovated barn
serves as an outlet for the furniture-maker's collections. When Brookpark Farm's
owner decided to market the idyllic barnyard shops, he needed a brochure that
complemented the shopping village's country atmosphere. He turned to Donna
Fisher, owner of A-1 Business Forms, a distributorship in Lewisburg, Pa.
Fisher, who started her company in 1998
after a long career with Moore Corp., worked hand in hand with the owner of
Brookpark Farm to plan and design the ideal brochure for his shops. They opted
for a 2-color trifold brochure printed on cream-colored 80# Mohawk Tomahawk
paper.
The front of the understated brochure depicts Brookpark Farm's logo, a rendering of the barn's spires in forest green. The front also includes the shopping village's address. Inside the brochure is information about the stores, including a detailed section on the Pennsylvania House Outlet and Gallery. The back of the brochure is imprinted with a map of the shopping area.
Brookpark Farm ordered 15,000 black-and-green brochures. It will place the brochures on site as well as at Lewisburg's Travelers Bureau; the Susquehanna Valley Visitors Bureau; and Country Cupboard, another shopping village operated by Brookpark Farm's owner.
Striking a Chord
Many distributors want to be known for offering image-enhancing marketing solutions, not just business printing. They've turned to commercial printing for higher prestige--and higher profits. It's a market ripe with opportunity, as more end users are promoting their capabilities with 4-color brochures, posters, catalogs, newsletters, fliers, coupons, post cards and other commercially printed pieces.
Commercial printing is ideal for creative distributors. "I'm an artsy person," Fisher says. "If you're creative and into design like I am, then commercial printing is a great product line."
Document professionals once considered commercial printing a distant cousin to business forms. Today, as end users reduce their vendor lists, it represents an increasingly large segment of the industry. Many distributors say commercial printing has rejuvenated their businesses. Commercial printing allows for seemingly endless design and application possibilities. In addition, with the advent of desktop publishing systems and digital presses, commercial printing has become more affordable, allowing small and medium-sized distributorships to compete with larger ones that have traditionally dominated the field.
Another advantage of commercial printing is the bond it helps to foster between distributorships and customers. It's one thing to provide a client with a kind of document it can get anywhere; distributors say it's more impressive to provide pieces that help a firm look better or make money.
Singing the Blues
With reputation playing a large role in commercial printing, landing a first job can be intimidating for distributors. To gain experience, they often start small, with a flier or brochure, and use that job as a springboard to larger accounts.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of commercial printing is the attention to detail it necessitates. Distributors often must become project managers, coordinating the efforts of ad agencies, photographers, freelance artists and even models. What's more, marketing and sales managers often feel personally connected to commercial printing pieces. As a result, they often scrutinize projects.
In addition, prepress snags also are common during commercial printing production. Projects can run into problems when text and graphics are supplied on disk, especially if those disks come from multiple parties.
* Make ordering commercial printing
easy.
Some customers may avoid commercial printing because they have misconceptions: They imagine their only options are expensive 4-color pieces. But distributors can offer options for lower costs and still provide great-looking marketing materials. To cut art costs, Donna Fisher, owner of distributorship A-1 Business Forms, Lewisburg, Pa., provides customers with clip art. She owns the Dover Electronic Clip Art Series, a library of CDs with non-copyrighted artwork, frames, borders, decorative ornaments and more.
* Don't underestimate the time involved.
Most commercial printing jobs require a great deal of time and attention. In addition to proofing projects and waiting for client approvals, distributors often must hire designers, photographers and copywriters.
* Take control.
Commercial printing distributors must aim to control jobs from the start. Instead of trying to add value with quick deliveries, talk to clients about redesigning their logos or developing new ideas for their brochures.
* Don't forget the final acts.
Even the most fabulous printing job can become a disaster if the project isn't finished properly. Inexact trimming or a botched collating job can ruin a project and your chances for a repeat customer. It's a good idea to know the finishing services a project needs, such as collating, tabbing, folding, trimming, stapling, saddle-stitching, perfect binding, spiral binding and gluing, and to let your customer know that those processes take time.
* Know your customers' expectations.
It's up to you to make sure your customers have realistic expectations. Does the quality they want match the amount they're willing to pay? Do they want the project sooner than it can be delivered? Knowing these answers can help prevent unnecessary problems.
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