16 replies to this topic

[ridety]

Okay, since my other thread wasn't interesting enough to garner much response I'm gonna' try again a little different. The thread title reference to a bikini was a blatant ploy to get you to read.:D

So anyway, I've been thinking a whole lot the last couple of years about diversifying my offerings to include other advertising services.

(Currently we do promotional products (app. 66% of revenue), some full color paper printing in-house (22%), and large format printing in-house (12%). (I have 1 full time customer service person and 1 full time graphic artist, and a little part time help). (Our customer base is mainly small-medium businesses...)

Given the trend in print...and the trend toward margin erosion in promotional products, it would seem wise to hedge my bet on this industry and tweak my business model with an investment in similar product/services. Plus trying new stuff where I don't know what the heck I'm doing, helps me avoid burnout. :o

My big idea is to leverage my existing customer base. (&/or, of course, leverage the knowledge I've gained from 10 years in this industry &/or our in-house capabilities).

But I'm convinced I don't need more customers.... I need my current customer base to spend more.

Here's what I've considered:

~Indoor Advertising (Franchise and Independent)

~Outdoor Advertising Brokering

~SEO services

~Email Marketing services

~Website design/hosting


Two more ideas that wouldn't necessarily leverage my existing customer base that much...but I've still thought about them...

~A website that is focused on a very narrow product line that we could produce in-house (i.e.- www.postersyesterday.com)

~A website that is focused on a very narrow product line that we Don't produce in-house (i.e. www.emergencynumbermagnets.com)


What do you guys think?

Any of you have big success selling any of the above?

Have any horror story?

-Thanks in advance for your replies!

[jimknecht]

Put up or shut up... where's the bikini? :D

With your industry experience, plus a full time graphic artist, I would lean toward developing websites... not just for your clients but the industry. I would consider building websites for both distributors & suppliers. Anyone can pretty much throw together something, but it takes more to build a killer site... one that actually does what you want it to do.

Take me for example, & if it makes you feel better, imagine me in a bikini. :) No, lets not go there. However I am dissatisfied with my site & am just getting ready to start on a redo. Don't have a clue how to do it, but I know I will use the DC platform, especially since all my product data is there. I have two experienced distributors helping... one with the DC website itself & the other with graphics.

Point is, there are lots of smaller companies out there that could use assistance in developing web/internet based advertising. That includes websites & email fliers. IMO, it is hard to go outside the industry as they don't know how all this works.

[ridety]

jimknecht said:

Put up or shut up... where's the bikini? :D

With your industry experience, plus a full time graphic artist, I would lean toward developing websites... not just for your clients but the industry. I would consider building websites for both distributors & suppliers. Anyone can pretty much throw together something, but it takes more to build a killer site... one that actually does what you want it to do.

Take me for example, & if it makes you feel better, imagine me in a bikini. :) No, lets not go there. However I am dissatisfied with my site & am just getting ready to start on a redo. Don't have a clue how to do it, but I know I will use the DC platform, especially since all my product data is there. I have two experienced distributors helping... one with the DC website itself & the other with graphics.

Point is, there are lots of smaller companies out there that could use assistance in developing web/internet based advertising. That includes websites & email fliers. IMO, it is hard to go outside the industry as they don't know how all this works.

Thanks for the quick reply, Jim. And for not posting your bikini pics here...

I understand your rationale above...the struggle (for us here) in that regard would be that even though we straight up rock at traditional graphic design for print work...

We don't have the experience at web design...seo...or even email marketing...

To clarify, I'm considering SELLING those services...but I don't really want to do the production in-house...

You know, kinda' like your average lazy promo products distributor... we just wanna' get the money...we don't want to do the work!:)

[jimknecht]

ridety said:

You know, kinda' like your average lazy promo products distributor... we just wanna' get the money...we don't want to do the work!:)

You said it... not me. :tongue:

[tmertz]

Ty,

I would think most Distributors could very successfully expand their offerings to their customers.

We are seeing Distributors enjoy a lot of success offering direct mail marketing. In tough times businesses want to focus their marketing and direct mail allows this to happen. In addition competition for the readers attention is at all time lows in the mailbox.

You can host as many Customer websites as you wish in DC. We are looking at changing the functionality so that if you want to give your customer more DC functionality such as web editing or product setup they will log-in to your domain or their domain and not DC. They would be able to create e-commerce sites using the fulfillment child account type. Currently you can setup their products for them, with this code change you could give them more capabilities when they log in. Currently Distributors should not be giving their Customers log in into DistributorCentral.

There are a number of website designers very familiar with DC functionality on the PARTNERS tab of DC before you log-in. If you have a customer that would generate a lot of national traffic or has a lot of products contact DC for rates on hosting.

In addition we should be releasing Personalized URL functionality latter in the year. This is where on a direct mail piece using variable data you would tell the customer to go to www.distributortalk.com\tommertz for example. With personalized URL functionality you can track EVERY person that responds to the direct mail piece but may not buy. On a direct mail campaign the advertiser may be able to get 30% to visit the website. Maybe only 1% purchase. The other 29% are interested parties that are solid leads.

I have seen talented Distributors such as your self be very successful offering a wider range of services to your customers.

[LogoSteve]

ahhhhhh...just got a great idea for niche website for you Jim....

www.BikiniJimStadiumCups.com
(now that's branding all the WAY to the end user)


Jim...Go get your bikini outfit today
and you can compete with that Megafast guy at
the next trade show.

:rolleyes:

[LogoSteve]

tmertz said:

Ty,

I would think most Distributors could very successfully expand their offerings to their customers.

We are seeing Distributors enjoy a lot of success offering direct mail marketing. In tough times businesses want to focus their marketing and direct mail allows this to happen. In addition competition for the readers attention is at all time lows in the mailbox.

You can host as many Customer websites as you wish in DC. We are looking at changing the functionality so that if you want to give your customer more DC functionality such as web editing or product setup they will log-in to your domain or their domain and not DC. They would be able to create e-commerce sites using the fulfillment child account type. Currently you can setup their products for them, with this code change you could give them more capabilities when they log in. Currently Distributors should not be giving their Customers log in into DistributorCentral.

There are a number of website designers very familiar with DC functionality on the PARTNERS tab of DC before you log-in. If you have a customer that would generate a lot of national traffic or has a lot of products contact DC for rates on hosting.

In addition we should be releasing Personalized URL functionality latter in the year. This is where on a direct mail piece using variable data you would tell the customer to go to www.distributortalk.com\tommertz for example. With personalized URL functionality you can track EVERY person that responds to the direct mail piece but may not buy. On a direct mail campaign the advertiser may be able to get 30% to visit the website. Maybe only 1% purchase. The other 29% are interested parties that are solid leads.

I have seen talented Distributors such as your self be very successful offering a wider range of services to your customers.

Tom, Thanks for sharing...I like your VISION !

[twistededge]

I see what you're going for, but wouldn't it be less work to leverage your current offerings and get customers to spend more on things they might get from other people because they don't know you do it.

Call the customer and ask how business is going. Thank them for their previous order of promotional products/printing etc and then SPECIFICALLY ask if they place large format or full color printing. If they do, tell them you do it too and you are offering a free gift wtih their first order of that product. (a great self promo from Leeds)

You could also do this as a direct mailing as Tom pointed out above, depending how many customers we are talking about.

One of things that I admire about Tom & his Tradenet business model is that he is always creating new products. They are still related to his current product offering, that his current customer base can use. Probably he uses the same (already paid for) machinery and the same process, with minor tweaking, to create something different. He is rewarding customers for placing orders (and for playing by his rules, but your business & his business are different) and is also leveraging his internal staff that don't have to be retrained or need to refocus their attention everytime a different customer walks in the door.

[Ron Van D]

[attach]4563[/attach]

Jim, when he had long hair!:eek:

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[ridety]

Ron Van D said:

[attach]4563[/attach]

Jim, when he had long hair!:eek:

At Jim's expense, but pretty funny!:D

[ridety]

tmertz said:

Ty,

I would think most Distributors could very successfully expand their offerings to their customers.

We are seeing Distributors enjoy a lot of success offering direct mail marketing. In tough times businesses want to focus their marketing and direct mail allows this to happen. In addition competition for the readers attention is at all time lows in the mailbox.

You can host as many Customer websites as you wish in DC. We are looking at changing the functionality so that if you want to give your customer more DC functionality such as web editing or product setup they will log-in to your domain or their domain and not DC. They would be able to create e-commerce sites using the fulfillment child account type. Currently you can setup their products for them, with this code change you could give them more capabilities when they log in. Currently Distributors should not be giving their Customers log in into DistributorCentral.

There are a number of website designers very familiar with DC functionality on the PARTNERS tab of DC before you log-in. If you have a customer that would generate a lot of national traffic or has a lot of products contact DC for rates on hosting.

In addition we should be releasing Personalized URL functionality latter in the year. This is where on a direct mail piece using variable data you would tell the customer to go to www.distributortalk.com\tommertz for example. With personalized URL functionality you can track EVERY person that responds to the direct mail piece but may not buy. On a direct mail campaign the advertiser may be able to get 30% to visit the website. Maybe only 1% purchase. The other 29% are interested parties that are solid leads.

I have seen talented Distributors such as your self be very successful offering a wider range of services to your customers.

Tom- This is all good, interesting information.... I, too, have always been impressed with your vision, and the way you build products/services that leverage your existing customer base. The PURL thing is very interesting... My forays into selling direct mail in the past have been political mailings of app. 10k pieces at a time... Seems like when I've sold direct mail to my biz customers, I've ended up regretting the margin made for the dollar spent... I need a smoother solution...

Thanks again for the info. I've often thought of TNET as the model supplier within our industry. Your catalog margins are appropriate, net pricing is good, self promo policy awesome, customer service rocks, and order systems- well, just very impressive! As a huge TNET and DC fan, I hope to meet you someday, maybe at the PPAI expo.

[rant of Tradenet praise begins] Total sidenote, had a error the other day on some magnets...100% my fault...Tradenet meets you halfway... what can I say... Tradenet is VERY distributor focused and friendly. [rant of Tradenet praise over]

[ridety]

twistededge said:

I see what you're going for, but wouldn't it be less work to leverage your current offerings and get customers to spend more on things they might get from other people because they don't know you do it.

Call the customer and ask how business is going. Thank them for their previous order of promotional products/printing etc and then SPECIFICALLY ask if they place large format or full color printing. If they do, tell them you do it too and you are offering a free gift wtih their first order of that product. (a great self promo from Leeds)

You could also do this as a direct mailing as Tom pointed out above, depending how many customers we are talking about.

One of things that I admire about Tom & his Tradenet business model is that he is always creating new products. They are still related to his current product offering, that his current customer base can use. Probably he uses the same (already paid for) machinery and the same process, with minor tweaking, to create something different. He is rewarding customers for placing orders (and for playing by his rules, but your business & his business are different) and is also leveraging his internal staff that don't have to be retrained or need to refocus their attention everytime a different customer walks in the door.

Michelle- I definately see your point, and appreciate the post. The prob is, my business model is "we don't do it in-house unless we feel like we HAVE to". Or to say that differently, large format product for instance, we would much rather SELL and have someone else produce... the prob is, that most of them are one offs and super time sensitive (think... I need a banner...tomorrow)

I guess what I'm saying is that the services we do in-house are done as a convenience to our customers... and I think I'd rather sell something we don't produce in-house!

[Chris Miller]

Ron Van D said:

[attach]4563[/attach]

Jim, when he had long hair!:eek:

HAHAHHAHAHHAHAH!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

This made my week... heck, maybe even my year! :D

[jimknecht]

Funny how everyone picks on me, and not Ty. He started the dang discussion on bikinis.

Proves my point, you distributors love to abuse your suppliers. :D

[skinner1691]

tY, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT PLACEMATS FOR THE FOOD TRADE ,YOU HAVE THE PRINTING THING GOING ALREADY WHY NOT ADD THE PLACEMAT THING >

[rosec]

I think I just threw up a little!!:tongue::tongue:

[ridety]

skinner1691 said:

tY, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT PLACEMATS FOR THE FOOD TRADE ,YOU HAVE THE PRINTING THING GOING ALREADY WHY NOT ADD THE PLACEMAT THING >

Robert- I probably should consider this...could print color on 12x18...sell adspace... I just wonder if you could find enough family restaurants/cafes to use 'em...without tons of effort...I dunno... prob could, though... print their restaurant info in the middle...advertisers on the outside...