Archive for November, 2010

2010 Solutions Partner Days Event Draws Big Crowd in Boulder

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Last quarter, InfoPrint Solutions hosted its Solutions Partner Days event at the worldwide headquarters in Boulder, Colorado with co-host, Printronix.  More than 50 Solutions Partners from the United States and Canada gathered for educational breakout and conference sessions, along with an open forum for attendees to exchange ideas and bring their different needs to the forefront.  This was the fourth time InfoPrint Solutions has hosted such an event, the first time in Boulder, CO, and the turnout and response was truly impressive.  Check out some highlights below!

One session to note was from Bryan Flanagan of Ziglar, titled “Building the Sales Professional and the Sales Person!!!”  He provided guidance on how to expand existing sales knowledge and build better relationships, how to develop confidence as a sales professional and the importance of understanding your individual behavioral style.  A Solutions Partner who attended the session commented, “You think you know everything about your customer, but each customer is unique with their own specific set of challenges and requirements.  You need to attack every opportunity as unique.”

During the open forum Solutions Partners and product experts were able to engage with each other to discover new ways to deliver business benefits, discuss current issues facing customers and businesses and generate ideas about how InfoPrint Solutions and Printronix can further support Solutions Partner business initiatives.  This was a valuable opportunity for Solutions Partners to gather product and business insights from InfoPrint Solutions’ leadership team, as well as from one another.

Another portion of the event Solutions Partners found resourceful was the tour of the Boulder InfoPrint Center (BIC).  Solutions Partners were excited to see the machines they have studied on paper actually in action and experience firsthand how it all comes together. 

InfoPrint Solutions is thrilled with the turnout for Solutions Partners Days and the Solutions Partners found it very useful, providing really positive feedback, and are looking forward to the next one.

If you attended the event, do you have any feedback to share?  Have you been to similar events and did you find them worthwhile?  Let us know what you think!  

Thank you,

Julie Freeman

Senior Channels Marketing Manager, North America  

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InfoPrint Solutions’ Must-Read Blogs

Friday, November 12th, 2010

News, business, technology, arts, entertainment: You name it, there’s a blog about it. Keeping up on these sites is becoming increasingly important as blogs become more influential and significant. Which sites does InfoPrint Solutions consider daily must-reads to keep up with industry trends and news?  Here’s a quick primer:

  • WhatTheyThink – We’d be lost without WhatTheyThink.com! This is hands-down our go-to site for the most relevant, up-to-date print industry trends and news. The staff of reliable, connected bloggers and analysts report on what we need to know, and the content is always timely and accurate. What’s more, they host top-notch webinars and live events. We know we can rely on whattheythink.com for our daily digest of what is happening in the print world.
  • Marketing Powers Activate – This blog delivers content focused on direct mail, the intersection of precision marketing, and fulfillment in a timely, relevant manner.  We come here to garner insight for mailroom productivity tips and accurate updates from the USPS. With precision marketing and direct mail such a hot trend these days, this is the blog, another in the WhatTheyThink.com family, to follow to stay on top.
  • Content Marketing Institute – The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) blog is a fantastic resource for real-world examples of successful customized marketing techniques. It offers tips from industry pundits about ways to optimize marketing materials with relevant and customized information.  From their how-to’s and step-by-step teachings to case studies and samples, this is a key go-to resource for best practices.
  • New York Times Bits – This blog from NYTimes.com is a one-stop read for all there is to know about what’s happening on the business end of technology. Posts are updated constantly throughout the day with interesting news from a wide array of companies – covering start-ups to large corporations, and government policy to Internet trends.  Bits Blog gives us a platform to turn to for innovation, partnerships, customers and more.

What blogs do you relay on each day? And what would you like to hear about from us?

Best,

Beth Etherton

Global Communications Manager

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The E-Book Transformation – How Can Marketers Benefit?

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Recently The New York Times covered an emerging trend happening in electronic journalism, where books are taken a step beyond the e-book and are re-created as apps for the iPhone and iPad. 

The particular app discussed in the article is “The Adderall Diaries” by Stephen Elliott and while it may look like an e-book, it offers more than just the opportunity to read the text of the book.  It allows and encourages readers to gather as a community to cultivate conversations and ask questions to each other and even the author.  These apps are creating an interactive relationship between the readers, the book and the author, which is its main value add when compared to an e-book.

From a marketing standpoint upon hearing this concept it offers an apparent opportunity to reach a targeted niche market.  With this, marketers are able to speak directly to a specific group of individuals who all have expressed interest in a topic.  This will increases the value of the communication when compared to a mass mailing via other channels. 

Precision marketing is an ideal application that can be utilized for such a campaign.  This solution enables marketers to create content the recipients will find more relatable and speaks directly to them. A natural relationship between the content and the content receiver is formed, which transforms the readers into fans creating customer loyalty. Loyalty is also built by approaching the reader with relevant, timely information. The same marketing strategies that are often used offline – a.k.a on paper – need to be transformed online.

Who would have thought years ago we would have the option to purchase books in so many fashions?  Four to be exact – hardback, paperback, e-book and now, of course, apps.  Is this overkill, or is this the next step for electronic journalism?  Do you have any other methods of how marketing can integrate itself this interactive online shift?

Best,

Amanda Thall

Global Solutions Marketing Manager

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