I reckon there are a lot of people out there who think it’s a great idea to do all their printing themselves, especially considering the quality of printers and such. I mean, all you have to do is go out and purchase the right program and paper for your printing needs and your set to go, right? Wrong!
Take it from me, that’s what I thought when I first got into business. Off I went and I purchased the right software and stationary and I thought I was set for printing out some professional business cards. After days at the computer and much trial and error, the best I could come up with was amateurish to say the least. There was no way I even considered using them either because I wanted to impress my customers, not give them something to laugh at.
The problem is that as good as printers are these days they’re still nowhere as good as what the professional use. That’s why photos that you print at home tend to fade over time where photos that you’ve had printed professionally look as good today as the day you had them printed.
That was only business cards! After that there was no way I would ever attempt professional glossy brochures or flyers! What I learned the hard way was that if I needed professional printing done then I needed to have a professional working for me, one who used top quality equipment.
Business being what it is today there may be times when you need something done quickly, so it’s great that there are places like nextdayflyers.com who can guarantee that as long as print ready files are completed and approved by 6 PM PST they are printed and ready to ship out the next business day. If you live local, 18711 South Broadwick St. Rancho Dominguez, CA, you can even drop in an pick up your order.
I could go on and on but the best thing for anyone interested is to go online to see all they have to offer. You can design your job online or you can upload it to them in the knowledge that they will do their utmost to fulfill your needs.
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Usually freelancers like to all things their selfs. The make their own design or their business cards, they print them and they are happy because they like them. But it is easy to see that the cards are not professionally made. And it is not something so expensive, it is just that they think they can do them, but they are not good enough.
That’s what I originally thought when I set to make my own business cards. Luckily for me I never used them and had them done professionally.
I agree that a lot of people tend to just try to do the printing themselves. They figure that it’s easy if you have a printer. Unfortunately, I was a victim of my own printing bravado when me and my fiancee decided to print the invitations ourselves. We ended up with more hassles and more cost than if we contacted professionals in the first place. I’ll never do that again. Haha!
As long as you’ve learned the error of your ways JZ, it’s not a total loss. Hope you guys had a great wedding.
Printer manufacturers are actually partly to blame here inasmuch as their ads (on tv and print media) tend to make us believe that with their cutting edge technology, anyone who knows how to push a button or two can do what used to be the domain of professionals.
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That’s so true, and it’s all part of their marketing. But we’re the fools if we believe that a $150 machine can do the same quality as one that costs thousands of dollars.
When you give anybody a professional done business card or they get a flyer from you, automatic take people you more serious and you win respect also.
That’s so true. Nothing shoots your credibility down faster than poorly produced business cards or poor printing.
You can definitely do it at home but be prepared to spend a lot of money if you expect professional results. I have a digital darkroom at home. That’s one very expensive hobby. However, if I had a lot of flyers to print (or simply didn’t want to be bothered with doing it myself) I’d definitely choose a company who could do it.
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Cool, I have a hobby that’s not so expensive, one that actually makes me a little money. It’s called blogging ;)
You’re right though, if you don’t want the hassle all you need is a professional working for you.
At least in our niche, anything printed is dead in the water. Folks search for homes and want to know what is available at any given moment. However, I can see the value of this printing service for the blue collar contractor (for example) who needs to distribute fliers in the neighborhood they are currently working in.
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Things must work differently in Australia because it’s not unusual to get fliers from real estate agents in my letterbox. Usually it will have some house that they’ve sold in the area and they’d be offering some sort of free appraisal.
Hmm, I’ll have to speak with those Australian real estate agents. :) They need to engage in more inbound marketing than outboard marketing.
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Outboard marketing, does that mean they need a boat? ;)
Still, we do get them but that doesn’t mean they all do it. Reckon the must get something out of it though otherwise they wouldn’t bother.
Print products are not needed as much anymore, but I do still see a need for them. If you broaden your marketing techniques you can reach new demographics. If you use the right Call to Action with print products, you can interest new potential clients!
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I agree with you Ryan. Not everyone goes to the Net to find something, and there’s a lot to be said for impulse buyers who act on fliers they receive in their mailbox.
We normally use the Kodak Picture Maker. I noticed lately though the photos come out pixelated. I’ll check out nextdayflyers.com
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Cool. Let me know how things go Rose.
I might be biased, as I am in the design field (which goes hand in hand with the printing industry) but I definitely agree. Professional printers provide you with quality paper stock, offset printing, and the technical know how to deliver a professional product. If somebody hands me a business card that is printed on cheap paper and ink, I will get a different feel than someone who hands me a nice professionally made one. If you want to appear professional, invest in quality print materials. With improvements in the printing industry, the prices are very affordable today.
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Yep, and I reckon competition has a lot to do with it as well. As to the professional quality of a business card, if I had two people trying to sell me something and one had a professional card and the other a home made job, I know which one would more than likely be getting my business.
Hi Sire,
It’s funny that you should write about using professional printers just at the time when I had my business cards order sent to printers.
I think that you are absolutely right about using the services of professionals. Just today I went through a collection of business cards that I’ve gathered over the last 8 months at different meetings and live events.
I found quite a few of them looking very cheap and some of them were actually free cards from Vista Print. Those don’t look too bad but they have the fact that they were free printed on the other side of them with the URL of the printing company.
That’s how the company advertises but I wouldn’t want to present myself with a card like that.
I also found a an amateurish card from which the print started to come off. That particular card was given to me less than a month ago.
I’m not sure what people are thinking when they use cards like that.
Vance
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Obviously they’re trying to save money Vance, but what they fail to realize is that you need to invest in yourself, and that includes money as well as time, if you really want to succeed.
I think the same thing goes for those that persist in free blogs like Blogger and such. Sure some do well out of it but one has to wonder what their potential really was if they only invested that small amount in their own domain and a quality theme.
Sire,
I agree, I have tried to make business cards once at home and it did not turn out well. I guess, when people are new in business, they are short on money, so they try to do things to cut cost, can not blame them, can we?
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No you can’t blame them but unfortunately they’re not doing their cause any justice, and considering that you can get professional printing at a reasonable price you can consider it a good investment in their business.
Professionals are really not that expensive when you consider the cost of equipment, repair time you spend on it, trial and error, etc. I found the more I spend on professionals for my business, the more the business makes.
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Yep, there certainly are times when you have to outlay a little money to make money.
Sire,
I never thought of printing my own! I enjoy using the services of those who do it right!
~Linda
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I’ve heard women are supposedly smarter than men Linda, perhaps the rumors are true
Hey, this is the first time that I’m visiting your blog and I pretty much agree with you on this point regarding the of requirement of printing stuffs like business cards or other company essentials through professionals. I think it’s a brand that the print quality will highlight. So, it is better to hand over the task to the ones who will do it better. That’s why, we have our own professionals who look after their respective jobs.
Welcome to WassupBlog Eric, and you’re right, professionals exist because there is always a need for their services.
Thank you for pointing out the perils of do it yourself printing. I attempted this some years ago for the first time with some of those perforated business cards and Word template and the results were a disaster. I was on the verge of giving it a go again with improved software and printers but thankfully your post has helped me see the error of my ways.
Yeah, those perforations are a dead giveaway.
I believe we can print on our own but the outcome is indeed not as good as what the professionals’ output. I think its better to attend a seminar or something for printing so that there will be formal training.
While the seminar may help you will never beat a professional job because you just don’t have the equipment for it.
Yeah you’re right – the equipment. I guess that’s what makes them “professional”. They have the extraordinary skills and the right equipment.
The equipment is only part of the equation, I think experience has a lot to do with it as well.
Finding the right printing company you can negotiate with can be really difficult, especially if you have a very tight budget. Beware, there are other printing services that may seem good enough and the price is cheap, but actually the outcome isn’t very good.
I once tried printing some photos by myself since I found some free glossy printing paper on my printer. Sadly, some photos didn’t turn out nice and I lost quite a lot of ink too.
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It sure can pay to shop around Felicia. I would also suggest Googling them to see if there’s any bad feedback.
Manufacturing type operations in the printing reproduction process encompass printing, finishing, and the interfacial operations with the previous and subsequent steps in the communication chain. Printing is undoubtedly the core step in making printed products, and printing methods represent the principles on which printing relies. Paper related discussions of printing often limit their focus to interactions of paper and printing methods. The demands on paper are considerably more extensive. They extend to the top hierarchical level, i.e., the communication process. When comparing products using paper with other media products and services, a wide focus of discussion is necessary.
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Yep, printing is more than just sticking words and images on a piece of paper, which is why a pro knows exactly how to get the best for their clients.
Hi again Sire
My laptop crashed end of last week so now doing catchup with my blogging commenting. Borrowed a friend’s spare so can at least get on line as replacement not be here for 4 weeks!
My niece is doing graphic design so she designed my biz cards and then I got a local printing company to print them. Was really pleased with the result as they got the exact colour I wanted. Also not expensive so i have recommended them to heaps of people just starting up in business too.
Patricia Perth Australia
Isn’t it great when you have someone in the family who can help you out like that? Very smart of you to let a professional printing firm finish it all off for you. Reckon you would have saved a bit too seeing as how you already had it designed.
Also I love supporting local businesses :-) That way we all win. They stay in business and we get a great job done. I only placed a small order yet they treated me so well. They didn’t know I was going to recommend them to heaps of others doing a small biz course that I had just completed. So they will be getting lots more business and I’ll be going back for repeat orders.
Also,when my business is very successful think how much bigger my orders will be.
Patricia Perth Australia
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Supporting small business is very important because as a whole small business employ more people than the big boys, and they are less likely to move overseas.
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Printing companies such as ourselves spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment to do very specific tasks very well. We print on one machine with a sheet that isn’t the same size as the finished product then might take it to another machine to score or cut or…Bottom line if you have a business that needs to present a positive image you need to go to a commercial printing company and have them do the job. Focus on getting business and save money and time in the long run by having someone that has been doing printing for many years and it is not their first rodeo.
Damn right Buzz, thanks for commenting.
Whether in a small town or big city, one of the fun benefits of using a professional printer established in the area is the networking opportunities. If the printer has done posters, business cards, and stationery for other companies, not only may they display these throughout their own office with pride, but they may also be a great resource of hints and tips as to what local businesses to use for certain services.
Good point Donald, thanks for taking the time to comment.
That’s right; Althhough business cards can be printed easily these days, The’ll never look as proffessional as they should. People will be able to tell if your business card is an inkjet job or pro style. It’s not about impressing your clients, it is abuot creating your image. You have only one opportunity to make first impression… (You wouldn’t go on a job interview in worn out shoes, why would you hand you potential business partner something to laugh at ?)
Not to mention the design itself – not everyone has the greatest creative flair…
Believe or not, lately I was handed inkjet wedding invitation.. on folded standard size stationery.
Professionalism in business means everything these days and competition is so fierce a sloppy business card can cost you a job. You make some valid points Ed.
Completely agree. Outsourcing printing was the best thing I’ve done as it not only saves me time but also looks so much better than I could produce inhouse. In my opinion quality comes first, but I guess it totally depends on your target market right?
I suppose, I mean if your market doesn’t appreciate quality and professionalism I suppose it doesn’t matter?
It always amazes me when people try to save money and print their own business cards, instead of having them professionally done. After purchasing the business card stock (usually around $15) and the ink (unless you have enough already), you might as well just pay and have them done right. Not to mention the perforated edges from the DIY style cards look terrible!
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