Power of Proof

If you're like many customers and prospects I call on, you may be a little skeptical of change and relinquishing control of print ordering to your reps, branch locations or regional offices. That's why I wanted to share this case study with you to show you how well it works and why. My hope is that after reading this case study, you'll feel a bit more confident in why a web-to-print system with BPI Media Group can be the best decision you make in 2013!

This case study by PODi shared by Print in the Mix shares a tremendous example of how an organization benefits from engaging their print partner and utilizes a web-to-print system. Putting this system in place allows the following:

• Gives corporate a means to maintain brand consistency
• Allows branch locations to customize the collateral to their location
• Provides a way to manage print-spend budgets for each location
• Gives corporate a dashboard to download and/or review all order history
• Allows for order approval process if needed
• Streamlines ordering process of marketing collateral
• Allows for versioning of corporately-branded materials
• Provides a an easy-to-use interface for users
• Utilizes templates from which locations can choose
• Takes advantage of print on demand for short-run needs
• Choose from options of customization to best fit your company's needs

For an online demo of how a web-to-print system can work for your company, drop me a note. We'd love to show you how this can simplify your print management of your marketing collateral, stationery, business cards and even promotional items.

Until next time...Elizabeth

First Impressions Count

Today I have a meeting with a new prospective customer. I've never met either of the gentlemen before, so I am a bit nervous. In talking with my boss about the meeting yesterday afternoon (my pre-meeting pep talk, he reminded me that if I go in nervous, it will show. He encouraged me to be confident and reminded me that I know what BPI Media Group can do, so there's no reason to second guess myself.

You know what, he's right (but don't tell him I said so!). Being with BPI for almost twelve years has revealed to me that we take care of our customers, we deliver on time and we have fair & competitive pricing. Even though I am confident in our services and execution of them, I still wanted to do my home work and be fully prepared. Why? Because first impressions still count.

Samples of our work were carefully chosen to shown the prospects the quality of our work, professional business attire was chosen from my closet to present myself as a competent sales person and quite a bit of time was also spent scouring their website to gain insight into what the customer does. Being prepared will help me have a better conversation about which of BPI's solutions are a best fit for this prospect: printing, digital printing, mailing, fulfillment, promotional items, website? I cannot wait to talk with them and find out!

While a first impression of what you present (outwardly and inwardly) are important here, it occurred to me that this prospect, and all of BPI's customers, actually are trusting us with their first impressions to their customers and prospects. Sometimes it is a catalog, a mailer or collateral at a trade show that is the first impression on a prospect. Wow! What an honor for our customers to trust us with such a responsibility as producing their first impression pieces.

Until next time...Elizabeth

Marketing Check Up...Take One and Call Me in the Morning.

You may have received a folder in the mail from us at BPI Media Group lately, and if so, I hope you'll take advantage of our marketing check up.

You'll see that we can help with:

• Out-of-date collateral materials
• Slow to marketing with sales
• Inability to obtain reporting on usage of marketing collateral
• Lost or misplaced inventory items (collateral, stationery, promo items)
• Lack of approval system for materials ordered
• Multiple sources of branded material resulting in inconsistent messaging in the market place
• Multiple sources of data assets

If these sound like some of the headaches you experience, let us perform a marketing check up to help alleviate these pain points and keep you focused on a healthy, forward-thinking marketing team!

Take one of these and call me in the morning to discuss how BPI can help relieve the stress of your marketing headaches.

Until next time...Elizabeth

I Spy Corporate Branding & Tailgating

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago in the Fall Kick Off post, the gang from BPI Media Group, has started the football season off with a tailgate tent at The University of Alabama. We hope you will join us! Our tent will be on the quad at every home game this season.

Look closely, and you'll spot all kinds of BPI swag. If your company has events coming up this fall and winter, we'd love to help you with your corporate branding and promotional items. There's no better way to help stay top of mind in the eyes of your customers and prospects. Promo items make great leave behinds for your sales team and give aways and trade shows.

Where else can you find BPI Media Group this fall? We'll be at booth 203 at the Greenville Business Expo on September 25th. If you're in the Upstate, please stop by and visit with us! We'd love to talk with you about how we can help with your marketing and communication needs.

Until next time...Elizabeth

Fall Kickoff!

Like many Southerners, myself and everyone at BPI Media Group is ready for everything Fall brings: cooler weather, tailgating and football! Regardless of who your favorite college or pro team is, they'll be kicking off the season this Labor Day weekend, so there will be an abundance of food, football and fun. With BPI's headquarters being located in Alabama, you can imagine what a competitive atmosphere this is in the office between Auburn and Alabama fans during football season (and year round for that matter).

To help our staff and customers with the fun fall festivities, we ordered some of our very own promotional items that you can use whether you're backyard barbecuing for the game or on the quad of your favorite campus. It certainly isn't too late to order your company's promo items to get your employees, sales team and customers in the mood for football!

We always know football season is right around the corner when we start seeing requests for football programs coming in with deadlines being "the first home game." This has always been a time of year that is very exciting at BPI because we love football, and we love working with our local and regional sports teams and school on their programs. The team spirit and enthusiasm is always contagious/!

So whether you're Alabama, Auburn or the fan of any other team, enjoy the Labor Day weekend ahead filled with lots of football and time with friends and family celebrating the arrival of Fall!

Until next time...Elizabeth

BPI's FAQ's

The most common question I hear is "Can you do this?" "This" is always something specific, so I wanted to give you a run-down of the things that BPI Media Group can do. We'll call this the question and answer portion of the blog. While we like to consider ourselves a one-stop-shop, if there's a project that is well outside the scope of our capabilities, we have a network of partners and vendors that we can refer you to in order help make your project come to fruition. As you can imagine, over the past eleven years at BPI, I've been asked "Can you...?" more times than I admit because then I start telling my age.

BPI's Can-Do List

• Provide customer service from your project's start to finish.
• Design and layout a brochure, book, magazine, etc.
• Design a website
• Assist with SEO on your website
• Print up to 28 x 40 sheet size
• Print with variable data (personalized messaging)
• Varnish, aqueous, uv coat or laminate
• Print short-runs (yes, thanks to our Kodak Nexpress digital press, we can do one-offs as easy as we can do a few hundred copies)
• Print boxes or other custom packaging and signs
• Offer a fast, online proofing system (ours is called insite & it's awesome!)
• Help with promotional items
• Address and mail (and yes, with intelligent mail barcoding)
• Purchase demographic-specific mail lists
• Saddlestitch, perfect bind, coil bind
• 3-hole drill, shrink wrap, round corner
• Diecut for a unique size/shape
• Ship to your distribution list
• Set up an online storefront for ordering of collateral, stationery, promo items, etc.
• Manage and store inventory of items you don't have room to store at your location
• Process online orders through our fulfillment system
• Provide case studies, white papers and training on new products/services
• Provide order history and tracking for orders through our storefront/fulfillment system
• Manage integrated campaigns (included sms text messaging, email blasts, QR codes, and landing pages-personalized and standard).
• Provide ROI calculator for integrated campaigns and online dashboard for lead generation/tracking.

While this isn't the be-all, end-all of BPI's ever-changing capabilities, this should answer some of the FAQ's I get. If there's anything you want to know if we can do, just ask. I'll be more than happy to help, and if we cannot do it, I'll work dilligently to help find a trusted partner who can help you. For more details about BPI's services, click here.

Until next time...Elizabeth

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