All-in-One

If I ask most of my customers (and marketing prospects) what they prefer in a communications partner, the answer is a unanimous "one vendor." It's a good thing BPI Media Group is an all-in-one partner. However, BPI didn't always have the all the tools to help our customers in all their communication media; it took time, excellent leadership and the ongoing evolution of our industry to aide BPI in becoming the one vendor who can help in so many ways.

How exactly can BPI help customers with various media? It takes a skilled, talented and dedicated team. The ways in which we assist customers in executing campaigns and delivering to channel partners are:

• Graphic Design
• Web Design & Development (including SEO, adwords, etc.)
• Cross-Media Marketing (PURLs and custom landing pages)
• Soft Proofing via Insite
• Specialty Products
• Digital Printing w/Variable Data
• Offset Printing
• Wide-Format Printing
• Coating/Finishing Options
• Complete In-House Bindery
• Mailing Services</li>
• Online Portal for Channel Partners (Storefront)
• Reporting & Analytics for Fulfillment Orders
• Pick and Pack Services
• Warehousing/Distribution

We at BPI want to be your one partner. We have the tools, the team and the technology to take your marketing to the next level. Join us as we continue to grow to offer you, our customers, all the tools needed to get your message across loud and clear...and with tools to track ROI.

Until next time...Elizabeth

Busy Times

My apologies for being out of touch on the blog lately, and while there's no real excuse, I do have a few good reasons being being too busy to blog.

1) Recent travels to BPI Media Group in Boaz, AL. With two trips to BPI in the past month, that has keep the wheels on the car going round and round and this print girl on the road (which is a great thing!). The first trip to BPI was for a customer press check for a catalog printing. This valued customer spent 2.5 days with us at BPI. We truly have an open door policy and welcome prospects and customers to do plant tours or press checks any time. The second trip to BPI was last week for our sales team meeting. It always does a salesperson good to have a fire ignited and learn of new things coming (stay tuned for more on that in a week or so).

2) Prospecting and recruiting committee members for a chapter of AMA that I'm working to develop in Upstate has also keep my hands from being anything but idle. Reaching out to friends and colleagues in the marketing arena for help in starting the AMA chapter has proven to be a great opportunity, and I am truly excited about the next few months as our chapter takes shape. Details to come on this as well, so keep reading!

3) A project very dear to my heart, Parkinson's Walk Greenville, was held on Sunday, October 20th. The planning and time spent to help make this first annual event happen was immense and done with such great care, but I have learned invaluable lessons about being a leader, working with non-profit organizations and helping others. I have much to learn in this area, but I will take this experience and what I learned and use it in planning the 2nd Parkinson's Walk Greenville in October of 2014. Here are a couple of photos from the event (and BPI was kind enough to help with the brochures, flyers and banners), so I hope you'll enjoy.

Until next time...Elizabeth

What? No Email!?!

"It happens to everyone," I kept telling myself. "The world will not quit turning," I mumbled a time or two. "I guess I will have to call the customer." When I heard myself saying and thinking these things yesterday, it turned out to be an eye-opening experience. It really does happen to everyone, so when our email stopped working for a total of less than 24 hours at BPI Media Group yesterday, I did what I should be doing every day anyway--met with people face to face and picked up the phone.

Whether it's a technical issue with a smart phone, wifi not working properly or a problem with Google (yes, even they experience technical difficulties like yesterday), there are times when we are not connected to our offices and customers via email. At first, I was in a state of shock, as I always am when something like that happens, but then I realized...I have a lot of time. Time to see people and make phone calls. I attended a networking breakfast that I almost blew off because I thought I was going to be too busy yesterday morning. Then, I met a prospect for lunch and learned that there are some really great business opportunities we have to work together on executing marketing campaigns. I even met someone for coffee and gained a couple of valuable referrals from the meeting. (With all that eating, I'm surprised I wasn't waddling by day's end!)

Without the ball and chain of email and the anticipation of what the next email holds or "waiting" on something to come across, I was reminded of better ways to spend my time. Talking to those who trust BPI enough to work with us and meeting new people. When emails started pouring in very late in the day, I spent a little time catching up and sorting through and then turned it OFF. The kick in the pants that there's more than one way to reach a customer or prospect is a lesson worth sharing. Phone, mail, face to face and yes, even fax. If the message is important, we should mix up the ways we communicate with our customers and prospects. Keep it fresh and unexpected.

Until next time...Elizabeth

Print is Material

If you look on the shelves in the swatch room at BPI Media Group, you'll see hundreds if not thousands of different types of papers. There are different colors, textures, coatings and thicknesses of papers from which to choose for your creative messaging. How do you know which one to choose? Hopefully, this will help and offer you a few more selections for those of you who need variety.

Things to consider when choosing a paper/substrate:

• How will it be used?
• Will anyone write on it?
• Will it mail?
• How long will it be in circulation?
• Do you need it to "stick" to anything?
• Does it need to have recycle content?

If you're going to write on it, or if the end user will write on it, you'll want to select a dull (or matte/silk) finish or even an uncoated (such as offset or opaque). Gloss-coated papers are the most difficult on which to write. You can always gloss coat the front/image side and leave the back uncoated or dull, so it can be written on if this works for the design of your piece.Keep in mind too if your piece will be ran through a laser printer at any time; if so, consider a laser-safe paper.

If it mails, you'll want to make certain it is thick enough to hold up in the mail stream and meet all USPS postal requirements. You'll also want to consider if it is a reply mail card and make sure it is thick enough to mail back as well as be easily written on if applicable.

If your marketing material is going to be around for a while or be distributed and used in the field, you may want to consider a cover-weight paper to add durability. You may even want to consider adding a varnish, aqueous coating, uv or lamination to give it a longer life span. If it is only advertising an event and will be obsolete after a few weeks, you can opt for a text-weight paper in most cases. If your marketing piece is to be used at a trade show, you may want it to be on gatorbaord or foam core (such as a sign or easel) to give it the rigidity it needs to stand alone.

Labels come in all shapes, sizes and stick to all different types of materials. There's gloss, semi-gloss and uncoated for the surface, but the back is more important here because you'll want to consider to what the label will adhere. Think about whether it will need to be permanent adhesive or repositionable. If it will be exposed to heat or cold temperatures, the adhesive will need to comply with those factors as well.

Many environmentally-conscious folks prefer a paper that contains recycle content. There are tons of options for that too, so don't sweat it.

If you have windows or "store fronts" in your brick and mortar facilities, you may need clings for your windows. BPI can print on clings as well as vinyl that will adhere to your wall (think of a fat head that kids have in their rooms on the wall). If you want to do magnets, BPI can also help with that plus window decals, ID cards and other forms of coupon cards.

Here are a few paper selector links from the most popular paper mills, but as always, feel free to contact me if you have a question or just aren't sure which paper or material is right for your project. I'd be glad to help!

Paper Selectors:

• Neenah Paper
• Mohawk Paper
• Sappi Paper

Until next time...Elizabeth

Print is Still Powerful

After reading this article, I felt compelled to share it with you all. When considering your marketing mix and budgets, don't forget print. I don't say that as a print sales rep for BPI Media Group, but as a target for many marketers. The most effective way to get my attention is still through print. What about you?

Take a look at Why Are Marketers Blind to the Power of Print by Joe Pulizzi and let me know your thoughts!

My favorite quote from this article follows: The print vehicle is still the best medium on the planet for thinking outside the box and asking yourself tough questions based on what you read — it’s lean back versus lean forward. If you want to challenge your customers, print is a viable option.

Until next time...Elizabeth

Let's Start Something New

For a few years, networking has been an integral part of my work life. This became more of a priority to me when I moved to South Carolina and had very few contacts and zero customers in the Upstate. Boy, am I glad those things have changed (and will keep changing). Working for BPI Media Group has allowed me the opportunity to meet some pretty incredible people (some I am fortunate enough to call friend and customer), but BPI has also allowed me to expand my territory and help other marketers.

While I enjoy the network groups I attend regularly, and I have found a new customer or prospect here and there, the time has come to start something new-something for the people with whom I work closely, marketers. It's very early in the developmental stages, but with the help of good partners and fellow marketers, the Upstate will soon have a chapter of AMA. I couldn't be happier to be recruiting the committee to help me start this venture and next step to take our networking to the next level in our area. New challenges bring new focus, and the formation of an AMA chapter will allow us to talk with people who deal with the same challenges and share the same triumphs over successful marketing campaigns. Let's face it, we can all learn so much from each other and a diversity of marketers offers many opportunities to see how a campaign is approached, executed and tracked.

For me, this is a project that will be near and dear to my heart as I continue to work alongside the brilliant minds of marketers in creating marketing and event campaigns to launch a product or service, promote an event or offer promotions to the consumer. Whether it's B2B or B2C, I truly enjoy working with creative people who blow me away by their strategies and ideas. I'm the lucky one who gets to help them execute the campaign and track the results using BPI's online dashboards and reporting tools. Whether you're an online strategist, event planner, graphic designer, social media specialist, web guru or C-level marketer, I think this group will have something to offer and help us all grow.

If you're in the Upstate and want to join me in starting this networking group, drop me a note. I'd welcome your input and any help you can lend to get the chapter offer the ground. I promise, you don't want to miss this "meeting of the minds."

Until next time...Elizabeth