You need a BFP: Best Friend in Printing
Ten ways to do what you're doing...smarter
Every communications professional needs a best friend in the printing business. Not necessarily to get great price breaks (though it happens) and certainly not for the best quality. You should demand that wherever you go.
Nope, you need to have a BFP (best friend in printing) because the offerings and possibilities - and savings - are becoming more amazing all the time, and only a buddy will alway watch your back.
My BFP is Neal Manchester (neal@desprinting.com). I've known Neal for nearly 20 years. He's a disgustingly good-looking guy, though he's finally losing his hair (sorry Neal). Our kids are roughly the same ages and have similar interests, so our families have bumped into each other a few times over the years.
But Neal has earned my respect by his integrity and his knowledge. Though I don't think he's ever run the presses himself, I know Neal was a paper salesman for years (an art in itself) and can see color problems in a proof at 100 paces. He knows how to squeeze every inch of use out of a sheet of paper, to add varnish to a dot no bigger than your fingernail, and the 17 ways to bind a publication.
I hadn't seen Neal in months because most of my work has been distant, and I nearly always encourage clients to use local printers (see below). Recently, though, I had him bid (successfully) on a project in his region (which he, of course, considers to be the world, since he has a mailhouse attached to the business).
The day I went to the shop to approve the proofs as they came off the presses, Neal showed me the latest in printing technology... and I was startled at how much had changed since I last checked.
You can get a lot more for your buck than you think
The big changes fall into two categories: cheaper printing and special effects.
In the first category I put full color printing. I tell my clients who print in "black plus one color" to always get an estimate for full color too. For years it has cost more to get a roll of black & white film developed because all the processing equipment is set up for color. (Film? What's that?) Printing presses are going the same way.
Sure enough, my client in this case learned that going full color was a tiny fraction more expensive than a two-color job...and the final product would be way more compelling.
Similarly, it doesn't cost much to add a couple thousand extra copies to the print run. Multiple offset presses run up to 18,000 impressions an hour. Adding two thousand copies means letting the presses run seven or eight minutes longer. You've already incurred set-up costs and the presses are full of ink. At this point you're only paying for paper. Annual reports are way better than brochures!
It's all about you, all the time
The other big change I call "special effects", thanks to the digital age. Most exciting for me are quick runs of small quantities of bound publications. Yes, of course, it costs more per book (although less than you'd expect) but now you can print a few hundred commemorative publications for a select event without breaking the bank (or having several thousand for the recycling bin).
Extreme individualization is the other biggie. I can put your name throughout a publication, and then my next donor's name throughout the next copy. My college-bound son recently got a postcard from a university that's chasing him. It pictured students standing in front of a billboard on the campus that said "Welcome, Leo!" Frightening, no?
From Neal to you: 10 important tips
So I told Neal all about you, and he gave me ten bits of advice that you should have heard by now from your printer. Here they are:
- Talk with the printer before you start the design. Some paper sizes, layouts, and special effects are simply more cost effective than others. Have a rough idea what you want to do, but be flexible. (The printer may be able to offer something more creative than you planned.)
- Color. As noted above, the price increase will be a lot less than you expect, and the impact of color on your readers geometrically more powerful.
- Ask for bids for multiple quantities. You will be surprised how little it costs for additional copies. Ask where the "price points" are, i.e. where the best savings per quantity are likely.
- Use "generics" or the "house brand". Just like pharmaceuticals, a printer may be able to recommend a less expensive brand of the paper you are requesting. In some cases, the printer will know that another brand will hold ink better or is less likely to wrinkle. Or if paper is all the same to you, the printer may have a favorite stock it buys and keeps in quantity to offer at a lower price.
- Watch your weight! The post office is getting ready to add another 2¢ to the first class stamp. Ask your printer to weigh a mock-up of the entire package of materials you're planning to send - don't forget the envelope and ink! - and adjust as necessary to mail at the lowest possible cost.
- Speaking of mailing costs: set up your nonprofit status with the post office and mail house long before you actually need it. The post office hates giving you the discount so it is very thorough in the application process. It may take three or four weeks for approval. Similarly, make sure you have enough money in your account to cover the mailing at least a few days early to avoid delivery delays.
- Clean up your mailing list. Not technically a "printing tip", but you'll save a lot of money not mailing to incorrect addresses or deadbeat donors. Your mail house can do this for you, but no one knows your patrons as well as you do.
- Personalize your materials to make that all-important one-to-one connection. Today's technology allows for 100% personalization, in color! Depending on the detail of your data, you can print using "variable data printing": swapping out photos, text, and even a single donor's contribution history. Ask your printer how.
- Use "key codes" to measure the effectiveness of your appeals and to streamline identifying resulting donations.
- Use recycled paper and feature the industry standard FSC logo. Not only are you "living green", you are appealing to the kindred spirit and noble behavior that patrons feel when giving to charity.
Neal is fantastic, but...
I am comfortable recommending a handful of truly exceptional professionals, and Neal is one of them. But he also knows that I believe strongly that nonprofits with a definable territory (i.e. that serve a particular geographic area) use local vendors whenever possible.
Sure, it's about local economic development, but in the course of doing business, you're also meeting people who may become your next donors, board members, volunteers...and BFPs. That's word of mouth in action!
Quality control is just as important and being there when the press is running is a pretty good guarantee of it. I did have my letterhead and business cards printed by an online company at incredibly low prices...and they did a lousy job. When I called to complain, the person on the phone replied, somewhat bored, "Okay, no charge." She didn't seem surprised.
(Of course, I still use the cards and letterhead. But I'm cheap.)
So, meet my Neal or find your own. You'll be better for it!
Stay cool as you are!
That's it for the hot month of August. Next month: communications audits or my "If you do nothing else, you have to do this (and it's really cheap and easy)" communications tool.
Rick
