To My New Blog

Thanks for visiting my “old” blog. For various reasons, I am going to stop blogging here. It makes more sense to do my business blogging on my company website. Please visit my new blog at:

http://allegrameadows.com/MediaRoom/Blog.aspx

One note: I plan on moving over some of the most popular articles from this blog to the new one. Sorry if you start reading something that looks familiar.

TO My New

Thanks for visiting my “old” blog. For various reasons, I am going to stop blogging here. It makes more sense to do my business blogging on my company website. Please visit my new blog at:

http://allegrameadows.com/MediaRoom/Blog.aspx

One note: I plan on moving over some of the most popular articles from this blog to the new one. Sorry if you start reading something that looks familiar.

Power of Social Media

Do you believe in the power of social media? In 2010 that is like asking is you believe in gravity. SM will impact you either way, so what are you waiting for? Get on board.

Check out this youtube video which is an ad for a book. Very compelling.

http://bit.ly/9NZuOh

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Like many small businesses, we have been slow lately. This week, for a change, we got slammed. Not that I am complaining, I will take the work any day.

For the first time in a long time, we will be In production on Saturday. I have had to jump in to get the work out. I have only run a printing g press once in the last ten years. The first reason for that is because the nature of our business changed and the second is that Hank is so efficient.

So, in helping out where I need to, I have been operating our letterpresses. I am in no way a press operator, merely a tender. Hank and Bob set the jobs up and I stand there and keep them running.

Yesterday, I die cut several thousand sheets of labels on our Heidelberg Windmill. That is the press featured in the video on our website.

Today I'm a watching our 70year old Kluge letterpress while we die cut a few thousand paper wrap labels. As this machine runs, which looks like it was made from the cast Irene version of the game Mousetrap, I'm writing this blog post. I am writing it on my new WiFi iPad.

Two different forms of communication, one seventeenth century, the other 21st century, living side by side. That's the way it is.

The Internet did not kill print. Just as TV did not kill radio and videos did not kill TV, print will live on. It will remain a vital part of our lives.

Gotta go, my Kluge needs me.


Sent from my iPad

I went to a Chamber talk...

I went to a Chamber talk at the Palatine Public Library. Bonita Richter, who runs the Small Business Development Center at Harper College was the speaker. Her talk was on planning to grow your business in 2010.

The talk was good and we left with some good, usable info. Something else struck me. It is good for me to get out of the office and meet with other business folks. Do you do that in any given month? Do you network or mingle at Chamber functions? How about Lions, or Jaycees? Or, do you stay hunkered down in your office or shop?

Get out there. Meet some other people. Hear some good ideas. The world is changing. You have to know what your next step should be.

Happy Anniversary To Us

Today, April 1st, is our business anniversary. Twenty-one years ago today we opened our doors. On one hand it seems like yesterday, on the other it seems like a century.

In that time, we have learned a lot, grown a lot, changed a lot, and met a lot of really nice people.

When we started we had two small, single color printing presses. Along with that was a stapler, paper cutter, folding machine, and a paper drill. That was about it.

Now we have dozens of pieces of equipment allowing us to offer a large variety of services and products. There is know we could have known then what we would be doing today. Likewise, we probably could not accurately predict what we will be doing five years from now.

We have witnessed great changes in our industry. From the acceptance of computers for management and graphic design, digital copiers replacing the traditional ones, radical changes in printing technology, and fax machines, websites, email and other innovations that changed the way we communicated with our customers.

We have seen our share of disappointment and near tragedy, success and excitement, and more of the same. But, looking back, we would do it all over again. Why? We are a big part of our business community and we get to work with some great people.

Our March eNewsletter Results

You might be on our distribution list for the “Allegra Swatch.” In its newest incarnation, we switched email providers. We are now using Mail Chimp. So far, so good. There are lots of reasons to use them over the number 1 brand. But, that is for another post.

We are not totally sold out on email newsletters, though. There is a lot of evidence that printed newsletters are much more effective at getting the word out. That too is for another email.

Here is the down and dirty. For a marketing business, Mail Chimp says the average open rate is 18%. For the most recent issue of the Swatch, we are at 17.3%. Ok. Not too bad. But it is way off of our 21.9% open rate from the February issue.

Three big reasons for this pop out right away. First, folks could have found the subject line less compelling than I did. Second, we sent it out late in the day—4:00 pm. When my my east coast people or my local contacts who left early arrived at work the next day, my newsletter was buried deep in their in box. Last, it is a holiday week. Easter and Passover. On top of that, it is spring break for some folks. Just as their are fewer cars on the road this week, there are fewer people in their offices.

Here is the free marketing lesson: timing is important.