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      PostPress

      PostPress

      Print Decorating, Binding and Finishing

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        2012 Fall

        Coyne Graphic Finishing Mastering the Art of Diversification

        November 21, 2012

        by Melissa DeDonder, The Binding Edge

        According to its customers, Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc. in Mount Vernon, OH, is the “curve ball hitter” in the industry due to its ability to take a project that seems impossible and execute it successfully. Valerie Price, director of business operations, said the company achieves this feat by never shying away from a finishing challenge and by regularly investing in the equipment needed to expand its scope of services. “With the explosion of digital media and fewer commercial printers in existence, companies today must either diversify or perish,” Price said. Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc. has mastered the art of diversification and will go out of its way to complete projects, even on tight deadlines.

        Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.’s story began in 1924. At that time, the company was known as Manufacturing Printers. In 1974, Bob and Alice Coyne purchased the company, changed its scope to commercial printing and, in a few short years, the company became incorporated as Coyne Printing. In 1980, the Coynes purchased a larger facility in Mount Vernon and acquired an additional location in neighboring Heath, OH. The company continued to do business in both locations through the 1980s.

        A new era began in 1990, when the Coynes’ son, Kevin, purchased the business and moved all the operations to Mount Vernon. “In 1993, after seeing a need for finishing services in the printing industry, Kevin began shifting the direction of the company to graphic finishing,” Price said. As the company grew, it found itself split between two locations once again, until the late 90’s, when the company transitioned out of the commercial printing business to focus on graphic finishing. Again, the company consolidated both locations, which doubled its production space to its current 60,000 square feet. In 2005, the company rebranded itself and legally changed its name to Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.

        Navigating challenges with gusto

        Today, Coyne Graphic Finishing is a one-stop finishing shop. The company offers a wide variety of high-speed, precision-quality services in 23 categories. “We want to do everything from start to finish – from mounting, diecutting and laminating to kit packing and drop shipping. This saves the customer time, money and the headaches that often come from dealing with more than one company,” Price said.

        Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.’s niche is mounting, diecutting and collating large format projects. “We also have turned edge capabilities up to 200pt board, which is unique among turned edge finishers,” Price said. “With our turned edge services, we specialize in carry boards for tile, carpet and any application where samples will be applied. This includes euro binders that fold for high-end siding and housing applications,” Price said.

        Currently 60 percent of the company’s business is large format, utilizing processes such as mounting, diecutting, collating, straight knife and laminating. Typical projects in this category include headers, standees, calendars, skirt wraps and point of purchase displays. Turned edge, kit packing and assembly and tinning each represent 10 percent of the company’s business, and the remaining 10 percent comes from high die and ancillary services, such as wire-o, padding, heat bending and CNC routing.

        The company primarily serves major metropolitan markets in Ohio and in five neighboring states, as well as in every small town in between. “It has been our practice to knock on every door that may have a project that fits our wheelhouse. From the odd and unusual to the simple diecutting and mounting jobs, we want them all,” Price said. By combining a broad range of capabilities with experienced personnel, Coyne Graphic Finishing can handle even the wildest design and production ideas.

        The company recently produced a large volume run of product sample kits that included a material needing artificial “distressing.” To achieve the desired effect, Coyne Graphic Finishing washed the material with coffee grounds to create a stained antique look before placing it inside the kit.

        Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc. is willing to take on any challenge, provided that it has the capacity to do so. “We have a ‘we don’t say no’ mentality,” Price said. “Owner Kevin Coyne has an engineering background, so he likes to pursue unusual projects and most of the time, they are outside of the print industry – usually assembly and kit pack projects – or sometimes projects that don’t even have a printed piece in them,” Price said. She said that the company has a project in-house right now that has no printing – it’s a complete shipping, packing and assembly project.

        Another recent challenge was a railing project for a national home improvement store. The client had originally designed an in-store display kit with 58 pieces that was to be assembled at each store. “We advised them that the kits were too complicated – they would just get thrown away,” Price said. “We went with them back to the drawing board and together we simplified the project – reducing the kit down to 40 pieces that would be assembled at our facility and then drop shipped to the stores as an ‘unpack and go’ display.” Out of this one project, Coyne Graphic Finishing ended up acquiring four more railing displays.

        Despite the unique and sometimes extreme challenges that come with the creative projects, Coyne Graphic Finishing, views them as a win for everyone involved. “For us, they usually provide more of a profit margin than the typical commodity type projects, they present opportunities for us to use our in-house creativity and they involve all of our departments because they have multiple processes involved,” Price said.

        The company’s creativity and hard work has paid off. Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.’s projects have garnered numerous awards and accolades from the Printing Industry of Ohio – N. Kentucky’s Print Excellence Awards competitions, including awards for Best of Show, People’s Choice and Best of Category in 2012 for the USTA Midwest 10 & Under Tennis Display. Additional awards include Best of Show and People’s Choice in 2010 for the Justice Locker Display, and a People’s Choice award for the 2007/2008 Kenworth Calendars.

        Empowering the employees

        Another secret to Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.’s success is that the company takes great pride in its 28 employees – their persistence, craftsmanship and commitment to satisfying even the toughest requests. Most of the employees are long-term. “We have employees that have been here since Kevin’s mom and dad owned the company in the mid-70’s,” Price said. “We have a customer service representative who has been here 34 years, and all five of our department leads on the production floor each have more than 15 years with the company.”

        Coyne Graphic Finishing trains its employees based on production needs. “We assign employees to learn certain machines from start to finish based on their interest in learning. After a few months, we switch them to another machine so that no one person has all the knowledge,” Price said. The company also brings in outside technicians to teach employees how to manage, care for and efficiently operate difficult equipment.

        A recent restructuring initiative put the focus on employee empowerment, a need that was based on several jobs that had been completed, but were flawed. “It’s a very expensive lesson to learn when we need to have something reprinted and refinished, especially at the end of the project and at our expense,” Price said. So, the company focused on the need to empower its employees to make decisions on the floor – at the production line – if something needs to be stopped or reworked before the job is complete.

        Coyne Graphic Finishing, Inc.’s department leads and customer service representatives know what projects are coming in and when they are scheduled, either from the time of the purchase order or – if it’s a large job – from the time of the quote. This team will follow a project from start to finish, which includes the final banding, wrapping and labeling for shipment. “They work together to streamline processes and address any issues before the job even arrives on the production floor,” Price said.

        “We’ve found that this is an essential step in the process. We’ve put a lot of stop gaps and autonomy in place, and there’s a lot of cooperativeness in the process,” Price said. “Our employees are able to make the right choices on the fly and, as a result, we have become more efficient, cut production costs and increased the quality of the product that we offer,” Price said.

        Looking into the crystal ball

        When asked about industry trends and how the company is responding, Price had this to say: “Our customer base is shrinking every year. With fewer commercial printers, more printing companies are becoming the competition by buying their own equipment and ‘finishing’ the projects in-house to keep themselves employed, rather than sending the work out to the true finishing specialists.”

        Despite these trends, Price emphasizes that Coyne Graphic Finishing will continue to partner with companies that compliment the company’s capabilities. “We are willing to share a project with our partners who are more specialized in a particular area than we are. I think a lot of businesses are afraid to do so – they are afraid of losing a customer, but we really don’t have that fear. If our customer wants to leave us, it’s because we did something wrong,” Price said.

        The company has seen more customers who are looking for the best price and turn times. “Where there used to be customer loyalty, few companies can afford that luxury now,” Price said. She added that Coyne Graphic Finishing is constantly looking for that next opportunity to diversify, and sometimes that means looking outside of their traditional market. “Many of our specialty projects are brokered jobs or they originate from a marketing company. This is one of the ways that we’re trying to diversify so that we’re not completely dependent on the print industry,” Price said.

        The company’s long term goals are to continue to grow, at a steady pace, by listening to the customer’s needs and by investing in new equipment to keep up with the growing demand for specialty services in the industry. “We’re constantly searching for the next ‘explosion’ that will hit the marketplace in terms of new equipment, services and out-of-the-box thinking. We will continue to make alliances with others in the industry from printing to finishing, offering more services to our clients and making more business available for our partners and ourselves,” Price concluded.

        From Surviving to Thriving: Lessons Learned When Adding Services to the Bindery

        November 21, 2012

        by Melissa DeDonder

        With increased competition and a shaky economy, one of the biggest challenges facing binderies today may be keeping the doors open. Many binderies have been able to move from merely surviving to thriving in today’s marketplace by investing in the equipment needed to expand the range of services that they are providing. Four companies share the secrets to their success.

        Slow and steady growth in packaging wins the race at CRT, Custom Products, Inc.

        CRT, Custom Products, Inc., Whites Creek, TN, was founded in 1979 to provide top-quality custom packaging services for the entertainment industry in Nashville. Over the years, the company has expanded its customer base to service the national entertainment, software and communications industries.

        CRT, Custom Products, Inc. is highly diversified, providing digital and offset printing, a complete prepress department, CAD/CAM package design, diecutting, gluing, folding, saddlestitching, foil stamping and embossing, riveting, turned edge products, blister/clam shell packaging, softcover bookbinding, fulfillment and distribution and much more.

        “The secret to CRT’s success has been adding services slowly – expanding one service at a time over the years,” said Ron Brower, marketing director. “Every piece of equipment that we’ve bought has been customer driven – we wanted to offer our customers more value by not having to farm out the additional services that they needed,” Brower said. The company became a one-stop-shop for custom packaging services because it ultimately saves the customer money and keeps the entire project in-house – a win for the company as well as the customer.

        Brower echoes a popular sentiment that referrals offer the strongest sales leads, but the company also relies on several traditional marketing services to get the word out, including print advertising, web banners, pay-per-click advertising, organic search engine optimization, email marketing and social media.

        While the company has a wall full of gold and platinum records for musicians’ projects that it has manufactured, a key to success is the company’s many certifications. “They are as important to us as any award, because many of them were much harder to obtain,” Brower said. CRT, Custom Products, Inc.’s certifications include the following: G7 Print Media Master Certified, SFI Certified, FSC Certified and Nintendo of America Certified. In addition, the company is a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider and a WBENC Certified woman-owned business.

        Book Boutique creates the unique for self-publishers

        The Book Boutique, a division of Advantage Book Binding, Inc. in Glen Burnie, MD, provides complete book finishing services for self- publishers, with services that include specialty binding, repair work and custom packaging such as clamshell boxes, tablet cases and slipcases. In the summer of 2010, the company created its Book Boutique after noticing that many customers had been expressing an increased desire to create one-of-a-kind custom books that would stand out in the marketplace.

        To create such masterpieces, the company uses various hand machines, turn-of-the-century book presses and antique blades in combination with techniques such as hand skiving and hand tooling. “The uniqueness of our boutique is the personal touch that we provide, which has been vacant in the marketplace for many years,” said Christine Webbert, director of the Book Boutique. “We feel that we take more of an in-depth approach, which helps us achieve goals and exceed expectations.”

        The Book Boutique represents 20 percent of Advantage Book Binding, Inc.’s business. It has increased sales, provided more benefits to existing customers and increased the company’s pool of potential customers. The Book Boutique’s services are marketed through its own website – independent of the parent company – as well as through tradeshows and publishing conferences. Local book stores, schools and faith-based stores are targeted via sales flyers and personal visits from the sales team. In addition to these efforts, Webbert says that the company’s greatest marketing tools are client referrals and “word of mouth” advertising.

        The Book Boutique has won numerous awards, including the 2012 Printing and Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) Award for Best in Finishing/Binding – Q Award and the Best of Category in Finishing/Binding for the National Opera project, which featured raw silk and a clamshell custom box, and the 2011 PGAMA Best of Category in Finishing/Binding and the People’s Choice Award for the Charles E. Smith leatherbound book and slipcase.

        New Hampshire Bindery goes for the gold with restoration and gilding

        New Hampshire Bindery in Bow, NH, was founded in 1934. In the early days, the company’s collating, book lining and casing services were completed by hand. Over the years, machinery replaced much of the handwork and the company invested in new equipment to increase its capacity. By 1995, the company was binding more than two million books each year. Although the company had been restoring old books for years, with an influx of new equipment New Hampshire Bindery created a department specializing in restoration work and gilding that would take the company to new heights.

        The machines needed for book restoration are highly specialized – skiving machines to prepare the leather, large stamping presses for the detail work and gilding machines that can apply gold to both straight and round corners. Plus, skilled craftsmen are needed to do the handwork. “These investments produce a book that people will treasure, not only for the contents, but also for its beautiful craftsmanship,” said Tom Ives, president/CEO.

        “We are one of only a handful of binderies in the US that can offer such a wide spectrum of services,” Ives said. “And, specialty bookbinding is one of the only areas that we have seen growth in lately. While the economy is not very good, the market for people wanting leatherbound gilded books seems to be growing.” The company credits its website and its loyal customers, including book dealers and historical societies, for its boom in business. “We find that our customers are our best salespersons,” Ives said.

        New Hampshire Bindery has won numerous local awards over the years, and last year the company won the Product of Excellence Award in the Special Products Category from the Binding Industries Association.

        Specialty Finishing Group masters mailing and fulfillment services

        Specialty Finishing Group, Elk Grove Village, IL, was founded in the 1920s by a father and son team who represented Spiral of Illinois and JMM Services, respectively. Specialty Finishing Group had generations of expertise in mechanical binding and all of the services that went along with that, so the company’s move toward mailing services in 1994 was a big step. At that time, the company purchased a few inkjet systems; however, changes were coming just around the corner as the Internet exploded in popularity, bringing with it the invention of ebooks and changing the fate of the postal system.

        “My father and a friend put me in charge of getting our new mailing venture off the ground, and I will never forget what it was like having all of that technology with no idea how to use it,” said John Mascari, president. He explained that once the digital age started taking a piece of the bindery pie, Specialty Finishing Group made the decision in 2004 to expand its service portfolio to include the remaining lettershop services – data services, more inkjetting, inserting, wafer sealing, labeling, stamp affixing and laser printing.

        “By adding mailing services instead of expanding the bindery, we were able to even out our seasonal workload so that our plant would stay busy most of the year, and we would be able to keep revenue flowing even throughout the days of the digitalization of books and manuals,” Mascari said.

        In the last six months, Specialty Finishing Group has taken things to another level by offering match mailing, card affixing and read/write services. Mascari said that card affixing has become a new lettershop standard because recipients are more likely to open an envelope or self-mailer if they feel there may be something inside. “So, even if a binder does not want to be a full service lettershop, they can add card affixing equipment to an existing line with a glue system to offer this service to mailers and printers. These lines can do more than direct mail, so there is additional value in them as well,” Mascari said.

        Mailing services currently represent 35 percent of Specialty Finishing Group’s revenue. “We feel strongly that our mailing services revenue will surpass our binding revenue by the end of 2013. Our binding business is declining due to book digitalization and international outsourcing, but the mailing business doesn’t have that problem.” He said that many reports indicate that the mailing business market has stabilized from the effects of email and web advertising. Mascari continued, “The other positive is that direct mail cannot be outsourced to other countries like book production can be. Because direct mail has a short production timeline and an in-home window, the print manufacturing has to happen in the US.”

        For companies that want to start mailing and fulfillment services, Mascari recommends investing in an inserter and an inkjet system on a mail base. “There are many options available, so binderies should do their homework,” he said. When considering data services, Mascari advised, “Don’t do it! It is costly to find someone to manage it correctly, and the postal liability is huge. Instead, send the data out for USPS sortation and add data services later, if need be.” He said that working with the USPS can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. “The local post office can assign a local representative so that businesses have someone to go to when starting a project. Use their business service network to get preapproval for postal rates via email.”

        Finally, Mascari suggests binderies avoid the “if you offer it, they will use it” mentality. “We thought that we could convert many of our clients to our mailing services right away, but that was not the case,” he said. “Our clients were already using someone they trusted, and other binderies will find that, too, so talk to clients before making an investment.”

        A View from Finishing’s Side of the Fence

        In recent years, binderies have been venturing outside of the traditional binding arena when looking to expand the services that they are providing. McGraphics, Inc., a custom print finisher and BIA member in Nashville, TN, has been investing in and expanding its bindery services to attract new customers during challenging economic times.

        With a slogan of “we finish what you start,” McGraphics has provided custom print finishing since 1986. When it was founded, the company primarily focused on foil stamping, embossing and diecutting, as well as small format letterhead, envelopes and pocket folders. In 2009, McGraphics expanded its bindery services in response to the growing needs of its customers. Today, the company offers up to 40 diecutting and foil stamping, in-house diemaking, folding and gluing, indexing and UV coating services. McGraphics recently added wire-o binding services to its line up in order to fulfill its growing digital printer market.

        CEO Tommy McEwen said that bindery services account for 15 percent of McGraphics’ business. “It’s been an investment that has paid off. The equipment has been very affordable, and we’ve generated new customers because of our increased capabilities,” McEwen said. There have been challenges, including turnaround time and competitive pricing.

        Despite the challenges, McGraphics, Inc. has pushed forward successfully. The BIA recently recognized the company’s efforts with a Product of Excellence award in 2012 for its Holiday Leftovers self-promotion piece. In 2011, the company received the Trade Finisher of the Year award from the BIA.

        Troubleshooting Common Cutting Problems

        November 21, 2012

        by: Jen Clark

        Dull blades cause cutting problems, and so do poor maintenance, lack of proper operator training and insufficient knowledge of safety procedures. Bruce Peterson knows this. The self-proclaimed “Cutter Doctor,” who also happens to be president and CEO of Colter & Peterson, Inc., Paterson, NJ, knows a thing or two about paper cutters. He said most cutter problems fall into one of three areas: dull blades; dirty, run-down and poorly maintained equipment; and poor operator training coupled with a lack of safety awareness. “Most of these are maintenance/management related issues,” he said. “If you pay attention to your machine, you’ll hear or see small problems and you can alert a technician to them before they get to be big issues.”

        Peterson says “Cutter Common Sense” can go a long way to keeping an operation running smoothly. These are things he has learned over his nearly 40 years in the paper cutting industry.

        Regular Maintenance Can Reduce Production Issues

        Neglecting the blades on paper cutters can damage product and lead to costly reruns. “The stresses a dull blade places on a paper cutter are astronomical,” Peterson said. “It smashes material instead of cutting. It is an easy problem to solve – just keep the blade sharp.” The five early warning signs of a dull knife include a rough or chipped cutting edge; a banging sound when cutting through a pile; the cut material sticks together; the cut edge is ridged or turned down; and inaccuracies in cutting, like overcuts and undercuts.

        Peterson recommends changing blades every 40 hours of cutting. “When I go back (to a client) a year after installing a new blade and the edge is more like a round pipe, I know they aren’t being sharpened properly. All machines today have cut counters. You can see how many cuts you get out of a blade. Clients may find if they change the blade every 40 hours or approximately every 4,000 cuts, they are changing the blade in advance of it getting very dull, before it damages material or the machine.”

        Basic lubrication keeps a cutting machine running smoothly. Much like a car, the machine’s oil and filters should be changed every 2,000 hours of use, he said. “People often don’t pick up an oil can and lubricate according to schedule. If you don’t change the oil, it loses viscosity and breaks down. The machine won’t work properly.”

        Regardless of the machine’s age, keeping it and the area around it clean also is important, Peterson said. Oil on the floor can lead to costly operator injuries. If there’s dirt on the machine, clean it up. “It’s about taking pride in your operation. Do a visual inspection every couple of weeks,” he suggested. “If you hear something that doesn’t sound right, that’s the time to say something. Don’t wait until a bearing shatters and breaks something else.”

        Operator training is another area of concern for Peterson. In the past, cutter operators were craftsmen who spent all of their time at one machine. They knew the nuances of their machine and when things weren’t working right. Over the years, “the level of training has been reduced,” he said. “There’s less of a connection to the machine. Thirty years ago, operators would consider it ‘their machine…their baby.’ They’d take care of it, and they knew when something wasn’t right. Now, operators have a lower degree of training, are moved from machine to machine and rarely handle maintenance. It’s a different philosophy that drives down the ability of the machine to perform.”

        Proper Technique Increases Quality, Safety

        Operators also should use proper cutting techniques. Depending on the type of paper being cut, operators should set the machine to the right clamping pressure. “But there’s a paradox,” Peterson said. “The softer the paper is the more clamp pressure you need; the harder the paper, the less clamp pressure is required. Some people never adjust clamp pressure and that leads to cutting issues. In addition, every printed sheet has a guide and gripper edge,” he said. “You have to insert it into the machine properly, use the correct pressure and program the machine properly.”

        Safety is another area of concern. The guillotine cutters of today are safer than in the past. Non-repeat devices, dual two-hand/hold knife actuation and infrared safety light barriers help ensure the powerful blade cuts nothing but the intended material, he said. Workplace safety is a crucial concern, since injuries can cause significant losses in both physical and financial terms.

        When it comes to safety, there are two distinct areas of concern: avoiding Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) and avoiding injuries that occur while operating the cutter. Studies have shown operators spend only 1/3 of their time cutting, while their remaining work hours are devoted to moving material. To avoid or reduce the occurrence of CTDs, Peterson recommends the following: combining modern technology, equipment and work processes to reduce strain on operators; analyzing the cutting operation to identify areas needing improvement; automating workflow as much as possible; eliminating risk factors; and finding ways to make the overall cutting operation more ergonomic.

        While safety has come a long way, injuries still happen. “Clamps have been responsible for most of the accidents on paper cutters, but they are not the only culprits,” he said. “The action of paper cutting has always been, and will always be, a safety concern.”

        Peterson offered seven tips for reducing cutter operation-related injuries:

        1. Every paper cutter installation should conform to the latest industry standards.
        2. When possible, install an effective cut line clamp system to show where the knife is going to cut without lowering the clamp.
        3. Use push-outs or “ream ejects” in the cutting program.
        4. Ensure the cutter has a two hand start/two hand hold system with an anti-tie down circuit.
        5. Always use a jogging block when placing hands under the clamp to side jog material.
        6. Check that the cutter has sufficient back up (redundancy) to ensure safety will be maintained if something goes wrong.
        7. Ensure proper installation of safety bolts and/or latches to back up the clutch/brake (or hydraulic ram) and prevent the knife from making an unintended cycle.

        Fixing these common cutter issues before they become problems should be part of normal operational policies. “Companies should perform regular maintenance, put more time and effort into operator training and set up a plan to change blades depending on the usage of the machine,” he said. “Every plant manager should study the risk and costs of operator injury when deciding between operating an older machine and upgrading to a newer one together with paper handling equipment.”

        Equipment Suppliers Offer Expert Advice

        Equipment suppliers, Peterson said, can be a great resource for advice. “They take a consultative approach in applying solutions and often prove to be the best source of advice on upgrading cutting operations.”

        At Colter & Peterson, giving advice is a cornerstone of its business. About a year ago, Peterson said the idea for the “Cutter Doctor” came up. “It was a marketing idea – a way to get people to ask questions and get answers to the problems they may have.” Through a new website, www.cutterdoctor.com, Peterson and a variety of individuals with expertise in specific areas of paper cutting, paper handling and the printing industry offer tips about improving operations.

        Some manufacturers require payment to ask questions, he said. “One of the first things they say when you call is ‘What’s your name and credit card number?’. We’re trying as best as we can to answer questions about paper cutters. We’re comfortable talking about any kind of paper cutter that a customer may have. It’s what we know. We try to help.”

        Since 1932, Colter & Peterson has serviced, repaired and rebuilt all types of paper cutters from 20″ to 112″ in size, including Harris-Seybold, Dexter-Lawson, Polar, Wohlenberg, Challenge, Schneider, Prism and Saber. The company, known as Hagman & Peterson in its early days, operates out of multiple facilities in three states. In addition to selling its own Prism and Saber paper cutters, Colter & Peterson also supplies paper handling equipment, parts, service, retrofit computers and safety upgrades for most makes and models of paper cutters. For more information, visit www.cutterdoctor.com.

        The Mechanics of Delivering Online Value

        November 21, 2012

        by Landy Chase

        When it comes to providing quality content to your online community, you don’t need to be an expert, and you don’t need to be personally responsible for creating new ideas. You need only to be skilled at redistributing information produced by others to those who follow you. To illustrate how this process works, consider a common traditional selling model.

        This author has worked in the past with distribution-based industries and their sales forces. There are many variations of this selling channel, but in almost all cases the relationships involve manufacturers that produce goods which are then sold through distributors; this is simply an alternative to selling directly through an internally-housed sales force. The distributor companies who represent the manufacturer are usually independent, privately-owned businesses who are licensed to sell the manufacturer’s goods and services in a defined territory. The distributor company buys inventory from the manufacturer and then resells (distributes) that inventory to customers within its defined markets.

        As a value generator, your marketing process works in exactly the same way. The goods and services (content) that you provide to your online community/defined market are “manufactured” by anyone and everyone on the internet who is writing about information that is of interest to your followers. You get your “inventory” from these manufacturing sources via RSS feeds “for free, of course” and then you distribute the best of that inventory to the customers and prospects who are following you within your online community.

        This defines your role as a value generator to your online community as one of a distributor of content, and not, unless you choose to be one, a manufacturer of it. You will review relevant information online from those “manufacturers” that interest you and your job will then be to evaluate this information, select items of interest to your followers, and, with a single click of your mouse, deliver it to every single one of them. The benefits to you are not only free; they are myriad and profound. By redistributing useful content to your online followers, you will build your own bridge of “know, like and trust” with your online community. You will establish your brand as a thought leader and expert. You will receive an invaluable, free education in aspects of your industry from others in the business whose knowledge you do not currently possess. And, best of all, when the buyers – both existing customers and prospects – in your community have a need for what you sell, they are going to contact you because they buy, like all buyers do, based on familiarity. You are seen as the go-to source for value, and you are viewed as the option that presents the least risk.

        Utilizing social media in this way certainly would be time-consuming if we were suggesting that you spend hours on Google or one of the other search engines, continually typing in keywords and scouring the Internet for articles and information that would be useful to your online community. That is how you currently research information for yourself, right? And now you think that I am asking you to do the same thing for the benefit of your customers and prospects. Think again.

        Let’s go back to the distribution sales model for a moment. A distributor who sells for manufacturers does not go out into the marketplace every day looking for suppliers with product to sell. Rather, they have ongoing relationships with the manufacturers that they have chosen to work with, and those manufacturing partners supply the distributor with the product that they need to then provide to their end-user customers. The distributor doesn’t have to go looking for inventory; inventory is provided to them by their selected manufacturing partners.

        As a distributor of online content, the technology is readily available to provide you with exactly the same kind of relationship and service that the traditional distributor gets from his manufacturers. With just a few simple steps on your computer, the online “manufacturers” (content producers) that you choose to partner with (follow) will deliver an endless supply of free, high-quality product (content) that you then can review and distribute to your end-users as you see fit. In other words, after some initial set-up work, no searching on your part is necessary; everything that you need will be delivered to your inbox the moment that it is produced.

        Excerpted from Landy Chase’s book, “The Social Media Sales Revolution,” available via Amazon. Landy Chase, MBA, CSP is an expert who specializes in speaking to corporations and associations on sales and selling with social media. His last book, “Competitive Selling,” was named an Editors Choice Best Business Books of 2010 selection and also is available on amazon.com. To book Chase for a next sales meeting or conference, visit his website at www.sellingrevolution.com or call 800.370.8026.



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