Stop Printing and Start Communicating!

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Jim Raffel
on June 24, 2009
in Twitter and blogging
. 0 Comments

I recently attended an evening TweetUp and the next morning a supplier focus group for a regional industry support and training center. At the supplier focus group there was a great deal of discussion about the printing industry since several of the attendees manufacture equipment like printing presses and bindery equipment. As we sat in a building named for Harry Quadracci I was reminded he once said that, we are not a printing company we are a communications company. We do not compete with other printing companies we compete with other communication options.

Having come from the TweetUp the evening before I began to wonder why you still refer to yourselves as printers working in the printing industry. Sure you still print, but the growth area of the industry is variable data, cross-media, digital campaigns. In such a campaign digital print will represent maybe 10% of the total campaign cost. Do you really want to be the printing company in that equation?

Instead I would follow the path out of print and into communications like my visionary friend Rick Littrell has done. Rick’s company Magicomm puts together kick butt cross-media marketing campaigns for some really big companies. I have seen his offices and while one of the tangible parts of most campaigns is a printed piece you will find no printing press at Magicomm. You will find experts in social media like Twitter, Facebook, PURLs, variable data video, and all sorts of other cool new communications technology.

So how does a guy like Rick who spent most of his career working for a manufacturer of consumables to support the print industry end up being a communications superstar with no real ties to print anymore? (Other than writing the check for 10% of the campaign value to his printer) He does what you all have to do, think outside the box. If my company, ColorMetrix, was still trying to survive on sales of our ColorMetrix Classic product line I have news for you, I would be looking for a job today. Do I still sell that product? – Sure but I have also looked out at the color verification and process control landscape and found niches that other large players could not or would not fill. I have gone after and won that business to keep ColorMetrix a growing and viable company.

The time is now to learn about all the communications mediums you are complaining are taking away your business. Remember you still have the customer. Before the social media entrepreneurs steal him from you perhaps you should figure out how to sell him a cross-media campaign. There are a whole lot of social media consultants (and people who pretend to be!) out there you can hire to make it work. Instead of getting 10% of the campaign from the campaign owner, pay someone 10% and own the campaign!

Three Types of Communication

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Jim Raffel
on June 16, 2009
in blogging
. 0 Comments

Based upon recent events in my personal life I have been taking a look at human communication. For business purposes I have segregated communication into three types. Following is my definition of each type as well as where and when I find that type appropriate.

Worst Worst - is written communication including, letters (anyone still write those?), business proposals, emails, texts, Twitter, Facebook status posts, etc.  While a great deal of detail can be contained in the message it is easy to misunderstand moods, feelings or emotions that are being conveyed or worse yet NOT conveyed. For example, try conveying true passion for your product in an email. Yes, it can be done to some extent but you will lose to the salesperson who has chosen the Only Best method below and shown up for a face-to-face meeting. Written communication should be reserved for sales prospecting, factual documents like price lists, proposals, tech support responses and providing of simple information like the date/time of a meeting.

Second Worst -  is audio only or even audio/video hybrids like Webex. The biggest problem is knowing if you have the other persons attention. Are they working on something else while they talk to you? Are they getting feedback or information from others you are not even aware are involved in the communication? This is not a good way to conduct a serious business meeting or negotiation. Audio communication is a good tool for sales qualification or technical support when instant two way communication is beneficial to both parties. For example, on an initial sales call the sales person is asking questions to determine the suitability of the prospect and the prospect is asking questions to determine the suitability of the company and product being represented. While it could be done in an email it is much faster and more efficient with a phone call or Webex type meeting.

Only Best - is face-to-face and it is why I travel and attend so many shows and conferences. When I can see the whites of their eyes I know I am the center of attention and can watch body language. It is a two way street, the other party also knows they have my attention and can read my body language. If you need to close a deal, patch up a broken relationship, or otherwise do serious business then face-to-face is the only way. Almost all significant business dealings involve some face-to-face contact throughout the process otherwise it is difficult to build trust. People buy based on trust.

Jim’s Reader Challenge:  If you have prospects and existing customers like I do inside a 100 mile radius get in the car and go visit them. Find three or four prospects or customers you can go see face-to-face in all in one city and do it. Existing customers need service too, and if you are not there face-to-face someone else is!

Run Towards the Hard Stuff!

Published
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Jim Raffel
on June 11, 2009
in blogging
. 1 Comment

There is a tendency in our society to take the easy way out. To settle for less than we know we are worthy of and deserve. For example, I know this guy who’s initials are Jim Raffel and he has not been posting to his blog as much as he used to. He has been taking the easy way out and using excusing like: I am traveling too much to see customers in this tough economy so I don’t have time, my personal life is very complicate right now, so I don’t have time, I can’t think of anything to write and who has time to look for inspiration. Get the picture?

 Sometimes these blog posts are a piece of cake and fly off my fingertips quicker than I can type. Typically those are the ones that come from the heart, writing about my father’s passing, writing about playoff baseball returning to Milwaukee for the first time in decades, writing about the state of our industry. Other times they are just plain hard and take a great deal of research and I feel like I am back in my MBA program. The last post about sustainability took me the better part of two days to get right.

Here’s the payoff for running towards not away from the hard stuff. I just returned from the IPA Technical Conference. Yesterday at lunch two people sitting to the right of me and one to the left all talked about and thanked me for JimRaffel.com and the Golden Nugget emails that come from it. In total no fewer than ten people over the two days thanked me for starting to send the emails again. I can only speak for myself but that is success folks. Not all success is financial and quite frankly non-financial success is the most rewarding and more lasting.

Now, I would not want my readers thinking I do this for charity. I do not. I do it because five years ago Jeffery Gitomer told me too. It’s his knowledge and his secret so if you want to know what I mean, buy his ‘The Little Red Book of Selling.’ Hell buy all his books each one is simply more fantastic than the previous one. I love the title of Chapter One of the Little Red Book of Selling – Kick your own ass.

We all know what the ‘hard stuff’ is in our business and personal lives. I am issuing a challenging to everyone reading this to pick one hard thing you have been running away from and work on it today. You don’t have to finish, but you do have to do more than think about it. You want an example? I wrote this post. As easy as it was to write (my fingers could not keep up with my brain), it took the discipline to do this and not make sales calls, Twitter, or Facebook. Another example of something hard is that I will ignore the time drains of Facebook and Twitter for one week. I am pretty sure I will still be alive in seven days and anyone who really needs to reach me has other ways. I also suspect there will be more blog posts in the next 7 days than all of this year.

My second challenge, forgive someone close to you. I mean really close – yourself! I have learned over the last few months that we all carry around ‘hard stuff’ to forgive ourselves for. Things we have done, things we have said, things we should have done and things we should have said. Get over yourself you are not alone. Forgive yourself and get on with the hard stuff that matters.

#76 Five Ways Color Process Control Impacts A Sustainability Initiative

Published
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Jim Raffel
on June 8, 2009
in blogging and sustainability
. 0 Comments

Recently I was reading the 2009 PRIMIR/NPES “Sustainable Print in a Dynamic Global Market: What Going Green Means,” Executive Synopsis and it reminded me that back in February 2007 I tackled this topic in #68: Sustainable Green Printing. Among other conclusions the PRIMIR study agreed with my #68 post that sustainability is good business. So, knowing that a lot of my readers are looking for ways to make more money with less business these days here are a five tips to utilize color process control in a sustainability initiative that if properly run will result in a more profitable company.

1. Hard Copy Proofing - Fewer proofs in the trash equates to the use of less media, ink and electricity. Electricity you ask? Yes, even electricity. I am sure there are sustainability consultants that have quantified this part of the equation. Ongoing measurement and review of color quality will uncover workflow and mechanical problems before any or a large quantity of bad proofs are produced.

2. Virtual Proofs - Verifying and monitoring the display panel color fidelity insures that the device is used right up until it is no longer capable of displaying color accurately for proofing purposes. The device can then re-purposed limiting and delaying disposal of hazardous materials.

3. Plating - Gary Briney at Hennegan successfully uses ColorMetrix software to monitor and control printing plate production and saves thousands of dollars each year in raw materials and the electricity to produce “bad” plates. The PRIMIR report also makes reference to a company in Washington State saving $5,000 to $7,000 by recycling printing plates. So, even when a “bad” plate is made this company (and many I am sure) makes sure the metal and hazardous materials are properly recycled and disposed of.

4. Pressroom - With paper making up 26% of landfills the pressroom is an obvious area that any sustainability initiative must focus upon. Fortunately, the cost of paper, shorter cut-off presses and initiatives like the War On Waste begun in the 70’s have combined to make most pressrooms in this country fairly efficient from a paper waste point of view. Evaluation of color process control records will provide information necessary to continuously reduce makeready time and to identify when the press is not running at optimum levels and in its sweet spot.

5. Cross-media Control - Late last year I wrote about the fidelity of brand colors across the various mediums and substrates utilized in today’s POP displays. Imagine the environmental impact of a critical brand color not properly matching on multiple pieces of an in-store POP display. With proper color verification techniques the need to scrap and reproduce individual components of the entire display is virtually eliminated.

If you are not sure how to start a color verification and process control program to support your sustainability initiative take some time and review the achieves of JimRaffel.com.

#75: PMA09 Here I Come

Published
by
Jim Raffel
on February 28, 2009
in #PMA09, Twitter, blogging, conferences and photography
. 0 Comments

Sunday afternoon I will travel to the PMA show for the balance of this week. I decided to ask myself what I really want to get out of the show this year and share the resultant thoughts with my readers.

First and foremost, for a whole host of reasons, we have been going fast and furious without much of a break in the action for almost two years now. So, while I am not viewing this trip as a vacation per se, I do plan to find some downtime. When I first planned this trip I was going to try to pre-schedule all the meetings into 1 or 2 days and fly in and out just in the nick of time for the meetings. However, it became clear that it would be impossible to accomplish this 30 days out as I was trying to do. So, instead, I just scheduled myself in town for the entire conference and decided that when I didn’t have meetings I could take some time to engage in much needed creative thinking.

Next, the aforementioned pre-scheduled meetings with existing and potential strategic partners drove the whole need for the trip. Our private servers and OEM type relationships now represent well over half of our business. The ability to meet with 4 or 5 current and perspective clients of this type in one place over a day or two is very appealing, both from a cost and time management perspective. Of course most of those meetings have ended up on the 12 hour plus Tuesday – go figure.

Face-to-face Networking is always a valuable reason to be at a show like PMA. In addition to the clients and potential clients I have meetings scheduled with I am quite certain dozens of business acquaintances will be in attendance. The trick will be connecting with them (see next point).

I will write a blog entry for JimRaffel.com after the show, and will engage in social networking from the show. If you are interested in connecting during the show days please contact me via Twitter or other means you may have.

Last but not least, I will look at all the cool new stuff coming to the consumer photo market (I’m in the market for a new point and shoot digital camera). At the same time I will keep my eyes open for opportunities and ideas.

I am looking forward to a successful and fun #PMA09 (that is the Twitter tag for the show).

#74 Why I Write

Published
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Jim Raffel
on January 26, 2009
in blogging
. 0 Comments

I started writing this in late December of last year as a wrap up to the year. To say it’s been a crazy couple months would be an understatement. I will spare my readers most of the personal stuff (we all have enough of our own), but the two month anniversary of my Dad’s passing came and went on the 14th along with the burial on the 17th and I did not even notice. I know that is the way Dad would want it. I, however, am taking it as a reminder to slow down and appreciate the small stuff more often. So, here is my take on why I write and why we can all benefit from writing even if it is just a personal journal.

I write to capture the emotion of the moment. I started writing because it seemed like a great idea from a marketing point of view, and it may well be, but this is no longer my driving motivation to write. I now write because I can look back at a year of writing on JimRaffel.com and remember not only the moments, but the feelings those moments encompassed.

2008 was a watershed year for Jim Raffel. As anyone who reads the blog knows, we lost our Dad this year. As I told a friend recently I am now a member of the “I have lost a parent club.” Trust me this is not a club you want to join, but once you have you will understand just how hard some moments in time are for those around you who have lost parents.

Early in the year I found it difficult to write, so I used Google Analytics to see what people searched for and found in my writing. I was so pleased (sarcasm) to find that my most searched item was an alternate spelling of matamerism.

I expressed my opinion that sustainable green printing while not a bad idea may in fact just be a darn good business decision.

I shared the history of ColorMetrix as presented at ASU Gravure Days. – This was a fun one for me to go back and re-read.

I talked an awful lot about the Blurb book we made for our Dad’s 84th birthday. I am so pleased we did this when we did. Those of you who follow this blog know he passed away a little more than 6 months after we presented him with the book which he and my mother loved and she now treasures as we all do.

I am beginning to think X-Rite’s Colormunki, I first wrote about in the spring, has turned out to be a bunch of hype as far as the graphic arts community I serve is concerned.

I shared my personal experience with the success of virtual proofing.

It was a busy year – I did not post as frequently as I wanted, but I got the opportunity to post about the IRgA and EXTREME conferences.

I took a break from graphic arts blogging to cover the experience of baseball playoff fever in Milwaukee for the first time in a very long time.

I shared key internal strategy about how we fit in the market place and how we market ourselves. – This is all about sharing and giving – trust me you still have to know what you are doing to find the clients we have found.

I discovered Twitter – still have to fully understand it’s power but trust me folks this is bigger than Myspace, Facebook and maybe even Google put together – this is communication redefined.

Had some fun visiting a salt room during GraphExpo and shared the experience.

Lost my Dad.

This entire post could have been links to the posts mentioned above. I decided instead that if you found something interesting it would be more fun for you to search through the archives. Who knows what else you might find that catches your eye and sparks your own creative spirit.

#73: From the desk of Jim Raffel

Published
by
Jim Raffel
on December 12, 2008
in blogging
. 1 Comment

These troubled economic times have transformed many of us in the Graphic Arts into senior level executives. What I mean is that we must all manage a long list of multiple priorities on a daily basis. Each and every day we are asked to get more done with fewer resources of every type. So, success is now defined by our ability to prioritize and organize the many tasks we must complete each day.

My preferred method of daily organization is to sit at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee and my Moleskine notebook after the family has cleared out around 6:45am each day. I review previous to-do lists, look at emails that have come in overnight, and decide what needs to get done and in what order. This process takes no more than fifteen minutes and almost guarantees a successful day in which much will get done. The bad news is I only get to do this about half the time.

On the days that this does not happen, I have two techniques I use to get myself motivated. Technique one involves stopping everything I am doing closing my eyes for thirty seconds and trying to determine my number one priority and then starting work on this task. I refer to this as the “leading task method.” Technique two involves stopping everything I am doing and choosing the three tasks that would be easy to complete and get me rolling for the day. These three tasks are jotted on a post-it-note and worked one at a time, in order.

My conclusion is simple - stick to the written list method whenever possible. I have firsthand knowledge that it works. I have also seen the written list work for three very successful men I have known.

The first is my late father, who from a very young age, I observed always working from a written list. For Dad, a written list even applied on days off to make sure all the work around the house was completed.

The second is the late Frank J. Marek who owned The Marek Group. While I did not know Frank well, I had the opportunity to work with him often back in my consulting days. He always had a hand written list of the day’s priorities.

The third is Ray Prince, who I observed almost 25 years ago at a TAGA conference writing out a list one morning with the title “Hot List” at the top of the page. I asked Ray about the list and he simply replied that it was his daily to-do list which was written freshly each morning.

While my ultimate success story has not been fully written, my Dad’s, Frank’s and Ray’s have - as my grandfather Harry taught me many years ago - don’t argue with success.

In my case without the list every morning there can be no focus - without focus there cannot be execution - without execution there can be no success.

In-Store Expo Point of Purchase Observations

Published
by
Jim Raffel
on December 5, 2008
in blogging
. 1 Comment

I recently attended the In-Store Expo, and contributed my thoughts as an article on WhatTheyThink.com.

Please take a look and let me know what you think (pun intended).

I also want to once again thank everyone who has offered condolences and warm thoughts related to the passing of my father. Just this week I was driving down the highway and saw and old buick roadmaster on a flatbed. I seem to remember my Dad used to have one of those and grabbed my cell phone to call him - missed him more in that second than anytime since we lost him.

Things We Learned from Our Dad

Published
by
Jim Raffel
on November 18, 2008
in blogging
. 1 Comment

Graveside 11/17/2008

We all learned a great deal from Dad by simply observing his life. While many people have great advice in life it is of the ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ variety. To follow Dad’s best advice all you needed to do is live your life by his example.

I learned from Dad that we are not so much defined by our successes in life as by the adversity we face. As a young man he suffered a very severe injury during WWII but it never really slowed him down physically. Oh sure he had a ‘bad back day’ every now and then when Mom would firmly but politely insist that one of his 4 strong sons do the lifting necessary that day. He managed, however, to try and exercise almost every day of his life on earth including his last.

At the not so young age of 61 we all know The Mart ceased operations. He could have withdrawn into himself and quit. Many do, Dad did not. He in fact went on to be a very successful business broker right up until his disease made that impossible. I still remember the largest deal he ever brokered. He assisted in the creation of a significant sized regional trucking company by putting a single buyer together with three sellers. Not bad for an old guy!

Finally, he faced his disease like everything else in life; with courage, discipline and a will to succeed. In this case success was simply defined by surviving with a quality of life sufficient to make going on worth it. Last Friday he and God decided that was no longer the case.

My Dad

Published
by
Jim Raffel
on November 15, 2008
in blogging
. 0 Comments

Yesterday the world lost yet another member of the ‘greatest generation.’ My Dad, Fred Raffel passed away peacefully after almost six years living with multiple myeloma. Dad was born in Chicago, but moved to Milwaukee where my Grandparents opened a furniture store in the height of the depression. That little store survived the depression and under the guidance of Dad and Uncle Marc, became a successful business that provided for two families - including providing help attending college for all of us.

Dad flew a P-51 Mustang during WWII with the 364th Fighter Group. He flew fighter support for bombers flying missions out of southern England and into Europe several days each week. On one of those missions Dad was forced to bail out of his plane and broke his back and a few ribs in the process. For this he earned a Purple Heart and a lifelong disability that never really seemed to slow him down. He still managed to run several miles each day well into his 70’s.

After the war Dad attended UW where he met Mom who had traveled from New York City to attend college. They fell in Love, married and moved to Milwaukee where they raised all five of us. To this day, we all live within 30 miles of the house we grew up in (well the 2nd house, for when a certain fifth child named Jim was born they needed a bigger house). Last night we all gathered in that house, and once again I felt so blessed to have such an amazing family. You can pick your friends and my three brothers and one sister are my best friends.

Last Saturday I had a nice dinner with Mom and Dad. After a few months of not doing so well his new treatments had increased his quality of life and we felt like we really had him back. It was a special joy to see him doing well and feeling well. His sense of humor was in full play. Perhaps he knew the end was near for I witnessed this same burst of energy with my Grandfather shortly before he passed away. As if to let us all know they are moving on to the next place willingly and will be fine.

There is a so much more I could write but getting this far has taken half a box of Kleenex. Tears that did not come for most of us last night but I am sure are coming for all of us today.If you feel the need to do something please simply donate a gift in memory of Fred Raffel here. Make sure to select the ‘other’ option and type in ‘Columbia St. Mary’s Cancer program.’ This is the one donation that would really mean something to Dad.

Update: This post has turned out to be great therapy for many of us. What follows are some thought and comments generated in the form or calls, text messages, emails, and face to face conversations.

My Daughter said to me that she was so glad we all had him for the last five and a half years. Just think of all the things he was able to be a part of. Grandchildren graduating from high school, college and starting lives of their own. Grandchildren completing very rigorous religious rituals and so much more.

My Cousin just calling to say how sorry he was. He lost his Father many years ago and shared with me how difficult it had been for him - thank you Ken.

My Aunt calling to say how sad she is, we are all sad Aunt Sandra but he is in a better place with his parents, his brother and my Uncle Jay this I know.

My friend Adam emailing after I tweeted to my on-line world that we had lost yet another member of the greatest generation - thank you.

I have only mentioned a few above by thank you to all of you so far I am sure there will be more, my family and I thank you for you warm thoughts.

This emotional well is deep and the box of Kleenex is now empty…more to come.

Update (11/17/2008):  Today we will bury my Dad. Last night we all met with the Rabbi, and shared stories and memories of Dad. This will probably be my last update, for Dad would have wanted nothing more than for all of us to go on with out lives now enriched by the fond memories of him we all hold dear. As the Rabbi said last night, our responsibility is to never walk through a door again without Dad at our side.