Want to kill your business?

Look like a cheapskate.

Copyblogger.com posted a great article today on mistakes business owners make that can kill your business. Here’s one mistake from their article I see a lot of business owners making:

“It’s so easy to set up an online business these days — just whack up a WordPress.com or Blogger site and off you go.

Need graphics? Pick up some clip art. Logo and website header? $50 should take care of that if you outsource to the lowest bidder. Business cards, flyers and post cards? You can get freebies from Vistaprint, why pay money for a designer and printing? Newsletter list? Send that from your desktop with Outlook.

The only problem here is that your business looks cheap. And the overall impression visitors and potential clients get is that you’re (a) broke, (b) cheap and (c) unprofessional.

There are some things you can do free or low-cost and no one will notice. Your website is not one of them.

Don’t get me wrong here, you don’t have to go to the other extreme and mortgage your house to pay for the website. You do have to make sure that your site has a clean, professional look, that it’s easy to navigate, and that your web presence makes you look worth the prices you charge.”

Read the entire article here

Online printing sources can be attractive but they are rarely the right choice. Fact is, locally produced digital printing often runs about the same cost or very close and comes without the high shipping and handling fees and has much better service.

Best of all, you won’t look cheap!

Angie Scott

615-509-3192 / angie@prnashville.com

Hey, it’s cute!

Francis’ daughter made this video in her summer camp computer class:

Don’t worry, we don’t employ our kids in the office!

What do you think?

Around 4pm on a Friday afternoon I received a call from a customer with a last minute request:

Angie, can you help me out? I have a mailout that needs to go out by Monday?

“Sure we can,” I answered. We do a ton of mailouts and often clients need them at the last minute.

“This is 35,000 pieces, each 9 pages, printed, stapled, stuffed and mailed and it absolutely has to go out by close of business Monday.”

My initial reaction was “this is a joke”. I paused and quickly realized he was serious. Its 4pm … paper house closes in an hour. After a phone call to our local paper house they agreed to stay open a few minutes past 5 so we could pick up the paper and envelopes we need to make this project happen.

This was not a small job: 400,000 sheets of paper, 35,000 envelops and more jams than I can count. We keep large quantities of paper in stock but not nearly this much. 3 Pick-up trucks later, we were back at the shop getting the project started.

We presorted the list, saving the customer over $800.00 in postage, while the rest of the team assembled a weekend staff. By presorting the mail the post office will save time and effort, and in return they pass the savings along to the customer.

We showed the customer how to get more information on less pages, making it possible to use a less expensive envelope and cut the total cost by 1/3. We know mail backwards and forwards and we always work to give our customers the best bang for their investment.

By 5pm on Monday all 35,000 pieces of mail were delivered to the post office just as the customer had requested. It took not only the hard work of the Professional Reprographics, dba PR Omni Digital staff, but the cooperation of the two paper houses to make it happen.

Our customer was happy.

Who else could you call at 4:00 Friday afternoon with a huge mailout that had to be on time Monday?

PR of course!

If you have a flat, a folded mailout in any type of envelope or a postcard mailing, get a quote from us.

Paper Files - A Thing of the Past?

Does your records storage room look like a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Are you anchored to file cabinets too heavy to move?

Are you unable to access valuable information stored on your paper files when you need it?

You are not alone.

Thanks to broadband internet, law firms, governments and businesses of all types are finding liberation in converting paper files to easily accessible  electronic files,  and storing them on a web-accessible server.

Every day the legal industry uses tons of paper on millions of transactions, and some attorneys are still uncomfortable with the idea of digital documents.  Firms that do convert to digital are  reaping greater efficiencies and direct cost savings while maintaining increased security with controlled access to critical data.

With digital scanning and document conversion, a file that would have taken a file clerk hours to find and copy is now easily accessible via a laptop or smart-phone. It isn’t just the clerk’s time your company saves, it is the increased value of having critical information at your fingertips that wins the day. That means you win the case, solve the crime or get the sales breakthrough you need.

Document Scanning and conversion is a simple process, often completely outsourced. Not all firms are the same and here are some points we want all of our customers to know:

Professional Reprographics, dba PROmni Digital, is a secure and confidential facility. We have security protocols in place and do not have customer access to production spaces. Because of this, we do business with the State Supreme Court system, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee State Police and a wide range of large scale legal firms

We are price competitive, regardless of the size of your project. You could be a one-person law firm or the State of Tennessee and we can accommodate your job and treat you like you are our only customer.

Scanning, indexing, coding, electronic numbering, OCR, and web based repository needs, We have you covered. We have a dedicated server for Electronic Discovery, Database De-duplication, Keyword Filtering, Native File Conversion, and our Document Review Tool.

We take quality control seriously. Most firms don’t and a good sign of a low price is a firm is skimping on quality control. The only way to ensure 100% accuracy is to have a human check 100% of the pages scanned so they look like they are supposed to, are readable and are oriented correctly. Skip this step and you’ll have real problems. Our price includes 100% human oversight and we stand by our work.

Have a scanning or document conversion project and want to learn more? Contact us.

A Digital Color Press

What is digital short-run printing?

In today’s business world, we don’t always have the luxury of planning far in advance. Rushing jobs at the last minute and still needing a competitive price have become the norm.

Digital printing has gradually become the standard for print and copy shops over the previous fifteen years.

Wikipedia defines digital printing as: Digital printing is a method of printing using digital techniques in which the data and images are printed directly from a computer onto paper, including those developed for computer printers such as inkjet or laser printers.

This process is how most office and home printing is done and is so commonplace you might not think much about it. In the professional printing world, however, this is still revolutionary.

An Offset Printing Press Courtesy Wikipedia

Most commercial printing has been done on offset printing presses by offset printers.

Wikipedia defines offset printing as:Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called “fountain solution”), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

Digital printing technology for commercial applications did not exist twenty years ago and has only become common in previous 5-10 years. This evolution has some important and signifigant advantages for the business owner:

• Every print can be different, because printing plates are not required, as in traditional methods.
• There is less waste chemical and paper, because there is no need to bring the image “up to colour” and check for registration and position.
• Digital printing is better for the enviornment; solvents and inks do damage to the enviornment and offset printing produces waste. Digital printing uses toner which bio degrades and because there is little waste, is more efficient
• Digital printing is often less costly for smaller runs – because plates are not required, runs can be as small as a single item or as many as thousands.
• Because you don’t have a quantity requirement, digital printing is often called ‘short run’ because you can print small quantities.

Short run means getting your materials printed how you want it and when you want it.

Short run digital printing is not only for small businesses, it is also great for large companies with hundreds of products.  Instead of printing large amounts at a time, digital printing allows you to print what you need and update as often as needed.

This short run digital printing is ideal for clients like you that are tight deadlines or with short run jobs. Short run digital printing allows you to keep your project on time and within budget.

Do you have a rush project that needs to be complete by deadline and on schedule? Contact us for a price quote – you’ll be glad you did!

As Nashville’s oldest all-digital printer, we are really proud to have made it to 15 years. 15 years ago in the digital printing world was pretty much the stone age and today we can do things we never dreamed possible with the technology we have.

Do some dreaming yourself and join in celebrating our 15th Birthday by taking advantage of our color print special – our original 1995 price for color prints was $2 a page so 15 cents a page is a bargain!

Here’s the skinny:

How do I get 15 cent color prints or copies?

Easy all you need to order is 100 letter size prints (of the same image) on laser paper 24lb for those that speak paper language!

No bleed, that just means that there will be a 1/4 inch white border around the page.If the ink goes to the end of the page and there is no white border around the print that is “bleed.”

What if I want bleed?

That is no problem we can cut the white border off. (additional cutting charges will apply)

What if I want a heavier stock?

Fair enough! We have a variety of cardstocks to choose from all with various economical price ranges!

If you still have questions please give me a call! Id love to help you out.

Angie Ryan

615-509-3192

angie@prnashville.com

www.perezhilton.com

A Taliban Terrorist working for a foreign branch of BP Oil took flying lessons and seeded the rain clouds above Nashville causing the flooding that did over $1 Billion in damage and took the lives of over 30 area residents.

Now if that is what had happened last week, the Nashville Flood would have been front page everywhere.

Sadly, our tragic story was barely played outside of Nashville. I talked to people all week from other cities who had no idea it had flooded in Nashville.

The national media chose to largely ignore our  disaster. A Google News search shows 8,390 hits for “Times Square bomb” and 13,800 for “BP oil spill.” “Nashville flood,” on the other hand, returns only 2,430 results—many of them local.  As Betsy Phillips of the Nashville Scene writes, “it was mind-boggling to flip by CNN, MSNBC, and FOX on Sunday afternoon and see not one station even occasionally bringing their viewers footage of the flood, news of our people dying.”

Why?

Shockingly offensive media bias. If a flood 1/10th the size had happened in New York, it would have gotten far larger play. The Nashville Floods are an intense national disaster. As Bob Sellers of the Huffington Post writes:

“It wasn’t just the weak. There was the family of three sitting in their living room one moment and fighting the current of a raging creek the next as it swept their house away. The woman who survived lost a home, a husband, and a teenage daughter in a matter of a few terrifying minutes.

It wasn’t just people. There was the horse found 14 miles downstream, the cow stuck in a tree, and the description from a livestock owner of hearing his horses taking a deep breath and the sound of bubbles seconds later as the rising water stole life from them.

It’s wasn’t just flooding. One of Nashville’s two water treatment plants went down, meaning drinking water sources became critically low. Rising flood waters threatened the remaining water plant, so prison inmates were deployed to pack sandbags around the only remaining source of fresh water.

It wasn’t over when the rain stopped. There were sunny skies shining down upon the 10-year old girl who was playing in the water in the ditch near her house when she lost her footing and was sucked into a drain pipe 18 inches wide. When she was spit out of the other end of the 36 foot long pipe she wasn’t breathing and her lips were blue. As her father picked her up to begin CPR she opened her eyes and gasped for air.

It wasn’t without controversy. The Army Corps of Engineers made choices in releasing water from local dams that critics say left certain homes dry, and others uninhabitable. Some of the flood victims thought they had survived the storm until the water around their homes started rising at a breathtaking pace with no warning.

It wasn’t just bad news. There was the baby born to the mother who couldn’t get to the hospital, with an obstetrician forging waist deep water. There were hundreds of water rescues by people who own boats, calling out loud from house to house for survivors who needed a life-saving link to dry land. These good Samaritans included a young man on a jet ski who saved a woman whose house was fully engulfed in flames as she pondered whether to die in raging waters or burn to death with her home. Twenty seconds after they raced away from the flames the entire house exploded. “God sent me an angel on a jet ski,” she said.”

No news coverage means fewer people know about the folks here in Nashville who lost their homes, their cars, their businesses and even their lives. The fewer people who know about the flood, the fewer donations for those who really need them, the slower aid flows in and the slower it will take the government to respond.

I don’t know about you but I’m sick of hearing about the oil spill in the gulf and I’m tired of hearing about Faisal Shahzad. Don’t get me wrong – the oil spill is horrible and I’m really happy Shahzad was caught but I find the media coverage of the flood a natural disaster in itself.

What do you think?

To donate to flood victims, click here.

Here are my 7 secret ways of saving money on wedding invitations:

(For those of you who want to look great but are a bit on the frugal side)

Extras Add Up
Complicated  invitations with bows, multiple layers of paper, jackets and other extras are like the fancy options on a new car – they look great and you’ll want them. My advice: extra details add up fast!  In addition to the extra cost, you’ll often have to pay assembly fees or worse, you’ll get stuck assembling your own invitations. Select fancy paper and go for a really classic look printed on the paper. It will have the same impact and you’ll save a bunch.

Get Your Paper Direct From Your Printer
Stationery stores are a great place to get ideas on what your invitations will look like but they have huge mark ups on the paper and printing.  Getting invitation ideas and paper directly from your printer cuts out the middle man and can save you hundreds on the cost. Digital print shops like ours can easily print samples on different paper so you can see what your actual invitation will look like – don’t skip this step!

Use One Envelope
Traditionally, wedding invitations were sent in two envelopes so that they would remain pristine in spite of their journey. Mail isn’t delivered on horses these days and using two envelopes does nothing but double the cost. Save by dropping the 2nd envelope.

Use Standard Size Invitations
Most invitations weigh more than an ounce and unless you use a standard size invitation that classifies for a first-class stamp, you’ll pay increased postage costs. According to the US Post Office website, you’ll incur an additional  surcharge on one oz. or less envelopes if any one of the following apply:

• It is a square letter
• It contains very rigid items such as wood or metal
• It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices
• It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter
• It contains items such as pens that cause the surface to be uneven
• The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5

This length-to-height ratio is what causes problems with most wedding invitations. Fortunately, the Post Office has a handy calculator on their website. A few cents may not sound like much, but it adds up.

No Reception Card
If your reception is at the same location as your wedding ceremony, skip the reception card to cut costs. Simply have your printer or designer print ‘reception to follow’ on the invitation. If the reception is at a different location, include a simple photocopied map to the location in the same envelope as the invitation.

Postcard RSVP
Rather than a folded card and envelope, use a 4×6 postcard for your RSVP. Not only will you save on weight for your invitation postage, but you’ll save $0.15 in postage for each RSVP. Your digital printer (AKA, Me) can print postcards to insert in your invitation envelope.

Order extra invitations and envelopes
Almost every couple remembers someone that they HAVE to invite at the last minute and they’ll want to have a few extra wedding invitations and envelopes. It’s always nice to have some extras for scrap-booking, too. 30 extras is a good number to order.

And if money doesn’t matter and you want to go for a specific look, I can help you too. We sell a lot of wedding invitations of all price ranges!

Angie Ryan

615-509-3192

www.prnashville.com

Over 14 inches of rain fell on Nashville – a whopping 28% of the annual rainfall – in the span of two days. The rain caused destructive flash floods on Saturday and Sunday and as the water made its way into the rivers and streams, the Cumberland, Harpeth and Stones rivers jumped out of their banks. The Gaylord Opry Hotel ended up with over 10 feet of water and as many as 6000 guests had to be evacuated. Thousands of homes are flooded and large sections of downtown Nashville are under water.

I am happy to report that Professional Reprographics was not damaged by the flood and we are thankful that we are able to carry on with business as usual. A sincere Thank you to all the friends and customers that called to check on us. Here’s a great video I found:

The people of Nashville need your help and prayers!  You can volunteer with Hands on Nashville or make monetary donations through The Community Foundation.

You read it right: your business needs Clingons!

Not this variety; I mean printed clingons, the clever and amazingly useful printed advertisements you see clinging to glass doors and windows:

These  advertisements are printed on special vinyl that sticks or ‘clings’ to glass. The material does not use adhesive and can be reused as long as the advertisement stays in good shape.

We just printed a bunch for TGIFriday’s, one of my favorite chain restaurants to use on doors. If you think about it, every customer comes through the door and a small clingon advertisement gets seen and read by a really high percentage of customers.

I like that the message is seen on one side and you can see through cling on material from the rear so it doesn’t totally obstruct a customer’s view. Restaurants and retail have been using these tools in larger numbers – look at a fast food outlet or take a stroll through your local mall and you’ll see them used a bunch.

Here are some of my tips for using clingons to drive business:

1. Great for posting extended Holiday hours because you can slap it down and remove it with ease and it looks far more professional than a hand written and scotch taped note on the door.

2. Great for regular specials or menu items you want customers to focus on. Because they are digitally printed, you can put on really attractive photos of food just to get customers’ stomachs working before they order….

3. They come in any size. I love the really large scale clingons because you can broadcast a simple ad message to drive-by traffic and really economical letter sized clingons are great for connecting with doorway traffic.

4. They are not just for retail or food – they can even work as simple vehicle advertising. Put them on the inside of your rear window and take advantage of red lights to help get your message or website out. Here in Nashville, a roof cleaning company parks its trucks across from the McDonald’s drive thru in off hours.

5. Because the look pretty and I can print them and face it, you know you want to do business with me

Good luck in your advertising efforts and post a comment if you have a success story using clingons!

Angie Ryan

Professional Reprographics