Change In Name, Change In Perspective

In May, I announced that we were going to have a renaming contest. The prize would be a delicious dining experience at the Inn at Little Washington. I was so excited at the the response that I received. Over 125 suggestions were made. Many were very funny, all were creative. I am grateful for everybody's time and effort. In the end, 35 people made the very same suggestion: Sample Digital Printing. While it may not be too flashy, it seems to fit. My goal is to make each client's experience with my company personal. Every client has an "in" with the guy whose name is on the sign. It is an "old school" approach.

So, who wins the prize?

I face a dilemma. So many people suggested the name that I ultimately chose. Who do I give it to? Do I try to divvy up the prize? Do I try to figure out who suggested the name first? I have been wondering what the right thing to do is.

The other morning, my home phone rang with some news that has really shaken me. The 14 month old son of good friends of ours had been rushed to the burn center at Shriners Hospital in Boston. There had been an accident and Adam had severe burns on 65% of his little body. He has been sedated since the accident and will remain so for the next several weeks. He has undergone several surgeries and will undergo many more. Adam will be at Shriners for at least the next three months.

Adam has a wonderful strong family with tremendous faith and a great support network. I am told that the burn specialists at Shriners in Boston are the best in the world. Shriners Hospitals are very unique in that they specialize in pediatric care and do so with no financial obligation to those who they serve.

I have decided that instead of trying to pick one winner, I will donate the $500.00 that I had set aside for this prize to Shriners Hospitals. Further, ROI / Sample Digital Printing will donate $5.00 from every job that we print to Shriners Hospitals until Adam leaves their care. We typically print between 75 - 125 jobs per month.

I am very grateful to everyone who participated in our contest. In the coming weeks we will roll out our new logo, our revised website and we will be sending some cool new promotions out. Please keep Adam and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

It's Personal

I just spent an hour with a new client. It was the BEST part of my week!

We were reviewing a proof and that discussion lasted about 4 minutes. For the next 56 minutes, we talked. We didn't IM, Email, Facebook or text each other, we talked face to face.

My client is a family run design firm and I had the privilege to meet my contact's father, mother and brother. We chatted about the economy, cool clients that we work with, weddings, convents and catholic schools. It was a lively conversation!!!

After a week of stressing over deadlines, power failures caused by storms, worrying about the slow summer months and whether I actually lost any weight this week, it was really nice to take the time to connect on a personal level with a client. I was reminded about why I love being a small business owner - it is about relationships. Business can still be personal.

My euphoria is not so blinding that I am going to stop checking my email every ten minutes, I won't abandon my Facebook and Adwords strategies, I won't stop texting my favorite 22 year old uber-entrepreneurial client who refuses to meet in person - maybe I will just savor a great client meeting and look forward to the next one!

Building An Ark / New Name / FaceBook

I don't have too long to blog, I've got to finish building my ark. It is raining AGAIN today - hopefully we will have some good weather this weekend - we all deserve it!!!

THANK YOU so much for all of the wonderful ideas for the new name for my company. I am loving all of them - it will be a tough decision! I would like to ask that you leave your name in the post for me - I've gotten some great ideas from people who didn't identify themselves except for an alias - "VaMama" and "Julie" had great ideas and I would love to thank them!!! Please keep the ideas coming!!!

As most of you know I am in my 40s - slightly out of line with the Facebook generation. . .or so I thought! I am now on Facebook and have been thrilled to reconnect with so many friends! I have also placed several ads / paid links on Facebook - hopefully they will generate some biz!!! Feel free to "Friend" me!!! I looked up one our our great clients the other day - she had over 750 friends - I have 15. I suggested that she run for President!!!

Thanks to our great friends and clients, business this week was pretty good. I am still nervous about what the rest of the summer will bring - hopefully we can stay busy. If you have a project coming up this summer - WE WILL MAKE YOU A DEAL !!!

What a difference a day makes!

I am somewhat cautious by nature.

As many of our great friends and clients know, I asked for help yesterday. I mentioned in a letter that summer is a slow time at ROI – as many printbuyers thoughts turn away from marketing and communications strategies to grilling and vacation strategies. Our workload melts faster than an ice cream cone at the pool!

I asked our great clients and friends for referrals. I asked them to introduce me to their networks, to email the link to this site to their colleagues who are involved in marketing or publishing, to put in a good word for me. I promised to do them proud!

What a wonderful response I received!!! Thank you!

I was really nervous about sending out the request for help. I am so glad that I did.

If I could push my good luck just a bit more, I’d love to ask for your continued help – summer is a long hot stretch for us – if you could continue to refer us I would be so grateful!

One GREAT summer day down – 89 to go!!!

Help Me Change Our Name - Win A Delicious Prize!

I had a great lunch with my friend Wayne Peterson recently. Wayne is one of those rare individuals who will tell you like it is – it isn’t always what you want to hear, but it is honest and he is pretty smart. Wayne is a sales and marketing expert and principal of Black Canyon Consulting.

We were talking about the brutal economy and my fears going into our notoriously slow summer season. He helped me work through some of the strategy of forgetting about salespeople and focusing on the very personal interaction between our great clients and ROI, specifically the role that I need to play as the owner of the company (I have the power to move the customer experience with my company from ordinary to extraordinary!).

Somewhere between mixing Splenda into my iced tea and chomping my first bite of salad (I am on a diet), the topic of the name of my company – ROI Digital Printing – came up. Being as gentle as he knows how to be, Wayne said – “yea, that’s a pretty horrible name”. Choking down my salad and pride, I knew he was right.

I started ROI shortly after getting my MBA. I spent two long years at George Washington University talking about return on investment – what it is, why it is important, how to measure it, etc. I really believe that digital printing is the best way to get return for your investment in print, but naming the company ROI wasn’t the right way to get that message across. It is boring, forgettable and a lot of people call us “ROY”.

I want to rebrand my company. I want the new brand to express the essence of our company – our goal to make Raving Fans out of our clients, our hope to be more than just your printer, the personal service experience you get in dealing with the owner. I think the best resource for this rebranding is the people who know us best – our customers, prospects and friends. YOU!!!

On August 1st I want to roll out the new name and new brand for this company. I am offering the prize of a $500.00 gift certificate to the award winning restaurant - Inn at Little Washington to the individual or team that provides me with the idea or concept that we select to use. I chose the Inn at Little Washington because their owner consistently delivers on the promise of an extraordinary dining experience – what I strive for with print instead of lobster, foie gras and truffles (and for less $$$)!

To meet the August 1 roll out date, I will make my selection from what you submit by Monday July 20th.

There will be a multitude of iTunes cards given out sporadically for funny / goofy / mildly insulting ideas as well.

Thank you in advance – I hope we have some fun with this!!!

Please submit your ideas as a COMMENT to this post so everyone can see the ideas being considered!!! Feel free to submit multiple ideas.

ROI's Plan To Beat This Tough Economy

It is a very difficult time to be a small business owner.

It is also a very difficult time to be a graphic designer, marketing executive, association
manager or anything else. These days, business is just tough. Job security is out the window, we all have friends who are looking for work, and we are all doing more with less.

We are bombarded with negative stories on the news - unemployment figures, job losses, bankruptcies, etc. The news is all negative.

I attended a networking event for business owners recently and it turned out just to be a big blame-fest. Business owners spent $200.00 and 2 hours of their time to attempt to find someone to blame for the misfortunes their business are experiencing. Some attendees blamed the banks, others blamed the lack of customer loyalty, others yet blamed their employees.

I don't know who is to blame and I really don't care. All I can control is our response.

Here is our plan: We are going to work harder to earn your business.

It is simple in concept and execution. We will simply do what it takes to earn your business.

Will we lower prices? YES

Will we turn jobs around faster? YES

Will we find creative solutions for your projects? HECK YES

I have an advantage that many of your other vendors may not have - I own my company and I have the power to say yes. I don't need to ask permission to help you. I want my company to survive and ultimately thrive. I am positive that the way to do that is to do more to help you.

Please allow me the opportunity to earn your business. It starts with a phone call or email. I hope to hear from you.

iPod touch Give Away

It must be summer 'cause the iPod giveaway is on! Same deal as the last few summers.

We will give away an iPod touch on August 17th.

You can enter as many times as you like. I will enter your name one time for each estimate we do for you and FIVE times for each job we do for you. All you have to do is mention this blog entry - just say "enter me for the iPod!!!" and we will do it!

It is a high percentage game - last year we had less than 100 entries.

Good Luck.