A Marketing Thought - Your Corporate Identity (1/2017)
In what we do as a service company, much of our correspondence is handled by email - quotes, pictures of printer issues, you name it. As a person with some background in marketing, I am surprised at how many companies come back with email addresses such as "a1signs@verizon.net" or "mysignshop@nc.rr.com" or something else along those lines.
We all hear so much about "branding" these days. An email address with a domain name that represents your company is a good way to start with the branding process.
Using an email address tied to your internet service provider (ISP) for one labels you as a "little guy" and I don't know that anyone wants to fall in that category.
Secondly and perhaps more important, being tied to your ISP has some great inherent risk to it. I want to make it clear, I am not picking on these companies mentioned, they are only being used for example purposes. Say you are with Verizon or North Carolina Road Runner. and you move your shop or change carriers and lose that email address. BIG problem - now hundreds of customers that may expect to communicate with you by email no longer can reach you. Also, if you are no longer using that provider, you will likely not be able to set up any email forwarding so you essentially disappear from your customer base for emails.
Also, don't think that "WE ARE MOVING or WE ARE CHANGING OUR EMAIL ADDRESS" will be noticed by all. We are still receiving checks and mail to our old address though we moved 9 months ago, and we had PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS in red capital letters and numbers on all emails before we even moved.
Domain names are very inexpensive (often less than $20 per year), and may include email hosting. Step up your branding and corporate identity with a domain name and email address that reflects the great company you are
Do you have a question? Do you need a recommendation? Don't hesitate to call us! As always, let us know how we can be of assistance to you. We are here to help!
Yes, Static IS a Problem! (2/2017)
Yep, despite some of the warm weather in parts of the country, it's that time of year again. Temperatures have dropped and your office and shop heaters are cranked up. And as always, a byproduct of cranking up the heat is the lowering your relative humidity, which can have huge implications in the production of graphics. As a note, we have seen static issues on vinyl cutters, aqueous printers, solvent, UV, and thermal impact printers - pretty much the full gamut of production equipment commonly in use it today's shops.
The existence of static can show up in a number of ways - overspray (fuzzy edges and random dots around printed areas), prints that are simply noise with no appearance of graphics at all, machine is unresponsive, machine freaks out and has a mind of its own, ink dripping from heads - all that and more.
So what can you do about static?
- Buy a hygrometer (under $20) and measure your humidity, which should be 40-60%, but consult your printer's spec sheet for details.
- If your shop's humidity too low, buy a sonic vaporizer to raise the humidity in your shop.
- Do not leave materials out in the cold and bring them in just when ready to print - let them acclimate to shop temperature for several days prior to use.
- If your printer is on carpet, spray the carpet around the machine with an anti-static spray.
- Consider an anti-static preparation to rub down sheet materials for flatbed printers.
The above are just a few of the causes, results, and cures for static issues. More information can be found on the internet, or from a knowledgeable dealer.
Do you have a question? Do you need a recommendation? Don't hesitate to call us! As always, let us know how we can be of assistance to you. We are here to help!
Help Your Service Guy! (6/2017)
If you have been doing wide format digital printing for any time now, your printer has broken at one point or another. No doubt you have come to realize - there simply are not enough technicians around.
That being said, if we are able to get a tech onsite quickly, we sure want to make sure the right parts are onsite. It is simply too costly to send a tech out for diagnostics even if we can get him there quickly enough. Bottom line - we need you to be part of the diagnostic process.
To help us help you, tell us everything you know, no matter how bad it may seem - a mistake you may have made or even something you may have broken, etc. To be speedy in this difficult process, most diagnostics have to take place over the phone, often with more than the 20 proverbial questions.
Now we are not like the credit bureau where everything good or bad will come up when we take a look, but our guys can pretty much figure out what has happened. Not knowing may cost you extra time (AKA money), and we may not have the correct parts onsite (AKA more money for shipping, extra trips, etc). We want to get it right for you the first time.
Do you have a question? Do you need a recommendation? Don't hesitate to call us! As always, let us know how we can be of assistance to you. We are here to help!
Your Printer Is Never On Vacation! (8/2017)
It's the time of year now where we all look to take that much needed vacation. If you are one that closes your shop during that time, you just want your faithful printer to be up and running the minute you get back.
Yes, it should be fine, it has self-service routines built -in. "All I have to do is a couple of strong cleanings and it should be good to go!"
Well, kind of yes, but not always. If you have not had recent preventive maintenance (PM) service or you leave your cap dirty, it won't pull ink like it should during vacation and leave your printhead(s) high and dry. What can you do?
- First and foremost, keep your printer's ink-related components clean at all times, especially the cap(s).
- Get regular PM service to assure your printer is the best it can be. Then keep it as clean as you can!
- Another thing you can do is soak your printhead while you are gone. Please see the video at this link: SOAK YOUR PRINTHEAD! That trick is for solvent printers, but we have shipped both solvent and large UV flatbed printers this way.
Do you have a question? Do you need a recommendation? Don't hesitate to call us! As always, let us know how we can be of assistance to you. We are here to help!
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