5 Tips on How Your Small Businesses can Create Quality Content
The following blog post was contributed by Kristina Iorio, Copywriting Manager, Printing Industries of America. This is the first in an upcoming series of posts focused on small business marketing tips. You have heard “Content is King,” but what does that really mean? With an endless amount of information available online, your customers are more informed than ever. According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” It’s delivering valuable content to your customers, including white papers, blogs, video, podcasts, digital publishing, etc. But for small businesses however, providing a steady stream of quality content is time consuming, and your company may lack sufficient resources or personnel to dedicate to such a project. Here are five tips your small business can use to develop meaningful, effective content to promote your business and engage customers—all in the midst of day-to-day operations. Create a Strategy Strategy is essential to effective content marketing. What are your goals? What content does your company already have? Who is your main audience? How can you fill their needs for information? Your content strategy will help you plan how you’re going to attract more business. A great source for creating a content strategy, I found, is this article from Content Marketing Institute. Developing Valuable Content Once you have a strategy in place and you’ve taken inventory of the content you already have, it’s time to create and collect new content. The easiest, most efficient way to do this is to repurpose information. Do you receive customer inquiries? Create a blog or video where you answer some of the most popular questions. If you’ve written a white paper, send it to your top clients as a free resource along with information on your products and services. Be resourceful and keep an eye open for content that will benefit your customers. Blogging A blog is a low-cost way to engage customers and establish your expertise. You can find free templates online from WordPress.com and other sites. Your blog can allow you to reach a wider audience, boost brand awareness, sell something, or connect you to your customers and community. Your blog content should be appealing to your audience and include keywords and information (see SEO below).Try to blog on a regular basis, whether that’s every week, bi-weekly, or every month, to keep your audience coming back for fresh content. This can take a big investment of your time, so have your content strategy in place before you tackle blogging. Get Social With limited resources you want to reach as many customers as possible. Like a blog, social media is an inexpensive way to get your brand in front of a wider audience, but your time is also a major consideration. If you’re a newbie to social media marketing, there are many platforms to engage in, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. Determine which platforms your audience prefers, and focus your efforts on those channels. If you’re already using social media to promote your business, be sure to listen to and share with your audience. Include helpful, informal posts (images are encouraged!) and respond to feedback—both positive and negative!...
read moreModels of Efficiency: What You Will Experience at the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting (Pt. 2 Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions)
If you read our last post that gave a sneak peek at Think Patented, host of the of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg, Ohio, you’ll probably want to know that there’s an additional second tour as part of this ASN Meeting. Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions, a sizeable component of Kodak’s worldwide operations, is headquartered in Dayton and will host this Special Evening Event. It’s an opportunity to network and discover how and why inkjet printing is transforming the industry. After a dinner reception, your tour guides will lead you through their impressive facility where you’ll take part in print demonstrations while discussing the technologies with your peers. You’ll not only witness Kodak’s inkjet presses and imprinting systems in action, but learn about the science and unique capabilities of inkjet systems. The Dayton facility is where Kodak designs and manufactures its equipment, ink, and print heads. High-speed inkjet technologies are having a significant impact on the printing industry since they offer cost-effective solution for variable, short and medium run printing. They give printers new capabilities and market opportunities and can shift work from higher-cost production methods. The growing array of equipment (now 15 suppliers with more than 60 models) targets various markets—transactional, trans-promotional, books, direct mail, newspapers, catalogs, brochures, newsletters, and packaging. You can find detailed information on the different solutions at www.printing.org/inkjetproducts, including the Kodak PROSPER presses featured on the tour. It is an exciting time of transition in the communications industry, and production inkjet is going to be an important facilitator for many of the changes occurring. Staying aware of inkjet developments is crucial for printing companies planning for the future. The February 25 tour to Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions is a great way to do that. You can experience the Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions tour as part of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–2, in Miamisburg, Ohio, hosted by Think...
read moreModels of Efficiency: What You Will Experience at the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting (Pt. 2 Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions)
If you read our last post that gave a sneak peek at Think Patented, host of the of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg, Ohio, you’ll probably want to know that there’s an additional second tour as part of this ASN Meeting. Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions, a sizeable component of Kodak’s worldwide operations, is headquartered in Dayton and will host this Special Evening Event. It’s an opportunity to network and discover how and why inkjet printing is transforming the industry. After a dinner reception, your tour guides will lead you through their impressive facility where you’ll take part in print demonstrations while discussing the technologies with your peers. You’ll not only witness Kodak’s inkjet presses and imprinting systems in action, but learn about the science and unique capabilities of inkjet systems. The Dayton facility is where Kodak designs and manufactures its equipment, ink, and print heads. High-speed inkjet technologies are having a significant impact on the printing industry since they offer cost-effective solution for variable, short and medium run printing. They give printers new capabilities and market opportunities and can shift work from higher-cost production methods. The growing array of equipment (now 15 suppliers with more than 60 models) targets various markets—transactional, trans-promotional, books, direct mail, newspapers, catalogs, brochures, newsletters, and packaging. You can find detailed information on the different solutions at www.printing.org/inkjetproducts, including the Kodak PROSPER presses featured on the tour. It is an exciting time of transition in the communications industry, and production inkjet is going to be an important facilitator for many of the changes occurring. Staying aware of inkjet developments is crucial for printing companies planning for the future. The February 25 tour to Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions is a great way to do that. You can experience the Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions tour as part of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–2, in Miamisburg, Ohio, hosted by Think...
read moreImproving Your Workplace with Visual Management
Time. No matter what, it seems like there’s never enough, right? One way to save time is to make your workplace more visual, infusing it with information that answers the critical and recurrent questions of people working there. With a glance people can get the information they need without having to waste time searching for it. Visual Management systems “enable anyone to immediately assess the current status of an operation or process at a glance, regardless of their knowledge of the process. Visual displays relate information and data to employees in an area through the use of charts, graphs, and process documentation.” (Continuous Improvement Glossary) In the article “Visual Management,” authors Phuong Nguyen, and Jim Mullen, Nosco, Inc., give the 15,000-ft view of how to immediately spot areas to improve and apply this system to an operation. Examples from the pressroom You notice that the preproduction team was overproducing for some presses and underproducing for others. Now staging orders for the presses has become disorganized, causing frustration across departments. What do you do? Call a cross-functional team meeting to decide how to improve the staging order of the presses. Have them create makeready carts with a preflight checklist to visually communicate when a cart is ready. Tape off and label areas around each press for completed staged carts to reside until your press operator needs them. Your results: Reduced downtime—everyone knows when staged orders are ready. A visual management method for the process of staging orders. A sustained process—front-line leads and managers use a Kamishibai audit board (uses a red/green card system along with standardized questions to ask various team members how the process is working. Red means the audit was not done. If the card is green, this means the audit was completed. Any corrective actions are written on the green side.) How to get started Implement the 5S system (Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain). Use visual tools to create a Lean environment, including signage, labeling, location markers, color coding, standard work visuals, and metric boards. With these visuals you will have a clean plant and can better manage your processes. We also recommend studying other successful Lean organizations with a proven track record of recognizing and leading change. Some managers, like Managing for Improvement Award recipients William Denzen, general manager of rollfed and Red Rock Technologies business units for Smyth Companies, and Timothy Keran, CEO and owner of Western Graphics, have found winning recipes for creating real and lasting improvement for their companies! Think of it like this The bottom line for visual management is staying tuned in to what’s happening in your operation. As a parallel example, say you’re at home watching the Super Bowl. You leave the room for a few minutes, and when you return to your TV, all of the elements that clue you into how the game is progressing have disappeared—the score, time left on the clock, down and distance, time outs remaining, etc. You’ve lost the ability to instantly evaluate the game. If you were the coach, you would not be able to quickly react and impact the game’s outcome. Nguyen and Mullen say, “That is sometimes what present-day management is without visual management. We have to know the status of a process at a glance in order to evaluate...
read moreImproving Your Workplace with Visual Management
Time. No matter what, it seems like there’s never enough, right? One way to save time is to make your workplace more visual, infusing it with information that answers the critical and recurrent questions of people working there. With a glance people can get the information they need without having to waste time searching for it. Visual Management systems “enable anyone to immediately assess the current status of an operation or process at a glance, regardless of their knowledge of the process. Visual displays relate information and data to employees in an area through the use of charts, graphs, and process documentation.” (Continuous Improvement Glossary) In the article “Visual Management,” authors Phuong Nguyen, and Jim Mullen, Nosco, Inc., give the 15,000-ft view of how to immediately spot areas to improve and apply this system to an operation. Examples from the pressroom You notice that the preproduction team was overproducing for some presses and underproducing for others. Now staging orders for the presses has become disorganized, causing frustration across departments. What do you do? Call a cross-functional team meeting to decide how to improve the staging order of the presses. Have them create makeready carts with a preflight checklist to visually communicate when a cart is ready. Tape off and label areas around each press for completed staged carts to reside until your press operator needs them. Your results: Reduced downtime—everyone knows when staged orders are ready. A visual management method for the process of staging orders. A sustained process—front-line leads and managers use a Kamishibai audit board (uses a red/green card system along with standardized questions to ask various team members how the process is working. Red means the audit was not done. If the card is green, this means the audit was completed. Any corrective actions are written on the green side.) How to get started Implement the 5S system (Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain). Use visual tools to create a Lean environment, including signage, labeling, location markers, color coding, standard work visuals, and metric boards. With these visuals you will have a clean plant and can better manage your processes. We also recommend studying other successful Lean organizations with a proven track record of recognizing and leading change. Some managers, like Managing for Improvement Award recipients William Denzen, general manager of rollfed and Red Rock Technologies business units for Smyth Companies, and Timothy Keran, CEO and owner of Western Graphics, have found winning recipes for creating real and lasting improvement for their companies! Think of it like this The bottom line for visual management is staying tuned in to what’s happening in your operation. As a parallel example, say you’re at home watching the Super Bowl. You leave the room for a few minutes, and when you return to your TV, all of the elements that clue you into how the game is progressing have disappeared—the score, time left on the clock, down and distance, time outs remaining, etc. You’ve lost the ability to instantly evaluate the game. If you were the coach, you would not be able to quickly react and impact the game’s outcome. Nguyen and Mullen say, “That is sometimes what present-day management is without visual management. We have to know the status of a process at a glance in order to evaluate...
read moreModels of Efficiency: What You Will Experience at the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting
Efficiency lies in the details. Delivering jobs with reduced turn times and fewer resources requires being intensely focused on the details. As more companies realize the benefits of automation, they’re looking closer at each piece of equipment and each process to find out how to maximize efficiency. And one of the standout industry players in automation today is Think Patented. This is the site for the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg, Ohio. What makes this facility so impressive? Every square inch of Think Patented is designed for automation. Before you go, we wanted to give you a preview of Think Patented’s facility, what makes them successful, and what you’ll see on the tour! How They Got Here A “marketing execution company,” Think Patented thinks beyond ink on paper. Founded more than 35 years ago, they recently moved their operation into a new facility created to meet their customers’ every need. With keen attention to detail, it is designed top to bottom from an automation and lean manufacturing perspective. They’ve incorporated optimized delivery and material flow with a just-in-time mindset. Designed also with an eye to the future, Think Patented has allowed room for expansion in this already massive facility. Any aspects that should be automated are automated. Not one detail was spared within the entire operation, and cleanliness and efficiency is evident in every corner of the facility. How They Work While some operations may look at a job as an order-in/order-out process, Think Patented looks at it from the perspective of both a printer and a marketer—the whole process. From Web development services to fulfillment, their goal is to create custom solutions for their clients. Therefore, as the customer moves, the jobs—and the profits—stay with them! What You Will Experience Go inside the Think Patented facility and get a full sense of this meticulously designed plant built to maximize throughput and minimize transportation and motion waste. They’ve invested millions of dollars in software and equipment to enhance every automation aspect. Equipment—The facility houses an impressive collection of some of the most efficient technologies in digital and offset printing equipment. Attendees get to see these giants in action, including Sheetfed Offset presses, digital presses, wide-format printing and finishing. Think Patented employs software to measure metrics and monitor performance on all of their jobs. Value-added Services—Integrated, full-service solutions add greater value for Think Patented’s customers, like marketing portals, campaign tracking and reporting, and augmented reality. One particular service they’ve perfected is automated marketing. By working with their customers to improve their marketing efforts, they allow them to easily contact and analyze responses to mail, email, websites, social media, and other channels saving them time and money. They’ve also added a greater focus on mailing with experts on staff to help optimize the process. Communicating with the customer in the early stages of development, Think Patented can save them costs before work is even begun. Learn more about the 2015 ASN Meeting hosted by Think Patented HERE. And the tour continues… Want to see innovative inkjet equipment in action? Stay tuned for part 2, Special Evening Event at Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions, part of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg,...
read moreModels of Efficiency: What You Will Experience at the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting
Efficiency lies in the details. Delivering jobs with reduced turn times and fewer resources requires being intensely focused on the details. As more companies realize the benefits of automation, they’re looking closer at each piece of equipment and each process to find out how to maximize efficiency. And one of the standout industry players in automation today is Think Patented. This is the site for the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg, Ohio. What makes this facility so impressive? Every square inch of Think Patented is designed for automation. Before you go, we wanted to give you a preview of Think Patented’s facility, what makes them successful, and what you’ll see on the tour! How They Got Here A “marketing execution company,” Think Patented thinks beyond ink on paper. Founded more than 35 years ago, they recently moved their operation into a new facility created to meet their customers’ every need. With keen attention to detail, it is designed top to bottom from an automation and lean manufacturing perspective. They’ve incorporated optimized delivery and material flow with a just-in-time mindset. Designed also with an eye to the future, Think Patented has allowed room for expansion in this already massive facility. Any aspects that should be automated are automated. Not one detail was spared within the entire operation, and cleanliness and efficiency is evident in every corner of the facility. How They Work While some operations may look at a job as an order-in/order-out process, Think Patented looks at it from the perspective of both a printer and a marketer—the whole process. From Web development services to fulfillment, their goal is to create custom solutions for their clients. Therefore, as the customer moves, the jobs—and the profits—stay with them! What You Will Experience Go inside the Think Patented facility and get a full sense of this meticulously designed plant built to maximize throughput and minimize transportation and motion waste. They’ve invested millions of dollars in software and equipment to enhance every automation aspect. Equipment—The facility houses an impressive collection of some of the most efficient technologies in digital and offset printing equipment. Attendees get to see these giants in action, including Sheetfed Offset presses, digital presses, wide-format printing and finishing. Think Patented employs software to measure metrics and monitor performance on all of their jobs. Value-added Services—Integrated, full-service solutions add greater value for Think Patented’s customers, like marketing portals, campaign tracking and reporting, and augmented reality. One particular service they’ve perfected is automated marketing. By working with their customers to improve their marketing efforts, they allow them to easily contact and analyze responses to mail, email, websites, social media, and other channels saving them time and money. They’ve also added a greater focus on mailing with experts on staff to help optimize the process. Communicating with the customer in the early stages of development, Think Patented can save them costs before work is even begun. Learn more about the 2015 ASN Meeting hosted by Think Patented HERE. And the tour continues… Want to see innovative inkjet equipment in action? Stay tuned for part 2, Special Evening Event at Kodak Inkjet Printing Solutions, part of the 2015 Automation Solutions Network Meeting, February 25–26, in Miamisburg,...
read moreYOUR COMPANY CULTURE: WHY IT IS IMPORTANT AND HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE IT
If you asked your employees right now what it’s like to work at your company each day, how would they respond? Do they feel like they work in an environment that supports their goals and ideas? Are they provided the appropriate resources to excel at their jobs? How would they rate their managers? You may wonder why company culture is so important. Only three out of ten U.S. workers are involved in and enthusiastic about their workplace, according to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report. That means that 70% of workers are not fully engaged in their workplace. This lack of commitment leads to decreased productivity and lower overall profits. If this is a reality check for your company, take a moment now to get an honest look at your organizational culture. If you haven’t tried the new Culture Audit Tool, it’s a free member resource that allows you to examine the fine details of your culture and compare your answers to other companies. The survey contains 33 precise questions based on how employees assess your company. The areas include: Mission, Purpose, and Success Communication, Respect, and Trust Team and Empowerment Training, Development, and Support Corporate Behavior and Ethics Compensation and Benefits This survey is 100% confidential and helps you get to the root of your company culture and provide a vision of which areas you need to focus your continuous improvement efforts. So just how important is a healthy company culture? Research says it not only impacts your employees but also your bottom line. We’ve laid out four reasons to invest in your organization’s culture along with key ways to measure it. Why invest in culture? It’s connected to financial performance—An 11-year study by John Kotter and James Heskett looked at the effects of culture in 207 companies from 22 industries. The results, published in their book Corporate Culture and Performance (Free Press, 2011), showed that companies that managed their corporate culture significantly outperformed similar companies that did not. The right corporate culture can be one of a business’s most critical assets. There’s a high ROI—Cultivating a great culture is a financially low-cost endeavor that can yield high economic returns. Best of all, it is an advantage that competitors cannot duplicate. (“How Intangible Corporate Culture Creates Tangible Profits”) Ignorance can lead to serious consequences—While culture may not seem like a top priority, a weak one will reveal itself when you try to implement a new strategy. You may find that your employees’ current thinking and behaviors are incompatible with new corporate initiatives. The conflict can make for an unsustainable strategy (“How Healthy is Your Culture?”). Managers have influence—At the organizational level, managers can help improve key outcomes by giving careful attention to how their actions and practices (such as values, beliefs, and norms) affect employee working conditions and their perceptions of these conditions. (“Causal Impact of Employee Work Perceptions on the Bottom Line of Organizations”) Many of today’s best companies also have a great culture—Look at companies like Suttle-Straus, Vox Printing, and Hammer Packaging. These and other 2014 Best Workplace in the Americas Award winners understand that a healthy culture affects their bottom line. While not every organization can offer perks like an on-site fitness center, you can find ways to show employees they are valued....
read moreYOUR COMPANY CULTURE: WHY IT IS IMPORTANT AND HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE IT
If you asked your employees right now what it’s like to work at your company each day, how would they respond? Do they feel like they work in an environment that supports their goals and ideas? Are they provided the appropriate resources to excel at their jobs? How would they rate their managers? You may wonder why company culture is so important. Only three out of ten U.S. workers are involved in and enthusiastic about their workplace, according to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report. That means that 70% of workers are not fully engaged in their workplace. This lack of commitment leads to decreased productivity and lower overall profits. If this is a reality check for your company, take a moment now to get an honest look at your organizational culture. If you haven’t tried the new Culture Audit Tool, it’s a free member resource that allows you to examine the fine details of your culture and compare your answers to other companies. The survey contains 33 precise questions based on how employees assess your company. The areas include: Mission, Purpose, and Success Communication, Respect, and Trust Team and Empowerment Training, Development, and Support Corporate Behavior and Ethics Compensation and Benefits This survey is 100% confidential and helps you get to the root of your company culture and provide a vision of which areas you need to focus your continuous improvement efforts. So just how important is a healthy company culture? Research says it not only impacts your employees but also your bottom line. We’ve laid out four reasons to invest in your organization’s culture along with key ways to measure it. Why invest in culture? It’s connected to financial performance—An 11-year study by John Kotter and James Heskett looked at the effects of culture in 207 companies from 22 industries. The results, published in their book Corporate Culture and Performance (Free Press, 2011), showed that companies that managed their corporate culture significantly outperformed similar companies that did not. The right corporate culture can be one of a business’s most critical assets. There’s a high ROI—Cultivating a great culture is a financially low-cost endeavor that can yield high economic returns. Best of all, it is an advantage that competitors cannot duplicate. (“How Intangible Corporate Culture Creates Tangible Profits”) Ignorance can lead to serious consequences—While culture may not seem like a top priority, a weak one will reveal itself when you try to implement a new strategy. You may find that your employees’ current thinking and behaviors are incompatible with new corporate initiatives. The conflict can make for an unsustainable strategy (“How Healthy is Your Culture?”). Managers have influence—At the organizational level, managers can help improve key outcomes by giving careful attention to how their actions and practices (such as values, beliefs, and norms) affect employee working conditions and their perceptions of these conditions. (“Causal Impact of Employee Work Perceptions on the Bottom Line of Organizations”) Many of today’s best companies also have a great culture—Look at companies like Suttle-Straus, Vox Printing, and Hammer Packaging. These and other 2014 Best Workplace in the Americas Award winners understand that a healthy culture affects their bottom line. While not every organization can offer perks like an on-site fitness center, you can find ways to show employees they are valued....
read moreHow to Face Your Toughest EHS Challenges Head On in 2015: An Interview with Gary Jones
In what seems to be a forever-changing regulatory landscape, employers can only imagine what new EPA and OSHA requirements they will encounter in 2015. How can you avoid serious fines, negative publicity, and serious injuries from EHS violations? For managers, business owners, or anyone involved in EHS in the printing industry, those are just a few of the many concerns that can keep you up at night. But if there’s one thing we do know about your job going into 2015, it’s that the stakes are going to get higher and the rules more complicated. Gary Jones, Assistant Vice President of EHS Affairs at Printing Industries of America, has experienced his share of sleepless nights too, usually because he is traveling from state to state helping printers solve serious EHS challenges. We caught up with him in between a print consulting project and a key EPA meeting to talk about the crucial EHS issues facing industry companies today and important regulation changes they need to prepare for. You’ve led several significant EHS consulting and compliance auditing projects for printing operations this year. Can you tell us about some of the latest ones you’ve been working on? Gary Jones: Our team has been busy on a number of projects this year, both on the environmental and health and safety front. For many of the environmental projects, we’re helping operations with obtaining air permits as well as their compliance record keeping and reporting. Most printing companies don’t realize that if you purchase new equipment or if the regulations change, they may need to apply for an air permit—even small companies. While the thresholds vary from state to state, many of them have dropped to very low levels. In fact, in certain areas every piece of equipment that emits pollution must now have a permit. On the health and safety side, companies are concerned with the fallout of the printing industry being declared a high-hazard industry for amputations. OSHA has been targeting printing companies and focusing on how they are protecting employees from machine related hazards which include machine guarding and lockout/tagout procedures. In fact 78% of OSHA inspections in the printing industry for fiscal year 2014 were planned or targeted inspections. This shows that OSHA has clearly become very aggressive regarding inspections in the printing industry. Can you describe the top issues you see for members in the EHS field going into 2015? GJ: OSHA’s new reporting requirements, effective January 1, 2015, will be a game changer. Employers will be required to report any work-related incidents that result in an amputation, loss of an eye, or in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees within 24 hours to OSHA. Any fatality must still be reported within eight hours. How does this revised requirement differ from the current requirements? GJ: Before this revision, employers were only required to report a work-related injury hospitalization of three or more employees and did not even need to report an amputation or loss of an eye. Importantly after this revised requirement goes into effect, OSHA will act on the reports and they can and will most likely trigger an inspection. In addition, these reports will now be made publicly available by being posted on the OSHA website for customers, employees, and competitors to read. In what ways...
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