Fay has more than 20 years of print production, procurement and marketing supply chain management experience. He is responsible for enhancing WebbMason’s global supplier network and product assortment. Prior to joining WebbMason, Fay was vice president of operations and general manager of Innerworkings’ ecommerce division, Inkchaser.com.

Darn right.  We are, after all, a print company.  But that doesn’t discount the fact that many folks, myself included, still like to read from a surface that we can scribble on, fold back the corners of, and insert yellow stickies on top of.  And now there’s some research that supports that notion.

OK. OK. It’s from an organization that ‘likes’ paper:  Two Sides is a non-profit organization that works for responsible use of paper products.  Nevertheless, the research it did and announced today in the WhatTheyThink newsletter indicates that “70 percent of Americans say they prefer to read print and paper communications” over “reading off a screen.”   That includes “69 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds.”

Click here if you’d like to read more.

A few weeks ago I attended the DMA 2011 Conference in Boston, MA, at the city’s new convention center. As a marketer in that city for more than 20 years, it was a special pleasure for two reasons: (1) It was – and I’m embarrassed to admit this – my first opportunity to explore the city’s new conference facility in the revived Seaport area…and, lucky for me, the rain stayed behind in Baltimore. So, it was a sunny and breezy New England day when I arrived. (2) The day I attended was the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. Ten years earlier this same conference in Chicago had turned appropriately to the doom, gloom, and empty aisles that day represented. So, the bustle of the show and the crowds of marketing professionals and vendors I saw at the conference and in the exhibit hall was a real spirit lift and a 180 degrees from ten years back.

I spent the day walking the aisles, talking to vendors, listening to pitches, and massaging my feet (Note to self: Leave the high heels behind next time.)  But I learned a lot and reached out to quite a number of vendors about products or services of potential interest to WebbMason.

All these vendors promised to follow up. And one or two did. And so I waited. And waited. And…what the heck?  I’m still waiting to hear from the majority of vendors.

It should have been a clue when some of the booths I walked into were staffed with personnel that didn’t know how to operate the badge scanners.  And some didn’t even have them. So, I did run out of business cards to leave behind, and signed my contact info to the backs of their cards. And we all know what happens to ‘those’ prospects: they get dropped into some booth staff member’s pocket, possibly never to emerge. But what happened to the others?

It’s one thing when you don’t want vendors at your literal or virtual door.  It’s quite another when you ask for someone to call, and then you’re ignored.

Hey DMA Exhibitors:  I INVITED some of you to call. Are you not listening?  Are you playing hard to get? Have you lost the ‘delicate art’ of follow-up?  Has all the noise in the industry about not reaching out to customers and waiting for them to approach you totally confused you? Really?  You’re supposed to be cream of the crop… but I’m embarrassed for you…

And you call yourselves marketers?

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

written by Sara Post

I consider myself a marketing professional. At WebbMason, I collaborate with a team of talented individuals to promote products/services and support a national sales team. I face the same challenges as any other marketing professional – maintaining the integrity of a brand, meeting budget goals, responding to the needs of very talented and slightly demanding sales people (I’m allowed to say that, I used to be one) – and the overall need to do more with less. There’s less time to be proactive, more pressure to improve ROI, fewer resources at my disposal, and higher expectations for greater results.

But I have to admit, I love it!

In early 2011, I accepted the role of Product Marketing Manager with WebbMason, after six years with the company. Since then my energy has been focused on launching the newest feature of WebbMason’s MarketingBench platform, a web-to-print application, later named “docBuilder”. In May, docBuilder entered its “beta” phase, which in essence meant that our development team felt that it was ready to be taken for a spin, and that I and a select group of customers were allowed to test-drive it. In terms of performance, it handled well, but we had to take a look under the hood from time to time and make adjustments. The feedback from the beta customers was extremely helpful in identifying areas for improvement and applications for use. By July we had an on-demand document printing technology that we could take to market.

It has been an incredible experience to champion a product, begin to see it take shape, have it be embraced by our sales team for its potential and eventually adopted by our customers for its value. Our first product rollout was to The College Board, an organization that helps to prepare and connect students to higher education. Fiona Yung, assistant director, stated, “From my first experience with docBuilder, I recognized its value. With the easy-to-use interface, I was able to build my documents… in a virtual environment.” What does she mean “build” a document, you ask?

I will spare you the sales pitch, but in a nutshell, docBuilder gives the marketing professional like myself the ability to create, print and distribute professional documents – sales proposals, account reviews, marketing collateral, the dreaded RFP (think the stuff you have to run to-and-from the expensive retail copy shop in the rain for) – on-the-fly, without ever leaving one’s desk. Best of all, it saves my colleagues and I lots of time and precious budget dollars. If you would like to learn more about how WebbMason docBuilder is giving organizations a head start with an all-in-one solution for controlling the cost and quality of their outsourced printing, visit http://wmdocbuilder.com/pr.

For a demonstration of its capabilities, check out the video below:

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

Synonymous with the enterprising American spirit, franchising’s phenomenal growth is a testament to the power of personal ambition. Franchising can be a richly rewarding pursuit, but it’s vital to understand the inner workings of—and outside influences on—this innovative industry. Franchising in America, an informative infographic developed by MDG Advertising,illustrates the road to economic recovery, spots the top trends and keys to new growth, charts the common challenges franchising faces today, and adds insight for the future.

If you are looking to take your franchise marketing efforts to the next level, join us for a Free Webinar on WebbMason docBuilder, October 27th at 2pm.

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

That said, it isn’t just important for franchises to market themselves, but in order for more people to start those businesses, the concept of franchising as a whole has to be marketed and represented.

The International Franchise Association (IFA) is an organization whose mission is:

“…to protect, enhance and promote franchising through government relations, public relations and educational programs.”

As members of IFA, we know they are always proactive to promote franchise business growth,with one of the most recent examples being the 2011 Public Affairs Conference. Over 500 IFA members gathered in DC “to lobby Congress for pro-growth policies to help franchise business owners do what they do best-create jobs that the country so desperately needs.”

The major franchise-related issues addressed at the conference included:

• Health Care Reform
• Franchise Ownership Among Veterans
• Credit Access
• Promoting Franchising as an Economic Powerhouse

WebbMason works with franchises of all shapes, sizes and industries, and we see first-hand, every day how beneficial these types of organizations are to the communities they operate in. To learn more about the issues discussed at the conference, click here.

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

For more information, click here.

When it comes to making important decisions, it’s imperative to take time to think about all of the factors involved. Too often, potential franchise owners view the successful parent company as the guarantee to their individual success.

No, of course, we are not saying that the franchisors don’t play an important role, because the franchisee wouldn’t exist without them. We just want to emphasize the fact that individual store owners must take their own initiatives for success, especially when it comes to local marketing.

At WebbMason, we have a few print management tools that have provided major franchises with the materials to be successful in their local marketing:

WebbMason MarketingBench™

Marketing technology is designed to meet a specific set of needs. This technology automates and organizes the system, offers opportunity for self service, allows for collection of information, allows marketing process to be done online, allows for control of access, speeds time to market of your message, and allows for targeted communication and better execution. WebbMason’s MarketingBench™ is a proprietary single-source marketing platform to manage all aspects of your marketing strategy online. It adapts to any sales channel model, and gives you more control over your inventory and brand.

WebbMason docBuilder

Create, print and distribute professional documents like sales presentations, training manuals, and proposals without ever leaving your desk!

To learn more about these tools and others, we invite to you attend a free webinar for Hospitality Franchises on September 28th. For more information and to register, click here.

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

For more information, click here.

When disaster strikes – natural or not – the media has a tendency of focusing only on the negative. We have seen it happen before (think BP oil spill in 2010). In this circumstance, while there is no doubt the disaster itself set the region back, the media’s focus on editorializing on the problem (instead of simply reporting what solutions were ongoing) caused as much long-term damage to the victims (e.g. the tourism industry) as it did to the culprits.

A more recent example of this is the effect Hurricane Irene had on the east coast. It seems her trail followed some of the ideal vacation sites for an end of summer/beginning of fall trip.

While some of the more famous spots will end up being fine, it is the smaller places that will have to endure the repercussions. For example, in Brandon, Vermont:

Estimates indicate that between 80,000 and 150,000 room nights have been canceled since the flood within 30 minutes of Brandon, according to Brandon select board Chair Richard Baker, who also chairs the Rutland Regional Transportation Council.

Brandon and other east coast cities unaffected by flooding are having to act quickly in order to retain reservations and spread the word that they are “Open for Business!” However, even though these cities weren’t flooded at all, they were still negatively impacted by the blanket media implications that flooding was rampant all over.

The Brandon chamber’s Janet Mondlak said it will be good for local morale to have tourists back in town.

Tourism is really important and now more than ever,” she said. “We’ve lost a few businesses and we’re trying to get up and running again. Fall is going to be beautiful, and luckily, we did not have the incredible damage that other towns did. We’re alive and well in Brandon.

Too often, situations occur where proactive, rapid-response marketing efforts are needed to counter act negative publicity, especially in certain industries that rely on public perception, such as the hospitality industry. Do you have a plan in place that can alleviate concerns to your current and potential customers when incidents occur beyond your control? If not, let us help you make one.

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

For more information, click here.

In the current economic climate, it is hard for many long-standing businesses to stay afloat. With closings and bankruptcies increasing nationwide, you would think that starting a new business in the middle of this would be impossible. However, some passionate business owners have found a way to continue opening new businesses, despite the terrible economy.

Their answer, as you may have guessed, lies in franchises.

With over 6,000 franchise concepts within 40 industries currently being sold in the United States, it is quite possible for an individual to find a business that matches their passion and their pocketbook.

Franchising is an affordable way for people to start a business that fits their interests and their desires. Smart investors, looking for new projects during this rocky time, have turned to franchises, which have a failure rate of less than 5%. No other form of business can claim that level of success right now.

Franchisors need to take advantage of the current climate to reach out and find franchisees in the wave of potential owners that lack the funding to start a business from scratch. On the back of this sudden interest in franchise businesses, a second trend has also emerged.

The hottest franchises today include in-home care, childcare and education, repair and maintenance, pet care, as well as health and wellness.  In-home care provides support to the elderly, both independent living and assisted care.

Nearly every industry out there has franchising opportunities. So, while it is true that there has never been a better time to find a franchisee, it is also true that competition is going to increase, rapidly. It’s a good thing that MarketingBench is here to help.

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.

As a follow-up to last week’s press release and blog post about the development of WebbMason docBuilder, we will be hosting a webinar outlining the details and advantages to the docBuilder product. The information shared will be based on two main facts:

Fact 1: Despite an emphasis on new and evolving technologies, companies and organizations still print A LOT of materials in mass quantity.

Fact 2: The costs associated with these print jobs are typically segmented as either pre-designed, pre-printed materials that often get warehoused; or ‘on-the-fly’ materials, in which time and efficiency of production is imperative.

We have developed  a solution for this in the form of an on-demand document printing technology that gives companies’ an all-in-one solution for controlling the cost and quality of their printed materials.

If your company develops materials for any of the following departments, you would benefit from learning more about this innovate solution created by WebbMason:

• Sales and Marketing
• Manufacturing
• Human Resources
• Finance
• Operations

For more information, click here…

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Founded in 1989, WebbMason is one of the fastest-growing print and brand management service companies in the United States, helping marketing departments and their internal and external partners save money and streamline processes through a winning combination of industry expertise, exceptional print supply chain partners and technological innovation. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, WebbMason has 20 sales offices throughout the United States.