The Four Steps to Take Before Starting a Catalog (Ya Gotta Start Somewhere)
Finally, make sure your printer offers co-mailing programs; essentially an opportunity to be married up with other catalogs. That can save you even more money.
Once you find a few good printers you want to work with, get them to provide you some price quotes that you can match up with each other and see who offers the best combination of customer service (and advice) and pricing.
Next week, I’ll offer you some tips on how to get a competitive and accurate price bid from a catalog printer (which can be tricky). I’ll start discussing the next topic in the list of core competencies you’ll need to get started in the catalog business.
As always, please feel free to post your comments to this article and ask any questions you want by filling in the form below.
Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing and a professor of direct marketing at Miami International University of Art and Design. He can be reached at jimdirect@aol.com
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Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
