Presslink Printing, Ltd.

Presslink Printing, Ltd. We help our customers meet their commercial print objectives through thorough analysis, careful production, and accurate fulfillment.

At our core, we are committed to serving the needs of virtually any business printing project including one-off print projects for our traditional customers and comprehensive managed print programs for our enterprise customers. We pride ourselves on being experts in all categories of commercial printing, and are equipped to deliver products and services which will meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.

Women of Distinction Girl Scouts lunch.
11/03/2017

Women of Distinction Girl Scouts lunch.

Presslink giving back to the community! Chris Hetterich pictured here with a donation check to Children's Health in Dall...
06/09/2017

Presslink giving back to the community! Chris Hetterich pictured here with a donation check to Children's Health in Dallas.

Just Finished! Custom promotional License Plates for Mazda Dealership.
05/16/2017

Just Finished! Custom promotional License Plates for Mazda Dealership.

Presslink Gear in action! Nice shirts!!
12/12/2016

Presslink Gear in action! Nice shirts!!

Always more to learn...
11/29/2016

Always more to learn...

10/31/2016

Before you call that Printer…

Does this sound familiar? You need brochures printed by end of day Friday so you can stuff them into welcome tote bags for a weekend show. Design gives you the print-ready artwork Thursday at noon. Now, you face the challenge of finding a good printer that can meet your deadline and not crush you on price. You start a Google search and quickly find 3 local printers that seem capable. As you begin your due diligence, you quickly realize there are certain pieces of information a production team requires in order to give you a timeframe and price estimate. Gathering this info will take time and put you further behind the 8-ball. Avoid this time consuming task on your next project by knowing some basic print specs.

Basic Print Specs:
Quantity – Have a couple of numbers in mind. Price per unit will go down as quantity goes up. By asking for a quote on 2 quantities, you can weigh the difference and determine if purchasing the higher quantity is worthwhile. You can always re-purpose extra marketing material – unless it’s dated, so be wary of that.

Page Count – Know how many pages make up your piece. For example, a simple, non-bound brochure consists of 4 pages. Front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover and back cover. Let’s look at another example, a saddle stitched 8.5 X 11 booklet. This is a bit trickier due to the cover. The common way to spec this booklet is to have 1 number for the interior pages then simply say “plus cover”. So you would say “my booklet has 16 pages plus cover.” A printer will understand your project has 20 total pages with the cover and will go on to ask if you would like a different stock for the cover.

Dimensions - Finished size refers to the length and width the piece will be when handed to the customer or prospect. Productions runs do not match finished size because commercial printing is done on large flat sheets. Once complete, these sheets are trimmed, scored, and folded to meet your finished size specification.

Stock – Thin paper? Thick? Coated? Uncoated? A printer will need to know the paper type to get you an accurate quote. Even if you are unfamiliar with paper vocabulary, picture in your mind what will work best for this piece. One thing to remember is opacity (the sheerness of the paper). If your artwork has heavy ink coverage, you may want a thicker stock in order to avoid visibility of the other side of a page.

These are basic print specs that you should have ready when calling a printer for a quote. It will save you time and frustration and make you a little wiser when it comes to printing. It may even make you look savvy enough to get a better price!

10/24/2016

Let's meet at your office.

In the past, I've mentioned several characteristics to look for when evaluating a potential commercial print partner - experience, knowledge, capabilities, etc. But what about on-site consultation? The willingness and ability to meet at your office to discuss your needs. Remember, you’re seeking a long-term partner and that partner needs to see what you’re dealing with. Sure, you can learn a lot over the phone or through email but nothing beats a one-on-one at your office. While many printers do offer this service, many more do not and it speaks volumes about their business model.

What does it say and why should you avoid them? Let me tell you…

1. Limited production capabilities – Printers that don’t offer on-site consultations tend to have narrow capabilities. They tend to focus solely on one product like business cards, or branded t-shirts. They do a fine job but simply do not have the ability to handle all print needs for a large business.

2. Focused on smaller runs – There are many printers in the area that focus on small jobs. Now, a small job means different thing to different people but generally speaking, these printers target simple ink on paper items such as a flyer or brochure. Again, they do a good job and may be able to do it while you wait, but their production model does not work for a larger business where large runs, complex specs, and lower cost per unit is required.

3. Focused on one-time transactions - Perhaps the most important distinction of this printer type is that they are focused on the job at hand and not necessarily a customer’s comprehensive goals. While that mindset is helpful to complete a quick and easy job, it doesn’t benefit a business looking for a partner that will help them reach their overall print objectives.

As you search for your next print partner, you will come across all types of printers. Be sure to keep “on-site consultations” on your checklist. If they are not able to provide that, you may be speaking to the wrong printer.

10/10/2016

What are your Print Marketing Objectives?

Print marketing objectives are often overlooked, taking a backseat to more glamorous channels like TV or radio. But as print marketing continues to be an effective form of lead generation and customer retention, marketing professionals must actively manage annual spend in order to maximize return. As we have years of experience producing print marketing material, let me share with you 3 common objectives:

Simple Return on Investment - Are your print marketing efforts generating enough business to justify the cost? For example, if you are spending $20,000 for a direct mail campaign to generate new customers, and driving in annual revenue of $15,000, this may not be the best means of customer acquisition for you. However, before scrapping this campaign, be sure to include not only first order revenues but potential Lifetime Value of these new acquisitions. If your company is operating efficiently, I’m sure they will be back for more.

Production Experience - How’s the interaction with your printer? When a project goes into production he should be taking steps to ensure timeliness and quality. Is he taking those steps? Is he explaining the steps to you? Does he remind you that any delay in proofing may result in a longer production time? Make sure you are experiencing pleasant communications and explanations. This customer-centric interaction will make the experience that much better.

Sharp, Clean, Quality Results - At the end of the day, your print material must look good. Otherwise, it reflects poorly on your brand, your efforts, and ultimately on you. After each project, take a moment to review the production process and end result. Did it meet your expectations? Does it have all of the specifications that were discussed? Is it packaged right? If there was a fulfillment aspect, was it accurate. A successful print job has many variables that must be met and exceeded for you to have a great customer experience. Always be working towards that goal and make sure your printer is too.

Of course there are many other objectives that play a role in maximizing return on print spend but these have always been some of the larger ones. If you pay attention to these and constantly work to improve them, your print marketing material will drive more traffic, revenue, and retention. After all, that’s what we are all striving to do.

09/21/2016

Better safe than sorry.

So the other day, a customer was inquiring about potential promotional items for an upcoming trade show. After making some suggestions, they decided to go with a clear, branded stadium bag. They requested a price for 500 with a one color imprint.

This was our proposal:
Qty 500 clear, branded stadium bags with a one color imprint - $2000 total/$4 each
QTY 750 clear, branded stadium bags with a one color imprint - $2250 total/$3 each

As tends to happen, the customer asked why we added a quote for a higher quantity, I told her that we’ve been in this game a long time and more times than not, a higher quantity can prove very valuable.

1. You DO NOT want to run out. These are key promotional items are for an event and no matter how scientifically you’ve formulated your quantity needed, you never know what might happen. People take more than one, more people than expected show up, the hotel loses on of the boxes – a myriad of unstoppable events may happen and when they do, you can rest easy with the additional quantities.

2. Small Rush order hurt ROI - Let’s say you run through the majority of your items in the first couple of days. Now, that’s good news that you’ve had significant traffic but bad news for customers and prospects that have not made it to your booth yet. Guess you need to RUSH order more? But due to the much lower quantity, the price per unit will be much higher and seem very unattractive. So, while you did all the math upfront, unexpected events have caused you to order more at a much higher cost per unit hurting your post show ROI analysis.

3. Production Time - Even if you say “So what, let’s just place the order for 100 and deal with the higher cost per unit later”, there simply may not be enough time to produce your items in such a small timeframe. Production lines are booked days and weeks in advance making it difficult to slide orders in between bigger ones. Someone may be able to pull it off but you better be crossing your fingers.

So go ahead, print more than you “think” you need. Yes, it is a higher total cost but compare that to the dozens of unforeseen circumstances that may gobble up your inventory faster than you anticipated. One other thing to consider is that if the item is not dated, you can always pack up the extras and use elsewhere. Take my word for it, it is better to be safe than sorry!!

Yikes, the Holidays are right around the corner!Every year the Holiday season seems to sneak up on HR, sales, and market...
09/19/2016

Yikes, the Holidays are right around the corner!

Every year the Holiday season seems to sneak up on HR, sales, and marketing departments. As seasoned professionals, they understand the length of time it can take to produce their branded items and every day that goes by production time grows as competitors are placing their orders as well. This year, make the effort to plan ahead and place your order before it’s too late.

Let’s discuss some of the more popular seasonal items we produce:

HR Dept. - Gifts purchased by the HR department tend to go to the employees of the company. Something that mentions a current campaign or maybe a message that reinforces overall missions and visions. The Apparel Group, who orders from us every year, recently purchased a beautiful logo’d tea set. Perfect for warm tea during the cold months. We even helped them distribute these to other locations around the country. Everyone loved the gifts and it helped to build team morale and comradery. What would your employees like to receive? Advice - it takes a while to come up with something good so start thinking about it now.

Sales and Marketing Dept. – Ah, what should we get our top accounts? How about our smaller accounts? Prospects? Certainly customer segmentation plays a large role here but no matter who gets what, impact is the name of the game. We have you covered across the price point spectrum. For smaller customers and prospects to million dollar accounts, simply visit our site to narrow down your choices. Need some help? Call us for easy, professional guidance – 972-661-9899

End of the year trophies – Now these can be purchased by anyone in the company wishing to reward their top earners and performers. It can be something as simple as a plaque or something unique such as an engraved wine bottle (with wine inside!) that messages his or her accomplishment. There are literally thousands of awards to choose from. Have a price target? Call us for guidance.

Heed my alert! The longer you wait, the longer the production time gets. End the year with great gifts, on time, and looking fabulous! Recipients will love them and the sense of team/partnership they illicit.

09/15/2016

How much do you print?

No really, if you had to take a guess, how much money does your company spend annually on commercially printed items. $50,000? $10,000? $100,000? It’s tough isn’t it. While you may come up with a ballpark figure, I bet you’re on the low side. Why? Because commercial printing includes more than marketing collateral and business cards. It covers trade show signage, branded pop-up tents and, believe it or not, employee recognition trophies and plaques. When you add in these non-traditional commercial print items, I’m sure your guess will sky rocket. So what’s the point to this exercise? The point is that business printing often flies under the radar as one of those “costs of doing business” that you simply can’t do much about when, in fact, there is plenty you can do to better manage your needs and take a bite out of that slowly growing number in your head. Have you ever heard of a print manager? Print managers are a relatively new breed of commercial printer. Instead of offering one-off services, say catalog production, they focus their services on managing ALL of your print needs.

“What do you mean ALL? It’s not that complicated Kris, I just need someone to print my stuff on time, and make it as easy as possible on me.”

Well, I can certainly understand that request and print managers are more than capable of doing that, but let me ask you this, what happens after those 5,000 branded mugs are printed? Are you storing them at your office? It’s on 2 pallets. What is their ultimate destination? Are they shipping to reps upon their request? How do you handle 10-15 order by these reps every day? Picking and shipping takes a substantial amount of time. Whether you realize it or not, production is only a small part of ALL commercial print needs.

There really is an advantage to partnering with a printer that has modeled their services around all of your print needs. Take some time to consider if they can help you. New Year’s is right around the corner. It’s a good time to commit to less stress in 2017.

09/12/2016

New to commercial print? We can help.

Not sure if you know this but commercial printing is complicated. There are many variables that need to be addressed before going to press and properly managing these variables can be the difference between a good result and a great one. When making initial calls to potential printers, let them know your level of print knowledge and how they handle novice customers. For our part, we deal with folks who are new to commercial printing all the time. Whether they need some packaging for a new product or some trade show signage, we understand the confusion that may enter their minds and work hard to put them at ease and explain exactly how the process works. This has proven for a much better customer experience as well as longer relationships. Let me review a few items that any novice should know when working on a commercial print project.

1. You will need Print Ready Artwork – Print ready artwork is a high resolution file that has your designs on it, in the proper format, with crops and bleeds. Now, if you do not have this file or you have something close, we will work with you to get your file properly configured making sure we do not change your design. We’ll show it to you before going to press so that if you see something you want changed, we can handle it right there and then.

2. Understand Pricing – Pricing from commercial printers is composed of Total Price and Price per Unit. Generally speaking, the higher the quantity, the lower the per unit price but the higher the overall price. Let me give you an example:

A customer would like a quote on 2 quantities of brochures: 500 and 1000
Quote on 500: $250.00 total price or $.50 each
Quote on 1000: $350.00 total price or $.35 each
*Notice how the price per brochure went down for 1000 but overall price went up. If this is a brochure that will be used throughout the year, then the higher quantity may make sense. However, if this is a dated brochure, the lower quantity may make sense in order to minimize extras that will be thrown out after the event.

3. Some understand of specifications (Specs) – Specifications refers to items such as paper type, paper color, paper texture, color, final trim size, scored and folded, etc. Depending on your project, there may be 5-6 specs or 10-15. The point is for you to have some idea of what you would like your finished piece to look like. Our new customers come in with a vague idea and we ask them questions about distribution, target customer, qty, and so on. The answers to these questions help us guide them to specs that will meet their needs and their budget.

If you’re new to commercial printing, it can get real tricky really quick. Do your best to have some familiarity with the 3 items I listed above. It will make your experience a much better one.

Address

Dallas, TX

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(972) 661-9899

Website

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