Big Picture - November/December 2012 - (Page 4)

insight by Gregory Sharpless www.bigpicture.net Gregory Sharpless Editor-in-Chief gregory.sharpless@stmediagroup.com The Sharp And the Vigilant I keep coming back to something that Tim Greene of InfoTrends said in our Industry Roundtable last month. At the very end of the discussion, I asked him and his fellow roundtable participants for any parting advice for print providers as we all prepare for 2013. Tim closed with these words of wisdom: “Stay sharp and vigilantly opportunistic – these are likely the characteristics that got you where you are, and these same characteristics will keep you there.” I believe he is precisely right. (Others also seem to agree with Tim’s comment, by the way, I see it being routed across the “Twitterverse” of late.) Now, I’m going to go ahead and assume for the sake of this discussion that you’re already sharp – I know this because you’re reading The Big Picture, and we are, of course, the number-one choice of sharp print service providers. So your sharpness has been clearly established. With that settled, let’s move on to the concept of staying vigilant to opportunities. To be accurate, Tim said “vigilantly opportunistic,” but he assures me he was not using “opportunistic” in a negative way. Rather, he was referring to what should be a continual task for every print service provider: keeping an eye out for opportunities to improve your company’s bottom line. So just how do you best go about remaining vigilant for those opportunities awaiting you? Here are a few suggestions: • Stay up-to-date on applications across the wide-format market. Are you exploring a variety of jobs for your company? Take a look at InfoTrends’ list of fastest-growing types of jobs in our October issue (“Foreseeing a Road to Success,” page 20) and see which might be brought in-house. • Determine if there are particular niches in your city or region that might lend themselves to your services. And be sure you’re using current information in your evaluation – don’t just use that 1978 phone book you have propping up your monitor. • Involve your staﬀ in the discussion. Ideally, bring in a mix of employees to this conversation – young and old, male and female, company newbies as well as veterans. This way, you’re sure to get an accurate picture of the possibilities that are out there. You get the idea: It’s all too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day workload and what we think we already know about the marketplace’s opportunities. The fact is, it’s likely there are myriad opportunities not being addressed by digital wide-format printing in your backyard – it’s just a matter of keeping an eye out for them. Adrienne Palmer Assistant Editor adrienne.palmer@stmediagroup.com Laura Mohr Art Director laura.mohr@stmediagroup.com Marty McGhie, Craig Miller, Jared Smith Columnists Linda Volz Production Supervisor linda.volz@stmediagroup.com Lou Arneberg - East and Midwest US, Eastern Canada Ben Stauss - West and South US, Western Canada, Europe, Asia Business Development Managers Rick Bachelder, Kathy Boydstun, Terry Corman, Scott Crosby, Brandon Gabriel, Michael Garcia, Kirk Green, Robert Kissel, Tina McLaughlin, Craig Miller, Carmen Rad, Greg Root, Jared Smith, Mark Taylor Editorial Advisory Board Tedd Swormstedt President Steve Duccilli Senior VP of Content Christine Baloga Audience Development Director Kari Freudenberger Director, Online Media Subscription Services (847) 763-4938 tbp@halldata.com bigpicture.net/subscribe bigpicture.net/renew Single Copies/Back Issues Debbie Reed debbie.reed@stmediagroup.com 11262 Cornell Park Drive Cincinnati, OH 45242 tel (513) 421-2050 fax (513) 421-5144 THE BIG PICTURE (ISSN 1082-9660) is published 9 times annually (Jan/Feb, March, April, May, June/July, August, September, October, Nov/Dec) by ST Media Group International Inc., 11262 Cornell Park Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45242-1812. Telephone: (513) 421-2050, Fax: (513) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualiﬁed individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to non-qualiﬁed individuals in the U.S.A.: $42 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions in Canada: $70 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $92 (Int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2012, by ST Media Group International Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Cincinnati, OH and at additional mailing o ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076. 4 THE BIG PICTURE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 http://www.bigpicture.net http://www.bigpicture.net/subscribe http://www.bigpicture.net/renew http://www.stmediagroup.com/marketing/images/BigPictureSttement1211.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - November/December 2012

Big Picture - November/December 2012
Contents
InSight
Wide Angle
UpFront
Business & Management
Ink Report: 2012
Maxing Out Visibility
Dare to Digitize
R+D
Job Log

Big Picture - November/December 2012