SEARCH

thINK has a letter from the new thINK Board President, resources for 2025, a new thINK Academy class, and more! All in our January E-Newsletter. …

Trevett’s Print + Mail specializes in delivering an organization’s message to its target audience. High print quality and sophisticated data intelligence enable an idea to become a tangible reality in the right person’s hands. Contact: Nathan Trevett 6065 Saint Andrews Road Columbia, South Carolina 803-781-3150 nathan@trevetts.com …

In 1821, a Scottish painter named Patrick Syme published a book of color samples called “Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Minerology, Anatomy, and the Arts.” Syme’s book was based on a classification system devised by the German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner in the late 18th Century, and a book Werner published in 1814. Charles Darwin used Werner’s system for his scientific observations while developing his theory of natural selection. Werner’s system of classification predated systems such as Pantone (which did not arrive until the 1950s), and it still has relevant lessons for us over two hundred years later.  Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? Syme’s version of Werner’s guide was reprinted by  the Smithsonian not long ago and made available at an affordable price. (Original copies, if you can find one, sell for thousands of dollars.) The book is only about 80 pages long and has 110 color swatches in the following palettes: Whites (1-8), …

Can a quick price drop close the deal? Is there a downside? Let me share why discounts like this can backfire for Production Inkjet print service providers—and what to do instead. Scenario A: We quote $5,000 to a customer for a production inkjet print job—let's say it includes full-color variable data printing on premium coated stock and mailing services. The customer comes back and says they need us at $4,500 to win their business. We agree to discount the deal by $500 but don’t change anything about what we’re delivering—still the same premium stock, same color coverage, same mailing service. In Scenario A, the customer gave up nothing to get a discount. We changed the price without changing the offering, which I call an “unearned discount.” This obviously eats into our profit. But equally importantly, unearned discounts hurt trust. When the customer learns that they can simply ask for a discount and get it—without any adjustment to the scope or materials—they may conclude there was …