Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself to this site via this column. It is my hopes to regularly contribute in the area of marketing and PR for not only our business but also for other businesses. Much of the information can be used interchangeably between businesses and organizations.

I have spent time with Fortune 500 companies and have started smaller businesses from scratch. The common denominator of the success formulas has been highly effective marketing and PR. It is through this experience and the knowledge gained along the way that I hope to help you in your efforts with your own business as we all go forward.

One difficulty observed for many printing businesses and other business owners is learning how to sell the products and services and how to generally market the business. Not only must there be know how about how to implement effective marketing, there is also a need to know how to turn a prospect into a customer. This can happen in many, many ways. It is often said that marketing is made up of many, many little things working together. It is my hopes to offer tips, techniques and know-how regarding these many many things, plus a lot more.

For smaller businesses, advertising, marketing and PR budgets are relatively small or at least the first to get cut when times are tough. Because of the budgetary concerns and sensitivity, I hope to show you how to market and use PR very cost effectively.

With the advent of the Internet there are many off-line marketing and PR techniques that work as well on-line. There are also new techniques that are best used on-line. It is my hopes to also address these.

Marketing is not just advertising. When considering the above and the business-to-business nature of our business marketing consists of direct mail, networking and public relations. These are my strengths and the areas where I can share the most with you. You will value from this and will find techniques, programs and ideas that you can use in your business. All of the ideas will not work for all involved, but most will work for most.

The good thing about this subject area is that it is truly fun. As we go forward together and share success stories you will see the enthusiasm build and the learning take place. The hands on applications will grow our businesses and it will become a natural course of our business management. I look forward to the total interaction and cant wait for the success stories.

These are just a few of the topic points to start with. Other ideas will come from you. With the experience I have and the many businesses I work with, I can offer many perspectives that will prove valuable to you. The true value of this site is the interaction. Please let me know any and all marketing and PR subjects that you want to discuss. As Vince Marini stated, "We are a small community and must join forces to ensure we continue to grow and, most importantly, we need to better train the new generation joining our ranks." I firmly believe as Vince does and am committed to do my part in contributing through this site to make that happen. Thank you. Al.