Printing and Publishing

[nicu101]

Here at NICU 101, we have a line of specialty birth announcements. At this time, we print them in a fill in the blank format that parents write on. We've thought about the possibility of offering custom printed announcements, but have had trouble finding options for reliable, economical printing of just a few items (we figure a typical order would be in the neighborhood of 20-50 cards).

We're also looking at publishing a specialty baby book, but the hardcover, full color format is just too expensive to print in small quantities, so we're on to looking at sending book proposals to agents or publishers.

Any suggestions or leads in either of these areas would be appreciated.

-Kristie

[Julie Sandusky]

The best option for reliable, economical printing with low volume jobs is likely to look at purchasing or leasing a 4-color laser high end based printing option through a good manufacturer such as HP. Once the items were printed you could outsource to a bindery shop who could handle all of the cutting, scoring, drilling, etc.

Also several wedding photographers now offer hard cover individual based printed guest books. These look similar to children’s books with thick based pages with the wedding photographs printed directly on the page. I’m not exactly sure what the process or associated cost is with these – but perhaps it might be a good route to investigate.

With similar sized orders as you, I found that printing is the most important part of the process to control and you will too. My company focuses on the design and printing of custom wedding invitations, coordinating paper products for weddings as well as specialty wedding favors and gifts. Our orders average 100-125; which may include several pieces in one order (invitation, reply card, reply envelope, invitation envelope, map card, information card, etc.)

We have invested in the necessary printing and binding equipment to fulfill client needs and wants for us to completely produce products in house. It has been a wonderful investment which allows up to control the process and timeline. The world is definitely moving towards "Custom" everything and customers want something which is uniquely theirs. This is especially true with once in a lifetime events such as weddings, babies, anniversaries, etc. With owning the equipment we are able to offer certain products which are difficult to find through our competitors - which has ultimately set us apart and increased sales and revenue. I think you will find the same in your business.

Hopefully this helps!

[butkelbut]

Hi
Keep up this great resource.
We enjoyed visiting your website very much. We enjoyed visiting your website very much.


See ya!

[nicu101]

I'll look into the printers and the wedding book idea. You are definitely right about customization; now we just need to get the idea off the ground.
-Kristie