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Press Releases

Do You Want Fries With That?
The art of the up-sell is set out by Ulrike André

Published in: Specialist Printing Worldwide, Issue One, 2012

Participants of a recently held webinar in which I participated were asked to state whether they had an up-sell strategy in place or not. An astounding 78% announced that indeed, they had no such strategy in place.

McDonald’s lays claim to quite possibly the world’s most famous up-sell question: "Do you want fries with that?" A close runner up would have to be "Do you want to super-size your order?" which helped McDonald’s to increase their sales, without any added cost to them, across the globe and overnight.

By asking a simple question at the moment we were trying to satisfy our quench for deep fried pommes de terre, McDonald’s was adding instant sales (profit) and making us believe they were merely being observant and making sure our culinary needs and desires were being met.

This begs the question: can we adopt this theory of offering French fries or even increasing the ordered size of fries—to our industry? The simple answer is "mais oui"!

Start With the Basics
A customer who comes into your shop and inquires about your products and services will often have a pretty good idea about what they need. They might even have a specific t-shirt, hoodie, or other promotional item in mind and they often have the design they want to see applied onto it ready in hand or on a flash drive. Sounds fairly cut and dry you might think. After all, who’s to question a determined and prepared customer?

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Spotlight On YOU!

Creating Your Own Runway Designs with Heat Printing

Published in: Specialist Printing Worldwide, Issue Four, 2011

What fashion looks are on the runway for 2012? Exotic, romantic, urban, elitist, casual, elegant, glamorous, futuristic – the list of this season’s trends is diverse. Layered, vintage and distressed is one look that really stands out. You know that worn out look, the favorite pair of jeans that your parents tried to get rid of, that T-shirt that reminded us of a special event … well, that look is back with a vengeance! Now is the time for the reprisal of these long lost old friends, so let mom and dad know that you were right all these years for holding on to those t-shirts and jeans. The big names in the fashion industry are asking big money for their interpretation of this retro renaissance. How can you take advantage of these trends without spending a lot of money? How can you make everything new look old again? The good news—it’s easier than ever to create this season’s hottest looks with a little help from your heat press.

Make It Stand Out — The Power of Mix and Match
It all starts with the logo, but even the plainest, most simple logos will look amazing when done utilizing the right media. How does it feel when you touch it? Is it “wearable”, comfortable? Texture is incredibly important, not just in retro looks but for any garment. Pairing the right decoration material with the right textile is an important key to success. A thick felt material on a t-shirt material is simply not wearer-friendly. There are a lot of heat printing options when it comes to creating vintage looks. Here are a few to consider:

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How up-to-date is your heat press?

Ulrike André takes a closer look at the most sought after features in these units

Published in: Specialist Printing Worldwide, Issue Three, 2011

If you’ve been heat printing for any length of time, you already know how much time and money you can save with this alternative to screen-printing or embroidery. You also know how easy it is to print just one item and still make a great profit. You’ve used your heat press to make samples for customers in order to secure a big sale, or to decorate hard to screen-print items such as nylon jackets, beach chairs or umbrellas.
Yes, you know that your heat press is a valuable piece of equipment and you’re not quite sure how you lived without one for so long. But, now that you own a heat press, isn’t there something about that press that you would like to change, or improve upon? Let’s start with a little research into some of the features most people consider important in a heat press.

What’s your style?
At first glance, most heat presses appear to be relatively simple pieces of equipment. In general there are basically two main types from which to choose, a swinger type or a clamshell type. With the swinger type, the top platen of the press is designed to swing to the left or the right. Clamshell models, as the name suggests, open on an upward angle. The drawback to using a clamshell model is that sometimes your work surface below the platen can become hot, and people have been known to burn their knuckles while arranging graphics on garments underneath the hot upper platen.

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