How budding desktop publishers can build their businesses - Desktop Publishing - Column

Home Office Computing, Feb, 1992 by Steve Morgenstern

I'd also look at businesses that could be selling themselves effectively through fliers but aren't. The first stop on my recent foray was an upscale bakery that opened in my area recently. The bakery offers extraordinary cakes but has virtually no recognition in the community--it's too new, and it's located in a building that wasn't a bakery before. I could design some fliers to be inexpensively quick-printed and distributed door-to-door.

Resumes. Lots of people in my area are suddenly finding themselves searching for work. Servicing their needs with professional-looking resumes is a growth business around here. And while you can't charge a fortune for each resume (I wouldn't want to ask more than $20 or $25 for the original ready to be reproduced), do 10 of those a week and you've got a nice chunk of change.

The problem with DTP resumes as a business opportunity is that, frankly, it's a little bit too easy. That translates into plenty of competition. I look at the bulletin board at my local college and find a dozen different offers for "typeset" resumes. However, there are other, unexploited places where a resume service could be effectively promoted. I didn't find any ads for resume-preparation services in my local weekly shopper's paper (it's called The Pennsaver around here), so I'd invest $20 in placing a classified ad there. I also checked the bulletin boards at all the local supermarkets, but I couldn't find a flier promoting resume-preparation services there either. It's worth a shot--but I wouldn't bet my mortgage money on making my mortgage money this way.

Collateral materials. Many companies regularly use publications in their marketing programs. They often turn to ad agencies to produce them, though the projects aren't, strictly speaking, advertising--product brochures and fliers, price lists, press releases, public-relations publications, instruction manuals, assembly directions, and more. These publications are often referred to as collateral materials.

I'd concentrate on getting together some impressive samples, even if they are for fictional companies. Then I'd go all out to create a slick printed package promoting my own services. How you sell you will tell a lot about how you will sell another company's goods and services.

Finally, with your self-promotional materials ready, you need somebody to solicit. I'd look first for companies with products and services that match aspects of my educational experience and professional background. Then I'd widen my net to include companies that manufacture or import products (as opposed to services), since each change in product line entails new printed materials. I'd look for specific executives to contact: In a large company that might include the vice president of marketing, the executive in charge of corporate communications, and the employee-benefits department (they're often involved in internal communication). For smaller companies the routing is easier--send it to the boss.