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black-and-white and full-color catalogs to color programs for athletics, mailings for open houses, alumni weekends, homecoming, and other events. "If they want the commodity work like letterhead, envelopes, or business cards, I would go after the person who runs their print shop or purchasing," Brumley recommends. "If you are going after the mailing of postcards for events and admissions, and also for the more creative development, ask who is in charge of marketing and advancement." The directors of purchasing, marketing, and advancement should be the first contacts. Different Beast "Higher education is kind of a different beast than some of the kindergarten grades," says Jason Mutz, commercial print specialist for Konica Minolta. "It's just such a grander scale when it comes to departments and organizational charts and overall size and scope of operation." Another difference, according to Kon- ica Minolta education and government solutions manager Stephanie Keer, is that public schools with K-12 programs "depend, obviously, on dollars from the government, whereas higher-ed institutions can be independently marketed and are dependent more on tuition." The decision making apparatus also differs, she adds, "Things are usually decided—at least big types of decisions— on a district-wide level. University decisions are made on the department level, depending on the department and the grant." When eyeing K-12, says Mutz, printers can reach out to business mangers or superintendents at the district level, or to principals and other administrators at individual schools. According to Keer, K-12 departments have less fear of being replaced by an outside print shop than those at universities. Projects at that level will include lots of handouts and correspondence with parents, says Mutz, as well as signage and course materials. "If you get up into higher education it's pretty much anything that can possibly be printed. They have marketing departments; a lot of individual departments have their own business cards for faculty and staff with their own specialized logos, letterheads for official communications. I can't really think of anything that they don't print in higher education." Pain points in higher ed include backlog, poor quality and customer service, and limited capabilities, Keer explains. The lower grades likely also suffer from limited capabilities. "I have yet to see any school district or individual school have an offset press or bindery or anything like that. I would focus on turn time, extended business hours, quality, customer service in general, and delivery options." Servicing any vertical begins with servicing a single client and collecting knowledge. "Land your first one, take what you have learned and proceed forward," Brumley suggests. "Just like all verticals, you have to learn each business. Become an expert in this field, then go share your knowledge." ◗◗ tap into new business. Making a profit on print requires a printer that can keep up with customer demands. And these days customers want it all. Banners, posters, decals, labels, apparel. CMYK, metallic and white ink. Custom contour cutting. Roland VersaCAMM VS series printer/cutters deliver it all, giving you the quality and versatility that you need to say yes to just about any job that comes your way. Then let the profits flow. VersaCAMM VS 30", 54" and 64" printer/cutters For more information and a free print sample, visit www.rolanddga.com/vs. For more information, visit MyPRINTResource.com/10007761 w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m May 2013 / QUICK PRINTING 25