Print Shop: Help me figure out what offers to test

Delia Ursulescu

Feb 3 • General discussion

Hey, some of you know I own a print shop - and I'm looking at leveraging the Ronin methods to grow the shop in 2025.

@Travis Sago

always says: want mo' money, make mo' offers!

So gotta make mo' offers.

Long post ahead...

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YOUR INPUT NEEDED FOR...:

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to critique or share ideas about the quickest next tests I can run so that...

...we get cashflow into the print shop

WHY?

A. Nov-Jan is really slow season for commercial printers, and I need mo' money

B. once people say yes, it takes 15-45 days to get paid (estimation, proofing, fulfillment, etc.)

C. current customers pay on delivery (we inherited this and tried to change it and lost a few big clients); changing this policy to new customers so they pay when they order!

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[MORE BACK STORY/CONTEXT:

I bought the shop and it was going well, and then we discovered our team lead has made some huge mistakes that wiped out the profit for 2024 - so buying businesses has its challenges lol]

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IDEA: GIVE THEM VALUE that won't take a ton of money for me to deliver + get customers to prepay their printing

<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

MY GOAL:

i) CREATE RISK-FREE OFFER

ii) TO GENERATE CASHFLOW RIGHT NOW

<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

Some things I can offer:

Hidden Assets Audit ($495 value) - free when you prepay $250 in future printing services you already need ------- (after conversations with small business owners, I get comments like, "you saved me thousands in one message," or "phone's been ringing since we last talked" -- these were free conversations with small biz owners and yup, those are real testimonials)

2. Local SEO audit ($249 value) - free when you prepay $125 in future printing services you already need - I have a decent tool that can create some useful audits

3. Hood cleaners: My cold email campaign that generated $25k revenue for ProClean (get actual numbers to make it legit) when you prepay $250 in printing services

4. Give AI course away for free: AI Tips and Tools for the Tech-Challenge Small Business Owner with a Limited Budget to grow biz (i had 30 customers tell me in a survey they would pay for an AI course for how to make their work faster, more efficient, and grow their business) --> course video #1-2 finalized this week, rest will be created if I get buyers

5. Find someone who has my audience and make an offer - faster results.

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TEST #1:

I send a newsletter to our customers on Thursday...

...and made an offer for...

....free Local Marketing Audit ($500 value) when you prepay $250 for printing services you already use...

...no results so far (but I'm sure it's because I based it on them meeting with me for 2 hrs - need to make it risk-free and pain-free for them; asking for 2 hrs of their time won't work, probably)

My guarantee was: if you don't get $2k value, I'll give you a $200 store A2Z credit (maybe a bit lame?)

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ADDITIONAL NOTES:

I know I need to get out there and talk to people...

...that's the only way I can figure something out.

So, I'm sending emails, I'm booking coffee dates with local business owners... no results so far (only started 2 weeks ago, but have 2 coffee dates to present prepaid printing offer).

A. Some of our best clients are manufacturers - need to have some conversations with them and figure out what value I can give them. --> Haven't done it yet.

B. Looking to focus on specific offers for each niche (dealerships, hood cleaners, pressure washing businesses, fire suppression, etc. etc.)

A long post... I know I need to go out there and talk to people.

Would love any insights/ideas after reading this.
Do you have a newsletter I can sponsor to make some offers for prepaid printing services?
Do you have deep knowledge of a specific niche? What type of value they might respond to?

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