The Stationers Guild

In general, local stationery store owners feel threatened by the internet. It’s tough to sell quality stationery and custom invitations in a two-dimensional medium which is dominated by thousands of online printers masquerading as fine stationery designers.

Indeed, when I last checked (about 2 minutes ago) there were 37 million Google-indexed page results for the search term “wedding invitations.” To be honest, even Walmart looks good when compared to the thousands of shoddy stationery and invitations lines that now call themselves “green,” “beautiful,” “elegant,”or some other descriptive adjective that is either exaggerated or simply dishonest.

Despite online claims to the contrary, the customer is often disappointed with the outcome after spending several hundred dollars on wedding invitations or fine stationery. Frankly, there is simply no way for the consumer to make an informed decision without the wise counsel of an independent and experienced stationer who works with many lines and can help the consumer explore design, paper, printing and pricing alternatives. Where does the consumer get this advice and information? Sadly, only in a store since the internet search market is totally dominated by companies of questionable integrity pushing their particular brand.

Stationery store owners – like many local businesses – have been slow to embrace the internet and social media to promote this business, there is a paucity of quality and relevant information available to the consumer. The Stationers Guild has long encouraged qualified stationery stores to take a more active role in promoting their business online. Some have acted, but most have not seen the benefit of promoting their business online or, more realistically, understood the threat to our industry posed by online marketing specialists.

If your client has moved online for information and your business is not well represented in cyberspace and on social media platforms, your business simply doesn’t exist and will soon become as extinct as the Dodo bird.

Affiliate marketing is the last opportunity for store owners to effectively establish an online presence and encourage consumers to shop locally.     As such, I will be redirecting much of my time and that of the Guild  to aggressively support affiliate programs that support our vendors and preserve the rich heritage of fine stationery.   

If you are interested in learning more about affiliate marketing and how you can benefit in your market, please contact me at the email address below.   Alternatively, I will regularly be providing detailed information on how to do it yourself at our technical website, Rite4u.com. 

With 37 million web pages promoting wedding invitations it is a long uphill battle, but together we can make the cream rise to the surface.  Consumers deserve better quality than the hyped fast-food invitations which now flood cyberspace.   

Richard W. May
rmay@stationersguilld.org

It has been awhile since I have posted articles on the Stationers Guild website. It isn’t for lack of interest, it is simply that I have found that the landscape of SEARCH and INTERNET MARKETING is changing so radically that  it is difficult to know how to position one’s business.  The new search parameters imposed by Google are so impactful that most local business owners need to seriously rethink their overall marketing strategy. 

For the most part, I believe that these changes are “good” (where “good” is a relative term) for local business owners since geo-targeting capabilities in most new cellphones raise the importance of local search results.  The bad news is that if a local business doesn’t have a website or has a website that is not properly configured for local search, they will be left out in the cold.  Found below are – in my estimation - some of the more impactful implications of Google’s emphasis on “Google Place Results”:

1. In the past, a local business did not need  a website to be listed on the Google 7 or 10-pack list of local businesses.  The Google Lucky 7-pack has now disappeared and has been replaced by Google Place Search.   Don Campbell of Expand2Web describes the impact of these changes on local search.   If you don’t have a website, get one now!
2. New and growing constraints on AFFILIATE marketing by Google are designed to provide an online  buyer or visitor with improved or more relevant SEARCH results.  Gone are the days when one could throw up an affiliate website designed to generate commissions if one clicks on the embedded link and buys something on a sponsor’s site.   In fact, I have recently discovered many websites designed to link to third-party websites may have already been deindexed by Google and may not even show up in search registries. 
3. While all of these factors are positive for local businesses over the long term, it does require a greater commitment by local business owners to embrace internet marketing.  Fortunately, there are a number of relatively inexpensive ways to do so.  Nevertheless, it is important to act now.

Because of these changes, I have decided to overhaul the Stationers Guild website.  These changes will occur over the next several months but are designed to enhance the visitor’s website experience and  promote affiliate programs with established vendors who have a commitment to excellence and support their storefront dealers.  I think you will find the Guild website will become increasingly more valuable as it will begin to support your local marketing initiatives.  More on this later. 

For those who wish to learn more about creating a viable online presence, I have established a sister website called www.rite4u.com which will give you the lastest insights into the latest changes in internet marketing and the “best” tools to take advantage of these changes in technology.  Through this website you will be able to access valuable affiliated resources such as Don Campbell’s Expand2Web which builds local search friendly Wordpress websites. More information on Expand2Web will be forthcoming shortly. 

If you value your business and seem confused or concerned about the evolution of the stationery industry, I suggest that you register now at rite4.com and learn how you can protect and grow your investment.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

As readers of this column are well aware, I have long been preaching that local stationers need to take a far more active role at promoting their store online. Whether one has a website or not, it is absolutely critical that your store be found when people are searching for products and services you sell.  

I have recently come across a useful and easy way to determine how well your store is positioned for online search.  Simply go to getlisted.org and type in the name of your business and zip code to see how well you rank.  GetListed.org quickly determines how well your store ranks on five prominent search sites (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and Best of the Web) and, most importantly, provides you with the essential hyperlinks to claim your business, update your existing listing and add photographs and reviews.  This is by far the most effective tool that I have seen to determine how well positioned your store is for Internet search inquiries.   Find out now!

What do GetListed.org search results mean for my store?    If your listing score is below 25%, I would drop eveything and take action now!  Just follow the useful hyperlinks on the website and create a unique identity for your store in cyberspace.  If your listing score is above 50%, give youself a pat on the back, and take action over the weekend to get your listing to the next level.  Please note that getting a listing score above 50% is almost free and may require about an hour of work on your computer.    If your listing score is above 85%, treat yourself to a glass of champagne and then do what is necessary to get to 100%. 

With the easy roadmap provided to you by GetListed.org  your local store will certainly rank in the top 5% percentile of all local listings (probably closer to 1%) for small business.  Furthermore this can be done for a total cost of under $200 a year (only Best of the Web is a tad expensive).  For those on a famine diet, Google and Bing are free.

Over the next several weeks, I will be unveiling a new strategy for Guild members to radically transform your store and online presence by opting into some of the new technologies that are reshapping the ways local businesses market themselves.    As I wrote recently, I believe that our industry (which I broadly define as personalized stationery and custom invitations) has reached a crossroads. Vendors and dealers can follow the path of least resistance and chase Internet price points down to levels which either puts them out of business or permanently compromises the integrity of their brand and/or the reputation of their business.

Experienced stationers operating through legitimate storefronts continue to be the most effective resource to promote brand awareness. Unfortunately, most of these stationers do not recognize the threat posed by the Internet and/or lack the skills or interest to promote their business effectively in this new medium.   As such, I have decided to reorient the focus of the StationersGuild to help dealers optimize their web presence within their local community so that they will have the best listing in targeted local “search space” for keywords like “wedding invitations,” “business cards,” or “stationery.”

Participation in this program is strictly voluntary, but best results and best pricing will be achieved if we act together.  Many of the programs (like getlisted.org ) are free and I will be assembling information from credible resources on the internet if you wish to implement these programs yourself.  For those who prefer to let the “pros” do it for you, I am in the process of putting together an outstanding talent pool to get the job done at rates that are probably far less than what you are currently paying for Yellow Page Advertising. 

I would love to hear from you and will be sending out a newsletter and survey shortly which goes into the program in more detail.  Ask yourself:  Are you equipped to handle mobile search?  Are those affiliate programs working for you?  Are you updating your site regularly and employing proper Search Engine Optimization strategies?  If you answered no to one or more of these questions, the new StationersGuild strategy could be right for you.

Richard W. May
Founding Member Stationers Guild

Yesterday, I received the following question from Lori London of Write Impressions in Royal Oak, Michigan:  “I’m a guild member.  I have a question that I wish I could pose to other guild members and/or maybe you can help me.  I took down my web site a few weeks ago as we are ready to launch our much improved web site by November 1st. Did other members provide links to stationery vendors … such as Crane, William Arthur, Checkerboard … even though some of these vendors sell directly to the consumer?  I am curious how other stores dealt with this.”

Please find below my slightly edited response to this most interesting question:

Very good question.  I will answer your question (at least try to) as posed, but then if you will stay with me a bit longer I hope to give you a “better” but slightly more technical explanation that might influence your decision. 
 
First, based on my research just under two-thirds of the 285 guild members currently listed in the StationersGuild have their own website.  Of those that do have a website less than 20% have outgoing links to vendor websites.  Those that do link to a vendor’s website do so primarily with companies where  they receive referral commissions (Sweet Pea or Printswell, Birchraft and Checkerboard).  Based on a cursory observation of member websites, I would say that very few Guild members (certainly less than 10 and probably less than 5) link to a vendor website that sells online unless they participate in a referral program.    
 
Now, as Paul Harvey would say “Page 2″:   While incoming links to one’s website are important in determining “search” relevancy, it is the quality and relevancy of  links rather than the number of links that determine whether one site will get a higher ranking than another.  Without trying to bore you, an incoming link from the Chamber of Commerce or a Trade Organization (StationersGuild for instance) is perceived by Google to be more valuable than a link from a paid listing such as www.1Wedding.com.  Authoritative links  from sites with a .gov (government) or .edu (educational sites) ending or websites with consistently high Google Page Rank are generally perceived to be “higher quality links” that will enhance the value of your website (or at least a specific page on your website).
 
The ThereseSaintClair website provides links to most of our vendors.  The reason is quite simple:  People who visit our website are interested in what brands we carry.  We provide them a lot of choice, give them convenient access (i.e. links) to many Fine Paper companies and then give them very strong reasons to shop locally.  In fact, the Therese Saint Clair and Stationers Guild websites have been designed to provide  buyers with  information in one location that would be difficult for them to find elsewhere.  It would be presumptous and silly of me to assume that that an online visitor found “Crane wedding invitations” through a visit to my website.    In other words, we help buyers research online without any aggressive sales pressure in the expectation that a discerning buyer has the common sense to shop locally.
 
Now, most people seem to think that one runs the risk of losing prospective clients by providing links to online suppliers.  You may lose a few, but I believe the risk is minimal.  In fact, Fine Paper companies would be far better served by providing hyperlinks to their dealer’s websites on their “Find a Dealer” page.  It would help their dealers build credible links and it would also help the Paper company promote their brand to customers looking for a local solution with an experienced stationer.  As long as the industry (storefront dealers and the fine paper companies whose lines they represent) fail to act on this simple premise,  companies like www.weddingpaperdivas.com will continue to disintermediate and eventually destroy the industry by substituting fine paper for fine technology.

Storefront stationers and the many fine companies we represent simply must do a better job of giving people the necessary information on whether they wish to shop locally or online.  Burying our heads in the sand and pretending that the consumer is in one camp or the other (online or store) is painfully naive and will eventually lead to an industry where toxic recycled waste paper from China with designs developed from pirated copies of PhotoShop will innundate the market under the pretext that these “beautiful” papers/invitations are “green” and “eco-friendly.”  This is not science fiction, it is happening today!  Furthermore, wedding portals, self-appointed etiquette specialists and “born-again” environmentalists are all tooting the same horn in merchanidizing inferior products on the internet in the hope of prying loose the “green” from your wallet. 

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

Just received a Blog posting from Paper Emporium in Coral Gables, Florida informing me that they will be hosting calligraphy classes during November.   Calligraphy remains an art form and for those anxious to delve more closely into the secrets of fine calligraphy, attending one (or more) of Paper Emporium’s calligraphy classes might prove useful.  If you are thinking of addressing your wedding invitations, brushing-up on your penmanship skills with modern-day calligraphy techniques may prove useful and save you a few dollars at the same time.

Paper Emporium has been a fixture in Coral Gables community since 1984.  Friends and now owners, Bonnie Pato and Lisa DeNunzio,  purchased Paper Emporium in 2006 and have both added their personal touches to this lovely store.  Call Lisa or Bonnie at Paper Emporium (305-445-7090) to register for your calligraphy class.  Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn more about  the fine art of calligraphy.

Many people have opted to purchase their birth announcements from online printing companies.   Sadly, many proud parents are overlooking the great possibilities to craft a truly memorable custom birth announcement.  Whether you are looking for a traditional birth announcement or something more contemporary, I strongly encourage you to shop at a store in your neighborhood to see the many splendid samples of baby announcements.   Online companies simply offer you a cookie-cutter solution, while an experienced stationer can help you create a unique announcement that is well within your budget. 

Parents claim to find it “more convenient” to purchase their baby announcements online.   I find this surprising, since couples who purchase their baby birth announcements from a reputable stationer will often receive their envelopes and address them well before the baby is born.  Gosh, I wouldn’t want to spend the first few days with my new baby scrambling to address birth announcements.

Our family is very traditional.  In fact, for our two daughters, we have used the same Crane & Co. engraved birth announcement that was used by their mother and grandmother (Sample BC4021 in Crane’s Joy Album).

Crane Pink Baby Footprints

 While Crane & Co. has some more contemporary designs, there are a number of talented new designers who have created birth announcements rich in customization features.  Change the card stock, the motifs, ribbons, die-cut motifs to create a memorable baby announcement that will be cherished for generations.   Some of our client favorites are Lallie, Luscious Verde, Page and William Arthur.

William Arthur Giraffe Baby Announcement

Contact your neighborhood stationer now to create your custom baby announcement.   Don’t settle for low resolution images and template-based customization options:  Your new baby deserves a far better introduction to this world.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

As Sheila and I walked the nearly deserted aisles of the 2009 National Stationery Show on closing day (May 20), we reflected on the significant changes that have swept over our industry during the last 7 years.  While overall traffic was clearly down, there was still plenty of good vibes, great design artistry and paper craftsmanship and, most importantly, shared chuckles with our fellow stationers, sales reps and the many fine paper companies whose lines we are privileged to represent. 

Emi Havas of Paperfolio in Summit, NJ suggested that the hardened stationery warriors were there to show solidarity with each other.   We certainly agree with Emi that there was a spirit of fierce determination among fellow stationers.   Nevertheless, the difficult economic situation, changing consumer behavior patterns and the overriding influence of the internet clearly threaten the industry as we know it.    We certainly don’t have all the answers, but established storefront stationers will soon be forced to make some critical business decisions. 

First and foremost, stationers must decide whether they wish to continue to represent “premium” lines that market aggressively through alternative distribution channels:  a corporate e-commerce website, home dealers, chain stores, non-stationery businesses, charitable and religious organizations.  Clearly, it is asking too much of indendent dealers to invest their time and money to represent lines that are mass-merchandized through alternative distribution channels.  This is not a business model that is sustainable over time and will inevitably cause experienced dealers to close or hibernate as home dealers.  

Just today, the parents we helped to select a birth announcement informed us that they had decided to purchase the identical invitation online.   Unfortunately, this trend is increasing as consumers are aware that a “validating touch” is clearly more important than a low-resolution internet image.  This is a “free” service that disgruntles most stationers and one which independent dealers can’t continue to perform if we expect to stay in business.   In effect, by freely giving our experience to merchandise for a third-party we are simply contributing to our demise.

Secondly, fine paper companies must clearly articulate a business strategy that makes sense to management and the distribution channels that carry their products.   The myth that the market is segmented into “internet buyers” and ”store consumers” is simply an urban legend.  Paper companies who promote this silly justification are simply deceiving themselves and expose themselves to the ridicule of their dealers.  If fine paper companies who sell online want to retain their dealers, they must make it financially advantageous for them to do so.  They can do so by providing their dealers a better margin, extended terms or totally unique products which are not sold on the internet.   It’s not reasonable to expect dealers to satisfy boxed product quotas when online buyers can simply buy personalized stationery and custom invitations online at the same price or even less as they can from cash-strained dealers.   While fine paper companies will do what they think makes sense to meet their financial objectives, the implications of these decisions are far-reaching and probably intractable.  Economics 101 suggests that a massive supply of undifferentiated products (i.e. 72 pixel images) will overtime result in lower prices.  In other words, only low cost producers can expect to survive.  If you want to mass-merchandize a premium brand, prepare your shareholders for lower and, most probably, unacceptable margins. 

And finally, we must all start doing a better job reacting to the false marketing claims, insipid sales arguments and, most importantly, the ludicrous marketing representations of online marketing companies, wedding portals, paid Tweeters and other BlackHat SEO strategies that will eventually bring the industry to its knees.  Make no mistake, these online companies are built on generating advertising revenue and commissions for promoting products that they don’t even manufacture.  They could care less about the industry we represent or the craftsmanship that goes into making fine paper.   While I have no problem with someone making a buck off someone else’s labor, these self-appointed online ”experts” are driving consumer behavior in ways that will eventually destroy the industry by turning fine paper into recycled waste paper.  As industry leaders, we have a responsibility to demonstrate to the public that the craftsmanship that goes into making fine paper, civility and proper etiquette still matters. 

For those who managed to sit through this “heavy” diatribe,  Sheila has asked me to give you some links to several of our favorite restaurants in NYC.  With the exception of Porchetta and Momofuku, all of these restaurants require reservations.  Nevertheless, the Mario Batali restaurants seem to like old people and we generally get seated within an hour without the mandatory reservation. 

Momofuku Ssam Bar:  Inspired food creations from David Chang
The Spotted Pig in the West Village
Porchetta:  The best porchetta that we have eaten outside of Italy (Umbria style)
Babbo:  Mario Batali’s flagship.  Always good and packed.
Lupa:  Another Batali restaurant.  Very good.
Esca:  Another Batali.  Our daughter’s favorite fish restaurant (Italian style)
Balthazar:  A favorite for breakfast or brunch.

Sheila and Rick May
Therese Saint Clair

The effervescent Emi Havas of Paperfolio in Summit, NJ provides these insights for the 2009 National Stationery Show: 

It was evident that the National Stationery Show was smaller this year and attended by fewer buyers than usual.  Nevertheless, the mood was upbeat and positive, especially at Kickoff party Sunday night at the famous Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center.  Overlooking a dazzling New York skyline, buyers and vendors enjoyed gourmet cuisine and danced to the music of a fantastic DJ. 

“No one deserves this party more than us,” quipped a woman from the Midwest in line behind me at the appetizer bar and how right she is:  It’s not just us that are attending the stationery show who are feeling the economic pain.  All retailers are experiencing tough times with the economy, low consumer confidence and the growth of online shopping.  Nevertheless, everyone I spoke to was here because they believe they are going to survive.

You can’t sell it if you don’t have it and selling it pays the bills.  After a day of looking and buying, what better way to say we are moving forward than to have a party.  This was more than just a party . . .  this was a celebration of a renewed sense of success.  It was a positive action against all of the negative.  A demonstration of our commitment to the industry that we love and will certainly not let fail.  And it was, above all, a heck of a lot of fun!

Emi Havas
Paperfolio of Summit, NJ
Founding Member Stationers Guild

Editor’s P.S.  Emi advises me that the young woman dancing in the photo is not her.  Actually, it is a photo copied from the Rainbow Room website.   

Sheila May, the owner of Therese Saint Clair, writes that “business stationery is the simplest, most obvious and  cost-efficient advertising, marketing and public relations vehicle your business will ever use.”  Sheila goes on to say “Hand someone your business card and you are handing someone your brand, your identity and your professional credibility.  What you are on paper is what you are instantly perceived to be in business.”

In his book, The Etiquette Advantage in Business, Peter Post writes “business stationery is a form of public relations.”  We often say that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and many business relationships begin with the simple exchange of business cards.  Says Sheila, “it’s surprising to see how little time business people spend on designing a proper suite of stationery.  They are often shocked to see the difference that fine stationery can make:  it’s like giving your business a fresh coat of paint.”

While Crane & Co. remains a popular choice for business stationery, many fine paper companies have greatly expanded their business offerings.  In particular, we have noted that a number of fashionable invitation designers now have now expanded their calling card and business card lines.  We recently received samples of letterpress business cards from Oblation that are simply stunning and quite well-priced.

If your business stationery could use a facelift, we strongly recommend contacting a Stationers Guild store in your neighborhood.  Also, we would encourge you to consult the Stationers Guild website which has some excellent advice on designing your business stationery.

Emi Havas and Deidre Karner, the talented stationers at Paperfolio in Summit, NJ, have taken a very important step to promote their bricks-and-mortar store on the Internet:  They have claimed their business on Google.  Emi reports that “claiming my name (store) on Google was the easiest thing I have done on the computer other than turn it on.  And now we’re even going to add some photos.  It’s easy, fun and free and there is no reason not to do it immediately.”

Experienced stationers like Emi and Deidre have discovered that buyers have migrated from the Yellow Pages to online search for stationery services such as custom wedding invitations, fine business and social stationery and distinctive invitations.  Stores such as Paperfolio have a huge competitive advantage over online resellers.  Unfortunately, online buyers often cannot locate an experienced stationer in their neighborhood to discuss paper options, printing processes and to see a wide array of fine papers and designs that are simply not available on the internet.  As more and more experienced stationers take advantage of the local search capabilities provided by Google, Yahoo and MSN, discerning consumers will soon have an opportunity to reconnect with fine paper and the stunning designs that are simply not available on the internet.

This is a story worth following and I will keep track of their efforts to upgrade Paperfolio’s presence on the internet.