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by RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Copy This!
5 Tips to Shave Pennies Per Page Off Your In-House Printing
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
 Communications professionals know there’s a time and a place for everything. While many will tell you it’s more cost-effective to outsource orders of 1,000 or more documents to your neighborhood print shop, most churches’ printing needs fall under the “small business” category denoting much smaller runs.
It’s no surprise, then, that church leaders are inspired to make investments in their own in-house printing equipment.
For one thing, having all the necessary equipment at their fingertips lets them correct, update and reprint their own materials at very little cost, not to mention the time it spares them waiting for their outsourced orders to arrive.
Second, studies show as much as 30 percent of all farmed-out print jobs go to waste since printers often quote a lower cost-perpage price for larger-quantity orders. (Nevertheless, the remaining pages usually collect dust in a cabinet somewhere, and that’s money down the drain.)
Additionally, the opportunities to use of an inhouse printing setup are limitless, ranging from Bible study workbooks to church bulletins to “playbills,” business cards and much more.
Fortunately, corporate America offers many methods church leaders can emulate to make their most cost-effective printing option even less expensive. In this sense at least, it really pays off to take a look at how the secular world is doing things.
1. Pick the Right Paper
Over time, the weight and color of your paper can have dramatic impact on your church’s bottom line. The experts’ basic rule of thumb is to choose your lightest (read: uncoated), whitest option because it is less expensive than its colored alternative and light-weight sheets cut down on mailing costs.
Degrees of whiteness.
Most experts recommend buying the purest white available to ensure words and images “pop” off the pages, yet they admit it’s also the most expensive selection.The same principle applies to colored paper — most experts still suggest buying white. Photos and text show up less crisply on papers of various hues because they trick the reader’s eye into seeing the images as too dark, or distract them with various shades of gray. Weighty issues. Keep in mind that the heavier the paper you choose, the more it will cost. Paper is weighed in terms of pounds per 500 sheets, and each has its place in your communications.Specifically: (about the same weight as copy paper) is good for newsletters inserted within envelopes. Its lighter weight translates to lower mailing costs.70-pound paper is best for self-mailers and newsletters that must withstand the rigors of U.S. Postal Service delivery.80-pound paper is best if you want your communications to have a sturdy, expensive look. This rule applies mostly to church leaders who produce their own colorful, glossy publications and literature in-house. Still, even if you do produce high-quality publications, you might do well to consider switching to a lighter-weight medium. This move alone could put thousands of dollars a year back into your communications budget. Size matters. Simply shaving a half-inch or inch off your materials can free up some funds too, whether it’s for newsletters, brochures, fliers or magazines. For instance, the experts at PrintingIQ.com say if you’re able to convey your message in an 8.5- by 10.5-inch space vs. the traditional 8.5- by 11-inch format, you’ll save money.What’s on the surface counts. The professionals at Manchester, N.H.-based Morgan Press recommend avoiding rough, textured, laid and recycled papers in favor of smoother alternatives. While the latter is a less expensive choice, the reason to go with it has more to do with aesthetics — smooth papers absorb ink more evenly for better image reproduction.2. Bulk Up On Supplies Most communications experts point out that printer manufacturers make the majority of their money selling aftermarket supplies, especially ink cartridges. As such, they recommend not immediately purchasing with the least expensive printer. Instead, look at the cost and pages of text each printer’s component cartridge will print before making your final decision. “[Many companies] have no problem selling sub-$100 printers because they know that ink cartridges can cost from $20 to $40, not including the cost of vendor-branded paper,” says self-professed “technology evangelist” and SmallBizTechnology.com writer Ramon Ray. “It’s the same concept as giving away razors but selling the blades,” he says. Another money-saving idea from the experts at Microsoft’s bCentral website (www.bcentral.com) is to form a supplies-buying consortium. Instead of purchasing materials yourself, partner with local businesses — possibly those with which key members of the congregation are affiliated. Then, approach supplies outlets directly and tell them you’re ready to bring a group of a dozen businesses onto their client rolls — “provided, of course, they give you a cutrate deal on bulk supplies,” advises columnist David Wurio. “A college professor once told he’d seen companies save as much as $1,800 a year doing this.” And yet another way to keep your cash ... 3. Network, Network, Network! Many small businesses spend between 1 percent and 3 percent of their revenue on printing-related costs and other output functions. As a result, their inventories of printers tend to balloon without anyone noticing since it can be hugely expensive to keep each machine stocked with paper and ink. The good news is, it won’t cost an arm and a leg to remedy the situation. NetworkWorldFusion.com Reporter Jennifer Mears says simply consolidating, then networking, all your remaining printers can reduce operating costs by up to 30 percent. Although this might seem complicated, major vendors (HP, Lexmark, IBM and Xerox among them) now offer software tools to make networking simple. These help IT managers pinpoint who’s printing what, where, when and how, and then devise ways to control and cut associated costs. Among the most common culprits of paper waste are employees who print directly from the Internet. Studies conducted by Market Tools Inc. and commissioned by Hewlett-Packard show that of 200 working professionals, each printed an average of 28 to 33 Internet pages per day. Pages of research and reference materials topped the list at 78 percent, followed by product information (63 percent), maps and directions (46 percent), company and vendor homepages (45 percent), and photos (33 percent). “There are ways to forward a website image via e-mail, but not everybody knows how to do that and maintain the look of the link,” explains Grey Held, senior analyst with Newtonville, Mass.-based Lyra Research Inc. “Also, it’s often easier to print the information than to cut and paste it, which cuts the graphics.” OK, but what can you do about it at your church? 4. Go Virtual Instead One simple solution to the oodles of paper wasted every day is to electronically send whatever documents you can. In the Church, this approach most often takes its form in e-mail newsletters, bulletins and invitations, but pledge forms, capital campaign materials and tithing requests — even the funds themselves — can be communicated and submitted on the Web with the help of a knowledgeable IT professional. Chances are there’s at least a few in your congregation willing to dedicate their time and talents to helping getting these innovations up and running. 5. Edit Your Mailing List, Repeat To a certain extent, there’s very little your church can do avoid sending its materials to people who don’t want them, but keeping your mailing list certainly helps. This involves merging, purging and reviewing your lists of the people who’ve asked to be removed, have relocated out of state or failed to leave a local forwarding address, or who already appear elsewhere in your files. Your church could be enjoying big savings from this small step; generally, it costs more to mail a piece of literature than to create it. The bottom line is, when you print your own materials, time is money — your time and your money. These five simple moneysaving tips can help you save a decent amount of both.
Toolbox  XEROX OFFERS FREE COLOR PRINTERS
Got 5 minutes? Get a high-speed Xerox Color Printer FREE for your business or organization. Print all your documents in color, in your office, on your schedule. Save time and money — and stop being a slave to the copy shop! If you have a need for color, you owe it to yourself to apply. It takes only minutes, and you could receive a free color printer. http://www.FreeColorPrinters.com/church15
888.518.2076 (Option 2)
A MODEL OF EFFICIENCY  For seven years, Cleveland, Ohio-based Northcoast Duplicating Inc. (NDI) has provided Ohio District Lutheran (ODL) with document-management solutions that have significantly reduced the church’s day-to-day business expenses.
ODL offices now feature 15 black-and-white copiers, color copiers, fax machines, booklet makers, digital duplicators, paper cutters, folding machines and desktop printers. By using each of these products, the church has been able to print documents on demand and significantly reduce printing costs. Additionally, ODL relies on NDI’s Document Services Department for large print projects it can’t handle itself. This department offers full-service design and production capabilities for projects that require a quick turn-around. It also sells paper, copying and color services, as well as finishing and binding. www.northcoastduplicating.com
SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH ONE-STOP SHOPPING  Buying your Lanier digital printers, copiers, fax machines and printers from ChurchPlaza means significant savings. Nearly a decade ago, the two companies combined their efforts to offer religious organizations quality document-management solutions and services at discounted prices.
Today, more than 60 dedicated sales specialists are on hand every day to show churches, Christian schools and ministries how to save thousands of dollars a year on these vital products. The key, they say, is to deliver systems that increase efficiency, reduce cost and improve document workflow. The result: More time to devote to ministry, growth and mission efforts. 800.927.6775
www.churchplaza.com
COST-EFFECTIVE AND SPACE-EFFICIENT  The MLP25/MLLP25n Series black-and-white laser printer from Savin Corp. delivers fast print speeds, large paper capacity and flexibility for workgroups and small-church offices. MLP25’s designers say their laser printer was designed to meet the speed and efficiency of larger systems without the high price tag.
The MLP25/MLP25n provides 26-page-per-minute output, quick 7.5-second first-page-out and high-quality 1,200-by-1,200- dpi resolution for efficiently produced, professional-looking documents. It features a host of other productivity enhancing features as well, including a 500-sheet standard paper tray and a standard multipurpose bypass tray to hold an additional 100 sheets of paper and accommodate special media, including envelopes and transparencies. The Savin MLP25 sells for $699 MSRP, and the network-ready MLP25n is priced at $899. 203.967.5000
www.savin.com
SILENCE IS GOLDEN (ESPECIALLY AT WORK)  The high-end DF-920 Sound-reduced Automatic Tabletop Folder from Duplo features six popular preprogrammed folds and a multitude of custom folds at the touch of a button. Unique sound absorbers inside the machine dramatically reduce the amount of sound not only when folding, but also when fold stoppers are moving.
The machine offers high-speed folding up to 280 sheets per minute, and its patented feed system ensures reliable feeding and accurate folds for a wide range of paper sizes, weights and stocks. No manual adjustments are needed as the DF-920 automatically recognizes five popular paper sizes: letter, legal, ledger, 1/2 letter and 1/2 legal. When powering back on, the fast-setup mode allows the DF-920 to automatically recall the last job — ideal for maintaining job accuracy. The DF-920 sells for $3,895 MSRP. 800.255.1933
www.duplousa.com
HIGH-VOLUME DISC PRINTING HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER  The professionals at Microboards Technology say their Print Factory disc printer and its DSR DVD tower duplicator have set the standard for high-volume disc publishing. Thanks to recent improvements, now Print Factory can have up to five units connected to a single computer, letting you produce several hundred to 1,000 discs per hour.
Microboards has also announced 16-drive capability with its industry-leading DSR DVD series of tower DVD-R copiers. “Previously, most machines on the market could record to only seven recorders, while the DSR DVD recorded from one master to eight, simultaneously,” says Marketing Manager Aaron Pratt. “The ability to slave a second tower of eight recorders to the first tower has been very popular in our CD Duplication line,” adds President Mitch Ackmann. “Since a DVD-R takes up to 15 minutes to record, the ability to do 16 simultaneously has been welcomed by the market. “It’s particularly exciting to customers with quick-turn requirements,” he continues. “[This allows] churches and other immediate-demand environments to produce a minimum of 64 discs per hour.” 800.646.8881
www.microboards.com
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