Live Screen Printing Events: 6 Tips For Getting Started

[printavo]

Live screen printing is an amazing marketing opportunity for print shops. But it's not an easy game.

Steven Farag from Campus Ink sits down with Bruce from Printavo to talk about his first big live printing gig: a post-graduation ceremony at University of Illinois.

Steven shared some awesome tips and tricks for print shops looking to get into live printing. While he's not about to pivot and make Campus Ink into Campus Ink Live full-time, his experience offers real insight into what it takes to get started with live printing.

Tip #1: Do a test run to find out if live printing is right for you

You should seriously consider doing a live printing "test run."

Imagine this: you get a big client to agree to live printing at their event. You show up, get set up, and everything is rolling along. There's actually a big crowd of people gathered, and they're all super excited to get their own custom t-shirts. You've got 70 people in line – and they're literally calling their friends to tell them to come to the event so they can get a free t-shirt.

You're hustling to keep everyone happy and maintain order...but your screen breaks. You didn't bring a backup. Everything comes to a screeching halt.

You just burned a good client, ruined an event, and disappointed dozens of potential customers. Your brand is plastered on all of your equipment and you turn bright red in the face as you realize...you've totally screwed this up.

It's simple: don't dive in head-first on your first live printing event. There are a thousand things that can go wrong. Some of them will stop the event dead in its tracks.

So how do you make a live printing event happen without taking on a lot of risk?

Steven had a creative idea: he held a customer appreciation brunch for some of Campus Ink's best customers. They decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out live printing. It let them experiment with setup, breakdown, and the actual printing process outside of their shop in a low-pressure environment. If it all went belly-up, there was nothing to lose – and certainly not an event to ruin.

Tip #2: Know who to pitch live printing to

You have to pitch live printing to the right people. It's not a good fit for every organization.

Steven used the example of a live printing event at a big fraternity party. Not only would it be a mess, but it would simply be too hectic to be enjoyable. He even suggests choosing whether the event is indoors or outdoors – and recalled a time when his business partner failed at a live printing event because their dryer temperature was fluctuating too much because of wind.

So who do you look for? For the graduation event, this specific department in the university was open to interesting and fun things. When they came to him looking for graduation shirts, he pitched the idea of live printing – and they loved it.

Read the full article here: https://www.printavo.com/blog/live-screen-printing-events-6-tips-for-getting-started