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Part Three: Sales & Marketing

Chapter One: Identify Niche Markets

There are entirely new markets being created from the advancements in ink jet technology, and the opportunity to capture this business is there for the taking. Some examples of these new markets are:

Desktop Publishers - Small shops producing newsletters and other services are proliferating.

Digital Photography - The digital camera and computer photo imaging/manipulation software combined with photo quality printing capability will create a new group of high volume ink jet printer users with enormous potential.

Wide Format Services - Wide format ink jet printing has the potential to provide the ink jet entrepreneur with an enormous volume of business.

Companies producing banners, signs, posters, boardroom reports, digital photography, fine art reproduction, backlit signage, billboards, bumper stickers, trade show signage, fleet signage, murals and backdrops, architectural rendering, large color separations for silk screening, courtroom graphics, point of purchase displays, and color proofing are all ink jet applications that are driving this market segment. Much of this is due to the recent advances in new types of output media now widely available. I even heard of a company coming out with a wallpaper on demand system!

All of these applications have one thing in common: they all use massive amounts of ink. Those who study this market, and develop ways to capture their cartridge needs will be among the top performers in our industry. Do some investigating into what industries are thriving in your town. Identify ones that are utilizing ink jet technology into their business. Once you have the groups that are prospective customers, organize them into lists, and compose mail promotions to garner customers from them.