We have certainly been traveling through some interesting economic times over the last several years.  Parallel that with a change in the convergence of technologies  in the Print, Direct Mail, Email, Mobile, Social ,Media, Document Management, Marketing, and Multi-Channel Communications firms.

One could argue these changes were inevitable.  However, one could also argue, the onset of the Great Recession accelerated all of the changes we have experienced in the multi-channel communications sector.

Either way, our industry (Printing, Direct Mail, Email, Mobile, Social Media, Document Management, Marketing, etc.) has now grown into one sector from many.  In a way, it has been a game of survival.  However, at the top 10% of the survivalists are thriving companies in our space…Why?  What sets them apart?  As First Edge Solutions has been a growing firm during this downturn and fortunately in the top 10% nationally, we did find one common denominator that we all share.  All of the firms in that top percentile focus on developing their own software to manage highly compex streams of data that can then be distributed to all channels of commuincation: print, direct mail, email, mobile, or social media.

Ultimately, the output must be part a successful supply chain, but the real success and value added differentiator comes “above” or before that step in the data stream and how that is managed perfectly, day in and day out.

With the right data, in any channel, you can hit the right people at the right time to drive the appropriate human behavior, be it for marketing communications or mission critical operational communications.   

Please click on the link below to read a great piece about data from InfoTrends, one of the great Think Tanks in our industry called Data 101: A Primer on Data Fundamentals.  It gives a comprehensive 9 page overview of some of the basics to consider when looking to better utilize data in any communication to help drive the appropriate behavior.  http://www.firstedgesolutions.com/files/Data_101.pdf

In the meantime, we look forward to continuing to build World Class solutions so our clients can better communicate with their end users.  As you may have any additional needs or questions, please do not hesitate to let us know.  We love to help!

We are thrilled to present the newest addition/division of First Edge Solutions…………………drum roll please……………………Our newest division officially live and open for business is eGencee! 

Okay, great eGencee, but what is it? 

That is our newest engine we have built to create a virtual agency for either specific verticals or companies with large sales forces or distributor networks.

In this case, our first vertical we are proud to launch today is for the mortgage industry or loan originators.  We have been carefully working with the largest PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) provider in the United States.  The new site is www.theloanmarketer.com.  We absolutely welcome any and all of your thoughts and feedback!

Long story short, the division of eGencee was created to fill a gap in the marketplace for small companies or organizations with decentralized marketing in specific industries needing highly customized, professional direct mail or email communications at an incredible cost.

Based on our relationship with the PMI provider, they advised us as to the huge need for an e-marketing agency that could fill this void for their mortgage companies trying to market their businesses more efficiently with understandably less money to spend in a tough economy.  It is no secret the housing industry & respective financing has been crushed. 

However, according to industry stats there are still over 70,000 loan originators in this country looking to do business even after the Great Recession.  Most of them are categorized as small businesses that handle the mortgage paperwork and sell it off to the big banks.  An example might be ACME Mortgages, a small company with 10 people in the office.  Most of those 10 people may be experts in mortgages but are they experts in marketing their business??…Most likely that answer is no.  That is where www.theloanmarketer.com comes in.  They can handle and customize ACME’s direct marketing needs in minutes.  They also can buy highly targeted mail lists on the site as well based on specific criteria they would like such as house hold income or years in a residence. 

For those of you on Twitter, you can also follow them @theloanmarketer! 

We are working to make this the greatest experience for all 70,000 loan originators for automated direct mail and email campaigns to build their businesses.    

So let me please thank all of those that have helped build eGencee over the past 3+ years.  Blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this awesome progamming engine.  We are all proud.  It is truly one of a kind!!!

I look forward to your feedback, and thank you again for your continued support!

I am proud to announce the successful addition of the TAKA Group to First Edge Solutions!  We have renamed this new team within our company, FE Agency.  www.feagency.com

As a result of this exciting addition, we now have TRUE full service agency capabilities for our clients.  The move evolved from the need to execute creative at the agency level as well as to deliver full campaign development.  It also gives us a tremendous advantage when working with larger corporations that have agencies on retainer because we can easily partner with the current agency to deliver our print, direct mail, document management, email, mobile, fulfillment, software, and/or other solutions from First Edge Solutions for smoother integration of multi-channel delivery options. 

We are thrilled to have Aaron Kilby heading up that group for First Edge Solutions.  Aaron comes to us with a great track record working on large national and international projects for companies such as Bank of America, Oakley, Luxottica, United Way & Starwood Hotels & Resorts just to name a few – winning multiple awards with his design team.  

He can be reached at akilby@feagency.com, (602) 481-7978, or @fe_agency on Twitter. 

We really are excited about this new growth addition to First Edge Solutions as we know it will bring a significant value add to our great partnerships with clients.  Because of First Edge Solutions’ foundation, with Communication Supply Chain expertise at its core, we can handle and execute all of your communications through multichannel streams such as print, email, direct mail, mobile, and social media.

I look forward to all of the feedback you may have for us! 

Thank you.

As we all know, Social Media is one of the hottest sectors right now.  In fact, to put it mildly, it is on FIRE!!  JPMorgan Chase just raised $1.2 billion to invest in only Social Media companies.  I would say that sends a strong signal to the marketplace.

We are proud to say that our our Meet-Meme www.meet-meme.com company is really exploding as well.  Instead of just writing about it, I will let you see for yourself what is happening with Meet-Meme.  It is taking on a life of it’s own!

We are very proud to say for example, CBS money Watch just published a piece about us this past week!!  Please click on this link to read http://bit.ly/eff93U.  

Also, an extremely influential forward thinking Social Media personality and big fan of Meet-Meme’s, Stephanie Wonderlin, http://www.stephaniewonderlin.com/ made an AWESOME video about Meet-Meme and how it works.  Please click on this short video for a demo she made of our Social Media Trading Cards  http://bit.ly/hNhx9d. 

We are extremely excited at the rate the market is adopting these cards.  We are also thrilled that people are writing about us totally unsolicited.  I think we may have found a spot in the market that Meet-Meme is filling…bridging the on-line and the off-line worlds!!

Stay tuned to your Meet-Meme channel as I can assure you more will be coming from that HOT Social Media sector.

Thank you to all of our customers &  prospects that came to our Lunch & Learn at our First Edge Solutions Milwaukee & Phoenix plants for QR Codes and the future of integrated print on Friday February 11!  What a great success!!

Please check out our facebook page for pictures of our event.  http://www.facebook.com/FirstEdge Oh yeah, be sure to “fan” us if you are not already a fan of First Edge Solutions too.  We would be honored to have your support.  Plus, the more feedback from our customers, prospects, and marketplace in general, the better we can continue to serve everyone with our market leading Print, Technology, and Direct Marketing applications and solutions.

Our event ran for roughly 1 hour and 1/2 at each facility.  We had a total of almost 50 people that participated between our 2 locations and we fed everyone too (with good food).  The feedback was incredible too, so for all of those that gave us feedback, THANK YOU!!!  We  will continue to use that for our upcoming events.

Now back to our Lunch & Learn subject at hand; QR Codes integrating print with digital content…the wave is here!  If you do not understand it or how it can help you or your business needs, be sure to reach out to our team at First Edge as we have been using QR Codes for 2 years now (YES 2 years!).

As for real world examples, look at a local Best Buy store if you want to see them in use; they are all over the place!  Another example came up when I was recently flying back from a client meeting in Memphis, TN and the US Airways in-flight magazine had them embedded throughout the mag.  That, of course, is interesting as you can’t use your cell phone to scan the mag during a flight as you have to have them off and have no reception anyway, but that’s a different issue!  The point is, they are popping up everywhere!!  If you haven’t done so already, be sure to download a Quick Response Code Reader for your Smartphone.  They are free for iPhones, Androids, & Blackberries.

Please also stay tuned for our next Lunch & Learn coming up in May.  We would love to have you!

As always, thank you for your continued feedback and support of First Edge Solutions!!

I am just winding down a great week.  It started out in Las Vegas for meetings with Hewlett Packard and InfoTrends on Sunday and Monday and then off to our Phoenix plant for Tuesday through Friday meetings…Here I sit on Thursday night happily writing our company blog because of an incredible insight I had reconfirmed at one of my meetings in Las Vegas. 

InfoTrends, www.infotrends.com , a leading international think tank in the space of Direct Marketing & Printing confirmed an awesome trend in the United States marketing landscape.

They said, “The best run and most successful marketing campaigns today use at least 3 channels to communicate with the prospect or consumer.”  Well, it makes sense when you pause to think about it.  With all of the competition of marketing “noise” competing for your attention today, any message on it’s own usually just doesn’t hit you hard enough to make you buy. 

However, when direct mail is coupled with an appropriate email and Social Media campaign using a consistent message the needle measuring the results begins to move in the right direction. 

Why???  Well, quite frankly, the positive message is reinforced multiple times.  Secondly, the consumer is subtly reminded that they should act..perhaps the mail piece did catch their attention the day before, but they were distracted, so until they received the email notification the next day they forgot to act.  Now, they can act off of the email reminder.

Long story short, it truly reconfirmed why we have had the successes we have enjoyed for clients working in Multi-Channel Marketing Camapigns from a highly trusted and respected institution such as InfoTrends…which is why I am happily reporting that we are seeing the same positive results the think tanks are reporting on as well!

I wish you and your loved ones the best this Holiday Season.

What a great time to reflect on lessons we have learned through the year, and last few years for that matter as we grind through the back end of the long Great Recession.  I thought I would take a few moments out to post some of the lessons I have learned:

1.  Take nothing for granted.  That could be clients, loved ones, etc.  Anything can happen in life/business so be sure to express appreciation for the great things and work daily to build those relationships.  People and relationships make the world go around.  If you have some great ones in your life, you are truly fortunate.  Cherish them.

2.  Invest in yourself.  If you don’t take the time to make yourself better/smarter, who will?

3.  Nothing replaces hard work!  Many of the deflationary pressures we have been working through over the last few years are obviously attributed to many factors.  Basically, the bubble and consequently the bubble bursting drove the most recent recession from an over valued illiquid real estate market…long story short, too many people/organizations able to make a quick dollar on speculation.  The good news, is that now the ship (our economy) is almost righted.  I also believe those lessons learned from the idea of making a quick dollar will stay with us all for awhile.

4.  Enjoy the ride!!!  Yes, things can be challenging.  Yes, it is called work for a reason.  That is a good thing!  One of the greatest gifts in life anyone can have is a strong purpose when you wake up everyday.  That in turn, creates an energy and enthusiasm that does rub off on others.  As a result, the harder you work, the luckier you really do get!!!

I certainly could go on as I have many that guide me daily.  The reason I do love this time of year (aside from the gifts and food of course) is that it allows me an opportunity to reflect on the past year.

We really have incredible clients that believe in, and as a result benefit from our Best in Class technology and digital/print communication solutions to help their businesses operate more efficiently in an ever changing business climate.  We do appreciate your support, trust, and for pushing us to serve you better everyday.  Thank you.

We also have incredible people across the country that work for First Edge Solutions.  Problem solvers that put our clients first to serve them daily.  From the bottom of my heart, Thank You for pushing yourself to be the best each day to serve our special clients.

Finally, I want to be sure to mention and thank all of our vendors and partners that work behind the scenes to keep the “grease” in our company gears.  We do push them, but through that, our relationships build as we know that we need to serve our clients better than everyone else in the marketplace.

Thank you everyone for a great finish to 2010.  I can’t wait to take all of the lessons from the year into 2011 as I know with your help we are going to make it a banner year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and all of your loved ones!!!

Our Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, delivered what I believe was an optimistic speech on our American economy this morning.  Long story short, Bernanke committed to the Fed performing more bond buying over the near future.

This link is a light recap from the Wall Street Journal:  http://bit.ly/c1Pfjb

Overall, his sentiments this morning convey a good sign for the economy because it means that more capital will go into our marketplace thus positioning banks to have more capital for lending purposes.  Essentially, that’s a strong sign that we will see growth in our market.  That, in turn, will help ease the unemployment burden over the next few years. 

The risk side of it is inflation, which Bernanke of course makes note of, but that is a problem for the Feds worth managing when our economy is rolling again.

So what does it mean to the business commuinty??  Well most importantly, optimism.  The Fed is helping clarify a position that signals it is okay to reinvest because they will help with our shorter & longer term stability so the economy begins to grow.  This is very good for everyone!!!

We are still getting our economy to move with greater velocity than in the last few years, but today’s speech from Ben Bernanke was a very good sign of things to come for all of the business community and consumers alike in 2011 and beyond. 

Let me be the first to state that I am a big user of computers, email, cell phones, Internet, and all new technology for that matter.  In fact, I love what is going on.  First Edge Solutions is playing in each of those spaces and helping clients with the cross media platform and driving positive results.  

Certainly each channel has it’s place in today’s world of multi-channel marketing…along with your printed communications.  My one major concern is the potential misinformation of print hurting the environment.  Why for example do people say, save a tree don’t print this? 

Let me just offer some interesting quick facts to think about:

1. Reading a newspaper online for 30 minutes or more is harder on the environment than reading a printed newspaper for 30 minutes. 
2. Remember all computers, cell phones, and electronic devices need to get powered somehow…Where does all of that energy come from?
3. Google consumes more energy in one day than all of Las Vegas. 
4. Remember that for every tree cut down, 3-4 trees are replanted in it’s place…print is an absolutely sustainable, renewable resource!!

Here is an interesting read from a friend of mine, Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, in the DM world:

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro • It’s not just about being recyclable. It’s about deforestation. From stats I’ve read, do you know what the largest contributor to deforestation is? Agriculture! There is an advocacy group that makes an interesting point — when we see logging, our hearts recoil. When we see farmland, we think it’s beautiful. Yet logged areas re-grow, while forests turned to farmland remain deforested. So if we reduce the demand for printed products, what does this do to the commercial interesting MAINTAINING forestland? It’s an interesting question. I wrote a post on this for The Inspired Economist just this week:

http://inspiredeconomist.com/2010/07/22/quick-define-deforestation/ 

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The bottom line is that we all have a lot of work to do to help our environment long-term.  There is no reason for print to be considered environmentally bad if, in fact, that is not the case.   As it can be a very emotional subject, we must be careful to make accurate statements and draw appropriate conclusions…We all have too much at stake! 

I have written and blogged numerous times regarding the world of Cross Media Marketing and/or Multi-Channel Marketing.  We have just delivered a product to the market in the last month that will be taking that concept to a whole new level!!

Please allow me to paint a picture for you.  Currently, by and large, a Fortune 500 retailer gains a new customer through direct mail and other traditional marketing methods, radio, TV, etc.  Great, congratulations, they gained one new customer.  However, the real art is in making them become a brand ambassador/loyal shopper so you can calculate and maximize their lifetime value thus driving a higher ROI per customer.  So what is the retailer doing to keep the conversation going?  How can they help each of their customers feel like they have a local presence, voice, and know they are actually cared about?  Our product Meet-MeMe is a social media aggregator trading card printed and tradeable on-line at www.meet-meme.com and has major areas in which it can make a HUGE impact:

How it all began: 

Meet-Meme was launched at unGeeked (the SxSW of the Midwest), a digital and social media conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The idea behind the cards (and soon the full online experience) is that your trusted online connections can be met offline. The Meet-Meme cards are a tool that aggregates personal online networks to use for offline experiences and interactions, that then return you back online to continue the conversation with new contacts.

The Meet-Meme cards can be a replacement for business cards or moreover in addition to because they are traded with people you know, you like, and you trust.  Please click on the link below to see our recent spot on Fox.

http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-100617-social-media-cards,0,3313602.story 

We have received incredible feedback from CMO’s and CEO’s of Global Brands already as they see the immediate impact this can have with their customers as each day more people are tweeting, facebooking, getting LinkedIn, etc.

I look forward to everyone’s comments and questions…We have already had many from across the country pouring in and we know many more will be coming.  This is an exciting and a perfect tool to utitlize Social Media the correct way to help corporations grow market share and improve ROI!