He outsourced it.

Believe it or not, outsourcing is no longer the realm of the global mega-corporation. While those large companies still look to managed services for many business needs, smaller businesses are starting to pick up their tactics.

While outsourcing was once viewed strictly as a cost-cutting privilege of giant corporations, it is increasingly available to smaller companies and even individuals…Mr. Smith’s video shows the production technologies available to even the lowest-profile musicians, who now routinely stitch together recordings shuttled across the Internet from home studios around the planet.

“This is where it’s going,” said Adam Dorn, a producer and musician who records under the name Mocean Worker. “People are always going to go where they need to go, and as the major labels crumble and budgets go away, you just have to roll up your sleeves and get things done.”

It’s not just for musicians either. Most managed service providers have begun to notice that the bulk of their work isn’t coming from huge corporations, but rather the daily tasks and needs of individuals and SMB owners.

So, when you come to the end of the month and realize that there is just too much to get done, don’t make the mistake of assuming you are too small for outsourcing.

—

Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

We’ve spent enough time writing lists of the pros of outsourcing; we won’t make you sit through another one. Instead, we’re going to respond to what Tyrone sees as the biggest issues in Outsourcing, and explain what makes CMS different, and why those problems may not be such a big deal after all.

1. It Takes Time

For many businesses, one large barrier between success and failure in outsourcing is misjudging the amount of time it will take to build a successful partnership. In the video, Shum points out that every managed service provider (MSP) can’t be an expert in everything, and that you will likely devote a large amount of time, initially, to train that partner to meet your standards. There are a few easy ways to resolve this. For starters, lay out clear guidelines from the outset. A MSP can’t succeed in our jobs if we don’t know what you’re looking for. Also, business owners can look to a company with years of experience in a multitude of fields. This increases the likelihood that your future partner already know the ins-and-outs of your business.

2. It Can be Very Costly

Costly? Isn’t saving money and time the whole point of outsourcing? Well, yes. Shum, in this case, is responding to the possibility of wasting time and money launching an outsourcing agreement that doesn’t go anywhere. Maybe the company moved on to other things before the project could be completed, or maybe the MSP failed to deliver what they promised. To avoid this con, remain in open communication with your provider. Also look for an MSP with a good track record, and an established name.

3. Outsourcing is not for Everyone

“That’s just a fact of life,” Shum says. To an extent, this is true. Some businesses just don’t have anything to gain by outsourcing their processes. However, there is only really one way to find out if your company falls into that category. Run a few trials. Outsource some small, fast projects, and see what results you get. You can save a lot of time and heartache by doing this, and CMS is a great place to start.

As always, we suggest you check out Tyrone’s videos for yourself. He can pack a lot more information into video clips than we can pack into a blog, and he somehow makes it all entertaining. In the comments below, tell us your thoughts on the video, on our responses, and some outsourcing concerns of your own.

—

Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

So, what exactly is happening here? According to statistics recently released by CareerBuilder, rapidly growing businesses are making hiring decisions too quickly, resulting in lost revenue 69% of the time. And, that revenue lost doesn’t just refer to training and paperwork. The statistics report that, “Forty-one percent of companies estimate that a bad hire costs more than $25,000, and 25 percent said it costs more than $50,000.” That money is coming from a variety of sources, including canceled projects, lost client relationships, and even legal backlash.

There is an easy lesson to be learned here, and it just may save your business from making a $50,000 mistake: outsource before you hire.

As a business process outsource provider, CMS is designed to respond quickly and flexibly to your business needs. A partnership with us ensures that the basic needs of your company are met without taking up the time and resources you should be devoting to your growing business. Even better, the scalable services we offer allow you to test the waters by sending a few small projects our way before making any large commitments. It’s certainly a better offer than spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new employee that is just there to fill a seat for a few weeks.

When it comes time for your business to bring in outside help, don’t make a $50,000 gamble. Consider outsourcing before you hire, and you just might find that those new employees aren’t all that needed after all.

—

Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Print marketing, specifically direct mail, is often seen as the antique of the advertising world. After all, not much has changed in the world of the post card or the postage stamp. A handful of marketers (ourselves included) have extolled the virtues of the QR code, and how that technology is adding instant ROI and interactivity to print. And while that’s all true, we decided to look a little further on. So, without further ado, here are some of the ways today’s tech innovations could change the print marketing of tomorrow.

Nano-Ink That Can Print on Anything

Landa Corporation has been hard at work developing “Digital Nanographic Printing,” a technology that deposits microscopic dots of ink on virtually any surface. The incredibly high DPI (Dots Per Inch) of the print also results in levels of detail not previously possible. PrintWeek has more:

In a statement, Landa Corporation said: “Following the acquisition of Indigo by HP ten years ago, Indigo founder Benny Landa established Landa (Corp), which has been developing next-generation digital printing technology. Called “Digital Nanographic Printing”, this unique printing process…imparts exceptional qualities to the digitally printed output and will enable game changing press performance. Landa Digital Nanographic Printing Presses target mainstream commercial, packaging and publishing markets. Landa’s lineup of digital printing presses will be unveiled at drupa 2012.

3D Printing Lets You Email Product Demos

Has your company developed a piece of hardware that revolutionizes an industry, but is a bit difficult to explain in a written press release? The popularization of 3D printing could allow you to mail your clients a virtual blueprint, so they can print out their own physical copy of the object.

3D printing is a process in which specially-designed printers re-create three dimensional objects based on computer models. The models are scalable and can be edited, and can be printed as functioning objects. For example, let’s say you’ve just designed a better wireless mouse. You could email the virtual blueprint of the mouse to electronics retailers, where decision-makers would be able to print a plastic copy of your design to physically hold in their hands. This could revolutionize the world of promotional products, and adds infinite possibilities to email marketing premiums.

AMOLED Technology Adds Video to Paper Mail

Flexible, durable, paper-thin video screens are a technology that already exists. At the moment, the tech is extremely expensive, and must be connected to external hardware through fairly bulky wires. Korean developer Samsung has already looked at taking the tech to astonishing heights, and has promised a functional, mobile version of the technology by the end of 2012.

In our monthly newsletter, we’ve already explained the huge boosts your email campaigns can get by adding video, and the possibilities remain for printed mail as well. These screens likely won’t be affordable enough for a mass mail campaign any time soon, but imagine the impact you can get sending one of these to a company’s CEO.

Which of these technologies do you find the most impressive, or the most functional? Tell us in the comments below!

—

Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Cost Savings

Often the first mentioned, and almost always the most impressive, benefit of outsourcing is pure cost savings. Outsourcing printing alone can save some enterprises as much as 30% annually. Managed Print Service providers can drastically improve your bottom line by taking one of the most time-consuming and profit-draining tasks out of your company’s budget.

Efficiency

Placing time-consuming and overly complex tasks in the hands of a professional managed service provider can improve the flexibility and speed of your company. We can help you unbury staff members that are up to their ears in menial repetitive tasks. We can simplify what used to be massive jobs into simple processes. But these are all things you already knew.

Innovation

Here’s a new one. A recent InnovationManagement.com study showed that 70% of CIO’s and CFO’s believe that innovation found through outsourcing has positively impacted their business’s financial performance. Sound impressive? In fact, the survey results led Innovation Management to the conclusion that the number should be even higher. Apparently, only 35% of companies are quantifying the financial value they gain from outsourced innovating.

The report, which goes into great detail, explains how companies can use “the innovation ladder” to build innovative relationships with managed service providers, outline an innovation strategy, and quantify the financial results of the interaction.

It is an impressive idea, and one which you will likely be seeing a lot of in the near future.

Have you ever experienced a profit jump from outsourcing innovation? If so (or if not), we’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

—

Corporate Mailing Services, Inc. (CMS) is a full-service document and facilities management firm with extensive work servicing legal, education, association, financial, corporate and federal government clients. To learn more about the services CMS provides, please visit the company website and/or connect to the the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.