On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to engage with companies of all different shapes and sizes that provide inventory and fulfillment services.

Some of them are fulfilling thousands of orders a day for their company’s sales force; others are providing fulfillment services for their customers. Many of them are packaging and shipping marketing and sales collateral — binders, brochures, books, trade show displays, etc. — while others are fulfilling product orders that were placed by consumers.

But no matter what their situation might be, they nearly all face the same challenges.

Common Challenges in Warehouse Management

Companies that provide the service of managing inventory, a warehouse, and the fulfillment process often face the following questions:

• How accurate are their inventory counts?
• How can they monitor and improve their turnaround times?
• How can they automate their daily tasks?

A company’s ability to answer and accomplish those items is often directly related to the warehouse management software that they choose to use.

Succeeding with Warehouse Management Software

Many companies understand the importance of managing their warehouse inventory correctly, but too often they settle for simplistic programs such as Excel, Access, or Word documents to track their inventory flow.

While there are benefits to using these programs for specific tasks, they fail to add efficiency, consistency, and quality control to the process. This where the importance of using proven warehouse management software comes to light.

Not only can focused, inventory management software make organizing and tracking shipments and product output easier on your employees, but it can also help you generate valuable reports and analytics for your company and for your customers.

Also, by using an online software application, you can often get very close to a real-time inventory count situation, which should absolutely help to reduce unnecessary frustration in regards to backorders.

There are many other benefits that can come from fully utilizing an online, warehouse management software application.

If you are interested in how interlinkONE could help you out in that regard, register for a free demo of our solutions! Or, please click here to read more about our software.

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Users can now easily insert Google Analytics tracking code into their mobile websites. This feature can be used in conjunction with the existing reports that are provided inside of iFlyMobi.

Below is a brief video on how this feature can be used:

If you’d like to learn more, simply head over to the iFlyMobi.com website >>

Within that piece of our software, users can easily build Question & Answer forms for a variety of reasons. Most of our customers typically choose from Question Types such as:

• Multiple Choice
• Single Choice via Radio Buttons
• Single Choice via Dropdowns
• Open-Ended

But there is another option available that may assist you in your marketing efforts. That option allows you to create a field on a landing page that enables people to upload a file while they are filling out the form.

Using the File Upload Feature

If you are familiar with how to build campaigns and landing pages in our system, it is very easy for you to use the File Upload feature.

• To create a File Upload field, you’ll want to create/edit a Question for your campaign.
• On the “Edit Question” page, set the Question Type to “Single – Open Line Text” and then check the box for the “Display as File Upload” field.

Once you’ve taken those simple steps, the ilinkONE Version 8 software do the rest of work.

Next time that you view the landing page that those questions are associated to, you will see your web browser’s Upload File utility displayed with that question.

The system will store the images on the FTP server. You will be able to access them by simply finding the folder associated to the Client that you built the campaign for.

We hope that you find this feature useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Customer Support team!

We have seen proof of this tremendous growth first-hand. Within our system, we have customers that have created and are tracking hundreds of thousands of QR Codes through our QReate & Track application.

To help serve customers that have experienced that type of growth — or even the ones that plan on doing the same — we rolled out a product feature this year to help them.

QR Code Folders

The “Folders” feature within the QReate & Track application enables registered users to better organize the QR Codes that they have created within our system.

Here is an overview of how this feature works:

Assigning New QR Codes to a Folder

When you are in the process of creating a QR Code, you will see the “Folders” field. Simply type the name of the Folder that you would like to assign the QR Code to.

As you are typing, the system will look to see if you have already created a Folder with that name. If so, it will display them below the input box. If you’d like to assign the QR Code to one of those existing folders, simply select it.

If you are assigning the QR Code to a folder that has not previously been setup, simply type in the full name. QReate & Track will automatically create the Folder and assign the QR Code to it.

Assigning Existing QR Codes to a Folder

If you have existing QR Codes that you would like to assign to folders, that can be done easily as well.

• Find the QR Code on the left-side menu. If you did not previously assign it to a Folder, then you should be able to find it in the System Default Folder that is named “Uncategorized”.
• Click on the QR Code that you wish to edit.
• Click the “Edit” button.
• On the “Edit Codes” page, you will see a field for “Folder(s)”. Simply start typing in the name of the Folder that you would like to assign your QR Codes to. If the folder already exists, the system will display it as an option below the input box; just click on it. If it’s a new Folder, just type in the name.
  
• Click the “Save” button that is below the “Folder(s)” section on that page.
• The QReate & Track system will move your QR Code to folder(s) that you entered.

Common Questions

Here are answers to a few questions that you may have about this feature.

• Can I assign a QR Code to multiple folders? Yes! Simply separate the name of each folder with a comma.
• How do I remove a QR Code from a folder? Click on it from the left-side menu to edit it. Then, simply delete the name of that folder from the “Folder(s)” input box.
• How do I create new Folders? That occurs as you are typing in the name of a Folder when you are creating a QR Code. If the system does not find one that matches the name you’ve typed in, it will create a new Folder.

We hope that you find this feature helpful! It’s just one of the ways that our QReate & Track application helps you to succeed with QR Codes.

If you are looking to get a piece of that growing pool of money, we have a product and program that can help.

Watch this two-minute video for an overview of what iFlyMobi’s White Label Program can do for you:

P.S. If you’d like more information on the White Label program, click here >>

Below are some of the pieces that caught our attention over the past month. We hope that you enjoy them.

Macy’s Backstage Pass

Welch’s Juice Company

Target

YakTrax 

PCC Natural Markets

Harry Potter

Disney

There is no doubt QR Code usage has dramatically increased over the past year. We are seeing them regularly in magazines, on our mail, on TV, on posters and signs, on tattoos(!!!), and more.

But this has caused many companies — primarily print  service providers, mail service providers and marketing agencies — to look for the answer to this question: How do we make money from QR Codes?

We are happy to announce the launch of a new program that will help companies to monetize QR Codes and other mobile marketing activities.

Our iFlyMobi application, which enables companies to easily build mobile websites, now comes with a White Label Program option.

What does the White Label Program Include?

There are a number of features that will allow you to make the iFlyMobi application your own. They include:

• Branding the iFlyMobi application to look like your company: You can replace the logo and name with your own.
• Defining a custom URL: This allows you to control what URL your customers will see when they log-on to the application.
• Creating lead-generation forms for your customers that are optimized for mobile devices
• Providing your customers with a login that allows them to see reports for their mobile website

We will also be working with our White Label Program customers to help them sell QR Codes and mobile websites. Customers will have access to:

• Monthly webinars related to QR Codes, mobile websites, and other related topics
• Marketing and sales collateral that can be rebranded
• Phone/Live Chat Access to our team
• And more!

How Much Does the White Label Program Cost?

To utilize the White Label Program option for iFlyMobi, there is a one-time fee of $499.99. Also, you’ll need to choose a monthly plan that will allow you to build mobile websites for your own promotional efforts.

In order to add new clients to your White Label Program, you simply choose a monthly Page Plan for them. Then you can begin building  mobile websites for them. Your customers will not see this fee, so you can charge them whatever you like for your mobile marketing services!

How Do I Get Started?

It’s easy! You can sign-up for a White Label account online today.

Click here to get started >>

If you have been to any marketing-related conferences over the past year, I’m sure you’d agree that mobile has been a very popular topic.

Companies of all sizes are looking for information on QR Codes, mobile websites, mobile apps, and more. In addition to those items, there inevitably is a speaker at these conferences that will say this: “Don’t ignore SMS/Text! More people use that than they do the mobile web”.

It certainly can be motivating to hear those quotes and to read articles like this one. But how can you actually implement SMS/Text into your business?

Here are three ideas on how a printer could incorporate SMS/Text into their marketing, sales, and customer support activities.

Notification When A Job is Ready

Most of the printers that I work with send notification via email when a job is ready. In addition to that email, it may be worth considering sending a text-message to the customer at that time as well.

Of course, this may not make sense for all jobs. But here are a few scenarios where SMS may prove to be helpful:

• When the job was flagged as Rush/Urgent
• When the job will be picked up by a customer
• When the job will be delivered by the printer & sign-off is required

Yes, email or a phone call could certainly be used in those situations too. But as more and more people turn to SMS to communicate about all sorts of activities, this may be a way for a printer to also share information with their customer in a channel that they may prefer using.

To Share Information About Specials

Certainly, a business does not want every marketing initiative to be related to pricing specials and discounts. However, those can still be used from time-to-time to create buzz, garner attention, and increase sales.

Many printers are using email and social media to promote their specials. Another way to do that would be through SMS/Text. Since most pricing deals only have a short-window of time, SMS/Text can prove to be an effective way to get your customer’s attention very quickly.

Of course, the message we send out should do more than just provide details of the discount… Make sure that you include a way for them to redeem it!

To Gain Feedback After A Job/Project is Complete

We all want to generate repeat business. To do this, we often have to reach out to customers after a job has been done, seek to get their feedback, and then offer/recommend other activities that we could help them with.

One challenge in accomplishing that is finding the time — both for us (in this case, the printer) and the customer. Using SMS to initiate that conversation could prove to be an effective option for us.

For one, the text message most likely will get noticed by the customer. Also, it may provide the customer with a very quick way to provide feedback. (Many post-job follow-ups that I have seen come in the form of an email that often link to a survey that ask 10 questions!)

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These are just a few ideas on how SMS/Text could be used to help improve marketing, sales, and customer support initiatives.

Have you found anything else that works? If so, please let me know in the comments below!

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I was quite pleased to see John Sisson of Universal Millennium featured in a WhatTheyThink.com video today. John shared some excellent information on how his company has transformed and grown their business over the years. I think that they are certainly a positive story in the printing industry.

Full disclosure — Universal Millennium is an interlinkONE customer. However, in addition to having the chance to work with the folks from Universal Millennium in the vendor/customer relationship, I also had the chance to spend a lot of time with them while I was writing my book.

Yes, in Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry, I had the opportunity to feature a case study on Universal Millennium that highlights the path their company has taken to transform into a marketing services provider.

Here are a few of my favorite points from their story:

• They found ways to grow their business by making strategic acquisitions.
• They determined that they needed different resources internally and externally and they made the investments.
• They changed their branding and message to focus on what’s important — how they can help their customers!

From October 1st through the 6th, interlinkONE and Grow Socially employees will be participating in various events around DMA Boston 2011. We will be on the show floor, we’ll be attending some of the after-hours networking events, and we’ll be meeting up with customers & prospects.

If you are planning on being at the conference too, we’d love to see you there! Please feel free to let us know.

While it certainly is nice to have a show of this magnitude right in our backyard, we have also been quite pleased with some of the pre-show commentary that the DMA has been releasing.

In fact, we might have burst into a spontaneous company dance after reading this article. Yes, the headline and the sub-headline were right up our alley:

• “‘Integrate,’ says DMA”
• “Multichannel strategy emphasized at DMA’s All for One conference”

Those two lines are ones that we try to live by everyday when it comes to our marketing efforts. It’s not always easy, but using our own technology helps

P.S. If you have any questions about how you may be able to improve your marketing efforts through integrated, multi-channel activities, please feel free to register for a demo here >>