Printing can be a very successful business if you use all the available resources wisely. Starting from owning the best equipment and machinery to having the most reliable suppliers and the best quality materials all are key factors that help you and your business stay on top.
Yet, perhaps not many of you thought of other resources, such as a database of printing companies as a very helpful tool in achieving your goals. And if you did, in what way it may help you and where to find it?
A data base, will always be useful whether you look for equipment or spare parts, inks, solvents and many other. As for the place to find them, let us start with the internet. The internet, specifically Mr. Google is a huge database that reveals its secrets, but only to those armed with patience and intelligence.
On the Internet you can find free or paid lists of contacts (both landlines and mobile) both of individuals and legal entities. There are lists of companies, lists of people, all you have to do is to think well what keywords to choose, then to analyze and choose the best results for you.
Anyway, one might consider the fact that the best things are not for free. Although you may find a lot of free databases on line, these are not always the most reliable of the sources, not even a sale offer at a tiny price. You have at least, heard of famous offers where someone promises you a database of millions of email addresses in exchange for a few pounds? Have you questioned buying one? If you did, this could be the consequences:
In order to get the idea here are some words copied from an email offer of the kind mentioned above: “Database for sale: over 4 million e-mail addresses of companies at super price of 200 E. It comes along with a program of professional reference; very easy to use which can send hundreds of thousands of emails in mass per hour. It does not need license and comes with instructions.”
Nothing easier, you think, and try to contact the tenderer already thinking about how many things you could do with all that information. How many emails could you send, how many customers you could make, etc.
Questions you should ask yourself when you see such emails:
Beyond the way the offer it is written, beyond the ridiculous price for such a treasure (for any company, a database of millions of emails is worth tens or hundreds of thousands of euros) there would be a few other items to get your attention.
First, there is no mention anywhere that those email addresses were legally collected. Meaning, it is not mentioned whether, as required by law, the holders of those emails were asked about the possibility for someone to send them emails as business correspondence. Or, according to the law, before sending a commercial email you must ask for consent.
Then, there is still something interesting. Even if the consent to send emails was obtained, the database seller has no right to sell it, unless he previously obtained the consent of the persons concerned.
Finally, there’s another aspect. You can you be certain that those email addresses belong to real people, or do their owners use them etc? Guess not. So, in the on line media, the most trustworthy databases are those offered by websites of companies specialised in this business field. If looking for reliable data bases of printing companies you should stop by and check US out: www.printing-companies.org.
