Stop Making Print So Damn Complicated

This week, Warren Werbitt, The Print Whisperer, is back to talk about something nearly everyone in the print industry has been guilty of: making things more complicated than they need to be. Whether you own the shop, sell the work, run production, manage a team, or are simply trying to grow your career, there are always distractions pulling your attention away from what really matters. New equipment, pricing pressure, customer demands, internal drama, shiny new technology, and plenty of opinions about what you should be doing next. Warren joins Aaron and Terry to talk about putting the blinders on, focusing on what you can control, making smarter decisions, and taking ownership of your role in the business. We’ll get into sales, profitability, people, technology, PRINTING United Expo, and some of the dumb decisions we all make along the way. Sometimes the biggest improvement is not adding something new. It is getting clear about what matters, simplifying the noise, and doing your part better.

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Aaron: Welcome in, Warren. You were here recently, so give us the elevator version of your bio.

Terry: You’re known for being innovative, unconventional, and uncensored. What’s something the print industry believes today that you think is completely wrong?

Aaron: You work with SMB print businesses. What is the biggest mistake you see owners making that is holding their company back?

Terry: A lot of print business owners are busy all the time but aren’t necessarily profitable. How do you help them distinguish between being busy and actually building a successful business?

Aaron: What do you think separates a print shop that is simply surviving from one that is positioned to grow and thrive?

Terry: How important is it for a print business owner to get out of the production weeds and start working on the business instead of constantly working in it?

Aaron: Print owners often focus heavily on equipment, technology, and production. Are we sometimes overlooking the more important investments in people, sales, and business processes?

Terry: What’s your advice to a shop owner who says, “My customers only care about price”? Is that really true?

Aaron: You’ve seen a lot of changes in print over the years. Which current technology or market trend do you think is genuinely exciting—and which one is getting more hype than it deserves?

Terry: If you walked into a struggling print business tomorrow, what are the first three things you would look at to figure out what’s really wrong?

Terry: You clearly love print. After everything you’ve seen in this industry, what keeps you excited about print and convinced there’s still a great future for independent print businesses?

Aaron: How can our listeners find you?

Bonus question if needed: If you could give every print business owner one piece of brutally honest advice—and they had no choice but to listen—what would you tell them?

We serve up bite-sized tips for our #regulators to instantly spice up their decorated apparel business. Just like the perfect wing sauce, these quick tips can transform your business experience, adding flavor and depth to your operations. Each video in this playlist is a nugget of wisdom, carefully selected for its potential to bring immediate value to your work. So, whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started in the decorated apparel industry, dip into our ‘Secret Sauce’ for insights that can help you soar.