By Stephenie Crowley
Local Mensa is a volunteer organization. That means we have very little in the way of resources - in other words, hard cash.
We’ve been unusually privileged to have a helping hand with that cash flow problem from a business in our community: Centeon. Every month they do a professional, very high quality print job on MAAM ... at no cost to us. We feature their ad, and they absorb the cost of paper and press time in exchange. Before they offered to do this, we were running in the red each month because of the cost of printing this newsletter elsewhere.
Well, folks, I’m in the direct response business: advertising. And one key facet of direct response - and all good advertising - is its effectiveness. Is the money well spent? Are we reaching our target audience? Does it bring in business?
In this case, I’m sad to report, it doesn’t seem to be working. The whole idea behind the exchange was that you Mensans would promote using Centeon for printing or advertising. I’ve taken a look at their work. It’s very good - you should see their high-end design and printing for luxury home builders in the area. They are (in some areas) directly competing with my family’s business, Nova Marketing, and I’m still bound to say, they’re good. And your business should use them.
Your business should use them. Almost every one of you is employed somewhere, and I have yet to meet a business that doesn’t print or advertise. So your business is a potential client for Centeon, and you should be making sure the person responsible for purchasing your printing knows about Centeon.
The alternative is that we just send out a calendar. No more Fidelman, no more Roll-M reviews, no more Young at Heart.
There are over 700 of you out there, but not many of you volunteer to write an article, or host an event ... or even attend the RG. If you value the one thing that keeps you in touch with the rest of local Mensa, however, I suggest that you darn well better volunteer to send some business Centeon’s way.
Every good piece of direct response advertising has its call to action. This is it, folks: Call now! Reserve your printing with Centeon! Have them create a brochure for you! Call 944-5949 today!
Tear out this ad. Take it in to your secretary, or purchasing manager, or whomever, and say, "These guys do a great job in advertising and printing. On top of that, they give back to the community by supporting a non-profit organization. Please let them bid on our next job." If your business wants a reference, have them call me.
That’s all it takes. Bill Gelbaugh and his crew at Centeon have supported GPM for over a year, and it’s time we all wake up and support them.