JeremyHelms

Anyone up for prints?

February 24, 2006 at 2:07 am

While cruising the web looking for who I'm gonna use this time for my print collateral, I decided to use the del.icio.us search feature to see what other people had marked as worth looking at. I typed in "business card printing" and viola, I was off and running with hundreds of search records to review.

Here's where the interesting part comes in... I clicked on a few and on about my second or third page, I was noticing a slight pattern in a few of the sites. In fact, the sites were virtually identical. Not only that, some of these sites I was looking at had been featured links on newstoday.com and some other high profile sites; I even found one of the sites as a web award winner for it's design and capabilities. Imagine that, a website winning an award for being unique, all the while a handful of other sites look, feel and operate identically, down to the verbage and graphics!
lithocafe.com, clearwaterprinting.com, printinganddesignonline.com, abregoprint.com

And trust me, there's more — just google it.

I figured this must be a big broker or reseller system, but there was nothing I could find that tied any of these sites together, which obviously is key to the success of these sites individually. I kept runting around on Google, but just found more and more of these sites. Alas, I reverted to my nerdness and did a DNS lookup on a couple of these sites. Turns out, all the nameserver records resolve to mtgi.net which is home to MAGIC Technologies, a web design & development agency. Taking a look around their site, I found a press release involving the development and launch of a website for one of their clients, Partner Printing.

Check it out, partnerprinting.com is a wholesale print resource that offers members a white-labeled version of their website hosted and maintained through MAGIC Technologies. You sign up, setup, and sit back...

I guess I'm glad that I sometimes over-research things. Not that the Partner Printing system isn't good, I just wouldn't have liked the idea of purchasing through a reseller, or even a reseller of a reseller... Not only are my prices directly affected, but so would the quality of customer service in the case that I am unsatisfied or have a problem. Not dealing with "the man in charge" would put me, the customer, in an immediate disadvantage when trying to resolve a problem; this I know, being the owner of a retail/wholesale business in the past.

About the author

I am Jeremy Helms, 28 year old graphic designer, web designer, site architect, programmer, copywriter and ambitious entrepreneur. I was born and live in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This site is my personal periodical for design, code, business and other topics. When I'm not glued to the computer, I enjoy music, movies, late-night television and sometimes a good night out on the town with friends.

I began professional work in the IT industry 13 years ago in September, 1995. I started my first business in 1998, incorporated my second business in 2001, my third in 2002 and my fourth and most recent in 2006. I am a sponge — I am constantly exploring and learning — about business, design, programming, history, society, and whatever pops up on blogs across the web.

• I have been happily married for 5 years; together for a total of 10 years
• I am a father of two boys; Junior (born 02-06-07 @ 6:17PM — 8lbs 13oz.) and Jedi (born 05-06-08 @ 12:39PM — 8lbs 4oz.)
• I am a free and accepted Master Mason, belonging to Florida Alpha Lodge No. 172
• I have two prize Labrador Retrievers (Buck & Brody)
• I graduated from Choctawhatchee Senior High School
• Some of my favorite movies include Snatch, L4yer Cake, Blade Runner, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, THX 1138, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, the Star Wars hexology and Ronin