Brian Wiedenmann

While some forms are experiencing a serious decline in sales, others are experiencing great innovation. Form sales are not declining as much as they are changing. It's a classic example of out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new. Clearly, multi-part forms are heading for that big collator in the sky. Yet industries such as health-care, retail, insurance and education are giving birth to a whole new generation of innovative form applications. In fact, solution-oriented distributors are discovering that opportunities abound for new form designs that facilitate today's workflow systems, particularly when marketed with value-added services such as on-demand production, warehousing and distribution. To find out how

This stable market niche held strong in 2002 amid tough competition and price wars. Here's a telling story of two men in a camp who are approached by a man-eating bear. One of the men starts to lace up his sneakers and the other man asks him, "Do you really think those sneakers are going to help you outrun the bear?" And the man answers, "I don't need to outrun the bear, I just need to outrun you." Greg Muzzillo, founder and CEO of Proforma, Cleveland, recounted that story when explaining his company's belief that competition is a much greater concern for them than

Industry experts find direct mail remains robust, despite postal issues and e-mail campaigns. While not representing a major segment of distributor sales, direct mail is gaining clout as a product with significant growth potential. This is true despite postal-hike woes, and economic adversity. Even an onslaught of e-mail direct mail campaigns hasn't stunted interest in the product. As stated by Greg Muzzillo, founder and CEO of Proforma, Cleveland, its the junk e-mail that drives him to welcome direct mail with open arms. "On a very micro level, I get a lot of junk e-mail, and I don't pay any attention to it," said Muzzillo.

Distributors find that promotional products open doors and increase sales. Whether promotional products are used to add value to traditional printing solutions or as stand-alone sellers, distributors are becoming more drawn to them because they have the potential to open doors in an industry that has never even been knocked on before. And even though there are some drawbacks to supplying promotional products—like contending with expensive overhead—many distributors concur that promotional items are becoming a more vital part of their overall businesses. Sales Report In fact, Bob Troop, CEO of The Shamrock Companies, Westlake, Ohio, reported a 25 percent growth in promotional