TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:SUMMARY: Short CD Run Solutions From:"Lois Patterson" <lois -at- dowco -dot- com> To:<techwr-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 11 Oct 2000 14:55:41 -0700
I asked this question:
I'm working on packaging for a small run of CDs (several dozen). The
difficulty is that getting 4-color offset-printed boxes for a small run is
very difficult, since most printers want quantities in the range of 500 or
more, at the least.
Does anyone have suggestions for other packaging options (preferably
involving an attractive box) that would work for a small CD run?
*************
I'll be better able to answer this question when I decide on what option our
company is going to use. Here are the answers I got.
=======================================
I got these answers:
Erick Kandl:
Lois,
With a small run, your price will always be high. See if your company
has a generic shipping box (with a colorful design) that can hold your
CD and/or user guide. If so, shrink wrap the CD to the User guide (you
can have that done in small runs at most print shops) and just pop
them in the boxes. You can use a printed sticky label (bonus if you
have one with your company logo) with the specific product info for
the front of the box. Having a CD shrink wrapped makes people think
it's brand new, like a music CD, and gives the impression of a large
run.
Good luck,
Erick
===========
Walden Miller provided several possible printer contacts
=============
Mark Dempsey said:
Lois,
I suggest printing a generic package with
version-specific information as a label. They can
print very nice labels in much smaller runs (and my
experience was that the price break was at 1,000,
BTW).
===================
Sean Brierly said:
Your quantities limit you severely. I think you are stuck ordering 500 or
more and eating the extra cost--or passing it on to the customer.
========================
Jeff Hay from Effectuality.com suggested a white shiny cardboard mailer with
a label.