Earthtone To Officially Launch In the Northeast

Earthtone, scheduled to launch to print buyers in the Northeast early this year, is an e-commerce platform for the printing industry. The solution was created for print buyers and providers by Nader Alaghband, CEO and founder, and David Reid, founder and CFO, both based in London.

Earthtone was founded in 2005, and in 2006, Alaghband and Reid desired to further promote greener printing. "We have a background in the printing industry, and we decided to go above and beyond sustainability. We felt that this Internet/e-commerce opportunity for green printing should be implemented in the printing industry," said Alaghband.

Earthtone is a printing marketplace, similar to Amazon.com, where merchants are aggregated in one online location. Print providers will be able to set up their search engine optimized storefronts in less than 45 minutes.

Attracting Members

In July 2008, more than 1,000 print providers within the United States and the United Kingdom registered for Earthtone's network. Earthtone has been in beta stages for printers until the upcoming launch.

The Earthtone e-commerce solution is not software; print providers must join Earthtone's printing network, but there are no upfront or monthly fees. Printers pay no ongoing fees, and Earthtone charges a small commission on volume for business that it drives to its network.

"We attracted more people in six months because we align our interests with their interests," Alaghband explained. "If they don't make money, we don't make money."

According to Alaghband, trends such as online shopping and Web to print require a significant investment of time and money. Earthtone pursued the risk-free model that creates economies of scale. "Our innovative commercial print model helped us to be attractive to the print industry," he pointed out.

He continued to say that the printing industry, mainly quick printing, is risk adverse and skeptical of the Internet's role in growth. "When we founded the business, we wanted an e-commerce service that is tangible. The economic crisis is driving this. Obtaining credit to get larger equipment is also harder."

Earthtone's solution is expected to attract online print buyers, one reason being that "the Internet empowers consumers and gives them choice," he said. "The Internet is your oyster—everything becomes available to you. The Internet generation of consumers feels that they should be empowered to use what they want to use."
To date, Earthtone's network is "very large." Like Kinko's, it's important to small businesses.

"As a small business owner involved in printing, I know that putting together an e-commerce site is a huge undertaking," according to Mark Bonacorso, president of Media Ink., a full-service media relations company located in Tucson, Ariz.

"Selling print makes it more complex, plus you have different finishing options, paper options (black and white, etc.). I'm very Internet savvy, but the calculations for certain types of paper weight can get into some very complicated algorithms," he further noted.

"We're a tech specialist that can help small businesses and providers. For example, a print business with a revenue of $150,000 can add a $2 million technology (Earthtone's e-commerce solution) for free," said Alaghband.

Greener Printing

Earthtone promotes green printing. "Part of our goal is to promote eco-friendly printers on our network and to be more environmentally aware. We are vendor neutral, and we have a set of tools in place to allow people to find green printers," said David Reid.

Earthtone's Web site offers an eco-search function to find printing locations that offer environmentally friendly options:

When searching for a printing location:

• Look for a location that's within walking distance;
• Look for FSC, EMAS, and ISO14001 certifications.

When configuring your print job:

• Choose recycled paper;
• Choose duplex (double-sided) printing; and
• Use the soft proof function to avoid reprinting.

When you get to the location:

• Ask whether it has an environmental policy;
• Ask whether it measures its carbon footprint; and
• Ask what steps it's taking to reduce its environmental impact. Finally, according to Earthtone, the best way to persuade printing locations to adopt greener principles is to take your business to those who follow best practice.

Earthtone recognizes its environmental responsibility and conducts regular external audits in order to find ways of lowering its environmental impact.

Signing Up

Comptime Digital Print Center, located in Ramsey, N.J., just outside of New York City, is one of the print providers who joined Earthtone's network.

Comptime Digital Print Center is a short-run on demand digital printer that produces a turnaround of one to two days. The company has been in business for 15 years and uses digital equipment from Xerox, Canon, and Konica Minolta.

Comptime does four-color work and black-and-white printing, along with in-house finishing services including binding, laminating, folding, and mailing.

"We joined Earthtone about two months ago. I hadn't heard of them, but I received a mailing and it seemed like an interesting concept. I read into the attractive mail piece and decided (joining) was a good idea; I always thought that if there was ever a 'FTD (florist) for printing' it would do well," offered David Santulli, general manager of Comptime.

What attracted Santulli to Earthtone's concept the most was the ability to have an e-commerce site. Since the company doesn't already have e-commerce on its Web site, this would be a good opportunity to do more business with its corporate customers and higher-end clientele.

He stated that printers are faced with so many types of options, and sites like FTD would bring them consistency and specific time frames (when you order from FTD, you know when the flowers will arrive at their destination), and the Earthtone concept would also be good education for him.

Hopefully Earthtone's launch will be more than a good education. Will this e-commerce solution create more opportunities for business? Only time will tell when customers are online and actual projects start coming through.

Santulli has set up his online storefront and is optimistic about the Earthtone approach.

"Earthtone is a way to attract clients through online network marketing. All of my marketing now is through direct mail, word of mouth, and my Web site, but the site is currently not an e-commerce site. Earthtone will take care of that for us because they have the applications available to them that printers don't have time to learn. Earthtone is a value-added service," he commented.

He went on to explain that Comptime Digital Print Center does not seek new business on the Internet.

For the company, Earthtone's solution can be ultimately cheaper than using Google advertising.

"If you don't have a storefront on your site, it's like throwing money to the wind. Earthtone sets all that up for us and we just become part of the network. I'm happy to pay someone who will get me the business. With Google advertising, you have to pay them but they aren't guaranteed to get you the business."

Although developing and implementing an e-commerce solution is a difficult task, Santulli is hoping Earthtone has a proven system.

He looks forward to utilizing Earthtone's new solution: "I'll probably start getting orders within a month, and then I can figure out the logistics of the system from there. We got to see where it is and how it works out. FTD had some glitches at first, so I'm sure we'll get some here as well, but it should all work out well."

Shawn O'Neal of Conestoga dpi, located in Lebanon, Pa., said that Earthtone is a solution to grow business. "People look to online printing because it's cheap, however it's not always local. This allows people to find local resources for printing and allows businesses to compete with FedEx and Kinko's," he said.

He also said that the turnaround time of using a local U.S. printer would also be faster while keeping jobs in the United States, instead of outsourcing print overseas.
Conestoga dpi is a 100 percent digital printing company. The company specializes in large-format printing, POP displays, variable data printing, short runs, and on demand color work.

Conestoga dpi is a sustainable print shop. "Sustainability is about more than implementing green practices. It's about supporting your community. The more business you can keep in your community, the better for everyone," he said. In this economy, people are more focused on doing business in their own communities and bringing back jobs.