Detroit Print Shop goes virtual to grow business downtown

The future of printing isn’t only through providing great product but also the logistics of getting the job done. At least that is the way the folks at the Detroit Print Shop look at it.

The downtown-based business, it calls the Ford Building home, doesn’t depend on a physical retail location but a strong Internet presence to handle its orders. It uses viral marketing and search-engine-optimization services to take orders from across North America and uses printing presses all over the U.S. to provide the end product.

“All of our orders are done through the Web,” says Matt Howard, production manager for the Detroit Print Shop. “This can all be done virtually.”

That business strategy has allowed revenues to increase 30 percent in 2010 and hire three people. The 2-year-old company has gone from three employees to a team of nine people (including independent contractors and interns) today. Howard hopes hire a few more people in 2011 as the company continues to expand its Internet marketing efforts.

Source: Matt Howard, production manager for the Detroit Print Shop
Writer: Jon Zemke