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The APM has been getting a lot of US press lately! The APM was featured on NBC's
(local DC) Digital Edge program on May 23rd and on morning news programs
that picked up the Satellite Media Tour on May 26th. The Media Tour was broadcast
live from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, VA and was picked up by more than 15
stations in the eastern half of the US.
In both broadcasts, the APM was showcased by CEA
(Consumer Electronics Association) as one of a group of digital photography products
consumers can utilize for picture taking and printing this summer.
Do you have a good-looking, interesting or unique APM kiosk installation?
Lucidiom wants to hear about it. Snap a photo and email it, along with a description, to
marketing@lucidiom.com.
The most interesting and unique setup will receive a $100 (or equivalent in £ or €!) gift certificate for a
restaurant in your area (suggestions welcome). You are welcome to enter once for as many interesting and
unique installations you have. All entrants will also be submitted for a chance to share their
idea at the PMA conference in Chicago this October!
We posed 5 questions to our friend John Morrison (taller of the two men pictured) of Morrison Photos in the Isle of Man
(home of motorcycle road racing & the Manx cat) in the UK. The business has been established for over 16 years and
was the first in the UK to purchase an APM 1000.
What type of store do you have?
JM: We run a strong family-owned business in the busy town of Douglas. We have one store, and are heavily involved in the island’s photographic requirements from all aspects. We have been in our present location for over 4 years.
After setting up the APM, how long was it before your first order?
JM: We placed our APM on the countertop, had just finished our installation with the Lucidiom team, and our first customer walked in within 20 minutes, ordered 4 express prints of 6x9 size, and burned a CD for 102 prints from his 256 MB media card. We were all very pleased indeed.
What type of printers are you connected to and how?
JM: Our APM is connected through a 3-way USB hub to two Mitsubishi dye sub printers for express service on 4x6 and 6x9 sizes, and we also have an Olympus P400 producing 8x10 prints. We find our customers are pleased to pay premium prices for express prints, and for our other services we forward the orders by CD to our outside lab.
Has the APM been more or less successful than you anticipated?
JM: The APM has been a definite success in preserving customers we were forecasting to lose if we had not made the move to an APM. We believe it has met our expectations and right now as this year’s motorcycle visitors arrive for the big races next week, we are burning CD’s all the time to clear down customer media cards.
What is your favourite feature of the APM?
JM: Our three favourite features are the ease of operation of the APM order screens for all ages, the automatic red-eye facility and the speed of the system to help customers achieve their needs.
Educate Your Customers
Teach your customers to print digital photos on the APM.
Have your staff prepared to deliver an APM lesson with each digital camera or digital media sold.
Have a media card available for staff to use to demo the APM, and have prints on display so customers
can see how much better the quality is than at-home solutions. Offer a coupon for free APM prints
(See: www.lucidiom.com/marketing.htm for some downloadable coupons)
for first-time APM users. With knowledge about the system, and a money-saving coupon to sweeten the deal,
customers will come back to print their new digital photos at your store. APM owners report great numbers
when it comes to repeat business. Make it a practice to educate your customers!
Since version 2.0, the APM has been Bluetooth-compatible!
This allows customers to wirelessly print their camera
phone images from their Bluetooth-enabled cell phones.
"How do I get it?" you may ask.
You just need to buy an adapter and install it. Not just any Bluetooth adapter will work--please,
please read the Bluetooth document before you purchase one. Included in the document is
the exact name of the supported adapter and where we've
found the cheapest price, along with instructions on exactly how to install it.
You can also minimize your hassle by purchasing the complete Bluetooth package direct from
Lucidiom for $100. Contact Sales for details.
Click here to visit the support page of Lucidiom.com, then click on "Bluetooth":
www.lucidiom.com/support.htm. When
you are ready to offer Bluetooth to your customers, be sure to check the marketing
section of lucidiom.com for a poster you can download!
APM version 2.0.2 was released on May 14th. This is an important update, so if you are
still running 2.0 or 2.0.1 (or heaven forbid, a version earlier than 2.0!), now is definitely the time to upgrade to 2.0.2!
Since 2.0, we have added: Agfa d-workflow printing, full support for APM Merchant Services, expanded Bluetooth support,
improved Photo IQ, better Photogize integration and a number of bug fixes. Download the update today!
The update and detailed release notes are online at:
www.lucidiom.com/support.htm (click on APM Updates).
Lucidiom has recently gained 2 new support team members: Shu-Ping Liu has joined our US team and Graham Henderson has
jumped aboard in the UK. Welcome! Hopefully, you APM owners won't have to speak to anyone on the Support Team (no offense, guys)
but if you do, you will find that our new members have mastered the APM and are ready to help you!
The Support Desk would like to remind all APM owners to check regularly for Windows Updates. Download and install the critical updates,
and the recommended updates, as needed. For more information and directions on how to "check for updates," see the FAQ in the Support section
on www.lucidiom.com/support.htm.
We welcome your feedback on our products! If you have any marketing ideas, lab setups, general requests, questions or
feature suggestions please send them in an email to marketing@lucidiom.com.
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