Shifting Paradigms in Photo Prints and Advertising with Frintz's Bill Testa

Learn more about the intersection of photo printing and direct-response advertising as Gary Pageau of the Dead Pixels Society as he interviews  Bill Testa, the mastermind behind the new free photo-printing app, Frintz.  Moving away from his three-decade tenure in the printing industry, Testa has crafted an innovative platform where free, high-quality photos meet targeted advertising. Frintz is a fresh approach to consumer engagement and brand connection. In this episode, we explore how Frints utilizes demographic and geographic insights to curate personalized advertisements without encroaching on user privacy.

Testa is transforming print advertising with his platform bringing major brands into the fold and demonstrating how QR codes and a revenue-sharing model can create a symbiotic ecosystem for all involved. By appealing to a demographic that's grown distant from physical prints, Frintz is re-establishing the value of the tangible in a digital world.

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Chapters

• 0:02 Frints
• 9:00 Advertising Technology and Consumer Engagement
• 15:40 The Potential of Friend Platform
• 22:14 Sponsorship and Advertising on Friends App

Transcript

Erin Manning: 0:02

Welcome to the Dead Pixels Society podcast, the photo imaging industry's leading news source. Here's your host, Gary Pageau. The Dead Pixels Society podcast is brought to you by Mediaclip. Advertek Printing and Independent Photo Imagers.

Gary Pageau: 0:19

Hello again and welcome to the Dead Pixels Society podcast. I'm your Gary Pageau, and today we're talking to Bill Testa, the founder of Frintz. Try to say that 10 times fast. And Bill's coming to us from Rochester, New York. Hey Bill, how are you today? Hi Gary, how are you doing? Good, good, so you are in the heartland of imaging at least imaging history there. What is your history? Before you got into Frintz, you had actually had a long career in direct mail and other things, so can you talk a little bit about that?

Bill Testa: 0:54

Yeah, in the mid-80s when I got out of college I came to Rochester from SUNY Oswego. I studied printing and graphic design, obviously 1984, when the first Mac computer came out, I learned all on the Mac and then I graduate and I decided to open up a print shop. So I started in the printing industry in 1987. And offset there was no digital at the time till Right. I was in.

Bill Testa: 1:23

The CLC 100 came, but I did things differently. I was printing four color process on a one color press back in 1987. And from there we continued to grow the printing industry and that's what I did for close to 30 years. And then about seven, eight years ago, I was getting bored with the printing industry and I coach at a high level and I said let's see what we can do in this next phase of life. And I was able to partner up with one of the top patent gentlemen from Kodak Eastman Kodak, Gustavo Paz-Pujalt, and we put together this platform that we're going to talk about today in the photo world what the future was and how we can incorporate the future where that's going in the printing industry and encompass close to five, six, seven different verticals all in from one. Okay, and that's what we did.

Gary Pageau: 2:27

So this has been coming for a while. I mean, like you said, seven or eight years. What took so long, I guess, is from the technology platform. Was the technology there, not there, or what was the hold up?

Bill Testa: 2:40

So the first thing was to secure the patents. So that was the first year and a half getting all that done. And then, once that was all done, before we even started even thinking about how to build it out, I wanted to do customer discovery. So I did another 18 months. You know, going around to companies, if I build this and they're like, well, I don't think you can right Everybody's, I don't think you can do this, and I'm like, well, okay, but if I can. So right around 2018, 19 is when I said, okay, let's start figuring this out. So it's a Six Sigma process, backwards to forwards.

Bill Testa: 3:16

The first thing I did was to secure the way I'm going to print scalable worldwide patent. Since, being in the printing industry, that was that was easy for me. So I was able to build the way the digital presses run, the way I can maximize the sheet with the perforating unit and build out that process. So it's flawless. And now I partnered with Kodak, panin and Fuji a service level agreement so we can actually give them what we tell them how to print it customers up on a sheet with the perforation. So it's the same that someone gets on the East Coast, west Coast or wherever they get it Right. So that's all done. So when that's done, we got to figure out how we're going to build it right From the technology standpoint.

Bill Testa: 4:08

So that takes money and you know, one of the main things that I really wanted to do was build this my way, and most people in this phase would go to venture capitalists, private equity, give up 10, 20, 30% equity of their company and get a big check up front and then be owned by that venture capitalists or private equity. So my attorney at the time, montiestis, was I called him Harvard because he went to Harvard that was his nickname, but he created UvAni, upstate Venture Capitalists, and one of the main things he said is, since you're going to do it this way, don't go through any venture capital. Build what you need as you build out. So as I started building the technology, I went and got 50,000 here, 100,000 here. Everybody told me it was going to take close to $30 million to build this platform, because I feel now I have a platform equal to or better than, Facebook, Instagram, you name it. I think I think we're the best, and then we'll get why I think we're the best. So I'm at 3.2 million all in, and this past October was our opening to the world to ad week. Coming out to see you saw me at Visual 1st, then back to New York City for A&A, the Association of National Advertisers.

Bill Testa: 5:30

We really came a long way. We used the last two years, I think. I think the pandemic was perfect for us. We were able to get some extra technology built, but we were able to do all of our beta tests, our short runs, our long runs, everything flawlessly. But you know, I was able to take the photo industry, the tech industry, the printing industry and obviously the data industry and marketing and omnichannel and bring it all into one platform. That only benefits to consumers because they're getting high quality, free pictures. And but the brands. My main focus was helping every small business, every brand, how I can put them in touch with consumers. So that's where we're at today.

Gary Pageau: 6:13

So for those who aren't familiar, can you kind of describe first, like the app experience, what is from the consumer side? What's the offering for them when they download the app? Why would they even want to do this?

Bill Testa: 6:27

Well, one, that's a great question. So so the first thing we all know last year 2.2 trillion people took photos I think it might be close on that number in about 40 billion printed, but they paid printing right going to the you know Shutterfly, Target, CVS, Walgreens, ours is 100% free, there's no charge, and it's, it's a very high quality. I think we're the best quality, but we're very high quality.

Gary Pageau: 6:53

So so. So by free, and I'm doing, I'm doing air quotes. There's a lot of free apps out there, but where they monetize is shipping. So is there shipping?

Bill Testa: 7:03

involved no shipping. We don't even ask you for a credit card, nothing. Okay, I go like I coach soccer at high level and I saw all these coaches charging families five, six grand. The coach, it's a soccer ball on grass. It's pictures. I want to give free pictures to everybody because why? We all have thousands of pictures on our cell phones and it's growing, right. So we're at 3.2 trillion. You know the number is supposed to be over 10 trillion, 20, 30. So that's the carrot, right. We give everybody free pictures, but what's associated with it?

Gary Pageau: 7:33

Before you go with that, just talk a little bit about like, like number, of quantity, how many pictures can people order? You know, you know that sort of thing, what, and then get into what they actually get, which is what I think is where you were going.

Bill Testa: 7:47

Yeah, so we give 20 free pictures every time they order off the app. Okay, it looks well, that's right, but this looks like this, but we're not showing that. But anyway, they get 23 photos and they can continue to see order as much as you want. I mean, we try to cap it at 200 a month but we never get anybody over 200 a month. But it's there if they want it.

Gary Pageau: 8:10

Right.

Bill Testa: 8:11

It's free, so there's no charge. So that's that's the number they get per packet.

Gary Pageau: 8:16

Okay and then. So, like you said, with the picture there's, there's some advertising there, there's some, there's some content there. So talk a little bit about that, because I think that's sort of the secret sauce to your offering is it's not just a generic ad for Pampers or, you know, baby food or other things, like people have done with these sort of advertising driven print offerings.

Bill Testa: 8:42

Right. So if you're a customer of an organization, one of our business models is we go out and find the businesses that have the chicken and the eggs right A bunch of consumers, and they have a bunch of brands and advertisers that they try to connect with each other. Right, so that was the engine, right. So we now I'll just use, let's say, aaa. If AAA becomes a member, aaa will say hey, we want to give all of our membership free photos, compliments of AAA, but in there is going to be all the brands that pay to be in front of those consumers.

Erin Manning: 9:15

Right.

Bill Testa: 9:16

AAAs open. They come to their website to buy something from enterprise rent a car or whatever they offer Right. So now we give that. We drive the traffic for them, but we give a rev share back to the pack, what we call a packet sponsor. The members enjoy it because they get free pictures and obviously the advertisers love it because they're getting 100% open rate and 100% viewing rate of every one of their messages. It's like a 10 second billboard of your brand message in front of those consumers and eventually, as our database grows into the millions, that packet sponsor model will still be there. But now those consumers that were on AAA or chewy or whoever our relationships are, are going to be in order because of our technology. And the technology is if you're drinking coffee in your picture, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or the local coffee house in your geofence zip code will come next to you. You're playing soccer, whatever Dick's Sporting Goods. So we will bring a brand consumer in that geo-area at 100%.

Gary Pageau: 10:25

So I just wanna reinforce that. So you're using some technology which that's what you have the patent for To look at the image and gear local advertising to the content of the picture.

Bill Testa: 10:40

Yes, not only to the local advertising, but to the household and the person in the house, and that's Does your app capture any kind of geographical data other than the actual images in the picture.

Gary Pageau: 10:52

I mean, for example, are you asking people to put their age, household size, anything like that, or you just don't need it?

Bill Testa: 10:58

Don't need it. You just put in the information where I gotta mail it. Right, I gotta mail it to someone's house, but that's-.

Gary Pageau: 11:03

And that is some information there, because you get some idea of household demographics, of whether they own a rent or that kind of thing. So there's a little bit there. Do you use that information?

Bill Testa: 11:13

A little bit, yeah, and we cross-referred pictures worth a thousand words. Everybody here knows that. But what we thought of is pictures worth 10,000 attributes. So as we collect the attributes from the photo, we can cluster them into each vertical box the harder dealerships versus the insurance companies versus the realtors. They all have demographics, they all have points that they have their consumers. We know that.

Bill Testa: 11:37

So now we can take those brands and push it into campaigns that are running that we have set up. But eventually those campaigns and those attributes will also benefit the consumer, right? Because if you're driving a BMW, BMW probably an ad will go next to you, but Mercedes might say I don't want, I wanna pull them away from BMW and I want them to come to my Mercedes. Or if they're drinking coffee, dunkin' Donuts is an ad, but Starbucks might say, hey, I'm gonna give a better offer to have them come over and get a free coffee at Starbucks, so we can do that in the future when you're looking at, like I said, 100% impression, because obviously people have to interact physically with the ad to remove the picture, right, because they don't.

Gary Pageau: 12:20

So talk about the size, because we're an audio podcast, so people can't really see this. I'm gonna encourage them, obviously, go to Frintz. com and check this out, but what is the size of the snapshot and what is the size of the ad and how big is the envelope that comes in all that fun stuff?

Bill Testa: 12:36

Yeah, so that's a great question. So the size of the picture is a four by six picture and the ad associated with it is six by eight. Is there anything?

Gary Pageau: 12:44

on the back of the print.

Bill Testa: 12:47

No, so there's no ad on the back of the photo. It's completely a photo that they can put in a frame, oredu and college kids put on their walls, whatever. There's no, that's one of the main things is to keep the photo clean of advertising. Okay, well, you have the actual message from the brand. Compliments of the brand.

Gary Pageau: 13:05

Because there have been some people who've tried that. But they back print it and that's, you know, not as appealing for the consumers to have something shining through if they're putting in, you know, near a window or something like that.

Bill Testa: 13:17

Yeah, so they can't do that. That's an infringement on our patent and intellectual properties. So there can't be any Advertisement associated with a picture. Okay, okay.

Gary Pageau: 13:28

So then talk about the format of the ad itself. People can do a two-sided ad, right. Is it two advertisers or one?

Bill Testa: 13:38

on both sides. It depends on the advertiser and what space he wants to buy. He can buy a one-sided ad or a two-sided ad. He can buy the envelope. He can buy the inside of the envelope. He can buy the 21st card. Everything's available forever, cool.

Gary Pageau: 13:52

So what are typically? Now, I understand the rates are probably very, very dynamic, based on all these factors that could come in. I imagine, though, the per click or, I don't know, per handle, I don't know, per impression cost is comparable or less than, let's say, tv or radio or something like that, because that's really what you're competing against.

Bill Testa: 14:16

Well, we feel we're not competing against anybody, so I'm going to explain that. So right now it's 60 cents an ad, so I'll just use numbers per impression. So if someone, if an advertiser, was going to buy 10,000 impressions in the Rochester market, it would be $6,000. But they're guaranteed 10,000 people are going to see their ad. Right In today's world of direct marketing. They would have to mail out a million postcards of what we give for 10,000. So that's $6,000 for 10,000 packets is equivalent to half a million dollars for a million postcards. It's taking apples with apples. That's how we determine it.

Gary Pageau: 14:59

So you've already got some partnerships with some fairly large brands. You've announced those I think was the advertising week or some of the you mentioned. Can you talk a little bit about how that process was, was engaging with them? Because obviously some of these big brands you've talked about and feel free to name drop a couple if you want clearly are getting pitched all the time with the latest and greatest. Oh, we're doing this platform and we're doing this ad and we're doing this video and we're doing this and pre-roll this and post-roll that and insert this and insert that. So what was that conversation like when you're not even in the marketplace yet and you're talking to some of these folks?

Bill Testa: 15:40

This is the amazing part of Frintz platform. We have not had anybody say no yet by coming off of ad week and visual first and ANA. Our phones have not stopped ringing because they all want to be part of it. Let's just use Phoenix Brands. Phoenix Brands has 200 plus locations around the country, millions of consumers around the country, and they have six or seven brands underneath their platform.

Bill Testa: 16:02

So this is a great tool for them to take those brands and communicate with their consumers. Right, I give a rev share back to them, so it's a win-win for them. Same with Sky Zone. We just got a call from the big 12 conference which the school, Ohio State, Michigan State, but now I don't think it's the Big 12 anymore because they just added in like 10 more schools.

Gary Pageau: 16:22

I'm talking about the Big 10, which is where we are in Michigan. So yeah, they've got about 16 schools now.

Bill Testa: 16:29

So these are companies that are calling us daily and we just got off the phone with ad critter, which is another platform that wants to use us, and many others that were signing up daily. So it's a win-win for the brand, but it's also a win-win for the packet sponsor because of what we just discussed, and obviously it's a win-win for the consumers, and we won the national award for the post office last year, so that was a big thing for us for credibility and unanimous decision there, and it's amazing what we can do for them also.

Gary Pageau: 17:06

So how fine can you drill this down in terms of I mean, can you even? Let's say, for example, let's say I'm, let's talk about the big 10%, let's say I'm in a Michigan Jersey and I'm drinking a cup of coffee? Can you pair that on that same picture, the cup of coffee or a Michigan Jersey on the other side? Is it that Is it? Can you actually do that?

Bill Testa: 17:32

Eventually. That's where we're going to be Right. So, as we see a Michigan logo, it's only going to be Michigan brands that are going to that person in that area of the country, versus your arrival there down in the O and out West and things like that. So it's a it's. That's our technology, that's what we can do, and we're incorporating QR codes now. So we are driving for the not only the 100% open rate. The advertisers are going to get an automated QR code where they can direct their message anywhere they want, back to their website, or maybe it pops up and they have them download the advertisers website. I mean the advertisers app. We're doing a lot of omni channel things added to the Prince platform, which, again, there's no competition for France and it's a hundred. I mean it's a win-win for everyone.

Gary Pageau: 18:23

So there is some concern, obviously. I heard some chatter at Visual 1st. Some people would not experienced Frintz before, didn't know what it was. And there was some concern from the traditional trade who said I like this idea for that. But it's a concern to me that you're kind of devaluing the value of a snapshot by making it zero. What is your response to those folks from the traditional side? We're trying now to sell Prince. Right, they're trying to get people to go to Walgreen or CVS to buy Prince. What is your thought about that?

Bill Testa: 19:20

It's a great question. Nobody's ever asked me that, but I'm just gonna give you the bill test answer on that. They didn't think of it right and I did, so what they should do is partner with me, because they'll make more money off of a partnership as a heck of sponsor with Prince. Again, it's still. You know, I'm in, I'm here to deliver the message of the brand. Oh, so I'm looking at it by being in the printing industry. I want it to be the best quality, not only on the photo, but the ad is the same quality as the photo. So for those people that are saying I'm devaluing it, I think I'm bringing a new wave back about photos, I think creating something for the ages 16 to 30 that you know we want them printing right, we want them printing Exactly, we want them engaged in printing right.

Bill Testa: 20:08

I think this will engage them because they'd never seen print. You know the old shoebox photos and things like that. I mean talking with various partners and photo mine and you know them. I mean this is a win-win for that age group. So we're actually bringing their pictures that are stuck on their phone and they're going to go to Starbucks, they're going to go to Target, they're going to go to, you know, dick's Sporting Goods, and so that's how I answer that.

Gary Pageau: 20:33

Yeah, no, I mean, that's a great answer and obviously you're not. If someone were, for example, to be competing who want to sell prints, right, they want to reach that market. You take their advertising as well. Let's say, for example, an online photo book company, you could partner with them. And hey, if you got someone now who's photo active, who sees a print, now they want to make a book. You don't make books as a pet, if you ever want, but you know, certainly it's a partnership opportunity. Also, camera makers also could partner with you.

Bill Testa: 21:00

So we're looking always to partner with somebody that I want to help them, but it's something that we can offer these millions of consumers. I mean, we're going to have tens of you know, hundreds of millions of consumers and if I can help grow their vertical and help them sell more cameras and sell more prints, I want to do that more.

Gary Pageau: 21:19

So going forward. I mean, it's relatively new. It's been gestating for a long time, but it's relatively. You've had a lot of good response. We're in the holiday season right now. What do you see in going through your platform now in terms of adoption, because you're really, you know, kind of in? I don't know what kind of money you're spending on getting people to download the app, but I imagine you got to spend some bucks.

Bill Testa: 21:41

Zero.

Gary Pageau: 21:42

Okay, that's why I told you.

Bill Testa: 21:43

I did go research all those marketing companies and you know anywhere from $350 to $8 cost per customer acquisition to download my app. That's why business model, why I went and partnered with companies that have the chicken and the eggs, because if, once they download, that's my numbers, that's my volume of consumers that grow and that's how I eliminate the download costs.

Gary Pageau: 22:07

So you're not really campaigning to get people to download the app. So how are you creating consumer awareness with these Gen Z people and all that?

Bill Testa: 22:15

So currently we have over 40 packet sponsors signed to their millions of consumers, so they're telling them to download our app.

Gary Pageau: 22:24

Oh, okay, all right.

Bill Testa: 22:25

That's how it works.

Gary Pageau: 22:26

So as Okay, that makes sense.

Bill Testa: 22:29

Now it's just spreading virally, so now it's spreading through the packet sponsors. So we're going to have close to over 100 packet sponsors going by end of first quarter which relates to tens of millions of consumers, but win-win for everybody, okay.

Gary Pageau: 22:46

So are you sharing your adoption rate as of yet in terms of downloads for the app? Are you sharing that yet?

Bill Testa: 22:52

We will be sharing that soon after the first of the year, but yeah, and then I'll share that with you also so you can post that. Sure, yeah, it'll be. So we always tell the packet sponsor and I have a whole formulas that we have that three and a half adoption rate 3.5%. If you get up higher than that, well, we're a lot higher than that. And what happens is, once they find out it's free, like the freemium is like all right, well, it's really free. But once they get the packet in the mail and they see the quality and they didn't have to do a credit card and they didn't have to do any personal things on a website they just continue to order, they love it, they just go to sub-tribes.

Gary Pageau: 23:36

Yeah, I was going to say because I mean you've reduced a lot of the friction points. Obviously, right, I mean because you're not requiring a credit card, you're not requiring, I mean so literally you can just download, take pictures and order.

Bill Testa: 23:50

Yes, and what's nice about for the advertising side? Is if an advertiser wanted to keep sending out a postcard, they would have to do right, new, creative, new printing, right, right For us, we allow the advertiser to log in and change their message as much as they want for free, so they can tell a story to the consumers. They can change their marketing daily, every week, whatever, at no extra charge. So now it's a win for them too.

Gary Pageau: 24:16

Okay, so let's talk a little bit about that from the advertiser's end of it. Right, so they become a sponsor of France, they get a login and a portal of some sort where they get the dimensions of, and the specs of, the ad that's going to be printed. Let's assume that you know it's a, we'll just say, with one side, but you can say they can do both. Right, they can really get granular in terms of the offering, for example. Like you said, they can change it as much as they want. So, for example, somebody reorders, do they know even that that person reordered? So to show them a new message.

Bill Testa: 24:54

Oh yeah, the advertiser will know that.

Gary Pageau: 24:56

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm coming up in the advertiser side.

Bill Testa: 24:59

Yeah, the advertiser, yeah. So, for instance, our dashboard's almost done that. It's almost like an ad tech platform. They're going to be typing whatever their demographics are, whatever that is, and it's going to come up. All you can be in the sky zone packet, you can be in the Phoenix Brands packet, you can be in the big 10 packet, and we have some amount of consumers based on what you typed in of your demographics, those ads will go to them, right. So that's, that's eventually where this is going to be. But if you're part of the Phoenix Brands packet, you have a communication going back and forth because you're a member of Phoenix Brands. Friends had to do that outside of this.

Erin Manning: 25:35

It would go to spam.

Bill Testa: 25:36

So that's why I partnered with all these partnerships because yeah, yeah, yeah. So now they say hey, gary, thanks for being part of Phoenix Brands. Download the friends app and put in Phoenix and you get all the free pictures you want. Compliments of our platform.

Gary Pageau: 25:49

Cool and so like. See, we've only been on a couple of months, but you said you're seeing a significant amount of reorders.

Bill Testa: 25:55

Everybody that orders reorders constantly. Okay, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's amazing. Yeah, it is.

Gary Pageau: 26:02

So obviously from the photo world you know the four by six is sort of a. Some people would say that it's a dead product, some will say it's a mature product, some people say it's very static product. You've got a big sheet of paper there. Could you do? Are you looking at other sizes, maybe a five by seven with a smaller ad or something like that.

Bill Testa: 26:21

Yeah, so eventually, you know we get a lot of that. Hey, I love your platform, I love your photos, the quality Can I get bigger? And I'm going to tell you a few other things we got to do down the road. I really don't want to get into offering everything, because we have friends of ours on this platform that we're talking about. That's their work, that's their role. Yeah, I want to help them, right, so I can say, hey, you want a five by seven. Go to our partner X, go to our partner for a mug here, go to our partner here for a book. Right, I want to be able to drive traffic to them also. Yeah, yeah, and that's what I want to do there. New things also coming out. I'll, I'll, I'll leak in, like, if you have a picture in the future, not too far away, that picture can come live on someone's phone as a video.

Gary Pageau: 27:07

Oh, okay, yep, Yep, yeah, cause I mean that's there's some technology out there the Flam technology and people like that that can do that. Yep.

Bill Testa: 27:14

Exactly.

Gary Pageau: 27:15

We're not. No, no, will that be built into the friends app so?

Bill Testa: 27:18

you have to go, yeah.

Gary Pageau: 27:20

Oh, that's cool Cause I think that's a very much a growing area where this sort of hybrid you know, print, video, internet thing will, will grow.

Bill Testa: 27:30

Yeah, and it's all about trying to get in front of that target market that nobody can get in front, right? So we want to do that, anything that we can. Keep it high quality, easy, you know, keep it simple and and make it what I want to say affordable, freeze, affordable. But I just want to make sure that everybody wins in the process. You know, if there's anybody out there that thinks their platform can go good with friends, I'd love to talk to them, because you never know that I will. I will help. I want to help them grow too.

Gary Pageau: 27:59

So, whatever I can do, Now you don't do any printing yourself as a as a thing. You have partners right, Exactly so is that open for business? Do you want people to talk to you, and how would they reach you?

Bill Testa: 28:13

Well, first of all they can go to France or bill bill at France and we can give my information as much, my phone number, whatever they'd like there. Um, but I would love if they can handle the quality.

Gary Pageau: 28:25

Right? Do they have to be on a specific press or is it just a schematic?

Bill Testa: 28:29

Well, I mean, you know, the Fuji platform and the Kodak platform and the Canon platform are great.

Gary Pageau: 28:38

It's a role-feed type platform.

Bill Testa: 28:41

Yeah, High-end digital, high-end API all the way through.

Gary Pageau: 28:46

But, like a cut sheet printer, probably isn't going to be doing what you're looking for.

Bill Testa: 28:51

Well, a cut sheet printer? There is machines out there from those brands I just mentioned. Yeah, Then if they can handle the volume, it all comes down as if they can handle it.

Gary Pageau: 29:02

Yeah, what's the turnaround required for a partner? Let's say, for example, I download the app or make a place to order. What's my expectation? To have that order delivered for free in my mailbox.

Bill Testa: 29:17

Yeah, what's the turnaround time?

Gary Pageau: 29:19

expectation Because you've got to partners. You've got to fulfill that.

Bill Testa: 29:22

Yeah, we print every week. Right now we're moving up to twice a week. So Monday they get printed, they go out Tuesday. You should have them by USPS Friday, saturdayish maybe. Then, if you order after that, we print at the end of the week and it'll go out on Monday. So our in-house is only one or two days in-house. Then it's the two, three, four, five days depending on how far you're away.

Gary Pageau: 29:49

Okay. So it's not like you order a print and the order goes out the next day, like traditional photo printing it's. You're going to consolidate those orders to get an efficient print, Right?

Bill Testa: 29:59

And where it's projected now with our volume, we're probably by, I think, march. We just had that meeting yesterday in our operations department. We think we're going to be printing every day by March, right, okay, so that's just the way the volumes are coming in, the way everything's happening. It's a massive platform. We built Our operation side to our text side, to our photo side, with Gustavo and everybody there. But you got CFOs. Now you got lawyers, you got we have a lot of people doing this right, so it's good.

Gary Pageau: 30:31

That's how big is your team now, because you've been growing this for a while.

Bill Testa: 30:33

So yeah, it's over 35. Right now we're at 37, which makes me happy is the print service providers are going to be growing them their workforce compliments plus that. I'm excited about that.

Erin Manning: 30:46

Okay.

Gary Pageau: 30:46

Great, well, listen, I'm really excited that we finally a chance to talk. Well, we've actually talked before, but this is the first thing on camera and all that. So thank you so much for your time. And again, where can people go if they're interested in either partnering with friends from an output standpoint or even like want to become a packet sponsor or something similar?

Bill Testa: 31:08

So obviously the website is friends at friend. My personal email is bill at friendscom and my cell phone is 585-739-5710 is my personal cell phone.

Gary Pageau: 31:24

They can call me Well that's dangerous putting that out there, but I hope you get a good response.

Bill Testa: 31:28

I don't mind at all, I will answer everybody's call.

Gary Pageau: 31:32

Okay, Well, listen, Bill. Thank you so much. Look forward to hearing more about the future success and innovations at friends and have a great week. Thank you, Gary.

Bill Testa: 31:41

Thank you for the opportunity.

Erin Manning: 31:44

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