Direct Marketing News, Views and Opinions

Caution: Reading this article could make you sick, too!

2011-10-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

Unless you've been living under an imposed news quarantine, you know that the USPS is in trouble. Big trouble. The famously (and arguably) non-governmental organization must report to the government overlords of the Postal Regulatory Commission and the US Congress--(an arrangement that is enough to give even a healthy organization

Name that Tune!

2011-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

List brokers are singing the blues. Competition is vicious; rental volume, blamed variously on the weak economy, jittery clients and postal increases is down; prices—which do seem to obey certain inviolate economic laws are down; ultimately commissions—the lifeblood of list brokers and managers—are down. All in all, it's truly a downer. In years of being in

Coming soon! To a mailbox near you! The next Great American Make-Over! Starring: The United States Post Office!

2011-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Not unlike the popular TV show in which a busload of contractors arrive at a home of a deserving-but-beleaguered "every family," intent on re-inventing the dilapidated structure (while sending the gob-struck family to Disney World for a week), the USPS is starting a dramatic make-over of its own. But without the diversionary trip to Disney. Not unlike

Psst! I'm talking to YOU! Almost 8 hints to cut through the noise

2011-09-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Machines run our lives today. They ring. They beep. They vibrate. They unfailingly demand our attention. And if you're like most of us, you readily give in to their insistent electronic demands. That we can still function despite all the electronic distraction is a testament to our capacity to multi-task. Multi-tasking is both an amazing

Do you want Tea or Coffee? Multi-tasking makes it tough on marketers

2011-08-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Anyone who has a kid (or a wife/husband, for that matter) will understand. Ever ask a simple question ("Do you want tea or coffee?") and get "uh-huh" or "Yes, Mom" for an answer? Someone didn't hear, wasn't listening or was probably multi-tasking. Maybe all three. Our brains only have so much capacity. But ask a tricky question (Tea? Coffee?) of someone

Bulking Up First Class Mail?

2011-08-16T10:00:00.002-04:00

The USPS, which has been hemorrhaging money for a decade or longer, is desperate to keep mail in the mailstream. Beset by reduced volume (thank you, internet, email and the economy), rising manpower costs (thank you, ballooning retirement fund), an aging infrastructure and too many facilities, the USPS is creatively looking for ways to reduce cost and increase mail volume.

So you think you've got it hard now? IRS eliminates 14% of nonprofits

2011-08-09T10:00:00.001-04:00

With a click of the computer, the IRS has trimmed 275,000 nonprofits—or about 14% of the national total—from its roster of tax-exempt organizations, claiming that the organizations had not filed legally required documents for three consecutive years. Three years??! Now that's a Big Oopsie! They shoulda oughta known. While some of the

Doing it By the Numbers...

2011-08-02T10:00:00.004-04:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes a few statistics can trigger a million thoughts. To wit:52%. Percent of total US mail volume that is direct mail.$45.2 billion. The sum US businesses spent on direct mail in 2010—a 3.1% increase over 2009.$48 billion. The projected expenditure in the US for direct mail in 2011—a 5.8% increase over 2010.149 million. The number of addresses to which

In email, your timing is everything.

2011-07-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

In real estate, they'll tell you that success is based on only three factors: location, location, and location. It's a simple formula, and it works every time.But you are in marketing, not real estate. And you're looking for ideas that work.Maybe you've thought about using emails to promote your business or service. And you should be! It's fast. It's inexpensive. It's a foundation of

Multi-Channel Marketing: A Generational Divide The Times They are a'Changing!

2011-07-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Bob Dylan knew it. Now Pitney Bowes confirms it. The Times They are a'Changing. A new study by Pitney Bowes demonstrates that the practitioner's age makes a huge difference in media selection among marketers. 47% of marketers over age 55 are satisfied with the results they get with just one media channel, while only 16% of the under-35 crowd limit themselves to just one media.

Nonprofit Marketing; Know Thy Audience

2011-07-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

You’ve got a great message. Anybody would support it. Right? You want to launch fast, using any and all media available, while the issue is still hot. Throw crumbs on the water; wait for the flood of responses to come pouring in. Not so fast! I don’t want to pour cold water on your plans, but you need to slow down. New research released

Direct Mail: Dinosaur or Dynamite?

2011-07-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

If you're under 30 you may think Direct Mail is ancient technology. Passe'. A marketing dinosaur in an increasingly electronic age. But before you write off Direct Mail as being irrelevant, youngster, you may need a bit larger perspective than your tender years allow. What you may not realize is that direct mail is the Grand Dame of marketing. Like Grand Dames everywhere, Direct Mail lead the

I say Pot-AY-to; You say Po-TAH-to. Let's call the whole thing off! Nonprofits look at donor acquisition sources.

2011-06-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

It's a big world. There's room for differences of opinion. For instance, I like apples; you like oranges. Neither of us is right or wrong as both apples and oranges are good for us. Just ask Michelle Obama. In lawyerly compromise, she'd probably say that a fruit salad is better than its component parts.

So Much to Do; So little time

2011-06-22T11:41:00.001-04:00

Everybody is in a rush today. For many of us it's instant breakfast, instant drinks, instant potatoes, instant gratification. If something takes longer than we think it should, it aggravates us. ("Why is my computer so slow today?" "Can't he see the light turned green already?" "Why is she running late, again?")Every second counts. That's why if your website takes

Getting Inside Your Head and Staying There

2011-06-07T10:00:00.003-04:00

In an age when advanced neuroscience technologies like eye tracking, fMRI and neural activity analysis are standard for sophisticated marketing studies, (this is like yesterday's focus groups on steroids!) it was only a matter of time before someone studied human response to various media. And specifically, direct mail versus digital mail.That "someone" was the United Kingdom's Royal Mail.In the

Postage goes on Sale this Summer. This time YOU can benefit.

2011-05-31T10:00:00.003-04:00

Unlike the other USPS postage sale—the one that only the top 16 mailers in the US can qualify for—here's one with your name on it!All you have to do is put a QR ("Quick Response") code on your direct mail, then drop that mail between July 1 and August 31. In turn the USPS will refund 3 percent of your postage."So what's this all about?" you ask, naturally suspicious of anyone who tells you the

Did you hear what they said?

2011-05-24T11:07:00.000-04:00

If you're old enough to remember when "they" said that computers would revolutionize the workplace by eliminating paper... then you'll get a chuckle out of this. Paper use is actually UP. Trees are down. Go figure. The best minds of that day also thought that just 10 room-sized computers would have enough fire power to service all the

Treats Coming to Your Mailbox Soon! Maybe.

2011-05-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

"Care Packages" have been a staple of college life for generations. Similarly, "Goodie Bags" have warmed the cockles of many a soldier stationed far from home. These packages from home, lovingly filled with Mom's chocolate chip cookies, popcorn, and other treats fill the void of separation just a bit. Now the USPS has glommed onto the "Care Package" concept in hopes

What's up with Webinars?

2011-05-10T10:00:00.002-04:00

Multi-channel marketing is the buzz d'jour, and webinars are a linchpin in that panoply of multi-channel media. Why so? Webinars are inexpensive to produce. You've got the talent—maybe you are the talent. (This is not the time to hide your gifts under a bushel basket, friend!) You've got an idea that you're bursting to share. (Enthusiasm

Postage goes on Sale this Summer. The USPS plays Texas Hold'em

2011-05-03T10:00:00.004-04:00

Excited rumors have been circulating for several weeks now that the post office is preparing to put postage "on sale" this summer. Rumor confirmed.But like most rumors—and poker games—there's a grain of truth, a lot of misdirection, and real-time strategies and intricacies that haven't been thoroughly worked out yet. Unlike most poker games among friends, the stakes here are enormous.Here's the

Diamonds are Forever, and now so is Green...

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Following up the success of the first "Forever Stamps"—a First Class stamp that can be bought at today's prices and used well, forever—the USPS has just launched another. First in the USPS's Social Awareness series, each of the 16 stamps on the sheet offers low and no-cost tips to save energy and natural resources. And the predominant color is green. Naturally.

You're a Colorful Character! Shouldn't your marketing be, too?

2011-04-19T10:00:00.002-04:00

Ever since our ancestors first drew antelopes on cave walls, artists have used color to arrest attention. That’s why designers create logos, photos, illustrations and charts in color. And why they use boxes, rules, underlines, tint tones, reverses, screens, duotones and the like. Today, even paper can get in the act by being an eye-popping neon color, or just an

Printing and Direct Mail: We're in a Growth Industry! Or you can't believe everything you hear.

2011-04-12T10:00:00.004-04:00

Doom-and-gloomers say that print is doomed. Direct mail is a goner. What started with the ancient papyrus-wielding scribes, grew exponentially when Gutenberg discovered offset printing, is finished. Caput. Stick a fork in it, they say. It's done.They name the internet as the one singlehanded instrument of destruction. They cite video-game-generation short-attention spans as an accomplice

Get with it. Get Social.

2011-04-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

If you're a youngster, you may have trouble fathoming this concept, so I'm here to help you. Give your thumbs a rest for a minute or two, and read on. In the ancient times (before the last 5 years) when you wanted to talk with someone—say, your client—you picked up the phone and you spoke to him. Now I know in this day and age that practice of actually talking to

Is this Great or What? The post office launches a new rate calculator service.

2011-03-29T09:00:00.003-04:00

I mean, really, how many times have you pondered the post office's intricate postage rate charts to try to ascertain which class of mail would be best? A dozen? Two dozen? And how many times have you given up in distress and frustration, trapped between automation and non-auto rates, zone charts, piece-and-pound calculations, advertising