I hate getting e-cards for Christmas.  I promptly delete them.  If someone can’t take the time to send me a personalized card than don’t bother.   I recently sent out approx. 85 Christmas cards that I had printed with my company name.  I signed everyone of them.  Sure they weren’t cheap; however, I feel it is important to convey to my customers that they are important to me.   I also sent cards out to a few of my vendors as well.  I love  getting Christmas cards and I proudly display them on my office walls and bulletin board.  Unfortunately, I don’t get as many cards as I had in the past years.

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 I would love to hear from other business folks about their thoughts on this issue.  

Lately I’ve been getting customer supplied print files with nothing but headaches.   A few expect me to fix their problem or wave a magic wand over the file to make it press-ready for printing.   sorry, but that’s not my responsibility.   My competitive pricing is based on the receipt of acceptable press-ready electronic files.   That has always been the way I conduct business.   If a file needs fixing I will have to send it out to a graphic designer or have my factory fix the problem (minor) at an additional cost.   It is not my responsibility to fix submitted files to get them to work.   I’ve run up to a gammut of problems including low resolution graphics, Publisher files which are a pain, or in one case, clip art that was “borrowed” off the internet.  

It would be better if customers would invest in using a qualified graphic artist to preflight their files and pay them to fix the problem.   I equate this problem to buying parts from a auto parts store and then taking the parts to their local mechanic and tell him to fix the car.   sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way.

Now that I’ve vented give me your feedback please.

A lot of folks are now using e-newsletters to save on printing costs and higher postal rates.   This is all well and good; however, I can’t stand reading a lot of text on-line.  My opinion is that if you are going to send out more than 2 pages of text than you ought to use the mail.   I don’t like reading mulitple pages on the computer screen as it is harder on my eyes.   Also, I don’t like to have to print out multiple pages on my printer as it sucks up a lot of ink.    The laser and inkjet printer manufacturers must love it when you have to print multiple pages because they make a ton of money on the supplies.

My thought is to use e-newsletters only for the shortened version of your monthly or quarterly newsletters but send a hard copy through the mail when you have more than a couple of pages.    I generally don’t read long newsletters on-line and wait for the hard copy to be sent to me.   I would rather read newsletters at home at night while watching some TV program or just listening to music. 

I would like to solicit other bloggers to see what their thoughts are on this.

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JIT the great buz word also applies to marketing.   How is it done?  By mobile marketing to folks cell phones using text messaging.   I have resisted avocating such marketing but I now realize that this type of marketing has merit in todays marketing world for folks on the go who are looking for deals.    Here are my talking points:

1.  Moble marketing is timely because it can reach folks quickly and efficiently–JIT.   No printing, no mailings, no internet connections.

2.  Is is cheap because again there is no printing, no postage, no fancy graphics work required.  Just send plain old fashion text. 

3.  It helps fill up seats at concerts, at ballgames, at restaurants, even churches.    It also fills up ski lifts.

4. It is great for the impulsive buyer who is sitting on his or her butt looking for an excuse to eat out, go to the theater or take-in a ball game.

5.  there are NO printed coupons to carry, nothing to misplace unless you loose your cell phone of course.

6.  Mobile messaging has a much higher redemption than other forms of advertising.

7.  There are millions of folks out there waiting to get your offer via their cell phone so what’s your excuse to not try this new marketing technology to use.

OK bloggers, let’s here from you today.

Here are 5 good reasons to mail postcards for prospecting and generating sales:

1. They’re simple–A postcard will get someone’s attention while going through the mail because there is nothing to open.

2. They’re timely–They can get the word out faster than a classic mail package because they can be printed faster and there is less mail prep to be done.

3. They’re printed on both sides–this gives you selling space on 2-sides and there is NO waste of space.    You just need to allow a clear area of 4″ x 2″ for a bar coded name & address.

4. They’re attractive–Using 4-color process printing your message gets attention and they are printed on a heavier stock so they can take a beating going through the mail process.  Also, I recommend that you use varnish or UV coating to protect the ink and prevent scuffing.

5.  They’re measureable–A postcard can incorporate a coupon, a gift certificate, or even a tickte to a special event.  By using these features you can easily track the success of mailing your postcard.   You can do this with most other media.

Direct Mail Rules!

Effective Nov. 23, 2008 all mailings submitted to the USPS are subject to the new move update requirements.   In the past this was only required for Presort 1st Class mail–no more.  Now, you must either use a approved Ancillary Endorsement under your return address such as RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED,  send your list out for NCOA processing, or put CURRENT OCCUPANT under the person’s name or business name.   If you don’t due any of the above you may be liable for some kind of a fine on every piece of mail sent out.  This is still being disussed by the powers-to-be in Washington.   

For the NCOA processing and for the Ancillary Endorsement it must be done no earlier than 95 days prior to the mail drop date.    So mailers will need to get their ducks in-line to meet this new requirement.   The cheapest method is to simply put CURRENT RESIDENT OR OCCUPANT below the Company or person’s name.   It doesn’t look pretty but it gets you by the move update requirement.    If you choose the NCOA route I can help as I have a great company I partner with to handle this.   Typically it only takes 24 hrs to process your list; however, with this new requirement taking place on Nov. 23rd I’m sure that everybody will be slammend with work so I would allow 48 hrs for processing. 

The USPS thought process for this new requirement is to cut down on undeliverable mail that gets disposed of.    That’s a good thing but I don’t feel that mailers should get fined if they don’t fully meet the requirement.    I feel there should be a 6-month to a year grace period.   Please post your comments or ask me a question regarding this new requirement.    Thanks,  Preston Lawrance

A great way to market in this down economy is to use a Lenticular postcard which gives your sales message a 3D effect.    These New postcards are readily available and can be customized in any application.  They stand out from the mail clutter and have a high retention rate so your message keeps fresh in the receipents mind.   They qualify for automation rate postage so you don’t have to pay the gotcha rates with the USPS.  I would recommend that you order at least 2500 postcards to keep the unit cost affordable.    I predict that this product will be a big hit with direct marketers.   Please post your comments or ask questions about this product.

I recently read an article in DM News regarding increasing pressure for Do-Not-Mail legistlation in various states by so-called do gooders who want to cut down on saving our trees and landfills.   Some knuckle heads claim junk mail is an invasion of privacy.   What nonsense!   Direct mail is one of least intrusive maketing means to reach potential buyers.   It is recyclable; therefore, it does not get toosed into landfills for the most part.  There is a good market for recycled paper here and in China.    According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, direct mail only accounts for 2.4% in weight of the total municipal solide waster generated annually in the U.S.   Furthermore, 53.4% of the paper consumed in the U.S was recovered for recycling according to Patricia Kachura,  SVP of corporate responsibility for the DMA.

  If one doesn’t want to receive direct mail they can go to catalogchoice.org, ProQuo.com greendimes.com, 41pounds.org, Catalogend.com & DirectMail.com to get there names removed.  We don’t need government to impose on the direct marketing industry to stem the flow of direct mail.   The consequences are huge; such as:  higher postal rates due to lower mail volumes, loss of thousands of jobs, loss of lively hood for many small businesses that rely on direct mail to reach out to their potential customers. 

I would entertain any comments pro or con to the above.

Recently I had been contacted via email from a person from the Washington DC area (so I thought!) inquiring about purchasing a opt-in email list for opportunity seekers.   After locating a good list for his email blast and persenting him with my payment opitions he wanted to wire me the funds.   I said OK and gave him my bank account information for him to completed the transaction and order the list.  Big mistake on my part as he stole my account information and proceeded to write and send bogus checks via UPS to folks who responded to some sort of employment scam for handling payments.   Fortunately I only had minimum amount in my checking account for handling wire transfers so no funds were lost on my end.    I thank God that my local Community Bank,  Bank of New England,  promptly advise me to shut down the account and open up a new account. 

I even got a check from the scammers from a company in the Midwest for $3950 advising me to deposit the funds and wait for further instructions on where to send a portion of the proceeds.   The check looked authentic but I knew it as bogus.    I called the company up and told them what had happened and they advised me to destroy the check as they had also closed their account as well.

The moral for this story is to always know who you are doing business with and NEVER accept wire transfers with anybody you don’t know or trust.   Accept only credit cards or use Paypal for any foreign or domestic  transactions until you know who you are doing business with.    Run from anybody in Nigeria as they are the scam capitol of the world.

Also, be sure to avoid doing business with any company that wants you to handle payment  funds in the U. S. and send monies overseas.   They are all scams in my opinion.  Also, be very leery of a website called  www.jbc-fabrics.info from India as the nature of their offer to handle payment transactions for them in the states could be a scam.  Make sure to get references and check them out with the Better Business Bureau.

Remember if it sounds too good to be true it is probably a scam of some sort.    These scammers are only in it to steal your money.   They are very clever so be aware.

OK,  it looks like we’re heading to a recession so whatcha goin to do to grow your business?   You need to do some serious direct marketing by pressing the flesh, direct mail,  print advertising, networking, windshield flyers, or door hangers.   Yes, door hangers.   I don’t understand why more businesses use this low cost alternative to market their businesses in their own back yard.   Door hangers are cheap to print and distribute.  If you can’t distribute them yourself  or hire some kids or temps to distribute them out to homes or businesses in your market area.   Door hangers would work great for restuarants, sub shops, pizza shops, hair salons, insurance agency, flooring company, or any local service oriented business.   I would entertain postings for testimonies from any business who has successfully used door hangers.

I just recently moved to Loudon, NH and have yet to receive any kind of welcome letter, coupons, or just a postcard from any local merchants in the Concord/Loudon area.    These merchants must have rocks in their brains.    What a golden opportunity to market their business.    It’s their lost!    New movers lists are cheap and the ROI is there for merchants & restuarants to market to new folks moving into the area.   I can’t figure out their mindset here.  Can somebody explain why they don’t market their producsts/services to new movers?  Even dentists and other professionals should be marketing to new homeowners.