Why We Tip In Cash And Still Love The Mail

Every Door Direct Mail (pictured above)

My wife and I were sharing dinner recently at a Tulsa restaurant when it was time to pay. Our server had done a good job of being attentive while not overbearing so we agreed that a gracious tip was in order. As we customarily do, we handed the bill with our credit card to the waiter and proceeded to both open up our wallets and start digging for any bit of cash that we might have. Unfortunately, on this night though we only had a few dollars (about 10% of the bill) so we put the whole tip on our card.

This story might sound familiar to many of the cash tippers out there. For us cash tippers, we know the value of a cash tip as it’s the only definite way to know that your waiter has received the full reward for their good service. The value of a cash tip is that it’s real, in physical form, with every penny ready to deliver to exactly the right person. They take it home that night. And while physical cash holds no greater value than cash on a card, the closer and more physical it becomes, the greater the emotional value grows.

If we stop to look around at the world we live in, the cash tip phenomenon is at play all around us. Things become more valuable in physical form. And this is exactly why something like direct mail continues to be such a powerful advertising tool despite the significantly cheaper method of email marketing. Direct mail is a non-filtered form of print advertising that has the ability to connect with a person in a far greater way than an email never will. And despite what online marketers love to tell people, direct mail is here to stay. In fact, smart marketers are moving back to traditional mail because of it’s proven ability to create an easily measurable return on investment.

A recent study by the marketing firm Epsilon Targeting indicated that 73% of U.S. Consumers prefer direct mail for brand communications because they can read the information at their convenience. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as the study goes on to state that 73% of Americans say they receive a lot of emails that they simply do not open and that 70% received more emails in the past year than the year before. The pendulum towards email marketing over traditional direct mail can only swing so far before over saturation dilutes a message completely. 

The best marketers understand the importance of cross channel marketing. A well constructed multi-touch campaign that combines direct mail, an inbound call center and email is sure to outperform any single form of communication. But to exclude direct mail is short sighted. Just as a cash tip is the easiest way to ensure you are properly tipping your waiter, direct mail is the easiest and least invasive way to ensure your message gets to exactly the right person. And just like cash, it becomes extremely powerful in physical form. And if the recipient has any interest in the message at all, it will probably get saved, even if just for a few days. The power of a direct mail piece sitting inside of your potential customer’s home is obvious. If the recipient simply places direct mail on a table, takes it with them to work, attaches it to the fridge or cuts it up and inserts it into their wallet, direct mail has the potential to be viewed hundreds of times before it’s tossed away, either directly or indirectly. It’s billboard marketing inside a home. It’s cash in your wallet. It’s tangible. It’s real.

The Five Immutable Laws of Building a Quality Mail List

Paint a Picture - If you had to paint a picture of your existing customers, what would they look like?  What environment would you draw around them in your picture?  Mail to that picture. Are your customers young, in hip clothing and hanging out in coffee shops or would they perhaps be sitting by a lake in plain clothing, feeding the ducks?  Understanding who your customers are demographically and the environment they choose to place themselves in is critical to building any targeted mail campaign.  Direct mail should aim to evoke and connect to the emotional experience of the recipients everyday life.


Stop Reinventing the Wheel - While there are many data companies out there that will simply enable you to purchase consumer or business lists based on parameters and demographics that you set, the real value that these companies provide are their pre-defined specialty lists. Simply put, they have already done the work for you. Chances are if you have an idea of your customer there is already a niche mailing list built for them. Companies like USA Data, Experian & Accudata will sell you a specialty list that could be anything from brides-to-be to home-school households. In addition, many magazines publishers and direct mail catalogs will sell you their list. Stop in your local bookstore and checkout all the specialty niche magazines available and remember there is a targeted mailing list behind everyone of them. For a more extensive listing of magazines check out Bacon's Directory of Magazines, Oxbridge Communications Standard Periodical Directory or Writersmarket.com. Catalog listings can be found in The Directory of Mail Order Catalogs from Grey House Publishing.


Go Fish - Have you ever dropped your business card in a fish bowl at a restaurant with the hopes of receiving some future gift card? If you have then chances are those establishments are taking your information and plugging it into a customer database to be used for future advertising campaigns. Whether you're using a fishbowl or a sign-up form it is imperative that you constantly be recording new contact information. Everyone you meet is a potential lead. How are you gathering this information? Are you asking your customers and fellow employees for referrals? If people run across your website or advertisement are you enticing them give you their information? Fishing for new leads is an easy way to build a strong mailing list and a commitment to doing this on a daily basis is critical.


Knowledge is More Powerful Than Imagination - When communicating an offer with a mailing list, why throw darts at a board with potentially irrelevant advertisements? The design might look great but if the content doesn't fit the person then the message is lost.  Information about customers is one of the key components to a highly targeted direct mail campaign. Keeping good notes about a contact's interests and recording purchase history can help you target communications about your products and services to the specific customers who will find your offer relevant. The right offer to the right customer at the right time can be achieved with information.


The House Always Wins - While there is an endless supply of lists available for purchase targeting every demographic and customer group imaginable, the list that you keep of all your own customers and prospects, also known as the house list, will consistently give you your best response rate. Your house list already knows who you are, connects to your brand and understands your product. Direct mail advertising must always be mindful of the needs for their existing customer database when implementing campaigns.

Top Six Greeting Card Apps for the iPad & iPhone

The holidays are the perfect time to express your love for family and friends. Many people do this through the simple act of a greeting card. Whether you send a card in the mail or digitally through an e-card, greeting cards are an excellent and affordable way to solidify and strengthen bonds.

For those iPad and iPhone users, I have assembled this list of the top greeting card apps. I included both apps that integrate traditional direct mail and apps that are strictly e-card focused. Feel free to agree or disagree with this list as the biggest criteria I looked for was the apps wow factor or something truly unique that distinguished it from all other similar apps.

1. Lifecards - Postcards
Developer: Vivid Apps
File Size: 39.9 MB, Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Developer Website: www.mexircus.com
Overview: Lifecards is excellent if you want access to a wide range of templates. With over 350 templates in Lifecards - Postcards and over 50 templates in their Christmas Lifecards version, these apps offer easy customization, a professional look and quick email or submitting options for Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.  Lifecards enables you to apply filters to your photos and finish off each card with your own finger written signature.

2. Postcards From Santa
Developer: Camera Shoot Photo Postcards LLC
File Size: 1.5 MB, Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Developer Website: santapostcardapp.com
Overview: As a printer, I have to give this app praise. Postcards From Santa successfully merges digital technology with printed direct mail. This app does exactly what you think, sends your child a postcard from Santa straight from the north pole. After you customize and order your postcard for $2.99, the postcard is printed on a high-gloss cardstock and mailed straight to your recipient.  If you have multiple children you want to send a postcard to, each additional postcard only costs $0.99.

3. Simply Postcards
Developer: Simply Postcards
File Size: 4.1 MB, Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Developer Website: www.simplypostcards.net
Overview: There isn't anything flashy about this app except it is another great option if you want to digitally create postcards from your phone or iPad and have them printed, stamped and mailed the old fashion way. This is an easy to use and free to download app. Considering the low cost and high quality of the printed postcards, this is a must have app for any fan of postcards sent through the USPS.

4. Jubilee - Birthday Cards
Developer: Vemedio & Marfil
File Size: 9.6 MB, Compatible with iPad
Developer Website: www.vemedio.com/products/jubilee/
Overview: While this app would not make the list for the most customizable template options, it does make it on account of it's integrated calendar feature. Simply keep a list in your calendar of important contact birthdays to remember and never forget to show your congratulations again. This is ideal for the sales rep who has multiple birthdays logged into CRM software or just for the person who wants to be a better friend!

5. Build-a-Card (Holiday Edition)
Developer: ISBX
Files Size: 6.5 MB, Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Developer Website: www.isbx.com
Overview: This is a great app if you want to have a little fun with your cards. The "Picturizr" tool allows you to add a variety of items to your photo such as a Rudolph nose or an elf hat. Another great feature of this app is the ability to easily pull photos straight from your Facebook account.

6. Card Shop
Developer: miSoft, LLC
File Size: 10.0 MB, Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
Developer Website: www.miSoft.com
Overview: Card Shop enables you to create and send an array of cards for all seasons. The app features a custom stamp and postmark creator as well as a Clip Art gallery that you can use to enhance your card with a variety of graphical elements. This is also one of the only apps that enables you to add an audio voice message attachment to your card.

Others to check out:
Vintage Holiday Cards
C@rd

How To Make Paper Look Old and Create Direct Mail Guaranteed to Get Opened

Marketing and advertising has been increasingly over produced for many years. The mass production of media means that consumers give less time and attention to advertisements. The supply of marketing is greater than the demand given to it and the bubble is bursting on ineffective forms of communication. Total customization or the ability to create a unique experience for each and every consumer is the marketers new goal.

Today, only hand-crafted, highly-customizable printed materials consistently get noticed. The new art of printing begins with a creative idea, is achieved through a unique process and shipped with a personal touch that connects to people on a human to human level.

The creation of an aged mailer offers a perfect opportunity to create a real connection to the past and revisit a time in printing when the artisan was more powerful than the machine. An aged mailer offers you the ability to touch people's senses and send them back in time.

Just think about all the times we hear stories in the media of letters delivering decades later? People emotionally connect with the past and the dated look of an aged mailer immediately makes one think of the old and forgotten times.

As a fellow print chef, you can begin aging paper right away and rekindle the past with uniquely, hand-crafted printed materials.  To create this highly-customizable printed item right in your own kitchen, here are a few quick and easy to follow steps:

1. Print your message on the paper before beginning the process
2. Pre-heat an oven to 200 degrees
3. Soak paper in tea, coffee or vinegar and plan on your mailer still smelling like your ingredient of choice (If aging an envelope, while soaking, carefully open flat at the sealed areas as glue will now be ineffective)
4. Remove from liquid and sprinkle coffee or tea grinds on paper
5. Rub in grinds to create an assortment of random stains
6. With a dry towel or cloth, carefully pat the wet paper to remove any excess liquid and brush off remaining grinds
7. Place the paper on an oven proof pan 
8. Put pan in oven and frequently check paper every minute to test for dryness and ensure the paper does not stick to the pan
9. Remove as soon as dry and let cool (once cool, if aging an envelope, re-seal with a glue stick)

Customization to the Masses: Digital Web Printing

When you think of digital printing, typically what comes to mind is low quantity, customizable, short turn around and on demand printing. With fixed material and digital per click rates, that idea is that if you want to print highly variable and versioned pieces then you better keep the quantity small or resort to printing offset and creating the variable message through a lasering or inkjet process. If you are making 100-200 variable catalogs or brochures this is perfect, but if you want to produce 100,000-200,000 variable pieces, then this just isn't economical. In high quantity variable scenarios, you print a full color shell or template on a traditional offset web press and take those forms to a high speed laser or inkjet unit to overprint all variable data. You might even create a few different color versions to target varying demographics but you must limit your versioning due to the high make ready and plate change costs associated with offset printing.

Web printing has gone on about its business just like this for years, pumping out high quantity, static materials and digital printing has continued to play the role of the quick turn, low quantity job. Recently though a new technology has surfaced, digital web printing and it literally will forever change how we perceive the role of digital printing.

Marketers recognize the need to create highly customizable marketing materials but the challenge has always been keeping the costs down. With a digital web press, a marketer is easily and affordably able to achieve the goal of printing materials for a large audience and at the same time, making each one of those print pieces completely unique to the end user. It is revolutionary technology that will only grow as people seek out more ways to connect with their target audience in a world that is swarming with advertisements.

Does this suggest the death of commercial offset web printing? Not yet, as there is still a place for the mass production of print where each piece is identical (product catalog, books, coupons, etc.). However, offset web printing has seen a decline in volume over the past few years due to the internet and other electronic and more affordable forms of advertising. If printing is to compete and win against new media, it has to create a unique to user experience and digital web printing is one step in the right direction to print's sustainability.

Mass Customization

It is said that Americans are exposed to over 5000 advertisements per day. This number rises every year and it is really astonishing if you stop to think about it. Assuming we are awake only a span of 16 hours that equates to roughly five advertisements per minutes. When I started sales I was told I needed to develop a 30-second commercial. However, at five advertisements per minute, it seems that this should be closer to only 12-seconds!

With this much competition for people's attention, it is no wonder that advertisers see such low response rates. It has become increasingly difficult (and almost impossible) to stand out and get noticed as consumers have developed incredibly strong defenses against advertisements. To the marketer, this feels like trying to kick in an iron door. While everyone else can sit there and try to figure out how to break down this door, the successful people are simply going to look for another way in. This is achieved through customization.

Customization used to be putting your own take on a recipe or imposing your own standards and procedures on an existing system. In this type of model, success is achieved by working just a little smarter than your competition and creatively positioning and marketing your brand to get more exposure. Your customers didn't buy, they were sold to. Somewhere this all began to change and increased brand exposure actually started having a negative impact when the product wasn't completely a necessity, outstanding or different to begin with.

Customization can occur on many levels and it doesn't mean just making a different product. You can make similar products that thousands of other people make but perhaps your customization is in the process or service. Whatever type of customization you are involved in, it must speak to the individual core of the person who will buy and use your product.

The internet is fast to this trend as websites have become highly customizable. News, sports, search engines, social networking sites and email provider websites all let you choose the content you want to see. The more you interact with those sites and are able to tell them about yourself, the more customization they can provide. It's like stepping into a store that sells custom tailored clothing. As soon as you step in the door, they are sizing you up and the more information they have about you (body shape and size, fashion preferences and personality) the better they are able to give you clothing that is completely for you.

The food and beverages industry is seeing the effects of customization as well. I did a search on "personal chefs" and was astonished to see everything that came up. There is even a United States Personal Chef Association. The idea that there are families who want a real chef to sit down with them in their home, understand their preferences and diet and help them prepare meals that are completely catered to each person's individual needs should frighten the restaurant industry.

Frozen foods (one of the most convenient and easy ways to eat) are moving towards the trends of customization. The company Personal Chef To Go, delivers customizable and fresh meals (not frozen) that are shipped right to your home in a thermal lined container.

The trends of customization mean good things for craft brewers as well. According to the Brewers Association, a trade group that represents craft brewers in America, craft beer volume sold was up 9 percent for the first half of 2010 despite beer sales overall being down 2.7 percent. In addition, the U.S. now has 1,625 breweries, 100 more than at the same time as last year.  More and more people are starting to support local craft beer producers and turning away from the mega producers. To keep up with the trends of customization, companies like Anheuser-Busch are turning to their own line of craft-like beers such as Bud Light Golden Wheat. However, no matter how many beers a company like Anheuser-Busch cranks out, they will struggle to capture that essence that makes a local craft beer so much more enjoyable. Craft beers are often created by only a handful of people and the labor, local flavor and originality that is put into the process has as much to do with how satisfying the beer is as the taste does.

So what does this all mean for printers and marketers? You see, unlike food and clothing, humans can survive without many types of products such as printing. A person's advertising defenses are going to be higher when presented with something that isn't an essential need to survival. Therefore, despite the trends towards mass customization, a restaurant can still stay afloat on location, cost, convenience or how well they market themselves.  A commercial printer however, who doesn't embrace customization, will be left behind.

Digital printing and variable data scratch the surface of customization. They allow each piece created to be completely unique to the end recipient. You can even have a specific message that is targeted to a specific demographic.  However, this type of product is still produced in a highly standardized process that groups people into "versions" and not as individuals.

True customization will let the end-user choose 100% of the content and it will master the art of empowering the consumer. You see this happening with self-published photo books and storefront sites that let the end-user order exactly the personalized, user-designed marketing materials they need. Digital printing services are a necessity but to service this changing landscape, printers will have to invest in pick-and-pack fulfillment, inserting capabilities and specialized, labor-intensive kitting services. Custom marketing kits, that are tailored to the individual end recipient, will be the norm. The customer will dictate the entire process and printers that cling to their standards (sizes, stocks, turnaround time) will lose market share. Total customization will be the new standard and the ability to be flexible and adjust to new customer expectations will be the ultimate decider in which printers will continue to have the privilege to produce whatever print projects still remain in the future.

Why Direct Mail? Part 2 of 2

Trust in Advertising - Printing and Marketing Trends

It is no secret that people trust advertisers less and less every year.  We’d rather hear the opinion of a friend or go online to see what other people are saying about a product.  This has caused an increase in grass root marketing efforts as well as the need to communicate through social media.  Traditional advertising, including print, is on the decline.

Despite the change in the advertising landscape, there is still a place for print in advertising that offers the highest ROI opportunity.  That opportunity is with direct mail.  Internet advertising will continue to grow but the information overload that online advertising brings to consumers will help direct mail break through the clutter.   In the coming years, print stands to become one of the least intrusive forms of advertising available to marketers.

Print can do things that the internet can not do, and the trends don’t lie.  According to a 2008 DMNews/Pitney Bowes Direct Mail Survey, the follow results suggest print is here to stay:

• 78% identify direct mail as the preferred method for receiving promotional materials (63% Email, 52% Newspaper Inserts, 34% Websites).

• 37% said they used a new business for the first time because of something they received in the mail.

• 68% said they renewed business relationships in response to information they receive by direct mail.

Print is also reviewed more than online advertising such as email.  85% of households say they either read or scan direct mail (2007 USPS Household Diary Study).  Data for email varies by industry but experts suggest a 15-25% average email open rate and a 6% average click through rate if the advertiser is known.

A more recent study (2009 Exact Target’s Channel Preference Study of 1500 internet users) shows that

76% made a purchase after receiving direct mail (67% TV, 58% email, 17% phone marketing). 

The trends don’t lie, consumers still trust print.

Why Direct Mail? Part 1 of 2

Why use direct mail?  Isn’t this form of advertising going extinct?  With the world becoming more digitized every day, one might think so.  However, every month you receive direct mail from the same companies over and over again.  Banks and insurance companies constantly flood your mailbox.  Do you think these companies would keep repeatedly sending the same offer in the mail if they weren’t seeing results?  Would you continue to do something in your own business if it wasn’t working?

The fact is that direct mail works and is growing in popularity as marketers seek out a means to speak to consumers on a one-to-one level.  The ability to send a targeted message to the right person is a powerful thing.

Direct mail is here to stay but if you need proof as to why you should join this movement, consider the following evidence:

• Mail is measurable.  You can track the cost per response.
• Mail is real.  In a digitized world, mail enables your senses to physically interact with a marketing message.
• Mail is personal.  How would you send a birthday card, love letter or thank you note to someone you care about?
• Mail speaks to you.  Your name is on the mail, with your address and your specific message that the marketer knows is relevant to you.
• Mail benefits from technology.  Advances in data mining allow you to send a tailored message to a specific demographic and audience.
• Mail reinforces brand loyalty.  When you receive mail from a brand that you already trust, the mail is received more positively.  In addition, mail complements and integrates well with other forms of advertising such as TV, email, radio and a website.
• Google mails.  The largest internet company in the world uses direct mail to advertise.
• Mail stands out.  The average consumer receives 45 emails for every one piece of direct mail.

Marketing in the New Millenium

In the April 2010 issue of Deliver Magazine, an article on the future of marketing to different generational groups, discusses the 100 million Americans who are classified as Generation Y – aka the “Millennials” – which have replaced the 78 million baby boomers as the largest consumer group. Generation (Gen) Y, born from 1985 to 2004, are Internet savvy, environmentally conscientious and adverse to traditional advertising. With internet obsessed Gen Y as the largest and fastest growing group of consumers, your first thought might be that the printing industry is in some serious trouble! After taking a deeper look though, I think just the opposite is true. In fact, printing may pose the single greatest opportunity for businesses to capture the attention of Gen Y.

It’s no secret that the Gen Y live in an online world. They exist and live in online communities, tweets, blogs, and social networking sites. They shop and bank online and are even educated in a virtual classroom setting. As businesses market to Y, they recognize the need to appeal to their online senses and connect to them in the virtual world. However, cracking the code and entering into their trusted and guarded online life is something that most businesses fail to effectively do.

Gen Y go about online activities in a comparable way that people go about their lives in the non-internet world. They have routines, or trusted sites they frequently visit on a continual basis. These sites enable them to live their lives with a sense of order and community and they don’t like it when this is disrupted (annoying pop-ups, spam or irrelevant and misleading site content). So just how is a business supposed to get the attention of someone who truly lives on the internet? This certainly isn’t easy as the competition for attention is so great, that offers from even the most trusted sources can be perceived as spam.

According to Pingdom.com, the internet looked like this in 2009:

- 1.4 billion email users
- 247 billion emails sent per day (81% of these spam)
- 234 million websites
- 126 million blogs
- 350 million people on Facebook
- 27.3 million tweets per day

This means that the average user is sent over 175 emails per day and at least 33 of those emails each day are from trusted (non-spam) senders. If you’re thinking that you don’t receive that many emails, it is probably because you aren’t living a completely Internet focused online life such as a Gen Y. In addition, Gen Y have access to over 234 million websites and 126 million of these are blogs. With this many options available, how are you going to get their attention? Do Gen Y even know that you exist or know how to reach you online?

Integrated direct marketing may be the single greatest opportunity to break down the wall that Gen Y have built to stave off advertisers. Integrated marketing incorporates multiple forms of advertising channels into one seamless message that fits nicely together. One of the easiest ways to do this is through the use of direct mail combined with the internet. Just because your ultimate goal might be to drive someone to a website you may think direct mail doesn’t really fit well into your advertising plan. Or maybe you’re a small business you just can’t afford to spend money on anything other than online advertising. These are valid points in deciding how to affordably bring in new customers. However, remember that Gen Y (the biggest demographic opportunity to increase revenue in the coming years) are extremely active Internet users. This means they are exposed to more online forms of advertising than anyone else out there and they have built powerful defenses against them.

To reach Gen Y, more traditional forms of advertising are necessary to capture their attention (such as direct mail, bill boards and television). This form of advertising typically does not focus on Gen Y which means they are more likely to give you their attention if you target them in a traditional way. Even when all of the purchasing decisions Gen Y makes are on the internet, you still have to reach them in a unique and memorable way to get them to participate in your online business presence. Nothing is unique and memorable about one of the 175 emails they receive per day. By gaining their attention with traditional methods that they haven't built up defenses against, you can then promote to them a website or blog that you ultimately wanted them to visit in the first place. This is integrated marketing.

The use of direct mail is the most effective method for achieving an integrated marketing campaign to Gen Y or any generation for that matter. With direct mail, you are able to send cost-effective, one-to-one, personalized communications with a call to action to visit a website. The personalization of the mail then brings more trust to the website. In addition, direct mail is highly visible among Gen Y. Need proof? According to the U.S. Post Office, on average, 584 million pieces of mail are delivered each day to 150 million residences. That is roughly only 4 pieces of mail for every household. If you compare that to the 175 emails an individual might receive, you can paint a clear picture of an opportunity. Furthermore, how many pieces of mail for every household do you think target Gen Y? Do you think a majority of the people born from 1985 to 2004 are currently paying the bills, cutting coupons or sifting through insurance offerings? This is the real hidden and perhaps biggest opportunity out there: almost none of the direct mail currently being sent is targeting Gen Y.

In the coming years, Gen Y are going to increasingly make more and more purchasing decisions that are influenced by their trusted online world. How they get to and arrive at those decisions is up to marketers. Will marketers embrace the opportunities to gain trust through traditional advertising outlets or will they push them away with continual spam offerings? The evidence is right in front of marketers, they just need to act. With the growing number of tight knit online communities that Gen Y are a part of, it only takes the trust of a few for your message to spread like wildfire through their entire network.

For more information on how to profit from the understanding of young consumers, check out the book The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm by Kenneth Gronbach.

Eat Your Mail

I was reading Deliver Magazine recently and noticed a feature on marketing through product sampling where one company has taken the concept to a new level. We have all been drawn to free samples in a grocery store and often are enticed into buying that sampled product. This promotion however has always been limited to an in-the-store experience. Well a new technology called Peel ‘n Taste® was recently developed by First Flavor (www.firstflavor.com) that gives the end user the ability to taste the flavor of the product with a film strip that dissolves in your mouth. Now you can let your customers taste your product in an easy and affordable way across multiple marketing channels. You can send the film strip along with a direct mail campaign or attach to an advertisement in a magazine. Or use the strips as a giveaway at your next event. Anyway you decide to incorporate this technology, it is sure to be a perfect way to market food and beverages with the aid of printing.

How to Purchase a Maillist, Market to a Target Audience and Grow Your Business

Buying a maillist doesn't have to be a complicated process. Anyone can do it. Answer the questions below and you'll be well on your way to starting a direct mail campaign. Then, check out the video for a quick overview on how to go about purchasing a maillist.

Who are my customers?
Are they businesses?
- Are they large or small businesses?
- What industry are they in?
- How many years have they been in business?
- Are they headquarters or branches?
- What job title do they typically have?

Are they consumers?
- Are the male or female, or an even mix of both?
- Do they have children?
- Are they homeowners?
- What income levels do they come from?
- How old are they?
- Are they single or married?

Where do my customers live?
- Are they from a local neighborhood or scattered geographically?
- Are they all in a specific city or state?
- If they just moved to the neighborhood would your business potentially benefit from their limited number of relationships?

Why do my customers buy from me?

If they received a postcard what would they respond to?
- What stands out?
- How is it different than every other offer they get in the mail?
- How does it engage them to interact?
- What would make them want to learn more about your offer?

How much can I afford to spend?
- How much can you spend on advertising for one sale and still make a profit?
- What type of return do you project?
- How much does it cost to print?
- What type of postage estimate has your printer given you?
- How much to design your piece?
- Are there additional costs associated with your offer (coupon)?

Finally, have I communicated with my print vendor or marketing expert what my goals are for the mailer and where I want to increase my revenue? I only mention this because printers can be marketing experts too but usually for no additional cost. It may seem like all we do is print and there is no difference between one company to the next, but a great print rep is exposed to a number of different mailings in a given year and usually has a unique perspective on what tends to have success. Even for the print reps that do not follow customer results and really only care about printing, I bet they ALL know what customers do a reprint of a mailing. Chances are if someone is spending money on a marketing campaign over and over again, then they are probably having success with it. Well, at least Albert Einstein would hope so!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein