IN THIS ISSUE

• Can USPS Regulate Itself Back To Good Health?
• Target Marketing Profiles Boost Campaigns
• Before Your Print…Plan.
• Do You Know How Your Recipients Read Your Mail?
• Press Box
• Our Favorite Charities
• How Are We Doing?
• Hold That Thought

We are Proud to be a Member of these Organizations

The Press Box
Find out what's new at:

United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk

Family Service League

Long Island Center of Business & Professional Women

National Association of Mothers' Center

Go to www.americanmail.com & www.bicountymailing.com

Click on “Our Favorite Charities”

It's our way of supporting good people
who do good things.
Every little bit helps.

Please visit their sites.
They could use your support!

How are we doing?

Check out our clients' testimonials on www.americanmail.com
About Us - What Clients Are Saying About Us page. We've included their company logos, as well as links to their websites when possible.
If you're a client, and would like to be listed on our testimonial page with your logo and a link to your website, tell us how we've helped you improve your business, email
greg@americanmail.com

Also…Check out what people are saying about us on LinkedIn.

HOLD THAT THOUGHT...

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Abraham Lincoln

Selected by Long Island Business News readers as..

Can the USPS Regulate Itself
Back to Good Health?

The USPS seems to be in constant financial crisis these days. And, to cope, it continues to change rules on us. Here’s how the bureaucracy thinks: “The economy is bad, let’s raise our postage rates…Our sorting machines can’t sort the mail fast enough, let’s force our clients to produce only mail that we can run faster…Our letter carriers must have everything facing the same direction, let’s make our customers redesign their catalogs to accommodate our carriers.”

Even a novice business person can recognize this approach as a prescription for failure. The USPS cannot operate effectively in the governmental and private sectors simultaneously because the federal Postal Rate Commission manipulates the agency at will. For example, it is the only US government agency required to pre-fund healthcare for future retirees. Return that money to the bottom line and, voila, the financial picture of the USPS changes for the better.

Here’s what David C. Williams, Inspector General, United States Postal Service, recently told Congress: “The first 6 months of this year’s payment to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund was $2.7 billion. If not for this payment, the Postal Service would have made $400 million instead of losing $2.3 billion in the first half of 2009”.

While legislation is now moving slowly through Congress to give the USPS partial relief from the payment, other constraints hamstring the agency: It can’t layoff workers, renegotiate labor agreements or close post offices without congressional approval.

So…Can the USPS regulate itself back to good health? The answer is NO!

Target Marketing Profiles Boost Campaigns

B-to-B target marketing has become the driving force behind successful strategic direct mail programs. Developing an overview of your corporate target customers will help you develop a clearer picture of who they are.

Here are some characteristics to consider:

• Company size, location and what they provide.
  
  
• Are they market leaders, cutting-edge, set in their ways, innovative?
  
  
• What growth stage are they in — start-up, stable, growing, declining?
  
  
• What type of workforce do they employ?
  
  
• What’s the company’s culture?
  
  
• What’s their management style?
  
  
• What trade association do they belong to?
  
  
• What’s most important to them when they buy — price, quality, brand, customer service?

While using fewer resources, target marketing lets you reach, create awareness, and influence a group of people most likely to select your product/service to meet their needs.

For more marketing tips click here

Before You Print…Plan!

Practical experience is priceless. So, before you produce your next direct mail marketing piece, consult a direct mail expert. In the long run, you’ll save money, resources and time. Here are some questions to ask before even putting pencil to paper:

1) Who is my audience?

2) What am I trying to accomplish with this piece?

3) What do I want to send — letter, self-mailer, brochure, postcard?

4) Do I want to mail it once or several times?

5) Do I want to create a personalized mailing or a generic piece?

6) How many pieces will I need to print so I can reach my entire audience?

7) What mailing list will I use?

8) Will the piece be time-sensitive?

9) What image do I want the mail piece to convey — classy, hi-tech, serious, funny?

10) What must I know about postal regulations before designing the piece?

11) How can I save on postage?

For more information about direct mail, click here

Do You Know How Recipients Read Your Mail?

According to marketing expert James Lumley in Sell It By Mail, those who read their mail go through a three-stage decision process:

1) They scan for relevancy. They spend about 15-20 seconds scanning the package, opening it if the outside is enticing. Since they’re already interested in — or curious about — what you’re offering, they look at headlines, subheads, picture captions, signatures, postscripts and your response device.

2) They read to get more information quickly. They pay particular attention to graphics: charts, diagrams, photos, tables, illustrations, bulleted lists and other summaries in order to get details quickly.

3) They read more closely to help them decide on whether or not to buy. By the time your readers get to the body copy, they’re in a buying frame of mind, but not yet convinced. They’re now looking for confirmation that buying what you’re offering is the right decision.

For more information about direct mail, click here

Greg Demetriou at Linkedin.com

directmaildoneright.blogspot.com