Business History Books » Business Consultant » need help with small(?) mailing
need help with small(?) mailing
Question:
Here in the States we have resources called secretarial services. Depending on your mailing quantity, this resource could be a solution. Here in the States, secretarial services have kept up on all the latest clerical management software, list database management tools, etc. You may want to test engaging the same secretarial services to do mail follow up calls — "did you get it, did you read it, your level of interest" type calls. The script doesn’t have to be too involved. Follow up phone calls like these, to a direct mail campaign, can dramatically boost mail response. Nice thing is you can try this out at relatively low test call quantities with well trained phone follow up talent. As you learn about what prospects think of your mailing from this effort, this provide ideas about how to improve the mailing you’re using, which serves to further improve you response in future mailings. Just a thought. P.S. If improving results is "off topic" for this group, I can’t imagine what’s "on topic". [MOD: Huh? Where this this come from, George. Always been 'on topic' 
] George Wehmann, President, Direct Marketing Resources Group, Inc. 2524 Birchford Court, Raleigh, NC USA 27604 Voice: 919-231-2728 – Fax: 919-231-1299 Helping You Use MARKETING Resources… To Maximize Your FINANCIAL Resources. MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
The best thing I can recommend is that you merely shop this job around to mailers and see who bites and at what price. Use a good search engine (I use Google) and find out who in the US does this and has a website. There should be hundreds, if not thousands. It doesn’t matter where in the US they’re located. It costs the same to mail things from any point in the US. Have your letter tell what you want done, send a sample, and ask for a bid. See what comes in. Best of luck, Scott — Not an ad or PR person at heart? Like a second opinion on what your ad and PR people are proposing? http://www.proposal-critiques.com MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
You are able email addy’s using publisher!! Well I am sure you can in the new version!! MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
Sorry this made no sense!!!! I was thinking of something else!!! >You are able email addy’s using publisher!! Well I am sure you can in >the new version!!
MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I’m a consultant and conduct seminars for a living. for the last 7 > years I’ve pretty much been doing the direct mail aspect of things by > myself. I make up post cards, use the names from my database or > sometimes buy a list, print the labels and then we stick & stamp for a > day or two. > Usually it’s only about 2,000 pcs at a time, sometimes half that. > this seems like too small a job for a mailing house, right? I don’t > have too muchin the way of options living here on Maui, but I was > wondering if (a) anyone else has small mailings like this (and how to > do you handle it) and > Is there a way I could email my Microsoft publisher file, and my > mailing list to someone and just have them do it? any ideas would be > appreciated. If this is off-topic for this group, sorry but I didn’t > know where else to look.
Hi Jim, Well, the agency I work with could certainly do this. 2000 pieces is small job, but we did a rush job 5000 piece mailing this week, so it isn’t out of the question. It would probably be mildly pricey on a per-piece basis (no matter who does is) since the fixed set-up costs would be amortized over a small number of pieces. Let me know if you want a quote. I wonder if you can’t find someone more local, though. Have you tried looking under letter shop service in the yellow pages, http://www.bigyellow.com reports three in Hawaii (although none on Maui) If you want to do this yourself, you might try printing your postcards 4 to a page on the heaviest stock your printer can handle, then have them cut. Getting an indica (bulk mail imprint) license from the post office and printing that directly on the post card will save you hours and hours of stamp affixing. Talk to your local postal business office about other options. They can be very helpful. Here’s an idea I’ve had in the past, and I wonder what the denizens of MBMM think of it. A direct mail service geared for very small mailings, say 100 to 3000 pieces. The service would offer a selection of attractively designed, four color postcards (Grand Opening, We’ve Moved, What’s New?, Special Offer, etc.) that could have a custom paragraph or two of text and maybe a b/w graphic on the back and the client’s name and address on the front. People like Jim would send us their list in any number of formats and the text they want on the back of the card, maybe we could even do it all on a web page (E-Commerce! <g>), and we would run all the jobs at the same time, maybe once or twice a month. Any comments? Posted and Mailed — Gary J. Weiner MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
I’m a consultant and conduct seminars for a living. for the last 7 years I’ve pretty much been doing the direct mail aspect of things by myself. I make up post cards, use the names from my database or sometimes buy a list, print the labels and then we stick & stamp for a day or two. Usually it’s only about 2,000 pcs at a time, sometimes half that. this seems like too small a job for a mailing house, right? I don’t have too muchin the way of options living here on Maui, but I was wondering if (a) anyone else has small mailings like this (and how to do you handle it) and Is there a way I could email my Microsoft publisher file, and my mailing list to someone and just have them do it? any ideas would be appreciated. If this is off-topic for this group, sorry but I didn’t know where else to look. Jim Powell TDG www.logisticstraining.com MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
<snip> >Is there a way I could email my Microsoft publisher file, and my >mailing list to someone and just have them do it? any ideas would be >appreciated. If this is off-topic for this group, sorry but I didn’t >know where else to look.
Well, I can’t help directly, jim but here in the UK it is quite common for us to email text files to mailing houses who actually carry out the mailing. The costs are a little more than when doing yourself, but of course your time is worth something. If you want to mail designs to a mailing house, I would expect that they would want Quark Express as it is the standard here for electronic publishing. — Jeremy McNeill, Distribution & Database Manager Bristol Arts Marketing http://www.bris-arts.freeserve.co.uk/ MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe
Response:
(Jim Powell) writes:
[snip] Look in the yellow pages under "Mailing Services" or "Direct Mail". There a lots of companies that do mailings. Some large companies may not want to handle a job that small but there are plenty of small houses that are happy to do it. Also, you will need to switch to something other than MS Publisher — like Adobe Pagemaker or Quark, if you want to e-mail the files. Or you will have to provide printed camera-ready art. Good luck! Cynthia Baker *** Marketworks(sm) *** Specialists in Market Planning – New Product Development Information Services – Marketing Research MBMM *DIGEST VERSIONS* MEM Go to http://markethink.com/lists/ to subscribe