By Nancy DeDiemar, president, Printing Resources of Southern CaliforniaIt is about time that quick printers got some good news, and here it is:Print and mail are alive and well!Contrary to conventional wisdom among customers and even some printers that direct mail is "junk" mail, or "old" technology, or incompatible with environmental stewardship, print and mail remain an important part of…

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By Andrea Ratajczak, seasoned marketing consultant & co-founder of PDA MarketingIf you want your direct mail piece to be one of the 66 percent that gets opened and read, rather than the 34 percent that gets thrown away unopened, you'll have to design a compelling outer envelope among many other things. It is hard to say; however, how much of…

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By Nani Paape, independent project facilitatorMoney Saving Tip #1: Choose an efficient flat sizeWith paper costs accounting for 25 percent or more of a print job's cost, it pays to be smart about paper.You will always get a better deal on printing when your piece fits on the printing paper with little off-cut, the part of the sheet trimmed away and tossed…

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By Nani Paape, independent project facilitator I like to get in the loop with a print project while it's still at the arm-waving stage. That's the time when designers are just beginning to dream up design solutions, but haven't done too much designing. Sometimes the entire design team gets together at this point; other times it's just me and the lead…

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By Dean Rieck, direct mail copywriterYou should not expect an envelope to position your product. You should not use it to show off your design skills. Its job is not to entertain or amuse. You are not required to cover it with clever copy to impress a client. Aside from holding together the contents until delivered, an envelope only has…

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By Jeffrey Dobkin, marketing consultant, author, and professional speakerLet's see, where were we...oh yes, you were complaining that your post card wasn't long enough to sell your products, and I said you're right - it isn't. The ONLY job of the post card is to make the reader pick up the phone and call YOU, then, YOU sell your products.…

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By Jeffrey Dobkin, marketing consultant, author, and professional speakerIn part one of this article, we discussed creating a great headline to drive readers into reading the rest of the post card text. This was by using the Jeff Dobkin 100-to-1 Rule: write 100 headlines, go back, and pick out your best one. Hey, I didn't say you'd like it, I…

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By Jeffrey Dobkin, marketing consultant, author, and professional speakerFace it: most people sort their mail over the trash can. This process works fast. Think back: you are a kid and a friend is showing you baseball cards for possible trades: gott'em, gott'em, need'em, gott'em, gott'em, need'em, gott'em. 200 cards, 50 seconds. Today's mail...same thing. Bulk mail credit card offers, magazine subscriptions,…

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By Tracy A. Gill, Ballantine Corp. When it comes to direct mail, everyone wants to find a way to get the same return on less investment. As one of the biggest expenditures in a direct mail campaign, production is a logical and easy place to start. Tracy A. Gill reveals seven simple things any company can do to trim some of…

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By Dean Rieck, direct mail copywriterI once asked a young chess player how he wins so many games, often against older and more experienced players. He just smiled and said, "I try to avoid making mistakes."That's a great piece of advice. And it works in direct mail as much as it does in chess. If you avoid obvious mistakes, you…

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