We only carry label sheets.  Printing your own labels is easy, using your own computer and printer.  It is much more efficient to print your packing slip or invoice on the same sheet as your shipping label.  Therefore, no matching is required.  Or, you can save time by printing full sheets of address, mailing, or shipping labels.

Doing a mail merge of your address list is the best way to do this.  According to wikipedia.org, mail merge is a software function describing the production of multiple (and potentially large numbers of) documents from a single template form and a structured data source. This helps to create personalized letters and pre-addressed envelopes or mailing labels for mass mailings from a database mailing list of names and addresses.

We encourage you to use the “Mail Merge Wizard.”  Follow the instructions based on the program you’re using.

• Word 2000/20003 – under Tools, Mail Merge;

• Word 2007 – under Mailings, Start Mail Merge;

• Publisher 2000/2003 – under Mail Merge;

• Publisher 2007 – under Tools, Mailing and Catalogs, Mail Merge

Steps to complete a mail merge:

Step 1: Choose a document type and main document

Step 2: Connect to a data file (spreadsheet or database) and select records

Step 3: Add fields to the main document

Step 4: Preview the merge and then complete it

In order to qualify for postcard rate postage (currently $0.28), the United States Postal Service requires small postcards (4 1/4″ x 6″ or less) to be made from paper that has a 7pt thickness or greater. All of the Burris Four-of-a-Kind Postcards™ meet this requirement.

Large postcards (greater than 4 1/4″ x 6″) are required to be made from paper that has a 9pt thickness or greater. All of the Burris Print On Demand Jumbo Postcards™ meet this requirement. The Jumbo Postcards must be mailed at first-class postage (currently $0.44).

Burris Computer Forms® announces its affiliate relationship with Endicia®, providing a new way to lower the cost of mailing.

By using Burris Four-of-a-Kind Postcards™ and Endicia’s Internet Postage, businesses, churches, associations and other non-profits can mail messages and save time, labor, postage, and materials.

Using postcards lowers the cost of postage from 44¢ to 27¢. Buying postage online from Endicia saves trips to the post office. Printing the blank postcards internally saves users pre-printing and material costs. Printing the postcards in-house – printing both the content and postage, four-up, and in the same print run- streamlines the production process and saves time and labor. The micro-perfed postcards can be quickly separated into single postcards ready for mailing. This eliminates folding, stuffing and sealing-further streamlining the process and greatly reducing handling, time, and cost.Burris provides its blank Four-of-a-Kind Postcards in a wide variety of weights, colors, finishes, and recycled content.

Endicia provides ways for users to buy postage online, and provides its DAZzle program that allows users to print postcards four-up, mail merge names and addresses, verify address formats, and print postage in the same pass.

Using Burris postcards, churches, trade associations, and non-profits keep in touch with members, reach out for new ones, announce special events and fundraisers, and thank donors for support. Government or military use Burris postcards to mail notices. Housing agencies announce pest inspections and utility outages. QuickBooks® users can print invoices four-up on postcards. Utilities, municipalities, boroughs, villages, cities, and towns mail postcards for notices and billing. Business announce openings, sales, service specials, and new products.

Burris Computer Forms announces a new large Tri-fold Mailer.

The new, inexpensive large middleweight tri-fold mailer is made from bright white 176 GSM (grams per square meter) matte cardstock with a 7 point thickness, and is printable by laser or inkjet printers. These mailers, which measure 8 ½” x 11″, are scored for easy folding and the reply card is perforated for easy removal. The mailers meet all U.S. Postal Service regulations on size and thickness for mailing. The mailers are also available in Standard White Large (Item # TriFold8.5X11) and Small (Item # Trifold6x11).

Users can design and print the blank mailers with any message using many different software programs (including Microsoft Word® & Microsoft Publisher®) on a copier, inkjet, or laser printer. The blank forms can be used for several different mailings throughout the year. Users can print auction cards, reunion cards, meeting reminder cards, recall notices, warranty cards, information update cards, product information cards, or survey forms.

The advantages of printing in-house include fast turnaround, low cost, control of the project, and ability to print a few, or thousands, quickly and cost-effectively. Companies, churches, other non-profits, and individuals use Burris mailers as an easy, convenient, cost-effective way to deliver a message.

3 Tips to Make Your Mail Break from the Pack
Yes, the Web offers opportunities to communicate with prospects in some cost-effective ways, but direct mail is still vital to striking a chord with customers. The thing is, now more than ever, it’s important to find ways to make your mail stand out from the pack and save money at the same time. Here, direct mail experts offer tips to develop successful, cost-effective packages.

1. Use a personalized self-mailer. Personalization is a must these days, but doing a match mailing can become quite costly very quickly. With that in mind, Gary Michelson, circulation director for South Norwalk, Conn.-based magazine and newsletter circulation management firm Circulation Specialists, helped develop a magalog self-mailer with the recipient’s name and address highlighted, along with a personalized reply form. The personalization was embedded on the back image with a window for the address, and when folded out, the back side of the image had the reply form.
We wanted to do it in such a way that it didn’t have to be a match mailing, from a production standpoint, to keep our costs down says Michelson. Our designer just looked at it and figured that image could fold through, and it could just be imagined as one process and save us a fair amount of money.

2. Integrate other channels. While direct mail is still effective, it works best in concert with other channels. Xerxes Irani, creative director at visual image and creative company Veer, suggests driving audiences to the Web with URLs and PURLs, and even developing mail campaigns that incorporate more information/activities online. For example, Veer created a secret society campaign with riddles and a members handbook that compelled recipients to visit Veer’s Web site to interact more with the campaign.

Tracy Gauson, corporate communication and public relations manager at Veer, adds that her company was able to eliminate paper reply forms due to the URL, but she stresses, know your audience. Dropping the paper BRE isn’t for everyone.

3. Make the copy sing. No matter how great your mailer looks, people won’t respond without strong copy, Irani stresses. Great copy can almost supersede or be on the same level as great design he says. If the copy is compelling, useful and relevant, the likelihood of a response is greater no matter the length. Shorter isn’t always sweeter.
Taken from Target Marketing.

Leave a 5/8″ margin at the bottom of each postcard. Sometimes the Post Office places a sticker with a bar code at the bottom. If you leave that margin available, then you won’t lose any information.  See the USPS site for more information.

Blank postcards are an effective, easy and inexpensive way to keep in touch with members, reach out for new members, announce special events and fund raisers, or thank donors for their support. By printing postcards in-house, organizations can quickly communicate time-sensitive needs, while saving time and cost. Blank postcards save labor, time, and money because there’s no folding, stuffing, or sealing. No special equipment is required. All that is necessary is a personal computer and inkjet or laser printer or copier. Postcards (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″) can be mailed at $0.27 apiece, saving up to 35% on postage expenses. Printing postcards in-house eliminates buying, storing, and printing envelopes.

Burris’ website makes it easy for users to select the right paper (using its “What Weight Paper Will Your Printer Handle?” tool or Paper Weight Comparison Chart), order blank postcards (and have them delivered right to their door), create or change a message (using its free templates for Microsoft Word and Publisher), print quickly and efficiently (using its Four-of-a-Kind (TM) Postcards), and mail (by printing postage on postcards or using USPS bulk mail).

In an effort to address the growing need for recycled products, Burris Computer Forms is pleased to announce an environmentally friendly addition to its Four-of-a-Kind Postcard™ line. This new product in the Burris line of blank, printable postcards is made from 30% recycled paper, which provides users the ability to print postcards in-house and still “go green.”

The postcards made from 30% recycled paper content are available on blank, white 8 ½ x 11 sheets perforated twice, for easy separating. This new product in its line of blank, printable postcards can be printed in-house on users’ own PCs, using laser or inkjet printers, or copiers.

The advantages of printing postcards in-house include fast turnaround, low cost, control of the project, and ability to print a few, or thousands, quickly and cost-effectively. Companies, churches, other non-profits, and individuals use Four-of-a-Kind Postcards™ as an easy, convenient, cost-effective way to deliver a message.

Read How We Saved At Least 15% on Postage: Part 1

Read How We Saved At Least 15% on Postage: Part 2

Read How We Saved At Least 15% on Postage: Part 3

Read How We Saved At Least 15% on Postage: Part 4

Mail Entry Overview:

Discount mail must be taken to your Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU). You must keep all documents and receipts for 1 year from each mailing date. Locate your BMEU at http://pe.usps.com/

This is the same office where you apply for your mailing permit, obtain and submit postage statements, and pay for your postage. The staff are a great resource for all your business mail questions. They will generally be able to answer questions about sorting, barcoding, rates, dimensions, mail piece design, and more because they verify that your mail meets these guidelines.
When you enter the office, tell the staff you have a mailing to send. They will take a sample (about 10-20 pieces) of your mailing to weigh, which will determine the weight of an individual mailing piece. Then, your postage statement and CASS Summary Report will be reviewed to compare how many pieces you stated were in the mailing. This will be compared to the weight they obtain for your full mailing. The barcoding scanner will also be used to ensure your barcodes can be read by the machinery. Your paperwork will be completed, postage paid for, and receipt issued.

I hope your BMEU is as nice and helpful as ours.