We’ve compiled some of the best direct mail marketing resources we could find into one post, just for you. These sites are about everything from direct mail marketing best practices to how to choose your target audience. Read More…

The Every Door Direct Mail™ program from the USPS® is really starting to take off, especially for small businesses! It makes targeted direct mail marketing highly affordable for small, local businesses.

One way small businesses can make EDDM™ even more affordable is for them to print their own Every Door Direct Mailers. It’s easy to do and we’ll show you how to make your own right here! Read More…

Now that you have your Red Flags Rule program finalized it’s ready to get it up and running. In this post we’ll go through what you’ll need to do in order to get your plan functioning in your business. Read More…

Postage has been on the rise over the past couple of years. Companies are starting to look for cheaper, but still effective, ways of getting physical mail out to their customers.

One way to reduce the amount of money spent on postage is to send a bill to your customers using postcards instead of full sheet invoices from Quickbooks®. Postcards are far cheaper to mail than the standard letter and envelope and it only takes 5 steps to transform your letter size invoice into one that will fit comfortably on a postcard. Read More…

Here’s a round-up of some popular posts and interesting articles we talked about this week (plus a sneak peek of what’s coming up next week!) in a brief, easy to digest post.

Grab your lasso! Read More…

Target Marketing Magazine shares “3 ways to cut mail costs through workshare discounts.”

1. Presort (Sort mail pieces by postal route into containers.)
2. Automate (Mail pieces must be able to be run quickly through postal equipment and be pre-barcoded.)
3. Drive (Truck the mail to the sorting facility.)

See How We Saved At Least 15% on Postage by using presorting and automation.

Target Marketing

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How do you cut mail costs?

Q:  I would like to print my customer list on labels for a general mail out, but I can’t figure out how.

A:  You can create standard address labels quickly with a data file, label sheets, and a printer.

1. Check your software to see if it is capable of exporting your data to either a spreadsheet or .CSV format.
2. Create a mail merge. How to mail merge using Word and Publisher.  Do a test print on plain paper.
3. Purchase white mailing labels, color mailing labels, or fluorescent mailing labels.
4. Print!

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Have you tried to print your own labels?

Q: Does a 14.1 caliper card still conform to the USPS guidelines for postcards?

A: Yes, the cards would meet the minimum 7 point thickness for postcards.

See our previous post:

What are the post office’s requirements for mailing postcards?

Will postcard or first class postage go up?

From PostalReporter News Blog

Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission invites press and interested parties to a short briefing on its decision in the U.S. Postal Service Request for an above inflation, “exigent” price increase for its market-dominant products. This is the first time that the issue of what is an “exceptional or extraordinary” circumstance will be decided under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Questions from the Press will be entertained following the briefing.

What:    The Commission will announce its decision on a closely watched case, the Postal Service exigent price increase request filed on July 6, 2010, seeking to increase prices by an average of 5.6 percent on its Market-Dominant products, including, but not limited to, First-Class and Standard letters and flats, Periodicals, and Standard packages.

Under the PAEA, price increases for Market-Dominant products are capped at the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).  The Postal Service may request Market-Dominant increases above the rate of inflation, however, due to ?extraordinary or exceptional? circumstances.

Commissioners and Commission staff
11:00 a.m., Thursday, September 30, 2010
Where: Hearing Room
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington DC 20268

Today, the PRC announced that it unanimously rejected the rate increase requested by the USPS. Read more?