Pitney Bowes

STAMFORD, CT – On November 30, 2009, the Pitney Bowes company announced a new online list management service for organizations that either use direct mail infrequently or who send mostly a small volume of direct mail.

Primarily targeted for small businesses, the new service is called AddressRightNow.The AddressRightNow platform is used to update mailing lists based on the US Postal Service change of address records and to eliminate incorrect mailing addresses. People using this new service will upload a mailing list to a Pitney Bowes Web site, and the mailing addresses and formats get corrected.

There already exists options for large mailers, but this new service addresses a need for small mailers and infrequent mailers.

The cost for the service is  and $60 for the first 1,000 addresses for move update and address verification and $6 for each additional 1,000 addresses. The cost for address verification only is $40 for the first 1,000 addresses. The company also offers the service as an ongoing subscription.

According to Jeff Platt, Director of Solutions Marketing for US Mailing at Pitney Bowes, the service new will help companies meet US Postal Service regulations for updating address lists. Mailing list updates must be applied 95 days before the mailing. As of January 4, 2010, mailings that do not conform to these new Postal rules will be subject to additional postage of 7 cents per assessed piece.

The service allows mailers to fix errors via the Internet and can also check if an address is deliverable plus it can convert rural addresses to city addresses.

When a mailing list is uploaded to the website it can be scanned for issues that lead to undeliverable mail. For example, the service can alert mailers when someone on their lists has moved, and then provide them with new mailing addresses. The new service also has auto-matching capability.

Mailing Lists Direct is a full service direct mail list company where you can find consumer lists, business lists and specialty lists at competitive prices. Mailing Lists Direct provides first rate customer support. No matter what your business needs in the way of an address list or managing your mailing list campaigns, Mailing Lists Direct will be able to satisfy all your needs. Call toll free at 800-741-0116.

In the wake of the global economic slowdown, small businesses are faced with a big challenge: how to cost-effectively build their business with an extremely limited budget. Many of these businesses should consider a “DIY” (do it yourself) direct mail campaign.

Sometimes small businesses balk at the idea of spending money on a mailing list, especially when they are unfamiliar with direct mail marketing. Hopefully this article will shed some light on how easy and cost-effective it can actually be.

Get a 10% – 20% Response Rate on a 500 Piece Mailing For Under $400

Challenge: How can a small business owner on a limited budget use direct mail to cost-effectively market their business? Secondarily, how can a small business increase their odds of obtaining a meaningful return on their investment?

Background: Most small businesses lack the funds to do a large-scale direct mail campaign. Even a mailing of just 5,000 pieces can cost upwards of $2,500 for a simple postcard. Add another $1,000, or more, if you want to send something in an envelope via First Class Mail. Many companies offer small direct mail campaigns (called “short run” in printing vernacular) however the unit costs on these small campaigns can be as high as $2 per mailed item.

Solution: Create the mailing in-house and break the mailing up into smaller, manageable pieces.

Handwritten envelopes have been proven to increase response rates by upwards of 500%. Add a First Class stamp and a local return address and some businesses see a 1,000% increase versus machine-created bulk mail.

Many small businesses obtain a 10% – 20% response rate when using this method of direct mail marketing. That’s 50 to 100 new potential customers obtained from sending just 500 mail pieces.

Creating a Cost-Effective DIY Direct Mail Campaign is Easy

1. Work with a mailing list company that offers low minimums on smaller mailing lists. Look for a $50 minimum which can get you up to 1,500 names depending on the list. A New Movers list will allow you to target new people to your area who probably aren’t familiar with your business.
2. Create your marketing materials in-house or use a freelance designer to do a quick and easy design. Many freelancers will have direct mail templates to which they simply add your copy, contact information, etc.
3. Use your own color printer to print your marketing materials or find a printer who specializes in combining (“ganging”) multiple small print jobs into a single, larger job for cost efficiency.
4. Buy closed-faced envelopes and a roll of self-stick “Forever” stamps that are good for life even if postage increases before you use them all.
5. Buy an address “stamper” with your business name and return address to use on the envelopes.
6. Hand address the envelopes, stamp the envelope and insert your marketing materials.
7. Send out as many or as few per week as you like.

Do the Math

 
With less than $400 you’ll be on your way to generating sales leads for your small business!

John Jay Daly - Family Photo

LONDON – A PR man from Washington, John Jay Daly, who was credited as the inventor of the concept that consumers could opt out of direct mail, has died of heart disease at the age of 80.

The US Congress was considering legislation in 1970 that would have restricted direct mail by requiring companies to get an explicit opt-in for each household.

Daly, who was then the deputy chairman of the US Direct Marketing Association, came up with a plan that would allow companies to continue to send direct mailings to consumers and allow them the choice of opting out of direct mailings by sending a postcard to a central address and have their names removed from mailing lists.

His idea was later used when establishing the national ‘do-not call’ lists and when applying the ‘unsubscribe’ option for email lists.

According to his obituary in the Washington Post, some of his contemporaries were concerned that the policy would kill the direct-mail industry, but they actually discovered that many people really wanted to receive direct mail advertisements. The result was that marketers could focus their campaigns on people who were actually interested in their products and could avoid wasting postage and printing on people who did not want to be on a mailing list.

Daly made a living representing clients before Congress and referred to himself as  a “postalologist” because of his thorough knowledge of postal regulations and postal commissions.

Mailing Lists Direct is a full service direct mail list company where you can find consumer lists, business lists and specialty lists at competitive prices. Mailing Lists Direct provides first rate customer support. No matter what your business needs in the way of an address list or managing your mailing list campaigns, Mailing Lists Direct will be able to satisfy all your needs. Call toll free at 800-741-0116.