Digital print / Direct Mail / Stop the world I want to get Off!

Marketing and Advertising is a very exciting and demanding business. I now have been  with my new company one month, and I'm slowly moving from selling ink on paper to a design and concepts to help people achieve their goals financially.

In reading yesterday when it comes to Digital Print it is interesting, as at first having your name printed on a card or marketing piece was kind of  cool and caught the individuals eye. (A purple Cow experience!) Then came PURL's personal URL's

The PURL and digital card works as we can get information off of the individual, but then again the info is brief and not in real depth of what is going on with the company, and it is still a situation which we can't hit the hot button of the client if they are not ready to buy.

This is where Digital Print and Direct mail is headed, as we want to have the information but lead the client, customer or end user to the point when they are ready to buy, they will pick our Customer to purchase their items.

How do we do this?

It is Data, Data, Data.

We have minimal information right now on almost everyone in the United State if they have a social security card and a mail box. This gives us income and a few other items, but now we have to know when the urge is to buy and what item they might want to purchase!

There are now capabilities to track the patterns of people, what they watch, what they read and what they buy.

This program knows if Chevy is selling the new Malibu and it sells for $23,000.00 we first know what demographics the car is targeted to. Now we look to look at children in the home, if the children are under the age of 14 or over the age of 19 then this is not the right family as the 19 year old is already in college or has a car and at 14 the parents are not looking yet to purchase a car.

But lets move the kids to 15 and 18, now the Parents are looking to either upgrade their car or the kids are getting a new car for their birthday or off to college.

But how do we get them to buy a Chevy verses a Honda for the same price?

We know viewing habits of this demographic, we know where they probably shop and what their bank account is.

And now we target these area with the proper commercial, we market inside the store with the right magazines and now we show the Malibu at the bank window advertising a low rate of interest.

We now have are targeted market starting to get uncomfortable and also aware of the product.

Now we do the direct mail piece as the buyer is ready to take a look, and they are ready to buy.

By the third mail piece to the home, Dad is talking Malibu and with an offer in the mail piece, it is time to entice the buyer into the dealership and we just did.

How is this all done?

Digital print, the magazines are printed to go to a certain type of a store, the bank lobbies have certain pictures of cars depending on location, the kid we know their age due to what they have filled out paper work in life.

We have now walked the client down the road to get them to walk into the dealership

Data, Data, Data

It is done daily and this Matrix system will only get better or worse!

But the excitement of building a plan which works is very rewarding

Hoonia

New calls

Now that I've changed companies I'm now having to start over again, this doesn't bother me other than it is very hard work calling and talking to voice mails, sending out notes and trying to be on top of the game.

Well today the game and the call comes head to head as I have my very first appointment to speak about my new company. A person who has never heard of me, and have never heard of my new company.

The sweat begins!!!

Alan

Mailing list and more

In the raising money business it is a percentage business and your data is KING!

Here you go with some information.

We have programs which will bring you a bit over a 14% Return on the mail, and with this we also know we get around $18.00 per donation. With this information it becomes mathematics! You get $18.00 per envelope, you mail out 1000 envelopes you get $2520.00 in return, but the cost to produce might of been $5500.00 so you are now in the hole.

But lets look at 50,000 will net you $126,000.00 in donations and the cost to produce is about $15,000.00. Not a bad investment.

But lets say we rent the list and go prospecting, this only nets about a 1% to 2% return and now this 50,000 only nets you $9,000.00 and you are now back in the hole at it still cost you the $15,000.00 to produce the piece.
You see why the data and list is so important.

Direct mail is easier if you know the percentages you have to WIN and it is all about the WIN

Hoonia

MAIL AND LISTS

As I have now started with a new company I'm finding new ways to mail!

One of the items I've learned about is the mailing list. I've always said we could find the clients for you and lets talk about demo graphics.

We can do this, but this is called prospecting, and  if you are prospecting than you will get a lower response rate, than you will if you have your own mail list.

I find if you get your own list we can use some of the products we have and we can get you up to a 14% return on the list.

If I have told you I could find you clients in the past, we can but only expect a 3% return instead of the 14%

More to come as I learn

Alan

The new Adventure

Last week or last Monday I resigned from my company which I either owned or worked at for the last 28 years. It was not as hard to leave as I thought it should be, but I did it!!!!

But now I work for another company, and in no way shape or form am I a owner, a former owner, a potential owner with desire to own a company, I'm in sales for a company which does non profit and I'm so excited to really get started and today I got my computer and a office, so I'm blogging now but can't wait to make my first sales call.

To keep you all informed!!!!

Alan

Practical Jokes

I read today where a couple of kids were suspended as they filled the atrium at their school with water, and put gold fish in the atrium.

The printing industry is full of practical jokes, From HOT INK, to paper stretchers!

My all time favorite one was we were printing something on the press and the newbie came over and the pressman ask the rookie that he needed the bottle of half-tone dots and would he goes ask prep for the bottle!

This kid went into Prep and they said they were out and need to buy more and they sent him to my office. I laughed and gave the kid $10.00 and sent him to the supply store to purchase a bottle of HALF-TONE DOTS.

I called ahead to make sure the Supply store was in on the gag and they said they would have the bottle ready for him.

So downtown this kid went with instructions to purchase a bottle of halftone dots. He came back with a bottle of colored water which they had made, he walked up the the pressman who was now on another project and proceeded to drink the bottle of halftone dots in front of the kid.

The look on the kids face was priceless, as the supply store had Hand written H2O with dye in it, fatal if swallowed.

The kid didn't work much longer with us, and now that I remember he kept my $10.00, but it was worth every cent!

Alan

What do people pay attention to?

In the world of advertising and marketing, what is it people pay attention to?

I have a friend who sells the advertising which you will see right before a movie starts. When she walked in a room and told people that, everyone said how they hated that kind of advertising and could never tell you one ad they saw!
Stacy use to sell Bus advertising, you know the boards on the side of a bus.
Well in the world of getting the message out, we have Internet, bill boards, TV there must be 25 to 50's ways to advertise you product. Our company we use to use delivers now has a COKE sign on the side of the truck!!!

But What do people pay attention to?

And the only awnser I know  is Demographics.

The marketer must know who they are selling to, as if they don't know then they are trying to hit the mark in the dark. Good luck!

People will respond, but advertisers must know when they post an ad in any media you want to post it in, is you are only going to get a 1/2 percent of the market which will pay attention to your ad.

That means 99.5% of the people will not see or pay attention, but the return on the .05% is worth GOLD!


Alan

An Observation

I have a 15 year old daughter, she has her phone, she has her Facebook, Twitter and all the other items electronically in the world! She never says, but I know she does get advertising sent to her on these electronic gadgets.

Now the 14 to 21 age group female are the largest spending group in the United States!

The other day a piece of mail came to my daughter from one of the clothing stores. It was personalized too her. It stated there was a sale on these days, and to get this kind of discount she needed to bring this coupon to the store to receive X.

She started running off, saying she needed to go to this store as she saw ...........................!

I asked as we were getting into the car, didn't she get this as a twitter?, email? or some other form of Internet galactic babble?

She said she didn't know as she has never read or remembered seeing any of this sent to her.
By this time we were at the mall, and we purchased the item or items shall we say, she wanted.

As we drove home I finished up and asked, "What made you made you want to go to the store to purchase this item's?"

Her comment was this! " Dad they sent me a letter with my name on it, and they knew I like this particular store! The showed me some clothes I really liked and wanted, and I could see the pictures and prices, and I had to have them!"

I guess the social media part is growing, but the new technology is PRINT!

Alan

Points of Hue

Colors can make a client either purchase, or run away depending on what you are trying to say.

Color Communications Inc has done this study and I thought it was interesting to share.

Blue-based reds (such as raspberry red) are associated with more expensive products. Stick with yellow based reds (like tomato red, which is imagined as less expensive) if you're looking to downplay a high price.
Use orange to play up affordability. Yellow is the first color they sees, and when used with dark colors for high contrast (e.g. black type on a yellow background), it become more powerful and more easily read.
Choose green to convey possibility and hope.
Blue connotes confidence and safety, making it a great choice for financial and medical institution mailers.
Purple is especially hot right now, but it's typically used with high fashion, sorts teams or sweet treats (e.g. chocolates or perfume) rather than direct marketing.
Black conveys a strong sense of power, promise and the ability for high contrasts. Add sheen or matte to black, and it becomes more powerful.
White (especially when presented tone on tone) implies sophistication and formality - but also a high-end price point.

Direct Mail vs. Mailing

Yesterday I ran into a friend who works for a direct mail house here in town. Now I do mailings also so we had a cup of coffee and we talked a bit.

Now he has been in the direct mail industry 25+ years and I have been in it maybe 2 years.

We talked about equipment, and technology and after about 15 min. his comment was, You are in the mailing industry, you are not in the Direct Mail industry!

I said explain.

His comment was if you are doing postcards, with either variable data or just an address this is just mailing as the card itself gives a call to action, but the card is more informative, rather than having the end user do something with the piece!

I somewhat agreed with that statement, but said go on.

Direct mail is a process which gives the end user exactly what they are looking for, and if you are calling an action to either donate money, or purchase an item, the direct mail piece has several pieces and a reason for you to have a call to action.

He said the post card drives people to the Internet to buy. Direct mail has the end user pick up the phone and go!

I say all this, to say I'm in the mailing industry as the campaigns he has done was very awesome.

I'm learning every day

Alan

Payment / Credit

It is 2010 and everyone knows money is tight and giving credit is a prayer and a hope in the first place, but it is something which has to be done, and writing hot checks are still a crime and not paying is still a pain in the butt.

More clients are on COD than ever before, but is this really a bad situation?

As if you pay for it when your recieve the product than it keeps your books clean, and if you are not trying to collect the money than you are able to do what you do best.

And wasn't it the credit issue which got this country in trouble in the first place?

Yes I've had a frustrating day!

Alan

Mistakes in Specs

In the 27 years I've been in this business I've seen a ton of specs on projects, and they have been written on cocktail napkins and they have been given on the phone, and they have also been emailed.

But a common mistake happens a lot, and this is in the bindery part of the specs.

People seam to get that their project is going to print 4 color, and they have designed this to be a certain size, but how does it fold? How did you get to your final size? and once we are finished folding or doing what ever you want to do with this piece, lets talk about packaging!

Last week I had a magazine which need to be estimated, and I had others who were bidding on this project. I asked about how much did he want the boxes to weigh? The awnser back was well I don't know what do you think?

That doesn't sound much of a problem but in a situation where the client is buying more on price, here is the problem.

If I try to save the end user and I put 20 lbs per box, we are talking about 100,000 magazines, this is almost 650 boxes to box the project @ 1.25 per box, but if the other guy says put it in a standard 40 lbs box, he has 325 boxes @ 1.30 per box. This is $390.00 saving on just the material of boxes, this does not include the labor to tape and lable the boxes, as this will add about another $200.00.

So the other guy has saved almost $600.00 on this project and per the specs we are both in compliance. But my 82 year old mother can move my boxes, but she can't even move the others.

So when giving specs on a project tell us how you want it packaged, as when you get the project and the box comes and you throw you back out trying to move it. Remember we as vendors are trying to get as much margin in these down times and if I can make it up in boxes and packaging then I will.

Alan

Home Depot

I went to Home Depot over the weekend, and when I walked in I was asked to fill out this survey. The questions of the survey was bogus, but the information they recived from me was awsome, and there was one question which I would like to know the awnser after everything is taken.

The question was this:

How do you like to recieve coupons and promotional material?

Via of mail
or
Via of email

I asked the person who was taking the survey the question what had he seen on the awnser, but because I was there fairly early on a Saturday morning the 5 which were before me all had said MAIL!

We can look at this two ways?

People in their 30's or younger don't get at Home Depot at 8:15 AM, or the Boomer generation knows how to fix things and the X & Y don't.

I would guess the later as chances are they at least stayed up past 10:00 PM on a Friday night?

But it was a very good question

Alan

Print is Dead, and athe Ipad took it over?

Well the Ipad has been out 2 weeks at this point, and the reviews are coming back in. The first point which is needing to be fixed is the Ipad is a WiFi based computer, just like all the other computers in the world, and depending on the strength of the signal is how strong your computer is.

Can you download a movie to watch, just on WiFi? Seems like the catch up is what will take so long?

So far the Aps for the new Ipad don't do anymore than what the Iphone does.

So is Print Dead?

Well the first day Apple sold 300,000 Ipads, with 300,000 instruction manuals inside the box, they also needed 300,000 boxes, and also buck slips of sort.

Hmm? Looks like Apple needed some print also

Alan

Making money

I work with people who want to make MONEY for themselves and it is my job to help you make those dollars, but clients don't see it this way?

Why?

It is a stigma which makes print as a commodity item.

With call centers, reciving centers for products or cash, clearing houses, it is still one big market and it is all called the GRAPHICS INDUSTRY and print is one small part of this industry.

If you want to make MONEY, and I'm talking BIG MONEY talk to a rep which knows how to do this and also let us build you a plan with web and all the ways of the media to help build you a brand.

It isn't just INK ON PAPER anymore!

Alan

Avacado & Turkey Sandwich

This weekend I experimented with an Avacado, Turkey and Rosemary Bread and the results were GREAT!!! What a great taste.

But it brings me to design, to trying new things, and I feel the graphics industry is so worried about price, and so worried to get out of there box they won't try anything new!

Last week I recieved a bid , and they put down 14 vendors to give them a price.

Now how much of IN THE BOX do you want to think about? and I'm afraid this is where the industry is going as they don't want to try anything new.

I've preached and spoke about interactive magazines, but that might not work?

But what would happen if it did work? Just maybe the taste sensation of the Rosemary with the garlic pepper, and the fresh Avacado is a taste bud rush you would like to have another?

The same is with design!

Alan

Paper cost again

It was announced today by the summer paper will go up $5.00 per hundred weight. What this means to you is higher cost in paper.

As always we will look to find away to keep this cost under control, but expect about a 3% to a 5% increase in print cost come November.

But then again it might not happen due to this is an election year?

Life of print

Alan

Something fun to do on press

We do some fun things on press, from Metal FX to gloss & dull varnish, but one of the things which is not well known, but looks awsome is:

Take DULL cover stock, print 4 color process on it, Knock out a lay down HIGH GLOSS varnish, then coat the entire sheet with Aquoes Matt coating. The effect is pretty cool!

Alan

What the market is saying?

On Friday the I-Pad came out, as people stood inline and purchased this new technolgy. What will it do to the industry as a whole?

Currently they are promoting it with Nextscape to watch movies, I tunes is promoting it to sell books & the internet and as long as they promote this, this way then nothing will change. But I see the item as a place to put more AP's and sell clients to produce an AP and make themselves more interactive. If this starts to happen I could see a drop in the day to day business we call print.

Time will tell

Alan

Good Friday

Not much of a blog today as it is Good Friday and it is a good time to put togather the day as most companies have off, but we work!

Don't know why, but this is has always been the way!

Happy Easter

Alan