PDA

View Full Version : scared to give it up



greenoak
10-29-2010, 10:50 PM
for our event this weekend....heres some math.....
email ....a few hours in time designing and writing , goes to 1500 people +1000 on facebook also, no money really...
snail mail 900$$ in stamps, 300$$ in postcards,goes to 4000 people, hours and hours of time stamping printing designing...

in a way i want to give up snail mail and have heard of many ways to do it....but we have done it for over 30 yrs and its our data base that has served us so well.... the results at our 4 events are major...i dont want to rock the boat....its a lot of money......
the snail mail list is fairly up to date and many have been purged over the years.... some have been on the list for decades...
many on our list, guessing a 4th, dont even have computers....many of our oldest customers are loyal and often bring in their out of town company or family...
how would you look at it?
ann

Blessed
10-29-2010, 11:09 PM
I'd keep the snail mail - it's still a valuable part of your marketing program.

billbenson
10-30-2010, 12:24 AM
Sounds like you gotta keep doing it. Don't envy you though. There must be ways to automate it a little better than you are though? No idea how. Way out of my field of expertise.

Steve B
10-30-2010, 08:05 AM
You've got to keep the snail mail. It's too easy to ignore e-mails and as more and more people go electronic it makes the snail mail more and more special (and effective).

Hire young kids to do the snail mail work and put your efforts on other things. I've got an 8 year old that LOVES to help me with that stuff. I pay him and I put him in charge of my two older kids. He's in heaven when I've got him working!

Spider
10-30-2010, 08:43 AM
No question - keep the snailmail (real mail, I call it!) But you can outsource the work. You would probably want to keep the design in-house, if you have always done it, although going professional may improve results - you won't know until you try it. For the mundane stuff - printing, envelope stuffing, addressing and sticking stamps - there are companies that do that. May cost you a bit more in cash but frees your time to make money elsewhere.

In fact, you can let someone else do the whole thing. Give them a copy of last year's mailing and ask them for a proposal for the next year. Apart from the timesaving, you can start the process much earlier (like in January for the next Christmas - when they are likely to be eager for the work) and do it in steps to suit your cashflow. Come October, it will all be done and all paid for, and only wait to be carried to the post office.

Clearly this is a big part of your operation, Ann, and, I do not doubt, is eagerly awaited by your custmers and local gentry. If anything, I would suggest expanding it - certainly not consider reducing it.

e-Mail? Bah!

greenoak
10-30-2010, 09:12 AM
thanks..thats about how we feel too....too good to give up....
.. the work is not too bad the 1200$$$$ is the worst part..thats a pretty big number we spend 4 times a year on our 4 events......
.we used to fold and stuff envelopes now we have sunk to postcards and dh got it so our printer addresses all of them....so its just us stamping at night watching the tube... ......
i use a grandchild for things once in a while and it is nice,all around...

Blessed
10-30-2010, 10:20 AM
your printer should be able to handle the entire mailing and might be able to save you enough in postage to cover what they would charge you to do that.

greenoak
10-30-2010, 02:49 PM
we print them...

Spider
10-30-2010, 03:31 PM
Wow! It sounds as if you do the whole thing yourself. Is that so?

Something I found very liberating - choose some things you usually do yourself - like these promotions - and hire out the work. Keep the bits you enjoy, if you wish, but get all the drudge out to other people. It may cost a little more in money but saves you a whole lot in anguish and energy. They will probably do it faster because they don't have your other work to do at the same time.

But the real liberating part is the feeling of contribution. "Here I am, rich enough to hire other people to do my work. AND, I am contributing to the wealth of this area. I make money - I spend money - I benefit and my neighbors benefit ... and the world goes around."

And, of course, you make a few more friends, feed a few more people in the neighborhood. Life just got better.

Harold Mansfield
10-30-2010, 06:25 PM
thanks..thats about how we feel too....too good to give up....
.. the work is not too bad the 1200$$$$ is the worst part..thats a pretty big number we spend 4 times a year on our 4 events......
.we used to fold and stuff envelopes now we have sunk to postcards and dh got it so our printer addresses all of them....so its just us stamping at night watching the tube... ......
i use a grandchild for things once in a while and it is nice,all around...

You have to keep the snail mail. You said it your self that the people on the list have been there longer than recent technologies.
As far as your time and energy, sounds to me that you aren't using recent technologies to make your snail mail campaign a little more painless.

You shouldn't be physically stamping envelopes. You should be sending in bulk (http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/getstarted/bulkmail.htm), 3rd class (cheaper) and just dropping them off at the post office or local mail place and have them run through the postage meter. I'm sure that would not only save you time, but money.

If you are sending to 4000 people, you shouldn't be buying stamps.

greenoak
10-30-2010, 06:48 PM
we have gone over this bulk idea too....for bulk to work it has to be sorted into zip codes..and you have to have enough in a zip code to do it... ..and our customers zip codes are all over the place...we have totally checked up on this and it cant happen...
spider, we have a big crew of workers...we all work hard..we do things inhouse.except for carpenter work... the mailings are too important to hire out......dh and i do the stamping..its mindless for sure but easy to do in a few nights......and he and i do the design.. then he prints..... paying out the 1200$ is such a contrast to 'free' emailing and facebookking is what is kind of jarring to me....
we do our own printing because we have the ability and the machines to do it.a color laser printer i think.....we want to do it...we can be totally on the spot with about any paper needs...even if we just need 20 of something...
the mailing is a piece of cake compared to my job this week....we transform a huge amount of the store into a winter wonderland.... its just a huge effort...and i do hire extras for it.... you can see some of last years on our facebook under the openhouse tab... Green Oak Antiques | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/greenoakantiques)....
dealing with this amount of inventory and total physical labor must seem completely different to you all... but its doable....altho not easy money in any way....

Spider
10-30-2010, 07:28 PM
You're missing my point, Ann. Clearly you CAN do do because you DO do it. And if it is so much fun, then continue doing it. But spreading the wealth around is very liberating - I'm talking about freeing of the spirit. It will come back to you many-fold!

greenoak
10-30-2010, 08:25 PM
thanks spider....what wealth.?...
we do spread the money around, to our workers..
.guess i dont get your point...but true i do a lot of menial stuff.... i dont have an office...but i do have a lot of people working with me...to make it all happen ...when it gets too tough out there on the floor i go back and paint....our place is a boiler room sometimes...

Tri-Win
05-05-2011, 11:02 AM
the direct mail approach will continue to serve you well even if it has a higher up front cost. Some of your customers may not respond to new tech. Even thought the cost can be a bit of a deterrent you should look at your Return on Investment. If you are making $2 for every $1 spend on direct mail that its working. As for the process it never hurts to look at working with a direct mail house. Get 3-4 quotes the worst thing that could happen is you decide its cheaper to keep your mail in house. The best thing that could happen would be a reduction in overall cost.