We have a winner – best out of office auto reply I’ve seen in a while…

Point well made.  Love the “unknown sender” from line.  Wish I knew who it was so I could congratulate them!  Enjoy…

Have sales/marketing fundamentals changed? Watch this video, decide and let me know

This is a brilliant video example of how B2B (and consumer) marketing fundamentals and selling has NOT changed over time.  Kudos!  Enjoy “the man in the chair”, and let me your thoughts?

(please note, for some reason the video takes a few seconds to load.)

You lost me there part 3 (losing customers in the call center)

In part 3 of this series (Jim’s note: originally written for All About ROI Magazine, formerly Catalog Success), I’ll continue to recap a presentation I gave a few weeks ago to the Florida Direct Marketing Association titled “The Second Half: 50 Tips, Tricks and Tactics to Make You a Direct Marketing Superstar.”

In particular, this week I examine the value of the call center.

I’ve engaged in debates before with multichannel marketers who don’t believe they need a call center. I spoke briefly about this in part one of this series, but I believe it warrants mention again.

If you believe — and many of the purest of pure-play Internet marketers do — that you don’t need a call center, think again. I’ve seen this debate lost over and over again. People still want, and sometimes need, a human voice to help with their orders, especially if you offer products that are complicated and/or higher in cost.

It’s not that difficult to add a call center these days. And as I’ve said before, there are even call-center companies that allow you to buy blocks of time. Other call-center companies charge a flat fee per call or per sale.

Want to see your average order values, conversion rates and lifetime values go up? Bring a call center into the mix. Think about it this way: If your Web site converts 4 percent of visitors, even the worst of call centers will convert at least 10 percent of callers. That’s a 2.5:1 ratio, on the low end.

If you want to create your own internal call center because you think you can do it better, you may be right, but you might want to enlist the help of a good call-center/operations consultant to get set up correctly. The good news: These days there are many software as a service products that can get you set up quickly and efficiently.

So back to what I said in week one of this series — make it easy for people to contact you. Promote your phone number and you’ll see excellent results.

Next week I’ll discuss more ways multichannel companies can capture customers with some tips and techniques designed for your call center.

Have a comment? Want to add something? Disagree with me and want to start a duel? Post it below. Speak to you next week.

Grand opening of new Linkedin Group – Direct Marketing Questions & Answers

Linkedin members can join by clicking here: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2080726/.

This is the place to get all of your direct marketing questions answered.

And if you are a direct marketing expert, this is the place to help gain notoriety by helping direct marketers succeed.

Check it out and join!  And Happy July 4th weekend from Jim.

Update 7/7/09, since Friday including the holiday weekend, we have gotten 123 members, both experts and in various stages of their careers.

You lost me there part 2 (your website doesn’t do enough to capture leads)

In part 2 of this series, I’ll continue to recap a presentation I gave a few weeks ago to the Florida Direct Marketing Association titled “The Second Half: 50 Tips, Tricks and Tactics to Make You a Direct Marketing Superstar.” It’s my goal to continue to serve up tips so you too can be a superstar at driving more ROI for your company. (For part one, click here.)

This week, let’s look at the many ways you can lose prospects who visit your Web site without even knowing who they are. This “phantom demand” can be captured and added to your contact strategy, and these leads can be nurtured until they’re ready to buy. To capture them and begin a sales dialogue, however, you must get them to identify themselves, right?

So without further preamble (or pre-mumble as a former colleague of mine used to say), here are some more tips for you:

1. Catalog requests — say it loud; say it proud. Believe it or not, people still love to shop via catalog. Some people, myself included, still prefer the tactile feel of leafing through a catalog. And here’s a bonus for you: Catalog/multiple channel buyers spend more money per channel. In other words, the more channels they spend time in, the more engaged they are from an emotional perspective in your products and business. This yields buyers who in most cases will spend more per order and over their lifetimes. That said, why is your catalog request link not more prominently displayed? Make it big, and make it stand out so it’s easy to find.
2. Newsletters, special offers and other sign-up opportunities (yes, but something crucial is often missing here). This is a must-have on your Web site, and most of you already do it. BUT when I sign up to receive a newsletter, that’s when the inquiry conversion can start. Most of the time I get this boring, generic “thanks for signing up” e-mail confirmation — if I get anything at all. But more often than not, I get nothing — no thanks at all, which is totally shameful. Confirmation pages — better yet, confirmation e-mails — are the perfect place for special offers, coupons and forward-to-a-friend links. They’re also a great opportunity to call out specific products that you want to promote. And don’t forget to add a few testimonials. (I’ll discuss more about testimonials later in this series).
3. Serve up a whitepaper or other info. While not normally applicable to consumer business, whitepapers in B-to-B are a powerful tool for building credibility. If you’re a B-to-B seller, prominently offer free whitepapers on your site. Give customers value in return for their permission to continue the sales dialogue with you.
   For consumer-based merchants, offer things like style guides or something else relevant to your prospects in order to have them pony up their names for future marketing efforts.

The goal is to get all the people who visit your Web site to raise their virtual hands in the air and allow you to continue to market to them until they buy.

Check back next week for part three of this series, when I’ll examine additional ways multiple channel companies can stop the Web-bleed and capture more prospects.

Have a comment? Want to add something? Post it below. Don’t be shy.

Guest column: The Changing Face of Integration for Ad Agencies!

Note from Jim: Occasionally when I find someone with an original voice out there in the blogosphere, I allow guest columns on my blog.  Clive Maclean has one of those voices and puts direct marketing via the agency side into perspective for us.  Enjoy.

Over the past decade, in pursuit of that elusive “Integrated Agency Capability,” most agency acquisitions have been characterized by larger traditional agencies buying hot specialty shops, in those categories that they perceived a need. Recently, the tables appear to be turning as an established digital agency plans to acquire a hot advertising shop.

On June, 17 Reuters reported, “Sapient to buy ad agency, eyes traditional dollars.” They went on to say that Sapient (a technology, consulting & interactive company) was buying the Nitro Group for about $50 million, in a bid to spread its reach into the traditional advertising space.

According to Gaston Legorburu, Sapient’s Worldwide Creative Officer, this is the first time a large digital shop has gone the other way and acquired an above-the-line agency. The reason given being access to relationships with big brands and their traditional advertising dollars. This deal is expected in increase Sapient’s ability to become a one stop shop with the ability to deliver campaigns that run across the full media spectrum.

I believe that there may be many more of these transactions to come. Digital media and communications are truly at the forefront of marketing communications today. We have a whole generation of “Digital Natives” who really know no other life than their digital one. Now not unusual to see brands/products being launched through digital media and in certain instances exclusively through digital media.

The balance of power is changing and some of the strongest client/agency strategic relationships now lie within the digital agency. I don’t know about you, but I came up through the direct marketing channel, and one thing that still haunts me to this day, is the statement I used to hear so often from my brand agency counterparts, “Can you bolt on any tactics or executions to this campaign?”  My guess is that I will not be hearing this statement again in the foreseeable future.

What defines integration, how to best achieve it and how to optimize its effectiveness, continue to be moving targets. As technology develops, new media channels emerge and consumers evolve their media usage, client expectations from an agency for integrated marketing support changes.

Based on what I see, I am certain that digital, direct and database will continue to be the critical skills required within any integrated agency offering. Data and research playing a major role in assisting those agencies to find the key actionable insights required to deliver great, effective work.

In a recent meeting with Stan Rapp, he said that the old mass media era is being replaced by a new internet-dependent mass marketing era. In order to adapt and improve their bottom line, marketers need a new strategy that harnesses the power of the internet, direct marketing skills and data driven ROI. He calls it “iDirect”. If Stan is in fact right, and by the way he has demonstrated over the years that he often is then marketers will need a new type of integrated agency centered on those three disciplines.

Who knows, Sapient may be the agency to lead it?

About the guest author, Clive Maclean:

Clive is currently principle and founder of Clive Maclean Consulting. During his career he has founded no less than three separate agencies, all of which were subsequently sold to Grey, Leo Burnett and most recently FCB. One of them being the first specialist Interactive agency in Southern Africa, back in 1992.

He can be reached at: Clive@clivemaclean.com.  Blog: http://www.clivemaclean.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/clivemaclean
Linkedin: http://wwwlinkedin.com./in/clivemaclean49

You lost me there (part one, website issues that lose you business)

Last week, I gave a presentation to the Florida Direct Marketing Association titled “50 direct marketing tips, tricks and tactics to make you a superstar.” I’m going to share those tips with you over the course of the next few weeks.

Part of that presentation dealt with improving Web marketing. Right up front, I’m asking you to contribute to this article by posting your comments below. If I miss something, please add it, OK, lets make this a collaborative effort.

As a side note, I’ve spent a lot of time lately looking at multichannel and other marketers’ Web sites, and have seen tremendous opportunities for companies to capture not just orders, but prospects as well.

Many e-commerce Web sites are good at taking orders, but not so good at capturing prospects.

Thus the goal of this series, which I’m calling “You Lost Me There,” is to help you get more of the people who visit your Web site to raise their hands and request to continue the dialogue with you. You want these people in your database, as they’ve expressed some level of interest in your products.

That said, here are three tips to optimize online sales:

1. Why is your phone number not prominently displayed on your homepage and ALL pages of your site? Make it big. Make it stand out. And put it on pages in multiple places! Your prospects and customers don’t want to have to WORK to find you.
2. If you say you don’t want the phone number to be easy to find because you don’t have the phone staff to handle the calls, think again. Even pure-play Internet companies need to coddle their prospects and customers in this day and age; otherwise they’ll shop elsewhere. Contract with a call center, even if it’s just to take messages and pass them on. There are call centers that even allow you to pay as you go by buying blocks of time. Essentially, adding a call center doesn’t have to be as costly as you think.
3. For crying out loud, respond to customer e-mails. Same customer service issue, different methodology. If you want to drive people to interact with you via e-mail, make your e-mail contact info stand out. And respond in a reasonable amount of time. In the second week of my direct marketing class at Miami International University, I have my students conduct an experiment: Send an e-mail to a company and see how long it takes for it to respond. Guess what — fully one quarter of the e-mails don’t get responded to. Here’s a rule of thumb for you: Return every e-mail in less than four hours. Not only the same day — four hours.

Every call and e-mail is an opportunity. Start a dialogue, and get customers ordering.

Bottom line: Consumers don’t have the time to spend on your site figuring out how to contact you with their simple questions. They don’t want to search your FAQs or dig around for contact info. They want answers immediately; otherwise, they don’t care how good your products are, because they won’t order. Don’t lose business over this.

Check back next week for part two of this series, when I’ll give you some more tips on how to increase ROI with your Web site. In the meantime, post your comments below.

Quick note to my readers

I’m taking a much needed vacation this week.  I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule next week.  Mean time, there’s lots here to read.  Enjoy, and thanks for taking the time to visit (or re-visit).

Oh, two more things.  Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter (use the button top left), or sign up to have my articles sent to you via RSS (top left side of page above newsletter sign up button)

Jim

Catalog and Direct Mail’s Slippery Slope: The Environment, Some Facts and Mail Suppression Files

I’ve been getting a lot of comments to my last article on the evolution of our industry. There’s been some back and forth about going green and its impact on direct mail — the typical “direct mail kills the environment” issue.

Does direct mail really destroy the environment? I don’t think so. The Direct Marketing Association, on its DMAchoice Web site, has published the following information about direct mail being the “green” way to shop:

“Facts About Direct Mail:
Some people come to the DMAchoice mail preference service planning on completely stopping all the direct mail they receive, because they think that doing so will help save paper and the environment. But before you do this, here are some numbers you may find interesting.

• Direct mail is a green way to shop. If Americans replaced two trips to the mall each year with shopping by catalog, we’d reduce our number of miles driven by 3.3 billion, a 3 billion-lb. reduction in carbon dioxide and a savings of $650 million on gas alone.
• Mail represents only 2.4 percent of America’s municipal waste stream.
• The production of household advertising mail consumes only 0.19 percent of the energy used in the U.S.
• Mail is made from a renewable resource. The vast majority of paper produced in America today comes from trees grown for that specific purpose. The forest industry ensures that the number of trees each year is increasing, so trees are not a depleting resource. In fact, forest land in the United States has increased by 5.3 million acres in the past three decades.
• Direct mail is critical to the economic well being of communities, businesses and charities throughout the U.S. Last year it represented more than $686 billion in sales, supporting jobs at more than 300,000 small businesses across the country.”

Makes sense, right?

That said, I do support the availability of mail preference services, such as DMAchoice and Catalog Choice. The goal of all direct mail, of course, is to be as relevant as possible. After all, every catalog or direct mail piece sent that goes in the garbage is a waste of your money; it lowers your response rates.

So, having a database to merge against is a good thing. Less wasted mail, right?

Not necessarily. Maybe this holds true for straight customer acquisition programs, but what about inquiry conversion and retention programs in your regular catalog circulation plan? Here we have a slippery slope, as I’d never, ever use a suppression file on my own customers and databased prospects. As far as I’m concerned, they all opted in.

As a mailer, I’m not going to leave that potential revenue on the table. End of discussion.

Let’s get vocal here. I’m deliberately putting an “oil and water don’t mix” issue out there. Feel free to agree, disagree or challenge me to a duel over my opinions (they ARE facts actually, LOL). Post your comments below.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog, direct marketing and social media agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert. You can e-mail him atjimdirect@aol.com, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect or read his blog athttp://gilbertdirectmarketing.wordpress.com/.

Attention South FL Direct marketers – Are you on track to meet or beat your forecasts?

Jim Gilbert and the FDMA are pleased to announce another great learning opportunity for you on June 18th.

The Second Half: Meet or beat your 2009 estimates and look like a superstar!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

While it feels like 2009 has only started, we’re actually halfway through the year. At this point the FDMA asks you:

• Are you on track to meet or beat your forecasts?
• What can you do to drive in more sales?
• What programs both online and offline can you test, and test quickly to increase sales?
• Are you drowning in a sea of online numbers and are not sure which are the most meaningful to track?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, this is the one FDMA session you do not want to miss. We have two great presentations lined up for you.

Register now at www.fdma.org

PRESENTATION 1 – Leave NO Stone unturned – 50 tips, tricks and ideas you can take to the bank. (12:30 – 1:30pm)

Presented by Jim Gilbert, Author, Direct Marketing Professor and Consultant.

In this presentation, Jim Gilbert will leverage his 20+ years experience in teaching direct marketing companies how to increase sales – by providing you with marketing program ideas that are simple and quick to execute.

Jim’s presentation will address consumer and B2B, online and offline, lead gen and direct sales strategies and tactics – in short – marketing programs you may have missed. He will engage you in “operation turned stone”, an opening for you to look for breakthrough opportunities in your company to “find” missing revenue.

You are guaranteed to takeaway between 5 and 10 action items to beat your forecasts with.

PRESENTATION 2 – Interactive Metrics – What You Really Need to Know (1:30 – 2:15pm)

Presented by Maria Harrison President/Owner of iClarity.

In this informative presentation, Maria Harrison will take you through the good, the bad and the ugly of interactive metrics. Interactive marketing is a double-edged sword when it comes to metrics.

Just because everything can be counted, doesn’t mean it’s important in making business decisions that will help you have a positive impact on your interactive marketing initiatives.

Ms. Harrison will show you how simplistic interactive metrics can really be, how to set benchmarks, and develop meaningful executive dashboards that will help you make the right decisions to improve your interactive marketing efforts. She will define some basic interactive metric terms and teach you how to immediately apply those metrics to your business.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 pm Registration Check-in and Networking
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm Annoucements, Lunch, Netowrkign at Table
12:30 pm Presentation by Jim Gilbert
1:30 pm Presentation by Maria Harrison
2:15 pm Program ends.

Register early to avoid additional $10 walk-up fee. Register now at www.fdma.org

Interested in attending our Board meeting at 10:00am and learning more about getting further involved with the FDMA, please let us know at 786-357-3275.

WHEN
Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM

WHERE
Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale
400 Corporate Drive
(I-95 and Cypress Creek exit)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334

10 Ways to Reduce Costs, Save Your Company and Look Like a Superstar!

By now, we’re all feeling the pain caused by our faltering economy.  Most people I know are freaked out, totally stressed; and terrified of losing their jobs, homes and more.

I haven’t seen this much fear in the eyes of marketers since right after Sept. 11 and the anthrax scare.

But all isn’t bad. I swear!

There’s an amazing opportunity in all of this chaos to streamline your business, strip away the dead wood in your budgets (like our presidential candidates promise they’ll do) and be a rock star in your company.

Here are 10 steps to help you get started:

1. It’s time to renegotiate everything. Start with your key area’s of business — printing, mailing, lists, creative, prepress (oops, I meant premedia).

2. Do a print review. Have your printer bid against other printers. I did this for a turnaround I worked on and was able to reduce printing costs by 20 percent. (Seems my predecessor was asleep at the wheel.)

3. Tweak your catalog’s trim size or basis weight. You may find some cost savings there.

4. Co-mail! This can reduce your postage costs.

5. Take advantage of destination-entry discounts. (Ask your printer about what this and co-mailing entail, and what you can save. Or e-mail me and I’ll explain.)

6. List brokers are offering discounts and test pricing for mail files. Ask and you shall receive.

7. Look for more list exchanges. These can be had for run charges, a fraction of the rental fee.

8. Use the co-op databases, such as I-Behavior, Abacus and NextAction. They’ll model your customers and rent you prospect names for less than list rentals.

9. Do your matchbacks. Make sure you’re analyzing your mailings the best and most accurate way possible.

10. Run NCOALink, merge/purge and other list hygiene products before each mailing. I had a client who had the same name on his database six times. Waste of money! You only need one instance of a name to mail it. Find yourself a great service bureau to steer you to savings.

In two weeks I’ll give you 10 more ways to save money and reach superstar status. In the meantime, if you need any clarifications on these or any other ways to save money, let me know and I’ll work your answer into my next column.

Hang in there!

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Product returns: A growth industry (part 1)

In the first part of a two-part series (read part two here) examining the value of convenient and cost-effective return policies for multichannel merchants, this week I provide tips on how to make company guarantees more effective, as well as looking at the benefit of determining why your customers are returning products.

Most consumers perceive the returns process to be a big hassle. Everyone who’s ever bought a product via mail order has at least one horror story about trying to return an item. But, I’ve also heard the opposite. In fact, I’ve heard people brag about how easy the return process is when they’ve had an exceptional experience. Personally, I’m always pleasantly surprised when something I return goes smoothly.

You must have a clear, concise return policy with exceptional customer service when handling returns if you want to compete today. And with the emergence of multichannel marketing, that return policy needs to be seamless throughout all your channels no matter where the purchase is made.

Guaranteed Success:

Take a close look at your guarantee. Can it be stated easily? If it’s too complicated, make it simpler. Make it so easy to understand that if you read it to children, they’d instantly get it.

Also ask yourself these two questions:

1.  Do you state your guarantee and return policy clearly?

2.  Is it easy to find?

Try this test: Ask someone not in your organization (because I know you’re aware of your own policies) to find them and report back to you. You may be surprised in what you hear.

If your customers feel your guarantee is solid, they perceive less risk when ordering. By reducing the risk, you make it easier for customers to say “yes” to your offering.

You’re Returning This Because?

Most companies’ enterprise software helps track why customers return products. If you don’t know your product return reasons, learn them. By understanding the reasons why your customers return your products, you can make some powerful changes.

For example, a company I worked with analyzed its returns and discovered that the manner in which the product shots in its catalog were photographed weren’t representative of what people received in the mail. By changing how it photographed its products, the company was able to decrease its return rate. The net result: more gross profit!

Click here for the final part of this two-part series, where I delve into how in-house quality control, product exchanges and catalog circulation can impact your organization’s return practices.

Congrats, You Too Can Be a Gazillionaire!

Back in the late ’80s I started a publishing company that worked with Realtors to help sell its properties. My goal was to get my publication into prospects’ hands before they bought a home from another real estate firm who wasn’t one of my advertisers. To accomplish this, I came up with a ridiculously high-tech method of reaching potential buyers: I “bulk-dropped” my publication in every supermarket, restaurant and bank that would let me.

And it worked. My company prospered. My clients sold houses. I spent a lot of time teaching my clients how to track their responses on such technological devices as “tick sheets,” where you place a tick mark on the sheet whenever a response came in.

For a time, this was fun. But bulk-drop distribution isn’t the best way to reach prospects. So I racked my 20-something-year-old brain for a better method, but came up empty.

By 1991, I’d had enough. Luckily, one of my former employers was interested in buying the company, so I sold it. “Good riddance,” I said, even though the new owner offered me a standing opportunity to come back to run things.

Come 1993, I had my first proper job in direct marketing and went to New York University for its direct marketing certificate curriculum. A visitor came into my class one night and started talking about this thing called the Internet and its marketing arm, the World Wide Web — with something called a graphical interface. It’s coming, he said, and we entered into this whole speculative, theoretical conversation about direct marketing in the future.

A year later, a girl I was dating showed me the Internet. I asked her, “Where’s the three w’s?” She directed me to Yahoo.com. From what I remember, Yahoo! was a mishmash of totally unrelated links. I was more interested in learning how to instant message people who wanted to do cyber-things that I won’t mention here and laughing with my date over this.

So why the trip down memory lane? Simple! I had every tool necessary to take my publishing company to levels beyond my wildest dreams literally at my fingertips. Some days I look back and think, “If I’d only gotten the concept of the Internet and its vast search capabilities, I could’ve married real estate listings, search and Web sites together.” And become a gazillionaire in the process. In 1993, I could’ve gone back to my former company and made this a reality. If only I’d understood the Internet’s potential!

What’s amazing to me is how the Internet and search have changed everything in such a short time.

I also wonder these days what exactly I’m missing right now, much like I missed in the past. Where’s the next big profit center going to be? The next multimillion dollar idea? Are you thinking? Me too!

 

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Other ways to reach Jim: Phone:561-302-1719.

Profitable Cataloging on CatalogSuccess.com: http://www.catalogsuccess.com/blogs/jimgilbert.bsp

Why you must always be networking – and Linkedin is the key (part 1)

My dad is a C.P.A. who worked for the same accounting firm for 35 years. He had a typical career path: He started at a low-level manager position, worked hard and eventually became partner.

These days, that’s anything but typical. The average employee stays at a company for about two years. Climbing the corporate ladder is now acceptably done by frequently switching jobs.

In essence, there’s no loyalty anymore between employees and their companies — and vice versa — which is a shame. Business continuity, team spirit and other vital relationship ingredients that can provide a positive effect on businesses are all but lost. But businesses are better served by nurturing long-term employees.

(Update: For part 2, click here, for part 3 of the series on linkedin click here)

Building Your Personal Rolodex
I recently read that the goal of business today is about adding new and influential contacts daily to your sphere of influence — i.e., building your networking Rolodex.

Stir in our current economy, with its impersonal, almost random, premature “because we can!” layoffs, and the need for business networking becomes more evident daily.

Which is why business networking Web sites, especially LinkedIn, are becoming the way of the future. LinkedIn is an amazing tool, and if you’re not currently a user, I suggest you join (it’s free). Right now, you can probably find 70 percent of the businesspeople you know using it. Over the next few weeks, I’ll delve into some of the basic and power user features of LinkedIn to help you prepare your network.

Where to Start (Even if You’re Already a User)
Consider this: There are people who are on LinkedIn (they’re listed), and then there those who are proactive in taking advantage of its many powerful features. Regardless of which type of user you may or may not be, I suggest you do four things immediately:

1. Contact everyone you’ve worked with in the past (who is already linked to you) — as well as present — and request to be endorsed.

2. Join as many LinkedIn groups as you can. You’re allowed to join up to 50.

3. And if you haven’t done so already, add “link” requests to all your contacts in all of your address books (and ones who you have worked with, ask them to endorse you).

4. Add your linked in URL to al of your outbound emails, both personal and business.

You also can link to me at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert. And if you aren’t a LinkedIn member already, by all means spend a few minutes to join.

Check back next week for tips on how to become a LinkedIn power user.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Four Last-minute Tactics to Increase Your Catalog’s Holiday Revenue

I’ll keep this column brief (I know you want this week to end. I can’t wait for the advanced stages of tryptophan sleepiness to set in after the turkey is done). Want to add some revenue before the end of the year? Try the following:

1. Add an extra mailing in before the end of the year. Try it this way: After your last mailing is complete, mail one more catalog just to your hotline buyers, those who just responded from your last mailings of the year. If it’s too late to get your printer involved, grab some of your bounce back and office copy catalogs and mail them. Even if you send them out first class, you should still get great response. I’ve done this before and it works.

2. Speaking of bounce backs, add a special offer to your outgoing packages beyond the traditional bounce back book. This gives your customers a compelling reason to make another purchase before the holidays. It’s especially persuasive if you can target your offer to people who are on the receiving end of gifts.

3. Extend the life of an existing catalog by sending a postcard special offer to your best buyers with a last-minute incentive. Try something like this: “Last minute shoppers save (a percentage)” or “Last minute offer! Get a Specially Priced (product here).” Postcards are quick, inexpensive and can drive both catalog and Web traffic.

4. Don’t forget e-mail. Deliver offers right up to the last possible date you can ship product for Christmas. 

If you have any additional ideas for last minute marketing tactics, please share them with us by clicking on the link below.

I wish you a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading! Speak to you next Tuesday.

Is your call center creating phone rage? Read this story of superior customer service.

OK, listen up readers: I really want your opinion on this.

I recently bought a new MacBook Pro from Apple’s Web site. But rather than get rid of my old Mac PowerBook, I decided to update it with the latest operating system. So during a routine check of the old Mac, I noticed there was only half the RAM in the machine than when I originally purchased it.  Huh?

I bought the PowerBook four years ago, and my warranty has long since expired. But hey, where’s the RAM that was supposed to be in my Mac?

So expecting nothing, I called Apple and apprised them of the situation.  Not unexpectedly, the customer service representative (CSR) told me that my warranty was up — “It’s been four years after all! But let me check something out anyway,” she said.  So she put me on hold for about six or seven minutes, (although she did come back on the line a few times to politely let me know she was working on the issue), which was good.

To make a long story short, this incredible CSR then came back on the line and told me she’d spoken with another department, and she’d like me to talk to them. From that point, it unfolded pretty quickly.  I spoke for about a minute with someone in the customer care department, and the next thing I knew, I was being told that a 512 megabyte RAM chip was being shipped out to me immediately. 

Looking back, I wish I’d gotten the name of the CSR who originally helped me.  Whatever she did was above and beyond the call of duty. 

If I wasn’t already a Mac fan, I’d certainly be now!  Hey Apple, you managed to cement my relationship with you in one call.  Bravo!

The moral of the story?   I’ve spent a great deal of time writing about customer service issues lately.  From my time in this industry, I unfortunately can tell you many more customer service horror stories than positive ones like this.  But this story was exceptional, so I had to share.

When evaluating customer service, ask yourself the following questions:

1. How many companies will do that for a customer?
2. Would yours?
3. Do you empower your CSRs to really help customers?  To truly solve their problems?
4. Are your CSRs intelligent?  Or do you hire the lowest paid people you can find?   And if the latter, does that really work for you in the long run?

That’s all customers and prospects really want anyway — to be taken care of. We’re sick of indifferent people handling our problems.  Forget road rage:  Are your prospects and customers suffering from phone rage?

Comments?  Did Apple go too far?  I mean, how dare they give something to a customer that calls four years later.  And off-warranty, to boot?  The nerve having superior, well trained, customer focused representatives on the phone!

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert, or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Empty-Wallet Wednesday: A Tale of Two Shoppers

(update: even 5 year olds are getting into the act.  Friday I was at Best Buy and overheard the following, “But Daddy, it’s Black Friday… Pleeeeeeeease get it for me before the price goes up!”)

Friends and readers: I hope you all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving. I also hope you had a great Black Friday and a killer Cyber Monday despite our current economic circumstances. 

I seem to remember not too long ago when Black Friday was just a retail industry term for the one day of the year that could change a company’s P&L from red to black. Somehow the term has crept into our national lexicon and collective psyche. As I went through my e-mails on Thanksgiving morning, I had at couple of dozen sale-oriented e-mails pitching Black Friday sales. Some referenced Black Friday right in the subject line, just so I would know that somethingmore than special would be offered that day. I even got a Black Friday offer from a car dealership. 

It certainly seems to me that the media turned this day into the biggest shopping event of the year — just like Presidents Day, Valentine’s Day and other major shopping days. Thanks to the Internet, we also have its sister event, Cyber Monday. Now we have even more competition, as shopping events become clashes worthy of sibling rivalry (or an opportunity for marketing channels to be in sync).

I chose to write this on Friday morning, Nov. 28, after Thanksgiving dinner, feeling mostly recovered from the sleep-inducing agent in my turkey. Others in my family were getting ready to shop, too. My wife was going to hit the mall extra early to beat the traffic, hopefully the crowds too, while scoring the best gifts at a discount. She’ll likely turn Black Friday into an all-day marathon, going in to many stores and spending as much time as possible perusing each rack, end cap and item until she has fully scratched the internal itch that will not let her miss one perfect fit for someone on her shopping list. 

As for me, if I never set foot in a mall or retail store again, I’ll be happy. And even when I do go retail, I go with a goal in mind — find it, buy it and get out before some overzealous clerk sprays me with cologne! 

Instead, I’ll spend time in the other marketing channels. I’ll shop catalog and Internet, and if I have questions, I’ll pick up a phone and call a toll-free number to clarify. The only exception I may make is for an item-return. To return an item, I may actually drop it off at a retail store, rather than send it back via the mail. I find this easier somehow.

And NO, this isn’t a sexist thing — as in man vs. woman. It’s purely about preference. Some people desire the tactile experience of seeing, feeling and touching. Some don’t. In my younger days, I actually enjoyed the mall shopping experience, but now I don’t. Simple as that.

Points to consider

So why am I telling you this? There’s a moral to my story and it’s quite simple. Know your customers and their shopping patterns. Satisfy their needs in any channel they choose. Also know that shopping preferences change over time. Today’s retail customer may be tomorrow’s Internet shopper and vice versa. 

Speak to you next week.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert , or you can e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Happy Holidays… You’re fired!

Last year for Catalog Success Magazine, I wrote a scathing attack on downsizing after reading about Lillian Vernon letting go of 100 employees a mere five days before Christmas.   And without any warning!  And not just seasonal employees either!

Could there be a more despicable act?

Now with our economy on the brink, massive layoffs are being, uh, for lack of a better term, executed. Unemployment is at 6.5%, and experts and pundits alike are predicting that 1st quarter of 2009, will be even worse.

Therefore, I republish the article here because it’s point is even more valid today than last year. In fact, I know plenty of people who have just lost their jobs, and I find this to be a fitting tribute to those who fell (or more appropriately were pushed) onto their swords at the worst possible time of year.

Here goes…

Now, I’m not against making a profit, but as a direct marketer and direct marketing consultant, I always seek ways to reduce costs rather than cutting staff — a last resort to me — to meet profit goals.  Was it really going to kill a multimillion-dollar enterprise’s profits to keep 100 employees, who probably busted their collective butts to help Vernon make its holiday sales numbers, just a few more weeks?

Somebody is waaay out of line here!  I know today we live in a pressure-cooker environment, doing business at light speed. Holiday season in retail and mail order, from September on, is intense.  But come on, give people a break here.  Did Vernon’s management really need to do this?

Many people already find the holiday season stressful, while traditionally it’s supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year;” a paradox of the times we live in.  The last thing someone needs is the ax to fall on them during that time.

My solution to holiday downsizings…

There should be some sort of moratorium on firings the last two months of the year.  Let’s extend that out into the third week of January just to be safe.  Add that to our list of best practices.

Rant over!  Anybody think I could possibly be off base?  Let me know.

Speak to you next week. Got comments? Post them below!  In the mean time, here is another article I wrote on downsizing as the road more easily traveled,

Here is another called downsizing is for sissies

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Why you must always be networking – and Linkedin is the key (part 2)

If you aren’t in full networking mode in this economy, let this week’s column be a call to action for you.

(For more about why, see last week’s column.)

These days, I’m always networking. I’m on MySpace and Facebook, and have just started to play around with Twitter and other less known networking sites.  Even Plaxo has gotten into the social and business networking game.

But I find LinkedIn to be the best networking tool to use by far. Most LinkedIn users already know how to link to other people in and out of their networks. I wrote about the beginner stuff about a year ago.

That said, there are LinkedIn users and then there are LinkedIn players.

Let’s talk more about how to go from being merely listed on LinkedIn to being a networking “player,” which has helped me get job inquiries, plus writing and consulting gigs.

Follow these steps to help grow your career:

1. Update your profile often. Every time you update your profile, that info gets sent to your connections. Also, update your “status” often, as this gets transmitted as well. You always want to be visible to other people in your network. Updates keep you in front of them.

2. Ask questions. Use the question function of LinkedIn, because it’s a great tool to get your name in front of other LinkedIn users. Some quick tips: Always try to ask thoughtful and relevant questions. Ask questions that’ll generate a lot of response, and give plenty of background info for why you’re asking the questions. When people respond to your questions, always send thank-you e-mails to them.

And, if appropriate, you may want to send them connection requests. When your questions close, go back and use the site’s rating system to pick the best answers. When you “best” people, they earn expertise. That shows up on their profiles and adds credibility, too.

3. Answer questions. Same as above. You can earn expert status, and your answers help other LinkedIn users solve their problems. And don’t forget to add a URL to your answer to help support your position.

4. Join groups. LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups. Once you join a group, announce to it who you are; what you do; and provide a link to your profile, blog or Web site. You also can post and answer discussions within groups. Get involved, and watch your network and sphere of influence grow.

Stay tuned for part 3 next week, where I’ll provide some cool power-user tips. I’ll also reveal how to build a “super-profile.”

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.

Why you must always be networking – and Linkedin is the key (part 3)

So you want to be a power networker? In this economy, you need to cultivate as many positive connections as you can. 

Over the last few weeks, I’ve discussed the networking site LinkedIn and how it can be an enormous benefit in helping you expand your sphere of influence. 

This week, in the last of this series (for part 1, click here, and for part 2, click here), I detail how you can use your LinkedIn homepage to its fullest advantage; think of it as a résumé on steroids. 

First, let me start by saying that your homepage is infinitely searchable, both by LinkedIn’s internal search engine (which has recently been upgraded to “super” strength) and the major search engines. Make sure all of your relevant previous positions, titles and duties/job descriptions are visible on your homepage if searched. Your “summary” also should contain searchable keywords. Same goes for your “interests” and education. 

Next, add some Web site links to your homepage. You can link up to three outside Web sites. My homepage has links to my Web site and my personal blog. Don’t just accept the default titles for the headings, either. You can add specifics. For example, instead of using the default title, “my blog,” I’ve listed, “Gilbert Direct Marketing Blog,” an easy tweak from the “edit my profile” tab.

While on the subject of blogs, LinkedIn has added some great new features in the past few months. One gives you the ability to have a WordPress blog link directly to your homepage. Other new applications include:

• the ability to add and share files within your network;
• a tool to upload presentations to further promote your work (portfolio, whitepapers, etc.);
• Amazon.com reading lists to recommend books to your network; and
• the opportunity to let your network know your travel plans and meet up with people in the area at the same time via TripIt.com.

I’m having a great deal of fun and success using the WordPress blog application. In less than a month, I’ve had 2,000 hits on my blog thanks to LinkedIn. The blog took me minutes to set up and about 30 seconds to add to my LinkedIn homepage. Of course, you need some content; mine is specific to direct marketing. 

From there, I started using the “questions” feature to ask for help promoting the blog. Many people visited the blog, left comments and offered great suggestions. I did the same thing in the groups I belong to. Now every time I add a new article, it automatically appears on LinkedIn. Also, when I publish a new article (about twice a week), I post a link to the “news” section for my groups. (FYI, my blog address is http://gilbertdirectmarketing.wordpress.com/; don’t forget to leave a comment.)

Lastly, underneath the search bar on the top right of each page is a “search for references” link. This is a great tool to use to get background info on people you work with. Want to know the real scoop about someone you’re about to hire or the new boss that just hired you? Use that tool, and make some discreet inquiries.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line at jimdirect@aol.com.

Make sure you check out my column next week, when I’ll provide coverage for Catalog Success of this week’s NCDM conference in Orlando, Fla.

NCDM 2008 Recap: The Key Concepts All direct Marketers Must Know!

Having attended many of the sessions and keynotes at the 2008 National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) conference in Kissimmee, Fla., last week, I came away with three key points that proved to be the overriding themes of the three-day event.
1. Know me and be relevant. During the first day’s keynote speech, Tom Boyles, SVP of global customer managed relationships for the Walt Disney Co., posited that relevance isn’t enough anymore. Disney achieves true one-to-one communication by connecting and engaging its customers and prospects emotionally to its products.
To achieve this, Disney’s taken its databases and developed what it calls a “real-time automated decision engine,” which drives its campaigns and all contact between its customers (who are called “guests”) and its staff and brand.
Disney strives for, and achieves, a high level of personalization in its marketing messages and customers’ experiences by collecting data at basically any and all contact points. It then uses that data to create specialized to-dos, maps, DVDs, welcome mailers and other things relevant to past behavior in sync with the actual life stages of its guests.

 

Let me know you enjoyed this article, or feel free to add something I have missed.  Go ahead, post a comment below…

2. Engagement is the new black. If there were a single concept to rise to the top this year, it would be the idea of engagement. As with Disney, all companies to some extent try to use their data to effectively engage their prospects and customers better.
Additionally, many companies now embrace blogs; viral campaigns; and other social media outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook more than ever before. Some are succeeding, but it became clear that this emerging “technology” has some pitfalls — negative comments resulting in brand degradation to name one — along with benefits.
One thing is certain: While it’s possible to track ROI for social media through clicks, visits and even downstream orders, the measurement of engagement (and engagement itself) is something that hasn’t been mastered yet.
In essence, social media became a “player” this year.
3. Triggered campaigns offer the promise of one-to-one communication. In a case study session hosted by Bernice Grossman, principal consultant and founder of the database marketing consulting firm DMRS Group, three database marketing companies were given the challenge of how to send the “right response to the right person at the right time,” using modern campaign management “best-in-breed” solutions.
The companies — Alterian, smartFOCUS and Unica — showed, in real time while logged into their applications, the ease of use in developing triggered campaigns to both prospects and customers in a sort of “set it and forget it” manner. The triggered campaigns were based upon names on the file meeting certain criteria on a rolling basis (e.g., the last six months) in underperforming segments.
Each company in the “showdown” was given a dummy database that included contact and transactional information, along with gender and date of birth. From there the companies showed the audience how they used their solutions to create segmented, multiwave campaigns including birthday cards, offers and automated thank-you e-mails. The takeaway from this session was all about ease of use.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com You can also follow Jim on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect.

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday!

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday!  Enjoy.  

I may add a few posts between now and the new year so use that RSS feed function.  Otherwise, I’ll speak to you next year.  And thanks for your support.  In the last 5 weeks I’ve been publishing this blog, you have made it a success beyond my wildest dreams.

UPDATE: So I’m reading my emails this morning and I get an email that  I thought said, “have a merry Xmas and a PREPOSTEROUS new year” .  This was before  my coffee kicked in, but it’s growing on me.

Jim

“Bailout” is the new, “free”!

 

Bailout offer

This just in: According to 2 independent sources, Forestry and Saturn Research, the word “bailout” has overtaken “free” as the most used marketing term.  

 

According to Saturn Research, “The term FREE, for many years reigned supreme as the most important response compelling tool a marketer could use.  But no longer!   Now that the word “bailout has entered our national lexicon it has been used to the point of beating out it’s competition on an order of 2:1 this holiday season.”

This author has to agree.  I’ve seen bailout offers for carpet companies and others.  In fact, yesterday I saw a dry cleaners with a bailout offer!

Of course Forestry and Saturn also offered the following… “Happy Holidays from Jim Gilbert and Gilbert Direct!!!”

Perchance to Dream (of New Customers and Untapped Riches)

 

Jim Gilbert

Last night I had a dream…  I had a vision of many customers.  Not just any customers, but the most coveted buyers of them all…mail order buyers! 

 

And behold, they bought often and recently, and liked to purchase many products at a time.  They loved these products so much that they would never consider returning them. They liked to purchase in a specific category – they were niche buyers.  A plentiful niche that was easily identifiable, a specific targeted market – the lowest hanging fruit from the tree!

And I remember in my dream that I felt warm and secure knowing that these were soon to be my customers.  It was time to start my dream business and be richer than anyone can imagine.  All I needed was the right products for these perfect customers.

But then something happened.  My dream became a nightmare!  For I had no products to offer my customers. 

In my dream, I wracked my brain trying to find product ideas. I contacted various sources looking for products, but to no avail.  Nothing!  I asked friends and business associates alike, “do you have any products that would fit my market?”  Again nothing!  I couldn’t come up with one single product that this beautiful niche of customers would want.

And I woke up in a cold sweat, thankful that this was just a dream, and in real life this could never happen.

The truth is, we don’t wake up in the morning with ideas for new customer niches.  We don’t wake up saying “I think found a great list of buyers, now what can i offer them?”

But sometimes we do wake up with ideas for new products.  

And sometimes these new product ideas become businesses.  This is the classic entrepreneur beginning: a dream turns into a business because someone thought up a great product idea and had the moxie to take it to market.  Your classic “started around the kitchen table” story!

In the past, I’ve stated that a marketing-based approach to direct marketing, mail order and e-retailing cares less for the specific product, than it does finding the right market (customers!) for those products.  To me, that IS about putting customers first. 

The following is a quote I give to my direct marketing class on the first night of the semester. It’s by Peter Drucker, one of the great management gurus of our time:

“There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.  Companies are not in business to make things, but to make customers.”

My personal version goes something like this (with a direct marketing context):

The goals of every direct marketing organization are to generate new customers at the lowest possible cost per acquisition and take care of these customers to maximize customer lifetime value via repeat purchases.

The goals of every direct marketing organization need to be exclusively focused around the above. 

But that’s not always the case in today’s modern business world.  Many business owners and managers know their customers, but, more specifically, they know what their customers want.  The emphasis is less on understanding customers better, and more on their own intuition of what customers want.  This attitude of “I know my customers and what they want“,  makes too many assumptions.  Assumptions that don’t fit with today’s modern business practices – especially when you consider the wealth of information you can find out about your customers just by talking to them.  With the adoption of social media in the last few years, and the explosion of web 2.o, there is no excuse for not being customer-centric.  Right?

But of course any time you have a company with more than one employee, you have politics, posturing, agenda’s and egos – which means that following the above principals can get muddied by other issues. 

I see product-centric and politically charged organizations every day of the week stepping on their own toes and chasing their own tails!  I’ve also seen some companies with some great products fail for these very same reasons.

Which is why I want to set a different tone for this blog and proffer the thought that the modern entrepreneurial business should be marketing-focused and, by extension, customer-driven.

So to all catalog/multichannel/e-retail/mail order business owners out there, let me ask you this : Are you product driven?  Or customer/marketing focused?  What kind of research do you do to better understand your customers?  How do you develop new products?  Let’s get into this in future postings.  As always, please feel free to fire off a comment by using the form below, and I’ll respond.

I look forward to a lively discussion on this topic.  What a great way to close out 2008 and welcome in 2009!

Jim Gilbert and the Florida Direct Marketing Association are pleased to announce…

 

January 15th FDMA Meeting Info

From: The Florida Direct Marketing Association | December 31, 2008

The FDMA is pleased to announce its January 15th event:

Business Networking in the 21st Century

Come join us for lunch January 15th for an informative session on how to build your personal brand using web 2.0 online techniques with Jim Gilbert, CEO of Gilbert Direct Marketing. In a world where the average  tenure in a position is just over 2 years, it’s been said that building your personal rolodex is just as important to your career as excelling at your job. During this must-attend luncheon, you will learn how to use Linkedin and other networking sites to your fullest advantage.
Location: Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale (I-95 & Cypress Creek exit)

Time: 11:30am – 1:30pm (Networking and Registration from 11:30am – 12:00 pm)

Members $37, Non-Members $47. Admission includes plated lunch.

For additional details clink on “Register” below to read what specific take-away strategies you will learn. 

Click here to register

Read more at The Florida Direct Marketing Association http://www.fdma.org

To all my friends and readers

Thank you for your support since I started my blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that so many people would start to follow my writings on direct and catalog marketing.

I look forward to an amazing 2009.

I’ll be away for the next week (until the 9th), so I won’t be posting for a little over a week. When I get back I will be posting two articles that will be published this week in the catalog and ecommerce trades.

Thanks again,
Happy New Year
Jim

Welcome to 2009, the Year of Engagement, Social Marketing and Web 2.0, Part 1 of 2

Note to readers.  This is the first post in 2009.  Happy New Year!  As promised, there will be another 3 posts in the coming week.  

As I mentioned in my most recent column — a recap of the National Center for Database Marketing conference last month — it’s not good enough to merely serve your customers anymore. You must cement them emotionally to your brand, your products and your customer service.  

With social media strongly in play (whether you like it or not), you don’t get to choose what’s said about your brand. Control of your brand image has been passed, torch-style, from the marketing department to your customers.  

Your customers are becoming more and more voracious in their pursuit of information that’s not simply put forth by brands, but spread by their peers as brand advocates. Actually, it’s more like brand advocates and brand detractors. Your customers, much like plus/minus statistics in a hockey game, keep score — a plus point for a positive customer experience, a minus for a negative one. 

Why the social media explosion? It’s simple: When you add the current overload of marketing messaging sent and received in a given day, coupled with a growing distrust of said messaging and a more jaded customer base, the result is an environment primed and ready for customer-induced growth.  

The plus/minus as it relates to your marketing efforts. Your present and future direct marketing efforts only get you part of the way there. Customers and prospects alike search for information on your company to help with their buying decisions. The people who interact with your brand and the way they interact are the deciding factors in your success and/or failure. You don’t have to look into a crystal ball to envision a future where companies have less and less impact on buying decisions.

In the concept of the outward-facing, customer-focused business, there are two business models in the multichannel world:  

1. Merchants: The first type is brand/product-centric. These are merchants who’ve built their companies from the ground up with an intuitive feel for what their customers want and need. Culturally, these companies are focused on merchandising, product development and brand building. They have a sort of “if you build it they will come” feel internally.

2. Marketers: The other type is the sales and marketing culture. Here, the focus is less on product/branding and more on the process of direct marketing. Marketers are more numbers-focused, and the feel you get when you visit is that it’s about list building and what gets sold to that list.

If I had to guess which of these cultures will better adapt to Web 2.0, I’d have to say the marketing culture. But the truth is, it’s anyone’s guess.

Check back next week for part two, where I’ll look at the role social media occupies for catalog/multichannel marketers, as well as how it can be a good thing to hear the negative things customers have to say about you.

Know Me and Be Relevant: What I learned from Disney’s Keynote at NCDM

NCDM 2008 RECAP: Know me and be relevant is just a starting point!

From its earliest days, relevance has been the goal for most direct and database marketers.  Today however, relevance is not nearly enough.  Today, we are closer than ever in actually realizing the power of 1:1 level relevant communications.  Some might argue that the capability for 1:1 has been around for some time and that many companies are already successfully practicing it, but to some extent I have to disagree. 

When you do the breakdown, it comes down to four competencies; the technology, the vehicles, the smarts and the “missing link”.

We have the technology!

On one hand we have plenty of data processing capability to produce direct marketing campaigns with 1:1 granularity.  The complexity with which we can massage data is readily available, becoming simpler to use (even for a non technical person) and relatively inexpensive.

We have the vehicles!

We have also made major inroads in being able to turn that data into actionable campaigns through triggered mailings, print on demand (POD), variable data printing, Personal URL’s (PURLS) and landing pages to name a few.

We have the smarts!

In my career, I have met thousands of super-smart direct marketers.  Strategists, number crunchers, creative’s alike, all with the singular focus of driving ROI for their companies. 

But is this enough? 

The question is this: Does the ability to crunch the numbers and personalize a marketing vehicle really qualify as relevant?  This whole concept of relevance is flawed to begin with.  We assume that since we have the data, the smarts, and the methods for connecting the data to a vehicle that we are doing 1:1 marketing. 

For example, just because we have date of birth in the database, and a great birthday offer to give away, is it relevant?  Is past purchase behavior relevant?  Sure, maybe to 1%, 2% or maybe even 10% of our database it is?  Let’s even go so far as to say that the perfectly executed birthday offer can get as high as 20% response.  But wait, doesn’t that means that 80% to 99% of our most relevant marketing is still being seen as irrelevant?

So what does all this mean for database marketing, and how does that tie into NCDM? 

I have to say that as a direct marketer, from the first day I heard the sacred words “relevant” and “1:1 communication”, I’ve always been a little suspect.  To presume that we know exactly what our customers want, need and desire may be even a trifle arrogant, don’t you think?

To further muddy the waters, the level of message overload our society receives, combined with all of this semi-relevant communication, has in part created a suspicious, jaded consumer who is quick to dismiss any marketing vehicle it deems as disingenuous.

And therein lies the challenge:  a new context is needed for consumers to feel good about the offers they are receiving again.

So from that context, I believe that we are entering the age of implementing true 1:1 relevancy.  And this is where NCDM comes into the picture.

At NCDM 2008, the missing link was discovered!

As I attended session after session at NCDM, the concept that popped up, the central thesis this year was engagement.  Truly it was this year’s buzzword.  During his keynote address, Tom Boyles, SVP of CRM for Disney, put forth the notion that you can use your database to create an emotional link between what you sell and your customers.  

In a keynote that was equal parts inspiration and case study, Boyles spoke of how Disney’s “customer focused journey” uses data and personalization to engage their customers (called guests) by capturing data at any point and time in all channels, including: online, agents, room and check in.  From the data they collect they can provide detailed recommendations on parks and attractions (more on that later).  In order to accomplish this they use analytic models, and “automated decision engines” to ensure a seamless customer experience that connects on their guests terms.  This has been their number one challenge; how to understand and connect the customer experience on all channels, and do so in a genuine way.

Their view of their guests is that no one or department in their organization owns the customer, but it is the customer who owns the moment using what they call their “real time engagement model”. 

According to Disney’s Boyles, each step/contact with each guest is seen as a hurdle to get past in order to optimize their consumer promise.

On a tactical level, some but not all of the programs they implement are a free DVD available from their website that converts in the 10% range and offers custom park maps and experience based personal to-do items.  They also send out a completely personalized welcome mailer 24 hours after an online visit or call center interaction, with the mailer being customized to the guest’s life stage and past history with appropriate messaging and photos.

Beyond marketing campaigns, extending the 1:1 experience:

Other user experience benefits Disney offers their guests, and this one really hits home if you are a seasoned traveler, is the Disney Express.   Disney Express among other things Boyles described has the ability to drop off ones luggage at an airport, and find it in their room waiting for them at the resort hotel when they arrive.  This also holds true in reverse, that guests can leave their luggage in their room and find it (magically!) at the airport baggage claim when they arrive home.

In conclusion, Boyles recapped that at the end of the day Disney strives and meets it’s 1:1 goals of connecting on an emotional level, data accuracy, real time, through all channels and having a true relationship with their customer.

To me, that’s as close to relevant, 1:1 communication that I have seen.

Jim Gilbert is President of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert.   You can e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect.

 

 

Adopting Social Media for Your Business (from Catalog Success Magazine)

Last week, I offered a request to my readers to post their comments regarding their adoption of social media. Based upon the results of a recent poll we conducted at CatalogSuccess.com (click here), many of you aren’t jumping on the bandwagon, as compared with pure-play e-retailers and other Internet marketers.

While I’m a bit disappointed about this — both the lack of adoption of social media and response to my column — I believe there’s a huge opportunity at hand to take our multichannel industry to the next level.

So let me ask you this: What’s your level of social media adoption? Blogs? Message boards? Video? Sites like Facebook? Let’s get a dialogue going on this.

I understand things are a mess out there business-wise, but we need to start operating on the following premise: If you listen, they will come. 

For now, I hope to inspire you with a story from another industry.

Recently, I had the opportunity to do business with a truly customer-centric organization. Every year I take a cruise in January. Within one week of my return, I received a 58-question (yes, that’s not a typo, I did say 58-question) survey from the travel company that puts on the cruise.  

Now to set the background a bit, this isn’t just any cruise. It’s a specialty music cruise called Jam Cruise (www.jamcruise.com). Think Mardi Gras or Woodstock on a luxury Italian cruise liner, with live bands playing night and day.

The survey sets the stage for the following year’s cruise. It asks questions about the bands, the ports, the service, the food and all of the extras they provide, to determine both what they can do better and what their customers would like to see happen in the future.  

In addition, the company has a message board it constantly monitors. Since the day the cruise ended, the message board has been lit up like a Christmas tree. Posts on the board range from super positive to super negative (the negatives were mostly about the food, which was “off” this year, and the process of getting on the ship, which didn’t go as planned). As to the negative comments, I was very pleased to see that the Jam Cruise staff made its presence felt and offered apologies and explanations.  

Like I’ve said before, if you want to use social media as a marketing tool, be prepared to handle both the positive and the negative. In fact, how you handle negative feedback will help get you customers for life.  

Your Key Takeaway
Your customers are the ones who should drive your business. Social media means you have to work harder at serving your customers, but the rewards are greater customer loyalty and lifetime value.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com. You can also follow Jim on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect.

Attention Catalogers: 3 surefire ways to add new names to your catalog mailings (and lower your cost per acquire)

I’m currently in the midst of doing some more research on the social medium and its applications in the catalog/multichannel industry. If your company is using social media and wants to be profiled in a future column, e-mail me at jimdirect@aol.com.

In the meantime, if you’re looking to grow your housefile, there are a number of ways to generate new catalog requests and orders beyond the traditional list rental model. I’ve successfully used the following three services many times in the recent past.  

These companies are especially helpful to retailers operating in niche markets where there aren’t enough names to mail from rented lists.  

You can use these sites to research lists not openly available on the rental market, and to get your catalog listed to generate catalog requests and orders.

1. Catalogs.com (www.catalogs.com) offers in-depth descriptions of the catalogs it promotes, along with links to the catalogers’ Web sites, allowing for further research on a particular product, price, etc. This helps you gauge whether a catalog’s list may be a good fit for your business. Getting your catalog listed on this site will help you add new customers within your allowable cost per acquisition.
2. ShopAtHome (www.shopathome.com) is a catalog of catalogs that’s been put out for years by the Belcaro Group. It has both prominent and more obscure catalogs listed in its pages. Its Web site serves as a good research tool, too. Getting your company listed is a great way to increase business.
3. Grey House Publishing (www.greyhouse.com/marketing.htm) offers both online and offline research. Its ”Directory of Mail Order Catalogs” is one of the largest catalog resources available.

And To Think, You Rely on THEM to Deliver Your Mail?

It’s no secret by now that Postmaster General John Potter told Congress that in order for the USPS to survive, it needs to switch to a five-day-a-week delivery schedule.  

Does anyone else think this is a disaster waiting to happen? And does anyone out there actually believe that five days will be enough for this bloated bureaucracy to survive? What’s next, mail one day a week? Mail on alternate Tuesdays? Leap year mail, anyone?

C’mon USPS, what kind of joke are you perpetuating on our industry? We’ve already had to endure ridiculous rate increases way too often.  

I wonder if it even gets the fact that it’s helped fuel the growth of the Internet, search, e-mail, etc., as it’s forced catalogers to use other channels to compensate for their higher mail costs per acquisition? Or how many of you have been forced to cut vital circulation? Every penny more in postage you have to pay affects your break-even point by roughly 2 cents. 

Profitable lists become marginal; marginal lists become, well, y’know. What other industry’s costs go up 20 percent-plus at a time? How many billions of dollars of revenue did that drive out of the channel?

Does the USPS realize it’s driven direct marketers out of business?  

Did it ever do any math on how many pure-play e-marketers stayed pure-play because of its idiocy? How many billions of dollars never even entered the mail channel because of that?

And then there are the people — many of them pure-play Internet marketers — who think the mail channel itself is dead. I’ve been doing some market research lately and you’d be surprised with some of my findings. (If you have a LinkedIn account, click here and here for answers to my research questions.)

It seems that back in the day, pure-play brand marketers used to look down on catalogers as direct mail people, their redheaded stepchild (apologies to any redheaded stepchildren out there). Now in a stunning turnaround of events, pure-play Internet marketers see us in the same manner, like we’re dinosaurs andtheir redheaded stepchildren.

All of this doesn’t bode well for the future of our industry. And don’t even get me started on the subject of “do-not-mail” legislation.  

Well, that’s enough rant for one day. I have to send a letter to a friend and just bought a stamp for $5.50 (laugh now, but soon you’ll be paying that to send out your utility payment).

Frankly, I don’t have the answer to this problem. Maybe some of you out there do. Post your comments below, and let’s get a discussion going on this.

Superior Product, Exceptional Customer Service: The keys to the success of Cloud 9 Adventures and Jam Cruise

In today’s social media age, it’s not enough to just build a brand and assume it’ll flourish. More than ever, companies need customers to be emotionally cemented to their brands via superior products and exceptional customer service. 

For the past three years, I’ve been a customer of Cloud 9 Adventures, a company that exemplifies the spirit of customer centricity. Specifically, I’m a frequent passenger aboard  Jam Cruise. 

Imagine Mardi Gras on an ultra-luxurious Italian cruise liner, with live music from more than 20 jazz, funk, rock and jam bands playing nearly 24 hours a day. Mix in theme nights with costumes, karaoke contests where all-star musicians back up the contestants, excursions like all-terrain vehicle rides through the jungles of Belize, and workshops that go “behind the music,” and you get the idea. 

Now imagine that the customers, many of whom are repeat cruisers who call themselves “repeat offenders,” for the most part drive the experience. 

After each cruise, a large survey goes out to the passengers. This year’s contained 58 questions and arrived in my e-mail inbox one week after the cruise. Despite its length, the response rate is regularly 30 percent, according to Annabel Lukins Stelling, the marketing director for Jam Cruise. More importantly, customers answer each question with great detail because they know their answers are going to make the next cruise even better. 

Additionally, the company’s staff maintains a strong presence on Jam Cruise’s message boards, Facebook and MySpace pages. The message boards have a very strong community feel and remain highly active throughout the year. By continually monitoring these social sites and communicating back when appropriate, much is learned about jam cruisers and what they like and dislike. 

Which is why Jam Cruise, six years later, always sells out. In fact, many people prebook a year in advance and love to spread the word to bring new people on the ship. 

But, like any other business, Jam Cruise isn’t perfect. This year, a major computer snafu caused the passenger embarkation process to go awry. Some people waited in excess of six hours to get on the ship. 

Almost within minutes of the ship’s arrival back at port, the message boards lit up like a Christmas tree with complaints. 

One of the risks of social media is the impact negative comments could have on business. As more people seek out peer reviews via social media, Internet chatter can make or break a business. 

To its credit, the Jam Cruise staff posted a number of explanations and apologies for the embarkation problems, along with assurances that the problem was found, addressed and won’t happen again. Those apologies and assertions made a difference, and the message boards settled down. 

The Jam Cruise staff plans to send a second survey and additional communications in the near future to allay peoples’ fears about future issues, according to Lukins Stelling. 

The moral of the story: Social media can be an enormous benefit to a company — or a major detractor. Listening to your customers is crucial and can provide many rewards, as well as help with customer service and product-related issues. 

Jim Gilbert is president and CEO of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based catalog and direct marketing agency. Reach Jim at jimdirect@aol.com.

The most basic direct and catalog marketing fundamentals (to learn and re-learn)

I recently had a conversation with another catalog consultant about a client proposal we’re jointly working on. The conversation worked its way to a discussion on the basic fundamentals of direct marketing. In essence, what’s the most basic fundamental of direct marketing that we need to present and our clients need to follow?

It came down to this: the 40/40/20 rule.

This rule states that in order to be successful in direct marketing, you must do the following:

1. Concentrate 40 percent of your efforts on lists. That means list analysis and planning, selection, RFM, and, most importantly for catalogers, circulation.
2. Concentrate an additional 40 percent on your offer. For catalogers, that means merchandising. That requires expert attention to detail, including but not limited to product selection, pricing, presentation and analysis. By analysis, I’m referring to square-inch analysis, the most powerful tool you can use to manage your catalog merchandising — aka “squinch.” Understanding the wants and needs of your customers is part of this function, as are the offers you make to them to stimulate response.
3. Tie it all together by spending 20 percent of your efforts on creative execution. Literally, creative execution is only one thing: the bringing together of your list and offer/merchandising efforts in such a way that it speaks “buy now” to your customers.

As a consultant, I almost always see this in reverse.

If I had to quantify what I see in clients as they apply the above core competencies, it would be these three:

1. 50 percent merchandising, with less emphasis on analysis and more on product development and presentation;
2. 30 percent on creative. The creative (i.e., the catalog) is the brand’s calling card;
3. and 20 percent on lists.

In the catalog business, lists and all that circ stuff are just as important (some would even say more) than offer and creative.

It’s easy to see how that could happen. Most catalogers are merchants first. They had a product idea and brought that to market. How they bring it to market is all about building brand image. It’s as simple as that.

I usually get called in when there are some business issues that need addressing. Often I’m told that there’s a problem with their catalogs. To this I say, “The catalog (or direct mail piece) isn’t the problem; you’re trying to solve a marketing problem (translation: circ and merchandising analysis) with a creative (design, look, feel, brand) solution.“

At that point, I review the client’s version of the 40/40/20 rule and then the “textbook” version. There’s plenty of evidence for the proper application of the rule in the direct marketing textbooks. Absent this principle, I’ve seen some horribly ugly catalogs that are cash cows, while beautiful catalogs sink like stones.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com. You can also follow Jim on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect. Read Jim’s personal blog at http://gilbertdirectmarketing.wordpress.com/.

Four Questions to Continually Ask About Your Customers, Products and Brand

You don’t have to operate any stores to always “mind the store.” For us in the catalog/direct/multichannel world, that means finding time in our 24/7, 365-days-a-year world to step back and ask ourselves a few questions. It’s not an easy task to pull back from our everyday happenings, especially in this insane and fear driven economy, but it’s still mission critical to stop and ask:

1. Are we the company our customers want us to be? 

2. Are we the company our competition envies? 

3. Are we looking around every corner to see what’s coming next? 

4. And for that matter, how can we adapt to meet the needs of the next “trend” so we can effectively contribute to our customers’ wants and needs and therefore our own EBITDA?

Consultant, Prosultant or Insultant? Part 1

Now more than ever, fear is driving the business process. To break it down, business owners/C-levels/boards of directors, terrified of the current economy, are making decisions based on fear.  

To make matters worse, their employees, both scared of losing their jobs and of looking bad in their superiors’ eyes, are implementing these fear-based decisions.

The truth is, what I just described is pretty much business as usual!

Even before the economy started to tank, most of the people I’d talk with on a daily basis already were floating through their business tasks with elevated levels of terror. Mix in the current economy and the fear rate goes up exponentially.  

Bad decisions executed by terrified employees. Sounds like a disaster in the making, which many could argue is exactly how we wound up in the situation we’re in: watching our economy unravel while our politicians fiddle away (that’s a conversation for another day).

At the risk of sounding self-serving, the need for a good consultant, an objective third party, is needed now more than ever.  

OK, let me say something here that many of you already know. In my four-plus years of writing for Catalog Success, in print and on the Web, as well as eMarketing & Commerce Magazine, not once have I ever written an article even slightly or indirectly pitching my services (or consulting services in general).

That doesn’t mean I’m going to start now. Rather, I’d like to remind you of the benefits of working with one. And mind you, I’m not pitching you for my services. I’m dedicating this week’s column to reminding you of the merits of working with a good consultant in these tough times. That could be any other good consultant, not just me.

That said, here are eight things a consultant can do for you right now with a set of fresh eyes to balance out the fear-based decision making:

1. Review all of your numbers, from response data to budgets to lifetime value analysis and more.
2. Review all of your vendor pricing in search of efficiencies.
3. Look for opportunities in your circulation plan, targeting dead weight.
4. Review your merchandising plans and prepare square-inch analysis, among other tactics.
5. Seek out other marketing opportunities you may not be taking advantage of (e.g., social media/Web 2.0, community, on-site reviews).
6. Find advertising media you’re not using and recommend structure testing, such as package inserts, print ads, supermarket take-ones, billing statements and so forth.
7. Provide ongoing support to keep you focused and on track.
8. Review your creative efforts and make recommendations for improvement.

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor
The IT director of a former client used to tell me there’s no such thing as a consultant and all of us are actually insultants. Next week, in part two of this series, I’ll discuss some insider tips on the three types of consultants and how to choose the best for your organization.

Evidently my rant about the USPS and their 5 day work week hit a nerve.

I got lots of feedback to my column on the USPS and its brainstorm about going to a five-day workweek.  (see all comments and original article here)

And most of them were pro-mailer, agreeing that the USPS needs to wake up.  

However, I did get a few responses from environmentalists offering up some vicious attacks on our industry. I took the most readable — including this great illustration of how uninformed the masses are when it comes to our industry — and posted my response to it on my blog. For your review, I’m posting the comment and my response here.

Comment from Mel:

“I agree that the USPS needs to revamp the way it does things, but if it can reduce our costs by going down to 5 days a week, then I am fine with that.

“As for direct marketers, sorry but that is fine by me if they are put out of business. Maybe they could learn to earn an honest living instead of annoying me and all of the others that can’t stand them.

“Oh wait, there is a law against them! And talking about going GREEN … if direct marketing were abolished, how many trees would we save? How much would our carbon footprint be reduced? Looks like a win-win to me.”

My Response
“Thank you Mel for your comment. I’m not sure what law you are talking about. Maybe you’re referring to CAN-SPAM (that’s for e-mail) or the Do Not Call law, which applies to telemarketing. To my knowledge, there’s no law against direct mail. In fact, and maybe to your amazement, less direct mail, or a USPS five-day work week, would not reduce any costs as you state. Costs would actually go up, not down.

“Direct mail powers the U.S. Postal Service. Without it, the next time you mail a letter, utility payment or Xmas present to your nephew Billy, you would need to take out a small loan.

“OK, I exaggerate to illustrate my point, but the truth is many direct marketers look to deliver offers that are relevant to the people receiving them.

“If you want to learn more about the actual impact direct mail has on our economy and our society, I suggest you take two minutes and read the Facts About Direct Mail section on the Direct Marketing Association’s Catalog Preference Web site. You may be very shocked to learn how wrong you are!

“The honest truth is, we DON’T want to mail you anything if you are not going to buy from us. It wastes our money, our time, and it just makes you mad enough to write comments like this.

“You should also know that many direct mail companies are more green than you think. They use recycled paper when they can and soy-based inks. They buy their paper from paper mills with a commitment to forestry re-plantation.

“More and more, mailers and catalog companies are doing what they can to go green. But is this enough? In a word, NO! We’re getting there though.

“Here are some suggestions for you:

1. Recycle any direct mail you’re not interested in.

2. Contact catalog companies who send you their catalogs and ask to be removed from their future mailings.

3. DON’T buy anything from a catalog, otherwise (and here is the relevancy issue) you will be tagged as a “mail order buyer” and will receive other catalogs of products which have an affinity to your last mail order purchase. In fact, don’t buy anything mail order, or respond online to any offer!

4. Opt out of receiving business mail using Catalog Choice: http://www.catalogchoice.org/.

5. Use the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service to manage or stop direct mail offers:http://www.dmachoice.org/.

“We’re happy not to mail offers to you if you don’t want them (it saves us a bunch of money). Just let us know as described above, and we won’t send you any more mail.

“Oh, and one more thing, and I apologize in advance if this sounds a bit snarky: The less postal mail out there, the more e-mails and spam you’ll get clogging your inbox, and some more telemarketing calls as well.

“Hope this helps,
Jim.”

5 Tips for Using LinkedIn as a Business Tool

In addition to being an exceptional tool for personal business networking, LinkedIn is also a great place to market your business. Here are five tips to help your business network grow through LinkedIn: 

1. Use the Q&A function. The Q&A function of LinkedIn is a powerful revenue-generating tool. Try using the advanced answers search to find questions specific to your company’s expertise. Don’t pitch your company’s products or services here, just give the best — or most altruistic — answer you can. The Q&A is definitely a give-to-get medium: Give freely and you’ll get back in spades. 

2. Become an expert. When a question is asked on LinkedIn, it remains open for answers for seven days. After the question closes, the asker can rate the best answer to that question. The best answerers for a given question are awarded expert status on LinkedIn. From that point on, whenever an expert answers a question, that expert gets an expert badge. People’s expert status follows them around wherever they go on the site. Since you’re representing your company, this creates expertise for it as well. 

3. Join groups. You can join as many as 50 LinkedIn groups. When you join, introduce yourself and your services. Much like Q&A, this is a give-to-get medium. 

4. Start a group. Starting a group is super easy — just a couple of clicks and you’re done. Start a group around your company’s core competencies. For example, if you’re a printer, set up a group for people to ask questions about printing. If you’re a search engine marketing company, set up a SEM for beginners group. 

5. Promote your blog. Many of you already have corporate blogs and have produced whitepapers and corporate presentations. Promote your blog in the news section of the groups you belong to. Promote whitepapers and presentations in the groups as well via the discussion function. This adds value and enhances your image. 

People always tell me they see me all over LinkedIn. I try to gain as much notoriety as possible within the LinkedIn Q&A and group functions. As a consultant, this has brought me new customers. It takes some attention and time, but when done right, it can be a wonderful source of leads and business

CONsultant, PROsultant, or INsultant Pt. 2, how to choose the best strategic mentor for your direct marketing business.

Many years ago, after I was downsized from my job and I started consulting, my kids gave me a T-shirt that read, “I’m not unemployed … I’m a consultant!”

Ain’t that the truth!

With that bit of humor I start part two of my column about finding the right direct marketing consultant for your business. (For part 1, click here.) Many budding consultants get their starts after downsizing. And in this economy, many consultancies are springing up as more and more good marketing people are let go from their jobs.  

I’m not saying that hiring someone who was recently downsized is a bad thing. In fact, I strongly believe that in some cases you can benefit more from a consultant who has recent client-side experience than you can from a seasoned consulting vet. Think about it this way: New-to-consulting practitioners can be more about implementation than older consultants who are more adept at the theoretical side of things.  

The counterpoint to that is seasoned consultants are used to looking at the big picture and, in many cases, have experience with a broad range of companies.

You also should know that many consultants experience feast or famine business cycles — too many or too few clients. And yours truly is no exception. Since I started my consulting practice in 1999, I’ve been hired three times by clients to work on a full-time basis. All but once I’ve managed to keep up some sort of client roster when I’ve worked on the client side. Companies are fickle (especially here in Florida), particularly toward marketing personnel.  

A continual diet of client-side implementation and consulting keeps me from getting out of the loop and gives me an edge.  

So how do you pick the right consultant for your business? It’s a lot like choosing an employee: Do your due diligence as best as you can, and then roll the dice. You can look at the basics, such as who they worked for in the past, but as usual, I deliver you some food for thought beyond the basics.

That said, here are some more tips for you to consider:

1. If a consultant is too agreeable, he or she may be in it only for the money. Find a consultant who disagrees with you a lot. Most of the time, consultants are brought in to fix problems that exist within an organization that can’t be fixed internally. It’s a pair of fresh eyes to look things over. Consultants are like plumbers — the good ones are trained to instantly spot where the “clogs in the pipes are,” and then to fix it efficiently. You wouldn’t tell a plumber how to unclog your pipes, would you? You have to assume that you’re going to hear a lot of things you don’t want to hear and/or disagree with. Otherwise, why would you need a consultant to begin with?
    
2. Find a consultant who’s willing to walk away if you don’t listen. Here’s a true story: I worked with a catalog company whose general manager refused to understand the way catalog marketing worked. This employee came from retail and insisted on running the company like a brand. He pumped a lot of money into the catalog, doubled the unit cost in the mail and then when his mailings weren’t profitable, tried to repeat the same mistake in his heaviest selling season.

After repeatedly explaining the reasons for what happened, I finally gave up and said the following:

“Mr. X, what’s your favorite sport?”
“Football, why?”
“Because you’re running your business like you’re on a football field, playing with a hockey stick and puck! And if you keep doing it your way, you’re going to be out of business in six months.”

At that point, the client turned red, and steam started to come out of his ears. Within the next few weeks we mutually terminated my consulting contract. The kicker: Less than nine months later the business went belly-up.

3. References are ludicrous. Let’s put something to bed right now. The whole concept of asking for references is about patting yourself on the back. I don’t know of one consultant or, for that matter, ANYONE who knowingly would give a prospect a BAD reference. The only value in getting references is that when something goes wrong, you can at least feel justified that you did your due diligence.

4. If you want references, look them up on LinkedIn. There’s a “search reference” function that can help you find past employers, clients, among others. Also, see if they have a lot of recommendations on their profile pages.

Learn more about the dangers of Do Not Mail legislation

For those naysayers who say direct mail should be legislated out of existence, read the FACTS here.  (here is a hint, it’s about jobs, and revenue to the economy!)

http://www.mailmovesamerica.org/index.php

Read the Do Not Mail bill from the Florida Senate: http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2009/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h078100.pdf

From Senator Aronberg: http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2009/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s1324.pdf

Kumbaya Now! (how we can all professionally and personally survive the economic crisis)

Whether we like it or not, we’re all in this recessionary economy together. 

If you’re still lucky enough to be employed, listen carefully to my message, as simplistic as it may seem: It’s time to put aside the natural rivalry, competitiveness, intraorganizational politics and just plain silliness that is everyday business life if you want to stay employed, and moreover, to keep your business from going under.

It’s time to really look at the way the silos within your company are formed. Take them apart, and relearn how to run your business.  

Yes, I know I’m preaching. Sorry. But you can always stop reading here (but don’t).

I assure you that on this day, in this economy, businesses need to adapt or die! We’re all terribly scared about the future of our careers and how it will affect our families. The more we — and when I say we, I mean employees and business owners — succumb to our fears, the more difficult it is to work together. We second-guess ourselves. We second-guess others, and most importantly, we spend a lot of time playing armchair quarterback to the decisions that are being made.

It’s no wonder companies are going under daily. If you look carefully, you’ll see mismanagement as the big culprit. Greed. Power. Ego. We can’t run businesses this way at this time in history.

It’s officially time for kumbaya! From this point forward, you and your colleagues must work together to fight to keep your company alive.

Beyond newfound camaraderie, two keys to doing this are obviously increasing sales and reducing costs. If you look, I’m sure you can find many places where your company’s inefficient.

As an employee, you already know they’re there, but fear keeps you silent, doesn’t it?

Recently, while consulting for a company, I set up an internal group, more like a renegade operation, and named it “Operation: Unturned Stone.” The goal of this operation was to turn over every stone in the organization in search of opportunities to either reduce costs or increase sales. This required getting people together from each department in the company. And not the heads of that division either, but key managers who aren’t usually empowered to make a difference like this. 

We put them together in a room, told them NO topic was off-limits, even pet projects their CEO might be working on, and told them to build a report on what can be done better.  

The last part of Operation Unturned Stone is critical: C-level management must make the commitment to listen and take action. Also critical is that each member of the presenting group can feel 100 percent comfortable that there will be no consequences for what they recommend. Additionally, upper management at all companies need to address the paranoia level. Peoples’ nerves are frayed as they wait for more bad news or the axe to fall.

The time is now for reassurance, comfort and team building. This can be accomplished relatively quickly. Along with reassurance, get your employees together. Suggest outside-of-the-office events. Create events as well. No, I’m not talking about corporate retreats. How about an ice skating night? A company picnic for no reason? Give out free movie passes; something along those lines.  

In short, it’s your responsibility to do what it takes from any level to ensure that your staff sticks together in these troubling times. Now is not the time for every man/woman for him/herself!

We will get through this difficult time and thrive again.

Contact Florida House Members and vote NO on Do Not Mail Legislation!!!

At the bottom of this email are contact in the Florida House for you to make your opinion on Do Not Mail legislation heard.  The House Vote is on Tuesday!!!

My take:

Without preamble it would be a devastating blow to Florida’s economy, it’s many direct marketing business’s and the USPS if the Do Not Mail bill were passed.  Catalog and other direct mail companies would close, jobs would be lost and this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Think about this from the manufacturer on down, less to manufacture, less need for transportation to merchants.  Less packages shipped.  The list goes on.

Couple that with the fact that this bill is highly visible to our entire country and you risk setting a spiraling precedent that will change the landscape of mail order companies nationwide.

Lawmakers in Florida, and national should encourage their constituents to use the services that are already available.  This is not something that needs legislation.  

The following organizations already have mail suppression lists.  As a direct marketer I encourage you to get on it if you do not want to receive direct mail  

As a mailer, please use these organizations suprression files.  You don’t want to mail people who won’t respond to your offer anyway right?

They are: 

http://www.catalogchoice.org/

http://www.dmachoice.org/

Furthermore, the environmental lobby is wrong.  Here are some facts from the Direct Marketing Association that you probably already know, but I wanted to refresh your memory on

Facts About Direct Mail  

Some people come to the DMAchoice mail preference service planning on completely stopping all the direct mail they receive, because they think that doing so will help save paper and the environment. But before you do this, here are some numbers you may find interesting.  

 

1. Direct mail is a green way to shop. If Americans replaced two trips to the mall each year with shopping by catalog, we’d reduce our number of miles driven by 3.3 billion—a 3 billion pound reduction in carbon dioxide and a savings of $650 million on gas alone.
2. Mail represents only 2.4% of America’s municipal waste stream.
3. The production of household advertising mail consumes only 0.19% of the energy used in the United States.
4. Mail is made from a renewable resource. The vast majority of paper produced in America today comes from trees grown for that specific purpose. The forest industry ensures that the number of trees each year is increasing, so trees are not a depleting resource. In fact, forest land in the United States has increased by 5.3 million acres in the past three decades.
5. Direct mail is critical to the economic well-being of communities, businesses and charities throughout the United States. Last year it represented more than $686 billion in sales, supporting jobs at more than 300,000 small businesses across the country.

 

The following is a list of contacts you can reach out to….

Committee contacts follow. Try the district office first and then the Capitol. 

 

Trudi Williams Chair 
850 488-2047 – Capitol 
239 433-6775 – District 
Trudi.williams@myfloridahouse.gov 

Ralph Poppell Vice Chair 
850 488-3006 – Capitol 
321 383-5151 – District 
Ralph.poppell@myfloridahouse.gov 

Mary Brandenburg Minority Ranking Member and bill sponsor 
850 488-0260 – Capitol 
561 540-1157 – District 
Mary.brandenburg@myfloridahouse.gov 

Leonard Bembry 
850 488-7870 – Capitol 
850 973-5630 – District 
Leonard.bembry@myfloridahouse.gov 
Debbie Boyd 
850 488-9835 – Capitol 
386 454-5407 – District 
Debbie.boyd@myfloridahouse.gov 
Dwight Bullard 
850 488-5430 – Capitol 
305 234-2208 – District 
Dwight.bullard@myfloridahouse.gov 
Rachel Burgin 
850 488-9910 – Capitol 
813 740-7655 – District 
Rachel.burgin@myfloridahouse.gov 
Steve Crisafulli 
850 488-4669 – Capitol 
321 449-5111 – District 
Steve.crisafulli@myfloridahouse.gov 
Faye Culp 
850 488-2770 – Capitol 
813 272-2920 – District 
Faye.culp@myfloridahouse.gov 
Brad Drake 
850 488-4726 – Capitol 
850 892-8431 – District 
Brad.drake@myfloridahouse.gov 
Greg Evers 
850 488-8188 – Capitol 
850 983-5550 – District 
Greg.evers@myfloridahouse.gov 
Rich Glorioso 
850 488-0807 – Capitol 
813 757-9110 – District 
Rich.glorioso@myfloridahouse.gov 
Mia Jones 
850 488-6893 – Capitol 
904 924-1615 – District 
Mia.jones@myfloridahouse.gov 
Debbie Mayfield 
850 488-0952 – Capitol 
772 778-5077 – District 
Debbie.mayfield@myfloridahouse.gov 
Mark Pafford 
850 488-0175 – Capitol 
561 682-0156 – District 
Mark.pafford@myfloridahouse.gov 
Jimmy Patronis 
850 488-9696 – Capitol 
850 914-6300 – District 
Jimmy.patronis@myfloridahouse.gov 
Ron “Doc” Renuart 
850 488-0001 – Capitol 
904 270-2550 – District 
Ronald.renuart@myfloridahouse.gov 
Ron Schultz 
850 488-0805 – Capitol 
352 860-5160 – District 
Ron.schultz@myfloridahouse.gov

Update: the FL “do not mail” House vote scheduled for Tuesday is NOT happening

The Do Not Call bill in front of the FL House is off the schedule for now.  Thanks.  Please keep the pressure up on FL lawmakers.

Meanwhile, one of the non-government groups that offers opt out for direct mail, www.mailmovesamerica.org, has this information on their website.  I hope this clears up any misconceptions about the direct mail business you may have. (for Florida specific info click here for a fact sheet)

 

Do Not Mail proposals would cost American jobs.  More than 3.5 million Americans have jobs that are directly or indirectly supported by advertising mail.  Banning advertising mail would be a bad idea in good economic times, but it is a terrible idea during the economic crises currently facing the United States.

Do Not Mail proposals would damage the economy further.  In 2008, advertising mail contributed more than $702 billion in increased sales to the economy. 

Do Not Mail proposals would hurt small businesses.  More than 300,000 American small businesses rely on advertising mail to reach potential customers.  For small mom and pop shops, florists, mechanics, landscapers and corner coffee shops, advertising mail is often the only affordable and effective means of advertising available.

Do Not Mail proposals would hurt your postal service.  According to U.S. Postal Service estimates, a federal Do Not Mail statute could cost the postal service between $4 billion and $10 billion annually.  To make up for that lost revenue, the Postal Service would need to dramatically raise postal rates, cut jobs or cut back on services.

• Do Not Mail proposals would not save trees.  Nearly all paper used for advertising mail is generated from sustainably managed forests where trees are planted, harvested and re-planted solely for the use of paper and wood products.  Thanks to these forestry practices, there are more forests in the United States today than there were 50 years ago.

Do Not Mail proposals are unnecessary.  There are plenty of free options already available to Americans wishing to reduce their advertising mail. 

• Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service (MPS) at http://www.dmachoice.org/.
• To reduce credit and insurance offers, visit www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5OPT-OUT (888-567-8688)
• Contact companies directly and ask to be taken off their mailing list.

 

Three Ways to Cut Customer Acquisition Costs

A few weeks ago, I discussed some powerful resources for finding obscure mailing lists that may not be on the traditional list rental market. This week, let’s take these resources a step further. 

With response rates down and expenses up, now is a great time for you to look at alternative ways to acquire customers and even lower your customer acquisition costs. Again, the resources are:

* Belcaro Shop at Home (www.shopathome.com)

* Catalogs.com (www.catalogs.com)

* Greyhouse publishing (www.greyhouse.com/marketing.htm)

One other method I didn’t mention last week is through magazines that target your particular niche. You’d be surprised at how many other companies there are out there with products that have an affinity to yours and that would be open to a marketing partnership.

Here are some examples of the types of programs you can set up with other catalogers:

1. List exchanges. The most obvious way is to exchange housefile names (both offline and online). This will eliminate most of the cost of renting those names. To keep things running smoothly, once you work out your arrangement with the other list owner, you can have your list broker work this like a regular list order. Your broker will charge you a nominal fee for this, called an exchange rate.

2. Package inserts. Trading off space in outbound package inserts can be an excellent source of both leads and orders. Just like paid-package insert programs, set up tracking codes and test creative and offers. For offers, try testing a catalog request vs. a direct sale of a hybrid of each. As for finding companies to trade with, use the above-mentioned sources. Or, your list broker can help you make contact with the list owners of some of the lists you rent (ones that don’t already have a package insert program running).

3. Endorsed deals. Endorsements allow you to provide your customers with items that are complimentary to your products, thus creating goodwill. Endorsement programs can be as simple as sending out an e-mail or postcard to your customers with a recommendation, or as complex as elaborate syndication programs with revenue sharing. How you structure your deal is dependent on what you and the other marketing team can dream up.

Some other ideas include a store within a store, trading pages within your respective catalogs, or selling other marketers’ products on your Web site and vice versa. The sky’s the limit here. Other Considerations Do your due diligence on the company you’re considering partnering with. Carefully review its Web site, product offerings, customer service, etc. Make sure your potential partner company’s quality is of the same level as yours.

Also, structure these types of partnerships as any other test. Use the smallest possible circulation/sample to test the waters before rolling out.

I had a client once who thought he had a slam-dunk co-marketing program. The other company offered his company a free test of 50,000 names. After much back and forth, I convinced his company to mail only 5,000 names. Good thing. The test bombed! And by mailing one-tenth as many names in the test, his company lost far less than it could have. Two words: Be careful!

Blogging, it’s a give to get thing

Blogging has been a super powerful tool for me as part of my overall networking strategy. I do plenty of in person networking (as a board member of FDMA). But I much prefer the new fangled way. So here, take these steps. And Shhh, don’t tell anybody about this, ok?

1. Link your blog to your Linkedin (LI) profile page (very easy to do with WordPress)

2. Join as many Linkedin groups as you can (50 is max). Try to join groups that compliment your skills. For instance: I am a direct marketing consultant. I belong to many direct marketing groups. But, graphic designers can also recommend my services, so i belong to a graphic design group. Get the picture?

3. Use the LI “news” feature in groups to add your blog posts as news.

4. Use the discussions to add value to groups you belong to and always add your blog’s url.

5. When I started my blog, I used the Q&A function of (LI) to ask people to check out my blog and tell me what they thing.

6. Also in LI Q&A, answer questions that you have a good feel for (and always add your blog URL.

7. Back to your LI profile page. you have 3 links you can add. I have my blog, my Twitter feed and my Magazine column with links. 8. Regarding blog content, I write and post articles that add value to my intended audience. (people who could use my direct marketing agency/consulting services). Don’t post garbage or fluff.

8A. Make sure your blog has RSS and it is in a prominent position on all pages. People will subscribe your your blog.

9. Tweet your articles when you post them. use the Status feature of LI to update people on your articles.

9A. Send your posts out to your facebook connections. And join facebook groups and push out there too.

10. I also am a member of Plaxo (good for pushing articles to your connections), Biznik (can post articles there too, but without links back to your blog which pisses me off to no end)

11. Lastly, and someone else can address this. Use feeds to get your blog out there like Technorati, Delicious, etc.

Wow, I gave away the farm here. Final thought. Blogging and promoting your blog is a “give-to-get” thing. The more you give away your expertise, the more you get back.

How to Build a Personal and Business Following on Twitter

If you’re not already familiar with it, Twitter is an interesting microblogging application that allows you to send small messages — called “tweets” — to people’s cell phones and Twitter homepages. These messages are limited to 140 characters, the maximum length of an SMS text message. 

I’ve been using Twitter for a short time now and have built up more than 100 followers. Many followers subscribe to my Twitter feed unsolicited. 

Here are some basic Twitter tips for either building a personal following or marketing your business: 

Build a personal following:

1. Speak in your own voice. Add in your own personality and flavor. Offer insights, but keep them relevant and topical. 

2. Tweet articles of interest. I do a lot of writing, so I’m always tweeting links to my articles. If you or your company has a blog, by all means post links to it. 

3. If you see an article that you think will be useful to your followers, post that, too. Many people post random thoughts. I’m not a fan of this. Keep it on topic and true to your mission. 

4. Forward other peoples’ tweets — also known as retweeting. If you receive a tweet that warrants forwarding, do it. Add “RT” (for retweet) before the text. 

5. Add your Twitter URL (mine is http://www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect) to your e-mail signature. This will remind people to look there for updates from you. 

6. If you use LinkedIn, use its Blog Link application. This enables you to connect your LinkedIn account with your Twitter feed. Another social networking site, Plaxo, also enables you to connect with your Twitter feed. 

Market your business:

1. Call out and provide specials to your customers. Make sure these are real-time specials or offers. However, try to not be too pushy. Fit the offers and specials into the context of your customer conversation, and don’t overpromote. 

2. Link to your blog. Same concept as personal tweeting above. Stay on topic. 

3. Tweet news and information about your company and products. New products, company news, press releases, corporate milestones, testimonials and “meet-the-employee” articles are great examples of things to tweet. Anything you think will get people both familiar and, more importantly,emotionally involved with your brand. 

4. Ask questions. Twitter, like any social network, is all about conversation. Make sure you have someone who can spend time working with your followers to answer their questions. Engage your followers to provide information about how to make your company even better. And, harnessed correctly, Twitter can be an exceptional customer service tool as well. 

5. Encourage your employees to create Twitter accounts as well. This will create more than one voice for your company. Have them add their Twitter addresses to their e-mail signatures. 

6. Add Twitter badges to your Web site. This enables customers and prospects to easily follow in on the fun.

Use Contribution-Based Marketing For True Measurement

Note from Jim: This week I bring you a guest column from fellow consultant and friend Bob Klapprodt. I’ve always found Bob’s analysis and circulation strategies to be right on the number. Enjoy!

For years, catalogers have used dollars-per-book as their main statistic for measuring catalog performance. As a tool for measuring gross or net demand, it’s held up well, allowing catalogers to compare list segments and the overall results of different catalogs.

But as every businessman knows, generating demand is only part of the puzzle.

Going a step further, calculating cost per acquisition (CPA) by incorporating catalog costs helps you understand the relationship between sales demand and the costs required to stimulate that demand. Many of the most successful catalogs use CPA as a regular way of doing business.

CPA can do a better job of evaluating the true performance of customer results vs. prospecting results, which have a different cost structure. You can even better evaluate the use of co-op databases, which have different results and different costs. You’d expect customers to achieve a positive CPA (or “profit”) and prospects to generate a negative or true CPA.

The formula for calculating CPA is as follows: net demand – cost of goods – mailing costs / number of orders = CPA

You now have a very useful tool for differentiating performance across list segments where the mailing costs can be significantly different. This will allow you to construct a much more effective circulation plan than just using dollars per book.

Unfortunately, while a useful tool, a CPA statistic doesn’t measure everything on the cost side of the equation. You need to look at the marketing contribution to develop a measurement standard that accurately reflects the full P&L impact of the results of your circulation strategy. Marketing contribution is defined as net demand minus costs of goods minus mailing costs minus variable fulfillment costs.

By adding the costs to take and ship an order, you create a statistic which accurately reflects the true profitability of any circulation plan and all of its components. The full name of this measurement is marketing contribution to overhead and profits. When calculated correctly, you can set contribution targets for each mailing and have instant performance indicators to be compared to your financial plan. By adding this statistic to your performance spreadsheets, you can track and review the P&L monthly, weekly or even daily. This provides much needed reaction time to adjust future plans, and in a whole new set of ways.

When you realize that marketing contribution per order (MCO) can be improved by virtually anything that goes on in a catalog business, you take the marketing department to a whole new level. Along with finding that right list, you can make a substantial improvement by being proactive on the cost side. While you’re always interested in the cost of printing, the price of paper, the negotiation of list rental charges and other mailing costs, you’re now much more aware of the impact of costs involving shipping materials and delivery costs.

By using MCO as a prime measurement factor, you can turn an entire organization into a profit-conscious, cost-efficient machine. Increases in sales and decreases in costs are immediately apparent and measurable. You can even do what-if scenarios to determine the financial impact of things like using new technology or reorganizing the fulfillment center to improve efficiency. Measurement and control is the essence of cataloging. It’s even more important in today’s business climate. It’s vital that you use the right measurement statistics.

Bob Klapprodt is the CEO of Bob Klapprodt Direct, a catalog and direct marketing consulting firm. He can be reached at bobrpk@embarqmail.com.

Why Catalogs Fail

Note from Jim: This is the second and final in a series of articles from fellow consultant Bob Klapprodt. I’ll be back with another column next week.

Why do catalogs fail? The answer is deceptively simple, while the remedy is not. 

Most catalogs fail because they walk away from the basics; they ignore the elementary economic analyses necessary to properly measure and control the business.

The Other Guy’s Model
In the vast majority of American businesses, fixed costs are high and variable costs are low. For example, in the retail arena, companies can increase sales simply by staying open longer. The variable cost may be merely the salary of a clerk for an extra hour. 

By monitoring the top line, you can fairly accurately estimate the impact on the bottom line. To increase profitability, all you need is enough incremental margin to cover low incremental costs.

Our Model
For catalogs, just the opposite is true: Fixed costs are low and variable costs are high. In the most traditional cases, the way to incremental sales is through mailing more catalogs. Mailing includes increased printing and postage costs, the two highest budget lines of a catalog operation. 

I normally provide my clients a model P&L that shows fixed costs should run around 7 percent of net sales, while mailing costs should be in the 30 percent range. Very few consumer catalogs can fit into this idealized model.

The result is that many catalogs lose sight of this and end up overmailing. Incremental margin is far outstripped by incremental costs — and this can happen in a hurry. The bottom line goes from black to red, and the catalog is in trouble. 

The beauty of direct marketing is that when a catalog is growing, you can monitor the pieces of your growth and add circulation to list segments that are performing above average. Your P&L is in the black, and life is good.

Why, then, is it so difficult to cut circ when times are bad? Why is it so difficult to monitor the impact of incremental costs that are necessary to gain incremental sales? The answer is, It’s not if you stick to the basic economic fundamentals. Go find the marketing analyst sitting in the far corner of your office; he/she has the answer. If you don’t have one of these analysts, you’re probably already in trouble and don’t know it … yet.

When times are bad, the normal response is to cut overhead. This is exactly the wrong response. Constantly monitor results at the micro level, understand when incremental costs exceed incremental margin, then react by re-evaluating your circ. Cut it when you have to. Leave your overhead alone unless you’re going out of business.

It’s All in the Analysis
The first thing I do when taking on a new client is I go back through two to three years of history and look for instances when incremental costs are too high to support the incremental margin. I’m constantly amazed by the number of times this happens. This is a very sensitive analysis; it doesn’t take much to turn the numbers red.

If you understand response curves and know how to accurately forecast your results, you don’t have to wait for a mailing response to be complete before you undertake this analysis. I’m a spreadsheet geek, so I build this measurement into all my analyses and can tell early on when things are headed south — and by how much.

How to Measure, What to Measure
If you’re a catalog owner, do the analysis. Do it every week. Constantly measure your incremental sales, and compare them to your incremental costs. And don’t forget the cost of taking and shipping an order; this can make a big difference in the results. Your bottom line will thank you.

Funny video about the disconnect between marketers and customers

FDMA Catalog Marketing Summit From The Basics to Beyond Thurs 4/16

FDMA Catalog Marketing Summit From The Basics to Beyond!

Host: Florida Direct Marketing Association

Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009
Time: 11:30am – 2:30pm
Location: Westin, Fort Lauderdale
Street: 400 Corporate Drive (I-95 and Cypress Creek Road
City/Town: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Phone: 786-357-3275
Email: info@fdma.org

REGISTER: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=c746e12a-6705-48c5-85ff-943edd040881

Description: Catalog Marketing: From the Basics and Beyond.

What does it take to manage a multi-channel catalog and thrive in this economy? Come join us on April 16 as our frank 5 person panel of experts teaches you from the inside out. Each expert has been hand chosen due to their expertise in specific area’s of catalog management. After each panelist makes their presentation, you will be able to get hands on and ask questions. Topics include: 

• Knowing your customers! – Metrics, business intelligence, LTV, and repeat behavior.
• Printing – Optimizing size, page configuration, postal discounts, co-mailing.
• Creative- designing catalogs to sell. A case study in redesign.
• Operations – Insource, outsource, case studies call call center and fulfillment.
• Lists – a broker’s inside info that will help you challenge and get more from your broker.

Speakers, 

Fatemeh Khatibloo, VP of Strategic Services Binger Catalog Marketing, Inc.
Kathy Duggan-Josephs, VP, Multichannel Marketing, RMI Direct 
Tim Holody, COO, Seta Corporation (Palm Beach Jewelry Catalog) 
Scott M. Kaczmarek, Sales Manager, Quad/Graphics, Inc.
Fred Neil, President, Spectrum Management Associates, Inc.

Moderator: Jim Gilbert, President, Gilbert Direct Marketing, Inc.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 pm Registration Check-in and Networking
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Program and Lunch
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm Expanded Bonus Speaker Tracks

Register early to avoid additional $10 walk-up fee. 

Interested in attending our Board meeting at 10:00am and learning more about getting further involved with the FDMA, please let us know at 786-357-3275.

WHEN
Thursday, April 16, 2009 11:30 AM – 2:15 PM

WHERE
Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale
400 Corporate Drive
(I-95 and Cypress Creek exit)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334

REGISTER: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=c746e12a-6705-48c5-85ff-943edd040881

The USPS Might Just Be Onto Something – A Postage Sale!

Last week, word quickly spread that the USPS is looking to offer a “summer sale” on postage for large volume mailers of Standard Mail, pending Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approval.

Friends and readers, if this is true, I’d have to say that for the first time in my career in direct marketing, the people running the USPS may be thinking like businesspeople and not as a bureaucracy.

Having gotten the following details from a mailing industry source closely involved in the negotiations with the USPS, here’s the major takeaway point: The idea is to reduce postage pricing for standard and letter mailers who increase their mail volume during the third calendar quarter of 2009 (July through September).

The idea for this “mail sale” came through Mailing Industry CEO Council meetings with Postmaster General Jack Potter. Last Friday, the postmaster general convened a smaller group of CEOs from the printing and paper industries to discuss the reactions of mailers surveyed about discounted pricing for incrementally increased volumes above an established baseline. The meeting was very productive, ending with a concept on how to stimulate mail volume during off-peak times.

To qualify for the reduced postage rate, a calculation would be performed to determine the change in a mailer’s applicable USPS volume in two specific time periods, and the variance in the number of pieces mailed between Period A and Period B would be the baseline for determining the minimum required mail volume to qualify for the discount.

Again, the program would apply to all standard mailers and letter mailers of any size — even those who may already have increased their volume. 


The USPS is going to recommend a discount ranging somewhere between 20 percent and 30 percent for this program, but we won’t know the final percentage until the time of the filing. The proposed “test pricing” will be presented to the PRC within the next three weeks. The PRC then has 45 days to rule on the proposal. If it passes, the reduced rates are anticipated to be in effect July 1 through Sept. 30. It’s possible, however, that these dates will change before implementation.

There have also been discussions about possibly repeating this “mail sale” pricing in other off-peak times in the future, perhaps in early 2010.

Video: Saturday Night Live skewers the direct marketing industry

Ok, I really have to take this with a grain of salt.  Never has a SNL sketch hit so close to home.  See it for yourself.  (when I get a chance later i may even parse out what untruths and fears that the sketch was playing on.  Got to admit I did laugh though… alot!

Check out the video  here.
SNL Direct Mail Marketers Alliance .

A message from Jim

To my readers. I will not be posting anything new this week due to a death in my family. Look for new posts starting mid next week.

Rest now Dad…  You fought hard!

Florida Direct Marketing Association Breakfast Networker May 6 in Ft Lauderdale…

Breakfast Networker

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

100% Networking. Join us for a FULL breakfast buffet and a chance to make new friends and business partners.

Seating is limited.

Location: Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale

Time: 9:00 am – 10:15am

Members $22, Non-Members $28

Register early to avoid additional $10 walk-up fee registration.

Register at www.fdma.org

NewPage To Help Catalogers Reach More Consumers (passing it on)

Note from Jim, This was sent to me from a catalog industry contact.  Not sure about the company or the offer, but passing it on anyway as it seems interesting.  Investigate wisely! MIAMISBURG, Ohio – May 1, 2009 – NewPage Corporation, a leading producer of publication papers in North America, has launched the “Free Paper to Reach More” campaign that aims to help retail catalog companies reach more consumers. The campaign will award five catalog companies with a grand-prize of 100 tons of paper to reach approximately 500,000 new prospects for a typical cataloger. NewPage developed the “Free Paper to Reach More” campaign in an effort to help catalogers expand their marketing efforts at a time when economic pressures are forcing many companies to reduce their outreach. “In today’s economic climate, catalogers face considerable challenges such as rising production costs, higher postage rates and reduced retail sales,” said Jim Sheibley, general manager for NewPage. “Subsequently, many are trimming prospecting efforts and downsizing current print runs and publications.” NewPage is committed to fostering sustainability within the catalog industry. One of those commitments is the “Free Paper to Reach More” program that will help catalogers reach additional consumers, ultimately growing their business to be more financially viable long-term. Another commitment is to providing environmentally sound products that cater to the catalog segment. NewPage has the broadest line of chain-of-custody certified and recycled papers that fit catalog specifications while demonstrating the catalog company’s environmental responsibility to their consumers. NewPage will be showcasing the campaign at the Annual Catalog Convention in New Orleans from May 4-7. Visit their booth (#901) or www.FreePaperFromNewPage.com for campaign details. About NewPage Corporation Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $4.4 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2008. The company’s product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising. NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.NewPageCorp.com.

Another Year, Another Catalog Conference, Another Dog-and-Pony Show, Another Thank You!

It’s that time of year again, readers. Catalog conference time — or to be more precise, Annual Conference for Catalog and Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) time. This year it’s in New Orleans., and despite that love New Orleans and the music especially, once again I’m not going. 

I had planned to go this year. I even set up some meetings. But then some other meetings took precedence. Truth is, however, I have mixed feelings every year about going.

What I love most about going to the ACCM and other direct marketing events is the camaraderie I feel with industry peers. To me, it’s a chance to reconnect with people I normally don’t get to see throughout the year.

Oddly enough, the people I’ll miss the most are the vendors I’ve worked with over the years. These are the people who’ve allowed me to do my job to the best of my abilities. I truly believe that the job of a direct marketer is just as much externally focused, if not more, as it is internally. 

While I’m internally responsible for my objectives and my team, it’s the vendors I choose that can make or break how the results turn out. These folks have saved me more times than I care to recall. They’ve turned me into a hero by keeping my costs in line, met some ridiculously short deadlines at times, found solutions for me that I thought didn’t exist and even played catalog psychotherapist. 

And they get very little credit for this. This is why I believe in the term “vendor-partners,” and this week, I salute them.

So to all the people in the printing, design, premedia, service bureau, co-op databases, list brokerages, etc., I’d like to use this forum to thank you for your service and your friendship. (You know who you are.)

As you’re standing on your feet all day at the conference, doing the dog-and-pony show, know that when the parties are over and your bones are aching, what you do makes us better at what we do!

On another note, the thing that I dislike about the big conferences in general is the fact that you’re bombarded with information in a super-short period if time. Some people can do “speed learning.” Personally, I can’t. I like my information and my instructions meted out in slower, smaller increments.

So if you’re not at the conference this year (or even if you are), feel free to continue reading my blog. Certainly this Website and Catalog Success magazine are great learning resources for you.

Marketing and Finance: the Peanut Butter and Jelly of Direct Marketing

Note from Jim: Today’s column is dedicated to the memory of my father and frequent business partner, Stephen Gilbert CPA, 1917 – 2009.  

Over the years, I’ve written many times about the importance of financial acumen as a core competency for direct marketing success. 

Many people seem to think direct marketing is about killer creative, or campaign management, or even great customer service. But to me, it always starts with the finances. 

If I’m writing a circulation plan, it starts with the break-even analysis, right on down to the list and list segment level. Each segment of my housefile has a P&L and breakeven attached to it, then each drop, each season and each year.  I do this in advance, even three to five years in advance, using historical numbers. And I do it before each mailing or other type of direct marketing campaign to measure the success or failure of every campaign I do.  Remember, past performance predicts future behavior!

I’m also nuts about other financial analyses, such as lifetime value, squinch (square inch for measuring catalog space usage), cash flow, balance sheets, etc.

Now with social media all the rage, and multi channel marketing being the norm for mail order, catalog and electronic retailers, the need for financial measurement and knowledge is greater then ever.

To this day, I’m amazed at how many people I work with, smart people, still want to practice direct marketing by the seat of their pants. To me, marketing just doesn’t make much sense without financial understanding….

Too many direct marketing companies think they’re brands…

Too many direct marketers think they “know” what their customers want and, hence, perform no analysis…

Just pull the trigger and see what happens!

But, there was a time in my career — when I started my first business, a publishing company — that I had no interest in the numbers. My father, a certified public accountant, took care of that, leaving me to market, sell and manage the day-to-day operations. I made many mistakes working that way, which my dad was quick to point out. So I learned, and learned quickly, thanks to him.

Many times, the disconnect between marketing and finance has been immediately evident to me the first time I walked into a company. And many times over the years I’ve brought my dad in to work with clients and client-side companies I’ve worked with. He’d communicate the top line, help organize the finances and financial analyses, and I’d address the bottom up marketing planning. Together we helped some companies turn the corner and grow, and save a few from ruin.  

Direct marketing is a numbers based business.  Don’t do the math, and there are a myriad of ways you can find yourself in jeopardy.  Does your company think that way?  It could be critical to you and your company’s success.

What is strange is that as a kid I hated numbers — I was horrible at math — but I learned much from working with my father; a patient teacher.  The principles I learned I apply every day, even passing them on to you.

I wasn’t really planning this week’s column as a tribute, but — and apologies to you for getting maybe a bit too personal — I believe it’s fitting.

We are entering a new age of direct marketing that is much more complicated.  The internet has changed everything.

If you consider the impact of multichannel marketing and social media, coupled with the degree of difficulty and challenge each of these presents in terms of financial measurement, maybe this week’s column is actually right on the money!

4 Tips Any CEO or C-Level Exec Can Take to the Bank

(originally published by Catalog Success Magazine)

Being a C-level executive these days has to be the ultimate challenge. These execs face a ton of pressure to keep their companies above water during these turbulent times. Truly, I feel for them.  

But, in many cases, my empathy for them goes only so far. Especially when C-levels exemplify what I call “ivory tower thinking.” This kind of isolation is what President Obama tried to compensate for by keeping his BlackBerry — the ability to stay in touch with people other than his high-level handlers and advisers.  

In other words, there are many people within organizations beyond the CEOs’ top advisers that can offer advice and wisdom. Getting out of the tower is critical to the success or failure of any business right now.

With this in mind, I’d like to offer four pointers for any and every CEO and C-level exec:

1. Want to know what’s going on in your organization? If you don’t already, run, don’t walk, to your call center and spend time listening to order calls, customer service calls and other inquiries. (I’ll devote a series to this in the near future.) I guarantee you’ll be enlightened and find ways to improve your product(s) and service.
2. Talk to your call-center staff — especially the front-line reps. These people are the true unsung heroes in your companies, and they intimately know what’s right and wrong with your products and service.
3. Once your eyes have been opened by listening to your customers and reps, force everybody in the company to spend a day in the call center, too. Write it into law that every manager and above must spend one day in the call center every six months — or quarterly, and force your marketing staff to listen monthly. Make it mandatory for new hires.
4. Embrace social media. Through my own research, I’ve found that most marketers who’ve traditionally sold via catalog are behind their online-only counterparts on social media adoption. Why? Fear. If you think your call center is a great learning experience, try developing social media tools to monitor your reputation by listening to the social media chatter about your company. What you learn may be the ruthless truth about your company, products and service, and how they’re actually viewed by people who speak the truth.

Beware though, you may have to take specific actions based on what you learn. But then again, that’s the point of getting “out there.” Back in the ’80s I was a huge Tom Peters fan; he called this process, “management by wandering around.”

Update on the US Post Office Summer Direct Mail Sale

Recently the USPS was onsidering a postal sale to stimulate more mail traffic.  It looks like we in the direct marketing industry are gettting closer to seeing this sale become a reality.  The BOG (USPS Board of Governors) has approved this event and now it needs to go before the PRC (postal rate commission) for final approval.  I applaud the Post Office for beginning to think like businesspeople and marketers and taking the initiative.  

Here is the latest info – http://www.the-dma.org/postal/. 

Your help is needed to make the summer sale a reality!  See the below letters to use in order to make this sale go into effect.

Letter for participating mailers
The Honorable Dan Blair
Chairman
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001

Re:   Docket No. R2009-3
        
Dear Chairman Blair,

I am writing to express my personal support and that of (NAME OF COMPANY) for the Postal Service’s proposed Summer Sale Program, Docket R2009-3.   I urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to move expeditiously in endorsing the program as presented by the Postal Service.
 
The impact of the economic downturn on the Service’s current financial situation, which has been well documented at Congressional hearings and in the press, is a reflection of conditions throughout the mailing community.  The Summer Sale proposed by the Postal Service provides a thoughtful and unique opportunity without an infusion of tax dollars to stimulate this important segment of our nation’s economy.  
 
Our company plans to avail itself of this opportunity.  We are currently in the process of determining the amount of additional volume we will be sending through the Postal Service and are in discussions with our suppliers and service providers regarding our plans as we prepare to order supplies and products to increase our mail volume.  We do not have the luxury to wait if we want to take advantage of even part of the summer sale.
 
[NAME OF COMPANY] enthusiastically endorses the Summer Sale Program as proposed and urges the Commission to endorse the Summer Sale as submitted since many mailers have begun ordering supplies and product to take advantage of it.  Please include this letter in the public record for Docket No. R2009-3.

Sincerely,

XX

Letter for vendors
The Honorable Dan Blair
Chairman
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001

Re:   Docket No. R2009-3
        
Dear Chairman Blair,

I am writing to express my personal support and that of (NAME OF COMPANY) for the Postal Service’s proposed Summer Sale Program, Docket R2009-3.   I urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to move expeditiously in endorsing the program as presented by the Postal Service.
 
The impact of the economic downturn on the Service’s current financial situation, which has been well documented at Congressional hearings and in the press, is a reflection of conditions throughout the mailing community.  The Summer Sale proposed by the Postal Service provides a thoughtful and unique opportunity without an infusion of tax dollars to stimulate this important segment of our nation’s economy.

Although our company is not a mailer, we assist mailers creating mail to be entered in the mail stream and, thus, anticipate a rebound in our business from our mailer partners who can take advantage of the summer sale.  We also believe that the Commission’s expeditious endorsement of the Summer Sale will lay a foundation for similar opportunities next year and beyond in which we expect many more mailers to be in a better position to participate.

[NAME OF COMPANY] enthusiastically endorses the Summer Sale Program as proposed and urges the Commission to endorse the Summer Sale as submitted since many mailers have begun ordering supplies and product to take advantage of it.  Please include this letter in the public record for Docket No. R2009-3.

Sincerely 

XX

Letter for nonparticipating mailers:
The Honorable Dan Blair
Chairman
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001

Re:   Docket No. R2009-3
        
Dear Chairman Blair,

I am writing to express my personal support and that of (NAME OF COMPANY) for the Postal Service’s proposed Summer Sale Program, Docket R2009-3.   I urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to move expeditiously in endorsing the program as presented by the Postal Service.
 
The impact of the economic downturn on the Service’s current financial situation, which has been well documented at Congressional hearings and in the press, is a reflection of conditions throughout the mailing community.  The Summer Sale proposed by the Postal Service provides a thoughtful and unique opportunity without an infusion of tax dollars to stimulate this important segment of our nation’s economy.  

Although it does not appear at this time that our company can take advantage of the in the 2009 sale, we believe it will lay a foundation for similar opportunities next year and beyond in which we will be better positioned to participate.

[NAME OF COMPANY] enthusiastically endorses the Summer Sale Program as proposed and urges the Commission to endorse the Summer Sale as submitted since many mailers have begun ordering supplies and product to take advantage of it.  Please include this letter in the public record for Docket No. R2009-3.

Sincerely

XX

9 Ways to Use Twitter as a Marketing Tool

(Note from Jim – article originally written for Catalog Success Magazine)

It seems that Twitter is all the rage these days. The topic seems to polarize people: Some find it a useful and productive marketing tool, while others find it a waste of time and “much ado about nothing.” I fall more into the first group, in that I remain cautiously optimistic. I use Twitter to build my personal brand (www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect) and drive traffic to my blog.  

In this multiple channel, integrated world, I see Twitter as a great tool to help you engage your prospects and customers and take them to the next level. Turn prospects into customers, customers into advocates. Above all else, ask for and receive the much needed feedback a 21st century company needs to thrive.

The following are nine quick tips on how to use Twitter to your benefit:

1. Call out and provide specials to your customers. Make sure these are real-time specials or offers, but try to not be too pushy. Fit the offers and specials into the context of your customer conversation; don’t overpromote. 

2. Let people know when to expect their catalogs.  

3. Drive prospects to catalog request and/or e-mail sign-up pages.

4. Link to and broadcast your blog posts. These are great ways to keep people informed. 

5. Tweet news and information about your company and products. New products, company news, press releases, corporate milestones, testimonials and “meet-the-employee” articles are great examples of things to tweet. Anything you think will get people both familiar and, more importantly, emotionally involved with your brand is worth your while. 

6. Ask questions. Twitter, like any social network, is all about conversation. Have someone who can spend time working with your followers to answer their questions. Engage your followers to provide information about how to make your company even better. If harnessed correctly, Twitter can be an exceptional customer service tool as well. 

7. Encourage key employees to open Twitter accounts as well, creating more than one voice for your company. Have them add their Twitter addresses to their e-mail signatures. 

8. Add Twitter badges to your Web site. This enables customers and prospects to easily join in on the fun.

9. Add Twitter links and badges to all of your outgoing promotions and collateral. Build Twitter into your branding.

Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert. You can e-mail him atjimdirect@aol.com, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect or read his blog athttp://gilbertdirectmarketing.wordpress.com. 

FDMA Annual Summit a Success!

We had over 90 attendees at the FDMA annual summit.  Here is a sample of what we saw, Jeff Yaniga’s powerpoint presentation on Using Twitter For Business.  Great stuff!  Enjoy and have a great weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Karen Talavera’s presentation on Beyond Integration: Welcome to Marketing Fusion.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Peter Leshaw’s Presentation on Understanding social media, social networking and social marketing

 

Peter Leshaw's presentation click here to view

A Case Study in Brand Differentiation (in multichannel direct marketing)

Jim’s note: Originally written for Catalog Success Magazine.

As a long-time “big and tall shopper,” I only shop from a handful of companies. Two of these happen to be Rochester Big and Tall and Casual Male XL. While owned by the same company, both have positioned themselves to different segments of the big and tall market. Rochester sells more upscale, pricier, higher-end merchandise, while Casual Male offers more affordable apparel. In my opinion, both have done an excellent job of differentiating themselves brandwise on their Web sites and in their stores with the products they offer.

With so little to choose from as a certified “big guy,” I buy from both and am on both of their e-mail lists. This week I received e-mails from both companies, and to my amazement — and a bit of horror — they were essentially the same message and offer. Both carried the same subject line (We want you back! SAVE 20% NOW on your order), showing up in my inbox on the same day within a few hours of each other. And when you open them, you get the same offer (although Casual Male’s offer allows you to “grab” a coupon).

I assume that other big and tall folks out there got the same offer as well. So doesn’t this work directly against their branding? Am I hypersensitive to this because I’m in the business? Does this matter to the average consumer? Take a look at the e-mails for yourself below, and let me know your thoughts.

A client vendor negotiations video that’s LOL funny (see if you’re guilty of any of these)

This is a good one.  A hysterical video on client vendor relationships and payments.  I don’t know about you but I may be guilty of some of these tactics.  Thanks to the videographers for calling us out.  

Got a favorite client/vendor horror story? Post it in the comments section.

Evolution, Revolution: Attention All Marketers – Change Is Gonna Come (and ROI Will Follow)

Note from Jim: Originally written for All About ROI, the newly branded and revamped Catalog Success Magazine.

As we near the end of the first decade of the new century (time flies right?), the direct marketing business is caught in a war that’s being played out on many fronts.

Let me put this in perspective for you: If you study history, you’ll see that at the turn of every new century comes great change. However, great change is often preceded by great turmoil. Whether it was the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century or the buildup to World War I and the Great Depression in the early 20th century, change, as they say, is gonna come.

The goal of my newly branded column — in this newly branded publication — is to help you drive as much high-quality return on investment (ROI) as possible. I’ll examine ways to do this in the ROI channels and mantra (retail/catalog, online integration) from our magazine’s tagline. I’ll also talk change on a continual basis so you can adapt and thrive.

The point is, we face several threats, many of which are actually opportunities in disguise. And the opportunities are considerable:

* Social Media: You must adopt social media as a tool for engaging your customers and prospects alike, both from a marketing and customer service perspective. New customers are just, if not more, as likely to seek out information from peer groups as they are from product research. This column will discuss strategies for blogging, message boards, video, Web site product reviews, Twitter, Facebook, and more going forward.

* Direct Mail (part 1) — Push Me, Pull You: The chatter I hear every day is that direct mail is dead. Mostly, this is perpetuated by pure-play Internet folks who believe marketing is all about “pull” rather than “push.” I recall in the not too distant past when direct marketers were looked upon by brand marketers as the redheaded stepchildren of the marketing community. Of course, the Internet leveled this playing field, and now all marketers need to be direct marketers to survive. Curiously, the next generation of marketers — weaned on the Internet — see us much the same way.

Funny how things turn. For without the principles of direct marketing, these same Internet marketers would’ve gone the way of the dinosaurs (oops, I meant sock puppets). For a direct marketer to drive consistent ROI, all marketing channels must work together. I’m a big fan of “why can’t we all just get along,” and will go to considerable lengths in this column to create synergy in all channels and with all people.

* Direct Mail (part 2) — Let’s Get Personal: Also part of the chatter I hear is that the death of direct mail has to do with the process itself. Technology exists today to use personalization to increase engagement and, in turn, response rates and ROI. But is it being used? Sadly, many companies aren’t adopting technology. I’ll delve further into personalization, segmentation, PURLS (personalized URLs) and landing pages in this column.

* Direct Mail (part 3) — Revenge of the Tree Huggers: More and more the direct mail industry is being attacked by environmentalists who believe direct mail destroys trees and the planet. Activists are trying to get “do-not-mail” bills passed on a daily basis. Most of these people have no clue about the actual impact of direct mail on the environment (or lack thereof as the case may be) and are just jumping on the bandwagon because it seems like the right thing to do (or they hate junk mail). Our goal as direct marketers, both offline and online, is to mail to relevant customers and prospects. I’ll address how to mail smarter in this column, and you can bet that I’ll loudly voice my opinion against anyone who says the wrong thing about our industry.

* And Then There’s the Economy: People are sitting on the sidelines and not buying. Spending habits, especially around credit purchases, are changing rapidly. I’ll discuss how this affects your business and how to market smarter in troubled economic times. Here’s a hint: People are still buying! Find them, and coddle them. Hint No. 2: Many companies have made fortunes in bad times. You can, too!

* And Lastly, Mobile: Are you prepared for the next channel to open and open big? Over the next few years, mobile will need to be harnessed if you plan on surviving.

Florida Direct Marketing Association & Jim Gilbert: The Second Half… Meet or beat your 2009 estimates & look like a superstar!

Jim Gilbert and the FDMA are please to announce another great learning opportunity for you on June 18th.

The Second Half: Meet or beat your 2009 estimates and look like a superstar!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

While it feels like 2009 has only started, we’re actually halfway through the year. At this point the FDMA asks you:

• Are you on track to meet or beat your forecasts? 
• What can you do to drive in more sales? 
• What programs both online and offline can you test, and test quickly to increase sales? 
• Are you drowning in a sea of online numbers and are not sure which are the most meaningful to track?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, this is the one FDMA session you do not want to miss. We have two great presentations lined up for you.

Register now at www.fdma.org

PRESENTATION 1 – Leave NO Stone unturned – 50 tips, tricks and ideas you can take to the bank. (12:30 – 1:30pm)

Presented by Jim Gilbert, Author, Direct Marketing Professor and Consultant.

In this presentation, Jim Gilbert will leverage his 20+ years experience in teaching direct marketing companies how to increase sales – by providing you with marketing program ideas that are simple and quick to execute.

Jim’s presentation will address consumer and B2B, online and offline, lead gen and direct sales strategies and tactics – in short – marketing programs you may have missed. He will engage you in “operation turned stone”, an opening for you to look for breakthrough opportunities in your company to “find” missing revenue. 

You are guaranteed to takeaway between 5 and 10 action items to beat your forecasts with.

PRESENTATION 2 – Interactive Metrics – What You Really Need to Know (1:30 – 2:15pm)

Presented by Maria Harrison President/Owner of iClarity.

In this informative presentation, Maria Harrison will take you through the good, the bad and the ugly of interactive metrics. Interactive marketing is a double-edged sword when it comes to metrics. 

Just because everything can be counted, doesn’t mean it’s important in making business decisions that will help you have a positive impact on your interactive marketing initiatives. 

Ms. Harrison will show you how simplistic interactive metrics can really be, how to set benchmarks, and develop meaningful executive dashboards that will help you make the right decisions to improve your interactive marketing efforts. She will define some basic interactive metric terms and teach you how to immediately apply those metrics to your business. 

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 pm Registration Check-in and Networking
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm Annoucements, Lunch, Netowrkign at Table
12:30 pm Presentation by Jim Gilbert
1:30 pm Presentation by Maria Harrison
2:15 pm Program ends.

Register early to avoid additional $10 walk-up fee. Register now at www.fdma.org

Interested in attending our Board meeting at 10:00am and learning more about getting further involved with the FDMA, please let us know at 786-357-3275.

WHEN
Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM

WHERE
Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale
400 Corporate Drive
(I-95 and Cypress Creek exit)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334

When Disaster Strikes: Jim’s 5th Annual Preparedness Guide to Surviving a Disaster

It’s June here in South Florida — ah yes, that wonderful time of year for electrical storms, hurricanes, 100-degree temperatures and 90 percent-plus humidity.   And it’s time for me to publish my annual guide for surviving a business disaster.

Much like a four-letter word, disasters happen in all forms just about anywhere — without warning, at any time. So prepare your company and yourself. Here’s a disaster-readiness checklist I suggest you look over carefully. If you think you’re on top of this, I recommend you compare your list to this one to ensure you have all bases covered.

1. Have a business survival disaster plan in place. Get your department heads involved as stakeholders. Let your employees know what happens if …

2. Publish a list of all emergency contact numbers for your key personnel and vendors. Include home and cell phone numbers, and home e-mail addresses as alternative ways of contact if main communication channels go down. And don’t forget IM and SKYPE addresses, as well as text messages, as alternative means to communicate during a disaster.

3. Designate someone in your company as chief disaster planning officer.

4. Back up your computers and computer systems regularly. Then back up your backups, and keep them off-site. Personally, I have two backup drives and all my files backed up on DVDs. Remember, there are two kinds of computer users: those who have lost data, and those who will lose it. I fall into the first category: Two weeks ago one of my backup drives failed with more than 750 gigabytes of data on it. Luckily, while I lost three-quarters of a terabyte of data, I had almost all of it backed up to DVDs. I’m one of the fortunate ones. I lost a little, not a lot.

5. Work with your call center to make sure it can operate if disaster strikes. If you use an external call center, inquire about its disaster plan.

6. If your call center is on-site, consider hiring a backup call-center staff to field calls in case of emergency (this one saved my client’s bacon a few years ago).

7. If you host your own Web site, have a plan in place if the lights go out. Find out what your ISP does if it loses its electricity.

8. If your business is in a disaster-prone area, buy a generator.

9. If your business isn’t in a disaster-prone area, contact any vendors that are. Disasters, either natural or man-made, can interrupt your workflow with printers, the post office and all other vendors.

10. Don’t mail into disaster-impacted areas, because they won’t respond.

11. If you’ve already mailed and a disaster occurs, adjust your projections downward.

Bottom line for all this, remember my motto (or is it the Boy Scout motto?) ALWAYS BE PREPARED!

DO YOU HAVE A DISASTER PLAN?  FEEL FREE TO ADD TO THIS LIST BY POSTING A COMMENT BELOW…

I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!

OK, that’s it. I’m done!  I’m mad enough again to take a stand! (you can too, see how below)

I’ve officially had enough, and I’m done sitting around letting it happen. This morning I paid $2.79/gallon for regular unleaded gas.  That’s $1.10 more that I was paying for gas in December 08.  It’s happening again.  Why?  Is there some shortage on oil?

Or is it just summer driving season, and the powers that be are out to make the most profits they can?  According to sources, there is no actual reason, other than investment run ups that is driving up prices.  If that’s true, we have a problem.

Today, I’m forgetting my column on marketing and imploring you to take a stand. If you don’t want to take a stand — if you haven’t had enough of being gouged at the pump — please stop reading right here. Come back next week, and we can discuss marketing.  Right now I am deeply concerned that oil prices are going to drive the economy back to ground zero again.

I can assure you that if we don’t take a stand on this issue, very soon there may not be a direct marketing industry. Frankly folks, we live in an oil-based economy, and there’s little we can do about it. Right?

Wrong.

There’s a reason ExxonMobil is the most profitable company on the planet. And no, I’m not singling out that one company. And I’m not for government controlling commerce, or profits, or even getting involved and regulating business. But really, enough is enough. Hey ExxonMobil, why don’t you create some good will and PR for yourselves and give some profits back during what’s seen as a time of crisis?

So here’s my stand. I’m calling on you and myself to act now, before someone on TV starts priming us for $6 gas prices for next summer’s driving season. Here’s a list of things you can do to help take a stand.

1. Make your voice heard, and contact your government officials. Here’s a link so you don’t even have to look for it: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml . I don’t care about your party affiliation or if you even have one. If you’re for alternative energy, say so! If you’re for more oil exploration within our country, say so! If you think the government is conspiring with big oil, speak your mind.

2. Drive less!

3. Car pool if you can. OK, I hate this idea. I love the solitude of my drive to and from work. But the less gas we use, the larger the message we send to the oil industry.

4. Tell everybody you know to take a stand. It’s your right to make our country better!

Maybe you won’t want to read my column anymore. Maybe you don’t think this commentary belongs in a catalog marketing forum. To you I say, sorry and too bad. You think your costs are high now? Very shortly you’re going to see an explosion in all of your expenses, thanks to the fact that everything you do requires fuel and transportation.

I’m doing my part by writing this article and practicing numbers one through four above. I’m part of the solution. I’m not sitting back and just taking whatever is dished out and accepting it!

How about you?  Post your comments below…

Some more details: http://money.aol.com/article/oil-prices-soar-above-71-hit-2009-high/520341