USPS “No 2010 Rate Increase”: The Loophole and a Call to Action

Just when I thought it was safe to believe in the U.S. Postal Service, I find out this lovely tidbit of information: Despite Postmaster General John Potter’s grand statement (or was it a grandstanding statement) that there’d be no postal rate increase in 2010, there’s a giant loophole.

Dear Mr. Postmaster General, you’ve started a trend… but…

A week ago the USPS Postmaster General sent out a memo stating there would be no postal increase for direct mailers in 2010. We must make our voice heard and hold their feet to the fire to keep the direct and catalog marketing business moving. Therefore I wrote the letter below to the USPS. I urge you to send in your own letter, or use/modify my letter to suit your needs. The Postmaster General’s Contact information is below…

Kudos, an open letter (and a warning) to the USPS Postmaster General (spread this around)

Over the years I’ve been super vocal about my dislike for the U.S. Postal Service and its less-than-forward-thinking bureaucracy. When it slammed direct marketers with a 20 percent postal increase back in 2007, I went (pun intended) postal on it in my Catalog Success Magazine Column… I have to applaud the USPS for its announcement last week that there would not be a postal rate increase in 2010…But along with my kudos to our Postmaster and the USPS, I also want to put them on notice…

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

While our economy is showing some signs of life, still most people I know are freaked out, totally stressed; and terrified of losing their jobs, homes and more.
It has been tough out there for direct and multichannel marketers.
But all isn’t bad. I swear!
There’s an amazing opportunity in all of this chaos to streamline your business, [...]

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

Part of that presentation dealt with improving Web marketing. 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:

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…

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

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

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…

How To Create Catalog Split Test Scenarios That Matter (part 2)

This week in the final installment of this two-part series on the value of creating mail tests that produce measurable, and telling, results for your catalog, I provide takeaway lessons from last week’s example of how one catalog company tested the profitability of using an upgraded paper stock in its catalog. I’ll also list some tips to help ensure your company is conducting productive mail tests.

The Moral of the Story…