Consider Direct Mail
As you look through this month's issue, you should be intrigued by the number and volume of products being used in direct mail projects. Forms, form/label combinations, commercial printing, cards, labels and promotional products are all being sent to your clients' customers through the mail.
These mailings include statements, invoices, letters, brochures, sell sheets, return envelopes, membership and ID cards, and samples.
Direct mail includes the most complex products, which utilize processes such as collating, folding, affixing, diecutting, punching, gluing and imprinting. List processing is required, either by the client or through a mailing house, to sort the recipients by postal code in order to reduce mailing costs.
In some cases, specific names must be matched with particular versions of a mailing (versioning) or even with specific pieces (personalization).
Direct mail is not an easy subject to master, but for those who do, it can be lucrative. Everything related to a mailing includes value-added products. In addition, companies that market using direct mail usually send out large quantities.
Instead of dealing with a print buyer who wants to squeeze every penny out of a job, the key players with direct mail are usually in the marketing department. Their job is to produce results.
Direct mail can be a high-risk/high-reward business. Talk to suppliers, attend seminars and network with other distributors before attempting it. But, in the end, there is no product area that encompasses the printed products business more.
Bill Drennan
Editorial Director
bdrennan@napco.com