So you say you own a small business and want to start marketing through direct mail? Good for you.
But where do you start? One of the first things to do is go down to your local post office and get a copy of the free booklet: "The Guide to Mailing for Businesses and Organizations." It will tell you what services are available— and how to save money on them.
For example, let’s say you’re mailing 1,000 pieces in your local area for a cost of $150. The booklet advises you to:
*Mail two to four times a year to make the mailings more cost effective.
*Pre-print mailing labels with a $150-a-year permit imprint so you won't be charged for postage until you enter your mail at a Bulk Mail Entry Unit.
*Purchase inexpensive presort software that provides address labels with barcodes in presort sequence— and mailing documentation. This can let you mail at the lower automation rate and save as much as eight cents per piece.
*Take your mailing to a Bulk Mail Entry Unit located in a postal service Sectional Center Facility (these centers process mail on its way to the delivery post office. This qualifies you for an additional Destination Sectional Center Facility discount.
This guide also gives the skinny on all sorts of things, like how to get volume discounts. While many think this is only available to only the really, really big mailers, you can get discounts for standard mail volumes as small 200 pieces and first class volumes as small as 500, noted Joel Walker, USPS customer service support analyst, this
The manual also includes tidbits like when it makes sense to accept mail at one post office from where your permit is not necessarily issued and truck it to another, says Walker.
Or, if you're a small mailer targeting your local area, you probably want to know that it pays to presort.
Under certain circumstances, a SOHO operation can send out 100 letters locally, paying only 1.8 cents per piece versus 3.5 cents per piece if they don't, added Don Hindman, Pitney Bowes' director of US customer marketing.
On Sept. 22, the last day of the National Postal Forum in Washington, DC, the USPS is hosting Small Business Day, which will have speakers and workshops just for small business owners and managers.
The event will include a vendor exhibit geared for companies that operate on a small scale, as well as information on marketing and fulfillment strategies. Breakout sessions on topics like creating demand will also be featured, and attendees will have the chance to meet officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration and local postal service managers like Jerry Lane, manager, capitol metro operations.
If you still need help, you can always turn to mailing agents, says Walker. These businesses can perform everything from lettershop services to picking up mail, transporting them to bulk mail centers, advising them on strategies and so forth. These companies can be found locally in the yellow pages or online.
Check out www.usps.com/homearea/sitedirectory.htm#small for more information on what services the USPS offers smaller mailers.
