Cover Story: Finding the Perfect Balance

Yet, according to Marshall, the catalog "tends to be more of a shopping experience," while the Web site is more of a buying experience. "Nobody pages through a Web site like they do a catalog."

While continuing to tilt the balance of catalog mailings more heavily to customers than prospects, Gaiam has cut its frequency this year from 24 to 14 mailings. That reflects the discontinuation of the Gaiam Living Arts spin-off title. "We wanted to reduce our overall impact on the environment," Marshall says, "so we consolidated the main catalog and Living Arts to one slightly larger book called Gaiam Living."