Three Tips from Catalog Veteran Morlee Griswold, Catalog Director, Patagonia

Moderate and steady wins the race. “Successful direct marketing is mainly about just plodding along,” Griswold notes. “If you add 5 percent to 10 percent to your housefile every year, that moderate, steady growth will serve you well.” Her basics for steady growth are as follows: 1) Get the printed pieces in the mail. 2) Be ready and able to answer phones and take orders — which means having a 24/7 Web site ordering mechanism and an overflow call center. 3) And be prepared to ship the merchandise.