Shipping

There’s a lot that’s already been written on both the passage of postal reform and the 2006-7 postal rate case. To your never-ending relief, I have no intention to speak to either issue here. Sure, your business life often depends on rate case. And the passage of the first new postal law in three decades is nothing to sneeze at. Nonetheless, it’s the “little stuff,” the seemingly niggling changes in postal rules and mail make-up procedures that can carry costs that might add more to the cost burden mailers have to carry than inflation-bound rate changes. As one of our board members likes to put

Say what you will about this wonderful trade we call the catalog/multichannel business, but whichever way you spin it, you can’t go very far if you’re unprofitable. That’s why above all else — the marketing, the merchandising, the creative, the e-commerce, etc. — we’re most interested in helping our readers make more money. So we bring you our annual binge of tactics and tips extracted from all of this year’s issues of Catalog Success, our weekly e-newsletter Idea Factory and our biweekly idea exchange e-newsletter, The Corner View. Our editorial staff went through every article we’ve produced this year to give you a nice,

Postal liasons from printer Quebecor World report that the following Southern California post offices have been affected by the California wildfires. Closed facilities: San Diego District: Dulzura (91917), Jamul (91935), Potrero (91963), Rancho Bernardo (92127/8), Escondido (92025), Fallbrook (92028), Palomar Mountain (92060) Pauma Valley (92061), Rancho Santa Fe (92067), San Marcos (92069), Santa Ysabel (92070), Valley Center (92082), Warner Springs (92086), Blue Jay (92317), Cedar Glen (92321), Crestline (92325), Fawnskin (92333), Green Valley Lake (92341), Lake Arrowhead (92352), Rimforest (92378), Running Springs (92382), Skyforest (92385) and Twin Peaks (92391) Los Angeles District: Malibu, CA (90265) - Malibu Colony Annex, Point Dume, La Costa

Dick Goldsmith of The Horah Group says that 81 percent of consumers like getting the mail, according to U.S. Postal Service figures. “They’re not all going to opt out of getting it,” he said. But he cautioned that he once bought his daughter something from J.Crew and continues to get a J.Crew catalog every week, “which is a waste.” He discussed the momentum of the “do-not-mail” movement during last week’s DMA07 Conference in Chicago. And you can hear the podcast interview (http://www.catalogsuccess.com/download?sid=80440) with Goldsmith and Meta Brophy from Consumers Union, as well as other on-the-scenes commentary by findiing our exclusive Best of DMA07 coverage

For as long as I can remember, legislation that would either lead to a law similar to the “do-not-call” law or that would require mailers to get consumers’ approval before sending them catalogs has been like one of those disasters you only see in the movies or TV. It could never happen in real life, no way. There often have been flashes of “do-not-mail” bill proposals, but nothing has ever become of it. Such a law is one of the biggest reasons American catalogers don’t try to mail in countries like Italy and parts of China, both of which specifically require prior consent

Last week I offered six ways to use low-cost e-mail to increase your sales; the goal being to help those of you (41 percent) who were behind their 2007 sales forecasts according to the reader poll on the CatalogSuccess.com homepage. This week, I’ll focus on print catalog-related tips to increase your revenue in the last quarter of 2007.

* Add an extra catalog to your mail schedule. Take a look at your customer file and sort it by recency/frequency/monetary (RFM) value. Are there RFM cells that are highly profitable every time you mail? These profitable RFM segments (aka your best customers) likely can handle

The 1st Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Multichannel Mailing & Marketing Practices (October 2007)

The 1st Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Multichannel Mailing & Marketing Practices (October 2007)

The 1st Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Multichannel Mailing & Marketing Practices (October 2007)

If you’re like most catalogers, you’ve either discussed giving up the use of a bind-in order form with envelope or you have already eliminated it. There’s a definite trend to eliminate the bind-in order form/envelope typically found in the center of catalogs. Is that really the right thing to do? This month, I’ll offer the pros and cons of using a bind-in order form/envelope, provide you with actual test results and give you the criteria to use to make the right decision for all the right reasons. Facts Don’t Lie I first explored this topic in a Catalog Success column back in