3D Printing close to becoming a household reality
What would it be like if you could order a part for your vacuum or washing machine and you received an email with instructions on how to print out your part at home, instant gratification? What if you ordered a lamp online and received an order confirmation with the instructions to print out your lamp. Sound crazy?? What if I told you the technology exists and the printer is offered as a desktop solution for only $3000? Take a look at this video featuring Lisa Harouni giving “A Primer on 3D printing”, posted on one of my favorite sites, TED talks. You will be blown away at just how close we are to this being a reality.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_harouni_a_primer_on_3d_printing.html
Latest info on Postage Rate Increase
Thursday, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) agreed the U.S. Postal Service would be allowed to raise rates on the Postal Service’s competitive shipping products. This means new prices (not lower) for Priority Mail, Express Mail and other Shipping Services. The new rates will be implemented on Jan. 2, 2011.
The decision on price increases for standard and non profit mail as well as other services is still pending.
A complete listing of 2011 prices at www.usps.com/prices.
Just a few thoughts about USP
So I was just relaxing, watching some TV on Saturday and I happened to see a commercial for Scottrade – the online trading company. You know the one, the guy is flying around in a helicopter telling you why to use Scottrade, I’ve seen it a hundred times, but this time I was listening! And do you know why you should use Scottrade, because a real person answers the phone! (Just for the record, a real person does not answer when you dial the 800 number, but a very pleasant person did answer when I was redirected to a local branch.)
So I started to think about Unique Selling Propositions (USP), and do a little research because, has it really come to this, that a company’s unique selling proposition is that a real person answers the phone?
I knew the concept of a USP has been around for a long time and is a bit controversial, but I think it is a great concept and a fairly simple approach that companies can use to improve their performance. A company’s USP will likely always be in flux as competitors improve their products and services, but companies that are always in a state of improvement typically perform better than their competitors. A couple of examples are Apple over HP, Netflix over Blockbuster.
A USP for some...
Just a bit more information about USPs-not to be confused with UPS or USPS, why does this industry love acronyms so much??
Anyway, according to Wikipedia: In the early 1940s, Ted Bates & Company carried out extensive market research on successful advertising campaigns. In particular they identified two desirable attributes: the penetration and the usage pull (Reeves 1961, p. 10).
The pattern they found among campaigns that produced a high usage pull was the basis for the theory of the USP. It may also be known as the unique selling point.
This is a good one
In Reality in Advertising (Reeves 1961, pp. 46–48) Reeves laments that the USP is widely misunderstood and gives a precise definition in three parts:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: “Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.”
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.
Clean Restrooms
Some good current examples of products with a clear USP are:
Head & Shoulders: “You get rid of dandruff”
Olay: “You get younger-looking skin”
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:
Domino’s Pizza: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it’s free.”
FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”
M&M’s: “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand”
Wonder Bread: “Wonder Bread Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways”
The USP is a handy tool and maybe if Scottrade had pondered their USP, they would give me a better reason to switch from my online broker than a live person answering the phone, especially since I do everything online. What does all this have to do with the mail, well, direct mail that utilizes a USP will deliver a more powerful message. It is not that easy to come up with a USP, but hey, like the people say, if it was easy everyone would do it!
U.S. Postmaster Signals SOS-looks like our Congress will sink the ship
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Clowngress is in session!
Read this article to see just how idiotic our congressional inquiries apparently are. Potter was there to address how to cope with the huge losses taking place at the post office. But several times the discussion was interrupted by media hungry idiots such as:
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“Chairman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) questioned the wisdom of giving Potter a $135,041 bonus, even though it is not paid by taxes, when the finances of the post office are in such dire shape. Potter’s compensation is a minuscule part of the postal service’s losses, but it was a significant part of the hearing. “
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I am not suggesting that Potter’s bonus is a drop in the bucket, but think about it he is discussing how to cut the budget by BILLIONS! Our idiot congress probably wasted $100,000 discussing Potters bonus!
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Check out this one!!!
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“Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a freshman and the top Republican on the panel, surprised the hearing by leading his interrogation of Potter with an allegation in a Republican report that Countrywide Financial waived fees for a loan to Potter.†It does not smell right,” Chaffetz said in an interview. Potter said “the terms of my loan were consistent with my credit history” and that he put 50 percent down on the property.”
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 SMACK DOWN!!!! What the heck, “How do you appear in front of congress and say “It doesn’t smell right!!! Wow-guilty until proven innocent. Anyway that crap had nothing to do with the hearings so the conversation returned to the USPS losses and what can be done.
Check out the whole article for more foolishness…
If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail by boat, it would be a sinking ship. A large hole in the hull, punched by a huge iceberg named Recession, is draining mail volume while it allows financial losses to flow in and drown the service in a financial swamp.
The Postal Service is in dreadful shape and needs quick help from Congress to continue delivering the mail.
That was the message repeated over and over by a parade of witnesses yesterday before the House subcommittee on federal workforce, postal service and the District of Columbia.
“At this moment, the survival of the Postal Service — a venerable institution that is literally older than our country — hangs in the balance,” warned William H. Young, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “The Great Recession we face today threatens to destroy the most trusted and universal connection most Americans have with their national government.”
There might be some hyperbole in that. The postal service likely will rebound as the economy does. But how much will it suffer until then?
Potter’s other suggestion was not so warmly welcomed. It would allow the post office to cut delivery to five days a week from six.
“Delivery is one of our most labor-intensive activities,” Potter said. “Delivery remains our largest, single cost center . . . . In effect, we are financing a level of service that exceeds a declining demand.”
Going to five-day delivery could save the post office $3.5 billion annually, Potter said. Later in the day, however, Dan G. Blair, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, said the savings would be closer to $2 billion. Potter’s figure does not take into account a likely decline in volume caused by a drop in service days, according to Blair.
Potter’s compensation is a minuscule part of the postal service’s losses, but it was a significant part of the hearing. Chairman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) questioned the wisdom of giving Potter a $135,041 bonus, even though it is not paid by taxes, when the finances of the post office are in such dire shape.
But Carolyn Gallagher, chairwoman of the postal service Board of Governors, strongly defended the payments. “Mr. Potter has earned the compensation he has received,” she said. “His achievements in 2008 were both remarkable and unprecedented given the magnitude of the challenges the Postal Service faced.”
She said he and his team “reduced costs by over $2 billion, more than double what had been planned, while still providing record levels of service.”
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a freshman and the top Republican on the panel, surprised the hearing by leading his interrogation of Potter with an allegation in a Republican report that Countrywide Financial waived fees for a loan to Potter. “It does not smell right,” Chaffetz said in an interview.
Potter said “the terms of my loan were consistent with my credit history” and that he put 50 percent down on the property.
Postal Service Inspector General David C. Williams confirmed during his testimony that his office is working with the Justice Department on a broader investigation that includes the Countrywide financing and other Potter loans. Justice is concerned about the possibility of a quid pro quo, according to Williams. But Chaffetz did not point to any favors Potter might have performed for the company.
Because the allegations seem to have nothing to do with the agency’s finances, the conversation quickly returned to what needs to be done to keep the postal service afloat.
Lynch has reservations about both of Potter’s suggestions to improve USPS finances, but by the end of a long day he said the Davis/McHugh bill, in some form, probably would be part of the solution. But the proposal for cutting back mail delivery to five days a week appears to be a dead letter.
“The public wants Saturday delivery,” said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat. “I would bet everything I’ve got that’s not going to happen.”
You can read statements prepared for the hearing at: http://federalworkforce.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2355.
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What do the cuts in tax deductions for charitable donations have to do with direct marketing?
Everything of course!
This is an opportune time for non profits to reach out beyond their traditional donor base toward a new pool of contributors. Just how can this be done? With a well rounded direct marketing campaign of course. Non Profits face the task of creating new – and younger donor bases -, expressing to current contributors their message and now to educate the public about the new administration’s policies so they can eliminate the “fear factor” now ensconcing charitable giving. The worst thing that non profits can do is to start reducing communication, or immediately switch to a less effective strategy of communicating; this kind of thinking cannot be beneficial to anyone.
I recently spoke with a marketing director who has been directed to switch from direct mail to all email campaigns to save money. She cited some very low response rates from emails. This organization is going to be in some serious trouble if they don’t change the way they are viewing marketing expense. They should use some very targeted direct mail, along with email and video to really drive up response rates and to start reaching out to new markets that they want to crack.
The coming years will be a challenge to be sure, but organizations that employ a well though out strategy to deliver their message and mission to their public, will benefit in the short and long term.
Am I just being an opportunist here-maybe-but I truly believe what I am saying and that great opportunities do exist!
As Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic put it, “If wealthy people want to give money, then they should give, regardless of tax benefits.” Suggesting that the wealthy should not use charities as a tax dodge, he added, “If tax reform down the line were to gut all deductions, would charitable contributions totally dry up?“
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I hate when people write about junk mail
Ok, I am involved in the direct mail industry, and so is my entire family, for three generations actually, but it still drives me nuts when people refer to the materials generated by our industry as junk mail. I see it as so much more… a means for hospital to raise funds to build state of the art healthcare facilities; afford non profits the ability to save innocent children, animals or people living in devastation; not to mention providing me and other consumers with a way to get products or services that I might not be able to justify without the ability to access them through the mail.
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Listen I am all for being environmentally conscious, and again I may be biased toward the direct mail industry, but most printers and lettershops are very careful to use environmentally friendly resources and are very conscious of recycling waste. Let’s talk about all those water bottles and disposable diapers, if you want to talk landfill waste. That stuff will never disappear!
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As far as individuals not wanting to receive direct mail, I can assure you that companies do not want to waste money mailing to someone who does not want to hear from them! Â If a customer complains about receiving direct mail to one of our clients, their name is added to a suppression file and they do not receive further correspondence. So if you don’t want direct mail, call the company and let them know. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) also maintains files of consumers who do not want to receive direct mail, so it is certainly an option to contact them if you do not want any direct mail.
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I like my mail, I have gotten better credit card rates, been notified of sales at my favorite stores, bought some nice stuff for my home – without even leaving home – and have donated to some worthwhile charities. And now I present to you the following article for your consumption:
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Junk mail is changing from an everyday annoyance to a global-warming bad guy. Conservation groups are amping up the pressure to cut down the flow – such as credit card pitches, catalogs and supermarket circulars – in the name of saving landfills, transportation fuel and trees.
The numbers are staggering. The average household receives over 800 pieces of junk mail per year. It’s a mighty river that totals 30 percent of the world’s snail mail. The brochures, letters and inserts equal 100 million trees per year, according to ForestEthics, an enviro group that’s pushing for stricter federal rules.
Next week San Francisco supervisors will consider a resolution by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who originated the once-ridiculed but now considered visionary plastic-bag ban.
The unsought mail is “archaic, obnoxious and unnecessary,” he says. The nonbinding measure asks Sacramento to set up a tough Do Not Mail registry. A hearing is scheduled on March 23.
But what should be done -and who will pass under the yoke of public law – are major questions. Any sweeping change should take stock of a complicated landscape.
Consumers already have several options to cut down on unsolicited mail. Also, nonprofit and religious groups are heavy junk mailers. Does a media-savvy church or university rate the same restraints as a mattress retailer or fashion catalog?
In addition, it will be interesting to see if lawmakers will crack down on the election-season floodtide of political mailers, culled from voter lists without permission.
Not everyone may be that upset about an overstuffed mailbox. Some stay-at-home types enjoy reading glossy displays of housewares, clothes or fruit gift packs. Businesses, after all, send out the avalanche of catalogs because they work, and consumers use them to make purchases, either on the spot or on a later trip to a store.
The U.S. Postal Service opposes a junk mail ban. A core business, after all, would be harmed, and postal jobs might be jeopardized. Though the numbers are huge, junk mail is trending downwards, said Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel. Volume dropped from 104 billion pieces in 2007 to 99 billion in 2008, with this year’s expected to be lower.
For many, though, the torrent of unsolicited mail is far too much. Some 40 percent of the junk mail that falls through mail slots is never opened. There are special torments: Mail that keeps coming for a deceased relative or the need to snip credit card come-ons in half to prevent identity thieves from fishing the information from the trash.
Junk mail amounts to a daily annoyance. A law may be difficult to enact and even more difficult to enforce.
The best option today is to check out the Web sites of businesses and environmental groups that offer to help unclutter your mailbox.
Hold that mail!
Want to cut down the flow of unwanted mail? Here are Web sites that can help:
The Direct Marketing Association offers a series of steps that let consumers cancel unwanted mail, remove deceased relatives from lists and bar pitches from credit cards issuers and magazines. The go-to spot: dmachoice.org.
Catalog Choice at catalogchoice.org. targets unwanted catalogs, considered the SUVs of the junk-mail world. It’s simple and easy to follow but only deals with catalogs.
GreenDimes.com will scrub your name from industry lists for $20 – and it watches to make sure new senders don’t add you to lists. It even promises to plant 5 trees on your behalf.
The environmental group, 41pounds.org, which takes its name the weight of an average year’s unsolicited mail, offers a similar service for a $41 fee.
This article appeared on page A – 14 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Tips to generate more sales from emails
By now we all know that email is an efficient way reach your target market. But…you still have to convert those leads into sales! You can create a great looking email campaign that generates a fantastic click through rate, but if you do not have a compelling landing page you will lose your prospect.
Most people worry about click throughs and subject lines when designing their email campaigns, these are certainly important elements, but just as important, but often ignored is the landing page where prospects go after they click for more information or instructions.
We see many emails that fail to take prospects to a landing page with clear concise instructions that result in your prospects taking action. Many emails link to a website homepage. This is absolutely a mistake!
You have only a few seconds to hold a prospect’s attention; they need to know they have landed in the right place. The homepage is too distracting. If your prospect is not clearly directed to their next step, you will lose them. You want them as focused as possible so that your desired course of action is followed.
Studies have shown that typically your prospect will scan the headline, and maybe a line or two of copy. So, you must keep the copy loaded with benefits from the start. Do not be tempted to show large pictures or graphics that do not drive home those benefits, think like your prospect, they want to know what’s in it for me, not look at a pretty picture.
Landing pages should be clean and simple with a very clear call to action. Avoid the use of flash and scrolling, your design and copy should mimic that used in your email so your prospect is not confused by a change of design. Reinforce the benefits of your product or service with a heading and subheading.
If you are offering a giveaway like a white paper, case study, or free trial, a squeeze page is an ideal place to collect some information from your prospect before they get your give away. Do not set up a 20 page questionnaire; get the minimal amount of information necessary, usually name and email, don’t drive your prospect away, you want to be able to continue to market to them.
Another way to capture information is to ask for email address and name and then you can email your offer. Remember, unless you ask people to opt in to further communication, they have not consented to receiving further email communications from you. Do offer prospects an opt in to a newsletter or further information about your product or service. Make your download button big, clear, and easy to spot. You want your prospect to know exactly what the next step is.
Test your landing pages, landing pages lead to purchases! Test headlines, sub headlines, graphics, how much information you can collect without losing your prospect, and the effectiveness of various giveaways.
Just a few simple changes to your landing page can lead to big conversion rates.
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