Question for mailing out advertising

[KINGjosh]

Well thanx to the members of lawnsite for letting me know how. I too will let you know. http://www.48hourprint.com/mailpricing.html

[tonygreek]

if that link is in response to me questioning your math, you might want to recheck if that $835 is inclusive of the ballpark $2,000 in postage.

[KINGjosh]

Wow I guess i am a dumb ass. So that little price in red is just to set it up for mailing, and does not include postage? Well in that case i think ill still take 10,000, but i guess i will be walking a whole lot more on my days off. There was a post on here aweek ago or so that someone had them printed and mailed out, postage included for about .26 cents or something. Im gonna try to find it.

[tonygreek]

i didn't say it...

i figured you didn't catch that. 48hourprint doesn't do a good job of explaining that this is simply the set-up and delivery fee. that in itself is probably worth it, but they could do a better job to avoid disappointing confusion.

[KINGjosh]

so whats your web sites for printing and mailing?

[tonygreek]

we use 48hourprint and i have a database i use for targeted mailings, however we typically only use newpaper inserts and display ads. of the 10k we have going out, 6,500 are through newspaper inserts, with 3k going out door-to-door, and the remainder as targeted mailings.

[KINGjosh]

Is a data base a mail listing you can use unlimited amounts of time for a monthly due?

[walker-talker]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

you're crazy...

i'll retract that if you can explain how you can send postcards, all-inclusive, for 8.4 cents per.

Crazy as a lunybird!!! I am just kidding, but it is crazy for that cheap. I did 5000 postcards last year and it cost me just over $2000. That was for the design of the postcard, mailing list, mailing services, print of the postcard and postage.....everything. I thought they were decent looking postcards also. I don't want to piss on your parade, but I never received anywhere close to 1% response rate. I am not saying you won't, because I have heard of other that have. I received at most 1/2% response rate and picked up only 4 weekly mowing accounts. My problem with my postcard was that I didn't market mowing....just a broad spectrum of my services. I listed all my services....and that is what I got calls on. If you are targeting mowing clients, then better design your postcard with that in mind.

[Mark McC]

I don't believe it makes sense to hit someone with a mailer detailing a zillion services. Makes more sense to offer just one each time you mail and hit the homes with at least three mailers, each one offering and only one service, but not the same service twice.

I'm going to hit 2,500 homes with three mailers: one for mulching beds, a second for seeding/aeration, and the third for lawn care.

CALL FOR ACTION?

If your mailer does not call for action, such as "respond by xx/xx to get a $x discount," you have not stimulated them to do anything. We all just drop it in the pile and MAY get to it...unless there's a reason to. Getting money back is a reason to call you. To get them to call you by a certain date, the offer should expire.

[walker-talker]

Originally Posted by Mark McC

I don't believe it makes sense to hit someone with a mailer detailing a zillion services. Makes more sense to offer just one each time you mail and hit the homes with at least three mailers, each one offering and only one service, but not the same service twice.

I agree. I just posted what I did so that other might be able to learn from MY mistake.

As far as the rest your post Mark, all good advice. Especially about "calling for action".