Postage...

[OakApplianceTesting]

Hi all,

I've just started in business and am choosing mailshots as my initial way of finding customers and putting information about my company out there.

I was wondering if any of you were familiar with franking machines..

At the moment I always just stick 2nd class stamps on my post which can take a long time..

I had a quote from one company about a small franking machine and the quote was £10 / week... You have the contract for 6 years, then after the 6 years of rental, you pay £1 and the device is yours...

I have also heard that Royal Mail give you up to a 40% discount on postage if you mail 2000 or more at a time and sort them yourselves..

1] do I really have to pay over £3000 for a piddly little franking machine, and be commited to it for 6 years, or is there a cheaper, more sensible way of getting one of these devices...

2] would you recommend the 40% discount method with Royal Mail... its almost killed me this week doing 852 mailings, I can't bare to think what it wil be like doing 2000 at a time, I'll be strapped to a spinal board with a morphine drip after 2 weeks of doing that...

please help....

Im starting to lose hope on this front,

kindest regards,

Jon.

[creative-keyrings]

Hi,

Sounds like you need to use Royal Mails Smartstamp. Its a computer program which prints out the stamps for you and only costs £50 a year!

www.smartstamp.co.uk

I have used this before and gives your company a very nice looking image plus saves you a lot of time.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Callum Slade

[SillyJokes]

Speak to Royal Mail.

Mail Sort should be ideal

[Janebert]

One thing you have to factor in when doing direct mail is whether your envelope actually gets opened or not. In direct marketing it has been proven that letters that look like personal letters are more likely to be opened, than letters that look like junk mail.

For maximum open rate, you should hand address the envelope and use "real" stamps. Mailsort screams bulk mail, and if it's not something official (e.g. statements, bills etc) then there's a good chance of it ending up in the bin, or the recipient being alerted to the fact that it's quite likely to be a pitch and therefore be resisting it before they've even seen it.

You should test this.

However, I appreciate the logistical problems with this. What I would suggest is that rather than worrying about how to post things, you focus on getting higher response to the mail that you do and other aspects of your marketing strategy. Spend the money on that, not franking machines.

Once you have a good ROI with your marketing, you might be able to employ a VA or even a student to come round and stick stamps on for you.

Hope this helps,
Jane

[Sarah-Ink Promotions]

I use Pitney Bowes franking machine which is really good but works out quite expensive - I mail out hundreds (sometimes thousands) of things each week though!

[YEM]

For maximum open rate, you should hand address the envelope and use "real" stamps. Mailsort screams bulk mail, and if it's not something official (e.g. statements, bills etc) then there's a good chance of it ending up in the bin, or the recipient being alerted to the fact that it's quite likely to be a pitch and therefore be resisting it before they've even seen it.

Totally agree with this - we only ever send out handwritten envelopes(in blue ink I might add) with real stamps on - logistical problems - not really - aching wrist and hand - lots! (except to subscribers to YEM who probably get an address label on the envelope)

To get over any logistical probs - write 25 per day and send 25 per day - thats 125 per week! Saves your aching hand.

Postage will always be a high cost within most companies, whether you use franking or stamps - so I agree with Jane - concentrate on getting high responses rather than cheap postage

[Janebert]

OK, let's play with some numbers.

Let's say that you go for a lead generation strategy (a free offer to increase response and build up a list of people who've qualified themselves as somewhat interested in what you offer). And let's say that 10% of the people you mail to respond. And then let's say that 10% of them actually become clients. This means that for every 100 letters you send out, you get one new client.

How many new clients do you need per week/month/year? What is the lifetime value of a client? Will those new clients refer other business to you, and will they repeat buy on a regular basis?

So, if you need one new client per week, then obviously you need to send 100 letters per week, i.e. 20 per day. Is sticking the stamps on and writing the envelopes for 20 letters manageable?

And you start manipulating these numbers in the following way:

1) Better targeting of suspects which will increase the response rate
2) Better core message, copy and offer increases the response rate
3) You start getting larger jobs, so you need fewer clients
4) You maximise the lifetime value of a client by selling them other products and services (perhaps from associates), so you need fewer clients or you make more money
5) As your list builds and you follow up with people, the overall response rate increases
6) With a better message, current clients know how to refer good quality leads to you - so you can either make more money or do less marketing

And so on. All of which means you either make more money for the same amount of effort, and can then hire someone to do the mailings for you, or you can get the same results with less effort.

Thoughts?

Jane

[Pebble Communications]

Incidentally, if anyone wants hand addressed envelopes or labels and real stamps stuck on a mail shot, my son's girlfriend does it very cheaply as she is a bit of a strange lass who says she enjoys it. She has a couple of health problems at the moment which are keeping her at home most of the time and she is getting so bored she is diving on my mailshots with glee!

So if you don't mind dropping off and collecting the stuff in either Kent or Essex, for a small 'consideration' she'll do them. Or I can invoice through my company if you want but it might cost a bit more to cover the extra expenses and tax liability. She is quick and does a good job.

Fiona Bailey
www.pebblecommunications.co.uk

[Janebert]

Fiona,

Could people send you the data via the internet, or post things to you? What I'm getting at is do they have to physically come to Kent/Essex?

Jane

[daveashton]

Yeeks

Ok companies like business mailings will send out your mail for less than a 2nd class stamp.

Why not simply use someone like them?

PS if you go to our partner section you will find more details.

Other

Targeting and content have more to do with success than if they are hand written.

Also remember had written also gives the impression that you are a small company and hence effects the sales process.

Before I built a Uk wide sales development company I used to work for a v large IT reseller and these stunts were often pulled by marketing people.

Not only did they end up paying more in percentage terms for the so called better “open rate” by having the dam things hand written ( so yes more people they think opened the letter but not when you take into account how many extra they could have sent out, if they did not have the extra cost for hand finish) but also sales conversion rates were down on the leads it generated.

Marketing people should speak to sales people before they do anything. Just because there is a new marketing angle does not mean it will help sales!

[Janebert]

Marketing people should speak to sales people before they do anything. Just because there is a new marketing angle does not mean it will help sales!

It's not new and has been tested.

Not sure about your comments about my sig file - what do you mean?

Jane

[daveashton]

lol yes it hurts sales!

Re sig I think you should re read it as a prospect.

Just a thought :D

[Janebert]

Why don't you come out and say what you mean instead of being obtuse.

How would you improve it?

How much response does your sig file get?

Jane

[daveashton]

Sorry

Trying to be nice

we get lots of traffic from here.

You give some good advice but you sig gives the wrong image.

The 3 Secrets to Easily Attracting All the Clients You Can Handle" by visiting ....

reads like another get rich quick program

[Janebert]

So how would you improve it?

I'm not against receiving feedback (even if it is unsolicited), but the fact is that it seems to work pretty well. So the question is whether you are objecting because it doesn't suit your taste, or because you know of a better way to create curiosity and get those click thrus.

I'll look forward to your ideas.

Jane

[daveashton]

Sorry

Not sure I would want to give that image.

what you need is leads not clicks.

Why not ask the forum?

[Janebert]

Yes, but it's not about you, is it?

And what makes you think that I'm not getting leads? I find that rather assumptive, and we know what happened to "ass-u-me".

The point is that you're providing unsolicited criticism without:
a) knowing my results
b) coming up with anything better

So seeing as you're so certain you could do better, I'd like to hear your ideas for improvement.

Jane

[daveashton]

wow time out, chill 8)

keep it

it does not hurt us !!! :D

PS you asked for our thoughts and then take offence. Good luck we will say no more :?

[Janebert]

Dave,

You are mistaken. I did not ask for anyone's thoughts regarding my sig file. I asked for thoughts regarding the reply I gave about running some numbers on the direct mail example.

I just thought you'd have a better idea and wanted to hear it. As I said, I'm all for continuous improvement, so I was rather hoping you had something in mind other than a blanket statement that it read like a get rich quick scheme.

Interestingly, I have some pretty sceptical, professional types on my list (lawyers, doctors, accountants, IT consultants, management consultants), so it can't all be bad. Even if the sig file is a bit cheesey, I've been getting rave reviews of the free guides.

The problem with making marketing more sobre is that it depresses response. You have to take risks with marketing - and I chose to have more "enthusiastic" marketing. Yeah, maybe people feel sceptical, yeah maybe they think it's a bit cheesey, but they still respond and when they read my stuff they find out I'm the real deal, so it seem to work for me.

Jane :wink:

[daveashton]

Not sure about your comments about my sig file - what do you mean?


Sorry I thought that was a question. My mistake :D

[Janebert]

I'm not taking offence Dave, I'm asking you to substantiate your assertions and assumptions.

If I had said "oh dear, my sig file doesn't seem to get very much response", then it would be reasonable for you to sock it to me with your opinion. Although it would be infinitely better for you to give me the benefit of your testing and experience.

However, I did not say that, and I'm fairly happy with the response I get. Once people get on my site, I get between 17% and 25% sign up for my ezine - figures that are virtually unheard of.

Could I do better? Yeah, probably. But most people would sell their grandmothers to get those kind of results (especially once they truly understood the power of those results in terms of building an audience and the lifetime value of a subscriber).

So if you know how to do it better - then please share your experience and knowledge with us. In the meantime, you might take a more curious attitude and ask me what my results are, rather than assuming that I'm getting bad results simply because my sig file doesn't suit your tastes.

Marketing is about what people actually DO, not what they say they'll do. People often contradict themselves, and most of us are completely deluded about how we'll react to any particular situation or marketing message. Therefore, you can't go entirely on supposition, you must test on action.

Quid pro quo, what seems sensible, probably isn't. Just because people say they don't like a particular way of marketing (in principle), doesn't mean they won't respond to it. They do.

And that's what I teach my clients - get out of the comfort zone and stop sounding so corporate. Stop this stupid British game of pretending to be a big company when you're not. Guess what? Your clients are going to find out soon enough that it's just you and the cat/german shepherd, so what's with all the smoke screens and facades? Create a personality - that will get your remembered - be who you really are. Stop pretending to be IBM. Create a message that is distinctive and provokes a reaction.

And on that count, I think I must have succeeded rather well - your negative publicity has brought me a whole raft of new subscribers today - so thank you! :wink:

Jane

[daveashton]

Love your reply

Sorry when someone writes

Not sure about your comments about my sig file - what do you mean? we take it that they are asking a question. Our mistake and please except our apologies

Good luck and we are happy that you are happy with the image your sig file gives.
:D

[Janebert]

we take it that they are asking a question. Our mistake and please except our apologies

Who's we? Do you have a multiple personality disorder, or does it take 2 people to write your replies?

Jane

[Janebert]

Just to clear up any confusion:

Lol

I lovge your reply some great points, not sure about your sig though!

Is what you said in the "boring or difficult" thread, and that is why I asked you what you meant about my sig file. Presumably you remembered that you'd said that, or else you wouldn't have come back and answered the question.

So, it was unsolicited advice. Not sure about the "lol" though. Sounds a bit patronising to me.

I hope that clears things up for you now, Dave and Dave.

Jane

[DarrenC]

... back to the subject :D

I don't know if this has been mentioned - but what about getting one of them envelope machines.. you put water in the tray, slap the envelope over the roller, water gets on it, you Ceil it up.