Great News for Printers and Mailers

There is a Silver Lining

No one will argue that the print and mail industry has been negatively impacted by the internet. What once was printed and mailed is so often sent electronically today. Emails, websites, social networks, blogs have made a serious dent in print and mail revenue. Many of us in the industry are embracing these alternatives and so we must. But let’s not give up on what we know and love best. We need to print to succeed in these other medias.

Thanks to the strict legislation about spamming, direct mail still offers benefits not possible, or legal, with email. Yes, email is great for frequent communications. It’s inexpensive and easy. But you need an already engaged audience. Unless your prospects have opted-in to your email campaigns, you cannot (legally) send them emails. BUT, you can send them mail. Through direct mail campaigns, you can direct your prospects to opt-in and receive future email. The mail is a great medium to build your email lists. Yes there are others, but this is still a very viable method.

Should you take someone's content and deal with the consequences later?

Thank you David Spark for this week's content. We've been pondering this very topic:

by David Spark
"I started thinking about all the hot water Google got into with regards to the launching their different services, such as Google Street View, Google Books, and Google News. Google worked on each project, appropriated content that may or may not have been theirs to take, and then released the project, only to receive responses, “Hey, you didn’t ask me first if you could take that.”  Should you take someone’s content and deal with the consequences later?

David Spark will have more to say at the 2010 PINCShow, May 6 in San Francisco. If you want to know more - ask me.