The Postman Always Rings Twice

It was a historic 1930s murder-love-mystery novel: The Postman Always Rings Twice. In 1946, it was made into a movie of the same name starring Lana Turner and John Garfield. A remake with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange came out in 1981. It seems plausible that this novel  and the movies have traumatized generations of print shop owners about the post office – NOT! However, we continue to find quite a few print shop owners with an inordinate fear of anything to do with business mailing and the post office.

“What if they won’t take my mailing?”

“I’ve heard stories about…”

“I lost a good customer when the lettershop screwed up his mailing.”

The expressions of fear and anxiety about mailing and dealing with the USPS just keep on coming up.

If this fear isn’t caused by the novel or the movies, perhaps it comes from horror stories or rumors perpetuated by lettershops. But, why would lettershops want to do this? Could it be that they want to keep the print shops dependent on them for addressing and mailing? Certainly not!

Perhaps, the fear comes from having tried to get a straight answer from the Domestic Mail Manual or “DMM” – the holy grail of postal regulations. There’s a document that’s clear as mud and as straightforward as the tax code.

But, business mailing isn’t all that difficult…with the right help.

Our EZ-VDP brand services eliminate virtually all the anxiety about business mailing for print shop owners. We help you through the entire process from getting a mail permit to dropping the mail at the post office the first time. Read more about how easy the business mailing process can be…

Just this week, we have helped at least five print shop owners do their own mailings for the first time. They're not only still alive but smiling.

There’s something else to consider about mailing. The USPS is struggling financially. The volume of mail continues to drop. Even the most ferocious of postal employees must see the handwriting on the wall. The USPS is doing everything they can to make the business mailing as friendly and easy as possible. They have just completely revamped their website to make information about mailing easier to find (but perhaps not understand). Besides, a friendly word (or maybe even a doughnut) probably gets you a long way with anyone at the post office.

Finally, no postman ever appears or is even mentioned in The Postman Always Rings Twice. The author, John Cain, explained that the title was related to the 13 times his manuscript was rejected. Obviously, he wasn’t afraid of the post office.

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Treat Your Customers Like “Jerks” - They’ll Love It!

The 1979 Steve Martin movie, The Jerk, contains a teachable moment relevant to variable data printing…people love to feel like The Jerk. Albeit, in some limited fashion.

In one scene, Martin’s character, Navin R. Johnson, is a gas station attendant. Navin interrupts a conversation with the gas station owner when he sees a man delivering telephone directories. Snatching a directory out of the man’s hand, Navin rips through it and begins leaping for joy and shouting, “The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!” The station owner stares at Navin and comments that he wished he could that excited over nothing. Wildly gesturing at the phone book, Navin shoots back, “Nothing?! Are you kidding?! Page 73. Johnson…Navin…R…I’m somebody, now!”

I’m somebody, now!

That’s the feeling you can produce in people with personalization using VDP. Make them feel like The Jerk.

How do you feel when you get mail addressed to “Occupant” or “Current Resident”? This is so ego-deflating that the message may be irrelevant. Then, you get the mail with your name in the address line but otherwise sterile and impersonal.

I’m somebody, now!

That’s how you should feel when you get a personalized piece with your name on the front and something that connects with you personally be it text, images or both. The message might be as simple as, “John, we love [fill in the blank] as much as you do.” Combined with an appropriate image, you have a very high likelihood of creating an I-am-somebody-now moment for that person. You made the person feel like The Jerk and developed an emotional connection with him or her.

Make your customers feel like Jerks. They’ll love it. Then, show them how easy and rewarding it can be for them to make their customers feel like Jerks. You get the point.

I’m somebody, now!

We never expected to say this, but…

We make it easy for you to make your customers feel like Jerks with our EZ-VDP services - www.DigitalFormattingServices.com

The movie trailer is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMJgC0ZidLg


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It All Depends on What “Do” Means

We get all sorts of responses when we ask printers, “Do you do VDP?” The most typical responses are “yes” and “not really”. Interestingly, both of these answers are completely honest and most often mean the same thing. It all depends on ones view of “doing VDP”.

Printers answering “yes” most often mean that they can do a sort of simplistic “mail merge” process to put addresses on an otherwise static page. A master page is loaded in the RIP and the variable addresses are printed on top of the master. Technically, that is variable data printing. But, don’t look to do anything like variable graphics or more complex variable text that way. A very small number of printers that answer “yes” actually do do VDP, however few of them would claim that they are highly proficient at it.

Printers that answer “not really” may be doing VDP to the same extent as the ones answering “yes” but the formers’ view of variable data printing includes those fancy variable effects and personalization.

That’s how “yes” and “not really” can mean the same thing – it’s just a matter of ones’ point of view. Much like the issue of whether the glass is half empty or the glass is half full.

Printers answering “yes” to the doing VDP question are in something of a precarious position. If they make it known that they do VDP, a customer wanting full-blown personalization and special effects will certainly appear. Murphy’s Law always applies. Then, what does the printer do?

We provide EZ-VDP brand services so that any digital printer can offer an emphatic “Of course we do! What do you need?” when the question about doing VDP comes up. You no longer need to fear VDP. Embrace it, promote it …and use to grow your business.


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Find VDP Business in Your Neighbor’s Trash

We don’t recommend dumpster diving or rifling through your neighbor’s trash cans, however you could find plenty of potential leads for new VDP business that way. It’s far cleaner and less hazardous to simply ask a dozen or so family members and friends to save the direct mail they might otherwise throw away and give it to you. But, what do you do with this “trash”? It might be a treasure trove of competitive information and market intelligence…if you look at it in the proper perspective.

What you can glean from it includes details such as:

• Who produced the VDP direct mail (the mail permit may tell you)
• What businesses or industries are using VDP for direct mail
• How (and to what level of detail) they are using personalization
• Who is doing a lousy job of VDP personalization, and
• Who isn’t using personalization in their direct mail (the static postcards and self-mailers).

Once you’ve collected your trash over a number of weeks or months, separate it by business or product type. Let’s say that you end up with 15 unique pieces promoting jewelry – six different pieces from one local jeweler, three pieces each from two smaller, local jewelers and three pieces from mass marketers or national retailers. You see that the three pieces from one of the smaller jewelers used personalization, so your first effort might be to contact that jeweler to offer your VDP and other services. Here you have a lead already sold on using VDP so your approach is probably based on better solutions, such as service.

Next, you can target the two other direct-mailing local jewelers about upgrading to VDP. You already have a sample of their competitor jeweler using VDP to use as part of your pitch. You might also take the jewelers’ static mailers and mock them up to show they could be improved with some eye-catching personalization. Selling in these cases would be on the value of personalization with VDP (i.e. ROI, customer acquisition costs, etc.).

Finally, you have all the other local jewelers that aren’t doing any direct mailing. If they had poor experience with direct mail using static pieces, then the competitors VDP mailing and some snappy personalized samples might just renew their interest in direct mail. The sales pitch could include the fact that they would be one of the few jewelers using personalized advertising.

Repeat the process for other businesses and look for ways of migrating ideas from one type of business to another. A further benefit of collecting this type of trash is that you build up a library of VDP samples, ideas and best practices (such as what not to do). Former GE CEO, Jack Welch, said, “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” Start taking your trash more seriously to generate new opportunities.

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The Disappearing Lettershop

We speak with many print shop owners, and a recurring complaint, these days, is that the number of lettershops is rapidly dwindling. Moreover, there is an explicit or implied distrust of the remaining lettershops.

Let’s face it: lettershops are having business challenges just like print shops. It’s only natural that lettershops will do what they must to survive…even if that means competing with their customers, the print shops. Many print shops now offer digital printing, for example.

Another byproduct of the new reality for lettershops, and print shop owners, could also be higher prices for lettershop services. At some point, as competition decreases; prices tend to increase.

One customer put it like this, “I know ABC [lettershop] is going out of business, and I don’t trust any of the others any farther than I can throw them.” Using VDP for addressing and in-house mailing solved a large part of the disappearing lettershop problem. It also ended up costing less than the lettershop charged while eliminating the need to disclose customer identities to potential competitors.

If any of this sounds familiar…look into EZ-VDP(SM).

VDP Software Comparison

A traditional comparison of VDP software would detail the differences between Brand “A” VDP software, Brand “B” VDP software and so forth. This type of VDP software comparison, however, presumes that you want to buy VDP software. Maybe you’re not a super-experienced VDP software user, but you see the advantages of variable data printing for your business. If that’s the case, maybe you don’t really need to be hurting your head with VDP software comparisons.

The purpose of VDP software is to create hundreds or thousands print files. Printers don’t truly want to buy VDP software, but they do want VDP print files to print. In this case, the right place to start might be considering the various ways to get VDP print files rather than jumping straight into a VDP software comparison. The following example will make this clearer.

Printers commonly outsource UV coating and die cutting. Printers print materials, send those materials out to be coated and/or die cut, get the coated and/or cut materials back and finish the job. Obviously, the outsourcing printers have already made a comparison between purchasing UV coating and die cutting equipment and outsourcing this work. For a variety of practical and financial reasons, many printers choose to outsource UV coating and die cutting work. The printers aren’t comparing different brands of UV coaters but are comparing the benefits of in-house versus outsourced work.

For the same reasons you may not own a UV coater or die cutter, you might not want to purchase VDP software...if you can outsource the creation of VDP print files. You could look at comparisons of VDP software for cost, ease of use, support capability, etc. and to determine whether or not the best business decision is to outsource.

The point is that you do not have to buy VDP software to be in the VDP business. You can outsource the VDP print file creation just as you might outsource other pieces of a job. If VDP software comparisons leave you confused, then you should seriously consider outsourcing.

It’s called EZ-VDP(SM)!

Teaching VDP to Speak

A common question is, “how do you sell VDP?” Perhaps you let VDP speak for itself.

The following is one of our favorite techniques for demonstrating the power and value of VDP. It requires very few words and no convincing. If your customer doesn't respond positively, check his pulse.

Tom’s university alumni group is soliciting money for the school. Tom receives the following postcard asking for money.

What would your response be to this postcard?

Now, assume Tom receives a different postcard:

In case you didn’t recognize him, that's Tom in the picture with his old football teammates.

At this point, it’s important to mention that a recent study found that 68% of people go through their mail within reach of a trash can.

Then, ask three simple questions:

1) Which of the postcards is most likely to go in the trash and which one is most likely to go on the fridge or the desk?

2) Which postcard will raise the most money?

3) Which postcard uses VDP?

There’s a good chance you have raised your customer’s interest in learning more about VDP. The next step might be recommend starting with one or two test projects to let the customer become convinced that VDP works.

With EZ-VDP, this approach is, well...easier.

Turbocharge Your Newsletter with VDP

If you send out a printed monthly newsletter, why not turbocharge it by using VDP to embed the recipient's company name (or personal name) in an attention-getting image on the front page? This falls in the category of "practice what you preach".

Some of the advantages of this include:

1. Getting more attention for your newsletter (few newsletters do this)
2. Demonstrating the power of VDP to your customers
3. Showing your prowess with VDP
4. Validating your company as a solution provider
5. Making your newsletter standout from the rest

Now, here's a special incentive...with Easy VDP^SM, adding some personalization to a newsletter may actually add nothing to the cost. Contact us for ideas about adding personalization your newsletter.

QR Code Tools & Tips



Customized vCard QR Code



One of the better uses for a QR code is to capture and share vCard information. Scanning the QR code (and a few button pushes) can very quickly store a host of contact information in a smart phone such as:

• First and last names
• Phone numbers - mobile, home, work, fax, etc.
• Email address, URL, web site, IM
• Company, department, title
• Street, city, state, ZIP code, country
• Notes, birthday, etc.

Here’s a web site that has a nice interface for creating a QR code from vCard information or many other types of input data: http://www.quickmark.com.tw/En/qrcode-datamatrix-generator/default.asp?qrVCard.

When you look at the raw code, you will see that the secret to QR codes is the use of tags to identify or label each string of information.

Once you have created a QR code, the natural question has to be, “does thing work?” So, here’s another web site that will decode what’s in a QR code: http://www.onlinebarcodereader.com. You simply upload the QR code as an image and get back the contents in “code” form and in plain language. Try copying and pasting the QR code above to see how it works.

As the amount of information contained in the QR code increases, the “physical” size of the code symbol and the number of “dots” also increase. This means that QR codes with vCard information will need to have larger dimensions than a code with something simple like a phone number. Too small, and the scanning may not work well, or at all.

Once you have generated a vCard QR code, you will see it is a large and hideous thing. However, there are ways to dress them up a bit. The most critical factors are keeping the contrast high and the resolution good. See the example above.

A word of caution to avoid wasting a lot of time - the more information in a QR code, the larger the printed image must be. As the amount of information increases, the module (smallest square element) size decreases for a fixed size of QR code. One reference suggests that for a QR code containing only a URL the minimum print size should be 1.25 x 1.25 inches. A vCard QR code may need to be a minimum of 4 x 4 inches to be compatible with the resolution of the majority of smart phones.

QR codes can be used in your VDP project in almost any way that you would use variable graphics - in fact, that's what they end up being. On pieces where the customer includes individual pictures of their representatives, you might suggest adding a vCard QR code for the representative. Although not all that high-tech, that would certainly be at the leading-edge of common usage for both variable data printing and QR codes.

For more information see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qr_code

Glossary for Variable Data Printing (VDP) Printers

It may sound confusing, but we wanted to create a glossary for printers printing VDP. VDP isn't just about software nor is it simply about marketing. There is also database management, programming, addressing and mailing, among others.

As a teaser, how familiar are you with these terms:

• EMM
• Nixie
• Firmographics
• Seeding
• A/B testing
• Placeholder
• Key code

The glossary is available for download in PDF and will be appended (that’s in the glossary) as time goes on.

Feel free to recommend additions.

Team DFS