Direct Mail Printing Companies in 2009 - List of Companies

People often write me and ask which direct mail printing companies I recommend, and why. But this is a hard question to answer across the board, because it depends on what kind of services you need.

Generally speaking, direct mail companies offer a wide range of services. But the range of services will vary from one company to the next. For example, some specialize in postcards only while others offer a full range of fulfillment services (letters, flyers, postcards, letter kits, etc.).

If you're looking for postcard printing companies in particular, then you'll find my recommendation at the top and side of every page on this website. If you're looking for a company that offers a complete set of direct mail services, please refer to the list below.

A List of Direct Mail Printers

I am not necessarily endorsing the direct mail services on this list. I'm just listing them all in one place for your convenience. I recommend that you choose a handful of the printing companies listed below, and then compare them based on pricing and the types of services they offer.

• 48 Hour Print — www.48hourprint.com
  
• Cactus Mailing Company — www.cactusmailing.com
  
• Direct Mail Center — www.directmailctr.com
  
• Express Copy — www.expresscopy.com
  
• Impact Mailing and Fulfillment — www.impactmailing.com
• KD Mailing — www.kdmailing.com
• Print Mail Pro — www.printmailpro.com
• Prints Made Easy — www.printsmadeeasy.com
  
• PS Print — www.psprint.com
• Red Clay Media — www.redclaymedia.com
  
• Ship Shapes — www.shipshapes.net

Printing Companies Vary - Do Your Homework

What's in a name? When it comes to direct mail printing companies, you would be surprised at how much one company differs from another. Many of them refer to themselves as "full-service" printers offering "comprehensive" fulfillment services. But what does this really mean?

If a direct mail company is truly a one-stop shop, then it must provide everything needed to create and manage a mailing campaign. In order to meet this definition, printing companies must offer the following:

• Account managers to help with your order
• Addressing and labeling
• Full-color digital and/or offset printing
• Graphic design support
• Mailing list and data services
• Marketing advice and expertise
• Postal sorting and delivery
• Variable data technology
• Wide range of print products (self-mailers, postcards, letters, business-reply, etc.)

In other words, direct mail printing companies that call themselves "full service" must offer everything you need to create and deliver a successful mailing. In reality, however, there are few companies that provide everything on the list above. Some specialize in postcards but do not offer other formats. Some use offset printing designed for larger runs, but lack an affordable option for small orders. Some only handle the printing side of things, but have no design support to speak of. You get the idea.

So your first step is to make a list of everything you need from a direct mail printer. Next, you would compile a list of companies that offer these things (use the one I've provided above to get started). Lastly, you would research the company's pricing, expertise, etc.

If you would like to learn more about direct mail printing companies and the services they offer, visit the main website and use the search tool at the top of the site.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Discount Postcard Printing - What's In a Name?

I've always been struck by the offers for discount postcard printing that are plastered all over the Web. In some cases, the printer will explain what this means, by comparing their prices to those of leading competitors. In other cases, they'll use the word "discount" without backing it up.

This is where it pays to be a smart shopper. You have to dig beyond the marketing pitch to find out if discount postcard printing services are truly discounted in some way. You have to compare the pricing offered by different printers, in an apples-to-apples manner. In this blog post, I'll give you some tips on doing exactly that.

My Postcard Printing Background

I promise not to bore you with my extended bio, because it's really not relevant. But I have to tell you were I'm coming from with this article. In the past, I've worked for a couple of printing companies, one of which specialized in postcards exclusively. To prepare for my job as a web writer, I would often listen in on customer service phone calls.

Long story short -- I quickly realized that pricing was the one thing that confused people the most. Here's why:

• Many printers offer different types of card stock for your postcards, and the prices will vary from one type to the next.
• Some printers offer glossy finishes, while others do not. And this also affects pricing.
• Want full-color printing for your postcard order? That will cost you as well. Color costs more than black-and-white, and if you put it on both sides of the postcard you'll pay even more.
• What size postcards do you plan to use? Most printers will offer a standard size as well as a larger size. And it's one more pricing differential, too.
• Do you plan to have your postcards mailed out to your mailing list, or do you want them shipped in bulk directly to you? For the first option, you'll incur a postage charge per postcard.

Now you can see why so many people are confused about discount postcard printing services, in terms of pricing. There are plenty of variables, and different printers offer different options. It can get pretty confusing if you're not familiar with the industry. So let's clear things up a bit, shall we?

What Does Discount Mean Anyway?

My advice to you is to remove the word discount from your printing vocabulary. Discount, wholesale, cost-effective, competitive pricing ... in most cases these are just marketing terms. So forget about the discount side of postcard printing, and just compare printers in an apples-to-apples fashion. Here's how to do it:

• Start by making a list of postcard printing companies for your future research. You can find dozens of them online by doing a Google search.
• With a few minutes of research, you'll quickly find out who the big "players" are in this industry. Make a list of five or six of these companies.
• Next, make a simple spreadsheet or table with columns for the items you want for your postcards. For example, you might want over-sized postcards with full-color on both sides and a glossy finish. You may also want the printer to mail the postcards for you, which means you'll need a column for postage.
• Lastly, revisit the websites of the five or six printing companies you wrote down initially. Record their pricing per postcard for all of the things you have on your list (size, color options, card stock, postage, etc.).
  

This might seem like a no-brainer. But this simple process will help you avoid the common confusion associated with postcard pricing. If you simply visit the home page of a printer's website and write down the "as low as" price, you're not getting the full picture. There may be additional fees for the various options we discussed above. By adding up the items on your list, you'll get a much more accurate picture of the pricing.

Discount postcard printing means different things to different companies. Don't be fooled by marketing lingo or "as low as" pricing offers. Dig deeper to find out exactly what you're going to pay for the type of project you have in mind, and then compare printers based on those criteria.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Postcard Marketing Campaigns - Fact vs Fiction

If you've been learning about postcard marketing campaigns by reading the websites of postcard printers, you've probably been given some one-sided advice. For example, most of these companies will tell you the repetition is the key to success with any direct mail marketing campaign.

But here's what you have to keep in mind. These companies make money based on the amount postcards your order, not your campaign results. So it's in their best financial interest to encourage repetition. In truth, repetition alone will not bring postcard campaign success. There are many other things involved in the process.

This is just one example of the misinformation you can find online today. So in this article, I'd like to debunk some of the most common (and often dangerous) myths about postcard marketing campaigns and strategies.

---

Myth #1 - Repetition is the Key to Direct Mail Success

The argument goes like this. In order to get results with your direct mail postcard campaign, you need to repeat your mailings on a regular basis. The more often you mail, the better. In the beginning, you might be discouraged by a lack of responses to your mailings. But don't worry. Results with come in time. The most important thing is to send more postcards. Over time, people will recognize your name, and your marketing message will begin to sink in. Your postcard marketing campaign will eventually succeed, if you just keep repeating it.

Fact #1 - Repetition Alone Will Not Bring Success

If you repeat a postcard mailing that did not deliver results the first time around, you are simply repeating a failure. In doing so, you are wasting time, energy and money. While it's true that repetition is a key element in postcard marketing campaigns, you should never repeat a failure.

However, if you get a decent ROI from your first mailing, you should certainly repeat it. You should also test different variations with your offer, your design, etc. In this way, you can gradually increase your response rates over time, by repeating the strategies that work. But if your first mailing is a bust, you'd be foolish to repeat it. If it doesn't work the first time, you need to adjust your strategy. If you repeat the same failed strategy over and over, your postcard marketing campaign is going to soak up a lot of resources -- without producing anything in return.

---

Myth #2 - Postcard Marketing is Easy

Many printers will tell you that postcard marketing is an easy way to grow your business. It's like magic. Just put your message onto a postcard, send it out to thousands of potential customers, and then sit back and wait for the phone calls and order to roll in. Best of all, anyone can do it. All you need is a product or service, and a mailing list. We will handle everything else for you.

Fact #2 - Postcard Marketing Takes Practice

If the statements above sound too good to be true, that's because they are. Yes, you can use direct mail postcards to increase sales and grow your business. I wouldn't be publishing this blog otherwise. But succeeding with a postcard marketing campaign is not easy. It requires careful research, close monitoring, and constant adjustment. In fact, it's easier to fail with this marketing medium than it is to succeed. That's why I've written this book to help you get it right.

---

Myth #3 - Postcard Design Templates are the Way to Go

A lot of web-based direct mail companies offer design "templates" that you can customize online. These are preset designs that allow you to plug in your logo and message. On the surface, this seems like a great idea, and it can certainly make the design process easier. But when it comes to your postcard campaigns, you should use templates with a good deal of caution -- or avoid them altogether. Here's why:

Fact #3 - Templates Can Hurt Your ROI

By their very nature, postcard templates look a lot alike. They also limit you to a fill-in-the-blanks approach to your design. There is a certain convenience to this approach, but there's also the danger of being overly similar. In other words, if your marketing postcard looks like every other postcard the recipient has seen over the years, there's a better chance they'll ignore it all together.

Granted, your offer and the way you present it are the most important components of a postcard marketing campaign -- but the originality of your design runs a close third. Using templates will limit your originality.

There are two circumstances when this might not matter as much:

• The first is a low-competition scenario. If you're in a highly specific niche, with few companies using direct mail postcards for marketing, then the template approach might not dilute your message.
• The other scenario is where you start with a design template, but customize it to the point that it's truly unique from what your competitors are doing.

Aside from these two scenarios, my best advice is to use templates cautiously or avoid them altogether. An original design will always stand out more than a boilerplate design.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Web Printing Explained - The Web to Print Process

Web printing companies are not new. They've been around for at least a decade. But the concept of web printing has exploded in popularity over the last couple of years, largely because of exciting new technologies and a rise in the number of web-to-print companies.

But how does web printing work, and how can you use it to simplify your company's print program? These are the questions we will address in this blog post. I've worked for a couple of printing companies that had web-to-print technology, so I'm happy to tell you everything I know about the subject.

Web Printing Defined

Here's a short and sweet definition of what we are talking about here. A web printing company is a printer who has some kind of online file-transfer program. This is the most basic definition. In order for a printer to refer to itself as a web printing company, it has to offer some type of file upload process via the Internet -- plain and simple.

From here, things get more advanced. Once you get past this basic definition of a web printing service, the companies begin to distinguish themselves in many ways. For example, some offer online proofing while others do not. Some have online design tools that allow you to customize a product template online, while others lack this technology.

But regardless of what kind of bells and whistles they might have, a web printing company must offer some kind of online file transfer / upload. This is the one thing they all have in common.

Here's a list of features and benefits you can expect from some of the leading web-to-print companies (those that offer the most advanced tools):

• Variable-data technology that allows you to change certain creative elements from one printed piece to the next.
• Online proofing that expedites the approval process.
• Printing templates for various products, such as postcards and business cards.
• Online design and customization tools, often used in conjunction with the above-mentioned templates.
• Online file storage where you can save your finished designs for future orders.
• An online account or admin center that shows the status of current print jobs, a list of previous jobs completed, etc.

You can use the above list when researching web printing companies. It's a great way to compare their services, and to choose a printer who offers exactly what you need.