Diamonds are Forever, and now so is Green...

Following up the success of the first "Forever Stamps"—a First Class stamp that can be bought at today's prices and used well, forever—the USPS has just launched another.

First in the USPS's Social Awareness series, each of the 16 stamps on the sheet offers low and no-cost tips to save energy and natural resources. And the predominant color is green. Naturally.

For instance, the stamps suggest using reusable shopping bags... fixing water leaks... using energy efficient light bulbs... maintaining tire pressure... switching off lights when not in use.

You know the drill. You've heard it before. These are the simple things that your parents tried to tell you about responsible behavior. Now the USPS is telling you, too.

Nag. Nag. Nag. Maybe you should listen this time.

But beyond the obvious value of preserving life on earth, there may be a financial benefit to using these stamps. Actuaries and Uncle Scrooge, take note!

Consider this: If you send 200 Christmas cards each year and you figure you've still got 30 Christmases ahead of you, that's 6,000 stamps you'll be licking in December. Maybe you mail 20 birthday cards, bills and miscellaneous whatnots each month. 20 x 12 months in a year x 30 years. That's another 7200 stamps over 30 years. Total: 13,200 First Class stamps in your future.

Buy in bulk today and pay just 44 cents forever. So even if rates go up, you're protecting your position at 44 cents.

No more postal inflation. Future rate hikes be damned! For a measly $5808 investment today you've protected yourself against future First Class postage rate increases.

Buy today and save enough $$$ in 50 years to put your great grandchildren through college! Or at least buy them a beer after class.

Now if the USPS simply invests that $5808 at 8%, in 64 years it will be worth big bucks! The mind boggles with possibilities. It's like buying futures when you can actually see into the future. It's so good it oughta be illegal.

The mind also boggles with possibilities of what will happen to our planet if more of us don't recycle, conserve water and use less energy. $4 a gallon for gas is just the tip of the iceberg. Oh yes, and the real icebergs—and the polar bears, walruses and seals who depend on them—will soon be just a bittersweet memory, relegated to the History Channel.

So consider this stamp a winning trifecta. Save the planet, just a bit, save some $$ in the bargain, and maybe most important of all, get ego-boosting "I told you so" points for reminding your less-than-aware friends about the importance of conserving our natural resources.

Way to go, Post Office!

Envelopes - 10 Techniques the Pros use

The Envelope Tricks of the Trade Series
10 Tried-and-True Techniques that the Pros use

...and a SPECIAL FREE OFFER! (See below for details)..

Why should the direct mail professionals keep all the good techniques to themselves? Here are a few of their techniques; use them to help get your mailing opened and read.

The envelope.

The first hurdle in direct mail is to get the envelope opened. Try one or two of these pro-proven techniques to jump over that hurdle. They might help you get a lift in your next mailing, too.

1- Send an envelope instead of a postcard. Envelopes outperform postcards all the time. Maybe because they are more personal. Maybe because there is a certain curiosity factor. Maybe because opening an envelope provides a fractional second of involvement—and hence a mini-commitment—that a postcard does not demand.

2- Closed face envelopes outpull window envelopes. Think about it. The really important letters of your life come in a closed face envelope. A birthday card from your mother. A note from your best friend. Isn’t your mailing just as important?

3- Stamps are better than meters. Meters are better than indicias. (Indicias are those little black boxes printed on the envelope in lieu of a stamp.) Stamps make the letter look like it came from a real person. Meters look like a company sent the mailing. An indicia screams “I am a mass mailing!” Which are you more likely to open first? (See related article: "Stamp, Meter, Indicia? - A Postage Primer" )

4- If one stamp is good, two is better. ‘Nuff said.

5- Cancellation marks add extra importance to letters. In today’s postal system only First Class mail is cancelled. Emulate the look of First Class in any mail class with a mailer’s cancellation mark. People subliminally recognize the cancellation mark as being important.

6- Handwriting fonts on the envelope can help get some mail opened. Appeals for funds to help an orphanage or save a whale? Yes. Information from the Desk of the President advising you about a stockholders meeting? No. Be judicious.

7- If handwriting is good, doing it in color is even better.

8- Take handwriting to its logical conclusion. Make the return address in the same handwriting font, in the same color. Add a stamp. How much more personal can you get? (See related article: "Get Personal - Get Results" )

9- Teasers. Not all teasers are created equal. Good teasers make the recipient want to open the envelope by creating tension or curiosity, or by inspiring pride or fear. (See related article: "10 Tips for Great Copywriting" )

10- Don’t forget the back of the envelope. If you’ve got a meaningful message that compels the recipient to open the piece—then try it.

There are more tricks from the pros that we can teach you, too. But you’ll need to CALL US at 703-996-0800 to learn more.

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FREE OFFER!!!

Statistics show that stamps get letters opened.
P&P will stamp your mail for FREE to prove the point!

Call Paul&Partners to schedule a mailing of at least 5,000 letters during July. Mention the special code of 0709S and we’ll affix one stamp on your envelopes FOR FREE!

Here’s the dreaded fine print:
Minimum quantity of 5000 letters.
Job must mail during July.
Postage is not included.
You must mention special code 0709S to get this special offer.

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Paul&Partners Direct Marketing

43670 Trade Center Place,

Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166

Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax: 703.996.0888 1.866.365.2858

http://www.paulandpartners.net/ sales@paulandpartners

Stamp? Meter? Indicia? A Primer on Postage

Since we seem to have a theme going about envelopes and postage, here's what you need to know about affixing that postage on those envelopes.

There are 3 ways to affix postage. You've got to use one of them to get your piece in the mail. No exceptions. The USPS doesn't take IOU's.

Having said that, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Here's why:

Indicias--that little black box printed directly on an envelope in lieu of a stamp or meter--are hugely popular. They are also the cheapest form of affixing postage as they can be printed on the piece instead of being affixed in another pass later.

But they are not right for every application.

They scream mass mail if you're mailing a letter package. They are impersonal and don't make you feel warm and fuzzy about the person/organization that sent the mail to you.

If, however, you're mailing a postcard, newsletter or "self mailer" then an indicia is clearly the best way to go as affixing a stamp or meter makes you look chintzy and do-it-yourself penny ante. On these types of mailings an indicia makes your mailing look more professional.

All my comments after this point assume you're mailing a letter package, which have different "rules" than postcards, newsletters and self-mailers.

Meters--you know, that Pitney Bowes thingy that's been around for years. Meters are what you would use if you wanted your letter to look like it came from a business.

The USPS has just introduced new meter regulations that allow greater variety in the meter marks--you can even get customized meter marks, for a price.

On an envelope, metered mail gets opened faster than indicia'd mail. So if you were concerned about what postage technology you should use, this would be a consideration.

But wait! It gets even better.

Postage wisdom--and years of actual statistical data--say that Stamps outpull indicias and meters. By "outpull" we mean that tests have shown letters with stamps get opened before metered mail, and metered mail gets opened before indicias. (Remember, these rules do not apply to postcards, newsletters and self-mailers.)

Stamps come in two varieties. Lick 'em stick 'em and pressure sensitive.

Lick 'em and stick 'em stamps are activated by water. This is the technology that your father used to mail his electric bill each month. Newer technology is pressure sensitive or sticky back.

Every class of mail (First, First Class Presort, Standard, Non-Profit) has at least one stamp that is appropriate to that class. So yes, we can mail your job and have a "live" stamp on it.

At any given time, the USPS can have special stamps (think Fat Elvis or Love stamps) that are appropriate for First Class and one or two stamps appropriate for each presorted class.

We could go on an on about hand affixing stamps…using multiple stamps…overprinting stamps with mailer's cancellation marks and any number of other postal strategies that may help your mailing get noticed and opened.

If you want to know more, call us at 703-996-0800 and ask for Ellen.