When I was working for someone else, one of the things I wanted to do was direct mail. Unfortunately, my superiors rejected my recommendation and they allowed the sales team to push them into doing an expensive nationwide TV and radio campaign which we honestly had no business doing yet. Simply because the budget did not allow enough money to purchase enough spots to really be visible. Oh well, that’s a whole new story. I thought Direct mail was the answer and always been fascinated with the industry. In many ways Internet Marketing parallels direct marketing.

Lately, USPS sent me a card that asked me to go online to claim a free t-shirt. If I preferred, I could mail back the card as well. I’m not a free t-shirt type of gal but this caught my eye because they said they’d personalize it for me. So I did. I went to the website printed on the mail piece. It asked me a few questions and to select the most likely answers:

• If I had a superpower, it would be…
• My guilty pleasure is…
• My favorite way to say hello is…
• I believe in…

All with fun answers. So I went ‘crazy’. Later, the mailed this back to me with a CD of what else I can do with newer direct mail technology these days. Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Loved it. I believe in offline mail pieces. I think it cuts through the email clutter and because so few of us use it, they really stand out. I’ve had a few Internet Marketers mail me stuff and while I may not remember them, I remember that they mailed me. I even have a postcard from 3 years ago on my desk. How’s that for ‘desktop attention’? I’ve already planned to make advertising more important this year and fullyl intend to take better advantage of direct mail personalization technology.

P/S: Yes I do believe in UFO’s 😉

P/P/S: If you’re not quite ready for full blown direct mailings, you can start with simple post cards or cards. There is technology available to personalize your mailings and even automate them by date or group. This is one way. If you like what you see, get in touch with me I’d love to personally walk you through it.