Archive for the 'General News' Category



How to Improve Your Mail Campaigns’ Response Rate

Thursday 29 July 2010 @ 4:23 am

Since the great recession began in 2008, many marketers have been forced to get more bang for their marketing buck. Particularly, marketers that use direct mail as a marketing channel to reach their prospective customers now find themselves having to use more and more innovative methods to elect a response from prospects. Here are a few tips to help you get your content in your future customers hands:

1. Invest in your mailing list. The most important factor in any direct mail campaigns’ success is the mailing list, the database, the who. Therefore, the first step you should take in launching your direct mail campaign is to match your message to the right group of people (and if possible, the right group of people at just the right time). A great example of this is a new homeowner list, which as the name implies targets new homeowners. Statistically speaking, a new homeowner spends four times the amount of money as a regular homeowner in the first three months of home ownership, making them a very lucrative audience for many marketers.

2. Refine the headline and make it “skimmable”. Direct mail pieces have only a brief moment to capture the reader’s attention. Often referred to as the “golden glimpse” — that moment when your postcard comes out of the mailbox and either lands on the desk or in the trash. Be sure to use a headline that states the basic benefit to the recipient followed by bullets to make the mail piece “skimmable”. If you are using construction leads, be sure to use images and relevant industry specific text (such as workers in hardhats with appropriate industry jargon).

3. Pass the Idiot Test. Don’t ever assume that people will understand your product or service as well as you do… they won’t. Trust me. Make sure your postcard marketing campaign has a message that is crystal clear and easy to understand (blatantly obvious if possible). If the recipient does not understand your message the first time around, they won’t give it another chance. Humanized images will often go a lot farther than words in getting your message across. For example, if you are using a new parent list, be sure to include images of babies and happy families to get the message across. You’re prospects will “get it” quicker and will pay more attention because they know the message is catered specific to them.

4. Use a strong call to action with a killer offer. The offer and call to action is the culmination of the direct mail postcard’s message. It’s what the entire postcard leads up to. It tells the reader what he or she should do next in order to learn more or take action and why. Be sure to use a relevant offer that reaches out and slaps the recipient in the face with a deal they can’t turn down, followed by a call to action that can’t be missed!

5. Track and measure your direct mail campaign’s success… constantly. Want to know the number one rule of direct marketing? TEST. Test the offer. Test the message. Test the mail piece size. Test the postage stamp. Like chemists in a research laboratory, you should constantly test and measure your results until you find the “formula” of direct mail marketing success.

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




event flags

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 3:50 am

If you’re planning an event indoor or outdoor promotional banners and custom banners can give you the promote you need to make your event a success. They are available in different sizes and materials. Printed with your logo, information and a drawing colours that look amazing. A well designed banner or flag will draw multitude to their promotion.

We’ve all seen well-designed banners promoting things. As children, you might have liked to go to a eating place that promoted children’s meals with attractive flags on the table. Children forever need love to play with them so is the manager of an elegant restaurant that uses flags to keep the children entertained while their parents enjoy their meal. small flags can also be used as a fun and entertaining presence in exhibitions, fairs, political conventions and sporting events to support the consume really in great shape.

On a larger scale, there is also much larger banners and flags that can be used for their promotions. Medium sized banners can be placed strategically around their tent of exposure to decorate the shell a little boring you need to make interesting. What is more, only a fraction of the cost that represents more exposure will cost you and are much easier to assemble. They can be assembled in minutes.

rearing the banner flags and banners can be placed outside of businesses such as car dealerships, hotels and family restaurants popular that people know you are there as they are passing. When ordering promotional banners and flags, it is important to understand that you will have much more bang for your buck if you spend some time with the design. This should be a free service that your supplier of promotional gifts can offer you.

One very interesting thing about promotional banners and flags is that they can be printed in one day! So this is an afterthought to you, you should still have enough time. Ask your vendor gift deals to show you the different frame materials and banners that are available to ensure you get the final product that meets your needs incisively.

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Make your own plants - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 3:07 am
Make your own plants
Minneapolis Star Tribune
He's also the author of "How Trees Die," "The Truth About Garden Remedies" and "The Truth About Organic Gardening" (Timber Press, $12.95).

and more »

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Farm tour Thursday - Comox Valley Record

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 2:07 am
Farm tour Thursday
Comox Valley Record
The farm offers an internship program for apprentices wanting to learn organic gardening, horticulture therapy and medical herbalism.

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Nothing trendy about organic for Watertown man - Waterbury Republican American

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 1:07 am
Nothing trendy about organic for Watertown man
Waterbury Republican American
"It made me think organic gardening really made sense." To read the complete story see Monday's Republican-American or our electronic edition at

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Sno Pac stays true to its roots - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 1:07 am
Sno Pac stays true to its roots
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Instead, he adhered to sustainable agriculture principles set out by JI Rodale, a Pennsylvania publisher often regarded as the father of organic gardening.

and more »

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Environmental Deficit Disorder: The Biology of (Not) Being Outdoors - ScienceBlogs (blog)

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 12:07 am
Environmental Deficit Disorder: The Biology of (Not) Being Outdoors
ScienceBlogs (blog)
Organic Gardening Magazine "Whether you ultimately agree with it or not, Tomorrow's Table bring a fresh approach to the debate over transgenic crops.

More: continued here
Powered by SmartRSS

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Organic Cuba without fossil fuels - The Guardian (Australia)

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 12:07 am

The Guardian (Australia)
Organic Cuba without fossil fuels
The Guardian (Australia)
New biological products and organic gardening techniques were developed and produced by Cuba's agricultural research sector, which had already begun

and more »

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Summer is prime time for corn on the cob - NewsOK.com

Wednesday 28 July 2010 @ 12:07 am
Summer is prime time for corn on the cob
NewsOK.com
I couldn't believe my organic gardening parents would just cut the tops away and still use that corn. Now I think of those critters as a sign the corn is

and more »

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




Manchester Community College: Going Green! - Hartford Courant

Tuesday 27 July 2010 @ 11:07 pm
Manchester Community College: Going Green!
Hartford Courant
The gardens also includes an outdoor classroom: "the gathering place" and offers a number of credit-free organic gardening classes taught by Instructor

More: continued here

If you like this post, please buy me a beer for $3 8-)




«« Previous Posts