Direct Mail

Heidi Maiers · 01-06-2005, 12:34 PM

Mary,
Gosh, it's certainly not your fault so don't feel bad. It's my own fault for rushing into ordering without doing my research. I'm over being PO'd at their unwillingness to cut me a break. I wouldn't have bought them in the first place if I didn't think $100 was still a pretty good price for 1000 cards.

In fact, I realized I wanted two sided cards to mail out instead of one sided, so I decided to cut them some slack and placed another order for 1000 two sided at the sale price of $75. As soon as I submitted, however, I realized that I had selected the wrong side to be glossy, so I placed the order on hold immediately. This was at midnight last night and a support person replied right away and was able to correct the order for me. He was courteous, although I didn't appreciate being called "Sir".

I will use my one sided cards to hand out at shows instead of brochures and mail out the two sided ones. Here is my redesign front and back. Not quite as elegant as Michele's, but hopefully it will get the word out locally.

Mary Sparrow · 01-06-2005, 04:39 PM

That looks GREAT! I'm glad you had a better experience.
For what it is worth, here is mine...

Heidi Maiers · 01-06-2005, 05:20 PM

Very nice Mary!
I see great minds think alike as we have come up with similar designs - although I think I tried to cram too many little pictures into too little an area! One can always re-design the next batch if these produce any results at all.
Good luck!

Heidi Maiers · 01-06-2005, 07:04 PM

A side note about ordering mailing lists. If you use USAdata.com, or other, watch where your quantity cut-offs are. I realized that my list of 500 names (of the 7500 available names) came to about $70, but if I had been paying attention and ordered 501 names (the cut off for the next lower price per name), the order would have only been $50.

Man, I am saving you guys a lot of dough out there through my own mistakes. What are friends for, right?

Kimberly Dow · 01-06-2005, 07:26 PM

Those cards look great! I am really wanting to do this now.

Mary- that little boy outside by the urn - I remember the reference photo, but did you Unveil it? It looks really good.

Melinda Roeleveld · 01-11-2005, 11:24 PM

I just happened to see this thread on direct mail and thought I'd join in on the discussion ( a little late maybe). I, too, did my first direct mail attempt (also in Nov., John). I ordered 1,000 larger postcards through modernpostcard.com, but gathered names on my own (ugh!). I spent a lot of time and money on this "project", hand addressed them and used artistic stamps. I got names through private school buzz books and (get this!) through the internal revenue website by searching street names. I happen to know where the wealth is in my city, in fact I was even able to get the addresses of August Busch and Mary Englebright (like she would have me do a portrait for her!). However.....I must tell you all that I have gotten ZERO responses. The only people who verbally mentioned something were those I knew personally. If I could get one small commission from this mailing I would feel it was worth it. To tell you the truth, I will not be using this marketing method too much in the future. I think people get so much junk that even the most gorgeous postcard goes unnoticed. I would love to hear if any of you get a response from your mailing and I will let you know if I ever do

John Reidy · 01-12-2005, 12:03 AM

Melinda, Hello.
I believe the direct mail is a sound avenue to get your name out there. I also believe that it is only one part of a whole effort. In my location (several cities with upper class dwellings) direct mail along with viewings, newspaper stories or anything else you can do will put you in the mind of your chosen target. Usually it takes several mailings to the same people to make an impression. Explore all avenues available to you to get your name out. I will admit that direct mail might not be the best avenue for every situation.

I still believe that I made a mistake in mailing so close to the holidays. But even on the down side, they might recognize me the next time.

Also keep in mind that just because you mailed a card to someone there usually is not a call for action. It's not like we are advertising a "sale". The decision to have a portrait done is one that the client makes in their own time frame.

Michele Rushworth · 01-12-2005, 12:31 AM

Melinda, what's a "private school buzz book"?

Heidi Maiers · 01-12-2005, 01:06 AM

Thanks for sharing your experience Melinda. I too think however that it is too soon to tell. Like anything else, persistence yields results.
I just got my cards back today from overnightprints. They look very nice, but for those of you concerned about color (that would be all of you painters), it is not exact. My nice burgundy panels came out more of a velvety chocolate. They still look quite nice and I am not that concerned about color. How did yours turn out Mary?

Melinda Roeleveld · 01-17-2005, 01:22 AM

Michelle, a private school buzz book is what people around here call that school's telephone directory. Not everyone wants to lend them out, including my own sister who teaches at a very exclusive private elementary school. It's not a bad way to find young parents who may want portraits. I guess I need to be patient (which I'm not at the moment). Hope that helps!