Everytime I take this cake to a function, I get requests for the recipe.  I wish I could say it is my original recipe but it was given to me by a friend but I am claiming it for my own as I have been making it for years.  I love it because I always have the ingredients on hand and it is so easy to make.  You don’t have to wait for the cake to cool, you just pour the icing over the hot cake and if served warm it is just wonderful.  Hope you enjoy.

cocoa cake

1 cup water (boiling)

1 stick butter

½ cup vegetable or canola oil

4 tablespoons cocoa

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 eggs

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine water, butter, oil and cocoa. Heat until blended.  Pour over sugar, flour and eggs.  Beat well.  Add buttermilk, soda and salt.  Beat well.  Add vanilla.  Pour into greased 9 x 12 ½ pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Icing

1 stick butter

6 tablespoons buttermilk

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 box confectioners’ sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)  I love black walnuts

½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter, milk and cocoa.  Bring to a boil.  Add sugar, nuts if used and vanilla.  Pour over hot cake.

Yes, I do have buttermilk on hand because I am a true southern cook and I make biscuits quite frequently.

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If you are not already using the Intelligent Mail ® barcodes, you will certainly want to do so by May 2011 when automation discounts on letter-size and flat-size mailpieces take affect.In May 2011 the POSTNET barcode will be ineligible for automation prices.  Additionally, the PLANET Code ® barcode, used with Confirm® service for mail tracking, will be retired in May 2011.  To receive Confirm service after this date, you’ll need to use the Intelligent Mail barcode.

The advantages of Intelligent Mail® barcode are:

• Holds all routing, sorting and additional services information in one barcode.
• Offers OneCode ACS® at less cost than traditional ACS®
• Provides more real estate on the envelope for marketing messages
• Allows customers to receive automation prices in May 2011.

Apply the IMb to these mail classes and processing categories:

• First-Class Mail letters and flats
• Standard Mail letters and flats
• Periodicals letters and flats
• Bound Printed Matter flats
• Business Reply Mail

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Our mailing manager mentioned to me that the most frequent phone call she receives concerning US Post Office requirements is “Why is the zip code wrong on my Business Reply Art?”

As with anything that we print, the graphics department sends a proof of the reply envelope or card artwork to the customer to be approved before the files go into production.  Upon receipt of the artwork we often receive a phone call asking “Why is the zip code wrong on my Business Reply Art?”

The United States Post Office defines Business Reply Permit as; a service that allows a permit holder to receive First-Class Mail and Priority Mail back from customers and pay the postage only for the returned pieces. These pieces must have a specific address and format. Postage and per piece charges are collected when the mail is delivered back to the permit holder.

When someone opens a Business Reply Permit, an escrow account is opened at the USPS. We then request the Business Reply Mail artwork from the Mail Piece Design Analyst at the USPS. As these pieces come back the postage and fees due are then taken from the escrow account, and that is where the “strange” plus four on the zip code comes into play. If the plus four on the Business Reply Mail piece were the same as your normal address the envelope would proceed directly through the mail stream to your business or nonprofit office with your information or donation. But since you have sent a Business Reply Mail piece with a Reply Permit on it you have committed to paying for that return postage. The unique plus four on your reply mail sends the envelopes first to the Business Reply Mail department of the USPS where the permit it held. The USPS then uses that plus four to look up and collect from your escrow account the postage and fees due for that piece before sending it on to your location or holding it at your post office box for pickup. Another frequent question is why is the plus four on our envelopes not the same plus four as the one on our reply postcards? A plus four is not unique to your Business Reply Permit it is unique to that mail piece. A 4×6 reply postcard that returns at .28 cents plus fees will have a different plus four than your #10 standard envelope weighing 1 oz that returns at .44 cents plus fees and if you happen to have a larger 9×12 envelope returning it will have a unique plus four of its own. As a rule, Business Reply Artwork should always be requested from the postal service so that they can assign the unique plus four required to collect the correct postage for that mail piece.

Courtesy Reply mail is an envelope or postcard that has the required bar-codes and FIM mark but has a place stamp here, in the upper right hand corner where the stamp or permit normally located. Postage is not collected by the post office because the individual mailing the reply back to you is applying the appropriate postage. The piece goes directly to your organization and would not require a unique accounting plus four zip code.

 The post office does require that when you have an outgoing mail project that is being bar-coded, in order to get the discounted automated postage rates, the reply card or envelope must also have the bar-code and FIM marked. Failure to do so will result in your entire mailing being disqualified for bar-code rates.   O.K. we have heard from non-profit mailers that they haven’t done this in the past and have not been charged by the USPS.  We tell them they just haven’t been caught yet.  We have all been guilty of speeding and we don’t get caught every time we speed, but the odds are we will get caught eventually and then we have to pay the fine. Paying a fine is not what anyone of us wants to do, so just make sure that the reply envelope meets USPS postal specifications.

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Do certain colors really draw our eye to it?  I had a meat company as a customer and he was putting coupons for discounts for his product in the meat counter a local grocery stores.  He printed them on brown paper and was not getting good results.  I suggested that he print the coupons on a bright pink.  Afterwards, he reported that more people were using the coupons.  Some colors just naturally draw our eye, have you ever noticed the day glo green or orange that the transportation workers wear when working on the highways. The same is true in direct mail.  According to Deliver Magazine here are some of the things associated with colors;

• Blue-based reds (raspberry) - associated with more expensive products.
• Yellow-based reds (tomato red) is imagined as less expensive.  Could be used if you want to downplay a high price.
• Orange - affordability
• Yellow - is the first color the eye sees, and when used with dark colors for high contrast (use yellow back ground with black type as yellow type is very hard to read) it becomes more powerful and easy to read.
• Green - conveys possibility and hope.
• Blue - conveys confidence and safety, making it a great choice for financial and medical institution mailers.
• Purple – a hot color right now but not particularly for direct mail.
• Black - conveys power, promise and the ability for high contrasts.
• White - implies sophistication and formality.

Hope this helps with your next mailing.  I advise to keep your mailing clean and simple, do not try to write a book on a post card.  If your direct mail copy is too busy, they will simply not read it. You want to get your message across and hopefully get the recipient to contact you.  You can give them details and more information at that point.

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Who knew, but the University-Green Bay says that switching fonts from Arial to Century Gothic, uses 30% less ink.  This was great news for us and we have switched to Century Goth to see if we can achieve that savings. Ink for our mailing machines is one of our major expenses. A green- friendly font and save money too, now that is a win/win situation.  Sorry for the cliche.

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1.6.11 Products Mailable at Nonprofit Standard Mail Prices

[1-4-10] The following products are mailable at Nonprofit Standard Mail prices:

a. Low-cost items within the meaning of 26 USC 513(h)(2), Internal Revenue Code. At the beginning of each calendar year, the value of low-cost items is adjusted for cost of living. Effective January 1, 2010, the cost of such items cannot exceed $9.60. This cost is the cost to the authorized organization that mails the items or on whose behalf the items are mailed.

b. Items donated or contributed to the qualified organization. Such items do not have to meet the definition of a low-cost item.

c. A periodical publication (as defined in 707.4.0) of a nonprofit organization unless it is ineligible under 1.6 to be mailed at the Nonprofit Standard Mail prices.

Each year the USPS gives new rules for nonprofit organizations who mail products.  More information can be obtained at www.usps.gov.

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I wonder how some of you are doing with your move update changes and if you have paid any penalties for bad addresses?  The USPS is so quick to come out with new rules, but before they go into affect, they somehow get changed before the effective date.  We were told when the NCOA update penalties went into affect January 4, 2010 that the mailer would not know that the addresses were bad until after the mail was in the system.  However, when we talk to our local USPS they told us that they knew immediately that the addresses were bad and the customers are given the option of picking up the mail and correcting the bad addresses or paying the extra postage.  I think that is a much better scenario than to have the mail enter the system and then find out that the postage is going to be much more. The USPS reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live skit where the comedian says “forget all that other stuff I said.”

On a personal note, I haven’t posted very many blogs in the past few months as I have been sick.  I am feeling great now and looking forward to spring.  I have had a very uplifting morning today because I thought about all the blessings that I have and how grateful that I am to live in the greatest country in the world.  My prayers are with the people of Haiti and the rescuers trying to help. One of my best friends son is in the military and is there helping in a medical field hospital. When I think about the little problems that I have, they pale in comparison to the tragedy in Haiti.  The things we take for granted, food, water, medical care and a roof over our head is something that they do not have and may not have for a long time. “This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  I don’t know about you but I am planning on a great day.

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We know that the USPS will start, at some point, charging mailers a penalty for bad addresses.  We know the penalty is .07 each.  No, not for just the bad addresses, but they can charge  .07 each for the entire mailing, if the mailing has a certain percentage of bad addresses.  The USPS keeps changing the date for the penalties,  so I won’t go into that.

The volume of Undeliverable As Addresses (UAA) in the United States is 9.7 billion per year. The following is some of the reasons:

• 75.8%  is move related
• 5.2 % is for missing or incorrect apartment or suite numbers
• 0.1% is for missing or incorrect directionals
• 0.8% is for rural or highway contract box numbers
• 4.4% is for missing or incorrect street name or number
• 0.13% is for missing or incorrect city, state or zip
• 13.6% is for other reasons such as missing recipient, illegible handwritten address, deceased, unclaimed, or no mail receptacle.

At Burns we work for a lot of nonprofit organizations and they use volunteers to input their data. As you can imagine, some of their mailing lists are a mess.  As the old saying goes “garbage in, garbage out.”  When the penalty for UAA is charged by the USPS there will be a lot of mailers reaching into their pockets to pay the penalties if they have not cleaned up their list.  Most mailing companies offer NCOAlink updates for nominal fees.  At Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. we offer free NCOAlink updates to our nonprofit customers, who print and mail with us.

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PMS in color printing stands for Pantone Matching System.  It is an industry standard for picking colors and is very important when you are branding your company or organization. Have you ever ordered printing from different printing companies and the color that you use for your logo is never the same?  If you select a PMS color and give the printer that number you should always get consistent color.  If the printer has a PMS number such as 485 which is red, the Pantone Matching System gives the printer a formula to mix the ink or to buy ink that is pre-mixed to that formula. If you are still not getting consistent color, it is time to look for another printer. If you search online for PMS you can probably find a color chart to select the color that you want to use but be aware that color on a computer screen is not a true color match.  If you want an exact color palette , ask your printer to show you a PMS color chart from which  to make your selection.  There are thousands of colors to pick for your next project.

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USPS®  Deliver® Magazine is allowing me to use this article by Elaine Appleton Grant

At a time when the corporate world seems increasingly obsessed with digital solutions, legendary direct marketer Ernan Roman has some compelling news for brands: Recipients actually want your traditional mail.

Roman says that prospects and customers have been so overwhelmed with e-mails in recent years that the deluge has turned off many of them.  It has also made them more receptive to mail.

“This started four years ago, and it has reached a crescendo over the last three years,” says Roman, a 35-year marketing veteran who heads Ernan Roman Direct Marketing in Douglas Manner, N.Y.

Of course, despite the good news that customers are asking for your mail, you still have to persuade them to open your envelope. To help you do this Deliver turned to Roman and fellow direct marketing legend Herschell Gordon Lewis, who started his career making gory films like “Blood Feast” and “2000 Maniacs” before turning to ad copy-writing.  Not surprisingly, both men know how to get attention.  Here are a few tips they have for those trying to capture mail recipients’ eye:

Understand What Mail is Good For.  Make sure recipients are expecting something they can use. Customers of Roman’s clients tend to prefer direct mail for important communications “that are relevant to the pre-existing relationship,” says Roman.  He adds that “the customer is going to get cranky if you start chopping down trees for a message that doesn’t have substantial value.”

Fulfill Personal Requests. Use preference information from opt-in campaigns to your advantage on the outside of the envelope. For instance, Roman’s company recently completed a campaign that encouraged viewers to name their favorite TV programs during the opt-in registration process.  Using the consumer-provided information, Roman segmented the company’s list and sent personalized promotions to the fans of various shows.

Keep the Envelope Clean. Generally, when sending high-level business information, keep your envelope simple –an address, a restrained logo and a personalized return address are all you need.  Don’t muck up the envelope with extra text, big logos or artwork.

Help Recipients Make Quick Decisions. If the product is relevant, but a commodity, says Roman, informational graphics and copy can help recipients prioritize the mailing’s importance: “We’re saving them time by letting them know about the product or offer on the outside of the envelope.”

Use The Right Words. Many overused words insult recipients’ intelligence. Lewis eschews the word “free” and “personal,” which at best, have little meaning – and at worst, incite consumers cynicism and even anger.

Avoid The “Bulk-Mail” Effect. Lewis recommends doing whatever you can to ensure that your envelope doesn’t look like one of millions, whether it’s an unconventional font or an eye-catching color. In this age of consumer-driven marketing, there’s no one size-fits all strategy that always will or won’t work.  You have to know your consumer well before you splash the envelope with promotional copy – or not.

Thanks to Deliver® Magazine a publication of the United States Postal Service for allowing the use of this article. Consumers don’t want to be duped or receive mail that insults their intelligence. If you care to check out the DMA’s ethical guidelines go to www. dmaresponsibility.org/guidelines/.

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