Month: January 2017

Budgeting For Direct Mail For 2017

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The first of the year is a time to plan for the coming year.  Planning for the year’s direct mail is essential to a comprehensive marketing plan.  When do you plan to mail, quarterly, monthly or weekly.  What are your goals for the mailing.  Is your mailing list up to date and has it been cleaned up.  It is a total waste of money to mail to an address that is bad or your customer no longer lives at that address.  Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. can help you budget and plan your direct mail for a year.  We offer FREE NCOAlink updates to all our customers.  This is the national change of address database maintained by the USPS.  In most cases, if someone has moved we can find their forwarding address if it is still in the USPS database.

Give me a call today to schedule a FREE consultation on your 2017 direct mail campaigns. 865 584-2265 or email at phyllis@burnsmp.com.

 

Best Pancakes Ever

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We are know for our printing expertise, mailing expertise, graphic design expertise, but we have other skills as well.  One of mine is pancakes. Start the new year off right and enjoy some great homemade pancakes this weekend.  Your family will thank you.

The Best Pancakes Ever

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk    

2 large eggs

¼ cup butter melted

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine eggs and buttermilk and stir together. Gradually stir the buttermilk and egg mixture into the flour mixture. Gently stir in the melted butter. (The batter will be lumpy).

Pour 1/1 cup batter onto a hot buttered griddle or non-stick skillet. Cook until tops for a bubble and edges are browning. Turn and cook on the other side about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

I make up the dry ingredients ahead of time and put into a plastic container. When I get ready for pancakes I just add the buttermilk eggs and butter and I have homemade pancakes ready to go on the table in minutes. Pancake mix but deliciously homemade.

 

Official USPS Announcement On Rate Increases

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This is a letter I received from the USPS today regarding rates;

The United States Postal Service® (USPS) recently received approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission for price changes for both our mailing and shipping services. Although some of our prices will increase on January 22, 2017, we will continue to offer great value and transparency in pricing, and we are committed to providing you with outstanding service. We realize that when you ship with us, your business becomes our business, and we are committed to delivering the value and excellence you and your customers deserve.

Competition in the marketplace remains fierce. Our major competitors are increasing some of their prices and surcharges as well. As you know, our prices are transparent, and the Postal Service® does not have any hidden costs for fuel, residential delivery, or regular Saturday delivery. In some cases, our 2017 prices will be lower than the new prices our major competitors will charge in 2017 for similar services. Many of our products include insurance, tracking, and other benefits such as free packaging.

Now is a good time to review your mailing and shipping programs. Whether you need targeted or mass advertising, fast shipping under 10 pounds or even ounce-based shipping, we are available to discuss how the USPS can meet your and your customers’ needs.

1095 C Forms For 2016

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Last year was the first year that companies were required to complete the 1095C.  We did this for a large manufacturing company in Blount County in 2016.  They supplied the forms but we discovered that our customers don’t have to buy the forms because we can print the variable data and the form at the same time.  Our NeoPost DS-1200 can insert them at speeds of to 12,000 per hour.  We are experienced in databases of all kinds and have been doing variable data and laser personalization for many years.  Give me a call  or email if you want to take the hassle out of 1095C processing. phyllis@burnsmp.com and phone at 865 584-2265.

Hope You Noticed

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spain2016

I hope that you noticed that I have not written a blog in several weeks.  That is because I was blessed to be able to go to Spain with my family.  We were in three cities Seville, Cordoba and Granada.  The history of it all just continues to amaze me.  I visited the palace of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand and was actually standing in her bedroom and in their dining room. If you remember history, Isabel was the Queen who sent Christopher Columbus on the voyage that led him to discover America.  In Seville, where we were staying we visited the largest Gothic church in the world.  The U.S. is just a baby in comparison, but make no mistake I am oh so grateful to be living in the U.S. The folks here at work wanted to know what made the most impression on me and I would have to say it is the architect and the history of beautiful Spain.  We were able to travel easily on the train system that Spain has and it made me wish that we had a train system readily available to most cities here in the U.S.  However, we walked almost everywhere we went and some days logged 6-8 miles.  You would have thought that I would have lost weight but the wonderful gelato made up for all the walking. Net gain zero and net loss zero so I guess that is good.

My trip is over, the holidays are over so I am back to work with my great staff, who kept things moving smoothly, while I was gone.  Lets print and mail.