Burns Mailing & Printing is 100% women owned.
Does it make a difference to have the WBE certification? I think that it does because I have several customers who are looking to do business with Tennessee certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE), small business, minority businesses and veteran owned businesses. I think the state of Tennessee and several local governments are making a good faith effort to have more diversity in awarding contracts.
Today we added a new Sharp copier. We don’t use this copier like most companies do. We use it for laser personalizations for non-profit organizations and for business who want to send out a letter that looks like it came from someone’s desk. It is also part of our match inserting. For match inserting we apply a bar-code on the back of the letter and when the letter is inserted by our NeoPost DS 1200, the inserter reads the bar-code on the back and applies the correct name on the envelope. This is like a hand match but without the higher cost of a hand match. We can do small quantities and we have done as much as 450,000. Small or large we want to partner with organizations to help plan, print, and mail for optimal direct mail success.
Phyllis Burns – phyllis@burnsmp.com 865 584-2265
I have often said that we are professionals who know graphic design, printing and direct mail, however, we don’t always get to advise and plan with our customers. Sometimes a project appears on our dock and we are left to figure out if it can be mailed and how to get the lowest postage. We have seen a brochure that has already been printed with no addressing area left on the brochure. We ended up putting that one in an envelope. We have seen coating applied to the addressing area and our inkjet ink will not stick to a coating so we ended up putting a label on that direct mail piece. We have seen the direct mail piece folded wrong, requiring tabs to go through the USPS machinery. Does this sound costly to our customer? You know that it is, and is unnecessary, because with a little planning in advance it could all have been avoided. If our mailing customer is not printing with us, we will still advise them on the most cost effective way to design and what not to do, when printing. We will even supply them with templates to make sure enough room is left for addressing. This insures that they will meet all postal regulations and have the lowest postage when we present the mailing at the post office. Consulting with our customers is a FREE service at Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc.
Of course, we would like to do the entire project starting with planning, graphic design, printing and direct mail services. A lot of my customers want me to help them with lists, I have if fact, helped four customers this morning with working out their lists. The list is probably the most important aspect of direct mail because if the list is not directed to the desired market, all other components of the mailing are a waste of time and money.
Let the professionals at Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. help with your next direct mail project. phyllis@burnsmp.com or call 865 584-2265.
A local government official, sends me funny emails. This one really made me laugh.
*This guy is leaving a voicemail for his boss when he witnesses a minor
traffic accident. Not fake, it actually happened. In late February, several
stations broadcast interviews with a man named Michael Childs, who said
that he was the one who left the voicemail message, that the clip was
genuine, and that the accident described took place in Athens, Texas* *,
while he was working as a construction manager for Jack in the Box. *
*The visual picture this guy paints and his laugh are contagious. Laughing
is so good for us.*
Voicemail Accident Hilarious http://www.zanylol.com/accident.html
Planning a successful mail campaign can be stressful if you have to find a graphic designer, then a printer and then a direct mailing company. If you design the post card or other direct mail piece, do you have a designer who knows United States Postal Service requirements, is it on paper that meets United States Postal Service requirements, or have you left enough space for addressing and have you put coating on the addressing area? These are all things that can come back to haunt you.
Recently, I went to a customer’s business and sat down with him about the direct mail campaign. My designer went with me to get an idea of what he wants to project to the person receiving his post card. We discussed what area he wanted to mail to and did several demographic list counts before coming up with his target market. After he approves the design, we will print and mail. He will have the assurance that his design is exactly the way that he wants it, that the demographics on his list is what he wants and that he is getting the lowest postage possible.
I suggest that you meet with the company that can do all of those things under one roof. Design, printing and direct mail.
Call me at 865 584-2265 or email at phyllis@burnsmp.com
My mother grew up, in what she called the forks of the river, in Knoxville TN. This is where the French Broad and the Holston rivers merge. It was all dairy farms back then and most of the folks living there worked for the dairies. It was lush pastures and the river flowing by made for beautiful scenery. Her maiden name was Monday and her mother’s maiden name was Terry. Now I am no ancestor expert but I believe there must be some Irish there. Also the fact that she was red headed and had freckles may have had something to do with me thinking she was Irish. So from someone who thinks they may be a little Irish, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
No matter what business you are in, we all get excited about prospective big jobs. I know that I do and my mind tells me that I want to take in every project that comes my way, but that is not always the smart thing to do. The things that has to be considered is, do you have the capacity to handle the work, do you have the right equipment to handle the work, can you accomplish it within the time frame presented and will it interfere with the ability to take care of your current customers. Taking care of my current customers is my first consideration. Big projects come along occasionally but it is the loyal day to day customers that must be considered above all. If you can accomplish both that is the best outcome. However, if you disrupt your day to day business or fail to meet the deadlines on the big project that is a lose/lose situation.
I usually sit down with my staff, to make sure that we can accomplish all the requirements of the project and if we can meet the deadlines required. I think it is better to turn down a project than to take it and not be able to meet all the requirements and deadlines.
I have been in the printing and mailing business for 27 years and I have chased many opportunities. Some have come to fruition and some have been a bust. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, we went into the mailing and graphic design business 26 years ago. We did not know that much about mailing but with the help of Tony Maples and Shelia Kerton at the USPS bulk mail unit, we got really good at direct mail and we now have three talented graphic designers on staff as well. This combination of printing (both digital and offset), along with graphic design and direct mail makes Burns a true one-stop for direct mail.
Getting back to opportunities, some times they come out of the blue, in a phone call, like yesterday. It was a company that I have worked for in the past and they now have needs that my company can provide them. I still get excited at the prospect of a new project. That is why reputation is so important to me and why I want customers who have new opportunities to think of Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. first.
Phyllis Robinette Burns
Digital printing has changed the way that people do business but it is not for every job. Digital printing is perfect for small quantities up to 5000 but if the quantity is larger then a conventional offset press is the best choice. For our customers who want to print a brochure, post card, invitation, even some non-profit appeals, in smaller quantities, the digital press is the way to go. One thing that you may not know about a digital press vs a conventional press is that the inks are not the same. Digital printing uses toner based and conventional offset uses ink. The toner sets on the paper but the conventional ink is absorbed into the paper. If a customer had a smaller quantity and then decided that they wanted a much larger quantity, the two would not look the same.
With our Print Shop Mail software, we are able to address post cards and flyers as we print them. This makes for a quick turn around, if the press is not booked, and allows us to print and mail in one day. My staff does not like me to say that because they think all our customers will want to print and mail in one day, but some times we can accommodate a one day turn around.
Burns Mailing & Printing is a State of TN certified Women Business Enterprise, certificate 072706-01
Most post cards, small brochures, business cards, and rack cards only take an hour of graphics time. If you have never done business with Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. give me a call to get started on your mailing or print project.
phyllis@burnsmp.com
865 584-2265