Month: September 2017

Leaking A Little Secret

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Thistle Print Artistry is now on ETSY

My little secret is that Burns Mailing & Printing has opened an ETSY shop.  We are calling it Thistle Print Artistry and the shop is named after one of my late husband Ken’s, favorites, the thistle.  He took lots of pictures of thistles.  Also because of Ken’s Scottish heritage, especially the highlands of Scotland, where we fulfilled a dream of his to go to Scotland.

Since we have three graphic designers on staff and the ability to print on demand, we are offering this for people who want custom prints to frame or they can select from our ETSY site.  We have just a few things up on the site but we will be putting much more up in the near future.  One of our favorites is the outline of the State of TN with three stars.  What Tennessean would not like that. They would make great Christmas gifts.  Yes it is time to start thinking of Christmas.

Here is a link to Thistle Print Artistry;  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThistlePrintArtistry?ref=profile_shopname

 

 

Want Something FREE?

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Want to know about paper, submitting artwork properly, the difference between digital printing, bindery options in folding and finishing, mailing standards, classes of mail and mailing list, then email me or call for a FREE resource booklet.  The booklet is not the only thing free to our customers.

  • FREE estimates
  • FREE NCOA mails list updates for our customers
  • FREE mail list queries
  • FREE consultation with our customers
  • FREE print cost/postage saving advice to our customers
A FREE Resource Guide For Printing and Mailing Projects

Call me, Phyllis Burns  at 865 584-2265 or email me at phyllis@burnsmp.com. Check us out on the web at WWW.burnsmp.com

Millennials And Direct Mail (With A Response Rate Of 5%)

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Millennials range from ages 20 to 26

Millennials are in a category all their own. They were raised in the digital age and technology is second nature to them but that doesn’t mean that they don’t respond to traditional marketing methods such as direct mail. They are on the go, buying houses, renting apartments, buying cars and they are a force in the workplace.

What does all that have to do with direct mail?

Direct mail has continued to be a great source for marketing with a response rate of 5% as compared to digital marketing with a response rate of less than 1%.  I recommend to my customers that they do both direct mail and social media marketing.  Millennials are experiencing digital fatigue but they still spend a lot of time online, so use direct mail to guide them to your website or social media page and give them a reason to go to your page, such as an offer of something free such as consulting, free estimates, or a discount. The marketing landscape is always changing but direct mail remains as influential as ever, or more so.  When I started in the mailing business in the early 1990’s the response rate was 2-3% and now it is 5%.

At Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. our consulting is FREE to our customers.  I just showed a non-profit how to save over $4000.00 in postage and all it took was sitting down and listening to what they had been doing and what we could do for their organizations. Call me, Phyllis Burns,  today for a FREE consultation 865 584-2265.  You may email me at phyllis@burnsmp.com for a free estimate.

 

Baking A Zinger Birthday Cake For My Sister

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Joyce Robinette Haynes, Phyllis Robinette Burns & Jetty Robinette Middleton

This is a picture taken at my birthday in July.  My sister Joyce baked me a caramel cake for my birthday and this weekend Joyce will have a significant birthday and I am baking her a cake.  Does any one remember eating Zingers when you were growing up.  I loved them.  They were filled with cream and has raspberries and coconut.  Before Eva’s to Go closed you could get a Zinger cake that was made with the same tastes as a Zinger.  A couple of years ago I developed a recipe that was much like the one served at Eva’s and it turned out great.l  Some of our crowd of birthday celebrators have gluten issues so I am making a gluten free Zinger cake as well.  Don’t know exactly how that will work out but I have my fingers crossed.  If you would like a copy of my Zinger cake recipe, email me at phyllis@burnsmp.com.

Zinger cakes are great but so are sisters.  Happy Birthday Joyce!

 

Its All About The Mailing List

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Mailing Lists

To get your finished project into the mail stream, the first thing you will need is your mailing list to get the quantity before printing. You can provide a list or purchase a list. Purchased lists are offered as single-use or multiple-use. They can be targeted based on a wide variety of factors, including zip code, household income, industry, and special interests, etc. List queries we conduct on your behalf are always FREE. This provides a count only. Burns Mailing & Printing will not copy or release your database without your written authorization.

We also provide, at no cost to our customers, a FREE National Change of Address (NCOA) Service and we will provide the Undeliverable, Moved No Forward, or Forwarding Address, to our customers so that they can maintain their mailing lists with the most up-to-date information provided from the U.S. Postal Service. Be sure to update your master list with the NCOA and undeliverables! All NCOA/undeliverables will be flagged for 48 months through the U.S.P.S. After that, the address is no longer flagged and mail will be sent to the old address. It is imperative to keep your database up-to-date to ensure your recipients are recieving your mailings.

When maintaining your own lists, it is important to use relevant headers to label your columns. Keep data separated. Include any extra information for variable data printing in its own columns, such as monetary amounts or dates. If you would like your mailing or letter to be addressed a certain way (Mr. & Mrs. Doe vs. Jane & John Doe), create a separate DEAR column with the special name combination.

If you want to sit down and discuss your next direct mail project, call Phyllis Burns at 865 584-2265 or email me at phyllis@burnsmp.com.

 

 

Why Graphic Design Is Important For A Direct Mail Campaign

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Our graphics department wears many hats.  They are very knowledgeable on designing direct mail pieces that meet postal specifications and are eye catching designs.  Even if we are not printing a direct mail piece, they check the design files to make sure that they meet postal specifications BEFORE printing.  They provide templates for mail panels to insure that if we are not designing the mail piece that the mailing panel is correct.  They work closely with our mailing manager and our estimator/planner and salesperson to make sure that the job moves efficiently and quickly through the shop.  We like to start with the concept and end with the direct mailer in the mailbox.  We have three graphic designers on staff and they are experienced in design of catalogs, post cards, brochures, annual reports, non-profit appeals, booklets, presentation folders and more.

For your next project, why run all over town, when we have what you need….all under one roof.  It is a big roof!

Call 865 584-2265 or email phyllis@burnsmp.com.  You will be glad that you did.

Things I Brought Back From My Trip

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I was blessed to spend the Labor Day weekend with my family at the lake in Winchester TN.  However I brought home a nasty bug and spend the next week at home sick.  Also another little nice surprise was that a huge limb had fallen out of one tree into another tree in my front yard. I had to have both trees removed and now my yard looks like some one was having dirt track trials in my yard.  I am not worried though because I have someone coming to  seed the yard  and all will OK.  It is a blessing to be with family any time that it is possible.