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It hurts me when your job hurts you.

That's why its so good to hear that we're a safer place to work.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Injuries and Illnesses (I&Is) scores for quarter 1 of fiscal year 2009 were just released and they show just how well we’re performing against that goal. Nationally, OSHA I&Is are down 2,314 or -22.7 percent compared to the same period last year (SPLY). Our year-to-date OSHA I&I rate is 4.76 per 100 employees.

Other more specific year-to-date numbers, compared to SPLY, are:

• Handling and lifting OSHA I&Is are down 290 or -19.7 percent.
• Slips, trips and falls (STF) on premises are down 135 or -11.9 percent. STF off premises are down 322 or -14.5 percent.
• Dog attacks and bites are down 137 or -19.4 percent.
• Nationally, musculoskeletal disorder OSHA I&Is decreased by 776 or -38.6 percent.
• Year-to-date OSHA exposure hours are -26.7 million or -7.45 percent to SPLY.

Many organizations/companies start direct mail campaigns with unrealistic goals.  Expecting a one-time mailing of a postcard or offer to return substantial profits immediately is idealistic, but impractical.  The key to getting your return on investment is consistency and a time-commitment.

I’m assuming you’ve taken the time to hire a professional advertising agency to create a great strategy, offer, and design.  I’m assuming too, that you have a great product/service and call-to-action.

You should expect on your first mailing a response rate of about zero.

The key to direct mail is consistency; a company must give the campaign time to grow.  In general statistics have shown it takes a person being exposed to an offer 2-4 times before they’ll even notice it.  Then 5-7 times before they take any action on the offer.

This doesn’t mean you should flood your prospect mailbox with weekly mailings or even bi-weekly mailings.  What I’m suggesting is giving your campaign time to mature, a 6-month time commitment minimum.  Each month you can tweak the offer and the overall strategy.  So by the 6th month your plan is 6 times better than before and your prospects have been exposed to the offer 6 times.

After 6 months you’ll notice a change.  It’s a mistake to consider Direct Mail a cost.  You need to think of Direct Mail as an investment.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a resolution calling on California to create a Do Not Mail Registry giving its citizens the choice to stop receiving unwanted junk mail.

Though non-binding, the resolution represents the first time American lawmakers have withstood pressure from the direct mail industry and the U.S. Postal Service to side with the majority of Americans.

Sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, the board approved the resolution by a 9-2 vote.

“Until now, junk mailers have stifled all efforts to give Americans what they want: an enforceable, comprehensive solution to junk mail’s waste and annoyance” said ForestEthics Executive Director Todd Paglia. “San Francisco is the first city in the United States to take political action against junk
mail, marking the beginning of a long-awaited government intervention to protect citizens from relentless and predatory junk mailers.”

Bills calling for Do Not Mail Registries have failed in more than 20 states, despite widespread frustration with junk mail. A 2007 Zogby poll revealed that 89% of Americans support the creation of a national registry.

“Reducing junk mail is in keeping with our nation’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lead more sustainable lifestyles,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, upon passage of his Do Not Mail Resolution. “Just as Do Not Call overcame industry opposition to become the most popular consumer rights bill in history, I hope that this resolution will empower our representatives on the state and federal level to represent their constituents on this issue.”

Supervisor Mirkarimi has a record of trailblazing leadership on a variety of issues and policies, including the nation’s first municipal ban on plastic bags, and commuter benefits requirements for San Francisco businesses.

More than 93,000 Americans have signed ForestEthics’ petition at donotmail.org calling for the creation of a national Do Not Mail Registry.

Every year 100 million trees are logged to produce the 100 billion pieces of junk mail Americans receive. Junk mail’s production generates the carbon emissions of over 9 million cars. U.S. junk mail accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44% of it goes to landfills unopened.

Visit donotmail.org for more information.

On December 12, 2008, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported widespread mail theft in 2 Peachtree City subdivisions. The story, originally printed here and including below for your reference, underscores the need for consumers to protect their senstive information with a secure locking mailbox.  In addition, people should always use a secure post office box to drop off outgoing mail.

Peachtree City police are investigating widespread mail thefts from two subdivisions after a bag filled with delivered mail was found behind a shopping center.

Police said they recovered a bag of mail behind Peachtree East Shopping Center that had already been delivered to homes inside Hampton Green and Morallion Hills subdivisions. Police believe the mail was stolen Monday, between 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

About two weeks prior to Wednesday’s discovery, someone stole outgoing mail from residential boxes inside Summer Brooke and Rockspray Ridge subdivisions, police said.

When times are tight everyone’s looking to get the most bang for their buck.  It almost goes without saying that every business at this time is looking over their expenses (advertising too) to see where they can cut costs.  Some companies are giving up direct mail marketing for the time being all together.  This might be the only option for some, but will result in missed opportunities and lost revenue.  Not everyone has a home phone number, or an email address, nor does everyone read magazines and newspapers.  But everyone has a mailbox.

The best option for everyone during these times is not to abandon your direct mail campaigns completely, but to evaluate them and look for ways to increase your return on investment.

The first tip I have is to remember your audience has a short attention span, especially going through their mail.  You’ll have limited opportunity to catch their attention and keep it.  Use short and concise sentences, that are easily scanned, but are also easily understood.  You should have a clear action for the potential customer to perform.  Such as visiting your website or calling your business number.

My next tip is to be creative with your offers.  If “buy one get one free” or “50 % off” isn’t affordable, then a solid and informative telemarketer becomes a “Free Consultation” or a “Free Quote”.

Don’t forget this old rule “Garbage in, Garbage Out”…

My third tip is remembering that your results will only be as good as the data you start with.  Remember to purge Duplicate Names/Addresses and Opt-Out Persons from your database or Mailing List.  In addition, having a solid Move Update process is important too.  Mailing pieces twice to a person that will inevitably be returned is an obvious waste.  Not only a waste of your money, resources, and time, but a waste of USPS money and resources.

Keeping the amount of UAA mail down will (possibly) save you money in the future too.  The USPS has recently increased rates.  They have to spend money dealing with UAA mail.  Eliminating it from their system will save them money.  Which in turn (hopefully) will keep their rate increases to a minimum.

The US Postal Service has released a five year plan to focus on and meet customer needs.  At the heart of the plan, the USPS says, are 3 keys:

1. Focus on what matters most to customers.
2. Leverage our strengths to create customer value an profits to invest in continued improvement.
3. Embrace Change in the way we respond to emerging customer needs and a rapidly evolving business environment.

The 37 page document talks about the current economic situation and factors the situation into the plan.  It refers to this period in economic history as “challenging times” and a period of “economic uncertainty”.  Basically the document is a road map for the USPS to continue to improve its core strengths.

The plan covers topics from customer relationships to technological advancements.  The plan specifically covers the commitment of the USPS to implement and improve on the IM Barcode (Intelligent Mail).  It also states that it will not only embrace change, but will be a leader in many fields.  The document also has a section explaining the need to use the Internet to its full potential.

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