3 facts about the mail and growing your business
(United States Postal Service, 2002)

1. The mail can help any kind of business grow
If you can write a letter, you can build your business. You can drive traffic to your store, find clients for a service, get people excited about a new product, even make your existing customers more loyal – all through the mail. It’s not hard. It can be as easy as a letter announcing that the fall fashions have come in. Or as simple as a postcard that tells your best customers ¬¬– the customers on your mailing list – that they can take advantage of sale prices a day early. Are you a professional or a consultant? A regular newsletter about developments in your field keeps you top-of-mind with customers. And reminds them that you are a leader.

2. Mail is flexible
Unlike other media that literally “box you in” to a space, there is no limit to how you can use the mail. You can send simple letters, brochures and postage-paid reply cards. Or you can add unusual items to the envelope for more impact. A flower shop could send rose petals. A fabric store could turn leftover strips of material into samples, just by putting them into an envelope and sending them to customers. Let your imagination run wild. The mail also lets you control the timing of your message. A gardening store can let its best customers know in advance when the tomato plants are expected to arrive. A pediatrician can remind parents when camp checkups or school inoculations have to be completed. The mail also lets you be very personal, talking to a customer’s specific need. A postcard, for instance, may remind car owners that it’s time for an oil change. This is as much customer service as it is a traffic builder.

3. Direct Mail works
It is no small wonder that multibillion-dollar companies have sprung from the mail. It lets you make a highly personalized, relevant presentation to a customer, for the price of a First-Class Mail® stamp. Less if you send a postcard. You may even qualify for bulk-rate savings if you mail as little as 200 pieces at a time. Production and printing are also inexpensive. With a home computer and help from a local quick-copy shop, you can create, print, and send your mail for a very reasonable price. Even more, you can measure the results of every mailing you send out, just by counting the inquiries or traffic that come from the mailing. As you get a better “feel” for what works and what doesn’t in your business, you can make an adjustment to your mailings. So future mailings become more effective. And more profitable.