A recent project clarified a question which comes up from time to time, and since I needed a short post here it is:
The United States Postal Service (USPS), in an eco-friendly endeavor to cut down on undeliverable mail, has enacted a requirement called "Move Update". This requirement must be satisfied to obtain the "automation" rates in First Class Presort or Presorted Standard mail, and that means a lot of money is at stake. If you're a glutton for punishment here's the USPS page on the subject. More simply, there are two ways to be sure your mail complies:
National Change of Address (NCOA) is a database maintained by USPS. Various commercial services, such as printers and mail processors, use specialized software to process your mailing list through the NCOA database to be sure all the addresses are valid. This is a routine step performed by mail shops everywhere, and if they send you an itemized bill you can probably find a line item for NCOA of about $25.
Ancillary Service Endorsement, the alternative to NCOA, is wording you add to your return address to request that undeliverable mail be handled by USPS in various ways (depending on the endorsement you choose). The goal is to get feedback about listings in you mail which are Undeliverable as Addressed, (or "UAA" to prove that USPS has an acronym for everything). This feedback is then used to keep your data up to date. A fairly clear webpage at USPS discussing the endorsements, their timeframes and costs is here.
If you're a do-it-yourself mailer it's important to check this out in some detail as savings may be available. More usually, people use a printshop or mailshop to prepare their stuff, and so this step is almost certainly taking place anyway. I've noticed, however, that information about mailing requirements is disseminated slowly, so this post seeks to answer the few questions that come up. Maybe we also need a friend in the mailing business.
Few will remember 2009 as a great year, but your friend in the printing business has a lot to be grateful for. First, our industry continues to provide a bastion of good paying trade-based employment for Florida's citizens. Second, our technical people, who peer relentlessly into the future, are insuring our customers get the benefit of every innovation that can be found. Finally, our colleagues in the public relations and advertising business still look at printed collateral as a good investment, albeit one which must be made prudently. All of this is reason to look toward 2010 with guarded optimism.
At the risk of repeating a theme from several posts, I must observe that there has never been a better time to buy printed material. The downward pressure on prices and increasing technical firepower are converging in a way which makes higher quality and greater speed available across a wide range of quantities. This is particularly true for shorter runs, and is a unique development in our business...the ability to purchase multi-page high quality color printing in short runs, (50-100), at an affordable price. Don't miss out on this!
On a personal note I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to visit this blog, and particularly those PR pro's who gave me so much support and guidance to get it going. I'm also very grateful for the printing and finishing professionals who form the knowledge base that goes far beyond my personal expertise.
Let me close by wishing you a Happy 2010, and a reminder to buy local and support your local printshop!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The best, simplest question so far...
One of our fine Tallahassee PR firms, The Moore Consulting Group, recently sent their graphics intern over for a tour of our shop, (an invitation we extend to everyone, BTW). She asked several good questions, including: "What do I need to know to keep from running into trouble when I take my jobs to [fill in the name of your favorite print outlet]? I thought it was the best, simplest question I've ever been asked in this context. I hope I provided an equally cogent answer, which follows.
1) What are the physical characteristics of your project? These include overall size, size and configuration when folded (with allowance for shortened panels), and weight and finish of paper.
2) How should my file be set up to be consistent with the printing method? These considerations relate to how many colors will the file will separate into: one, four (CMYK or process color), or multiple spot colors.
If you can't answer these questions you'll depend on someone else to fill in the blanks. This doesn't mean trouble, necessarily, but remember this; the person who is ultimately responsible for the success of your project is...you. Many customers have said, about unpleasant prior experiences, "I can't believe they put it on that paper". "They" did that, most likely, because the customer defaulted on the choice.
I often ask people to characterize the printing business, and, after the silliness that follows, most people say "it's a service business". That description is not really accurate. Although we strive to offer good service, printing is, primarily, custom manufacturing. It's the customer's role to convey, as clearly as possible, what they want to achieve, and it's up to the printer to insure that goal is met in a professional manner. The responsibility for communication goes BOTH ways.
Too often the printer may feel that if the customer doesn't know, they don't care; and their customer may be thinking something else entirely. Worse, at some retail shops, the service person may not be much more knowledgeable than the customer. The devil (or angels) are in the details...be sure they know you care.
The best way to stay happy is to take positive charge of your role in this custom manufacturing process. If you can't answer the two basic questions don't whistle in the dark...seek out the people who can help. If all else fails, send your intern over for the tour, and have them explain it to you when they get back.
Until then, you can always find help here!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
PS My next post will be a brief tour of Florida sales tax rules, so, if this prospect is unpleasant, please feel free to suggest a different topic. Having spent half my career in New Hampshire, where there is no sales tax, I see the whole process as somewhat barbaric, but it's a fact of life. The consequences of getting the rules wrong can be dire, so undertake it we will. Please feel free to help me postpone this topic by suggesting one of your own...we'll all appreciate it.
1) What are the physical characteristics of your project? These include overall size, size and configuration when folded (with allowance for shortened panels), and weight and finish of paper.
2) How should my file be set up to be consistent with the printing method? These considerations relate to how many colors will the file will separate into: one, four (CMYK or process color), or multiple spot colors.
If you can't answer these questions you'll depend on someone else to fill in the blanks. This doesn't mean trouble, necessarily, but remember this; the person who is ultimately responsible for the success of your project is...you. Many customers have said, about unpleasant prior experiences, "I can't believe they put it on that paper". "They" did that, most likely, because the customer defaulted on the choice.
I often ask people to characterize the printing business, and, after the silliness that follows, most people say "it's a service business". That description is not really accurate. Although we strive to offer good service, printing is, primarily, custom manufacturing. It's the customer's role to convey, as clearly as possible, what they want to achieve, and it's up to the printer to insure that goal is met in a professional manner. The responsibility for communication goes BOTH ways.
Too often the printer may feel that if the customer doesn't know, they don't care; and their customer may be thinking something else entirely. Worse, at some retail shops, the service person may not be much more knowledgeable than the customer. The devil (or angels) are in the details...be sure they know you care.
The best way to stay happy is to take positive charge of your role in this custom manufacturing process. If you can't answer the two basic questions don't whistle in the dark...seek out the people who can help. If all else fails, send your intern over for the tour, and have them explain it to you when they get back.
Until then, you can always find help here!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
PS My next post will be a brief tour of Florida sales tax rules, so, if this prospect is unpleasant, please feel free to suggest a different topic. Having spent half my career in New Hampshire, where there is no sales tax, I see the whole process as somewhat barbaric, but it's a fact of life. The consequences of getting the rules wrong can be dire, so undertake it we will. Please feel free to help me postpone this topic by suggesting one of your own...we'll all appreciate it.
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