Canada Post eliminates over 1,000 red street letter boxes but reports e-commerce growth

Canada's primary postal operator, Canada Post, has removed over 1,000 of its red letter boxes from Canadian streets, largely because the country’s household mail has dropped off 17 percent in the past 5 years.  In 2009 Canada Post had 31,584 street letter boxes and in 2011 reduced that number to 30,546.  The Canadian crown corporation reports that corresponding use of epost, its online mailbox service (http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/epost/default.jsf), has increased dramatically and that, with service available at almost 6,500 Canada Post counters across the country, large e-retailers such as Wal-Mart, Gap, and Old Navy, are using Canada Post to deliver their parcels. While in 2006, parcels coming from e-commerce from the top 25 shippers represented about 13 percent, that number climbed to 32 percent last year.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1126915--canada-post-eliminates-more-than-1-000-red-street-letter-boxes?bn=1

How to market your small company without breaking the bank

I’m privileged to be part of a LinkedIn discussion that Paul Castain started about five days ago in a group called Market Your Printing Company.  Among many comments of interest from diverse participants, the response I got back today from Larry Bauer on the specifics of how small companies can market themselves most effectively but economically really blew my socks off.

If interested, you can review the entire discussion thread at: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=2946757&type=member&item=87688812&commentID=63908098&report%2Esuccess=8ULbKyXO6NDvmoK7o030UNOYGZKrvdhBhypZ_w8EpQrrQI-BBjkmxwkEOwBjLE28YyDIxcyEO7_TA_giuRN#commentID_63908098

Bauer is based in the Greater Chicago area and owner of Bauer Associates:  Marketing for a New Age.  I am taking the liberty of quoted his above-mentioned advice in entirety below:
  

Media costs tend to be high, so that is often something that must be cut. Even these, however, often can be scaled down (Chamber of Commerce or ad club newsletter, etc.), and one shouldn't dismiss the value of name recognition. I've done considerable formal research on this within the printing industry, and companies that win the question, "which of these printers do you recognize," tend to get treated very favorably on any other question asked . Media, both print and online, are great for boosting name recognition.

But my primary bit of advice is that whatever a company does, large or small, do it as a complete campaign oven an extended period of time. I am very unimpressed with one-shot deals and generally think that they aren't worth the money spent. You have to have a bigger strategy and longer term staying power to have any impact at all. Most companies drop out when they find there is both perspiration and inspiration involved in a good marketing program.

To follow up on that, I would emphasize marketing activities that the company can do inexpensively or in house, provided they’re willing to devote the time. You have to start with putting together a good, actionable marketing database (and most of them are a mess), because it’s the critical component in any marketing plan. A lot of this you can do fairly inexpensively. For my own Print Strategist blog email list, I used a public list of major North American printers and hired a college intern to get contact names and email addresses through a combination of website research and telephone calls.

I would then place a premium on very well executed direct mail. It shows a printer’s imaginative use of the medium and most of the costs are internal. Many companies make the mistake of being penny wise and pound foolish in this category. For example, a $5-$7 dimensional package sent to a smaller, well-qualified audience and properly followed up by sales reps will likely pay far more dividends than a more widely distributed postcard mailing that gets easily tossed aside.

And I can’t emphasize the sales accountability enough. For example, I like to have sales reps participate in the selection of names for a dimensional mailing, and then only mail out the number per week that is reasonable for follow up. Everyone needs to understand that marketing dollars are precious and accountability is expected.

I would also use the inexpensive digital channel for keeping in touch through educational enewsletters as well as electronic news releases (these should go to customers and prospects, not just the media, and one per month is not an unrealistic goal). I'm only lukewarm on social media for business-to-business marketers because I think the return for time expended is low. There are some possibilities for activities like local Twitter and LinkedIn “meet ups,” however, that help bring digital relationships into more face-to-face networking opportunities.

As an alternative, I would aggressively network by participating (that’s different from joining) in local business and civic organizations. It’s a great way to form relationships with local decision makers and influencers.
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Every situation is a little different, but it’s always a matter of prioritizing your objectives, learning to be creative with smaller budgets and having marketing perseverance.

Useful case study in cementing printer/client relationships

In a blog posting the week before Christmas, New-York-City-area sales trainer and coach Paul Castain wrote a first-person testamonial concerning an order he had placed with a printer.

His account details how the printer wowed him with a succession of strategic but inexpensive moves that not only made Castain’s satisfaction with his order skyrocket but also cemented his long-term relationship with the printing company. 

Among other things, Castain is interesting for his early and aggressive adoption of social media tactics and the fact that for 13 years (1983 to 1996), he owned Viret Leonard Graphics, a small printing company he spun off a family business.

http://yoursalesplaybook.com/packaging-your-added-value/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PaulCastainsSalesPlaybook+%28Paul+Castain%27s+Sales+Playbook%29

Wanted: More pro-print testamonials

Nathalie Atkinson’s Nov-24th article (detailed in my last post) and a quick check of my old blog posts from about 12 months ago twigged further memories of similarly pro-printing testamonials that were circulating in the media around this time last year.  (See:  http://vicg8.blogspot.com/2010/11/cross-platform-holiday-catalogues.html)

Can anyone else provide other links to this kind of helpful evidence reinforcing the power of print?  

In praise of printed catalogues

Today the National Post's articulate columnist Nathalie Atkinson has come out with a strong and entertaining statement about the sales value of printed catalogues, based on consumer behaviour (and using herself as an example).  The article, called “Catalogues & the case for paper cuts”, might make enlightening reading for your printing clients who are thinking of converting to e-commerce exclusively.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/Catalogues+case+paper+cuts/5759445/story.html

Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games bring new business opportunities for printers

The Pan American Games closed last night in Guadalajara, Mexico, with a ceremony that included an eight-minute segment advertising Toronto and the fact that Ontario’s capital city will host the Games four years from now, from July 10 – 26, 2015.  Toronto’s printer Mayor Rob Ford was present in Guadalajara to waive the Pan American Games flag in the traditional handover ceremony.  Ford was joined by Canada’s Sports Minister Bal Gosal.

The weeklong Parapan American Games for physically challenged athletes will be held in Toronto the following month, from August 7 – 14, 2015.  It will be the third time Canada has hosted the Pan Am games (Winnipeg hosted them in both 1967 and 1999) and the first time ever that Canada will host the Parapan American Games. 
http://www.tsn.ca/toronto/story/?id=379307 

Best of all, both the Pan Am Games and Parapan American Games will bring new business opportunities for printers in Canada.  For more information on these business prospects, please see page 37 of my March-2010 column in PrintAction. https://www.box.net/shared/erx45bpunc  

Further info is also available from the Toronto Pan Am Games website at: http://www.toronto2015.org/

More e-book & p-book milestones

Exciting new milestones the world of e-books and p-books include online giant Amazon.com’s recent announcement of plans to allow students to rent textbooks through its Kindle service.  According to the company, renters can save up to 80 percent compared to the cost of purchasing a physical book.  Users can choose the exact length of a rental, from 30 days to a full year. Rentals can subsequently be extended by the day, if needed, or else converted into a purchase.

 http://www.printaction.com/News/20110719-amazon-rental.html

Additionally, my June-2011 column for PrintAction details the new e-book and p-book solution launched by Montreal-based giant Transcontinental Printing in partnership with

De Marque, a developer of international platforms for digital content, based in Quebec City.
https://www.box.net/shared/unr54aj9akns9igvy8f8