Over the years, we have all done dumb or stupid things which I’m sure didn’t seem so at the time. I can certainly look back over my 33 year career as a cataloger and think of things I did that were really dumb! To a large degree, this is all part of the learning...
One of the many aspect of the business of catalogs that I have always enjoyed is the fact that everything we do from a circulation and marketing standpoint can be tracked to a specific source (or key) code. When a company runs an image ad (non direct response) in a...
Catalogs known as Slim-Jim’s have been around for many years. They are not new. This catalog format has been popular with business-to-business mailers; not so much with consumer mailers until now. We are seeing more direct-to-consumer companies migrating to a Slim-Jim...
Several significant events over the past 60 years fueled the growth of mail order catalogs. These events have very much shaped the industry. While it seems like yesterday, I can remember every one of these key occurrences. I thought it would be interesting, especially...
Direct selling expense to sales ratios have been the subject of several articles I have written over the years. That’s because this ratio is critical to profitability and to the growth of a catalog business. It should be tracked monthly on your income statement just...
So your sales are in the toilet? Your internal expenses are based on a plan you are not meeting? Here is a handy tool kit of things to do that can help get you back on track! It is not uncommon to be missing plan. We have all been there! The question is how to react...
I am still surprised by the number of consumer catalog companies who do not rent their buyer file. While most do, some catalogs still feel they are keeping others from mailing “their” customers by not renting their buyer file. Fact or fiction? This may have been true...
The headlines on the July 5, 2006, edition of USA Today reported that we are now a nation of 300 million people. By 2025 the U.S. population is projected to reach 350 million; 400 million by 2040. With the population growth, why is it becoming more difficult to...
When people talk about Direct Marketing, they no longer are talking strictly about print. Digital marketing has become a large part of Direct Marketing in this multi-channel world. It is no longer print vs. digital but, print and digital. After all the end goal is the...
