Who is Mark?

Update: The Daily Herald corrected my name in the online versions. So, it's just the print edition that uses my alias.

So the Daily Herald article on closing the Palatine Postal Facility ran today. I was quoted at the end of the article. So far, so good. However, due to an error, I was cited as "Mark" Tarpinian. At least Kim spelled the name of my business correctly.

Shutdown the Palatine Processing Facility?

The USPS announced plans to shut down the Palatine Processing Facility recently. Why should you care? Well, I will tell you. All mail in this area—from Evanston to Elgin will then go through the Carol Stream facility. This will delay local mail by a minimum of one day. That’s bad. There is a possibility of a logjam at the Carol Stream Processing Facility.

For those of us who mail information, there is a bigger problem. There is a possibility of delays and added costs. Many businesses are built around supporting mail in this area. We will be left high and dry.

I feel this will have long lasting detrimental effects on mailing. At this time when the USPS is seeing declining mail volume and revenues, they need to innovate and be creative. Cutting services, hours of service, raising prices, adding layers of difficulty to creating bulk mail will only hasten the decline of the Post Office.

By the way, Kim Pohl of the Daily Herald interviewed my for a marketer/mailers perspective. Look for it in an upcoming paper.

Yes You Can Send Prospect Email Without Being A Spammer

A prospect came to me recently looking to do an email blast. Unlike the email blasts I do for my business and for some clients—this one was different. They want to send to people who are not their customers.

As she described what she wanted to do, the only thing that popped into my mind was—SPAM! That’s one of those touching the hot stove issues I always want to steer clear of. But I told her I would look into it. And I did.

What I got was an education. Are you ready for an outline of what I learned? Here goes. Contrary to popular belief, there are legitimate, legal ways to email to prospects. For definition a prospect is someone who you don’t know and who probably doesn’t know you.

There are two ways to send out prospecting email. One was is through mostly offshore vendors. Their lists are typically gathered through questionable means. While I hate to throw stones—these are the spammers of the world. Their lists have a high degree of incomplete or out of date addresses. You risk being blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and your legitimate email will not be delivered. You could also face penalties or fines.

The other way is through a credible list broker. Their lists are culled from opt-in lists where people acknowledge they will accept marketing info. Neither you nor I see the lists. The vendor holds on to them. They also will design the email template and they take care of sending your eNewsletter out. You will get access to tracking info and leads. We have worked with a couple mailing list vendors who provide this service. We trust them very much.

While this route is more expensive than the first, it would be less expensive than direct mail. Even though the response rate is much lower than postal mail, there could be a benefit in lower cost per contact and immediacy.

There is an indirect way. This might give you credibility of being associated with someone known to your audience. That is to get an article or profile about your organization into someone else’s email blast. You might have to pay for the space or trade for space in your eNewsletter. But you have control over the content. You also can look like an expert to this audience. The hard part is finding a partner who has a non-competitive offering but has a list of people you need to reach.

Allegra Marketing, Print & Mail of Rolling Meadows would be glad to answer any questions or provide you with a quote. Call Michael Tarpinian at 847/398-2500.

By the way we also design and support traditional eNewsletter campaigns directed to your current customers, clients, students, fans, or patients.

Letterpress

My guys recently had a successful test of letterpress printing. Before this test, we had used our letterpress for embossing, die cutting, and perforating paper. Lots of different stuff, but not for printing. Not bad for a fifty+ year old printing press, huh?

But there is an increasing interest in this old fashioned printing. Why? Nostalgia is part of it. The other part is the craft of letterpress printing. It looks different than our traditional printing or photocopying. There is a texture to the printing. It has a feel. It does not look flawless. It has character.

Some studios are commanding top dollar for stationery and wedding invitations of their letterpresses. We are looking at a slightly different model. We want to make note cards, business cards and invitations that are elegant and affordable. New techniques have helped to breathe new life into these old presses.

The movies American Psycho and the recent Seven Pounds have featured characters in an elegant business card throw-down and a letterpress printer respectively.

Best Seats in Town

The Palatine Chamber of Commerce has just put out the decorated benches in the Best Seat in Town fundraiser. It’s a fun civic event that promotes the Chamber, local businesses, local charities, and local artists.

My sentimental favorite is the Harris Bank bench in support of the Immanuel Lutheran School Girls Basketball program. It was created by a local student whom I know (hi Joz). You can see it in front of the church and school on Plum Grove Road. I like the perspective of looking from the near net.

Keep your eyes open around town, these benches are all over. Also, pick up a park bench walking map and be sure to vote for your favorite. (You know I will).

Mike’s Wish List

Perhaps there are a lot of business owners like me right now. After a couple of years of solid growth where we invested a lot of money back into our business, we hit a bump. Clearly the Great Recession has impacted businesses far and wide.

Now we are watching every expense. Closely. That’s the new reality. But here is where I take it to my own level of tightwadness (not a word, but you know what I mean). For everything that is non-essential to our operation, but would be nice to have, I am creating a list. It’s my wish list. Some is for new stuff, some is for software updates.

If there are others like me living a life of small business delayed gratification there are consequences. That is pent up demand. When the economy improves and businesses start spending again, there will be a rebound effect. People like me will loosen up and start buying the stuff they held off on purchasing. It could be a big snowball.

On the other hand, if we all see we have done without things for so long, maybe we don’t need them after all.

Web Favorite — FontCapture

I have been messing with a website I found a few weeks ago. It is called FontCapture. It is a free service. The only thing it does is create a font from your handwriting. It is simple. And it works. You can create a font for both Mac or Windows.

What you get back, instantly I might add, is a complete font. A to Z, 0 to 9, plus punctuation. The slowest part of the process is writing out the template. But that doesn’t take too long either.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Download their template and print it out on your printer.
2. Print the letters as you would like them to appear.
3. Scan the template.
4. Send the template to FontCapture through their website.
5. Install your font on your computer.
6. Done.

Creating a cursive font is painstaking work, so you probably could not create a font of your writing, just your printing. All in all, its pretty cool. And did I mention it is free?

International Literacy Day

September 8th is International International Literacy Day. While there aren't too many UN programs I would get behind, this is one of them.

• At least 1 in 7 people in the world cannot read.
• 776 million adults are illiterate.
• 75 million children are out of school.
• 30 million adults in the U.S. possess below-basic literacy skills.

Today only, use the coupon code 4LITERACY at BetterWorld Books and save 15% off their already low, used book prices. Plus they offer free shipping in the U.S. Your purchase will support literacy programs in the United States and around the world.

Is your marketing sending the right message?

A recent call to a clients office left me confused and surprised. It was a Doctor’s office and they were not in. So I got their answering service. Actually at first I got their answering services on hold message. After being told I would speak to an operator promptly, I heard their recorded music. Since almost everyone has gotten away from elevator music, this was pop music. Actually, it was the current queen of pop—Britney Spears. So I listened to about 45 seconds of her recent controversial hit [the one about Amy] which is out and out vulgar.

I’m no prude, but this song gets switched off when in the presence of either of my daughters. How it got on the radio in the first place is beyond me. It is up there with some of the nastier stuff Prince recorded in the ‘80s. And that was rarely on the radio.

After taking my message, the operator answered a couple questions I had about this song. Her company is aware of it, but it is out of their control. They pay for a quarterly subscription so they just have to wait it out. Really? Stop it now. Don’t wait.

Everything in and around your business is part of marketing. Your place of business, your printed materials and forms, your delivery trucks, your employees, and your style of handling phone calls. Whether you intend it to be marketing your business or not, it’s all marketing.

I would not let an employee make deliveries celebrating sex, drugs, or alcohol. Nor would they parade a controversial anti-hero in front of my clients. The same goes for my phone messages. You don’t have to go back to the watered down stylings of Muzak strings, but come on people use some common sense.

What tone do you want your marketing to hit? Do you want people to think you are staid, or hip, or conventional, or happy go lucky? Are you ok offending or being controversial? What message to you want your public to hear? Answer these questions and go for it.

Printing Magnets — on our printing press?

We recently worked on a fun project for a large Church organization. They needed a large quantity of magnets in a hurry and on a tight budget. Typically these are done by a silk screener. They are great quality but turnaround time and price might have been obstacles here.

Fortunately, we recalled a recent sales call from a paper mill rep from Nekoosa Coated Paper. They have a new magnetic sheet product that will run through a printing press. After trying the samples he left behind, we decided to go for it.

It worked great. They printed nicely, they dried quickly, and the finished product was beautiful. These were cut to business cards size but we could have cut them to just about any desired size. Also, with our die cutting capabilities on our letterpresses, we can cut them to almost any shape imaginable—triangles, circles, start, you name it.

Give us a call to see how we can promote your business or event with magnets.

They Don’t Live in Glass Houses

You know the phrase: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” Have you ever thought the phrase is strange? People who live in brick or frame houses should not throw stones either. But this is not about that. This is about direct marketing.

There is a company or maybe a few companies who market directly to the public in an unusual way. You might have folks like this in your community too. Is it a widespread phenomenon? I don’t know. They take their flier or brochure, or whatever, and put it in a Ziploc® with a handful of rocks. No. Seriously.

Then they fling them out of a moving car onto driveways around the neighborhood. I seem to recall one being from a home repair business. But I don’t recall the name or if I ever looked at another one. The packages annoyed me. It was litter dumped on my property.

Why do they do this? Is it to save money? If so, I doubt it is cheaper. Between the cost of the baggie, the rocks, the labor to fill and seal the bags, and the cost to drive around, it all adds up. Now, if they had pretty stones in there, maybe. If they sold rocks and pebbles for landscaping, perhaps. But, I don’t think they are.

Standard Mail postage is about 26¢ each—it is a real good deal. Yes, we charge for our services to mail. But you are getting a professional direct marketing piece. Put down the stones.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahliajayde/3600630428/)

Typos happen

There is an old phrase in printing regarding typos. Doctors bury their mistakes, architects plant ivy, printers make notepads. While there are very few true "printers errors," most are more accurately "proofers errors," if you spend enough time in printing you will see lots of blunders.

This recent one is a doozy. Anytime your gaffe is shown on TV, you have really done it big. Case in point the Washington Nationals jerseys. They hit the field with NATINALS embroidered across their chests. Whoops.

This Vista Does More Than Print

When you buy business cards from an internet company that does not charge for them, you have to ask yourself a question. How are they generating income? I have seen troubling things for years about a few of these big internet printers. Now, they are getting some exposure and their shady practices are coming to the light of day. Check out this news story.

My company has never sold or traded client information. We have never dealt in bait and switch. And we have never made it a policy to treat anyone in an underhanded way.

When You Find Yourself in a Hole—Stop Digging

Over this past weekend, the Obama administration rolled out their small business stimulus plan, or whatever they are calling it. All it looks like is a reduction in costs to borrow. Bad idea. Has anyone in the White House ever had to make a payroll? I doubt it.

There are two major problems with this plan. Access to money is not a problem for many small businesses. Community banks and credit unions are willing partners. Citibank and Bank of America are not lending money, but they won’t deal with small business during good times—forget it now. The problem is sales and profits. Our sales are way down and therefore our profits are too.

The other problem with this plan is debt itself. Our country got into this mess because of too much debt. So, now the suggestion is more debt? Really. Mr. Geithner, when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Don’t make things worse than they are.

How about my plan? Cut government spending, cut personal AND business tax rates, and cut regulation. Make it easier to a little guy to make a buck. This social engineering program makes us nervous. Raise tax rates on one hand and make it easier to get deeper in debt with the other. Small business is not buying. The financial big shots got us into this mess, Now Washington, get out of the way of the little guys to clean it up.

Layoffs Stink

There are a few situations in business that really stink for a small business owner. Being defrauded or swindled by an employee or partner is really bad. Being a victim of someone else's crime is way up there. Violence brought to the job by an employee is unconscionable. But what these have in common is they are rare and have to do with crime in one form or another.

But in the regular ups and downs of business, nothing is worse than letting go of an employee. Sometimes you have to sack an employee because they did not work up to expectation. That’s hard. One reason it is hard is because the owner was probably the one who made the decision to hire that person. Now the boss has to admit he or she made a mistake. So the decision to fire an under-performing worker is delayed in the hope that they will get with the program and turn around. That rarely happens.

While there is justification to let go of a bad worker, laying off an employee is much harder. Now you have to sack someone who was doing a good job. It is not for cause. It is for economic conditions that are usually not in the bosses control. The overall economy is in the dumper, sales are down, clients are slowing down payments, we are in a pinch. I have to let you go.

In a small business employees can become like family. Of friends. That makes it worse. Some bosses will delay laying off excess staff in down times because it hurts and is uncomfortable. This delay could kill the business. It can put everyone out of work. And it can bankrupt the business owner personally. Sadly, the burden to make the hard decisions falls on the owners shoulders. It stinks, but that’s the reality.

My Plan to Restore the Economy

President Obama’s plan to restore the economy seems to be really complicated and risky. A guy named Joe even said it has a 30% chance of failing.

Here’s my plan:
Cut income taxes across the board including corporate income taxes which are the highest in the world;
Cut government spending across the board except for defense to keep more money in hands of the folks;
Cut government regulation to make it easier to start and grow a business.

This plan worked for President Reagan. It is tried, tested, and it works.

—Michael Tarpinian

Minimum Wage

There is a trend recently reported in the Wall Street Journal. Restaurants are getting rid of their busboys. The minimum wage has made them too expensive for restaurants to keep on staff. Now the wait staff is clearing tables and bringing water glasses.

This is part of the law of unintended consequences brought on by a high minimum wage. Perhaps the aim of a minimum wage is good, but it just does not work. Those who are on that low margin will be eliminated. How is that better for those just starting out in the work force or who don’t have the language skills to keep up?

Staff costs are expensive. That is one reason you fill your own cup of pop at McDonald’s. Some fast food restaurants are using order kiosks where you press the buttons and pay without one of their staff involved. More entry level jobs eliminated.

I have asked liberal politicians for years to defend their high wage positions. None have answered me. If $6.55 is good, why not $16.55 or $25.00 a hour? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone made $50 grand a year?

No it wouldn’t. Many people are not worth $6.55 an hour. At least not today. After they have some experience—yes, but today they might only be worth $3.00. It sounds harsh but a low wage is motivating.

After high school without much direction, I got a minimum wage job in retail during a recession with high unemployment. No benefits and a lot of nights and weekends. I worked my way up to assistant store manager. Then I made about $0.35 more an hour than minimum wage. That experience told me to go get a college degree.

If these now unemployed bussers are not worth minimum wage where do they go to get experience for a position where they would be worth it?

Quote for the day

If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less.

—General Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Former Chief of Staff, U. S. Army


Since I read this quote a few years ago, it has stuck with me. Now, it seems timely for any business person.