How to print or even a mailing?

When you're a young entrepreneur with a small budget, and we want to send a mail
ing to its customer base or even create a prospectus to be distributed at a trad
e show, the harder it is to write the mailing, but everything after the design,
that is to say, choose the paper and its thickness, know what font to use, choos
e to send by fax / emailing / mailing, estimate the cost of postage ... Therefor
e Maryse Tocco was kind enough to send us this article which explains in practic
al ways how to print and distribute a newsletter or even, in cautioning us again
st all the classic mistakes not to commit. Nb: we will not talk about the writin
g phase of the mailing, because we have already discussed in the article "The 11
steps to follow to do a mailing.
A good mailing is a mailing that does not feed the garbage!
Before starting to print the mailing should already know that many mailings, whi
ch are sometimes very expensive, end directly into the trash without being read,
if not well thought at first ... We can never repeat enough that the key the su
ccess of a mailing is primarily targeted offerings and a good match (= hitting t
he right people with the right message), and only then the formatting of the mai
ling. You should know that the average French household receives more than 40 kg
per year prospectus. That's over 18 billion ads (flyers, mailings ...) that are
sent to French households, or 830,000 tons of paper per year ... so you must wo
rk the formatting of your mailing to stand out and be read. .. and if possible c
ause immediate purchase. Note: Some U.S. studies indicate that it should be betw
een 6 and 8-contact (call, mailing, flyers ...) before triggering a purchase. Fo
r this you must write a text that should immediately catch the eye of the recipi
ent. According to the product or service, your mail will appeal the reader with
a hook that can be shock and a short phrase, an image, a financial benefit (reba
te, gift ...), an amazing figure ... Remember that in a mailing You must bring a
ttention to your player, and not on your company: you have to convince your frie
nd that your product / service will be useful or necessary, you will solve the p
roblem ... Going back to the printing and dissemination of our mailings, we will
take the most common case, the mailing size paper 21x29, 7 inches (standard A4)
printing duplex (both sides of the page). We recommend you read our article on
brochures
business to study the case of the flyers and catalogs. For mailings and flyers t
o A4, we must distinguish two cases: - a newsletter delivered flat (not folded)
- one folded for mailing in envelopes.
The mailing or flyers to A4 without folding
It will be used only as printout for distribution mailbox, by tables of packages
on a professional show, inserted in a newspaper ... There are three things to w
atch in particular: 1 - weight: As you do not send mail, there is no weight rest
riction on mailing to avoid postage costs. So you can afford a quality media, wi
th a weight "luxury" (the weight = weight in grams per square meter of a leaf, t
o simplify its "thickness"), that is to say between 120 and 150 grams. It should
be noted that the paper is more rigid, more solid image of the product is promo
ted. We must make the most of this advantage "thick" because the price differenc
e between paper and low-heavyweight is minimal. By cons are careful to check the
characteristics of your printer on the maximum weight accepted, and especially
do tests before starting any impression (otherwise you surprises, particularly l
aser printers and ink jet down range!). We must give absolute priority to a pape
r "lying" that is to say, perfectly smooth and opaque, it will avoid problems of
"crushing" (that is to say, to appear in front of the paper "transparency" text
s and images of the back). A prospectus with the crushing is obviously unsightly
, and plus it gives your company a bad image. 2 - Images: The images must be cho
sen carefully because it is one of the first things that will analyze your drive
s before they even read your message.€Remember to first determine the purpose an
d objectives of this image before ... It's a choice of classic mistakes to forge
ahead in search of a picture or find a nice or funny forgetting the purpose of
mailing and finally adapt its message to the picture! Both errors have most ofte
n a mismatch between the message and image, which may blur your communication. O
f course we must avoid image with large blocks containing a uniform color ...
Prefer Isolated photos with very good sharpness for printing on paper will revea
l all the defects of an image on your computer might have seemed correct ... The
Rolls Royce of image banks is obviously Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.co
m). If you can not afford to pay between $ 49 and $ 700 for a high resolution im
age, you can of course look to sites that offer photos submitted by amateurs and
pros who are often very good (and that cost less than 1 €). The best known are
www.fotolia.com (Little frenchy the list!) Shutterstock.com, Istockphoto.com, Dr
eamstime.com ... To a lesser extent you can also find your happiness on Stockxpe
rt, 123RF, Lucky Oliver, Feature Pics ... Warning: If you make a broad communica
tion, take the image into "exclusive", this will prevent you from seeing another
undertaking which has no relation with you, take the same picture in one of the
ir mailings ... 3 - Fonts: You must limit the number of fonts and making them fi
t (taille. ..) 2 or 3 maximum. Remember that fonts must bear the text, not destr
oy it. A mailing should not become a "catalog" of fonts on your computer. Use a
single font for all mailings, and play on the size (to grip the titles ...), fat
(for titles and keywords) and italics (to quote customer reactions, witness ...
). For the font, choose a font rounded and smooth as Arial (Tahoma Verdana or an
alternative). The Times New Roman "should be avoided (as seen in the newspapers
too, harder to read ...). Avoid complicated course lettering, too original or i
llegible because they will only slow down the playback, make the confusion worse
or give up your prospect to read the whole message. nb: attention also to probl
ems with some uppercase fonts such as "i" and uppercase "L" capitalized which ar
e identical if one makes a capital "I" and "the" tiny. The same is true for "mos
t" and "whose understanding should be no doubt. Also, follow these tips: - Exper
iment with layout: font size, position, line breaks, bold or tightening of chara
cters ... the overall readability of your document can be improved greatly. - Sh
ow your artwork to your entourage in order to take account of general comments t
hat you missed. because when you realize his own self-mailing it is rarely objec
tive (we read the same text and 10 so we head into the handlebars). So you need
a "fresh eye" to make the reader's place. The ideal is to gather a group of peop
le for a mini brainstorming, to note and correct the mailing, and possibly redo
it and resubmit. - Check the spelling and grammatical correctness: that no one i
n his circle of professional conjugation? We must seek to present writing a frie
ndly French language. This respect is also a reflection of valuing its business.
Example of a newsletter / flyer unfolded ... In this example we will take as an
example Mr. Smith, which manufactures filters for green pools. The front: The fr
ont of the mailing must be set before the customer's current problem, explain ho
w the product solves the problem, introduce the product, indicating its specific
ity, and add a visual (for example) end with a reply coupon. Do not start puttin
g the picture of the pool filter (= the product of the company), but by highligh
ting the client's problem.
Here is a suggested place: - It starts with a sentence of hanging like: "Your po
ol filter green!" "Make a simple gesture for the environment !"... In this case
it is intended primarily for readers and to his problem. This hook should be lar
ge print, it dominates the page (note the words written in capital letters, they
are harder to read, so avoid their use).€- It continues with the cost (= the cu
stomer's problem) with a comparative argument with a key sentence in bold style
of "no more expensive than ordinary filter!". - Then we show only the product of
the company that solves the problem mentioned first. The picture and / or outli
ne explaining how the problem is resolved. A good addition to add captions to im
ages with specific dimensions, features exclusive ... - At the bottom it has pro
vided a reply card with an advantage (sample, free product, reducing ...). The c
oupon size is 9 x 21cm, as a separate section of the body of the mailing by a do
tted and a pair of scissors. The back: On the back it must develop the technical
and commercial arguments, without soliciting, without the use of terms indigest
ible and never denigrate the competition (very unwelcome!). Will be highlighted
distinctive features of the product, those who make it unique and innovative. Ju
st before the back of the coupon, you can never forget the name, address and det
ails of the company so the client can put in an envelope again need the original
mailing. The dotted line of the reply slip must also appear on the back, exactl
y the same as in front. The printing of mailing Depending on the quantity, it mu
st anticipate the cost of printing with your printer (paper, ink ....), But also
the time (number of pages per minute). It is very important to note that on som
e models of printers, entry-level cartridges are sometimes almost as expensive a
s the printer itself! It will therefore be wise to request a quote to print an i
mager, such as Copy Center (if necessary by providing the file to print). But do
not forget to request a test to be validated before the take-all (a BAT = A Goo
d Pull). The value is generally satisfactory when we did not quantities (or budg
et) to go through a professional printer. However, if you wish, you can print yo
ur mailing with your own printer, the first color laser printer prices starting
at less than 200 €. Depending on the printer (and the front page!) The cost per
page laser color can vary between 0.05 € and 0.50 € ... Some comparative costs o
f printers and consumables - Test 6 printers color SVM - Test 17 printers black
and white newspaper anywhere. - Test laser printer and black & white on 01 net.
Special case ... A reply coupon reply slip is an extremely effective tool to bui
ld its roster of exploration. 1) It must be printed in duplex. In our example th
e paper is strong, it must call a post card to: - Front: Top right, stamp locati
on dotted with obligatory mention in "Liberating the going rate." Below is the a
ddress of the company or shop = Recipient. Left Party (reserved to the customer)
: "Please fill out this coupon with your details" Name ... ... ... ... ... ... .
.. .. Address ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Tel ... ... ... ... .... ... -
Back: The very explicit description of the benefit of the product: "By returnin
g this coupon, you will receive documentation on ... ... and / or (eg) -15%
your first purchase. "The ideal is the visual of a check or note representing su
ch an immediate reduction. Clearly note the validity date of the offer (promotio
n valid until ...) 2) The coupon can also be used to back-hand in the store. In
this case, the stamp location is unnecessary but the rest should be maintained (
promo sample ...). And on the back, we no longer say "By referring this coupon .
.. "but" Present this coupon, you will receive .... "Of course, the detailed off
er is identical. 3) He must think that by separating the coupon from the mailing
, the prospect still retain the 2 / 3 home. Therefore to include the full detail
s of the company (or shop) this truncated document (eg with the days and hours o
f operation of the store, website and phone number) .
Practical tips for achieving a folded mailing (enclosed)
In this case, the mailing is folded in 3 parts 9.5 x21cm to fit into a rectangul
ar envelope. In the model, there should be these three components from the start
in front and back. If you have not thought at the beginning you'll lose a lot o
f time in the future ... On some programs like, QuarkXpress, Indesign, you can s
imulate these "blocks" by blue lines that do not appear in print, but used as gu
ides.€Why use a guide? Just because there is nothing worse than seeing a fold cu
t in half a sentence or a picture ... The folds must be on an empty space in fro
nt and back. It must be professional to the end! Especially when for economic re
asons, the folding is manual, there would quickly ink everywhere! If this mailin
g is sent by registered post by the problem of weight must be taken into account
... In fact we can very quickly end up with the surprise of having to pay posta
ge twice or three times higher for exceeding weight of a few grams ... In the ca
se of mailings with a high quality paper, a gadget or a number important pages,
the overall cost of stamping can sometimes cost more than the mailing itself! He
re are some tips to avoid additional costs to the weight of your mailings:
It must first know that the minimum postage you can send a letter weighing up to
20g. There is also a normal rate and an economical price. The price of sending
an envelope to 20g in economics is 0.49 € (0.54 € normal rate) but it goes to 0.
70 € in excess of 20 grams (an additional cost 30%!). For more info see postal r
ates. It is an important standard envelope weighs know that average: 6g.
The weight of the ink is about 5g for a normal letter. This makes a total of 11
grams, it leaves only 9 grams for the selection of the quality of the paper ...
To avoid exceeding the 20 g, you must choose a maximum weight of 130g. Caution i
s therefore recommended that selection on reams of paper lying in 120g, so as to
keep a small margin of safety (dust, weight of the stamp ...). How does mail ch
ecks? Simply by weighing an envelope at random, and so it determines via this sa
mpling the total price of postage ... To avoid unpleasant surprises you can also
pose a test mail before sending it to the post. To limit the total weight of ma
il you can optimize the envelope or ink. For example by reducing the solid color
s, limiting the size of characters, selecting clearer pictures, writing texts bl
ue or gray instead of black ... You have to test until they pass below 20g fatef
ul 20 20 21 ... Here is an example grams grams grams simulation cost fare eco: 5
000 standard rate: 5000 Eco Tariff: 5000 5000 letters x .49 = x 0, 54 = 0.70 x =
3 by mailing: 2450 € 2700 € 500 €
A mistake can cost you 1g 30% cost more, or 800 € for our 5000 mailing ... Of co
urse if your mailing is large (or regular) you can go through the alternative po
sitions (post Switzerland ...), which will be a next issue ...