A Brief History of Direct Mail Production

Note from Chris: today's guest blog is by Bill - I can't believe I finally got him to write one!

I was sitting calmly and relaxed in my office, life was good. I was dreaming about my upcoming Maui vacation and searching the web for the finer restaurants, when a screech came through my intercom: "BILL! You should write a blog for our site."

"Oh sure," I replied loudly, hoping that would be the end of it. I mean, I had no idea what a blog was, or what a person would write about. Aren't blogs in Scotland where they make Scotch?

I did a fast web search and learned something about it, so I would be somewhat prepared if my great business partner Chris broached the subject again. Which she did. And "we" agreed that I would write a blog, the topic being what goes on in the production end of a direct mailing firm. Not about my soon-to-be vacation, or wonderful grandchildren.

I've been in the direct mail business close to 30 years. In those 30 years numerous changes have taken place, almost all of them positive. The advancement in equipment alone is staggering. When Post Haste Mailing first started we had to affix addresses to envelopes and cards by gluing them on. The labels were printed on computer paper, and then run by a machine that cut them up and glued them down. When everything ran well, we got about 3,000 pieces an hour addressed. When they didn't, we had glue everywhere. What a mess.

Now thanks to technology we address material on a VideoJet BX6000. It uses fast-drying ink and allows us to print on virtually anything (maybe you saw our YouTube video where we print on a broken raw egg). I never have to worry about what kind of paper stock our customer wants to use because the Videojet will print on it.

It's also fast - we can cruise along comfortably at 20,000 pieces plus an hour, which makes for happy customers. Dual two-inch printheads adds flexibility - we can address, add a message, return address, or indicia at the same time. And the best thing is, we don't have to clean out that nasty glue pot anymore.

Well, enough about blogging. Back to my vacation!

Bill promises this will be the first in a semi-occasional series of posts. Stay tuned ...

For more information on Post Haste Mailing Services, visit www.posthastemailing.com, or email us at: info@posthastemailing.com

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