What’s new on the marketing horizon?
Clint Greenleaf, Escondido

Mail delivery will be cut to five days.

The postal service has threatened this for years, and their 2009 deficit ($7 billion) and projected 10-year loss ($238 billion) makes it a smart move. Plan for it now.

The USPS is caught in a downward spiral. Legally they must provide postal delivery to 150 million addresses. They employ 600,000 people, manage 218,000 vehicles and process 584 million pieces of mail daily.

This quasi-governmental agency used to have a three-year budget cycle, raising rates (and profits) in year one, breaking even year two, running deficits year three, then repeating.
Things are different today. People write few letters. Documents, invoices and payments travel online. Postal rates rise, and usage drops. Thirty-five billion fewer first-class mail pieces will be delivered annually by 2020.

This isn’t even due to the economy — rates ro...

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Hello, members of the Third Monday Journalist Society of Rancho Bernardo, and thank you for including me in your monthly meeting this week. One of the topics of the meeting was a party etiquette book by journalist Sally Quinn who says thank you notes are not necessary, but, like you, I am more old school.

The TMJS is a friendly group of four who share a journalism background and who like to talk about their profession and other interesting factoids. The members are Bill Fishman, Bob Mott, Jim Reading and Nanette Strull with guests from time to time such as myself.

This week the conversation turned to the press, or lack thereof, for the big news regarding Bob Mott... and Nanette was going to make sure that I knew the story so I could tell it in this column.
Washington State University has established the Robert A. Mott Distinguished Excellence Award in Broadcast Journalism. The first recipient will be named next year and the award is being funded through an endowed fund...

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Is it fun being self-employed?
Lauri Rogers, Ramona

Dilbert believes consultants make tons of money. But as Sportin’ Life from “Porgy and Bess” said, “It ain’t necessarily so.”

Consultants come in many flavors, including engineering, financial, legal, marketing and pistachio. They’re hired for their specific expertise, typically working a set number of hours on a particular assignment, then going away. They are oftentimes self-employed, with hourly wages higher than if they were on staff.

Consultants have only their time and expertise to sell. Like any business, they must follow certain rules in order to eat, including:

• Constantly bringing in new business. This (naturally) requires regular marketing of some sort.

• Being special. Otherwise, why would they be hired?

• Signing contracts to set the parameters for everyone’s expectations.

• Getting advance payment. A client with skin in the game automatical...

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Spirited post scripts ... As the story goes, Steve DeMatteo, in his first year as president of the RB Spirit of the Fourth organization, was double checking on things on the afternoon of the 3rd, just before the first official activity — a concert in Webb Park.

As DeMatteo arrived at the park, he noted the chairs were all in place, but, strangely, he thought, they were all turned the wrong way.

Hmmm! Well, it seems there was an unexpected (at least by Spirit of the Fourth organizers) wedding about to take place at the concert venue.

A bit of negotiating took place, as did the wedding, which started a bit earlier than planned and was completed in time for the concert guests’ arrival ... to find the chairs facing the correct direction.

Adventures abroad ... Terry and Diane Anderson recently visited their new granddaughter, Shaylee, who is the daughter of Di’s daughter, Tracy, and her husband, Jesse, a Navy chief petty officer on duty...

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I married my bride 21 years ago. Good stuff!

Along the way, her philosophy of life has rubbed off on me: “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.”

She said that to me in March when I considered buying fuzzy promotional creatures with eyes, feet and a hat glued on. I thought I’d give them away at speaking gigs. She pointed out they’d do nothing for the business.

Scratch that idea.

The wisdom of her words also hit me at the San Diego County Fair when I came face-to-face with the greatest temptation known to mankind: Chocolate-covered pickles. Sounds like something perfect for pregnant women.

You might have missed this delicacy amidst the uproar over the deep-fried butter (like a churro, only chewier) and the chocolate-covered bacon (you must be kidding me!).

We discovered it at the dessert stand, right across from the guy selling the deep-fried Twinkies, Oreos, Pop-Tarts, zucchini weenies, and frogs’ legs.
Mmmmm...I...

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Another season of professional beach volleyball has begun and the kid who grew up on the playground in Westwood is still at the top of the sport. John Hyden, who was voted by his peers as the league’s defensive player of the year in 2009, is once again at the top of tournament standings.

Hyden and his partner, Sean Scott, are continuing a rivalry with the tour’s top-ranked team of Phil Dalhauser and Todd Rogers, who have been world champions and who have been dominant in the sport in recent years. Last season, Hyden and Scott snapped a Dalhauser-Rogers 24-event win streak when they defeated them for the tournament title in Chicago.

This season, through four tournaments, Hyden and Scott are second in money won only to Dalhauser and Rogers.

Hyden, the son of Claudia Hyden and brother to Joyce and Matt, grew up in the Westwood neighborhood, and began his volleyball career at San Diego State University where he received MVP honors for all four of his collegiate seasons...

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What’s the most outrageous marketing you’ve heard of?
James McDowell, Escondido

That would be the Great Philadelphia Wedding of 1999.

A young couple wanted, but couldn’t afford, a large, lavish wedding. Taking a page from television’s book, the groom sought sponsors for their “show.” With a list of everything they could possibly need, he persuaded 24 area businesses to donate rings, flowers, food, cake, limousines, veil, perfume, invitations...the works.

In exchange, each of the contributing companies received promotional consideration. Their names were listed on an insert sent with invitations and thank you cards. They were thanked on scrolls on the dinner table, in a newspaper ad, and in a speech at the reception. They were mentioned in a newspaper article.

How else do you think I learn about this stuff?

Swapping consideration for exposure isn’t new. Game shows give away cars and refrigerators provided by manufacturers...

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Can I rent e-mail lists?
Elaine Geyer, Rancho Penasquitos

Sending promotional mailings to lists of people who match your customer profile can be a good way to expand your bottom line, assuming your business is scalable and positioned to absorb large waves of potential customers.

And just like with direct mail, it’s possible to rent (not buy) e-mail lists for sending out promotional mailings electronically. Such lists are available to match almost any customer profile.

The rules of engagement change a bit from direct mail to e-mail. Here are a few things to consider when you’re renting e-mail lists:

• Caveat emptor. ‘Nuff said.

• Rent through a legitimate list broker.

• Renting legitimate e-mail lists will cost as much — or more than — direct mail lists. World Data mailing lists shows these average costs per thousand e-mail addresses as of this past December:

Business to Consumer (b2c) - $110
Business to...

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It’s less than two weeks and counting until Rancho Bernardo marks the nation’s birthday with its own 41st celebration of the Spirit of the Fourth.

Steven DeMatteo, a proud Marine who served 11 years on active duty and three years as a reservist, is in his first year as president of this event ... and, believe it or not, he is at ease!

The first year DeMatteo experienced the Fourth of July in Rancho Bernardo was in 2007 when he and his family had just moved to town. By the next year, he had volunteered to help plan the festivities.

“I felt comfortable taking a leadership role because there are so many people still involved who have been doing this for a long time, and they know how to get their jobs done,” DeMatteo told me early this week, calmly sipping coffee. (It was “Coffee Americano” --- what else?)

As he describes the group of volunteers making this day possible, he mentions those who have been around for a long time and those who have brought new ener...

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Can I coax more business from current customers?
Martin Scholnick, Poway

Customers who bought from you within the past year — your “house” list — provide tremendous potential for building your bottom line. These people have experienced your products and services and generally know what to expect from your company.

Assuming you’ve created a mailing list by collecting customer e-mails and addresses, you should be able to build sales with the simplest of marketing tools: the postcard.
Think about it. Every six months you get a postcard from your dentist reminding you to get your teeth cleaned, right? And you dutifully make an appointment.

Postcards aren’t just for dentists, though. Any business that regularly repeats the same process can benefit from reminder postcards, including:

• Bug inspections

• Car washes

• Carpet cleaners

• Haircuts

• House painting

• Tax returns

• Window washer...

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