A New IT Choice
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Fred Morath
DIRECT RESPONSE radio spots and search have helped computer repair firm PlumChoice build a base of 30,000 small- and home-office customers. Ted Werth ...

Lowering Sales Pressure
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Larry Riggs
Medical instrument manufacturer Medwave is hoping a new Web-based tool will boost sales by at least 10% and lower the cost of its prospecting visits, ...

Fax You
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
THIS ISSUE CONTAINS SOME INTERESTING COVERAGE OF THE problems facing fax marketers. The first is an article on what to do if your insurer denies your ...

Catalog in a Big Box
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
A WHILE BACK MY SISTER ASKED ME FOR AN ANNIVERSARY gift idea while we were shopping at a mall. At first I couldn't think of anything my husband and I ...

Good to the Last Flop
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS
EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS, IN THE PAGES OF THIS MAGAZINE, I wonder publicly about a syndrome we should call slogan decay. No, I'm not sliding back into my ...

Down to Earth
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY BRIAN QUINTON
MOBILE MARKETING IS ON THE WAY, AND IT WILL usher in a Golden Age. Soon we'll all be receiving rich-media ads over our Internet phones, being enticed ...

Fax Fight
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM
Does your company send advertising faxes? Make one small mistake and you could be sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Most marketers ...

Granola With Style
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
Direct spoke with Gordon recently about Viva Terra's beginnings and the challenges of starting up a catalog in today's economic environment. ...

TIMELINE
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM
April 17, 2006 THINK PARTNERSHIP, a provider of online and offline marketing and ad services, signed a letter of intent to acquire IceRocket, a blog-search ...

The Great American (DM) Novel
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Richard H. Levey
A direct mail scam is an unlikely backdrop for a novel. By all rights the action should be limited to setting up shop, placing ads, opening envelopes, ...

An A+ in Direct
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Richard H. Levey
Brace yourself, direct response industry. The younger generation from the Show Me state is about to show you a thing or two. At the Missouri School of ...

Search Users Try, Try Again
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Brian Quinton
Who says there's no loyalty anymore? The new Search Engine User Behavior Study by search marketing firm iProspect and Jupiter Research reveals that those ...

Slowdown in Kids' No-E-mail Push
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY KEN MAGILL
THE KIDS' DO-NOT-E-MAIL juggernaut that for the last year has threatened to wipe legal adult content out of electronic communications has ground to a ...

FTC Warns Hawaii
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
The Federal Trade Commission advised Hawaii last month of the dangers of implementing a so-called child protection do-not-e-mail list. This is the third ...

Cruise Line's E-mailing a Hit
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY KEN MAGILL
NEW EVIDENCE THAT e-mail marketing is maturing can be seen in the success of cruise line Royal Caribbean International's recent online video campaign. ...

Marketing and Finance Out of Step
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY RAY SCHULTZ AND RICHARD H. LEVEY
HERE'S MORE PROOF THAT marketing and finance are not in sync. A new survey by TargetBase shows that only 8% of all marketing execs feel that their firm's ...

Rate Case Coming, Potter Warns
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY JIM EMERSON
A NEW RATE CASE SEEKING A postage increase in 2007 is about to be filed with the postal Board of Governors, said Postmaster General Jack Potter during ...

Harley Dealers Rev Up E-mail
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY RAY SCHULTZ
Most Harley-Davidson bike owners are probably too busy to sit down and read much. But there is one thing they're likely to scan when it comes in: the ...

SEO Helps Build DMer's Business
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY LARRY RIGGS
Mark Zoske has turned a passion for salt into a $3.5 million-a-year online business, largely by using search engine optimization. His firm, SaltWorks, ...

But Does It Go With Jelly and Snot?
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
OUR CURRENT DIY project is redoing the guest room for our 3-year-old son Jacob, so his baby brother Danny can take over the nursery. My first thought ...

The Idiot Box Smartens Up
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RICHARD H. LEVEY
WELCOME, TELEVISION! For years you've been the last great bastion of brand marketing. With the exception of late-night spots, most of your dollars have ...

Kia Dealer Mailing Is a Real Clunker
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
FOR WHAT MUST BE THE worst direct mail campaign in the history of the craft, look no further than a recent effort from Kia of Paramus, NJ, aiming to get ...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM
DON'T GET THEM STARTED I am appalled at the self-righteous, attacking, personal tone that Ken Magill took toward Keri Smith and Jeff Pitcher in his column ...

Newegg Speaks Geek
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Brian Quinton
THOSE OF US WHO SEND up a flare for the help desk when our computers develop hiccups may never have heard of Newegg.com. But it's a fast-rising retail ...

Room Service
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Beth Negus Viveiros
SMOKING OR NON-SMOKING. King size or two double beds. Room service or a leisurely breakfast in the caf. Everyone has preferences when traveling, and the ...

Down to Earth
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Brian Quinton
MOBILE MARKETING is on the way, and it will usher in a Golden Age. Soon we'll all be receiving rich-media ads over our Internet phones, being enticed ...

Fax Fight
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By William G. Passannante and Sloan J. Zarkin
DOES YOUR COMPANY send advertising faxes? Make one small mistake and your firm could be sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Most ...

Less Is More
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY ARTHUR MIDDLETON HUGHES
TOO MANY LOYALTY marketers think they have to be all things to all customers; they design programs that are either too expensive or offer inadequate rewards. ...

LISTLINE
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM
NEW LISTS Bauer Publishing More than 200,000 active subscribers are named on Bauer Publishing's enhanced entertainment master file. All of Bauer's entertainment ...

As Seen on the Web
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON
WELL, THAT NEVER HAPPENED before. I think I've mentioned that I'm a tough sell. At home, I like my privacy unbroken by advertising. I feed my garbage ...

The E-zine for Cinephiles
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY RAY SCHULTZ
TIRED OF THE USUAL DRECK from Hollywood? Then do what many New York film lovers do: Head to the Film Forum, a small nonprofit theater on the border of ...

The Power of Quirky Thinking
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY BRIAN QUINTON
IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY IT'S said that most people start looking for their next car from the moment they drive their current one off the lot. And research ...

Nice Story, But Illy's Ad Doesn't Tell It
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, THOMAS L. COLLINS
Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” This ad for an Illy espresso coffee home-delivery program is more like the former than the latter. ...

A Weighty Issue
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
The U.S. Postal Service has done an amazing job reducing costs. But thus far, despite stiffening competition, mailers haven't seen it do much to increase ...