Reaching Out
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Ruth P. Stevens
WHAT ARE THE most effective ways to reach business buyers? You know the arguments: Some marketers swear direct mail is still best because targeted lists ...

More Postal Misery
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
How sad. AOL is asking e-mailers to pay a few pennies to guarantee delivery, and critics are griping. Oh, give it up. You don't know what misery is. We'll ...

The Dark Side of Ingenuity
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS
SOME MARKETERS' SENSE OF SALESMANSHIP SAILS OVER THE TOP, INTO A DARK AND IMPENETRABLE NEVER-NEVER LAND THEY PLOW WITH INGENIOUS, ON-THE-EDGE-OF REALITY ...

Next Year's Hit
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY LARRY RIGGS
IT'S NOT ALL BAD NEWS. Yes, mailers will be hit with a postage increase next year. But they may be able to save money by drop shipping and commingling. ...

Beep-Beep
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
Time Warner's Road Runner High Speed Online service is on the move, but it isn't Wile E. Coyote that's on the ISP's tail it's DSL. To win the race, Road ...

Sizing Up Click Fraud
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY BRIAN QUINTON
NO ONE'S CLAIMING CLICK FRAUD NEVER HAPPENS, BUT THE LARGE SEARCH ENGINES say bogus ad clicks are a small, manageable problem, caught either before advertisers ...

TIMELINE
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM
May 11, 2006 KODAK agreed to pay more than $26,000 to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that e-mails sent by its photo-sharing unit to 2 ...

Call Center Math
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Richard H. Levey
It's so easy to track success at a customer service call center. All you have to measure are the number of calls, how quickly they're handled, and whether ...

Best E-mail List Source? It's DM
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Want to build your e-mail list? Forget appends. Most companies are turning to old-fashioned offline media. That's one finding of a recent poll by Silverpop. ...

Metrics Deficiency
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY RAY SCHULTZ
DIRECT MARKETERS WANT TO do the right thing when it comes to metrics. But their desire far outpaces their ability, judging from a new survey by the CMO ...

Generation Gap
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
SMART COMPANIES HAVE A good handle on how to serve their customers. Others, well they try, but they miss the mark. Three different businesses served three ...

First, Do No Harm. Unless You're Feeling Lazy
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RICHARD H. LEVEY
LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE sin is good, compassionate advice. But there are times when the sins of the direct marketing industry make me sothat love is ...

CORRECTION
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM
The cover byline for the recent feature on mobile marketing (Down to Earth, May) was incorrect. The story was written by Brian Quinton. ...

Overheard at the Authentication Summit
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
SURELY ONE OF THE MOST ridiculous phrases to surface in business-speak lately is deep dive. It came up a few times at the recent E-mail Authentication ...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM
IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY Kudos to Ken Magill for illuminating the Unspam Inc./state do-not-e-mail-registry connection (Don't Get Him Started, April). With ...

Bad Law Rising
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Ray Schultz
YOU THINK YOU HAVE it tough with privacy regulations? It could be worse. For starters, you could live in Europe. Unlike in the United States, privacy ...

Ringing Down Costs
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Michael Lubben
WHEN INTERACTIVE voice response (IVR) technology was introduced at telemarketing call centers in the 1980s it created an economic revolution. Costs were ...

Consumers on the Move
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Josh Herman
THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU'VE got lots of customer data! The bad news is you've got lots of customer data! How can the promise of true integrated marketing ...

Try This, Try That
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Grant A. Johnson
AT A RECENT MARKETING conference, a case study was presented on the use of digital printing for a prominent nonprofit. The nonprofit experienced unbelievable ...

Golden Age of the Geo-Geek
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON
SCIENCE SAYS THE ABILITY TO navigate was developed to enable early humans who stumbled on a bountiful berry bush or well-stocked watering hole to find ...

Read This Before You Hit Send
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY KEN MAGILL
THOUGH E-MAIL'S LOW COST has led to some infamously sloppy list practices, inbox providers are taking steps that will force direct marketers to clean ...

LISTLINE
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM
NEW LISTS Shoppers Benefits Club USA Nearly 100,000 multibuyers are named on these postal and telemarketing lists. Customers bought beauty, fitness and ...

The Money's on the Web
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY RICHARD H. LEVEY
THE NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL Willie Sutton once was asked why he robbed banks. Because that's where the money is, he replied. Welcome to the 21st century, Willie. ...

The Blind Leading the Blind
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
OK, I'LL ADMIT IT: I'M A postal nut. The first thing I do every day to tap into the latest buzz is search the Web for postal news from around the world ...