Quite simply, because even though I’ve got all of this varied experience, I’m still struggling to understand how the Social Media world is functioning, what its impact will be over time, and exactly what I should be doing about it.

It’s pretty intuitive to me that direct mail has shrunk quite a bit, along with printing and the paper industry, but it isn’t going to go away any time soon. Part of that shrinkage is the economy; regardless of how great we’re told the economy is doing, it remains to be seen whether the direct mail industry will stabilize and perhaps rebound in the foreseeable future. If anything, from what I can glean from peers within the industry, results are flat year over year.

So if results in our core business are flat and the big buzz is now Social Media, then what can be done to fully understand where this new paradigm is going to lead us? How can we leverage the tools of this digital frontier to become part of this shift, instead of being a pedestrian or road kill on the Social Media Digital Highway!?

Well one thing I’ve been doing is spending some quality time each week researching the emerging online companies who are laying the asphalt on that new virtual highway. I’ve looked at Stickybits.com, foursquare, SimpleGeo, Survey Monkey, Mail Chimp, SalesForce, HubSpot, iContact, slideshare, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Jigsaw and all of the Google tools (AdWords, Alerts, Analytics, etc).

Slowly the fog of confusion is being raised, and I’m starting to get a clearer picture. But as I stand in the crossroads of that virtual highway I’m still not sure if what I can see through the mist is an oncoming truck ready to turn me in to Virtual Road Kill, or an epiphany that will enable me to fully integrate all of these amazing new tools and create a total solution for all my sales and marketing needs that will track, score, analyze, report and integrate everything in to some kind of perpetual motion marketing machine where all you have to do is pour in marketing dollars at one end, and revenue flows out the other end.

In the meantime I’ll continue to work closely with our valued customers to satisfy their every list and data need, so that the mail continues to flow and the USPS keeps the show on the real road!

Cheers Rich
CEO
Compact

You can follow the storyline at the Huffington Post.

In response to Mr. Paglia’s assertions I sent the following comments to his article. The unintended consequences of such an initiative could be dramatic, it is incumbent upon all of us in the Direct Marketing Industry to do our part in trying to help educate everyone in how we perform our business and the value it has to the economy, as well as the real impact on the environment. I have been a green advocate for quite some time, I care deeply about this planet, the future of my children, the air that we breathe and the water that we drink – I also love hiking in the woods and would aggressively advocate for the protection of all old growth. But my environmental position is balanced with a realism and a pragmatism that serves to keep me focused on all aspects of the debate, not just the ones that serve my own personal viewpoint.

Anyway, here’s my short blog back to Todd, and his co-worker at Forest Ethics, Marika.

Todd/Marika.

Some points I’d like you to consider:

· Direct Mail drives the cost of all postage down. The industry is incredibly efficient, and helps enable the USPS to subsidize postage for citizens, not the other way around

· Direct Mail is so efficient because the USPS requires the industry to provide mail pieces in “walk sequence” – literally in the very sequence the postal carrier will use when she drives or walks the mail route

· Many local small businesses use Direct Mail to attract customers within their neighborhood to their store. A pizza parlor will mail every neighbor within 2 miles with a coupon for a pepperoni pizza. Take away Direct Mail from this local store owner and you will hand that pizza order to the multi-national chain who can afford TV advertising

· Should your initiative be successful and across the US the Direct Mail industry is dealt a mortal blow, what do you intend to happen to the people directly affected by the collapse of this industry? It is estimated to be approximately 40,000 people in Washington alone?

Finally, there are over 3 billion Christmas cards sent by citizens around Christmas. These are printed on board stock and mailed, typically inside envelopes that have hand written addresses. The USPS does an incredible job of delivering those Holiday wishes of our citizenry – - but the environmental impact cannot be ignored. Do you intend to sponsor a bill to eradicate the Christmas card too?

Rich Lancaster

CEO

Compact Information Systems

Apparently the busiest day of the year for all mail will be December 14th when more than 830 million packages, letters and cards will be put in to the mail-stream – - and two days later they’ll be delivered on the busiest delivery day of the year, December 16th. There are in excess of 250,000 postal carriers – here at Compact we know these things because in our Resident List database we house all of their carrier route polygons – which many of you use when purchasing our products. These 250,000 carriers will be trudging through the snow, sleet, rain and in some places sunshine, to bring you those priceless pieces of holiday cheer.

So, thanks to our postal service, to those carriers and all of the other postal employees who provide such an essential service throughout the year, but never more important than at Christmas (I mean “the Holidays”).

Happy Holidays everyone!

Cheers Rich

Well that has now changed, and if you haven’t spent any time on our Consumer List site, then now would be a great time to take a look. We’ve incorporated some of the best Resident List mapping tools in to the heart of the new site, and they are impressive (even if we do say so ourselves). But it’s not just about mapping. We have completely revamped our user interface, and we now believe we have made one of the most intuitive and easy to use list sites available today online. In fact we’re so proud of our work that we are now offering all of our customers a 20% discount on any one list purchase between now and the end of November, so if you are buying consumer data get yourself over to the new site and try it out. Our standard pricing is right in the sweet spot in terms of the industry as a whole, so the 20% off is a real deal.

As a list buyer we think you are most interested in a high quality product, at a competitive market rate, that can be purchased from a site that makes the experience easy as well as intuitive. We know we’ve delivered that with our Extreme Makeover, and we’d love you to try it .

Cheers Rich

Well, my feeling is that there will be a reasonable increase in attendance next month at DM Days, I think some life is returning to our industry and people are keen to get out there and see what’s going on – especially if they skipped NYC to save a few dollars last June. I’ve spoken to quite a few list brokers on both coasts lately, and the consensus seems to be that they should make every effort to attend, even if they don’t host a booth – keeping up with what is going on is important to everyone.

It also seems pretty apparent that some life is returning to daily order volumes for many of us. At Compact we’re seeing a return to volumes we haven’t seen for most of the year, the order size is still a little smaller than in previous years, but the total number of daily orders is slowly rising again – a very positive sign. So, fingers crossed, for now at least the marketplace appears to be rebounding and we are all hoping for a solid end to 2009. With any luck this will continue in to 2010 and beyond.

See you at DM Days!

Cheers Rich

Consequently we now have re-launched the site with significantly improved functionality and usability, as well as lightning speed increases! In the lead up to the re-development I did a ton of research on all of the major business list sites, and now I’m very confident that you will find the new site as fast as the best of the them, and as easy to use as well.

But we’re not done yet. In the fall we’ll be doing a further round of enhancements, so keep your eyes and ears open for that.

In the meantime though, please enjoy our new site (if you haven’t already), as well as the 50% off purchases through the end of August.

Cheers Rich

Compact Chief Operating Officer

Cheers Rich
Compact Chief Operating Officer