Carrier Routes

Joe Wood

I'd like to mail out my postcard to certain areas of town.

How do I find carrier routes and then get the addresses for those routes? I called my post office (here in the San Diego area) but they said they couldn't help me.

Do I need to go thru a mailing service?

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thesidingpro

I just talked to my postmaster last week about this. He told me he can help me with it. I just need to tell him what neighborhoods I want to target and he can then just use those carriers.

Joe Wood

Maybe we have different post office rules here in Calif., wouldn't surprise me ..

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Mike Finley

To mail to certain areas of town doesn't mean you have to mail using carrier routes. It could mean you need to. Carrier route mailings are typically used because they are the very cheapest mailings you can do, this is because the labor is the lowest for the delivery because the post man delivers 1 to each address on his route, no sorting, no nothing, everybody gets one.

If you are really agressive and going to be doing a lot of these, then the more you do of the pre-labor yourself the cheaper it will be. The very most expensive/easiest method is to just have a mailing company do it all. The very least expensive/hardest method is to do most of it yourself.

That would take a bulk mail license and the USPS book on how to do it. Then you need a list, which you will have to buy from a 3rd party, because the list needs to be created exactly in the correct order in order for you to create your mailing as the post office will want it. Then you stick the labels on your mailer, arrange them properly in the USPS bins and take them to the post office (which may not be your normal one) and then the post office will mail them within a few days.

Unless you are doing a lot I would simply hook up with an online service that does radius mailings and give them a zip code or a street address and a number that indicates how many you want to send out and pay the piper. I've done it all ways possible and each way has it's reasons for doing it.

Cole

Any online services you recommend?

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Mike Finley

http://quantumdigital.com/

There are others to.

Cole

Wow, I just did a quick quote and it is very reasonable.

Thanks!

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Cole

One more question for people who have used Quantum Digital.

Will it let you upload your own postcard design? What I mean is a complete new postcard design you have professionally done, instead of using a template from them?

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Joe Wood

OK, I'll probably do a Mailing Service then. I already have my cards printed up by Modern Postcard http://www.modernpostcard.com/ when I did a mailing with them a year or so ago. Probably go with them again.

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Mike Finley

Yes, you can use your own artwork.

Cole

Mike, have you used them before?

Thoughts?

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Mike Finley

Yes, they have a great online product. I had reservations in regard to the quality of the printed pieces, but I'm probably 100X more picky about that sort of thing than most and probably more picky then I should be. What I did with them was way more complex and way more graphically oriented then I would think 99% of what most contractors would be doing. So I would say to give them a shot.

buildenterprise

I came across this site looking for a way to target specific neighborhoods for direct mail. The program lets you draw on a map and create mailing lists based on your boundaries. You can also narrow your lists using demographic details.
http://www.geoselector.com/geoselect...mapSelect.aspx

I ordered postcards from vistaprint.com on sale using this link

http://www.vistaprint.com/amazon523

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Cole

Well we are one in the same, I am super picky about the quality of the print pieces. Care to share what they turned out like? (pic)

Feel free to pm me.

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