We're pretty excited about it, and hope you'll be, too - because we've gone out of our way to make it a newsletter you'll read.

We're keeping it short (who has time to read long internet newsletters?), and informative: every month, we hope you'll learn something that helps your business.

Best of all, you won't find any advertisements in it - just good advice on direct mailing.

We thought we'd start off with an interesting article by direct marketing guru Alan Rosenspan of Alan Rosenspan & Associates. You may not ever need to do a mailing as intricate as this one, but if you've ever wanted to send out something guaranteed to be opened, we think Rosenspan's story will get you thinking about how creativity plays a major role in direct marketing:

Boxes I Have Mailed,
Received and Admired

by Alan Rosenspan of Alan Rosenspan & Associates

When I used to do a lot of television and radio commercials, we had a saying about jingles. "If you have nothing to say, sing it!" That's why when I helped launch Young Miss magazine (now called YM), and we had to create the campaign before we actually settled on the editorial content, I wrote the following set of lyrics. "Young Miss...you've never seen something like this... You've never seen something like this... You've never seen something like this..." Okay, I admit it - I'm not John Lennon. I'm not even Barry Manilow, who wrote, "I am stuck on Band Aids, 'cause Band Aids stuck on me." But the launch was very successful.

Why am I bringing up this lyrical episode in my career? Because there may be a similar corollary in direct mail. If you have nothing to say, send them a box. And, of course, if you do have something to say, a box can be even more effective. Let me explain.

The Single Best Box Mailing of All Time

As part of the direct marketing class I teach at Bentley College, I ask students to bring in the most unusual or most memorable piece of direct mail they have ever received. Invariably, they bring in boxes - including some that they've actually kept for several years. (Do people save your direct mail? Probably not.) The one that I bring in is my favorite box mailing. It won "Best of Show" at the European direct marketing award show a couple of years ago. See if you can guess who sent it. The outside of the box said, "Before you open this, throw it down!" Of course, that happens to a lot of boxes - that's why they have insurance. But once you picked up this box and opened it, there was another box inside. The headline said, "Now do it again!" A pretty effective involvement device, but what on earth could they be selling? When you opened the second box, you discovered a real egg inside - intact, protected by packaging from Dow chemicals! It received an extraordinary response. I showed this at my seminars in New Zealand, and I was told about a similar box that included actual cocoons. The mailing was timed so that a butterfly would come out when the package was opened. Clever idea for an emerging company. Unfortunately, they didn't use the right packaging materials, and, well...the results were a bit messy.

The Seductive Power of a Box

Boxes enjoy a 100% opening rate. They always get opened, and this alone gives them an important advantage over flat mail. They also usually pass the gatekeeper. Administrative assistants who cheerfully weed out every piece of junk mail will almost always pass along a box. But that's not the only reason to use them. Another important consideration is that boxes are invariably the most unusual, most attention-getting piece of direct mail that your prospect will receive that day, or possibly even that month. So, in a sea of direct mail, in their homes or on their desk, don't you want your package to be the first one that's opened? There's also the "pass along" impact factor. When your spouse or co-worker receives a box, don't you want to see what's in it? When you receive a box, don't you want to share what you've received? (Or are you one of those people who say, "I'll open it later"?) And what other form of direct marketing can provide that kind of impact?