Eight Money-saving Ideas for 2005

In addition, these ideas may help you offset the impending postage increase. (For more, see this month’s column by my colleague, Stephen Lett, page 39.) Here, I’ve listed the ideas in order of potential magnitude, with the last ones providing the greatest opportunity for most organizations.

1. Cut pages. If you haven’t done an analysis in a while, you could be mailing more pages than necessary, especially in your slower season. Make sure at least 70 percent of your pages are paying for themselves. If not, trim non-performing items/categories, and reduce page count. Create an efficient-sized book, and ask your printer for options that would save even more. You can increase response rates with a smaller book, because it’s more focused and gives customers what they’re looking for — without the extraneous items that don’t sell anyway.