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About the Author
Wilson Zehr is a Direct Mail Industry Expert, Direct Marketing Specialist, and CEO of Cendix (www.cendix.com), the leading provider of Web-to-print solutions that increase sales both online and offline. He is also the founder of Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), the company responsible for many “industry firsts” in direct mail.
Click here to get a free Zairmail Sample Kit with all the information you need to get your direct mail campaigns off the ground!
We are a little slow in our routine this year, still, we can’t help embracing Lunar New Year.
Hope you had a strong finish in 2022. It was a challenging year in many ways. We are still coming back from COVID and adjusting to the new “normal”.
Virtual communication has now become mainstream for business, school, and even personal communication. This used to be the exception, rather than the rule — not so much now. Everyday mainstream social calls are done with video using applications like FaceTime or Google Meet.
In an effort to combat rising inflation, the Fed has been raising interest rates and reducing the money supply. There were five rate hikes in 2022, for a combined 3% increase, and potential for more to come in 2023. Mortgage rates surged in 2022, with the typical 30-year loan topping 7% by year-end, more than double the average rate at the beginning of the year. The discount rate hovered near 0% from 2008 to 2016, trending up slightly to 2.4% in 2019, and then hovering near 0% again in 2020 and 2021.
Increasing interest rates, and reducing the money supply, usually has the effect of contracting the economy. There has been lingering talk of an impending recession, but even the experts don’t seem to know for sure. In order to avoid that outcome, the Fed will need to know when to take its foot off the (economic) break; yet this is far from an exact science. There is always some lag between the actions and the corresponding economic outcomes. It is extremely difficult to predict the with any certainty.
We can’t predict the future with certainty, what can we do?
We can start by evaluating what happened in 2022. If you follow this newsletter, then you started the year with SMART goals. You also monitored those goals on a regular basis throughout the year.
How did you do? Were you overly optimistic in some areas? Were you overly pessimistic in others? That is completely normal. The one thing we know about goals and forecasts is that we will always be wrong! It is almost impossible to hit them on the nose every time. We just need to evaluate the results and be brutally honest. We need to celebrate our successes with gusto, we (you) deserve it! We also need to own our shortcomings and figure out how to address them.
Then we need to map out a plan to move forward, using our past results, our key learnings from last year, and all the information we have about the future. There are a lot of forecasts for the coming year that are available. There are lots of them that are available for free. There are a number of banks and investment companies that offer outlooks for the coming year. The Federal Reserve has annual and even quarterly forecasts. There are a number of industry groups that focus on specific verticals as well.
Create a new set of SMART goals for 2023. Communicate them to all the stakeholders who are affected by them. Then make sure that you have created an organizational structure, gathered the required skills, and funded the correct activities, to achieve those goals.
The rest of it depends on the business environment, our ability to execute, and there is also a healthy dose of good fortune required as well. That is where Lunar New Year comes in.
Whatever your plan, you know we are on your side, and want you to hit the ball out of the park.
The Zairmail team worked hard for you in 2022. We have big plans to do even more for 2023. We are always looking for your comments and suggestions. We are working hard to build the most powerful direct mail marketing tool on the planet for you. How are we doing? Are there features you love? Are there others that need to improve. We would love to know. Zairmail only exists because it is the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to send mail. We need your help to make sure it remains that way.
They are affordable, efficient, easy/quick to launch, versatile, and offer excellent branding opportunities. What are they? You guessed right — postcards in envelopes.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, direct mail postcards are not a thing of the past. Instead, they are fast gaining traction and causing so much buzz in modern-day marketing campaigns. And they have proven to be profitable for marketing tools.
It’s not often we stop to think about what a celebration like Thanksgiving actually teaches us. Rather, it’s something that businesses will jump on for their promotional messaging. The problem with this is… it often comes off as a bit flat. Holidays and celebratory days come around every year, and every year organizations will come up with methods and offers, simply because it’s a ‘special day’ and they feel obligated to do the same as everyone else. But consider this… if your business didn’t learn anything last year, what do you expect to gain this year? Here are four things Thanksgiving taught us.
I coached youth football and served on the Board of Directors for Lake Oswego Youth Football for 10+ years. I just love the colors of fall, the crisp fall days, and most of all, football. Cendix (Zairmail) still supports youth sports and sponsors young athletes. The Cendix website provides more details on our community activities, including our support of youth sports.
One fall, at the end of the season, I was talking with another coach. He was a decorated and retired career officer in the Marine Corps. His son had just been accepted to a prestigious military school. The once thing that stuck with me all these years, was when he said, “there is a lot of responsibility we are putting on the shoulders of these young people”. At the time, I remember thinking that this response was probably tied to his many years of dedicated service.
As we watch the events unfold in Ukraine, his words come back to me, because we can see this principle at work. A lawless dumb-ass, in a country that has neither the legal controls nor the spine to stop him, is waging war on his neighbor, in what amounts to a vicious land-grab. Recent reports say that almost 100,000 soldiers have been killed or injured on each side. There are also tens of thousands of civilians who have died. The entire region will likely be scarred for generations by the senseless loss of life, property, and livelihood.
Yet, who is protecting the people of Ukraine? It is not the generals or the elected leaders. It is the brave young men and women of their armed services. Their country called, and they came together, to fight for their country, and push back on the evil that drives this conflict. The same is true of the United States, who stands with Ukraine, and provides the tools required to be successful. It is the young men and women of our armed services who help keep us safe. It is no small feat to protect a democracy and the freedoms we enjoy as citizens. It is also far too easy to overlook their sacrifices and contributions.
Today, on Veteran’s Day, please join us in giving thanks to the men and women of our armed services who sacrifice so much to keep us all safe. It truly is a lot of responsibility that we put on their shoulders. We also know they are more than up for the job.
God bless all of those who have served in uniform to keep us safe and protect our way of life.
Wilson Zehr is a Direct Mail Industry Expert, Direct Marketing Specialist, and CEO of Cendix (www.cendix.com), the leading provider of Web-to-print
solutions that increase sales both online and offline. He is also the founder of Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), the company responsible for many "industry firsts" in direct mail.
Click here to get a free Zairmail Sample Kit with all the information you need to get your direct mail campaigns off the ground!
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