6 c old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups slivered almonds

2 c pecans

1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (not salted or roasted)

1 cup hulled sunflower seeds (not salted or roasted)

1 ½ c pure maple syrup

1 stick unsalted butter

Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Spread almonds and pecans, roast 8 minutes at 350, turn frequently.

Melt butter with maple syrup.

Add all other ingredients in large bowl and mix well with butter/syrup.

Spread onto lined baking sheets.

Reduce heat to 300 and bake, stir until golden brown, or about 30 minutes

Let it cool. Store in airtight container.

Tracy’s Chocolate Crazy Cake

Cake:     1 1/2 c flour

1 c sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp oil

1 c cold water

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, mix well. Add liquid ingredients, stir. Pour into an 8×8 or 6×10 cake pan. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. Let cake cool completely.

Frosting:     1 c sugar

1/4 c butter or margarine

1/4 c milk

Over low heat bring sugar, butter & milk to a boil – stirring frequently. Once boiling, time for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips. Allow frosting to cool some so that it thickens. Stir often while thickening. When cake is cool, frost.

So what makes some Annual Appeal campaigns more successful than others? Lets look at key factors:
1. A clean data file – when you take care to manage your data file and select appropriate records your ROI will improve. Likewise, the fact that we seamlessly NCOA files and de-dupe when necessary contributes to better list targeting.
2. Really telling your story – reaching out with a heartfelt message.
3. Great design, especially with color, graphics, and photos.
4. Timing – Planning ahead so there is plenty of time for pre-press, proofing, production enables you to get the mailer to your recipient when you want, taking into account the holiday mail traffic.
5. Convenience – supply a courtesy or business reply envelope, or use the direct mail to lead recipient to your website.
6. Make sure your mailer is designed to be postal-compliant, and get approval of design from a mailer- because small design changes can often save big $$$ in postage and processing.
7. Many organizations do follow-up campaigns to those who did not respond the first time around. This gives you an opportunity to send another message.

Things are moving fast – changing with speed we don’t think we’ve witnessed in our previous 96 years of operation. So hold onto your hats and get ready to evolve with us!

If you are accustomed to using direct mail, but are curious about PURL marketing and what its potential benefits can be- we suggest that the response data you gather could easily be the best measurement tool you have ever had.

In a nutshell, a variable direct mail piece goes out with a PURL leading the recipient to a specially built landing page. Once on a PURL microsite, visitors are invited to complete a survey, provide info for a follow-up, vote for a preference, etc. They can complete as much or as little as they choose, and the session generally closes with a customized Thank You. Reports generated from this process can provide great analytics for future marketing.

Are you intrigued. Why not test the waters now?

Pretty cool – a blend of a time-honored method with current online technology.

We like the new blend, and can assist you in this multi-media marketing.

If we didn’t do this, there would be more Undeliverable As Addresses mail, and customers who mail first class or who use an ancillary endorsement will get the pieces back with a big yellow sticker, and postage due.

We say, why pay for the postage for pieces that will come back – when NCOA means you update your list BEFORE you send out mail.

If a customer is reluctant to have the database updated, we can remove the records which changed, and mail them out at full rate first class.

We believe the process makes sense, and we support the USPS in this required change. NCOA processing allows you to update and remove bad records, saving you money on printing and postage, and it gives you valuable feedback on the quality of your list.

Luckily, being compliant is easy. Ad Mail can run your data through NCOA and update the address data for a nominal fee and send the updates to you at no additional charge. This small step can save you a big headache in the future, so don’t delay. Contact a mailing specialist at Ad Mail today to clean your files to comply with the new rules of 2010.

Clean Files, Compliant Data, Smart Direct Marketing!
Happy New Year!

Targeted marketing is much more effective than mass marketing and has proven results. Mass marketing typically achieves a 1% response rate, while targeted marketing achieves response rates that can be as much as 15 times higher. The key is to know your audience, and where to find them. If you’ve ever tried to do this on your own, you know the challenges you’ll face. That’s where we come in.

It is critical to market and keep your name in the mind of consumers – especially in a challenging economic environment – in order to keep generating sales. For example, if your business relies on consumers, then targeting homeowners needs to be a key element of your strategy. Direct mail is among the most effective ways to reach homeowners, but identifying them and getting your information in their hands in a timely manner relies on accurate and targeted lists.
Ad Mail employs a marketing strategy to help companies reach homeowners with specific demographic profiles that match their ideal customer.

Most companies don’t have the time to run a direct mail program, that’s why we take care of everything related to the mailing campaign – from printing, profiling, homeowner list, to mailing – allowing busy executives to focus on managing their business. Ad Mail is an extension of each company’s marketing team, helping them develop their strategy, find their audience, and deliver the message in a timely and cost-effective way.