Once you’ve got your postcard or direct mail piece designed you’ll need to get it printed and have it mailed. There are several different things to consider when printing a direct mail piece. When contacting a printer you will need to tell him the following:

•    What size is your direct mail piece?
•    If it folds, they will want to know the size before folded and after it’s folded.
•    Do you want to use 4-colors (full color) or one color? (The one color is usually black, so it will be black
copy and black and white images on the white paper.
•    How many do you need? What is the quantity? Usually printers print in increments of 500 or 1000.
•    How many pages? If it’s a postcard it will have two sides and each side is counted as a page.
• What type of paper? There are hundreds of brands of paper but two main types - Text and Cover. Text is light weight and usually used for inside pages of brochures magazines, etc. Cover, is a heavier weight and like its name implies is used for covers of brochures, magazines or even postcards. Cover “stock” (to understand paper weights go to http://www.theprintguide.com/poster-printing/faq5.html) is similar to poster board. They are also going to ask you if you want matte or glossy. Glossy already has a bit of a shine or finish to it. Similar to putting on a coat of clear nail polish or a lacquer on a piece of wood furniture.

If you don’t know of a good printer in your area, you may want to get estimates from two or three printers. Make sure to give them all the same info so you are comparing apples to apples. Most you can call them over the phone or visit their print shop in person. If you are dealing with an online printer make sure you read all the details of what you are getting.

The printer will most likely give you a “proof” sometimes when you see a design on the computer screen it will look different when printed. And your office printer may print colors slightly different than a professional printer. So you’ll want to see a “proof” of what it will look like. Plus this gives you one last chance to check that your message is correct, the spelling is right and double check the website address and phone number. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone get one digit off on a postcard or direct mailer and then all those people are calling the wrong phone number.

There are additional costs to expect besides design and printing. They include addressing and postage. Check our other posts for info on these processes.