Now that a new standard combines the power of Adobe PDF and the power of Variable Data Printing (PDF/VT -- PDF job exchange for VDP print production), printers should jump on the direct mail bandwagon and work with customers in ways that go beyond print. There is money to be made in creative, database, and mailing services.

Eighty percent of everything that printers print is because someone wants to sell something to someone else. We are, in fact, bombarded by advertising messages. In one day we see or hear the following number of ad messages from these media:
TV 122
Radio 21
Newspaper 63
Periodical 82
Posters 31
Internet 117
Mail 22
Other 45

The object of direct marketing is to get messages to defined audiences in a manner that invites attention and engenders actions-that ultimately lead to buying a product or service.