u/geo1999

I'm looking at bringing postcard printing in-house and would appreciate some advice on equipment.

Most of my work consists of very short runs of 20–40 postcards, where each mailing has a different design. A few times each month, I'll also print runs of around 2,000 postcards using the same design.

The postcards are full color, printed front and back, on heavy postcard stock (typically 14–16 pt / 300–350 GSM). My understanding is that I'd likely need a digital press and a cutter.

I currently own a Konica Minolta C558, but it only handles 300 GSM through the bypass tray, which isn't practical for feeding hundreds or thousands of sheets manually. I'd like something that can reliably feed heavier stock from standard paper trays.

I'm prefer to buy used equipment to save money but I'd like something that's still serviceable with parts and technician support.

A few questions:

• Is it realistic to produce this type of work in-house?
• What digital presses would you recommend for this workload?
• Would you look at used Konica, Canon, Ricoh, Xerox, or something else?
• What cutter would you pair with it?
• Roughly what budget should I expect for a reliable used setup?

I'd appreciate any recommendations or lessons learned from shops doing similar work. Thanks!

A2P 10DLC took a while and I’m trying to determine how long I’d have to wait to get RCS approval?

Thanks!

I receive images via Twilio SMS into Twilio from a variety of carriers and devices. How can I stop it from resizing the images? I I understand it may be carrier dependent and upstream of Twilio but wondering if anyone has solved this either with Twilio or another system (that doesn’t require the user to do anything other than text an image. Thanks!

I receive images via A2P SMS (Twilio). How can I stop it from resizing the images? I understand it may be carrier dependent and upstream of Twilio but wondering if anyone has solved this either with Twilio or another system (that doesn’t require the user to do anything other than text an image. Thanks!

I receive images via Twilio SMS. How can I stop it from resizing the images? I understand it may be carrier dependent and upstream of Twilio but wondering if anyone has solved this either with Twilio or another system (that doesn’t require the user to do anything other than text an image.

For those of you who offer direct mail services (beyond EDDM), what are you using to create consumer direct mail lists? Do you use a list broker or some sort of list service? I do EDDM currently but would like to start offering more targeted direct mail services (such as sending to specific homeowners based on age, income and other demographic information). Thanks.

Is there an API or service that would let me provide a US coordinate plus a radius and then return all the postal addresses that are within that area? Does something like this exist? Thanks.

I am looking for an API that will let me provide a US coordinate plus a radius and then return all the postal addresses. Does something like this exist? Thanks.

I'm hoping to get feedback on a service that I'm building. Basically when you finish a job you provide (via text of web) the address plus an optional photo. I then send a custom designed postcard with the project photo and the street name ("We just helped your neighbor on Maple Ave replace their roof.") and mail it to the houses on the same street. It's like door hangers but without having to go door to door.

Many of my clients are outdoor contractors (landscapers, lawn care guys, etc) and they literally hate sales. Referrals are the best way to get leads but aren't scalable. A lot of homeowners look to their neighbors and who they use when determining who to hire.

I'm looking for any feedback - the concept, what's confusing, what would stop you from trying it or what you wish existed instead.

You can see it at https://mailtheblock.com. Thanks.

I'm hoping to get feedback on a service that I'm building. Basically when you finish a job you provide (via text of web) the address plus an optional photo. I then send a custom designed postcard with the project photo and the street name ("We just helped your neighbor on Maple Ave replace their roof.") and mail it to the houses on the same street. It's like door hangers but without having to go door to door.

Many of my clients are outdoor contractors (landscapers, lawn care guys, etc) and they literally hate sales. Referrals are the best way to get leads but aren't scalable. A lot of homeowners look to their neighbors and who they use when determining who to hire.

I'm looking for any feedback - the concept, what's confusing, what would stop you from trying it or what you wish existed instead. 

You can see it at https://mailtheblock.com. Thanks.

Basically I'm building something where when you finish a job you provide (via text of web) the address plus an optional photo. I then send a custom designed postcard with the project photo and the street name ("We just helped your neighbor on Maple Ave replace their roof.") and mail it to the houses on the same street. Similar idea to door hangers but without having to go door to door.

Most of my clients are outdoor contractors (landscapers, lawn care guys, etc) and they aren't the best at sales (they literally hate sales). But roofing seems like a sales first type service. So I'm not sure how well this would work for a roofer (although I'm guessing not all are hardcore door knockers). But I do know that a lot of homeowners look to their neighbors and who they use when determining who to hire.

I'm looking for any feedback - the concept, what's confusing, what would stop you from trying it or what you wish existed instead.

You can see it at https://mailtheblock.com. Thanks.

Have a handful of contractors using it and want honest feedback from operators before pushing on growth.

Outdoor contractor finishes a job, texts the address to us. We send a custom designed postcard with the project photo and the street name ("We just helped your neighbor on Maple Ave upgrade their patio.") and mail it to the houses on the same block. Similar idea to door hangers but without having to go door to door.

Built for any outdoor contractor where the next job could come from a neighbor and you don't like actually selling.

Open to any feedback - the concept, what's confusing, what would stop you from trying it or what you wish existed instead.

It's called Mail the Block if you want to look it up.

How well does automatically submitting contact forms on a website work compared to cold email using something like Instantly? I use cold email but haven't tried contact form submissions. Before I give it a try I'm just curious what others have found. I'm not sure how technically doable automating contact form submissions would be but I see it being done a lot (although I'm not sure if it's just manual work by a VA versus automation).