Message From Jupiter
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
It'll happen any minute that big surge of online shoppers we've all been waiting for. Right? Not so fast. Growth has flattened out, and there simply won't ...

World Class
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
It's not easy being a The very term implies someone who's marginalized in a business. Author Peter Mayle wrote that an ad agency's creative director must ...

A Dumb Call
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
April may have been the cruelest month to T.S. Eliot, but for DMers especially those that send catalogs it's May this year. That's when catalogers will ...

Model Citizens
Mar 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
It may be bad form to revive the old us-vs.-them fight between direct marketers and brand advertisers. We're all one big, happy family these days, right? But DMers are getting a disproportionate share of the blame for the anti-marketing mania now going on. ...

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Nothing is more boring than going through the Direct Marketing Association's Hall of Fame. For every genius on that wall, someone else is there only because ...

What's This?
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
We've mentioned it already. But it may still be a shock when this issue of Direct arrives in your mailbox. It has the same writers as it did before people ...

The New Direct
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD SOME BUZZ ABOUT THIS. We certainly hope so. But if not, here's the word on the new Direct. The new Direct? Yes. We've thrown Direct's ...

Familiar Faces
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Hard as it may be to believe, DMA06 isn't the only fall event worth attending. Another is the Promo Live conference, produced by Direct publisher Prism ...

If You're Going
Oct 15, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
There are worse places to be than San Francisco in October. So stop worrying, and relax on the flight by reading this issue of Direct. We hope you'll ...

Meet the Broker
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
HERE'S A STATISTIC THAT PROBABLY SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYONE. Of the list companies polled by Direct in its 2006 list use survey (see supplement following ...

We're No. 1
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
IT'S A GREAT TIME TO BE A DIRECT MARKETER. Every survey points to the fact that marketing executives want performance-measurement tools. The leading buzzword ...

Media on Media
Aug 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Don't bet the farm just yet on RSS, podcasts and other so-called Web 2.0 media. Marketers are interested in them, but not as much as they are in old-fashioned ...

Farewell to InMarketing
Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
We suppose we should be doing victory laps. The Direct Marketing Association is pulling the plug on InMarketing, its excuse for a monthly magazine. Here's ...

Right-Time Marketing
Jun 15, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Here's some news from ExactTarget that may change the way you send your e-mail. A study shows the highest average open rate in 2005 was on Fridays. But ...

More Postal Misery
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
How sad. AOL is asking e-mailers to pay a few pennies to guarantee delivery, and critics are griping. Oh, give it up. You don't know what misery is. We'll ...

Win With Vin
May 18, 2006 6:25 PM, By Ray Schultz
Not that he needs our endorsement, but we sympathize with Vin Gupta in his fight to keep the scavengers at Dolphin from horning their way onto the InfoUSA board. It’s a takeover play, pure and simple, and no good can come of it for direct marketers. ...

Fax You
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
THIS ISSUE CONTAINS SOME INTERESTING COVERAGE OF THE problems facing fax marketers. The first is an article on what to do if your insurer denies your ...

Good News and Sad News
Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Coverage from New Orleans and two special friends have departed from the scene. ...

Postage Paid
Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Say what you want about AOL and Goodmail, but their plan to charge mailers to have their e-mail delivered intact and certified is not a new idea. Pundits ...

The Ethicist
Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Whatever happened to The New York Times? The once-great paper used to pride itself on not having comics, horoscopes, gossip columns and other such tabloid ...

Was It Good for You?
Jan 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
An editor at my company once called a meeting to present a stunning magazine redesign. All went well until a sales type asked the inevitable question: ...

The Trinity
Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
The best thing about DMA05 for me was the Hall of Fame selections. For once, the DMA got it just right. Take Boardroom founder Marty Edelston. He's a ...

Hail to the Chief
Nov 1, 2005 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
John Greco is a presidential history buff. But he's getting carried away with himself. He apparently thinks he is president of the United States, and ...

Double Trouble
Oct 15, 2005 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU. Direct magazine staffers will descend on Atlanta this week with two things on our minds: to serve up the dish in our show ...

Zero Tolerance
Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
HOW SAD IT IS THAT WHEN CUSTOMER SERVICE MAKES HEADLINES, they're almost always negative. Take the rash of stories about Comcast that appeared in the ...