About Wordmasters

Wordmasters was established 30 years ago.  Our purpose is to help businesses and non-profit organizations expand and succeed through the use of customized data management and direct mail.  Over the years, we’ve been a leader in modernizing and improving the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns for our customers.

Now, that's quite a statement, but there's actually an interesting and true story behind this.  Let's start at the beginning:

WHAT WAS IT LIKE 30 YEARS AGO?

Computers didn’t “talk” much.

Believe it or not, 30 years ago IBM had just come out with the PC. Few people used computers. There were a myriad of different operating systems that couldn’t communicate with each other without costly conversions, if even available.

Typewriters and Typesetting were the norm to produce copy

Back then, most people typed or typeset their promotional materials and catalogues every time they produced a new one, then "cut and pasted" their final copy on a light table. To make labels, they (horror of horrors) copied typed sheets onto peel and stick labels, then hand sorted each time they mailed. 

Word processors and data base management software were only just becoming available to the majority. 

List Data Bases were fairly inaccessible.

As far as lists and large databases, the big guys went to mainframe computer companies to maintain them and then order paper “Cheshire” labels. That was also the only way to get access to leads lists.  They were pricey, limited in scope, and not always so clean or reliable.

A Mail House had only one function.

The only function of a mail house was to apply provided labels, then bundle and take the mail to the post office.

SO HOW DID WORDMASTERS CHANGE HISTORY AND BECOME A LEADER?

We started putting people’s data onto computer before other mail houses even had them.

• Cataloguers could edit prices and content with very low cost and NO typesetting, and mail more frequently
• Customer files went onto computer where we could clean them up, automatically sort them, and get much better postal rates. We made data easy to update!
• We converted people’s files to what has become the standard of IBM, to get much greater flexibility in the use of their files.
• We wrote programs long before other shops had them (and before they became available commercially) to automatically produce Postal paper work, eliminating errors and getting the best rates. (We do have awesome programming capabilities!)

 We got people to do their mail more effectively while other mail houses just kept putting on labels!

• We were one of the FIRST to program downloads of mainframe tapes directly onto our PCs… a MAJOR breakthrough! Now we could handle large or small files and maintain them at a much lower cost to our clients. (We do really have an awesome master programmer in our midst!)
• We were among the FIRST to offer direct addressing onto envelopes instead of using labels to get a higher response rate.
• When it was still a new concept , we encouraged using stamps on letters for political and fundraising campaigns, again increasing results and making other mailers drool over the response rates.
• We were among the FIRST to put in laser printers to fully personalize letters,  making them work more effectively by including variable data in the letters.  That just knocked the results out the roof!

We worked consistently to get people like you familiar with the basics to succeed with direct mail

We offered seminars and went to trade shows to educate people what was possible. We've worked with clients from small business to major corporations, marketers, designers, non-profits, showing the ropes when needed, providing options to up the results or save on the postage.    We kept demanding more results…and we still do! 

What about Today, in the 21st Century?

Today, the next step to enhancing results is multichanneling.  Direct mail is still a powerful tool in a successful marketing plan because it's so targeted and because many people do like, read and respond to it.  But with the help of our marketing and programming staff, you can drive people onto your other channels, whether it be the web, a landing page, email or "likes" sent to friends. 

The same basics work... targeting works, getting your message out works... the results just got better again. 

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
               Charles Caleb Colton

It may be true that today, lots of mail houses now offer the basic mailing "services" we introduced and made popular... But then, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! 

It's also true that we are a LOT more than just a Mail House.  Lots of our clients feel the same way. That’s why there are so many quotes from them throughout our site.

So, what are you waiting for?  

Let’s get started!

Call us today for a free consultation.  How can we help you?

Jeanette Fenton, Direct Mail Marketing Specialist