Seminar Mailng F.A.Q.

Please contact us at your convenience should you need additional information. Remember, we have unbeatable pricing!

1. What is included in your packages?

Everything you need to conduct a seminar mailing campaign is bundled in our packages. This includes invitation design, printing, mail list procurement, postage, and live-answered reservation service with your own unique toll-free number.

2. Why Should I work with Seminar Innovations?

While we didn’t invent seminar marketing, we did make it affordable! Consider that every mail house use the same Postal Service and that most offer a variety of visually appealing, quality mailers to choose from and an RSVP service to capture callers information. Pretty straightforward. This leaves three points of difference to distinguish ourselves from our competitors: List options, Service and Price. Let’s look briefly at each:

List: We’re up-front about who we purchase our lists from: Acxiom, Infousa, Experian and KBM Group. We’ve identified them as a the best and most reliable list providers. Many of our competitors use only one list company making it easy to oversaturate an area.

Service & Integrity: We return calls, don’t charge for proof revisions, and notify our clients if someone just mailed with us in a particular area. We also purchase fresh lists every time that you get a copy of. Furthermore, proof of mailing is always available.

Price: Why pay more? We know our pricing is the best around. We ensure this by our “meet or beat” price guarantee.

3. What is your turnaround time?

After you select an invitation and provide details on how you would like it customized with your logo, bio, bullet points, venue etc., your proof will be ready in about a day. Any adjustments that you require can usually be made the same day. After receiving your approval the invitation will be sent to print and your seminar mailing will be ready to launch in about a week. We do have 48 hour turnaround available on seminar mailings using postcards For the smaller postcards which go U.S.P.S First-Class Mail we recommend mailing about 14 to 15 days before to your first event so they are in homes about 10-12 days prior. For the larger size postcards and letters which are sent U.S.P.S Standard Mail we recommend mailing about three weeks prior to your first event. So to recap (excluding rush orders), for the smaller postcards place your order with us about 24 days prior to your first event and for all other types of invitations please place your order at least 31 days in advance.

4. What type of response rate can I expect? Do you guarantee response rates?

In general about 95% of all our seminar mailings fall into the following range: .5% on the low end to about 1.5% on the high end, but giving a precise answer to this question is impossible. There are many factors that will affect the turnout at your seminar event and most are in your control. For example, let’s take it as a given that whatever type of invitation you send out with us, that it is going to look professional. After all we will not be mailing your piece until it receives your approval. In addition, the following factors will determine your response rate: Copy – it must be relevant, emotionally appealing and compelling. Venue – make sure the restaurant is a decent place that locals will be familiar with and comfortable attending. Market Saturation – while you don’t control this, it is safe to assume that if ten advisors are mailing to the same zip code and have overlapping seminars occurring, it will dilute your attendance. (We will not produce overlapping seminars with our clients, however there are multiple seminar marketing companies out there.) List demographics – Inviting the right people is crucial. Picking far out zips codes will definitely hurt your response rate. People just aren’t willing to drive much more than about 15 minutes to attend an event. Also, be sure your topic and venue are in accord with the prospects you are targeting. For example, inviting the high net-worth crowd to a seminar on reducing Social Security taxes at “Ye Ole Leftover Buffet” is an exercise in futility. We do not guarantee response rates.

5. Are your seminar invitations customizable?

Yes! You are welcome to customize and personalize your invitations to your exact specifications. We can change headlines, colors, pictures, logos, wording, layout etc. From annuity seminars to financial planning seminars, we can create an invitation that will work for your topic.

6. Do you work with XWY Firm/Securities/Broker-Dealer/FMO? Are you affiliated with any firm?

We are not affiliated with any broker dealer or field marketing organization and have no interest in attempting to recruit any representative or advisor. Our sole business is direct mail advertising. We have worked with many of the large and small broker dealers and field marketing organizations and will make the appropriate revisions to your invitations to satisfy your particular compliance need.

7. Where do your mail lists come from? What demographics can I select?

We do not have our own internal list database - which is a good thing! Think about the enormity of the task of keeping accurate and up to date records on 300 million Americans. To accomplish such a feat, the major data compilers spend 10’s of millions of dollars. We work with the largest and most reputable data compilers in the industry that achieve deliverability rates around 98-99%. Our standard package pricing allows you to select your desired prospect’s age range, income levels, home-ownership status and of course geography (zip codes). Other popular selects such as net-worth or income producing assets are also available for an additional charge per record. You can also provide your own list of prospects to be added to the campaign.

8. Can I prevent plate-lickers or current clients from receiving an invitation?

Yes, but you will need to have a list of recipients you would like remove properly formatted in Excel for data suppression. We can help with the formatting.

9. What is drop shipping?

All of our letters and wedding style invitations are checked-in for verification at the U.S.P.S. bulk mail entry facility in West Chester, PA. After verification, the mailers are transported to the FEDEX Freight Terminal where they are placed on pallets for trucking to the nearest sorting facility to the recipients homes. This helps to improve transit times on Standard Mail and also gives greater ability to track the mail as it is in route to it’s final destination.

10. Should I use a seminar postcard or seminar letter?

The answer depends on your budget and each invitation type has their own unique advantages. Postcards are definitely more economical and also have the advantage of giving your recipient little choice but to read your pitch. Letters on the other hand allow more space for your copy and may present a more sophisticated/professional image in your prospects mind. It is also quite simply a matter of personal preference. With respect to response rates the factors outlined in question two apply so it is not accurate to say one always outperforms the other. Especially when factoring in the cost differences. For example, you may be able to send out 25-50% more postcards than letters for the same price, but in general the smaller postcards don’t pull as well as other types.

11. What venue should I use?

Steakhouses and Italian Restaurants usually pull very well, but a decent middle of the road type of restaurant that your prospects will most likely already be familiar with is usually also safe bet. Be sure that the venue has a private room. When negotiating with the restaurant manager over the cost remember you some bargaining chips. Remind the manager that they will be getting free advertising to thousands of local’s right in their backyard and that you will be bringing in dozens of people mid-week when restaurants are usually slow. Perhaps you can negotiate a prix-fixe menu option where everyone gets a salad, an entree choice of chicken, beef or seafood and a simple desert. This can help keep your budget in check.

12. Which day of the week is best for a seminar?

Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday have been proven to be the most effective in turning out prospects.

13. Should I provide a meal?

Time and time again we get the question from advisors struggling with the issue of whether to feed their guests. The naysayers will proclaim that the room will be filled with “plate lickers” looking to cash in on a free meal. They are right in the sense that there will be some individuals who attend only to take advantage of your hospitality. The sooner that you accept this as a cost of doing business it, the sooner you will realize that for every plate licker, there is a legitimate prospect who was compelled to come and hear you speak BECAUSE of the free meal you are providing. The bottom line is that you will have many more qualified prospects in your audience by offering a meal than if you didn’t offer one. The results of countless seminar mailings bear this out. You do not have to spend a fortune, but remember the place you choose to conduct the event in will be either a positive or negative reflection on you.

14. Dinner, lunch or breakfast? Which is most effective in drawing a larger attendance?

Dinner seminars that are advertised at 6:00 P.M. or 6:30 P.M. typically draw the largest crowds, followed by lunch with breakfast being a distant third (and usually should be avoided altogether). However, depending on the targeted demographic, lunches or early dinners might be more appropriate. For example, If your target market is seniors and you are conducting a retirement seminar which will include folks in their 70's and older, an early dinner at, say, 4:00 P.M. would be appropriate, as many seniors do not drive in the dark and retire to bed early.

12. What verification do I have that all of my pieces have been mailed?

Upon request we can provide official documentation to ensure that all of the mail pieces that you purchase are in fact mailed. Whenever an order is dropped off by us to the U.S.P.S for delivery there is a postal receipt that is generated which has the date and dollar amount paid for postage on your behalf.

12. Do you offer any other advisor services/

We offer turnkey financial advisor websites which include design, hosting, and email. Visit www.premiumadvisorwebsites.com for more info.

13. I’ve never conducted a seminar, what are some basic guidelines on the flow of the events?

Download our seminar marketing tip-sheet for the best practices in conducting successful events.