Personalized Letters as a Desktop Publishing Business

Just imagine the look on a child's face when he or she opens their very own letter from Santa! And children aren't the only ones excited to know that Santa hasn't forgotten them. Adults delight in their own letters from Santa too. Imagine your own delight when a letter that costs less than a dollar to produce results in a mailbox stuffed with 5 or 10 dollar bills! Well...

...it might not happen quite that way but there is no denying that for some enterprising business people personalized letters such as Letters from Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny are a natural add-on to their word processing or desktop publishing business.

Santa Letters are personalized letters to children and adults written by you -- on behalf of Santa Claus. Your word processing, writing, marketing, and database skills are more critical than your design skills but you'll still need to select appropriate paper, clip art (if you don't use pre-printed papers), and fonts. You may also call on your design skills to create "extras", fliers, and ads.

Desktop publishing businesses that are just getting started may use Santa Letters as a jumping off point to more involved desktop publishing projects. Others may decide to make personalized letters an annual or year-round addition to their business. Dedicated do-it-yourselfers may wish to create their own Santa Letters just for family and friends.

Whether desktop publishing is a major part of your business or simply a hobby, this series of articles, tips, and links can help you produce the best possible personalized letters.

Planning Your Santa Letter Campaign

• Marketing (Includes advertising costs, time/costs for flier distribution or Web page hosting, actual cost of producing ads, fliers, or Web pages, and fees for a booth at a craft show, etc.).
  
  
• Supplies (see below).
  
  
• Your time.
  
  
• Other overhead (Will you want a special PO Box or domain name for orders?).
  
  
• Split Profits (partners, referrals).

MARKETING: How will you advertise your Santa Letters? Many avenues are available, each with its strengths and weaknesses.

• Direct Mail (Where will you get the names?).
  
  
• Newspaper Ads (classified/display).
  
  
• Fliers (Door-to-door? Bulletin Boards? On cars in parking lots? Handed out at craft shows?).
  
  
• Fund Raisers (schools, day care centers, clubs -- be prepared to share the profits).
  
  
• Television or Radio Ads (Some local stations, including local cable TV, may offer reasonable advertising rates).
  
  
• Press Releases (Free publicity may be the best kind!).
  
  
• Web Pages (Online ordering is convenient but can you offer secure ordering AND accept credit cards? It can be a good place for year round advertising at a low cost.).
  
  
• Booths (You can display letters, take orders, or produce letters on the spot at craft shows, etc. People may be more likely to buy if they can see you, see your product, and take it home with them.).

PRODUCTION: Do you have the necessary software? (most word processing programs are probably sufficient) Will you hire helpers? Will you process orders as received or do them all at once? Other production considerations:

• Database.
  
  
• Form Letters or Templates.
  
  
• Deadlines.
  
  
• North Pole cancellation.
  
  
• Contract workers (stuffing envelopes, delivering fliers).
  
  
• Sending out receipts/order acknowledgments.
  
  
• Follow-up letters.

SUPPLIES: Will you use the same paper for all orders? What "extras" will you include? Decorative Christmas stationery is available from many sources. Consider "extras" carefully - how much cost will they add beyond their initial cost (extra postage, oversized envelopes)?

• Paper.
  
  
• Envelopes.
  
  
• Labels.
  
  
• Postage (Christmas Stamps?).
  
  
• Decorative items (ink pad & stamp, stickers, clip art).
  
  
• "Extras" (gifts/tokens/prizes).
  
  
• Order forms.
  
  
• Receipts/Order Acknowledgments.

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