The NEW Fordyce Letter

As everyone must know by now, I love the Fordyce Letter. Not many publications are worth a couple of hundred bucks a year -- but the Fordyce Letter is an exception.

Having said that, today I received my June 2007 Fordyce Letter. The new look and feel are great! The publication is thicker and contains even more great material than it did before. Now there's even MORE great material for me to struggle to finish each month. Thanks, ERE!

Now for the complaint: I hate the little plastic stickers that keep the magazine in one piece during shipment. When I tried to remove them, I tore the pages of my prized possession. Rats!

Hey ERE, kindly stick TFL in a manila envelope and mail it to me. Charge me extra if you want. But for as much as I pay for the Fordyce Letter -- and for as much as I value it -- I'd like to keep each issue in as good condition as possible.

Also ... Is there any way that I can get my copies with pre-punched holes?? Those little spots that show me where to punch are useless, especially now that your publication is thicker.

Thanks!

Comment by David Manaster on May 29, 2007 at 5:21pm: I'm glad that you liked the new format!

Good news - I asked around about the stickers and I've been told that they were on on this month's issue to keep the insert about the Fordyce Forum inside, but they will not be a regular thing.

We are also looking into the hole-punching.

I'll ask around about the manilla envelope too, but I don't think that it will be possible to do because the printer is not really set up to make a single exception to the way that it is mailed, and we don't want to raise the prices for everyone.

Comment by Harry Joiner on May 29, 2007 at 10:24pm: Speaking as both a TFL fan and as a direct marketer who recruits VP-level catalog marketers for a living ...

Even if the cost of a large envelope were 50 cents per piece, that would amount to a less than 3.5% rate increase to your subscribers per year (assuming we, your readers absorbed the entire increase).

Which would they notice more: a $6 increase or a torn magazine?

My money's on the latter. Your customers could be churning at a higher rate than 3.5% because they are dissatisfied with how beat up the publication gets in the mail. At a minimum, the problem is what Dr. Richard Whiteley (ISBN 0-201-47967-2) would call a "hidden irritant" that could be negatively impacting TFL's brand perception in the market.

You charge a Ritz-Carlton price for a Ritz-Carlton publication. Seems a shame to let the end product get so banged up in the mail given your customers' expectations.

I'm just saying.