Notes from Chris

Episode 1653

Almost two decades ago, Margie Yohn worked in the marketing department of a large law firm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It wasn’t a great environment, so she knew she needed a way out. In February 2002, she started a small marketing company of her own. (She called it BeYohnd Services.)

Margie had originally planned to offer creative and graphic design but found that most clients wanted to do that themselves. However, she’d also learned how to put together bulk mailings. Using that knowledge, she started offering direct mail services for standard, nonprofit, and first class bulk mail. Starting out, she ran the whole operation from her computer, using software that cost about $650/year. She also placed the address labels by hand.

Later that year, Margie left her job at the law firm. She invested in a high-speed inkjet addresser so she could ramp up her business and take on larger mailings. Almost all her business came from word of mouth and activity in referral networks such as the Chamber of Commerce.

That part was surprisingly easy—her greater challenge was dealing with the post office. They had no incentive to provide help to increase bulk mail usage. Margie had to work to establish a relationship that proved she knew what she was doing. Once she was consistently dropping mail that was sorted, addressed and created the way they wanted, they left her alone. She ran the business for a couple of years, but the larger mailings—like 25,000 pieces at one time—took up a lot of room in her house and weren’t very profitable.

So what did she do? Margie got rid of her least profitable clients, stopped looking for new ones, and shut down the website. Scaling back gave her the ability to make a career change and start a new career in real estate. Now, her side business makes about $1,000—$2,000 a month which pays credit card bills and some household expenses.

For anyone interested in getting into bulk mailing as a business, Margie recommends checking out the direct mail resources on the USPS website—just note that USPS calls it “marketing mail.” Some post offices offer training on mail preparation or have what’s called Postal Customer Councils. Mailers and postal representatives can participate in PCC’s to network, offer training or educational programs and address issues that mailers may be experiencing.

Several times in her journey, Margie considered closing shop as her full-time job got busier. Fortunately, she has such an efficient system in place that one $600 job takes her two hours. She’d be walking away from easy money if gave it up and maintaining the side hustle has freed her from financial stress.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Margie's main hustle when she's not mailing letters at her website, MargieYohn.com.

SEE ALSO:

• USPS Mail Carrier Makes Clay Imprints for New Parents: How a USPS mail carrier and court interpreter created an $800/month hustle serving new and expectant parents.
• Bartender Earns Extra Income With “Revenge By Mail” Postcards: Want to embarrass your frenemy? Send them an awkward, anonymous postcard congratulating them on a purchase they didn’t make. This bartender and yoga teacher earns an extra $100/day from her inventive idea!
• College Student Starts Historic Letter Subscription Service: A student cashes in on his love of history by mailing beautifully designed letters to monthly subscribers.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution,

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