How to do Gospel Postcard Evangelism

1. Select your area to reach.

Use the USPS zip code Online Tool to determine the carrier routes in your neighborhood that you want to mail too.

2. Select your bulk mailing preference.

You have a choice between normal bulk mail that prints a unique USPS carrier route sort residential address on each postcard or Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM). EDDM does not have a address printed on each postcard. The postal carrier simply puts one postcard in every mailbox on their route. The postage is about the same cost as if it had a address printed on it, but you save a few hundred dollars towards the cost of having a mailing service purchase the mail list, imprint the residential addresses on the postcards, bundle them up correctly and deliver them to the USPS for your mailing. With EDDM you bundle them up in 100's, place face slips on them, take them down to your local USPS and hand them over the counter yourself. About the only advantage to using EDDM is the minimal cost savings. The disadvantages are you have to figure out and correctly follow the USPS guidelines, then do the labor of bundling and drop off yourself. If for some reason you don't get any of that done correctly the local USPS may refuse to receive them or they just may not get delivered. There is no way to verify EDDM delivery other than if you experience results or live in the area. For this reason for most persons it would most likely be best to use a verified professional printing and mailing service. They will guide you through the process of selecting the correct postcard size, artwork submission requirements for printing the postcard, residential saturation postage costs and answer any other questions that may come up.

3. Select your printing and mailing service

Be sure to diligently research your selection.

The following information contains important details to understand and confirm BEFORE you final your printer selection and design your Gospel Postcard artwork.

You will be seeking a commercial printer who specializes in bulk mail postcard printing. Selecting a competitively priced commercial printer who produces a quality finished product is the objective. They should also be reliable with their stated production and shipping dates. We have posted a few examples for your research and review on our Resources page to help you get started in your search. We recommend that you explore all your options and select the commercial printing and mailing resource that you feel most comfortable with.

Tip! You can enter into the web search engine of your choice the words "bulk mail postcard printers" plus "near me" or the name of a city or metro area near you to search for those closest to you. Close is good if you can find one. You can drive in and meet them in person. You can also pickup your printing in person avoiding shipping costs and time. If you can not find a bulk mail commercial printer near you, expand your web search out to the national level by not entering the words "near me" or a specific GEO location.

The commercial printing industry is huge. Small to large commercial printers exist everywhere in the country. Especially in larger metro areas. Some have been in business for many years. They typically specialize in the type of printing they will offer. The printing equipment they use is expensive, requires a commercial building and zoning, regular maintenance along with experienced human labor to operate it. In order to be competitive yet profitable, so as to stay in operation, they have to have achieved a certain "volume" level of continuous production. This equates into recurring customers who value and trust their services.

Tip! This means there should be reviews and testimonials about them on the web that will help you make your decision. When you find one of interest, you can do a web search of their "business name" plus the words "reviews" or "complaints". You can also check their reviews and rating on their Google business listing, Facebook page, and even the BBB or Chamber of Commerce websites. Carefully read over the best of these resources to evaluate the printers weak and strong qualities with their typical customer satisfaction level. Spend more time reading the 1 Star reviews then the 5 star reviews. Determine if these are valid customers with production quality or delivery complaints, if there is a pattern to these complaints, and how does the printer respond to resolve them.

4. Select and design your postcard message content.

Here are four ways you can get this done!

1. Use your printer's in-house graphic design service

2. Use your printer's recommended graphic design service

3. Use your own graphic design service

4. DIY "Do it yourself"

1. Use your EDDM printer's in-house graphic design service.

This is the recommended method that we use for a few good reasons. The printer's in-house graphic design team knows the print process they are preparing your artwork for and do that work daily. The "onus" to get all the technical stuff correct is on them. You will provide them with a "mock-up" of what you want the design to look like, along with high resolution print quality photos and images, and they will do all the "print ready" design work for you. They typically can guide you through their design process to final proof and "go to print" sooner in-house. In-house design services are about the same cost as using your own graphic design service.

2. Use your commercial printer's recommended graphic design service.

Your printer may work with a graphic design shop that they recommend. If so, then their graphic design team should be familiar with the print process they are preparing your artwork for as they would being doing that type of work for them often. You will provide them with a "mock-up" of what you want the design to look like along with high resolution print quality photos and images and they do the "print ready" design work for you. You final proof and pay them for their services direct, then send your "print ready" artwork to the printer for their acceptance and "go to print" sign off.

3. Hire a graphic design service

You may already have a good relationship with a graphic design service in the industry and prefer to use them. You will provide them with a "mock-up" of what you want the design to look like. You can hook them and your printer up so they get the correct specs for the print process and the type artwork files your printer will need to "go to print".

4. DIY "Do it yourself"

If you have done or are doing professional "print quality" graphic design artwork then we need say no more ... you know what to do!

Tip! Mock-ups: You are free to use the Gospel Postcard Samples we provided as a starting point for creating your own "mock-ups" and Gospel Postcard artwork. These will give your graphic artist a visual for placement of text and images. You would include your instructions of all the changes and additions you want done. You would attach and send the graphic designer your own high resolution (300 dpi to 600 dpi) photos and graphic images to be used in your artwork design and printing. They will need to be CMYK (print process color) compatible.

Tip! CMYK: Check this CMYK color website out to get quickly dialed into what CMYK color "for print use" vs RGB "for web use" color systems are all about.

Tip! Finding the right image: Here's how to find your own high resolution (300 dpi to 600 dpi) photos and graphic images on the web. These are readily available for free on creative common and other royalty free photo websites. The selection process should indicate if they are usable for print products. The graphic images shown on our Gospel Postcard Samples page are available in print quality resolutions on Pixabay. They can be used for print and web use. Private or commercial. See Pixabay.com licensing. Also see Pexels.com licensing and others like these that will be helpful in finding images licensed as free to use. These type sites will also explain how not to use them. For best practices always check to affirm the licensing use of any images that you place in print or on a website.