Four retailers cracked the top 10 in a survey of the 50 for-profit brands that consumers feel best meet today’s “patriotism challenge.” Levi Strauss & Co., took the fourth spot in Brand…

The U.S. Postal Service is at the heart of a postal system still dedicated to tying our country together today. Here’s one example: Recently, it issued “250 Years of Delivering,” a pane of 20 stamps by cartoonist Chris Ware that shows a carrier delivering mail across four seasons of the year. Kind of like the unofficial motto inscribed on New York City’s Farley Building: “Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.” According to a study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association, the industry accounts for 7.9 million jobs. Even more than USPS, that’s a lot of jobs in print, packaging, paper, and private delivery! There are a lot of people in workforces and businesses who use ink on paper to bring ideas to life. We’ve come a long way since the days of Franklin, railway mail, and big gleaming buildings made of limestone, granite, and marble. But the public service task remains the same. And improvements in printing, marketing, and automation technology make mail more relevant than ever.

Are you ready to skillfully apply the principles of human behavior to your direct mail marketing messages to gain a competitive advantage? Since people default to hardwired behaviors without giving them a thought, we can use that to drive them to the response we want. We will use those behaviors to trigger them to buy our product or service leading to better direct mail results. In part one of this series, we will focus on the decision-making process and how we can use it to convert more sales with direct mail.