Getting to know LetterStream | LetterStream Blog

Happy Veterans Day!

On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.

-Veterans Day Proclamation by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Veterans Day Stamp

Happy Veterans Day from LetterStream!

Even though the Post Office is closed today, we are open and able to process and mail your critical correspondence.

New LifeShow Slideshow. (Say That 10 Times Fast)

LetterStream lobby slideshow We’ve found an innovative way to show off photos and display our logo in our company lobby. Since the price of a mounted flat panel HDTV was less than a custom made sign, we decided to opt for technology and electronics over old-fashioned plastic cut-out letters. Turns out the technology is pretty amazing, especially when combined with LifeShow.

We created a slide show of various pictures of certified mail, registered mail, trays of mail, post office locations, blue collection boxes and a host of other mailing related products with our logo intermixed. Then, via LifeShow we have shared the slideshow on Google+, Facebook and most importantly the flat panel in the LetterStream lobby.

The craziest part!? We are even able to share it in this post!

Use your arrow keys to scroll through our collection of mail related photos (you might need to click on the image first to get it rolling).

You can now pretend you are sitting in the leather overstuffed chairs in our lobby, listening to our peaceful background music, knowing that behind the lobby wall, we are printing and mailing your letters, documents and postcards for you.

If you have fun photos of mail that you’d be willing to share, send them our way and maybe they’ll make it on our slideshow!

LetterStream Uses Same Help Page Software As Pandora

Our IT crew is always working on things to make creating and managing mailings as simple and as easy as possible. However, due to the complex nature of mailings, there’s occasionally the need for a little assistance.

If you ever find yourself in a position of needing some help, please don’t hesitate to contact us in whichever way you feel most comfortable. There’s nearly always someone around during business hours who can readily pick up the phone and give you some old-fashioned customer service, and sending us an email is never a bad option either.

Now you have yet another way to get assistance from us. We’ve packaged up the most common questions we get asked into a brand new help system.

Since one of our frequently asked questions is “What does FAQ stand for?”, we simply call our page… “Help“.

The link to the Help page appears in the lower right-hand corner of every page after you have logged in, and is always available in the footer of our website as well.

The new Help page is packed with handy tips and instructions (organized by category), and a powerful search tool is available to help steer you in the right direction. In addition, we’ve included some short, easy-to-follow instructional videos packed with how to’s and product overviews.

Our phone number and email are handy on the right side if you can’t find exactly what you need.

Bottom line is, we are here for you. Phone. Email. Videos. Help Page.

Help! I Need To Send A Mailing Out Fast!

LetterStream Flying Letters

Have a mailing that needs to go out FAST!?

Is TODAY fast enough? If so, we can probably help. If you need your letters mailed yesterday, we can almost do that too! 😉

Our process for creating and sending mail is blazing fast. The LetterStream website allows you to create a mass mailing of thousands of pieces in as little as two minutes. Trust us, we’ve timed it!

And once you get the mailing loaded and approved, we launch our team of experts to properly print, process and mail your critical documents.

We take the extra step of delivering your mail to a USPS distribution center to reduce the number of local post offices that your mail needs to travel to, further reducing the time in transit of your letters.

Ready to do it? You simply need a PDF version of your document and a mailing list or collection of addresses (saved as a CSV file).

Your job will move quickly through our production process. If you must have your mailing out the door today, choose to expedite your mailing so we process it first (extra fees apply).

As for the true speed of the LetterStream process, I think it is fair to say we can get most mailing projects out in a day. And if by chance it needed to go out yesterday, well, we will certainly try!

Here are some helpful videos from our YouTube channel to make the process even faster:

- How to Create/Convert Documents to PDF Format
- How to Make a CSV File

Many other job types and options are available, if you have little more time to log in and get creative.

Give Stars – Get Starbucks

Starbucks Gift Card While we’d love to take you out for a cup of coffee and get some feedback on how we’re doing, we realize this might get a little impractical.

However, we have devised a way to buy you a cup of coffee for your feedback. It’s not quite the same as a sit down chat, but please know we will value it as much as a face-to-face meeting. Here’s how it works….

1. Go to your favorite business review site (Google+, Insider Pages, or another of your choice).

2. Give us a 5-star rating (if for whatever reason you can’t give us 5-stars, contact us immediately, and we’ll make it right).

3. Add some glowing comments.

4. Send us a message via our Contact page with a link to your review and your mailing address.

5. We will send you a thank you letter and a $5.00 Starbucks gift card*.

If you ever feel like you aren’t getting stellar service from LetterStream, simply call us and ask to talk to the President. He will always take the time to speak with you and work to improve our service.

*Limited to current customers only, one card per customer. Offer ends Sept. 30, 2013.

"Green" or Simply "Responsible"?

Green and Responsible Mail

Are we green or just being responsible?

I go back and forth on whether we use the greatly-over-used “green” label on what we do; quite often opting instead to use the term “responsible“. After all, we print and mail, and the word on the street is you can’t be “green” if that’s what you do (I could give you compelling reasons why that isn’t true, but I’ll save that for another day).

My point is that we work extra hard to be responsible with the by-products of our production process. We sort it, weigh it, categorize it, and talk about it; all in an effort to be responsible with our waste. Our efforts to improve in this area have been phenomenal over the years and we are proud of the job we’re doing.

Of our total facility waste, we have found ways to reuse a staggering 46% of all production waste. To be clear, this isn’t recycling, this is actual reuse by others outside of the LetterStream organization. As for recycling, 50% of our waste is being properly recycled, leaving us with only 4% of our waste actually making it to a trash dumpster.

Is that green, or just responsible? Maybe both.

Follow @LetterStream On Instagram!

LetterStream photos on Instagram

Hey all you #hashtag #instagrammers!

Over the years we’ve collected a lot of fun #photos of mail and related items, and we thought… why not share them with the world on Instagram?

If you aren’t familiar with Instagram, it’s a great way to share cool photos with friends and family… and the world. You can get the app for iPhone and Android phones alike. If you don’t want to install the app to share your own pictures, you can still use Instagram just with your computer. Go to instagram.com/letterstream to find our pictures, or click on the new Instagram button at the top right of this page.

Anyway, check out @letterstream or #letterstream on your Instagram app, or visit the website above.

When you take a cool picture of a post office box, USPS stamp, mail box, blue collection box, certified mail envelope or any other mail-related item, tag it with @letterstream to let us know!

Going Out On A Limb

I Love LetterStream Ribbon

We decided to try a different kind of giveaway at our booth at the National CAI Trade Show this year, and to be honest, it could have backfired on us.

This year we took the risk of offering “I Love LetterStream” ribbons to our customers and API partners as they stopped by our booth. We were hoping that a few would attach the ribbon to their trade show attendee badge. But whatever happened, we knew it would be a learning experience.

You see, when you ask someone to wear a ribbon that says they love you, you open yourself up to a whole lot of scrutiny. Would our customers and partners love it or hate it?

We waited patiently as the Expo doors opened and attendees started filing into the aisles. Then the first visitors approached our booth, they looked up to survey our exhibit, they noticed the LetterStream banner, and then we heard these words… “LetterStream!!, We love LetterStream!!” We breathed a sigh of relief and passed out the “I Love LetterStream” ribbons, which were quickly applied to their trade show badges.

Indeed it was a risky move, and one that might have caused us to be accused of excessive boldness. But in the grand scheme of things, it certainly created an honest feedback mechanism. And we discovered what we hoped would be true; that our customers LOVE the LetterStream experience. We passed out slightly over 100 ribbons at the Community Association Institute (CAI) national trade show and the CAI Arizona show.

We work very hard to provide incredible speed, impeccable accuracy and crazy good service; and we are tickled to know that it is appreciated by our customers.

To our customers and API partners that were happy to wear our ribbons, we say “Thank You!”. Thank you for your feedback, your partnership and your appreciation.

For those who aren’t that familiar with LetterStream, check out some of the positive things our customers are saying about us on our testimonials page. And if you have something you want to add, please keep the comments coming!

Toys for Tots Update

Toys for Tots

We had a great time at the Toys for Tots drop in North Scottsdale this year. LetterStream’s toy giving was up quite a bit from last year.

I am continually amazed at the generosity of our team… Thanks guys!

However, due to the wet-est cold-est day in Scottsdale, the total number of toys retrieved by the Marines was only about 12 jumbo boxes full. But those who dared to experience our winter wonderland heard great holiday tunes, were warmed by hot chili, and were greeted by Santa.

For you locals, be sure to put this event on your list of to-dos for next year. It’s a wonderful family outing and it benefits kids who appreciate a few more gifts under the tree.

*Picture provided by dasFOTOhaus.com. (More pictures of the event can be found on their website.)