Hi everyone,
I'm new and just got a request to provide a quote for a monthly mailing of 500 letters a month ongoing. The client will provide the envelopes and letterhead so I can figure the cost of postage and printing, but has anyone done a job like this and can give me an idea of how long it would take or how you would figure the cost of labor?

I really appreciate it!

Katie Bauer

I generally bill all projects by the hour - especially if you're new and don't have an idea of how long something will take you it may make more sense to just bill your hourly rate plus postage and printing.

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Hi Tess,
I'm thinking he is looking for an estimated time on how many hours in my quote and that's what I'm not sure about. I would want to over-estimate I imagine just to be sure. Is it acceptable to tell a client that you really don't know how long it would take, what your hourly rate is and ask to do a first run to get a better idea of how many hours it would take? Or should I just make a guess?
Thanks

I'm hoping someone who has some better input on this kind of project than I do will pitch in here to give you a rough estimate - but if it was me and I absolutely had to give my client a quote AND make sure I was compensated for my time I'd spend an hour seeing how many envelopes I could stuff, then do the math. I'm totally serious. When in doubt do your own trial run.

There are plenty of circumstances I can think of when I've told a client outright that I just don't know how long something will take... you could certainly go that route and I don't think honesty is ever looked down upon. In the end, your hourly rate is the best bet.

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Katie, I've done many a mass mailing, and would suggest that you get really straight with the client about how many pieces are included, will you be affixing addresses (or printing labels, or what), are the envelopes pre-printed with bulk mail indecia or will you be affixing postage (is it being sent bulk rate or first rate), how many folds are required for inserts. Then, if it is a bulk mailing, you'll need to clarify with either the post office or your client how to figure the cost and get it sent. Bulk mail can require banding and submitting in zip code order, etc.
500 pieces is not very many, and if it's a one-piece insert into a basic #10 (business) envelope that is pre-addressed, and if your fingers are nimble, you can probably fold, insert and seal with two hours easily. If more inserts, or folds, or addressing, or figuring out postage are part of the deal, you should stick to naming your hourly rate and it'll become clear very shortly how much it will cost them each month.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Thank you, Mary. Great advice. I have a bunch of questions for him and you brought up a few more I had not thought of.

I would suggest calling some direct mailing companies to find out how much they would charge for a job that size. The information you may want to have ready is the following:

How many peices
What postal rate do you want these to go out
How many inserts are there

Also remember that you should always have your client pay for postage up front! This is very important. If your customer is looking for the cheapest way to mail their letters, you may have to have a presort. Then things get a little more technical.

Hope this helps. Oh, generally if you have someone else do the mailing it can run over $400 (w/o postage)

Mary did give you a very accurate indication on how direct mailing works, so I didn't want to get too detailed.

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Mary Lou Locke
Lock-in Success with Locke Virtual Assistance
www.LockeSolutions.com:

More great advice! Thank you. I had thought about calling some direct mail companies so I'm going to definitely do that now.