Sponsored Content WEBINAR: ELECTION 2008: E-mail Tips from a Political Insider   WEBINAR: Becoming the Illusionist: The Magic of Using "Brand" to Drive Response without Results Disappearing in the Process   WEBINAR: Score and Win Through Cooperation   TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Holiday's are prime-time for email marketing - maximize your ROI by getting to the inbox   ON DEMAND WEBINAR--MASTER CLASS: High Performance Online and Off-line Strategies for Large Scale Customer Acquisition   FREE WHITE PAPER - Direct Mail and the Internet Find any supplier you need - agencies, CRM, fulfillment, lists, e-commerce, paper, printers, telemarketing, and more. Featured Categories Lists and Data Telemarketing Database Marketing E-commerce Web Marketing Agency & Creative Services Print, Production & Paper Lists and Data Processing :: view all categories Get free access to more than 50,000 list data cards - one of the most comprehensive databases in the industry. >> Search Now DIRECT Buzz Blog Webinars Buyer's Guide Calculators JobZone ListFinder Promo Calendar Research Store E-Newsletters Print Magazine This Month in Direct Magazine Bare Bones Postal reform works. The rate hike that takes effect May 12 is the lowest in memory: an average of 2.88%. And some mail classes are getting even less than that... See Full April Issue

IT'S CLEAR THAT SOME MEMBERS of the media think unsolicited direct mail ranks right behind spam as one of the 21st century's great plagues. So what's it going to take to get our industry to do more than just sit back while these detractors take their potshots? What has to happen before marketers are motivated to respond to actions aimed at restricting use of the mail in their businesses?

Not a month goes by that isn't marked by newspaper or broadcast editorials urging government to deal with advertising mail in the same way it's handled issues with telemarketing and unsolicited business faxes. Of course, those who are so eager to throw stones never take a close look at their own advertising-dependent glass houses.

What I don't understand is the disregard many in our industry show toward these mindless “junk mail” attacks. How is it that an industry as important to the nation's economic welfare as direct mail doesn't care enough to defend itself?

The old saying is, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Part of your sowing may be to ignore the disparagements of those who want a larger share of the advertising and marketing pie, who genuinely believe they have some divine insight into our nation's ecological well-being, and who just flat-out fail to appreciate the benefits they derive from the financial support advertising provides to various competitive media.

If you're willing to let all this slide, then spare me your tears when federal, state and local governments begin passing laws or instituting regulations that sharply curtail the freedoms our industry currently enjoys.

It's bad enough when some of the criticisms leveled at us by others have some basis in reality. It's quite another, however, when neglect brings about self-inflicted wounds.

Commercial freedom of speech doesn't come free. It must be defended against those who would prefer to silence our voice.

---

GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.