“OMG, it’s nearly the holidays and I’m going to have to print my holiday labels using GoldMine.” If this sounds like you, not to worry! For some people it has been a year since they had to do holiday labels and they’ve simply forgotten how. For others it’s the first time. Either way, it doesn’t have to be reason for a panic attack and you certainly don’t want to let it spoil the season.
So, let’s run through a quick 7 Step Briefing:
- You need the list! That’s going to be either a filter or group in GoldMine. If the “group” is from last year there’s no doubt it needs to be refreshed or probably recreated.
- Start NOW because when the holiday’s really do arrive it is probably t0o late to clean up the list. There’s an old marketing adage that goes, “When you need the list it’s too late.” Very true!
- Spot check the list for missing address lines (e.g. no street, missing zip, etc.) and then clean up the list. If your list is large and spot checking is going to take too much time I recommend you develop filters that identify records with missing information.
- If you are using “additional contacts” the process is a bit more complicated than this post is going to cover, but it can certainly be done and if you need help your GoldMine Partner can offer advice.
- Identify a “label report” from among the standard GoldMine public reports under the category “labels and envelopes.” Test the report by printing out the first 2 or 3 pages of labels and making sure it aligns with the label sheets. If you are going to change the label fonts, alignment, etc, I strongly encourage you to “clone” the report and work on that version so you don’t run the risk of messing up (technical term) the original.
- Set the “sort order” in the report properties so the labels are printed in an order you desire. (e.g. alphabetical by last name or company name, or Zip order for postal sort.)
- Now you should be ready to run the full report once the time is right.
It’s a good idea to notify the users in your office of your deadline for running the labels and how you’re selecting the records so that the users can make sure their records are included and clean up any contact information that they wish to.
By the way, if you want to do a cool email blast instead or in addition, we have some festive email templates to choose from and we can easily help you personalize them or make up an entirely custom greeting.
Of course, if you’re having any trouble First Direct can help you with any aspects of this project! But, like your holiday shopping, please don’t wait till the day before Christmas or Hanukkah!
