Here are 4 insightful videos about leveraging print with electronic media to differentiate yourself from the competition:

1 - Challenging Economic Conditions Continue to Reduce Mail Volume - As everyone prepares themselves for this challenging economic climate, the U.S. Postal Service announces it expects to end the current fiscal year with a volume decline of nine billion pieces.

2 - Environmental Friendly Technology Can Remove Ink Stains in Paper Recycling - Traditional de-inking processes are environmentally unfriendly, which lessens the positive effects of recycling. So universities worldwide are looking for new ways to remove ink, especially in office waste—which is the most difficult paper to recycle according to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

Find out what their collaborative efforts brought to light after comparing a new ink removal process, enzymatic de-inking, with traditional chemical-based de-inking.

3 - The Other Direct Mail - Sandra Zoratti, vice president of strategic development and transformation for InfoPrint, believes marketers who have been using inserts should try using onserts—her word for the increasingly popular transpromo technology.

Why make the switch to onserts? A survey of 1,000 consumers, conducted by Zoomerang for InfoPrint, found:

• Almost 90% of respondents never made a purchase based on seeing an ad or offer on an insert
• 40% noted that inserts are often irrelevant or impersonal
• 64% said that they would use personalized offers printed on their bills or statements:
• 95%-100% of consumers open and read their bills and account statements
• 57 percent of respondents still prefer mail to e-statements for must-read documents

Zoratti also notes the challenges companies need to overcome to achieve success with transpromo. Read on and start improving your response rates!

4 - Five Tips for improving direct mail ROI - Five industry experts share their insight on how you can optimize your next direct mail campaign to improve response rates and boost ROI.

5 - The Environmental Impact of Mail: A Baseline - Mailstream technology leader Pitney Bowes Inc. recently published a White Paper that addresses the environmental impact of mail. "The Environmental Impact of Mail: A Baseline ," discusses how the industry measures financial, social and environmental success, and aims to help the public better understand the effects of CO2 emissions generated by mail.

Key findings include:

• Mail is a small component of most consumers' carbon footprint.
• Running a single refrigerator for a year is roughly equivalent to the creation and delivery of 5,000 letters.
• Americans generate about 40% of the total U.S. CO2 emissions through power used to operate their homes and fuel for transportation activities
• Sustainable forests and their related products are increasing in developed countries, despite growth in population and economic activity.
• The industry has adopted many initiatives to reduce mail's carbon footprint—but it must further understand and expand sustainability.
• Direct mail accounts for about 2% of the total tonnage of the U.S. municipal waste stream.
• Almost 39% of direct mail in the U.S. was recycled in 2006.