If you've never done a postcard mailing, you're probably wondering, "What should I budget for?" Here are three items to account for:

1. If you're a designing woman (or man), then you'll need to get that great postcard design out of your computer and into the hands of the postcard printing company. If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you're in luck. You can just upload your files to the printer's website.

Dialup people, you'd be better off sending your files to the printer via an overnight courier. It's easy to experience dropped connections when you're on dialup, which means that your digital file can get corrupted, and the printer won't be able to print from it.

2. Printing and delivery of the cards to your business or to the company that will be mailing the cards for you. (These outfits are called "mailshops" or "mailing houses.")

If you're on a tight budget, you can use your desktop printer to print your postcards. However, please be aware that this can be quite time-consuming, especially if you're doing hundreds of cards. That's why I prefer to outsource this job to a postcard printing company.

3. Postage. This could mean that you're buying some stamps for your cards. Or you may be outsourcing the card mailing to a mailshop, which will charge you for bulk mail postage, and assess a handling fee.