I despise most ads that I see because their messages are weak, they aren’t interesting and they’re visual pollution. This one is perfect for any dog owner and I think is hilarious. Hell, I like it so much I took a picture of it and posted to my blog! That’s effective advertising…

• You didn’t send anything to Las Vegas
• The USPS doesn’t charge $8.41/day to hold anything
• The awful grammar indicates this is a foreign hacker/spammer

It’s also very easy to display an email address from anyone at any domain.

The original message I received today…

***

Postal notification,

We couldn’t deliver your parcel.
Reason deny:Wrong data delivery.

LOCATION OF YOUR PARCEL:Las Vegas
STATUS: not delivered
SERVICE: Standard Shipping
Parcel number:U210832447NU
INSURANCE: Yes

Postal label is enclosed to the letter.
Print your label and show it at the post office.

An additional information
If the parcel isn’t received within 30 working days our company will have the right to claim compensation from you for it’s keeping in the amount of $8.41 for each day of keeping.

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for using our services.
USPS Express Services.

If you’re located in Chicago and suburbs, Datamation has got you covered for all document scanning and document conversion services. To ensure maximum quality, they even have a 9-Step Document Scanning Process.

More info…

Salsa in a re-sealable pouch? Yep.

Not only are pouches more convenient to open and close than a jar that you need a vice to open, but also the manufacturing cost of pouches is a fraction of glass—especially important if you’re a consumer products manufacturer like La Buena Cocina who needed costs to be low in order to be sold profitably at the dollar store.

And this new pouch-based packaging was brought to market in under 16 weeks. How is this possible? Two words: FastTrak FlexiPak.

FastTrack FlexiPak is the name of the rapid development process of creating new pouches to replace bottles, cans and other materials that cannot be recycled.

This process was developed by EnVision Flexible Packaging and Coyote Kitchen. EnVision is a national leader in turnkey packaging solutions for consumer product manufacturers. Coyote Kitchen is a supplier of bottled sauces, salsa and salad dressings and provides the product manufacturing and packaging ability of FastTrak FlexiPak.

The result is a quality package that allows product manufacturers to have the environmental advantages of a pouch, such as using water-based inks which have less than five percent volatile organic compounds (VOCs) compared with solvent-based inks containing 40-65% VOCs. Additionally, the new pouches produce a sparkling package that captures attention in the marketplace while minimizing expenses of such package upgrades. This is in keeping with EnVision’s commitment to “encouraging environmental stewardship one package at a time.”

Now, if they could only come out with an orange juice carton that doesn’t spray in my face when I pull the plastic tab…

In his new book, “Front Line Heroes: How to Battle the Business Tsunami by Developing Performance Oriented Cultures,” teambuilding champion and strategic business planning guru Bruce Hodes gives companies like mine insights into how to grow despite the economic turbulence surrounding us.

From Bruce: “I grew my business in the world of, ‘A rising tide floats all boats.’ If you positioned your company or organization correctly, it would grow. While technological advancements, globalization, and competition presented real challenges, they do not compare to the business headwinds blowing today. If you are intent on fighting these headwinds—or perhaps even using them to your benefit—this book is for you.

“Despite the media rhetoric, there is opportunity in these times for sustainable business growth. I see it every day. If you’re ready to give up playing a victim to the times, read on…”

What are you waiting for?

Pick yourself up an autographed copy of Front Line Heroes here.

1. They think in terms of web design instead of website development
2. They understand design, not your business
3. They know consumer marketing, not B2B—this explains all the “branding” talk
4. They expect you to do the heavy lifting by supplying written content
5. You’re the one paying for their foosball table and designer eyewear…

Read the whole list here, along with the Innovaxis alternative

“Before you hire a PR agency or even consider PR, the first thing you need to understand is what you are trying to accomplish, what is your objective.  Second, you should consider whether that objective is right for the stage of your business.  If you are an early startup, pre Product-Market fit, or even pre “Sales and Marketing Roadmap,” you should not hire a PR firm.

“Hiring an agency is wrong, because, generally:

• You do not need press releases
• You do not need a campaign blitz of articles and press mentions
• Your PR firm does not know how to do your customer messaging or positioning for you
• Your PR firm should be no where near your social media
• Most PR firms will tell you need all of the above, that they are the experts and you aren’t, and will try to charge you a retainer of at least 5K/month”

Read more here…

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

***

From:   contact@wpmudev.org
Subject: Re: Thank you for your WPMU DEV subscription!
Date: January 2, 2012 8:38:45 AM CST
To:   ***@innovaxisinc.com

Hiya,

We do make it very clear in at least four places during signup that all our options are based on an ongoing subscription which we ask you to authorise when you join.

As per our terms and conditions we cannot provide refunds. Our money back guarantee applies to our promise to deliver up-to-date products and support. As our support team has dealt with your queries we have not failed to deliver that promise and as such will not be providing a refund on this occasion.

Thanks!

-Phil
WPMU DEV Sales and Support Dude
***

On Sat, Dec 31, 2011 at 9:43 PM, Innovaxis <profit@innovaxisinc.com> wrote:
I was able to sign in to my account after I wrote this initial email. Still, I was unaware that I was on the monthly plan or I would have canceled my account.

On Dec 31, 2011, at 3:39 PM, Innovaxis wrote:

Hello,

I tried logging into my account to terminate it and it is no longer recognized with this email address–yet I am still being billed.

I posted one question and got an unsatisfactory answer. I am not happy with this whole experience. You claim a money back guarantee. Will you stand by that and refund these charges?

- Sean Parnell

Forum plug-in: Simple:Press (free)

Membership Management plug-in: S2Member Pro ($69)

All you need to do is edit “Read-Only Access” so that the “Can view forum and topic lists only” box is checked in Simple:Press, in line with how you set up S2Member Pro. You can see the result here: www.wraponpkg.com

Let us know if you need help with your configuration.

The Innovaxis marketing consulting team averages 20 years of market research experience. Specifically, we have acquired B2B mystery shopping pricing in the following markets: