Blog post by Michelle Bocchino, Director of Marketing at DirectMail2.0
Some kids went camping, some went on family vacations, but this baby of the eighties spent summers in my grandparents’ print shop. I still remember the strong smells of the inks and the loud sounds of the machines. Watching the papers whiz through the multiple levels of the printing process never ceased to amaze me. My father worked there by day, then delivered our town’s local newspaper to neighborhood racks by night. I was a child of print.
It was no surprise that I grew up wanting to write for a newspaper or magazine. During high school, I got my first real job at a weekly advertising magazine that the post office delivered to everyone’s mailbox. I enjoyed writing the residential classified ads, and coming up with catchy headlines and creative copy to sell refrigerators, lawnmowers, recliners, and other household treasures. I was soon promoted to the commercial department, collaborating with our graphic designers on business ads to adorn the front page, or selling ads to national companies which would appear in publications all across the country. I ended up working there for 10 years, while I went to college for journalism.
This was the early 2000s when the fad of the internet was flourishing and long-form writing tutelage was transitioning to short-hand skills for social media. I began taking visual communications classes and learning how to edit videos for YouTube. I also took some advertising classes. It’s funny the specific things you recall from so many years ago, like VICC: the four essentials of an effective ad campaign; Value, Impact, Circulation, and Consistency. I decided a career in marketing would combine my passion for creative writing with my interest in the challenging world of sales.
Little did I know my next job would be writing blogs and recording podcasts for international dating sites, specifically tailored to American men searching for Russian and Ukrainian women. I certainly learned more about matryoshka dolls, pysanky eggs, khokhloma paintings, borscht, Baba Yaga, and Yuri Gagarin than I ever imagined I would. Still, I enjoyed immersing myself in the culture. Marketing international relationships were not the sales cycle I suspected I would sustain for five years, but it was an interesting experience.
My next adventure was at an advertising agency where I saw the start of omnichannel experimentation. I would proofread print ads but we also began designing digital ads with the same consistent look and messaging. We would make sure the offers, colors, and theme of the website matched the social media channels as well as the print advertising, which we would update monthly or quarterly. We also began customizing promotional products such as pens, coasters, calendars, and sunglasses; another new experience for me in the world of print. Selling swag (stuff we all get) also introduced me to the world of networking.
I joined my local BNI chapter (Business Networking International) and became fascinated with meeting so many professionals of all different backgrounds, specializing in various industries. I eagerly embraced leadership roles and held each position of the executive team, including President. I also volunteered to be a member of the regional team which supported 50 chapters across two counties. While I was initially interested in receiving referrals from the group, I grew to love the people and formed relationships that I still cherish to this day.
Fast forward to my current career at DirectMail2.0. I find it amusing that I started working for a directly mailed advertising magazine as a teenager, and now many years later, I’m working for a marketing technology company that focuses on direct mail. Great Scott! It’s like I went back to the future. This industry is constantly evolving, which makes it continuously exciting.
Reminiscing about my grandparents’ print shop in the 1980s leads me to think that they would be proud of my journey and praise me for promoting print in so many different ways, still today. I look forward to seeing more innovation, integration, and collaboration among print professionals for many years to come!
Michelle Bocchino is the Director of Marketing at DirectMail2.0, a marketing-based solution that is designed to seamlessly track the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns. Located in Clearwater, Florida, Michelle loves walking the beautiful beaches and attending live music shows. She also hosts team trivia and music bingo events at local breweries and private parties. Promotion has always been her passion and she enjoys learning new ways to combine technologies to further print advertising.
