PostcardMania<\/a> in Clearwater not only survived the worst parts with only a modest decline in revenue one year, but has been growing revenue the last two years at a firm focused almost exclusively on marketing \u2014\u00a0one of the first things cut by businesses and one of the last they restart.<\/p>\nPutting her money where her business is, she poured cash into her own marketing at about $50,000 per week to generate leads, even while she was committed to not laying off any employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been a crazy marketer. I\u2019d never cut that,\u201d she says from her company\u2019s funky red, yellow and green maze of a headquarters. \u201cBut I got smarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of it was easy. Expenses were tightened: company contributions to 401(k) programs were eliminated, health care coverage was reduced, salaries were frozen for a year and she stopped hiring. Plus, she took no personal income for a year from the company.<\/p>\n
PostcardMania conducts direct mail programs that are industry-specific, full-scale business marketing campaigns, and it now offres Web design. It also has its own printing plant and handles everything in-house.<\/p>\n
So Gendusa invested in her company\u2019s strength: marketing. From new forms of advertising with Google media, to ramping up efforts to \u201creactivate\u201d older customers, to holding two-day customer-appreciation events for those with repeat orders, Gendusa tried everything she could think of to gin up business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had plenty of ideas that did not work,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m a metrics geek.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, she organizes and tracks every marketing foray to see what the return on her investment is \u2014 with the understanding that marketing programs generally take some time to get results. A Scientologist, Gendusa uses the L. Ron Hubbard method of analyzing data and administrative systems to determine what works and what should be scrapped.<\/p>\n
She said the key to riding out the recession and returning the company to a growth pattern in a brutal industry was to live by what the data shows. \u201cI manage by statistics,\u201d she says. Even employees have statistical goals by which they are managed.<\/p>\n
She has started a website building company coming out of the recession. While small, it has done about 400 sites now and is growing. And she expanded the company\u2019s printing operation out of a neighboring building.<\/p>\n
She also uses Hubbard\u2019s methods for her company organizational chart, which she displays prominently in the company\u2019s large cafeteria for all employees to see. All of PostcardMania\u2019s 192 employees\u2019 names are on the chart under the division they work in and the narrative goal of that division. She says it helps employees to recognize their role in the company, and not just feel like an unimportant cog.<\/p>\n
And while she is like most entrepreneurs, putting long hours into her company, she makes it a priority to keep the business fun and hang on to the best employees \u2014 as long as they work hard. Long-timers are on board for both, and it shows in the attitudes throughout the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work hard, but we have fun,\u201d says Melissa Bradshaw, executive senior vice president of operations, who has been with Gendusa from the start and exemplifies both sides.<\/p>\n
Revenues fell $2 million in 2009, a 12% decline to $16 million and the only year of decline. But they pushed up to $19 million in 2010 and just a little more than $19 million last year. This year, revenues are ahead of last year and Gendusa expects to\u00a0surpass $20 million for the first time.<\/p>\n
Beyond the bottom line is the potential for vastly expanding earnings in the future.<\/p>\n
Through a happy customer, Gendusa was introduced to the CEO of Urbano Express, a private postal service-type company with operations in Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Peru. After several meetings, she just signed a contract to expand PostcardMania into those Central and South American countries in partnership with Urbano Express, hopefully beginning operations by the end of July.<\/p>\n
Not a bad amount of success for a high school dropout. No, there is not much formal education for Gendusa, but there is a good mind and a lot of hard work, risk and sacrifice. And a little fun.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article from Gulf Coast Business Review about Scientologist Joy Gendusa is primarily about her business activities, but it stresses her application of Scientology principles in her work, so I thought it would be a good represenation of Scientology and Scientologists. \u00a0 BY: ROD THOMSON June 01, 2012 Joy Gendusa\u2019s PostcardMania business is marketing, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[721,722,3],"class_list":["post-1647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hubbard-management-system","tag-scientolgist","tag-scientology"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Joy](\"https:\/\/www.review.net\/images\/uploads\/articles\/cache\/133849586493-630x473.jpg\")
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