This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

When you check your mailbox today, you could find the work of Janet Brown and her employees.

Janet operates World Wide Mailing, a Salt Lake City company that assists other companies by sending their mail — including payroll checks, billing statements and advertisements — to hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

Janet knows she has less than a second to capture the attention of people sorting through their mail, so she works with her customers to create effective, attractive pieces.

Janet's father Roy Davis established World Wide Mailing in 1986, when he purchased part of a company where he had previously worked as the mail manager. After her father retired, Janet and her brother Allen ran the company until Allen's death in 2003. Today, the company has about 20 employees who work with Janet to send mailings across the United States, and sometimes around the world.

World Wide Mailing either uses a customer's mailing list or creates a list based on the demographic or area the customer wants to reach. Then, the company standardizes and corrects the addresses and presorts the mailing so the customer can receive a discounted postage rate — sometimes as low as 15 cents.

World Wide Mailing works with contracted printers to allow customers to pay the lowest possible price to print each mailing. The company also offers digital imaging, and helps some customers design their mailers.

Despite increasing reliance on e-mail, traditional mail remains an effective way to reach people. Janet tells me that 75 percent of Americans open their mail, with young people opening their mail in even greater numbers. People recognize mail as a trusted form of information, and customers trust World Wide Mailing in Ogden to provide great service.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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