Agency Business Report due out in June

We're in the throes of putting together our annual Agency Business Report that examines the financial health and trends among direct marketing agencies. The interviews and research are over, and now we're focused on final edits and tracking down any remaining details. Overall, revenues - as you know - have ticked back upward. While revenues have not yet returned to 2007 levels, and in many cases not even 2008, the chief executives of direct marketing firms are on the whole a much happier bunch this year. As we head toward the second half of 2011, their numbers are improving further. Still, there remains a hint of nervousness.

As I followed up with these executives, a comment from one of them summed it up better than I could, so I'm sharing it here:

2010 was a get well year and 2011 is looking as good or better.

Indeed. This year we've expanded the report to a whopping 26 pages. We're profiling traditional direct marketing shops, pure-play digital agencies and marketing services firms. The full report will appear in print and online, including in our iPhone/iPad apps, on June 1.