As a business owner involved in selling and/or promoting something through direct mail, you may already know that the most important aspect of your mailing has to do with the sales letter or circular you send and the mailing list you use. With these thoughts in mind, and assuming you have what should be a sales letter or circular to generate orders, let’s turn our attention specifically to the problem of finding mailing lists that produce profitable orders.
Common sense should tell you that without a good mailing list, the time and money you spend on market research, ad design, and “direct mail rules” knowledge will be wasted effort. In other words, unless you get your buyers offer, you might as well save time and money.
To reach your most likely buyer, you must first determine who your most likely buyers are. This is not as difficult as it might seem. It’s really just a matter of recognizing that automotive items will appeal to car owners while home appliances will sell better to housewives. Regardless of how easy it is, this is the most overlooked part of planning for the beginning entrepreneur. Suffice it to say that if you don’t know who you are going to sell a product or service to, your product or service will be a pretty hard sell.
The next thing to really look at is the competition your product or service is up against. If you have a limited market (not many people would line up to buy) and you are competing with pretty much the same product that other companies supply, then you are going to have to find a strong “hidden angle” product or face defeat before you even start…
These are the “keys” to success selling anything through direct mail: pinpointing exactly who your buyers are, presenting your offer from an angle that isn’t being used by your competition, and focusing all your sales efforts on just in most. -probable prospects.
Assuming you “know” who your most likely buyers are; If you have a “winning” sales letter or circular and a product or service that these people will “line up to buy,” then your problem is getting the message across to these people.
Don’t think you’ll “save some money” by renting or buying cheap mailing lists from advertisers in all those bulletin sheets and “mail order” publications that seem to flood your mailbox. You will waste a lot of time and money chasing the wind with these lists.
These lists offered by “mail order” distributors are compiled from bulletin sheets, mail order postings, and/or incoming offers received by the list seller… These people also compile lists that use… Many of them compile their rental ads. listings directly from phone/city directories…
And some of them even work on the “envelope stuffing” scheme to compile their rental lists: they offer commissions to people who pay to join their envelope stuffing programs, and then sell or rent the names of the people who join them. join your program. Individuals joining the program are encouraged to compile listings from any number of sources, submit a commission circular, and receive a commission for each incoming order. The buyers’ names are then compiled into another listing and sold to some of the largest listing brokers by the promoters of this scheme as bona fide mail order buyers… Every time you rent a listing of 5,000 or more carrier mail order type names, you can be sure the lists are 1) five years old or older… 2) full of names of people who have moved… 3) are going to be dominated by names from other mail order sellers…
Before you rent or buy someone’s mailing list, use the same kind of common sense you use when deciding on a doctor, lawyer, or auto mechanic. One other thing to keep in mind: Anytime you rent or buy mailing lists from someone who owns or is advertising for mailing list distributors or brokers, you will end up with a list of names used by many mail order distributors, usually with the most of them offering the same products or services.
The best thing to do is take a notepad and pencil to your public library and ask the librarian to let you look at the Standard Rate and Data Service Directory related to mailing lists. Inside this voluminous directory, you’ll find the names, addresses, and phone numbers of virtually every reputable mailing list broker in the country. These brokers explain within the directory the different listings that are available for rent, what type of buyers the listings are made up of, and the date the listing was last cleaned, meaning the last time all listing names were checked. the list. regarding the accuracy of addresses.
Select a half dozen or so list brokers who manage the types of lists that are made up of buyers of products or services similar to yours… Write down those names and addresses in your notepad… then go to home and call them. on the phone…
Tell the listing broker about yourself, what you’re trying to sell, how much you’re asking for, and your long-term plans. Almost everyone will want to see a sample of your mailing piece, and in most cases, a sample of your product as well. Don’t be afraid to talk to these people – they’re in business to help you, and if they “direct” you to a list that doesn’t make any money for you, they think you won’t buy from them again. , so it’s to their benefit to see that you get the “right” list for your mailing piece and offer. Most of them will critique your mailing piece and offer, make suggestions for improvements where appropriate, and generally act as consultants to make sure you make a profit through their services.
Once you and the list broker have decided on the mailing list that best suits your offer, they will typically ask you to rent a minimum of 5,000 names. The current price will range from $35 to $95 per thousand names. Expensive, perhaps… But if you pay $475 for 5,000 prospective buyers and end up with 1,500 buyers for a $20 instruction manual you’ve written and printed at a cost of 50 cents per manual, that would mean a gross of $30,000 less $ 750 for 1,5000 manuals, plus another 60 cents each to send each of these manuals by fourth-class mail, which would come to $1,035. Add these figures for a total of $1,785 and subtract this total from $30,000 and you have a very good chance of winning $28,000 or more…
So, you see, the important thing is to get your offer to your most likely buyers. The only way to do this, the fastest and least expensive way, is to work with a reputable mailing list broker and forget about all that “wheel spinning” within the circle of mail order type people. In reality, as long as you deal with mail-order types, small-time merchants, and advertisers, you’ll never achieve anything more than a very busy, up-to-date existence in this business.
The fundamental reason for most business failures in the mail order business is simply that the beginner tries to cut corners by using fewer mailing lists than the most productive ones available. In fact, the years are read with people from all walks of life who have had good product and/or service ideas, but failed to “get their ideas off the ground.” In general, these people were trying to “save money” by building their own mailing lists, advertising in “all-seller” mail-order publications, and/or sending their offers to “mail-order” people who are in the ad. sheets or lists purchased from advertisers in these publications. In almost all cases, the entrepreneur’s efforts in this regard, and based on a “save money” philosophy, have always ended in anguish and great financial loss for the entrepreneur…
YOU CAN SUCCEED, STARTING FROM ZERO! But, before you try it, before you “jump into your own mail-order fortune,” make sure you stack the odds in your favor. Anything less than the “rules” stated in this report will surely waste time and result in failure…
Remember: your product should be something you can buy or produce in finished form for pennies and sell for dollars. There has to be a “craving” market for your product or service. You must project the most professional of all images of yourself as a “company” or supplier in all of your sales letters, circulars, advertising, and/or dealings with prospective buyers. And you need to “know” who your buyers are, and then focus your efforts to reach only those people with your offer. Take your pencil and go to your public library. Ask the librarian to let you see the standard rate and data services. Start your research there and have fun with your new business.