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A System To Find The Best Mailing List
By
Bob Leduc
During the past 30 years I've bought or compiled thousands of
mailing lists. Eventually I learned how to find lists that
always produced highly profitable results. You'll discover how I
do it in this article.
Who Should Be On Your List?
Implementing any successful mailing program begins by
determining who will get your mail. You need to find or compile
a mailing list of qualified prospects for your offer. The
success of your mailing is directly dependent on the accuracy of
your mailing list in targeting prospects most likely to be
interested in your product or service.
For example, an offer for information about a quick, easy way to
lose weight would get a big response if it were sent to a
"targeted" list of subscribers to a weight loss
newsletter. But, send the same offer to your local Chamber of
Commerce list and you would probably get only a few responses.
Your offer would not be relevant to most people on the Chamber
of Commerce list and most of your mailing budget would be
wasted. Remember, you must target prospects likely to be
interested in your offer.
The lack of serious attention to selecting a mailing list can
doom your mailing campaign to failure. Poor list choice often
occurs because the decision seemed so obvious, it was done
quickly and with little serious thought. I developed a simple
procedure I always follow to be sure I select the best list for
my offer. I use this procedure even when the list selection
seems obvious. It usually enables me to create and implement a
mailing with profitable results on the first try. Here's what I
do...
A Simple Procedure
I begin my search for the best list by defining the person I
want to reach. Starting with a blank sheet of paper, I list all
of the characteristics I can expect qualified, interested
prospects for my offer to have. If I'm working in an established
market, I write down the names of some of my best customers in
that market. Then I write down the characteristics they have
that make my product or service valuable to them.
Once I develop this list of characteristics, I make a list of
actions and activities these ideal target prospects pursue that
might be recorded in some way. For example:
-
What
associations or clubs would they join? (Many association or
club membership rosters are available to the general public.
If not, you can get it from one of the members.)
-
What
licenses would they be required to have? (All licenses
except driving licenses and auto registrations are public
information you can get at your city, county or state
licensing offices.)
-
What
publications are they likely to subscribe to? (Most
publications rent their subscriber list to other mailers.)
-
What
products or services are they likely to buy? (Many companies
are willing to share their customer list with other
non-competing businesses who are willing to share a customer
list in return.)
What
About List Brokers?
Take time to think about ways you can find or compile the
ideal list without getting it from a list broker. You'll not
only save money, you'll also have a list your competitors will
probably never find. By avoiding a list broker, you may also
enjoy the advantage of a list that is not being used by other
mailers. Heavily worked lists tend to be unresponsive, even when
they are highly targeted. By finding or compiling your own list,
you'll have a list that is not heavily used by other mailers and
your potential for a high response is maximized. You'll also
have a list you can re-use as often as you want without paying
another rental fee. Most list brokers charge an additional fee
each time you use their list.
If you decide to get your list through a list broker, the simple
procedure I described above will enable you to tell the broker
exactly what you want.
Unless you already work with a trusted list broker who has
proven his or her list selection skill to you in the past, call
several brokers with your requirements and have each of them
give you their recommendations. Then, be careful not to make
your final decision based solely on the cost of a list. Whenever
I thought the cost of a list was expensive, it nearly always
produced a profitable high rate of response. Lists I thought
were bargains nearly always produced an unprofitable low rate of
response. I've learned that the cost of a list is not important
when it contains people who have the exact qualifications I
need.
Finding the right mailing list is not difficult when you follow
this system. It enables you to quickly maximize profits from
your mail while avoiding expensive, time-consuming trial and
error tests.
Copyright 1999-2000 By Bob Leduc.
Bob Leduc recently retired from a 30 year career of
recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now
a Small Business Consultant living in Las Vegas, NV. Bob
recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled
"How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple
Postcards" and several other publications to help small
businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email:
BobLeduc@aol.com
Subject: "Postcards".
Phone:
(702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write:
Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
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