How to Build Your Customer List

Because your list is your vault full of money

By Ben Hart

Not enough attention is paid to lists by entrepreneurs.  In fact, I know of no one who spends enough time on lists -- including me.  I’m a list building fanatic.  But even I get lazy about lists.

A customer list is probably the most important asset a business has.

Without a list of buyers, and without the knowledge of how to build your list, you really don’t have a business.

It’s possible for a poorly written sales letter to work to a good list.

But it’s impossible for a fantastic sales letter to work to the wrong list. Your list is not just a way to reach your market. It is your market.

The list building methods I'll describe here apply not just to big direct marketers, but to just about any business.

There are two main categories of lists

There are prospect lists that you rent or compile. These are lists of people who have never bought from you before.  You usually rent these lists from list brokers, or list companies.

And then there’s your customer list -- also called your house list.

This is the list you own. 

This is the list of folks who answered one of your mailings.

In this article, I’ll be covering your prospecting program.

My next article will be about how to maximize income from your customer list -- or “house list.”

But here we’ll just focus on how you build your list of first-time buyers (or qualified leads). 

The mailing list business is an enormous industry.

There are approximately 30,000 lists available for rent.

You can find these lists in a catalogue called the SRDS List Book.  You have probably heard me mention this resource many times before in the Inner Circle teleseminars.

The SRDS List Book is the Bible of the direct marketing industry.  This directory contains about 1600 oversized pages of very small print.

SRDS stands for Standard Rates and Data.  Strange name, I know, but most people just say SRDS.  For more information on all the indispensable marketing resources available from SRDS, just go to www.SRDS.com

You really cannot be in direct marketing (or frankly in business) in any serious way if you are not regularly using the SRDS List Book.

It’s expensive to buy -- up around $700 per year.

But you can probably find it at your local library, though it might not be the latest edition.

Your All-Important “Message to Market Match”

I often spend hours and hours pouring through and studying the SRDS List Book.

I find the SRDS List Book very exciting reading -- much more exciting for me than even a James Bond movie -- because the SRDS List Book is such a gold mine of information.

When you crack open the SRDS List Book, what you will notice is that the lists are all categorized by field, industry or interest.  You’ll find hundreds of categories.

So what you want to do is turn to the category you are interested in – that is, the category of people who have bought products or services very similar to what you are selling.

You know they are interested in what you have to sell because they have bought products very similar to yours recently.  The more recent the buyer, the stronger the buyer.

So let’s say you are selling a golf clubs and golf equipment.

You can then just go to the SRDS List book and find hundreds of lists of known golf fanatics.

So that’s your market for your golf clubs offer. 

You then have what is called a “message to market match.”

You will hear me talk a lot about the importance of finding a “message to market match” . . . because without it, your business is doomed.

A “message to market match” is probably the most important principle in marketing.

If you don’t have a way to find people who you know are interested in what you have to offer, you really have to way to sell your product or service cost-effectively.

The SRDS List Book will help give you your all-important “message to market match.”

And if you can’t find your category in there, if you cannot find lists of people who have bought a product like what you are selling, you should probably stop trying to sell it.

There’s clearly no market for it.  Or if there is, it will cost you too much money to find your likely buyers.

You should find a new product -- a product that has already built large mailing lists of buyers of that kind of a product.

Let me make this point another way.

If what I wanted to do was nothing more than make as much money as easily as I possibly can, here’s what I would do.

I would go to the SRDS List Book.  I would find what products have built the largest mailings lists and the most mailing lists.

I would then design a product or service that is tailored exactly to those mailing lists.

For more on this concept, I strongly encourage you to listen to my teleseminar on “How To Get a Product that is 100% Certain to Sell Like Hotcakes.”

But I’m actually not that interested in doing that. 

I’m interested in doing what I do now -- which is write about and teach marketing.  I make all the money I need.  So I’ll just keep doing this.

But if my only goal was to make as much money as humanly possible, that’s what I would do -- study the SRDS List Book, find the biggest mailing lists and what products built those mailing lists.

And then I would design a product or service that would exactly fit what I know with 100% certainly the people on those lists want to buy -- because I would know then that I have a perfect “message to market match.”

That’s the #1 key to successful direct marketing.

Now . . . before we plunge more deeply into this subject of “How to Build Your Customer List,” let’s just go over a couple of more basics.

There are two broad categories of advertising media.

There’s broadcast media.  And there’s what I call “narrow-cast media.
 

Broadcast media is TV, radio and newspapers.

These advertising tools are good for products and services that everyone needs.

Direct mail is a “narrow-cast” media. 

Direct mail is designed only to hit those who you know are interested in what it is you have to sell.

If what you are selling works for everyone, than narrowcasting is not the best media for you.  If you are selling toothpaste or soap, use broadcast advertising.  Direct mail is not the way to go.  What we are talking about here is “narrow-casting.”

Proctor and Gamble would not find this article useful. Nor would Coca Cola or McDonalds.

   But most of us don’t have billion dollar marketing budgets.  We need to spend our marketing dolllars wisely.  We must be target marketers . . . which is why this article on lists is so essential for you.

   We need to figure out who to market to, and who not to market to.

   We need to zero in on who our most likely buyers are so that you get as much bang for your marketing dollars as you possibly can.

   So that’s the big difference between narrowcast media and broadcast media.

What we’re discussing here is super narrow-cast media -- specifically how to use direct mail  to achieve that all-important message to market match, which will take you to your most likely buyers.

   Okay, back to the subject of how you compile your list.

What Kinds of Lists Should Your Rent?

If you wonder why you receive so much mail everyday from businesses, charities, political causes, and candidates all wanting you to send money for something, it’s because your name and address is being rented by list owners, list managers, and list brokers.

Your name is being rented or sold, most likely because you bought something through the mail or you contributed to some cause in response to a letter.

Once you’re on a mailing list, it’s very difficult to get off, because your name and address is being sold and rented to dozens of organizations and businesses.

You would have to not answer a piece of junk mail for about three years before you started to see a noticeable decline in the amount of commercial and fundraising mail in your mailbox.

You would also have to not buy anything over the Internet, not use your credit card, not subscribe to any magazines, and not fill out any forms that ask for your contact information at stores.

In addition, you would need to move to a poor neighborhood.

If you live in a wealthy neighborhood, you’ll receive a lot of direct mail just because direct mail marketers know you have money to spend.

What you’re looking to rent are lists of folks who have bought the same kind of product you are selling.

If you are selling exercise equipment, rent lists of people who have recently bought exercise equipment, because you know these people are interested in fitness.

If you are selling gardening products, rent lists of people who regularly buy gardening products.

In the direct mail business you typically do not buy a mailing list.

You rent a list for a one-time use.

If you want to mail to the list again, you must rent it again.

But anyone who answers your letter becomes part of your customer list -- or housefile.

In other words, the name is now yours and you are free to continue to send letters to that person without renting that name again.

But you are not permitted to continue to mail letters to those who do not respond to your prospect appeal unless you rent the list again.

Okay, so now what kinds of lists should you be renting?

There are three basic categories of lists:

1)     Product Buyer Lists

2)     Subscriber Lists

3)     Compiled Lists

By far the weakest of these three categories are the “Compiled Lists.”

The reason these are weak is because they are usually compiled from public records and directories, and are not known to be direct mail buyers of the kind of product your are selling.  It’s very difficult to know what kinds of names are on compiled lists.

The strongest list will be a list of people who bought a product recently that is very similar to yours.

Subscriber lists can also be excellent, especially subscribers to a specialty magazine.  If you are selling golf equipment, or golf teaching aids, recent, active subscribers to Golf Digest would certainly be a good bet. 

Subscribers to a general news magazine would not be useful for you.  But subscribers to a specialty magazine, where you know the subscribers are interest in what you are selling, would be certainly a list to consider testing.

Another advantage of subscription lists is that you can have a high level of confidence that the list is clean and up to date, because magazine publishers have no interest in sending magazines to bad addresses.  Magazine publishers are usually fanatics about list hygiene.

Product buyer lists should be stronger for you in theory.  But the danger is that product buyer lists are often not as clean and up-to-date as a subscription list.

About the only time I would use a compiled list is if I am trying to reach everyone in a category in a particular geographical trading area.  If you are in the carpet business, for example, you might want a list of everyone who has bought a home (perhaps a high-end home) in your area within the last 30 days. These would be good prospects for your carpets. You can get that information from public records.  That would be a good use of a compiled list.

Or if you own a store that sells baby products, you might want a list of every baby who has been born in the last 30 days.  Or if you are selling guns and ammo, you might want a list of everyone in your trading area who has purchased a hunting license within the last 30 days.

AARP uses drivers license records to find everyone who has just turned 50 so they can hit them with a membership offer.

Colleges use lists of kids who have recently taken the PSAT exam to recruit students.

See the pattern?

So there are certainly valid and excellent uses for compiled lists. 

So my warning to you about using compiled lists is a general one.  I have seen many businesses use a compiled list as their first choice, because the name of the list sounded good, and then wonder why their mailing did not work.

Compiled lists are generally your weakest lists.  So if you decide to test a compiled list, have a very good reason for doing so.

An exception to that are Dun & Bradstreet’s lists.  They do an excellent job of compiling data on businesses, including the names of the executives of the businesses and contact information, and categorized by industry and profession.  This is a great resource for your business-to-business mailings.  Experian is another good resource for your business-to-business mail program.  Experian is a credit bureau.  So they have the best financial data available on individuals. 

As good as Dun & Bradstreet and Experian are, their information is not as good as knowing for a fact that your prospect is a frequent buyer of a product that is exactly like the products you are selling.

The best prospects for you are always known buyers who have bought a lot of what you are selling, and who have bought recently. “Recency” and “Frequency” are key terms in deciding who to market to.

You might think “recent” buyers would not be good prospects because they have just bought.  But all testing and experience shows that the more recent the buyer, the stronger the name.

So, if someone has just bought a subscription to TIME magazine and she also subscribes to Newsweek, this is a great prospect for offering U.S. News and World Report.

This is clearly an avid reader of news magazines.  And “renewals” are far stronger than first-time, or one-time subscribers.  A recent buyer is stronger, I believe, because you know that person’s interest is “recent.”  Also, I think recent buyers are stronger names because the address is more likely to be accurate.  15% of the country moves every year.  So a list can lose 50% of its value within two years if it’s not constantly cleaned and updated.

I’m a fanatic about list hygiene.

So, what you want are buyers who buy often and who have bought something like what you are selling recently, meaning within the last six or 12 months.

You might need to pay more for these premium names, but it will almost always be worth it.   I would much rather pay more for names that I know will be good than less for names that I’m unsure of.

By the way, a great living can be made by just learning lists.  Learn everything about lists.

Attend seminars on lists. Learn all the list jargon and terms, so you don’t sound like an amateur when ordering lists.

Think about lists all the time.   Ask about lists. Subscribe to every direct mail marketing publication, such as DM News and Direct Marketing magazine where you will find countless ads from list companies advertising their lists.

Become a member of the Direct Marketing Association.

Another great list resource is called The Marketing Information Network (MIN) which offers more than 20,000 lists online.

There are also many list services and list brokers.   You should, you must find a reputable list broker to help you who specializes in the market you are trying to reach.

The List Data Card

The other super important tool you need to know about is something called the “List Data Card.”

The “List Data Card” is what arrives when you ask a list manager to send you information about the list you’re asking about.

In other words, when you are studying the SRDS List Book, you will make a list of lists that interest you -- that is, lists of buyers of products very similar to what you are selling.

And then you will ask the managers of these lists to send you “List Data Cards” that describe these lists.

You need to know how to read a “List Data Card.”

Now, you also need to understand this.

A “List Data Card” is essential and advertisement by managers and owners of mailing lists.  These managers and owners want you to rent their list because that’s how they make money.

A List Data Card is designed to get you to test their list.

Now it’s supposed to be accurate.  But you do need to read a List Data Card with a healthy dose of skepticism, or you can get burned.

A good data card includes “counts” -- that is, how many names are on the list by select.

It includes what "selects" are available.

A select refers to recency of purchase, frequency of purchase, level of purchase, gender, geographical location, and other criteria that can be very important for marketers.

A data card will tell you how the list was compiled, whether is being mailed actively, who has tested the list, who has continued or rolled out to the list.

A data card should say how often the list is updated, when it was last  updated, and how many 0-3 month buyers and 0-6 month buyers are on the list.

These are called hotline names.

A List Data Card should also say how the list was compiled, what the buyers bought. 

A List Data Card will also often include a lot of other useful demographic data -- such as are they homeowners, credit card holders, etc.

Remember, the more recent and frequent the buyer, the stronger the name. 

What you want is recent and frequent buyers.

Now, what you want to beware of when reading a List Data Card is vague terminology.

For example, if the data card says "direct mail built," does that mean everyone on the list actually bought something through the mail? 

Probably not, or the data card would say so. It would boast about this fact.

Or if the data card says something like "direct response generated," that means very  little. 

What kind of direct response?

Was it direct mail, space ads, a survey or something on the internet?

If you are sending a direct mail piece, you want to make sure these names you are prospecting to have bought through the mail in the recent past.

You want to make sure they are “direct mail responsive.”

The reason this is important is that a sizeable portion of the population never buys anything through the mail and never will buy anything through the mail.

You only want to send your direct mail pieces to people who are “direct mail buyers.”

So it’s very important to fully investigate the sometimes vague and fuzzy meanings of terms on a List Data Card.  To do this,  you will need to talk on the phone with the List Manager and maybe also the List Owner.

You will want to ask questions about all the vague and fuzzy terms you find on the List Data Card.  You will want to nail down the exact nature of these names with the List Manager.

So you will need to find out who manages the list and who owns the list you are thinking about testing. 

This is easy to do.

The name of the company that’s managing the list will be on the List Data Card, and will also be listed in the SRDS List Book. 

So that’s very easy information to find.

You also need to know that the List Manager and the List Owner are different people.

It’s important to know that so you can ask questions of both these people.

The List  Manager can give you the name and phone number of the List Owner.

Before you decide to test a list, you need to make sure the List Manager and List Owner are reputable -- that they have a good reputation in the direct marketing industry.

If no one in the direct marketing industry knows who they are, you should stay away.

Just like you would want to check references when hiring an employee or a contractor to do work on your home, you will want to check the reputation of the List Manager and List Owner by calling their customers.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to do that also.

The direct marketing industry is huge in terms of dollars in sales.  About TWO TRILLION DOLLARS will be sold through direct marketing this year.

But it’s actually a pretty small world. 

Everyone in it basically knows everyone.   

Just about all the reputable list managers are well known in the field.

As I mentioned earlier, you also need to find a good list broker.

List brokers are a great resource.  They are paid on commission.

Usually they take a 20 percent commission on names they find and supply for you.

This commission is paid by the list owner, not you.  You would typically pay the same for a list whether or not you use a list broker --though, as in real estate transactions, this can also be negotiated.

You want to make sure your list broker is paid well, and that your relationship is a profitable one for the broker.

Good list brokers are worth their weight in gold.

Be sure you select a list broker who specializes in the market you’re trying to reach.

If you’re selling a newsletter subscription, don’t use a list broker who specializes in product catalogues.

And you want a list broker who has a lot of experience.  I would not hire a list broker who has less than 15 years experience in my market niche.

Your list broker is a key player in your marketing program.

But don’t rely on your list broker to make decisions.

Your list broker only makes recommendations.

You and only you will make your final list decisions.

So even if you have a list broker, you should still make a habit of reading the SRDS List Book and collecting and studying List Data Cards.

Okay . . . back to your List Data Card . . .

As you read your data card, you need to pay close attention to what offers built the list.

If it was a Sweepstakes offer, then this list might only be responsive to sweepstakes offers.

I will usually ask for a sample of the mailing or mailings that built the list.

This is extremely important information to know -- because you'll want to mail the same kind of package to these names.

If it’s a catalogue list, these are clearly catalogue buyers. 

Your mailing probably won’t do well unless it’s a catalogue. 

Your mailing must be both the same kind of product you know your readers have bought in the past.  

The mailing must also be a similar format, using a similar technique.

Sweepstakes players respond best to Sweepstakes packages. Catalogue buyers respond best to catalogues.  If the list was built with an up-front free gift, then that’s what your mailing needs to be.

You won’t be able to learn this from the Data Card probably.  You’ll need to call and talk with the List Manager.

Something else you’ll want to know is who else has been mailing the list recently.

Do you see a lot of tests recently, and very few rollouts?  Or do you see a lot of rollouts?

If you see a lot of rollouts listed on the data card, that’s a good sign.  If you see tests but no rollouts, or very few rollouts, that’s a bad sign.

If you see a lot of rollouts, that’s good, but don’t accept that piece of information at face value.  Some large companies just mail everything -- like American Express.

Just because American Express mailed the list, does not mean you should.

You need to look for businesses that are very similar to yours -- selling the same kinds of products and that are about the size you are.

And then you need to talk to these companies and find out their experience with the list.

Now this is very, very important, so pay close attention to this.

You need to test various segments within a list.

Often I hear direct mailers say that a list they tested did not work.

I then find out that they only conducted one 5,000-name test of 0-to-18-month buyers from the list.

Maybe this select from this list doesn’t work.   But narrowing your select to 0-to-6 month buyers might work just fine.

Or maybe the list owner will let you mail to multi-buyers only, which are at least three times stronger than one-time buyers.

You should also conduct gender tests. Women and men respond differently.

Some products, even if they are not gender specific products (insurance, for example) might nevertheless appeal more to women, or more to men.

A list that might not work well if you mail both to men and women might work if you mail your appeal to just women or just men, depending on the product.

Geography can also make a difference.

If you are selling Bibles, maybe your offer will work best in “Bible Belt” states.

If you are selling gun-related products, maybe you should stick to rural areas, where there are a lot of hunters.

Test to find out.

You should also test by age and income if possible.

The point is to not assume a list is no good for you just because your test of one broad select failed.

Be surgical in your testing.  Find out every select the list owner will let you test. Choose a series of intelligent tests.

You’ll likely have to pay more for detailed and narrow selects, but the bigger return may well be worth the extra cost.

And don’t just accept what’s printed on the data card as the only selects available.

Negotiate the selects you want with the list owner.

Be a strategist. Come at the prospect list you’re renting from many different angles.

Remember what makes “narrowcast” target marketing different from broadcast marketing.  Not all names are alike. 

Zero in on your most likely buyers.  Weed out the weak names. Get rid of the chaff and find the gold by asking for intelligent, highly targeted selects and testing many different segments of a list.

Also . . . first test the very best names available on a list you are renting.

Test, for example, only those who have bought something very similar to what you are selling within the last 3 months or last six months.

If possible, only test multi-buyers -- those who have bought more than once.

In other words, test the very best names available first.

Go for the low-hanging fruit.  If that works, then you can mail deeper, to the weaker names.  By going after the lowest hanging fruit first, you significantly cut your risk . . . because you are testing first to your most-likely buyers.

Remember, not all names are alike.  There are huge and vast differences in names.  Some are buyers.  Some are frequent buyers.

And most will never buy anything from you, no matter how many letters you send.

Your job as a master marketer is to zero in as quickly as you possibly can on your most likely buyers.  These will be those who have bought something recently, frequently and who have bought products very similar to yours.

You want not just a “message to market match.”  You want not just those who are interested in your product.  You want to zero in on those who buy and who buy frequently and who buy a lot.

Those are the prospects you want to be mailing to.

This is critical, critical, critical to your success.

Now, let’s  return again to the subject of ordering lists.

Here’s something that’s important to avoid getting ripped-off by a crooked list manager. 

Beware of list managers who load your test with good names and give you garbage for your rollout.

You will occasionally run into the dishonest list owner who gives you gold-plated names (for example, 60-day hotline or multi-buyers) for your 5,000-letter prospect test.   This produces dishonestly tremendous results on your test. You then order the rest of the names in the select you think you tested.

Your 100,000-letter rollout then crashes because the broker sent you weaker names than you tested, perhaps threw in all the non-donors and people who may not have contributed in years.

This can be a financial catastrophe.

It’s an old scam.

That’s why it is so important to deal only with list managers who have been in business a very long time and have a solid, well-established reputation in the list industry.

That’s why it’s also very important for you to use a great list broker who knows the lists she’s recommending and knows who the charlatans are.

Very few list owners and managers will pull this scam on you because they want a good reputation so that marketers will continue to rent their lists in the future.

If you’re in the business of renting lists, nothing will kill your business faster then getting a reputation for loading up tests.

It would be like a casino cheating people.

It wouldn’t be long before no one showed up to play at that casino any more.

Now, another problem to be aware of is the incorrectly run select.

This is a little like the dishonest list owner who loads up a test and gives you garbage for your rollout.  But in this case, the problem is not dishonesty; it’s sloppiness.

But the result is the same.  You can get wrong names for your rollout because someone ran the select incorrectly.  The clerk pushed a wrong button on the computer.  Or maybe you got someone else’s select order. The orders are mixed up.

Or the clerk who was running your select was more interested in filing her nails than in running your select correctly.  This happens sometimes, and errors are not easy to prove.

Again, there’s not a whole lot you can do, except ask your list broker to raise holy heck with the list owner.

Over time, as you gain experience with the lists you use most often, you will learn to spot out-of-the-ordinary results.

Mostly, you’ll just have to be guided by your experience.

You’ll learn the characteristics of many of the lists you’ll be mailing. And you’ll know in your gut that something just isn’t right.

But there are some steps you can take to minimize your risk and to make sure an error in the way your selects are run does not turn into a catastrophe of Biblical proportions for you and your business.

First,  when you order lists and selects from lists, you need to be crystal clear in your list orders.

If you make a mistake in the way your order names, you will get wrong names.  “Garbage in, garbage out.”  And the mistake is then your mistake.

   It’s very easy to fall into direct mail jargon, and then discover later that different people attach different meanings to the jargon.

When ordering a list from a list broker or an organization, write your order very clearly, precisely, and in plain English.

Find out what terms they use and exactly what each term means.

Get on the phone with the list broker and go over your written list order verbally, line by line, word by word. Assume nothing.

Make sure you understand exactly what kind of names you are getting for your mailing.

Get everything in writing.

If you’re not sure what their terms mean, get clarification IN WRITING.

Second, roll out in stages.

Never take for your rollout more than five times the number of names you tested.

 Another strategy I’ve used with a crooked list owner who I knew was loading up tests was only to order tests, never rollouts.

That way I knew I was only getting the very best names, often getting 15 percent response rates on the test names he supplied.

I always look at test results very carefully.

If I notice something out of the ordinary, such as a very high response rate, or a higher-than-expected average contribution, I’ll order another 5,000 or 10,000 names in the same select and test again.

Why “Test” Is The

Most Important Word in Marketing

Now, for those of you who are new to direct marketing, let me just give you a quick basic review on the theory behind testing a list and then rolling it out.

The idea of the test is that you are taking a poll of the list.

What you do is you decide what universe of names you would like to test.

Let’s say your want to test a select from a list of those who have bought something within the last six months.

And lets say there are 50,000 names on that list that fit this description.

What you want to do is test 5,000 names from this select.

So what you would do is ask for every 10th name.  This gives you what is called an “Nth Name Select” in direct marketing jargon.

By taking every 10th name from your 50,000 name select, you will have an even geographical distribution, and you will have a statistically valid sample.  You will actually have a much more accurate poll of the list than a Gallup poll.

A Gallup poll tells us public opinion on a subject by asking just a few hundred people.

Here you are testing to 5,000 people in a 50,000 name universe.  So this is a very accurate poll.

But it’s vitally important to make sure the names your are testing are exactly the same kind of names you plan to roll out to -- that is, an “apples to apples” test. 

Again, don’t test apples and roll out to apple skins, and then wonder why your rollout crashed.

Testing is the foundational principle of direct marketing.

Testing is the most important principle in direct marketing.

If you test like-names, the results should hold for your rollout -- assuming all other factors  remain the same.

Now, factors often do change between the time you test and the when you rollout.  The economy could change and that could produce a different result for your rollout.

So testing is valid if all factors remain the same for your rollout -- and that’s a pretty big IF . . . which is why you should always rollout in stages.

When the 9/11 terrorist attack happened, my mailings that were out there at the time crashed badly because the country was in a state of shock, paralyzed.

Very few people were interested in answering my mailings or ordering anything though the mail.  So that’s the kind of event that can produce a big disaster for a direct mailer . . . which is why you should never mail more than you can afford to lose on your rollouts.

The Anthrax scare was another killer of my direct mail offers -- saturation news coverage about Anthrax showing up in envelopes. Yikes!

Never bet the farm . . . because you will lose your farm if you have too much mail out there when the next big disaster hits.  It could be another 9/11 or a hurricane Katrina, the President gets shot, World War Three breaks out, a new killer plague sweeps the planet, or whatever.

These kinds of unexpected disasters happen a lot more than we like to think.

So it’s important to manage risk for your direct mail program.  Roll out in stages, no matter how tremendous your test results.

There’s really no need ever to have a financial disaster in the direct mail marketing business if you manage your risk.

Why These Principles Apply To

Building Almost Every Business – Even Local Businesses

Now, some of you Inner Circle members with locally-situated businesses might be wondering, “How does  this apply to me?”

Let’s say, for example, you are operating a sports shop, and you are doing business in a particular local area.

What most sports stores (and other retail shops) do is general advertising.  Or they send a one-size fits all mailing to every resident in the area.

Let me show you briefly how highly targeted direct mail can improve the results of your mailings by a 1000% or more.

What you should do is go to the good old SRDS List Book and rent the names of known golf fanatics in your trading area and send them an offer that specifically deals with golf.

Maybe you mail this to your subscribers to Golf Digest who live in your area.

Yes, your mailing will be more expensive for each letter you mail than if you just mail to every resident in your area.  You’ll have to rent the name for 10 cents each or so.  And you’ll have to pay more in postage because you can’t do a “Dear Resident” type mailing.

So your mail piece will cost more per-letter.   But it will be 1,000% more successful because you’ll be mailing a specific golf offer only to those you know for sure are golf fanatics.

And you’ll be saving a ton of money by not sending anything to those who have zero interest in sports.

You can do the same thing with your tennis fanatics, your weight lifters, your campers, your fishermen, etc.

You can find all these people in your area grouped by category in the SRDS List Book. 

That’s how you use highly targeted direct mail to super-charge your selling -- even if you are a local business.

You can do this if you a restaurant, a bookstore, a car dealer, a stockbroker.  

Almost no matter what your business is, you can use the SRDS List Book to find those in your trading area who are interested in exactly what you are selling.

Don’t waste money on one-size fits all marketing.

Use the SRDS List book and highly targeted mailings to your most likely buyers to build your hyper-responsive list of customers.

Once you get the hang of it, once you get into, and understand, this mindset I’m talking about; it’s really pretty simple.

You’ll save a ton of money on your marketing if you operate this way, and if you use this strategy I’ve just outlined for you here.

Next, we’ll cover “How to Maximize Profits from Your Customer List.”