Direct Mail And Direct Marketing

• Q: What Can You Sell Via Direct Mail?
• A: You Name It...You can Sell It.

Resources For Direct Mail

Direct Mail enables you to get to your customer via the most direct, precise fashion possible. Generally used by offline marketers (ie, paper Mail received in your mailbox), the mailing lists targeted by a direct mail campaign are often extremely specific and niched.

Direct mail lets you sell services/products directly to your targeted base. Extra costs to keep in mind are:

• Postage
• Frequency (it's been said you must make at least 7 impressions before a customer buys)
• Turn around time
• Fulfillment
• Followup

Often industries that appear to be tapped out on the Internet can be refreshed via direct mail. Remember, not everyone lives for being online...some people are actually more comfortable with traditional marketing compared to that found on the computer. For example, while there are a suite of Realtor tools to help real estate agents make a bundle in their profession, a good number of practicing agents simply do not know how to take advantage of the Internet. Thus, if you're selling to Realtors, going directly to them via paper mail or other methods might net you far better results.

Never misguess your customer base.

One of the most well-known masters of Direct Mail and Mail Order Marketing is Jim Straw. Visit the following links to learn about:

Own Your Own Mail Order Business - Mailorder REALLY is the least expensive, most profitable, easiest to start, fastest money generating business in the world. How Does He Know? BECAUSE ... Over the past 30 years, he has (really) sold over $250 Million worth of products and services -- everything from Beauty Supplies to Heavy Equipment ... Burglar Alarms to Sleeping Bags ... Fishing Lures to Women's Wigs ... Automobiles to Wheelchairs ... Seafood to Investment Opportunities ... Consulting Services to "How-To" Courses - all by mailorder. And The reason he had never before written on the subject of "mailorder" was because ... [ ...more ... ]

Sell American - In most other businesses, you sell your products one-at-a-time - BUT - when overseas buyers order your product, they order in volume. That's because the more they order, the lower their per-unit cost of freight. - If they only bought one or two, they wouldn't be able to re-sell the product at a profit in their country. The freight cost alone would make it impossible. Because of that, your very first export order could make you more money than you make in a whole year now. Which would you rather do?... [ ...more... ]

Finder's Fees The Easiest Money You'll Ever Make! - There are over 250,000,000 people in this country - and millions of businesses (small, medium and large). Can any business know of ALL of the sources of supply, potential buyers, or providers of necessary services? - Not on your life! Why should a company spend thousands of dollars, and tie up essential employees to do nothing but research the existence of these suppliers, buyers, and providers - when they can easily let a Finder go to the trouble of locating the contacts they need. And, those fees are considerably less than what they would have spent if they had done the research themselves. Finders EARN their fees by weeding-through the unqualified leads and flakes; by following all of the dead-end paths; and eventually putting their hands on a real, honest-to-goodness source, buyer, or whatever. - THAT is what a Finder gets paid for doing... [ ...more... ]

S.U.R.E.-Fire Direct Response Marketing - (a reviewer) - Russell Kern's Sure-Fire Direct Response Marketing is an excellent resource for improving your methods of finding and developing prospects. His coverage of topics such as handling focus groups, creating effective campaigns, and bridging the gap between marketing and sales make this a valuable tool for improving business-to-business marketing. The Internet chapter explores how to use this medium to your best advantage. Whatever your level of expertise, you'll find this book useful... [ ...more... ]

Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick : Stories & Lessons on the Power of Direct Marketing to Start a Successful Business, Create a Brand - (from a review) - Few writers are as clear, as candid and as helpful as Joe Sugarman. He not only packs his "Secrets" books with invaluable lessons that have taken him decades to learn, but he gives you fascinating, behind-the-scenes looks at dozens of advertising and marketing campaigns. From concept to completion, Joe lays out everything you could possibly hope to learn about writing compelling and profitable copy. But most important of all, Joe's books draw as much from his failures as his successes, making them infinitely more valuable that those that sell nothing but pipe dreams. As for those who complained that Joe's material is dated, sure some of it is dated as the examples literally span decades. But keep in mind, while tastes and styles may change, human nature does not. And no one understands human nature better than Joe Sugarman. His insights are timeless and their value, priceless.... [ ...more... ]

Direct Marketing Rules of Thumb: 1,000 Practical and Profitable Ideas to Help You Improve Response, Save Money, and Increase Efficiency in Your Direct Program - A goldmine of tested DM tips and techniques. DM guru Nat Bodian's latest direct marketing tool crams 40 years of experience into a treasure drove of response-driven strategies for racking up sales by mail, phone, and space advertising. Exhaustively indexed to make fast access easy, Direct Marketing Rules of Thumb packs 1,000 priceless time and money saving ideas you need to: prepare, use, and evaluate every DM component--from headlines to offers to credit and collections; locate, select, time,... [ ...more... ]

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word - (a reviewer) ...A novice might think that because this book does not refer to Internet marketing or the latest trends in print and direct mail advertising, it is out of date. That is a well-intentioned but misguided criticism. Of course very few people know how to market effectively (and close sales) on the Internet. Since I have done this successfully (I've created Web sites that made lots of money, by themselves) and since I spent a year as the editor of a newsletter tracking who was successful marketing online and who wasn't (almost everyone wasn't), I can say with some authority that there are very few people who can market effectively online.... [ ...more... ]

Million Dollar Mailings - Direct Mail creative technique--copy approaches, design, formats, offers--unlike anything ever before assembled. In addition to the successful mailings shown and described in this updated edition of Million Dollar Mailings, new topics include killer fundraising letters, the illustrated history of the magalog, and using direct mail to make money on the internet. This insider's look at the art and science of direct mail also contains... [ ...more... ]

The Lazy Man's Way to Riche$: Dyna/Psyc can give you everything in the world you really want! - Joe sold his book only through direct response advertising - a book that sold over 3 million copies without ever being available in a bookstore! This book is Joe's philosophy on life, and how to live it richly, successfully, joyously, and lazily. It is also a wonderful step by step marketing guide that will work for any business - so clearly written it has been used as a marketing text by companies, colleges and universities worldwide. This classic belongs in everyone's success library! [ ...more... ]

Catalog Design: The Art of Creating Desire - Catalogs, magalogs, and netlogs will be a $100 million business by 2001. The ability to design a compelling catalog can make even experience designers more competitive. Perhaps just as important , catalogs are creative challenge almost irresistible to those who truly love graphic design. This book demonstrates the how, and why, and the what-if of great catalog design....[ ...more... ]

Some great direct mail and direct marketing resources include:

The Direct Marketing Association

Presort.com

National Mail Order Association

Direct Marketing News.com

How To Write A Direct Mail Piece

Chamber Biz Overview of Direct Mail

Think Direct Marketing Library

Direct Marketing Association NonProfits

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