Marketing

Direct Mail and Off Line Marketing

Most upline sponsors or marketing companies will become cheerleaders about direct mail and tell you how great it is; but instead I’d like to address the pitfalls and expose what most people ARE NOT doing to maximize their mail program.

First off, Direct Mail is a tricky beast and it is NOT for the weak at heart or the marketer on a budget; however, when you have dialed in a good program it’s pretty darn profitable and hands off to boot. Some rules of thumb when dropping direct mail: Before getting started you must understand the law of large numbers which basically states in order to hit the statistical average, you have to have enough numbers to base it on and that could be in the tens of thousands. Don’t think you’re going to set the world on fire by dropping 3000 pieces; you need to be considering 10,000 as a minimum if you really want to test your market.

You do not want your mail piece to look like the Las Vegas Strip, you want to have a clear message and a clear call to action. False claims will likely land you in hot water with the FTC. There is no such thing as a federally regulated “do not mail” list. The best graphics in the world will not save your campaign if you start with bad data.

Make sure you ask your provider how the data was obtained; if it is exclusive, how fresh is it, and what criteria it is based on. Know the difference between renting a list and buying a list. Some data providers such as Equifax will require your mail piece to go through their compliance department. This can be counterproductive because they are operating on a totally different agenda then you are. You are worried about ROI and they are worried about legal disclaimers. We are all for being compliant, but if your prospect cannot see your message then marketing to them is senseless.

Another common place marketers drop the ball is when the prospect actually does respond. Most direct mail pieces provide a phone number as the call to action, which is fine, but if it rings more than 3 times that is bad; and it’s even worse if it goes to a machine. Sure you can go back and track the call, but a lead is best when it’s inbound. Another thing most marketers do not include is a free gift. If appropriate for your business, advertise a free report and send it to your capture page and online sales system. Let that sort and qualify prospects for you in addition to the inbound calls you will pick up more response.

NEWSPAPERS

Below is a list of directories you can use to easily place your
newspaper ads all across North America and the world:

Nationwide Newspapers – http://www.nationwideadvertising.com/

Nationwide Newspapers – http://store.yahoo.com/classifieds/index.html

Newspapers Online – http://library.uncg.edu/news/

Newspaper Directory – http://www.placedirectory.com/newspapers.htm

US Newspaper List – http://www.usnpl.com/

Popular US Newspapers – http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/

Newspapers by State – http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/By_Region/U_S__States/

Specific Newspapers – http://newslink.org/news.html

Newspapers in Your Area – http://www.newsvoyager.com/voyager.cfm

Newspapers Worldwide – http://www.thepaperboy.com/welcome.html

Top Papers – http://www.newspapers.com/top100.html

American Classifieds – http://www.americanclassifieds.com/

Newspaper Classifieds – http://www.newspaper-classifieds.com/

US Newspapers – http://www.usnewspapers.com/

# 1 Internet Advertising-Online Advertising Agency – http://www.wspromotion.com/

Wolf Enterprises – http://www.wolfenterprises.net/

Advertising Connection – http://advertisingconnection.com/

Below is a list of magazines and directories you can use to easily place
magazine ads all across North America and the world:

Nationwide Newspapers – http://store.yahoo.com/classifieds/enmag.html

Entrepreneur – http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Small Business Opportunities – http://www.sbomag.com/

Home Business Magazine – http://www.homebusinessmag.com/

Money Making Opportunities – http://www.moneymakingopps.com/

Opportunity World Magazine – http://www.oppworld.com/

SOHO Jobs – http://www.sohojobs.org/

HBC – http://www.homebusinessconnection.com/

Network Marketing Business Journal – http://www.mmmonthly.com/

Wolf Enterprises – http://www.wolfenterprises.net/

Multi Listings – http://mailbiz.com/mailbiz/mailorder/hill-publishing/page1.pdf

Opportunity Connection – http://www.opportunityconnection.com/about.htm

Other Resources as You Get Started

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