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Q: How do I know if what I am selling can be sold by mail? A: It's a good idea to do a little research to find out if you have competition in mail order with similar products, services, and opportunities. If you do not discover competition, that is a strong indication your offer may not work. If you still feel strongly that the market will want your offer, test your idea by taking small steps at a time and let the marketplace tell you whether to continue or not. Q: How should I design my mailer? A: The mailing piece must be printed clearly, should be easy to read (colors like red catch attention), and utilize lots of white space between copy. It may be necessary to use a photo, an illustration, graph, map, etc. to make it work. Clip-out order coupons, business reply envelopes and postage-paid reply envelopes are additional strategies to consider, as are a toll-free phone number and acceptance of credit cards for payment. Make it easy to order, or to obtain additional information about your product and offer. Convenience is the key. Remember to apply KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to everything you do in mail order. Q: How can I test the effectiveness of my mailer? A: Test the finished mailing piece by mailing it to friends and/or business associates. Let them tell you candidly what they think of the offer and what they like and dislike about the piece. Make changes and revisions according to what they suggest, but be sure you get a sufficiently large sampling to justify those changes. Once you are satisfied with the mailing piece and the offer, don't become complacent. You must continue to test, test, test. Q: What types of mailing lists are available? A: There are three basic kinds of mailing lists: a compiled list, inquiry list, and a response list. A compiled list is like a directory (the telephone book is a complied list). An inquiry list is usually a list of people who responded to a classified ad offering free information. A response list is a list of people who bought something by mail. This is the most responsive of all three kinds of lists and therefore commands a higher rental fee. Now that you have established a profile of your prospects, you are ready to choose a mailing list to test. This will require contact, of course, with list owners and brokers. Q: Which list should I pick? A: To select the right mailing list, you first must clearly establish a profile of your most viable prospects. A profile of a prospect could include what kinds of offers he/she has responded to in the past and whether or not they spent money by mail. Other profile considerations could include sex, whether he/she is a credit card buyer, and whether he/she provided a telephone number willingly. After you have made your decision regarding which list to order, request a test quantity and let the results of the test tell you whether to continue with that list, or to test another mailing list. Q: How are the names generated for a list? Names are predominately generated through our own direct mail and advertising efforts. Q: Why do I need to send R.J. Persson Enterprises, Inc. a sample mailing piece? Sending us a copy of your mailing piece helps us better serve you - it helps us suggest the best list for your offer and prevents same offer duplications. Q: What things should I look for in a broker/list owner? A: Ask the following questions when looking for a broker/list owner: a) What is the size of the list offered- you want a list to be large enough to allow you to re-order if the test works successfully. b) How often is the list updated, and new names added to the data base? c) Exactly what guarantees are offered by the list owner/broker offering the list? d) How long has the list owner/broker been in business? e) What is the method of payment: credit card, check or money order? f) How promptly can the order be shipped, and what is the method of shipping? (Mail, UPS, FedEX) g) What selections are available? Zip codes, state, sex, credit card buyers, and telephone numbers are among the typical options available at an additional charge. Nth select (which provides a cross-section) is available at no additional charge. h) What methods of addressing are available, such as pressure-sensitive labels, CD-ROM in comma delimited ASCII, E-Mail in comma delimited ASCII? i) Are special arrangements available? In other words, will the company work with you if you have a proposal? j) What other lists are available from the list owner/broker? k) Does the company supplying the list do list maintenance, such as data entry, updating, merge/purge (omit duplicates) name and address standardization, NCOA (National Correction of Addresses) and Zip +4? Definition of Terms Key Coding: Key coding is using a unique set of numbers, letters or characters printed on the mail piece to identify a particular mailing list. You can then keep track of your marketing and identify responses by the specific key code. Key coding is most useful if you are using multiple mailing lists. Hotline Names: New names are added to the lists each month. |
Offices and Shipping Address:
1208 Kent Ave., Suite 101
Montrose, CO 81401
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2069
Montrose, CO 81402-2069, USA
Phone 970-249-6000 / Fax 970-249-0800
info@goldenresponsemailinglists.com
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