What they don’t tell you about online (inbound) marketing
I'm a big fan of online marketing, also known by many as inbound marketing. I see a lot of value in SEO, blogging and social media. I believe every business should make some level of commitment to it. I love being able to produce sales leads at a very low cost. I love...
FREE Report: Making Snail Mail Work
I just published a new report for those of you using or planning to use direct mail. It's called "Making Snail Mail Work: 13 Lessons in Direct Mail Strategy." The report is intended to look beyond the mechanics of direct mail and to put all the new formats and new...
Do you have a Direct Response Mindset?
Chances are you don’t have a Direct Response Mindset. Not yet anyway. It’s more likely you have a Branding Mindset … because that's the popular view. A Branding Mindset sees advertising as an exercise in exposure - getting your brand or your message seen and...
Do repeat mailings work?
Does it make sense to send a second or third mailing to the same target audience? Intuitively, repeat mailings make sense. It’s just logical to expect that if you mail to the same person a second or third time, you will increase your exposure to that prospect and you...
Mailing Lists: Should you buy, rent or build your own?
You don’t have to be in the direct mail business to realize that mailing lists are essential to direct marketing success. Whether you’re using the phone, direct mail or email, nothing is more important than a good mailing list. Nothing. The question is “how do you...
Why free publications make better mailing lists
So you are looking over some potential mailing lists – all subscription lists from trade journals your audience reads – and you come to the following conclusion: "The better lists will be those created from paid subscriptions if only because the people on those lists...
A 19-Point Direct Mail Checklist
Direct mail seems like a pretty simply process. You get a list, write a letter, print the mail components, stuff the envelopes and slap on some postage. Then you wait for the response. Yes, getting into the mail is pretty simple, but getting response is another story....
Sorry, but your price is too low
My price is too low? When did that become a problem? Of all the complaints you might get from a prospective customer, “your price is too low” has to be at the bottom of the list – right? Actually, it is more of a problem than you might expect – especially if you are...
The 5 Levels of Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing has a gotten a lot of attention in recent years. Lead generation has been around forever, but with the advent of email marketing and lead tracking systems, more and more sales and marketing departments are now also focused on lead nurturing. Lead...
Are you still using reply cards?
For years, the reply card was an absolute must for any direct mail package to succeed. But now with the availability of 800 numbers, faxes, email and landing pages, some marketers have decided skip the reply card altogether. “We have enough response options,” they...