How to build your business with direct marketing.
How to sell more.
How to generate leads.
How to build relationships.

How to build your business with direct marketing

Direct marketing works because
A) It's targeted. You put your message directly in front of people who are likely to buy your product or service, or keep your name in front of existing customers.
B)It gives you the space to completely describe your product, build interest and desire, and convince a prospect to buy. It allows you to provide helpful information to maintain relationships with prospects and customers.
C)It allows for followup and multiple approaches.
D)It's measurable, so you can keep what works, and change what doesn't.

What do you want to do?

Sell your product or service directly through mail or on the Internet
Generate leads
Build relationships with customers

Sales. Direct mail is ideal for direct response sales. The format allows you to provide all the information you need to actually close a sale on many products and services. Long letters, brochures, lift-letters, buck slips, interactive devices (like stickers) -- all these elements can be packed into an envelope and mailed directly to a list of prospective buyers. All they need to do is call, fax, email or mail in your order card. Find out more.

Generate leads. Maybe you'd rather demonstrate your product or generate qualified leads for sales people to follow up on. Again, look to direct mail. While cold-calling can generate sales, if the prospect actually calls your sales person, you're further along in the sales process. Give
enough details to pique their interest, without giving everything away. Encourage them to call to find out how they can (fill in the blank). One business sends magazine clippings which laud the service and prominently display a toll-free number. Another gives prospects a free passcode to his website, where they can explore services which normally cost a hefty subscription fee. Find out more.

Relationship building. If you've been doing your job, you're already keeping a list of your past customers and clients. If possible, get such personal details as birthdays; they can really charge up your database. Send these people newsletters, birthday cards, unique sales offers
for valued customers, product updates, special gifts, or invitations to events. One company mails a regular newsletter and invites his best customers to a dinner cruise on Lake Ontario every year. You can also build relationships with prospective customers using the same techniques. By positioning yourself as the expert in your field through a helpful newsletter, you become the first place people think of when looking for your product or service. Find out more.

How to sell more.

1. Get a good list
Your list is extremely important. There's no point in sending a mailing on your product or service to people who will never buy your product or service. So invest some time, energy and money into hitting the right people. If you have a landscaping business, this might be as simple
as targeting upscale neighbourhoods in town. If you manufacture aftermarket automotive parts, you want a good list of garages and auto parts retailers.

Compiled lists -- a researched collection of names -- are less expensive, but response list -- past buyers of a product, subscribers to a magazine -- can get you a warmer prospect. Then there are your own lists, past customers, prospects who have responded to a mailing though perhaps have not purchased. You should be building this database all the time. When you contact a list broker or list owner, make sure you check the currency of the list -- how often it's been updated. Beyond the content, find out how the list has been entered. Databases that overuse abbreviations, or contain proper company names along with a "dba" (doing business as) appendage, will damage your attempts to make the mailing feel personal, and flag your package as advertising. You have an exceptional list of local business and services right here within this website. By selecting and targeting only those businesses which fit your target market, you can build a highly targeted list customized to your business.

2. Test list quality whenever possible.
You can do this by mailing the same package to a number of names from each list. Include a code of some sort to track your response. This might be a number that appears on the reply card, or a special "extension number" for phone orders. With this information, you can figure out
which list pulled better. If one is generating a 5 percent response, and the other only a 2 percent response, you can follow up by mailing your package to the remainder of the good list. It's very important to mail the same package to each list. If you start fiddling with elements
within the package, you have no way of knowing if the increased response was due to the list or to the changes to the package.

3. Get them to look inside.
Make their name stand out. Consciously or not, people like to see their name in print. Make the font bigger and bolder than usual. Make the envelope stand out from the crowd. Change the size or colour. Create an official-looking package, simulating a cheque or a prize notification
mailing. Think carefully, though. Depending on your product, service and offer, people may feel cheated when they see what's really inside. Use teasers. Obviously, you can't always avoid the bulk indicia. So flaunt the fact that it's direct mail, but intrigue them as to what's inside. Print a
statement on the front of the envelope with a provocative, intriguing or benefit-oriented statement, such as: "Free gift enclosed" or "Inside: 10 ways you can double your profits this year" or "What do these women look for in a man?" With lasering and ink-jetting, you can personalize your teaser with the person's or the company's name. Tease them subtlely. A blank-faced envelope can be just as intriguing. Many mailers simply print the addressee's name and address on the envelope and make the return address a simple street address, with no company name. As much as you may want to throw away the envelope, you might just have to peek inside first.

You can enhance a blank-faced envelope to make it look more like a personal mailing. Use an old courier font, to make the address look typewritten. Keep the return address in the same font. One mailer prints the return address with one letter slightly raised above the baseline, as if a typist (that archaic species) hasn't completely pressed the shift key.

Finally, here's a surefire method. If the price of your product warrants it, go all the way. Use first-class, hand-affixed postage. Not just any postage. Use a commemorative stamp, or even a number of lower-priced stamps on one envelope. Add a handwritten line under the address:
"Personal and confidential". Or consider having all the addresses hand-written. The costs of this kind of mailing can add up, but these techniques will increase response to your offer.

4. Structure your offer to sell.
In direct response, the offer you present can mean the difference between success and failure. The product or service may be great, but if you don't package it perfectly for your audience, you're wasting your time and money. Here are some proven techniques to get them to take action -- and buy.
Make the offer good for a limited time.
Offer a discount -- only available through this offer.
Offer a free report (or something of value) in addition to their order.
Add a money-back guarantee.
Make it easy to respond

Test various offers, by tracking the response to each. Make sure you keep other variables the same.

5. Learn what works in a direct response letter.
Here are a few pointers.
Start with a benefit-heavy headline.
Introduce a powerful quote, provocative question or the idea that you understand your prospect's problems.
Indent paragraphs and underline key points.
Make the letter as long as you need to convince your prospect to buy.
Write in plain language with active verbs.
Include a P.S. restating the offer, or imparting a sense of urgency.
Use our database to successfully sell to local businesses.

How to generate leads

Many of the principles covered in the Sell More section apply here, too.
A lead generation campaign will gather names of prospects who have shown some interest in your product or service -- prospects who are more likely to buy. These people can be approached again to buy the product or service, or indeed, to buy a number of products or services tailored to the type of customer. You might follow up with a more comprehensive direct mailing, a sales call, or a regular catalogue or newsletter. But remember, direct mail can be expensive, so examine the long-term payoff of generating leads this way. If you have a number of products, an expensive product, or a service they'll use over and over again over time, this method can be economical.

Here are a few ways to gather prime prospects.

1. As ever, make sure you have a good list.
Even though you're not actually trying to sell at this point, you're wasting time and money to send out offers to people who will never buy. You may end up simply attracting brochure collectors and people who want to talk to your salespeople.

2. Give something free.
Offer a free report, booklet, newsletter or catalog. This gives you a pretty powerful offer. Just reply, and we'll send you something FREE. Of course, some people will just collect the free stuff, but as long as the incentive is directed related to your product or service, you will gather a
lot of qualified customers.

3. Give something almost free.
Offer a low-cost report, booklet, newsletter or catalogue. If people are willing to pay a small amount for what you're offering, they're even more likely to buy. Cover the costs of your premium, or even make a small profit.

4. Give them a free trial.
An online database service sends out a free passcode. With the passcode, the prospect can explore almost everything the service has to offer... for a limited time. The prospect must enter contact information when logging on, so a salesperson can follow up and close the sale.

5. Don't call them; have them call you.
Another company sells a directory to businesses They generate inbound calls by pushing the benefits of the service without giving details of what the service actually includes. Enticed, the reader dials the toll-free number, and a salesperson does the rest.

Use our database to generate leads in your local market

How to build relationships

1. Hey, have we mentioned getting a good list?
All the pointers in selling more and relationship building apply. But also, use the names you have obtained through lead generation packages and don't forget your current customers.

2. Recognize customers now, while they're still customers.
Don't wait till they're gone. A last-ditch attempt to bring someone back is much less powerful than a genuine effort to make someone happy.

3. Mail, fax or email customers and leads special offers.
Offer special discounts just to customers and "members". Invite them to special seminars and workshops.

4. Mail, fax or email helpful information
A hardware store might send out newsletters offering how-to advice.

5. Send them seasonal reminders and recognize special events.
A financial advisor sends out birthday cards to all her clients.

Use our database to help you build relationships.