subject: What are Mailing Lists and How Best Can You Use Them? [print this page] So you wish to promote your internet product through an offline mailing? But what's the best way to go about it?Let us be clear about one thing from the start, sending a mail shot to an "outside" list will NOT get such a good response as promoting to your OWN list. The reasons for this are that:-a) They don't know you. You could be a conman for all they know!
b) You don't know how HOT they are.
c) The list you have obtained may already have been mailed numerous times with similar offers and possibly only yesterday!However, having said all that outside lists are still very responsive IF selected carefully.So what exactly is a mailing list? It is simply a list of names and addresses of people who have PURCHASED something from a mailing. Basically it's someone else's database.Note that I said purchased as sometimes you may be offered a list from an unscrupulous broker which is made up of enquirers. What is the difference? Well there are many people who seem to make a habit of asking for information (known in the trade as "tyre kickers") when they have no intention of ever buying. You want people that have been proven to buy through mailings.So where do you get the list from? There are many companies which act as brokers. They are "middlemen" who handle the mailing lists of many companies and deal with the enquiries and orders for the rental of these lists by others.Bear in mind that it is quite easy for someone to set themselves up as a broker by extracting a list of people from voting lists, phone books etc so be very careful that you go to a reputable company. There are many around so just do due diligence.Often they specialize in a particular area such as health products etc so pick one that offers lists in your own niche.Note that in nearly every case you can only rent the list and not buy it and normally you only rent it for ONE mailing only. Why? Lists are very valuable commodities and once you have a worthwhile list (probably around 5000 plus names) You can rent out your list via a broker. You get paid for the hire of your list (by the broker) and the broker takes an agreed percentage as his/her commission.Now I know what you're thinking, surely the broker won't know if someone uses the list more than once or even sells it on? Oh yes they will!! All lists are "seeded" That means that at least one address will have a hidden code in it, perhaps with different initials each time and this particular address goes to a "friend" of the broker. If the same "change" is used twice they will know the list has been used again. Sneaky or what?? And you will be barred!So can you just hire a list and then send out what you want? A definite No! You will have to submit an example of your advertisement to the broker who will in turn contact the list owner to get approval to loan out their list. The reason for this is that the list owner is only too happy to hire out the list to someone who is offering a different product in the same niche as their own.However they will not want to see a product which is in direct competition to their own offered. For example if you are offering information products about oriental cooking then you wouldn't wish to loan your list to a person specialising in, say, Chinese cooking. That is too close to your products.
However someone who wants to promote European or Mexican recipes or information on wines would probably be of interest to your clients. The choice is yours as to whether or not to allow YOUR list to be used.As an aside it would not be advisable to offer your list for rent until you had pretty much exhausted all your offers or considered JV's (joint ventures). Just weigh up the "pros and cons" When you wish to rent a list then the broker will provide plenty of information.Normally there are a minimum number of names you can rent at any one time. However bear in mind that if you do a trial mailing and it is successful you must ensure that there are still a number of names on the list you can still contact. For example if you mail 5000 people and get an excellent response from this list but there are only 8000 names overall you only have another 3000 names to contact.So direct mailing, whilst perhaps appearing a little "old fashioned" when compared with internet advertising, is still a very useful tool in your advertising armoury.To YOUR successJohn Beaumont Internet Marketer
What are Mailing Lists and How Best Can You Use Them?
