disappointing return, use the failure to aid you in reworking your
offering before sending it out to the masses.
Mailing Lists
After you've made the decision to take the direct mail route, your
first step should be to contact a list broker. Supply the broker with a
description of your service, goals and objectives, strategies, and target
audience. The broker can assist you in selecting names based such
things as location, age, gender, educational background, income level,
interests, past purchasing patterns, credit history and more. By having a
clear concept of your target audience, you can tailor the look and feel of
the mail piece to match the prospect's age, gender, professional status,
hobbies or any other desired criteria. (Contact the list brokers
mentioned in the resources at the beginning of this section.)
Postcards
Keep in mind that direct mail doesn’t have to be a letter inserted
into an envelope. A postcard can be very effective, if not more so than a
letter. When people receives a postcard in the mail, there’s no need to
open anything. It’s in their hands and they are reading it before they
even realize what they’re doing. Not only do postcards demand instant
attention, they are less costly to mail.