Using targeting software and carefully studying your demographics you can really increase your direct mailing and direct marketing results. There are many great software makers and demographic data companies, which run in ESRI’s ArcView, ArcBus and ArcData.

Knowing which zip codes, portions of zip codes, census tracts, blocks and etc can insure that you are always targeting the right demographic and target customer and therefore you are playing percentage shots and will get better results.

For years and years we did this and we got so darn good at it that we could almost peg 3.7 percent call back rates and convert at least half to sales. Now for a mobile car wash and fleet pressure washing business, you know that is kicking butt. When others talk of their direct mailing; I talk about direct nailing; that is to say winning the game and playing the odds.

You should learn from my observations and experiences and if you decide to do your direct marketing on your own rather than hiring a company to do it, which actually I recommend then consider what I have said here today and perhaps think about direct mailing a direct nailing and hitting that nail right on the head. Target your target market and make you company a direct mail winner. Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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There is an old saying that cats have nine lives.

Legend has it that Baldwin III, Count of Ypres, threw some cats from a tower in AD962. Europe was a tough place for cats in those days. But the more simplistic answer is that cats are resilient creatures, who manage to get into the tightest places and still land on their feet. Most have split personalities, suffering from eternal schizophrenia. One minute theyre cuddling up to you like a warm, furry ball. The next theyre arching their back and hissing, afraid of their own shadow.

Customer Loyalty has nine lives also. After all there is only so much a customer is going to take before he leaves because of one of your employees indifference to his existence.

Loyalty has to begin before you attract the new customer or client. The same rules that apply to keeping customers must be firmly in place to attract your perfect customer in the first place.

Rule Number 1: A Life Of Competence
Competence means you know what youre doing. So many entrepreneurs start businesses by the seat of their pants, hoping experience will be that sole master teacher that ushers them into the promised land.

If you have to wing it every time a customer asks you a question because youre not sure youre right, go back and get an education. Read your trade journals for crying out loud. Take a continuing education course in accounting or management. But dont represent yourself as being an expert in something youre not. It spoils your chances
for establishing any semblance of rapport with your customer.

Product knowledge is essential today. In a world of media information overload, people dont know who to believe anymore. If youre competent let it shine. Show prospects and customers you know what youre talking about and youre on your way to winning a loyal following. But thats not all

Rule Number 2: A Life Of Innovation
You have to be innovative. You cant rest on your laurels forever and still drive a horse and buggy. Well you can, if you live the simple life in middle Pennsylvania. For the rest of us, technology is changing our world everyday in ways most of us cant and wont understand. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Results are more expensive to produce, but yield greater rewards in the long run. Be willing to change, to experiment with new ideas, new offers, new incentives, new technology, new machinery, new seminars and education. Live a life where innovation is the rule, not the exception and your customers will come back to buy whatever you produce.

Rule Number 3: A Life Of Communication
We humans dont have great memories, unless youve taken one of those memory courses. (Ive forgotten the name). Customers have short memories also. What appeared like a great deal or great value a few months ago may seem pale to the warm and friendly letter your competitor just sent your best customer.

You may be an expert at what youre doing. You may be creative and innovative. But if you dont communicate these attributes to your customers, theyll go somewhere else. Plain and simple.

The power of communication is what separates man from animal. The power of speech.

Today, modern technology has made it simple to communicate regularly with customers via e-mail, letters, postcards, faxes, instant messaging, telephone. Yet few small businesses have a system in place to keep in constant contact with customers. To insure loyalty, communicate. There will be plenty of time for silent musings after youre long gone.

Rule Number 4: A Life Of Customer Service
Jim Rohn, Americas foremost business philosopher says, If you make a sale, you make a living. If you make an investment in time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune.

An old study by the Rockefeller Foundation found that 67% of customers leave a business because of an air of indifference on the part of an employee, manager or owner.

I went to my barbershop the other day. It was early in the morning just as they opened. One of the technicians had a cancellation and was cleaning up to fit me in. Suddenly, my regular barber walked in, not knowing I was next, and said, Ill have to get to you in about an hour, Ive got other appointments. I will never let him cut my hair, ever again.

Allan J. Katz, The Loyalty Coach, helps small businesses attract new customers and keep them loyal. He is the author of the Complete Guide To Retail Loyalty Marketing a complete loyalty marketing system for attracting and keeping customers. A free Loyalty Quick Start Guide is available on his website at http://www.LoyaltyCoach.com

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I had an epiphany the other day. It appears that 80% of the world pretends to be a total idiot so that they dont have to do any work. If they pretend to be dumb enough then other people will be forced to hold their hand or do the actual chore for them. See it is much easier for the smart person to just do it rather than sit and explain it.

This is the reason why 5% of the world controls the majority of the money. There is no point getting frustrated buy it so you might as well embrace it. Treat everyone as if they dont know whether or not to left click or right click the mouse I am not kidding. My friends mother has had a computer for 5 years and still asks the click question every time they navigate the computer.

Here are some simple ways to make your website appeal to the masses.

Lots of video. People learn things in different ways. If you are advertising to North America then you already know that it is a TV society. Most people dont even read a full book after college. Make screen capture videos that are so simple your dog could follow along.

Break things up into time segments- Too much information overloads the sense. You may want to give lots of content but people get distracted and bored when they can finish quickly. Break your segments up into hours or days.

Have conference calls- This is simply appealing to another part of the brain for learning. Some people prefer to listen rather then watch a video. As the old adage says Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them why you told them. Eventually your pitch will sink in.

Make the site easy to navigate- A great example of this is writing the full link Frequently asked questions Do not shorten it to FAQ. You may not be dumb but other people are.

There are many more ways to make your site more effective but this should set you on the right course. It may seem trivial but it will be the difference between hundreds and thousands of sales to your site.

Aaron Parkinson, Co-founder of http://www.profitwildfire.com, is a 29 year old self made millionaire. His expertise is in the Network Marketing/ Coaching arena. My goal is to put $30,000,000 in the banks accounts of fellow entrepreneurs by 2010.”

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Most large big-box store retailers will send out colorful brochures and catalogs as inserts in the local newspaper on Thursdays and it seems we also see them on Sundays. During the Christmas season we see that many box stores use more than one method of advertising to get customers to come in and entice new customers to come in and have a look see.

As a case study lets discuss direct-mail marketing in those little coupon package that we see for a big-box store retailer. Does it make sense for a big-box store retailer to send out coupons in the little coupon package books to all the homes that are within a 50-mile radius of their store?

It appears that it does make sense and perhaps they can advertise their best deals on three or four types of items that they expect to sell a lot of during the Christmas season. For instants let us talk about Circuit City and Best Buy; it makes sense for these stores to send out direct-mail marketing pieces to the customers within their area or region.

It also makes sense that they send out things like discounts on iPods, laptops, MP3 players and plasma television sets. Why you ask? Well because many people do not take a newspaper, as they will often read the newspaper at their local Starbucks or in the break room at work. Please consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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Can you use direct mail marketing to get a job? Well consider if your will that most people already do, because they mail out their resumes to Corporations where they are interested in applying too right? Sure, also solo-professionals, consultants, small business people and even contractors also mail our coupons for free estimates, consultations and introductory offers to get jobs also.

Well what if you used this technique to get a job using direct mail marketing coupon packages? Sounds funny right? Well if you think about it; it isnt really as we know politicians tell us of their credentials in these direct mail marketing pieces and some innovative people have used them to get dates and meet the perfect mate.

So does direct mail marketing to get a job work? Indeed, it has for many and it was tried by a ground of students looking to get hired in Silicon Valley and each one got a job right out of school at a 15% higher salary than the graduating class averages. Pretty cool right?

Yes, and because it is not done very much if these direct mail marketing packages are sent out to the higher end neighborhoods, many of those people own businesses right? Makes a lot of sense and apparently in the case test study it had worked for some students who tried it. Just a thought.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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Fundraising letters are about people. People talk. So your fundraising letters should include the voices of people.

In a novel, the characters come alive only after you hear them talk. What they say, how they say it, when they say it, where they say it, and to whom they say it, deepens the meaning of the story and reveals things about the characters that cannot be explained in other ways.

Even when your fundraising appeal letter seems to be about preserving old growth forests, banning handguns or buying a mobile heart monitor, somewhere in the middle of your appeal are people. They may be staff, volunteers, clients, victims or someone else. Let your donors hear these people talking and youll immediately make your letters more interesting and readable.

When you quote people in your fundraising letters, you personalize your ask and lend immediacy, intimacy and authenticity to cold reality. When you capture dialogue and things people have said, you bring your characters to life on the page.

Direct quotations in your donation request letters also add credibility to your claims. They give donors another way of looking at your challenge (what novelists call point of view). And they establish tone (anger, frustration, fear, irony) in ways that you cannot without sounding forced.

Alan, you are saying, give us some examples!

OK.

Imagine that in your fundraising letter for your diabetes association you are describing one of your clients, Clara Alveres, who is 71, has lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years, and is in good health. You could string these facts out in a line as I just did. Or you could instead add credibility and warmth and personality to your letter by quoting Clara directly. Your sentence might look like this:

Clara Alveres, 71, has lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years. Ive never felt better, she says.

Or imagine that youre telling the story of Bill, who also has diabetes. You could tell your donors:

Bill avoided diabetes complicationsand ran a marathonby following a simple recipe.

or you could instead bring Bill alive as a character by letting him tell your story:

Just because diabetes runs in your family doesnt mean you cant run a marathon, says Bill, who avoided diabetes complications by following a simple recipe, and completed the Boston Marathon in May.

According to Philip Gerard, author of Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life, quoting people adds texture beyond anything you can communicate as the author. Real voices of real people deepen your story. Their words make it true, says Gerard.

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).

—-
About the author
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor and mentor who helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.

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If you are wanting to be successful in Internet Marketing, it is absolutely vital that you have sales copy on your website that SELLS!!

Now you have different options open to you when it comes to sales copy. You can obviously pay someone to do the writing for you and if you have the means and are just starting out then this may not be a bad option. You can check out www.elance.com for an example of this service.

A much cheaper and quicker option however is simply to do the writing of the sales page yourself. Several newcomers are put off by this however because either they dont know the SECRETS behind constructing good copy or perhaps they have tried once before and it flopped.

Well, I am going to reveal the TOP 3 SECRETS to you right now so that your next sales page will CONVERT LIKE CRAZY!!

SECRET 1 ITS ALL ABOUT THE HEADLINE!!

Unless you have a headline that reaches out and grabs the reader by the scruff of the neck and doesnt let them go (well, maybe thats a bit over the top but you get my drift!) you might as well not bother writing any more at all!

Think about when you visit a web sales page yourself. The headline is obviously the first thing that you see and Im sure you would agree that if it doesnt grab your attention, you quickly hit that little X at the top corner and move on!

So what makes a good headline.

The 1 most important ingredient to include is a BENEFIT. This simply means that you are telling the reader something about your product which will make their life easier or help them to get something done quicker etc. If the reader feels the product will help them from the headline theyve read, they will read on, simple as that.

SECRET 2 THE NO QUESTIONS ASKED MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Any good online sales page worth its salt will have a clearly stated guarantee towards the bottom of the copy. This is absolutely essential in 99% of cases for 2 main reasons:

1. It helps the reader to build up trust in the seller and their product

2. It puts the readers mind at ease and could be the difference between a sale and no sale.

The only cases where a guarantee will not be evident is perhaps for very low priced products like the $7 ones now widely available, or for a product which includes resell rights and clearly states why no guarantee is being offered.

But in the main, a guarantee is an integral part of all good sales letters. And what you may well find is that some customers may ask for a refund to see if you are true to your word, and when they are impressed with the refund service you provide, they become customers for life!!

Another point to remember is that the longer the guarantee is, usually the LESS REFUNDS there are and the MORE SALES there are!! A lot of people think the exact opposite, but its a tested fact that you should offer a long guarantee, say 30 days at the very least, to see your overall profit margins increase.

SECRET 3 DONT FORGET THE POSTSCRIPTS

A postscript is simply the very last sentence or two of a sales page which begins with P.S.

Why are these so important?

Well it is a proven fact that after the headline, the closing section of a sales page tends to be the part read soonest. If the headline is good enough to keep the readers attention, they will very often go straight to the last section to see the price, the guarantee and the closing comments i.e the postscripts.

So the postscripts are your opportunity to put some of the key benefits of your product to the reader in summarised format. They also are your last chance to get the reader to take action.

Quite often a reader of your sales page will be interested in your offer, and fully intends to do something about it someday. What the postscripts can do is give them a reason to buy your product NOW without delay.

Several webmasters fail to see the significance of these postscripts but I and many others have found them to be a very useful tool indeed in boosting sales numbers.

P.S Ignore them at your peril!!

For more detailed information on this exciting topic, visit http://www.netmarketingzone.com to sign up for my FREE Mini-course How To Create Your Own Online CASH MACHINE In 5 Simple Steps and receive this complete report as a FREE GIFT!

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Its estimated that your prospect is inundated with 17 different solicitations in his mailbox every week. So, like most of us, he checks his mail with his sales-defense shields on high. He sorts his mail standing over a trash can, giving each piece about 3 seconds consideration before deciding its fate.

Your job is to get past those defenses and get your letter opened. And your envelope has a lot to do with your chances for success.

There are two common tactics in sales letter envelopes. Tactic #1 is to try getting in under the radar: Leave the envelope blank, hand write the address if possible, and leave the return address blank (or include only the actual address, with no company name). Hopefully, your prospect will mistake you for an actual personal letter, and youll at least get opened.

Tactic #2 is to come out with phasers on kill: Not only does your envelope admit to carrying a sales message inside, it actually launches into that message before its even opened with a headline printed right on the outside.

So which one works better? Well, Tactic #1 may be opened more often. But Tactic #2 will usually have a better response (with one important caveat, which well talk about in a minute). Why?

Because Tactic # 1 gets your envelope opened, but unfortunately, its for all the wrong reasons. Your prospect tore it open thinking it could be a letter from Dear Aunt Susie. Or perhaps an old Sweetheart who knew? Instead, hes hit between the eyes with a sleazy sales message! Hes immediately disappointed and a bit miffed, and the letter winds up in the round file after all.

Tactic #2 works better because its honest. When well done, it connects with the prospects core buying emotion and sets him up for the sale. It draws him in, tickling his desire from the get-go.

Notice I said, When well done. (Thats the important caveat). Teaser copy on an envelope is just like a headline: Its got to be good to work. Boring, irrelevant teasers get tossed. Me-based teasers get tossed.

But great teasers, the ones that look at the package from the prospects point of view, and speak directly to his core desires and emotions, get opened. And, if the letter inside continues to tap into those emotions, and fulfills the promises made in the teaser, a great teaser can deliver on the promise of a great response.

Does your marketing forge an emotional connection with your prospects? It can. Lisa Packer, author of “The Power Of Emotion: 6 Triggers That Turn Prospects Into Customers,” specializes in copy that does just that. Visit http://www.lisapacker.com today and discover how you can connect emotionally with your prospects and explode response!

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On 21st August 2006 the Royal Mail introduced a major change to the way in which postage is calculated within the UK. Called Pricing in Proportion the new system takes into account the size of the item as well as its weight. The size and thickness of an article determine its format; letter, large letter, or packet. Each format hs its own schedule of weight-band charges.

You can minimise your postal costs by understanding how the system works, and by employing the following strategies, you can exploit it to make substantial savings on your direct mail campaigns.

1) Smaller is Cheaper

It now costs more to send an A4 size letter. So fold the letter, put it in a DL or C5 envelopes and cut at least 12p from the postage cost per item.

2) Losing Weight Wastes Money

The weight bands applicable for each item format have been revised to create fewer, wider bands. For example the 0 to 60g band has been replaced by a 0 to 100g band. There are no rebates for weight allowances not used. So fill your marketing envelopes with more information about your business, more leaflets, more promotional flyers, more vouchers etc. It costs the same to send a 100g letter as it does a 60g so fill em up!

3) The Word is Flat

The thickness of an item is now as important as its size and its weight. Putting bulky items like pens into envelopes will push items up into the next format, and increase the postage cost. So think carefully about what items you want to include in your mailings and promotions. Flatter is cheaper.

4) More is Less

Using DL or C5 envelopes increases the range of Royal Mail bulk discount schemes available to you. These offer significant savings on postal costs. If you are planning direct mail campaigns make sure you know the requirements for each service. These include item size, address accuracy, item weight and number of items.

If your mailing meets the first three of these requirements consider increasing the number of items you plan to send. It may be well worth your while.
For example, you could save 9.79 on a mailing of 999 letter format items sent 2nd class just by making it a mailing of 1000 Cleanmail items and claiming the cheaper item rate.

Or you could save up to 471.65 on a 2nd class C4 mailing of 3999 items by making it a mailing of 4000 items.
Think bigger!

Pricing in Proportion is the biggest change in Royal Mail pricing for many years. Dont shy away from it. Exploit it! Seize the opportunities! You can make it work to your advantage.

About the author

Diana Lees is the Managing Director of the mailing house, MailRight Ltd., which specialises in the preparation, fulfilment and posting of direct mail campaigns. For more information on Pricing in Proportion or mailing advice derived from 16 years experience in the industry, visit http://mailright.co.uk/

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In business-to-business direct mail lead generation, sell your offer, not your product.

This sounds like lethal advice to a sales person, and it is, to a salesperson responsible for closing sales and meeting quota. But your direct mail is not responsible for closing a sale but for opening a dialogue. Your goal with a B2B lead generation letter, postcard, dimensional mailer or email is not to persuade prospects to buy but to motivate them to respond.

This makes perfect sense in B2B direct marketing more than anywhere else, particularly when you are selling to large companies, where:

1. Sales cycles are longer (months or years rather than days or weeks)
2. The buying process is more involved (gathering information on solutions, establishing specifications, requesting proposals, interviewing promising suppliers, checking trade references, testing the product, haggling over terms and price)
3. The buyer isnt a person, but a committee
4. The costs of making a poor buying decision are usually great

Not all B2B direct marketers face these challenges, of course. One of my clients, a Brazilian manufacturer of high-end womens footwear for the North American market, is able to generate sales with a simple two-step process. The company mails a postcard to prospective business buyers (womens fashion boutiques, for example), and offers a free pair when the prospect buys a case of shoes from the company website. The postcard generates the lead and the website closes the sale. Cha-ching.

But most B2B sales arent that simple. And thats why your B2B direct mail shouldnt sell your offering, which is your product or service. It should sell your offer, which is the incentive or reason you give prospects to respond now.

CALL NOW BECAUSE . . .
In practical terms, what this means is that your direct mail package should offer prospects something that is so compelling, valuable and exclusive that they take action and respond. They raise their hand, as we say in the trade, and show their interest. And they usually do that when you show, through your offer, that you can solve their problem.

When you are responsible for generating sales leads, focus on promoting your offer as the solution to your
target audiences pains before you start selling them on your company or product, says Russell Kern in
S.U.R.E.-Fire Direct Response Marketing, a book I highly recommend and sell from my website.

By phone, fax, email, web or mail, your prospects respond to your offer. Then you follow up with them, qualify them, sell them on the features and benefits of your offering, or nurture them until they are ready to buy.

Heres an example of selling the offer and not the offering. Every couple of months, I receive a phone call from an affable chap from Pitney Bowes. He doesnt try to sell me an expensive digital postage meter for my office. He doesnt tell me the mailstation^TM has a built-in scale. Or that it processes up to 20 pieces of mail per minute. Instead, he offers to let me test drive the postage meter risk-free for 60 daysand he throws in $30 in free postage to make me respond then and there.

That offer would work just as well with direct mail. Its a great lead generator because Pitney Bowes doesnt sell the digital postage meter. Thats the offering. They instead sell a free trial and free postage. Thats the offer.

When Pitney Bowes sells its high-volume mailing systems to larger accounts, it uses offers that match the needs of these prospects, which is not a simple trial or $30 in free postage. They offer:

• White papers: Managing Content Through the Enterprise
• Case studies: Bank of America Saves Millions in Postage and Operational Costs
• Featured articles: The Future of Mail
• Webinars and online presentations: Bringing Customer Communication Into The Boardroom

Whoever your target audience is, make your offer irresistible. And make sure your list is gold. After all, I should respond, take the Pitney Bowes trial, use the free postage and become a long-term customer. But, even though Ive enjoyed hearing their frequent sales pitches for the last two years, I remain a lousy prospect. But thats another topic altogether, isnt it?
2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).

—-
About the author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation specialist who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using business-to-business direct mail marketing. Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com.

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the author” message).

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