"Don't Buy That Mailing List Yet... Here's One for Free."
Two marketing tools often utilized by small businesses are direct mail and telemarketing.
If you aren't using either of these two guerilla marketing techniques in your small business - you're missing out on some big profits.
Contrary to popular belief, there are people who do buy things over the phone. (Or at least take free-trials.) The great telemarketers with their customized scripts will make 1 sale every 12 minutes. I used to work at a telemarketing job in high school and earned about 20-22$ per hour on commission, while my friends were stuck with minimum wage in the $4 range. This lead me to believe that sales is something trainable, perfectable, and profitable! - when scripted and practiced. (duh!)
Both methods cost very little to implement, and only require a little time and effort to make happen. You can expect about a 3-5% response rate for your direct mail and telemarketing calls on average, and maybe up to 15% or more if you have your postcards professionally designed, or telemarketing scripts professionally written.
Having your marketing materials created by someone who professionally practices marketing for a living, usually pays for itself, and then some. I mean, really - would you perform a surgical procedure on yourself, or leave the job to a medical surgeon? Chances are you'd come out with less scaring, opting for the professional, and the same is true in marketing.
However you decide to create your postcards, direct mail letters, or telemarketing scripts, there is a business to business source of mailing lists that most people tend to over look - and best of all, it probably won't cost you a dime because it's sitting in your drawer right now.
When looking to start a direct mail or telemarketing campaign, it seems that all businesses rush out to buy a list of names, numbers, addresses, and whatever other contact info they can get their hands on. Most people forget about The Yellow Pages as a source for hundreds of businesses' phone numbers and addresses in their areas. What's more is that The Yellow Pages are categorized for you so you can easily find your target businesses if your product is industry specific.
If your a business that caters to individuals, although its not as targeted as purchased lists are, as long as you have a product that would benefit no one person in particular, there's a book out there called The White Pages for you!
If you don't have a version of the book in print, or want to extend outside your local community - try The Online Yellow Pages.
You have hundreds of leads in your drawer right now, and millions more on the internet. - use them up and save some money before buying a list!
If you aren't using either of these two guerilla marketing techniques in your small business - you're missing out on some big profits.
Contrary to popular belief, there are people who do buy things over the phone. (Or at least take free-trials.) The great telemarketers with their customized scripts will make 1 sale every 12 minutes. I used to work at a telemarketing job in high school and earned about 20-22$ per hour on commission, while my friends were stuck with minimum wage in the $4 range. This lead me to believe that sales is something trainable, perfectable, and profitable! - when scripted and practiced. (duh!)
Both methods cost very little to implement, and only require a little time and effort to make happen. You can expect about a 3-5% response rate for your direct mail and telemarketing calls on average, and maybe up to 15% or more if you have your postcards professionally designed, or telemarketing scripts professionally written.
Having your marketing materials created by someone who professionally practices marketing for a living, usually pays for itself, and then some. I mean, really - would you perform a surgical procedure on yourself, or leave the job to a medical surgeon? Chances are you'd come out with less scaring, opting for the professional, and the same is true in marketing.
However you decide to create your postcards, direct mail letters, or telemarketing scripts, there is a business to business source of mailing lists that most people tend to over look - and best of all, it probably won't cost you a dime because it's sitting in your drawer right now.
When looking to start a direct mail or telemarketing campaign, it seems that all businesses rush out to buy a list of names, numbers, addresses, and whatever other contact info they can get their hands on. Most people forget about The Yellow Pages as a source for hundreds of businesses' phone numbers and addresses in their areas. What's more is that The Yellow Pages are categorized for you so you can easily find your target businesses if your product is industry specific.
If your a business that caters to individuals, although its not as targeted as purchased lists are, as long as you have a product that would benefit no one person in particular, there's a book out there called The White Pages for you!
If you don't have a version of the book in print, or want to extend outside your local community - try The Online Yellow Pages.
You have hundreds of leads in your drawer right now, and millions more on the internet. - use them up and save some money before buying a list!
posted by William Royall at 1:01 PM
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