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Ideas/Section-3
Selling mailing lists can prove to be
a profitable
sideline to any mail order business. Many dealers reply on
"direct mail" to promote their goods or services.. They
are always interested in good, fresh prospects.
The most popular classifications of names are "Opportunity
Seekers", "Cash Customers" and "Mail Order Dealers"..
Mail
order dealers are the easiest names to obtain. To get
them,, all you have to do is copy the names & addresses of
advertisers from current mail order trade publications.
For a good selection of mail order magazines and
newspapers, and answer ads for "Big Mails".
"Opportunity Seekers" are those that are looking for ways
to earn extra income. "Cash Customers" are simply those
that have made purchases.
Never copy somebody else's lists. This
could involve you
in "copyright infringement", a federal offense.. Also,
you
could be duplicating old, stale lists. To be successful,
your names & addresses must be fresh and accurate. This
will keep your customers coming back again and again.
To start, you need a typewriter or someone to type the
names for you.... Look in your Yellow Pages under
"Secretarial Services". Or, contact mail order dealers
who
sell names.. Many of them will do your typing at
reasonable rates. Another suggestion is to contact the
typing teacher of your local high school or business
college.. Students love to earn spending money-and it's
good practice for them, too.
The best way to have the names typed is
across the
page.... Use white paper and a fresh black or red
typewriter ribbon-never blue.. Each 8 1/2" x 11" page
will
easily hold 50 names. Each page should also be carefully
coded in either upper corner as to the page number,
classification and date typed. Use any code you wish, but
one of the easiest is like this: "3CC10169". This means
page 3, cash customers, typed October 16, 1979.
The date is extremely important.. People change addresses
rapidly in this country. Names more than 6 months old may
be outdated. After this period of time, it is best to
throw these names away. Or, you can make a "follow-up"
mailing to each name on your lists. Send these letters
first class with your return address plainly visible.
Those that are "nixies" (undeliverable for one reason
or
another), should be deleted. Instead of typing the
complete corrected list over again, you can have
replacement names typed on a separate piece of paper. Then
carefully cut out and paste a replacement name over each
name that is no longer usable.
After the names are neatly typed,, take
them to your
printer. It will cost you about 3 cents to 4 cents to have
each sheet printed, if you order 100 copies at a time.
This means that every 100 copies of each page will cost
you between $3 and $4, but can be worth $100.00 to $300.00
-depending upon what you decide to charge per 100 names.
The best way to establish the "going price" is to check
the ads of other mailing list dealers in mail order trade
publications. Never charge the most, or the least. The
middle of the road is always best.
To promote your new mailing list service, run ads like
this: FREE 50 fresh names of Opportunity Seekers! Free
for long self-addressed stamped envelope! (Your name &
address)". Ads like this will save you postage and
envelope costs.
When orders come in from your free list,
also include a
price list of other names you have for sale. Somewhere on
your price list, say something like "GUARANTEED
DELIVERABLE! We supply 10 free names for every one that is
returned!" This will cinch the sale, keep your customers
happy and coming back for more!
And for every customer that answers your ads and/or buys
names from you, you have another name to add to your
mailing lists!
