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DM Tips #28 - December 2004 Hard to Find The Ideal Lists Published as a resource for your direct marketing work. Depend on FCC for imaginative, results-producing creative work, including direct mail - web - e-mail - ads - more! http://www.fried-cas.com --ininfo@fried-cas.com |
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Dear Friend, Life is too short to miss out on its great pleasures. These can range from the cool feeling of a breeze to the warmth of sunlight to the delightful company of good friends, and yes, even to appreciation of an exciting marketing campaign. I hope you are enjoying all that you can....especially in this Holiday Season!
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How to Find The Ideal Lists or Secrets of the Road to List Riches by Albert Fried-Cassorla This article will show you: |
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First, a disclaimer.... tyour best list is almost always your house list. That is, in general you will do far better with a list of your list of current customers and prospects identified from prior campaigns than you will from rented lists. But house lists have their limitations in terms of number of records available and in other ways... so on with our story! Yes, you can find any kind of rentable list -- even one of glockenspiel buyers. You say you don't want to find glockenspiel buyers? Then I won't bore you with my "glockenspiel spiel." Could I perhaps I could interest you in a hot list
of flugelhorn fans? My point is that in direct mail list biz almost any kind of special interest list can be found and bought. That includes both consumer or B2B categories. Being highly observant, you noticed that I said "direct mail" and not e-marketing. That's not due to throwback terminology; it's just reality. E-mail lists are wonderfully useful but have nowhere near the richness of their postal mail counterparts. Before touching on some essentials of List Queries, let me fulfill a promise... In my sub-head I spoke of "secrets." The most valuable secrets in list buying are the names of talented list brokers whom you can depend on! Here at FCC, we have long used a few key, trusted list brokers. This means testing their responsiveness - both their knowledge and their commitment to long-range results (as opposed to a quick sales of a list that does not work). If you want to "do it yourself," check the vendor section of www.dmnews.com, which is http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/listindex.cgi. Or www.targetmarketingmag.com or any other prominent direct marketing resource site. Or, call us and we will help you get the list you desire. All of the best list brokers (including us) will help you figure out what you left out (inevitably) of your carefully constructed List Query. In addition, they will be inventive in helping you meet you needs. So here are some tips on designing your List query. This document will tell your list vendor the basics of what he or she needs to know to deliver the data you seek. Make sure your List query includes: Special Consumer Lists considerations Household lists come in all varieties, with the clearest breakdown being between compiled (lists derived from public sources) or response. Response lists are derived from buying actions taken by the customer listed. Business-to-Business Needs B2B is equally diverse. Some of the obvious data fields you may specify are: title, sales volume, number of employees, SIC code (industry classification) and more. You know all of this? Fair enough. But do you know about pre-canvassing? This is a tactic of telephone calling a list before mailing. The purpose is to confirm that the person reached is a decision-makers for whatever you're selling via mail. Thus, a rented list may whittle down from 5,000 names to say 2,500. No harm done! You have avoided mailing to the other non-relevant 2,500. This alone will win you the Employee of the Month Award! Of course, much more can be written about list queries. But those are just a few essentials. Don't forget to tell your broker or list manager
when you want them to reply and how: e-mailed, fax. Tell them your preferred
format: word document, spreadsheet, pdf, etc. Odds and Ends…. Dis-Improvements and Improvements These are oddments of modern life I am enjoying identifying. "Dis-improvement" is a word I've coined and which is distressingly applicable to many situations. As in "Dis here is a dis-improvement, buddy!" Some apply to DM, some don't. DO you have a few to add (with credit given) to an upcoming issue? Then send them along! I don't need a matching set in each case. Dis-Improvement #1 - The disappearance of classical music from Philadelphia radio in the evenings. Improvement - The addition of classical music via streaming web sites such as wqxr.com. Dis-Improvement #2 -
Cell phone calls heard during a movie or concert. Improvement - The same
appliance - a cell phone - telling you that a loved one is OK. Albert Fried-Cassorla is a direct response copywriter and president of Fried-Cassorla Communications, a direct marketing agency. He also serves as as President of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association. He may be reached at albert@fried-cas.com or 215-635-5189. Find out how Fried-Cassorla Communications has used direct mail, e-mail and other media to achieve spectacular results! Visit www.fried-cas.com -- read our Success Stories on our work for Merck & Company, UNISYS, GMAC, CIGNA, Scott Paper Company and others! Then contact us at info@fried-cas.com to see how we can help you with your challenges! |
 E-Newsleters like this one and many others are being used by organizations to generate more business. When combined with well-executed public relations, you get a potent one-two marketing punch. Join me for a FREE Webinar set for Tuesday, Dec. 7th, noon to 12:45. The Webinar uses the web for visual such as a Powerpoint and other items to see. A limited number of "virtual seats" are available. In the session, I will be covering:
Let me know and thanks! To sign up, send an e-mail to me at albert@fried-cas.com. This conference will be hosted by BDS. BDS provides software and services for CRM systems. CRM systems can help
you with your E-Newsletter: |
Add muscle to your direct response creative work! Let us help boost your response with powerful copywriting and design! Contact Fried-Cassorla Communications, Inc. now at 215-635-5189 (USA) or info@fried-cas.com |
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Photos : Niagara Falls! To say that Niagara Falls is beautiful, splendid and a force of nature is to say the obvious. But to visit the Falls and feel the power and beauty for yourself -- well, that is an experience everyone should enjoy. So you can and should go. Meanwhile... |
Here is one of the next best things to being there: PHOTOS from our trip! |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Want to boost your e-mail results? Let us help you turn pixels into profits! Call Fried-Cassorla Communications at 215-635-5189 or e-mail info@fried-cas.com! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association invites you to these exciting December events! 1. PDMA Holiday Auction, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004
2. Behind the Scenes with QVC and PDMA, Tuesday, Dec. 14th
Click HERE to Register for these exciting events! The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association was founded in the 1942 as the Philadelphia Direct Mail Club. The organization conducts many events around the year, including educational conferences and seminars, in addition to philanthropic events. Be a part of the essential organization for direct marketers - PDMA! Click HERE for membership information. |
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Looking for an agency to handle your public relations? Fried-Cassorla Communications can help! P.R. is its own specialty -- intensive, custom-crafted communications to get your story out to the media and to your target market. An effective public relations function is not an afterthought. It is a carefully planned management strategy that can yield more credibility and better results than advertising. Contact us to discuss your needs today! 215-635-5189 or e-mail info@fried-cas.com! |
Movie Comments Ahhh, movies. The great escape into an alternate celluloid reality. For my opinions of Sideways, The Incredibles, Kinsey and more just click HERE. |
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Philosophy Club meeting Tuesday, January 4th, 11:30 am A pleasure I would like to share with you is the reading and discussion of philosophy. My brother-in-law Tom Petersen and I have founded this club (a two-person opertation until now). We typically read parts of a book, not usually an entire one. That makes life easier for hard-working souls. So far, we have read selections from Plato, Epicurus and Francis Bacon. If you would like to join us in peprson, our next gathering is over lunch at The Little Dipper in Elkins Park. I can give you directions if you are interested, and maybe even the text of our next reading, The Symposium (also called The Banquet) (50 pages) from The Great |
Dialogues of Plato. The full text is available online. Go the Project Gutenberg, at http://promo.net/pg/. In the search area, enter Plato under Author. Scroll down to Plato. Go to Symposium, and then choose a download source. Or buy the book! If you are interested in participating in person, or perhaps in reflecting via email, send me a note at albert@fried-cas.com |
We have helped many companies successfully reach B2B and consumer markets with our relevant, interesting newsletters. We approach the challenge from the view point of the customer. What do they want to know, read or be entertained by? Communications for our newsletter clients deliver value, not hype. That means results for you. See the Success Stories on our web site, or even better... give us a call! 215-635-5189 (USA) or info@fried-cas.com |
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 Humor................. Hoover the Talking Seal I give this creature my unequivocal... (can you guess what's coming?) Click HERE. A Merry Christmas Cool Greeting Card! Play along right by visiting Santa and His Reindeer. Just click on THIS link. A Yiddish Primer - Here's something Flash-instructive for those who love this varied, nuance language. An educational recitation from the best-selling parody by Ellis Weiner and B. Get your Yid Vid Lit here. |
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To be removed from our mailing list, just write back and ask us to do so. On the other hand, why not pass around the helpful info? We welcome new subscribers! "Imaginative Direct Marketing and Advertising" e-mail: albert@fried-cas.com Discover resources for marketers at www.fried-cas.com ---phone: 215-635-5189 fax: 215-635-0461 © Copyright 2004 by Fried-Cassorla Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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--How to Find
the Ideal Lists by Albert Fried-Cassorla