"How To Instantly Make Up
To 10-Times More Money
With Mailing Lists!"

by Russ von Hoelscher

     At the very center of any direct mail effort is the mailing list you use.  Powerful copywriting, expert printing, good graphics, etc., are very important - but mailing lists are the heart of any direct mail effort.

    Mailing lists fall under three categories:

    1. In-House Lists

    2. Mail Response Lists

    3. Compiled Lists

    An in-house list is by far a company's most precious commodity.  These are the people who have ordered or inquired from a company at least once.  Within the in-house list, at the very core, ate the company's "family jewels" -the multiple buyers - the best of all the house names. 

    The mail response lists are names that have responded to another company's offer, that is, a company other than yours.  Several thousands of these "response" lists in all fields and classifications are available on the mailing list rental market.

    Standard Rate & Data Services, Inc. 3004 Glenview Road, Wilmette, IL 60091, publishes the "mailing list bibles" for both business lists and consumer lists: the Direct Mail Lists, Rates and Data Directories.

    In thumbing through their huge directories, you will find thousands of response and compiled lists in almost any classification you can possibly think of, as well as many that probably never entered your mind.

     Compiled lists are generally not as responsive as lists generated from actual orders and inquiries.  However, in special cases, results can be satisfying when using recently compiled lists.

    Compiled lists are often the only available means of reaching some specific markets.  Compiled lists can be as broad as listings of millions of home owners to a selective list of names and addresses of people who own homes valued at one million dollars or more.

    Thousands of compiled lists are available, and new classifications are constantly appearing.  However, in most cases, mail order information sellers must use proven response lists to obtain good results.

    One big factor concerning all types of mailing lists (yours, theirs, or compiled) is recency.

    You should mail to your own house list at least our times or more per year to keep the list fresh and responsive.

    When possible, mail to rented response lists that are new on the list market or a proven list that has just recently been cleaned (with wrong addresses, no longer responsive customers, etc., removed). 

"Hot Line" Mailing Lists Will Work Best

    A "hot line" list usually contains a company's most recent buyers names.  In most cases, that means buyers within the most recent 90-day period.  Obviously, these names will be the most responsive.

    If a company has a recent 10,000 "hot line" and a "main list" of 100,000, you should test the hot line first.  If it doesn't work for your offer, the bigger main list most certainly won't either.

    On the other hand, if the hot line pulls well, you most definitely would want to test a larger portion of the main list.  You must consider, however, that there will be a drop-off in response once you begin using names from the master file.

    Example: Let's say you mail to the 10,000 hot line and obtain a 2% response (two orders for every 100 direct mail pieces mailed). Rather than a gung-ho mailing to the entire big main list of 100,000 older names, you should test only 5,000 or 10,000 names from that company's main mailing list.

    Remember, a company's entire list may contain many names that are many months to many years old.  And because of this, you need to realize that your response probably won't be as favorable as from the more recent hot line names.

    Over the years, I have noted that the drop-off in response percentages between hot line and older names averages between 20-30%.  Thus, a 2% return from hot line names could potentially fall to around 1.5% once you begin using the company's larger and older mailing list.

    That's a big difference!  A 25% drop in response percentage could turn a profitable direct mail campaign into a losing one.  Testing a portion of the larger list is the only way to know whether the larger list will be profitable or not.

Cheap Lists Are A Waste Of Money

    The going rate for mailing lists most likely to be rented by information sellers (opportunity seekers, book buyers, etc.) has been $80 - $120 per 1,000 names.  Beware of lists costing less!

    Everyone likes a bargain.  But I could fill many pages in this report with horror stories of mailers who have used cheap lists.

    Not all cheap lists are worthless, but the vast majority of them are.  A company or mailing list broker who is peddling names at a big discount is often offering old response names, questionable compiled names, and/or overused names.  Ninety-nine times out of 100 that spells disaster!  Buyer beware.

    Why else would a list broker be selling cheap names?  There is a HUGE market of companies who want to rent these lists.  It's the law of supply and demand.  The only way GOOD lists would be sold so cheap is if the market was bad.  That certainly isn't the case.

    The names you use will always be just a small part of the total cost of your mailing. Postage and printed matter costs will always take the biggest "bite" out of any direct mail budget.

    You don't save money by using a cheap mailing list.  Instead, you lose money!  Never get caught up in trying to buy cheap lists to cut costs.  In the end - you'll always lose. 

    Since there are many highly suspect mailing lists out there, plus more than a little "flim-flam" in the list business, it is generally a good idea to do all your mailing list business through reputable brokers, not with someone who runs a little ad in a magazine, offering great prices on mailing lists.

    Direct mail is a one-to-one medium that lets you reach a select target market.  To be successful, you must use a good list.

There's Gold In These Names!

    Your own mailing list can be a chief source of additional revenue.  The main purpose of your in-house list - customer or inquiries - is to generate follow-up business.  A profitable secondary use of these lists is income obtained from renting your names to other mail order dealers.

    Profits from renting your names to other companies can be very substantial.  A list renting for $60 per thousand will yield $48 to you after paying the normal 20% brokerage fee.

    With some mail order operations, capital received from renting their own customer lists represents a major part of overall profits.

More Money From Your Great Names

    The prime reason to build you customer list is to keep selling those fine folks more of what you sell.

    And again, a super money-producing secondary reason can be the big extra profits available in renting out your names to other marketers.  Your profits from renting your list to other mailers can be substantial.

    The secret of the direct response marketing game is names.  Build your in-house list!  It can make you rich!

Another Great Way To Make More Money With Your List

    Trading your customer list with another mail order book company can also be an excellent way to achieve more direct mail business.

    In trading with a competitor, be certain you are trading "apples for apples."

    If you are furnishing 5,000 recent buyers, you want 5,000 of their recent buyers in exchange.  You don't want a list of two-year old buyers or a list of inquires only.

    Any dealer who doesn't want to handle his/her own mailing list rentals or trades can hire a mailing list manager to handle these transactions.  This can work very well in the hands of an experienced professional.

    Most list managers take a 10% to 15% commission for their service.  With both their managing fee and the regular brokerage commission, you (as the list owner) will receive 65% to 70% of all dollars obtained from your in-house list.

    That's less than the 80% you receive when you manage your own names.  However, a mailing list manager with plenty of trade contacts may easily earn his or her fee in obtaining a windfall of profitable business for you.

Are You Renting Or Selling?

    Most mailing list transactions are rentals, not sales.  They are usually for only a one-time use.  Be careful not to get the two confused. 

    To avoid confusion and to avoid the unpaid multiple use of any names you offer to rent or trade, make certain you and/or your list broker or manager spells this out under your terms and conditions to all users.

    A few "seeds" (names you make up and put on you list) can also help assure that no one is renting your names and then using them in any unauthorized fashion.

Selectivity Brings Success

    With postage costs at "dangerous highs" (dangerous to profit-minded direct mail order entrepreneurs!), it is more important than ever to carefully select the mailing lists you test and use.

    Start by doing more mailing to your own "in-house" list of buyers if you have developed one.  They know you and will almost always respond better than any list you can rent.

    When testing new lists, always test "Hot line" lists first.  Next, make certain that the people on the list have purchased an item that is similar to what you are going to offer.

    You also want to mail to people who have recently paid as much or more for what they recently bought as the price you will be asking now.  You should rarely, if ever, mail your $195 offer to a list of people who purchased a product for only $19.95.

    Mailing lists are the key to direct mail sales.  More than ever before, the mail order marketer must be extremely diligent and very wise in making list selections.

    The wrong list can break you faster than you can blink!   

    But picking the right lists can make you rich.  With both postage and printing costs going "through the roof," you simply must mail the right offer to the right people.

Your List Can Make You Rich!

    In direct response (mail order) marketing, the name of the game is names.  Good names. Responsive names.  And more and more of them!

    I don't care what you're selling - information, gifts, special services, fruit cakes, or furs, whatever - you need those good names.  Those lists can make you rich!

    Your own in-house mailing list is your most precious commodity.  These are the wonderful people who have ordered or inquired directly to you.  Treat these magnificent men and women to the best care and service that you can muster.  Within their ranks is every success that you strive for.

    All that is required are decent products and EXCEPTIONAL service. Treat people right and they will respond likewise.  Treat you customers to exceptional service, and you'll need to hire more help to keep up with the increased business!

THE 80/20 RULE   

    The 80/20 rule is alive and well in direct response marketing.  I find that about 80% to 90% of all mail order/direct response business is generated from only 10% to 20% of my customers.

    However, to continue to increase the ranks of those indispensable 10% to 20% of my customers who become multiple buyers (the company "jewels"), I must continue to market to new buyers.  You must do likewise.

The Best Customer-Building Technique

    New customers are the "life-blood" of our business. There are three ways to "capture" new customers and build your in-house list:

         1. Get their order

         2. Get their inquiry

         3. Give them something free (a powerful marketing method)

    Actually, there are other ways of getting new business, such as using telemarketing, etc.  However, here we'll stick to primary mail-order methods.

    Bringing in new people via order or inquires are traditional methods.  The "freebie" is a masterful result-building technique that I've fined-tuned for mega personal success.

    When someone buys something from you, they have become your customer.  When they contact you and request more details, they must be treated like a good customer, even though they are still only a "potential" customer.

        Important tip: When writing ads or letters to entice people to send for your sales literature, tell them to write or call for your "Free Information."  This term is far more convincing than the unimaginative slogan "free details."

      A far better way to obtain a box-car full of response is to offer potential customers an honest-to-goodness FREE GIFT.

    Your freebie need not be expensive.  In fact, it should not be.  It should, however, be perceived as valuable by your target audience.

    I'm fond of giving away paper and ink in the form of booklets or reports.  I've generated many millions of dollars in sales for my clients and myself with this incredibly successful tactic.

    Others have been very successful by offering small gift items - pens, cassette tapes, food stuffs, candy, etc.  Almost any type o widget will work, as long as the type of person you want to reach and sell your product perceives it as valuable.

    Why does a freebie work so very well to introduce you and your products to potential new customers?  If done correctly, it builds trust!

    Potential buyers are skeptical.  Chances are they have already been ripped off.

    In recent years, several good copywriters have become "slime-bags."  For the right price, they'll sell their words to a client who will pay their price. 

    Forget about quality products, worthwhile books and reports, or services of merit. Anyone with cash gets the hard tight copy. 

    You know how it reads:

Make $1,000,000 In 30 Days
***
Lose 30 Pounds In 7 Days
***
Why Are We Giving Away
Real Diamond Rings
For Only $49.95?

        And so on, and so on, and so on...

    I hate that kind of garbage.  It has tarnished our beloved industry.  It has also forced "good guys" in this business, like Baron Russel Alfred Thomas von Hoelscher (yours truly!) to sometimes put more "hard-sell" into our copy than we may prefer to. 

    Let's face it, you gotta compete with them and beat them.  You don't, however, have to crawl into the gutter with them.

    I also realize that if millions of people did not expect something for nothing, or did not think they might get rich quickly without any effort, or did not seek overnight cures to all their problems, we would not see so many outrageously dishonest ads and mailings.  The schemers need the dreamers!

    Enough self-righteous rambling.  Like I've said, many fine folks have been ripped off a time or two before they came upon your fie offer.  They're more than a little skeptical. 

    However, a genuine free offer is hard to pass up, especially if it offers a benefit they seek.  The right free offer erases doubt and builds confidence. 

    That, my esteemed friend, opens the door to future ales.  Try it, and expect big results. 

    Seek new and more creative ways to build your own customer file.  These good names are worth a fortune to you.  Use them!

Keep In Touch

    Since multiple buyers are your most precious asset, keep in touch with your significant customers.

    Who is significant?  Anyone who has bought anything from you within the past twelve months, and in some cases, the past two years!

    You should make no less than four mailings to your active customer mailing list every year, offering them related services and/or products.

    Also, don't ever let a "live wire" cool off.  Once everyone has made their first purchase from you, do three things always:

        1. Thank them for their order.

        2. Include other offers of yours in the order package that you send them.

        3. Make a follow-up mailing to them (offering related goods or services).  Try to do this within thirty days from the date of their first order.

    Keep in touch with everyone on your active customer list.  Offer them good stuff at fair prices, and give them the best service they ever received from a direct response marketing company.

    That won't be too difficult to do.  Most companies today, from the corner market to the mail order catalog house, are not treating their customers well, doing a little on your part to keep a customer happy can go a long way toward increasing your sales and profits!

How To Pick The Best Lists To test

    The fastest way to make more money is to find a good list and rent a portion of it for a test.  As I've told you throughout this report, the only way you're going to increase your customer list is to test various lists and study the results.  Roll out with the lists that are profitable and avoid the lists that are not.

    So, how do you pick the best lists to test?  You must know your niche market.  What products or services are you selling?  Who is your average customer?

    Armed with that information, you can find a mailing list of proven buyers of related kinds of products.

    My guess is that you sell some kind of money-making opportunity or service.  That's the reason you're reading this report.  And, I also guess that you are searching for a way to make the most money with mailing lists.  Am I right?  I thought so.

    I have been in the Mail-Order business for a little over thirty years now, and I have studied thousands of different money-making plans and programs.  I know who's mailing what and whether they're a success.

    It's my business...It's what I do.  I also know what mailing lists work.  And I want to tell you about a red-hot mailing list that I know can potentially make you a fortune!   

    It's my own list!  And now I'm making this incredible red-hot, responsive mailing list available to you.

    If you have any kind of money-making opportunity or service, you simply MUST order a test of this mailing list!  It's one of the most responsive lists on the market today!

    I know...You're thinking, "Of course he's gonna tell me his lists are the best."

    Like I said just a moment ago...I have been in the Mail-Order business for over thirty years now - so I know what mailing lists are being offered on the market.  You probably rented some mailing lists that were garbage.  I know I have.

    The only way you're going to get new customers is to keep on testing new lists from other Mail-Order companies.  It would would be easier if we never had to get new customers.

How Much Should You Test?                  

    How much you test depends on several factors.  The average company rents 5,000 names as a first test.  Some less...Some more.

    You can actually test whatever amount you want.  Just make sure you do it!  Your company can never grow - unless you are constantly testing new mailing lists.

    Look.  You are reading this Special Report because you are interested in making more money with mailing lists.  I don't know what product
you sell or service you offer.  But, what I do know is this:  If you sell a money-making plan or service, my list can work for you!  All you have to do is order a small test and prove it to yourself!

    Remember, of all the aspects of a successful Mail-Order marketing campaign, which list you mail to is the most important.  A bad sales letter selling the right product to the right people will always make money.  But if you have the wrong list (and hence the wrong prospect), it doesn't matter if your sales letter was written by a copy writing genius.

    You cannot sell a product to a group of people who are not interested in that product.  That's why the LIST is the most important part of your marketing process.

    I have shown you, throughout this report, that you can make a lot of money with Mailing Lists...I've shown you that the best list to have is your "in-house" list.  And the only way you're going to build up your house list is to rent a "response" list from another company.

    I have included, with this Special Report, a Special Flyer that tells you about the hottest opportunity-buyers list on the market I know, because it's my list!  This list can make you money, if you will use it!  Order a small test today!

    Many mailing lists become old and unresponsive very quickly.  And the people managing the lists never do anything to "weed-out" the bad names.

    But my mailing lists are different.  My lists are digitally updated daily - so you get the freshest, most responsive lists available!  I have special people who monitor our lists closely - and get rid of bad names.  This gives you the best list available!

    We also let you test as few as 500 or 1,000 names, although a test of 2,500 or more is usually going to give you a much stronger test.

    Here are some often-asked Questions and Answers concerning the business-building Hotline "Mailing Lists."