Learn to use innovative ways to do direct mail marketing or email campaigns. Targeting your customer base, and developing a successful direct or email marketing strategy is very important in getting your name in front of people. It's a numbers game, but not a simple game. When a website and company needs to reach it's target market, it is important to use effective and targeted mailing campaigns. The easiest is to build and maintain a database of clients that you can periodically send mailings to. If they are emails, they need to have an opt out or unsubscribe options to avoid spamming issues. Direct physical mail to a very specific niche group or customers can pay high dividends now and in the future. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION BLOG - Free expert advice on email, direct mail, website marketing and web SEO, SEM optimization. There are book titles and mail marketing companies available to assist you. Use as many resources as you can. Read articles and search for free information on the Internet. Direct Mail and email marketing assistance awaits you. Use the following book titles and resources to help get you started. Recommended Books: Successful Direct Marketing Methods - This thoroughly revised edition of Successful Direct Marketing Methods --the "bible" of direct marketing-- includes expanded material on the Internet and other digital media and brand new information on E-business (including E-communications, banners, buttons, E-mail, permission marketing). Also includes E-commerce (online merchandising and usability and navigation of websites) and E-services (online customer service, live operators, online chats, linking with call centers); up-to-the minute coverage of database marketing including data mining and online databases; expanded coverage of consumer privacy issues; new information on customer relationship marketing and teleservices-- and more! Direct Marketing Techniques: Building Your Business Using Direct Mail and Direct Response Advertising - This book is packed with hundreds of great ideas and proven direct marketing techniques that the author has used successfully in building a multimillion-dollar business. This is a "quick start" approach that entrepreneurs can use to expand their businesses. Learning Objectives: To show ways to build your business with direct marketing. To explain a direct marketing campaign. To show how to use direct response advertising. Direct Marketing: Strategy, Planning, Execution - The "master strategist of direct marketing" has enhanced his classic reference with a wealth of proven direct mail strategies for the Internet age. This eagerly awaited edition adds in-depth information on profitable use of the Web for direct response sales, as well as increased coverage of alternative media, infomercials, telemarketing, and database marketing. Business To Business Direct Marketing - Discloses how to profit from the most important weapon in the business-to-business marketer's arsenal: direct marketing. Provides realworld examples of how the professionals consistently increase response and generate better leads. DLC: Industrial marketing. Featured Article: 10 Common Direct Mail Mistakes and How to Avoid Them By Avery Manko Successful direct mail does not need to be elaborate full color printing or creative design. The major factors contributing to a successful direct mail program are in the planning and implementing of the program. Avoid the following common blunders when developing your next mailing. 1. Ignoring the most important factor in direct mail success: the list. Not spending enough time and effort upfront when you select your list can lead to wasting money and time. In direct mail, a mailing list is not just a way of reaching your market: it is your market. Get your ad agency or list broker involved in the early stages to help you identify and select the best list. 2. Not tracking or testing. Many marketers seldom test one mailing piece against another. As a result, they repeat their failures and have no idea of what works. 3. Giving up too easily. Marketers need to be patient with mailings. Prospects may need to see your name several times before they take action. 4. Not having an offer. A well-thought-out offer is essential in a successful mailing. A prospect needs something to which to respond. Studies have shown that the most impactful word is “free.” 5. Too verbose. Get to the point quickly. Prospects are too busy to read and interpret lengthy (and sometimes boring) content. 6. Saving the best for last. Saving the strongest sales pitch for the end and hoping to build to a climatic conclusion will ensure disaster. A typical prospect reads for only a few seconds before deciding whether to continue reading or throw your mailing in the trash. 7. Poor follow-up. Your mailing will yield greater results if you phone your prospects soon after the mailing. In addition, slow fulfillment of literature requests will destroy the initial interest that you worked so hard to build. 8. Not using the magic words. “Free gift”, “no obligation”, “details inside”, “limited time only” are examples of cliché phrases that still get results. 9. Starting with the product – not with the prospect. You or your product is not important to the prospect. The reader only wants to know, “What’s in it for me?” 10. Creating and editing direct mail by committee. The fewer people who are involved the better. Copy re-writes and graphic design changes can cost money and time and typically have little effect on the results of the mailing. Avery Manko is the owner of The Manko Company, a marketing consulting firm in West Chester, PA. His firm specializes in developing and implementing marketing programs for small and medium sized businesses. Contact him at 610-725-9844 or avery@mankocompany.com. For more about The Manko Company, go to mankocompany.com