Brian Kurtz

Richard V. Benson, consultant and author of “Secrets of Successful Direct Mail” 1. Lists are the most important ingredient to the success of any promotional mailing. C. Rose Harper, first woman to serve as chairperson of the Direct Marketing Association, Direct Marketing Hall of Fame inductee, and former president of The Kleid Co. 2. Direct marketing companies don’t have a single mailing list — they have many. How many? Only segmentation will tell. Your opportunities to segment a customer file into marketing units when purchasing behavioral characteristics are vast. Thus, while the marketing Information network (mIn; www.minokc.com) offers more than 42,000

Editor’s Note: The original article from which this was adapted, “Data Cards: Guilty Until Proven Innocent” by Hallie Mummert, was based largely on the views of Brian Kurtz of Boardroom Reports. It appeared in the October 1994 issue of Target Marketing magazine. Updated information has been added here by Linda Huntoon, executive vice president of Direct Media. List research typically begins with the data card. This paper (or electronic) sales vehicle is used by list owners and managers to market the vital statistics (e.g., size, price, profile, selects, minimum order, address options) on the lists they represent. For the cataloger in search of

By Denny Hatch Periodically I get phone calls from fledgling entrepreneurs who have great products and want to get into direct mail. "What else have you got?" is always my first question. "Wha ... what do you mean?" "What other products?" "This is my only product." I say, "In the words of consultant Susan McIntyre: 'The key to long-term profitability is to build a large house list of repeat buyers.' That's true for any direct marketing business—catalog or otherwise." "But don't you want to hear about my product?" "What does it sell for?" "Uh, $20, maybe." "Test it in space," I tell