I’m currently in the midst of doing some more research on the social medium and its applications in the catalog/multichannel industry. If your company is using social media and wants to be profiled in a future column, e-mail me at jimdirect@aol.com.
In the meantime, if you're looking to grow your housefile, there are a number of ways to generate new catalog requests and orders beyond the traditional list rental model. I've successfully used the following three services many times in the recent past.
These companies are especially helpful to retailers operating in niche markets where there aren't enough names to mail from rented lists.
You can use these sites to research lists not openly available on the rental market, and to get your catalog listed to generate catalog requests and orders.
- Catalogs.com (www.catalogs.com) offers in-depth descriptions of the catalogs it promotes, along with links to the catalogers’ Web sites, allowing for further research on a particular product, price, etc. This helps you gauge whether a catalog’s list may be a good fit for your business. Getting your catalog listed on this site will help you add new customers within your allowable cost per acquisition.
- ShopAtHome (www.shopathome.com) is a catalog of catalogs that’s been put out for years by the Belcaro Group. It has both prominent and more obscure catalogs listed in its pages. Its Web site serves as a good research tool, too. Getting your company listed is a great way to increase business.
- Grey House Publishing (www.greyhouse.com/marketing.htm) offers both online and offline research. Its "Directory of Mail Order Catalogs" is one of the largest catalog resources available.
Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com. You can also follow Jim on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect.
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.