SELECTING THE BEST IN-HOUSE eMAIL NAMES, FAX NUMBERS, AND POSTAL LISTS FOR YOUR SUCCESS

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

USING BULK E-MAIL, FAX-BLAST, AND MASS-MAIL
TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS:
(Answers to some of the actual questions that customers have asked us over the years)

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USING BULK E-MAIL TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
(Answers to some actual questions that customers have asked us over the years)

Q1. Do you ever receive negative responses to your bulk emails?
A1. Occasionally, when people change their mind.  However,  we email only to those who have shown interest. (These are the same lists that we offer for sale.)

Q2. What do you do with negative responses?
A2. We include ALL negative responses in our permanent REMOVE filters.  Therefore, a person with negative response is out forever from our lists.

Q3. What is the worst thing a pissed off person can do to you?
A3. He/She can complain to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) eventhough you offer to remove if they are not interested anymore. Normally, a good service provider is aware of such occasional disgruntled Internet users, and will typically ignore the person.  If the service provider reacts negatively because of such disgruntled cry babies, then you can easily switch to one of the over 4,000 service providers nationwide. Here you can find a convenient list of all those service providers: http://thelist.com/

Q4. What kind of information should one include in a bulk email?
A4. Our bulk emails include all of the following information:.

It is not necessary to include all of the above information in your bulk emails, but you should make sure to provide enough information so that your customers can easily contact you or learn more about your offer.

Q5. Should I request the recipients to let me know if they are not interested in my offer?
A5. Yes, definitely!! We ALWAYS include the following message in our bulk emails.

Q6. What is the response rate one can expect from bulk emailing? (percent and number per day)
A6. Obviously this will depend on your offer. However, our experience shows that a good program can generate up to a 2-5% response rate, which as you may know is outstanding.

Q7. What percent of undeliverables should one expect?
A7. Email works differently from postal leads--so it's impossible to have the same number of deliverables for email and postal addresses.  People change their email address much more frequently then their street address so you should expect a slightly higher percentage of undeliverables. In addition, email can also be rejected due to network problems or autoresponders. However, you should ALWAYS demand that your email list provider compensate you for any undeliverable email addresses no matter what the reason.

Q8. What kind of email software would you recommend?
A8. We prefer Eudora, because it is a very popular program and is available for FREE download at: http://www.eudora.com/.   However, there are many other fine email programs available that many of our customers use, and they never have any problem with our email lists because these are formatted to work with any email program.

Q9. Can you tell me how to promote my business to the email addresses I received?  I hope I don't have to manually type the same message to each of 6,000 people.
A9. No, that will take you for ever.  You should use multiple addresses at a time. Our lists come ready to copy and paste (import) into any email program. See the next question for the best way to do this.

Q10. What field should I use when sending email messages to potential customers (To:, CC:, BCC:)?
A10. The best way to send your message is to copy and paste 100 or more email addresses at a time into the BCC (blind carbon copy) field.  If you don't use BCC, your message will be dumped under a long list of email addresses and the recipient will be distracted. By using BCC you make sure that the recipient can concentrate only on your offer. If you don't know how to use BCC, please read the manual for your email software program (or ask the provider of software program such as AOL). 

NOTE: Keep in mind that with our lists you can send email ANY way you feel most comfortable, because our lists are formatted to work in ANY format with ANY email program.

Q11. I have been placing classified ads on yahoo to promote my business, but that gets just a trickle of responses.  Will email work better?
A11.  Your low or no response is because most people do not go to web sites, classified sections or newsgroups to read your ads.  Mailing directly to a recipient's mailbox is the only way to make people read your offer.  But you should ALWAYS make sure to use email addresses of people who will be interested in your offer.

Q12. Is bulk emailing the only way to promote your business?
A12. Bulk emailing is the most effective way to promote any business.  In fact, this is the only way to make sure that people read your offer.  However, you should do it right and never (we mean never-ever) bombard people who are not interested. You should not waste money on mass emailing to random addresses collected from the Internet using Floodgate, Lightening Bolt, Freedom or other similar programs. The only result you will probably get is your account suspended or threatened because of bulk emailing to people who are not interested in your offer and are fed up with junk mail.

Q13. Should I use a bulk email service?
A13. The problem with a bulk email service is that you can never be sure if your offer was mailed as promised. As a result, we would advise against using bulk email services if you can avoid it.

Q14. Is it worth sending my offer to those who have sent me their offers?
A14. No, it's really not very beneficial to do this, because you are sending your offer to a seller not a buyer.  In other words, you are simply counter-offering with no sale of your own.

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USING FAX-BLAST TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

List selection is the key to a successful mail order business.

Q1. Is there any advantage to using Fax Numbers over Postal Addresses?
A1. Fax numbers are FASTER to use and avoid postal complaints.

Q2. What kind of Fax software would you recommend?
A2. We prefer WinFax PRO, because it is a very popular program and includes important features such as sorting failed faxes.  For more information and a free trial of WinFax PRO go to: http://www.symantec.com.   However, there are also many other fine fax programs available that our customers use. But no matter which software you choose there is never any problem in using our fax lists because they are formatted to work with any fax software program.

Q3. What do you do with failed fax numbers?
A3. Although many people try resending failed faxes, we always remove these numbers from our lists.  These are the same lists that we offer to our customers.

Q4. Should I request the recipients to let me know if they are not interested in my offer?
A4. Yes, definitely!! We ALWAYS include the following disclaimer in our fax messages.

Q5. Why are fax lists more difficult to find than postal addresses?
A5. At least part of the reason is the difficulty in locating opportunity seekers who also have a fax machine.  We have been able to locate these people because we are a multi-level-marketing (MLM) company who has been using a 24-hr fax line to receive orders and inquiries for the last 14 years. Another reason is that until recently, there hasn't been much incentive to use fax numbers because fax-blasting was very expensive. However, with recent reductions in long-distance telephone rates fax-blasting has become an excellent means of promoting a business.  

Q6. How do you determine if a company is dependable?
A6. Here are a few points to pay attention to (also applies to other services such as postal and email addresses):

Q7. Why is it important to deal with a list company that has a large database? (This applies to both fax numbers and postal addresses.) 
A7. If a list company has a very small database of addresses, they are likely to sell the same names over and over. In addition, they are probably not continuously adding fresh names (and that's why their data base is small). Also such companies tend to offer an outrageous refund guarantee like $1 or $2 for each undeliverable. This is a marketing technique to imply the freshness of the list. What it really means is they have a small database, non-deliverables removed daily, and the same old names sold again and again. Companies that operate in this manner are not even companies, but rather individuals who run a small operation to sell names.

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USING MASS-MAILING TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

List selection is the key to a successful mail order business.

Q1. What are the key points to consider when selecting a postal list?
A1. Some of the common points to look for are:

Q2. Many companies claim to be the prime source for all their addresses!  How can you tell?
A2. Mailing list companies are notorious for trading or purchasing addresses from second or third parties. However, these companies typically don't offer a cash refund for undeliverables because they are not the prime source and can't be sure of the reliability of their lists. Therefore, you should NEVER deal with a mailing list company that does not offer a prompt cash refund for undeliverables, because they are probably not the prime source.

Q3. How do you determine if a company is dependable?
A3. Here are a few points to pay attention to:

Q4. What is a fresh list?
A4. A list that is 30 days old or less is generally considered to be a fresh list.  No matter how good your offer is, an old list can quickly kill you business.

Q5. What are in-house mailing lists?
A5. An in-house mailing list is a list that consists exclusively of addresses compiled from recent orders and inquiries.  We offer only in-house lists.

Q6. What is the best time to send mailings to your potential customers?
A6. You should make sure that your mail doesn't reach customers over the weekend or at the beginning of the month as they are likely to be busy with other activities at these times. Count on 3-4 days for first class mail to reach customers within the continental United States.  Holidays are also a bad time to send mailings (unless your offer relates to the holidays such as a Christmas gift) because people are preoccupied with family activities or on vacation at these times. In general, you should aim to have your mailing reach your customers in the middle of the week.  We find that the best times for mass mailing are September to November and January to May.

Q7. What is the response rate one can expect from mass mailing?
A7. Obviously this will depend on your offer. However, our experience shows that a good program can generate up to a 3-6% response rate, which as you may know is outstanding.  Our lists have shown a response rate as high as an unbelievable 15%, but again this will greatly depend upon your offer.

Q8. Which works better: hand addressed envelopes or peel & stick labels?
A8. Our experience shows that hand addressed envelopes receive more attention and therefore a better response rate than peel and stick labels. This is probably due to the fact that hand addressed envelopes appear to be more personal.

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