Hi,

I currently work for a non-profit organization as an Administrative Assistant/Finance Manager (Not my official title, but I don't know what my actual title is...lol). For some reason, I've been getting all the IT blurbs from one of the IT companys we do business with. Normally, I just delete them without reading them or even opening them up, but something caught my eye this morning and I decided to read it. It was an article about developing effective mailing lists. Basically, it said that the problem with buying mailing lists is that a lot of the people in them have not shown an "interest" in what you're trying to sell. The article said that the best way to develop a mailing list is to gather names from people who show an actual interest in your specific industry. This can come from many forms...people who have attended seminars, signed a guest book on your website, filled out a survey, contacted you to enquire about services (even if they decide it's not the best thing for them at the time). Or, if you do buy lists, try to get them from sources that are more specific. For instance, if your specialty is helping other entrepreneurs start up their own businesses, by mailing lists from magazines geared towards entrepreneurs.

I don't know about the rest of you, but working for a small non-profit in an out-of-the way ski area, we are always trying to find ways to bring people in. We use to get leads (for free actually) from some of our local or semi-local visitor bureaus and travel magazines but, although some people did call for a catalog, we also got quite a few irrate people that threatened harsh action (maybe a little too harsh considering they can just throw junk mail away...lol) if we didn't immediately lose their name and address. And the amount of incorrect addresses or email addresses was just phenominal. I mean, it would literally take me a half hour or more to delete all the email rejections. So, I quit using them and only sent direct mailing (snail mail or email) to past customers and people that actually requested the material. In my opinion, what good is a mass mailing list, compiled from goodness knows where, if it wastes a lot of your time, energy and/or money? Not much.