Associations and non-profits are a powerful resource for building and expanding networking and business opportunities. Associations hold conventions, print reports and literature, promote their cause, and use your services!

The Directory of Associations is a comprehensive source of information on associations and professional societies including business and trade associations, 501c non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce, and other charity and community associations.

Available on CD-ROM, in print, and on mailing labels -- or search online and download results using our powerful search interface.

For more information or to order, call 800-575-5369 or go to http://www.marketingsource.com/associations.

Have you priced display advertising or Yellow Pages listings? They can add up to big money in a hurry. What's worse: if you spend your hard-earned cash on them, there's no guarantee that you'll get any response.

Think of it: You could spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a nice newspaper ad and not hear from a soul. Or maybe you'll just hear from people trying to sell advertising in their publications.

These salespeople will tell you that it pays to advertise—that you must spend money to make money—but you've just spent a big chunk of your money on that newspaper ad and have nothing to show for it. Since you're not eager to sink even more money into advertising, and since promotion is vital, even for the smallest of businesses, what can you do?

I've found a way around this dilemma by using color postcards. They have been an essential part of my marketing toolkit for eight years, and they've brought thousands of dollars worth of business to my Web and graphic design studio here in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

SUBHEAD: A Little History

Eight years ago, when my studio was stuck in the Starving Startup phase, I sent a postcard to announce the grand opening of a website I had created. That mailing was phenomenally successful.

Back in those days, success of any sort was hard to come by. So I sent out another card mailing a few months later. Alas, that mailing didn't do as well as the first one, but since I'd tasted success before...

...I kept on sending the postcards. I still do. Why? Because those cards bring in business, and because postcarding is fun! And when was the last time you had fun with your marketing?

Seriously, experts say that if a marketing effort is to be successful, it must be repeated. So, if you're enjoying your postcarding, you can't help but keep it up. Now that's fun that you can take to the bank!

SUBHEAD: The Top 10 Advantages of Using Postcards

Now, you may be asking, "Why should I be using postcards as opposed to some other marketing tool, such as advertising in my local newspaper?"

Please don't stop advertising in the paper, if that has worked for you in the past. But if you're like that business owner described at the beginning of this article, you don't have a lot of money to spend on advertising experiments. With this thought in mind, let's look at the Top 10 Advantages of Using Postcards:

1. Postcard marketing is affordable, even for the smallest of businesses.

2. When you're marketing with postcards, your competition doesn't know it. But they'll sure know it if you're advertising in the newspaper!

3. It's easy to track your results. Your card can tell recipients to bring the card into your store for a special discount. Or it can ask them to use a special ordering code when purchasing from your website.

4. Postcards are versatile. In a single mailing, you can seek business from prospective customers, and solicit repeat business from existing customers. Better yet, a postcard isn't just something to send through the mail. You can use postcards as oversized business cards, hang tags for your products and mini-information sheets.

5. Your postcards can "brand" you and your business in ways that most marketing materials cannot. If you start and stick to a regular postcard mailing program, you and your business will gain quite a reputation, perhaps even a little notoriety.

6. Testing an offer with postcards is easy. Just send your card to a small group of people and see how many of them respond. If you're satisfied with the results, then roll out a bigger mailing!

7. Postcards don't waste people's time—they don't even have to open an envelope to read your message.

8. Postcards don't take up a lot of space. Your customers can carry them in their pockets, or carry them in their pocketbooks, for that matter. Hey, some of them might even create a postcard display on their refrigerator door!

9. Postcards are inexpensive to print.

10. Postcards are easy to redeem. If you're asking your customers to bring your postcard into your store for a special discount, all they have to do is show up with the card.

Or you could include a special tracking code with each card mailing. Just ask recipients to enter that code into the order form on your website, or give it to the operator when they place a telephone order.

The idea behind "Bring this card for a discount!" or "Use this code and get an additional 10% off on your order!" is to give people an incentive to do business with you.

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Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder," hails from Tucson, Arizona, USA. She is the author of Postcard Marketing Secrets, a downloadable PDF manual that will show you how to put postcards to work for your business—profitably. Learn more about it at: http://www.PostcardMarketingSecrets.com

Concept Marketing Group, Inc. introduces a postcard product offer that, unlike any other in the market, allows your business to conduct direct mail promotions as easy as 1-2-3 (Designed - Printed - Mailed). Reach 5,000 prospects or customers today for as little as $0.33 each, including postage costs!

Our services include:
• Business and Consumer Mailing and Phone Lists
• Postcard and Brochure Design
• Print Services, including postcards, brochures, business cards, and more
• Mailing services so you aren't stuck licking stamps

Call 800.575.5369 to learn more about our services and plan your direct mail campaign!

How do you get people's attention and build their interest to take the time to read your sales letter? Let's face it. If you can't get the attention of prospects and keep their interest your sales letter will just fall flat on it's face and thus not make you much money.

Today, I'm going to show you how to take that limp sales letter and inject more money making power into it. How? You make your sales letter more riveting. And you do that by creating a thread of curiosity and or surprising information that keeps your prospects on the edge of their seats. There are various ways to do this, but today I'm going to show you three simple things you can do right away to make your sales letter more riveting.

1) The 25% Rule: Simply stated, if the first quarter of your sales letter isn't absolutely compelling and interesting enough your sales letter will bomb. So here's what you do. You craft an irresistible benefit laden headline and subhead that pull people into the first sentence of your body copy. You write the copy in such a way that to complete the thought forces your audience into the next sentence. Next, your first paragraph will naturally flow into the second paragraph and then into the third and so on. The trick again, is to write the copy in such a way that you're using stories, case histories, testimonials news or even descriptions that take several paragraphs to write. Then you break this huge block of copy up into multiple paragraphs. As a result, the first 25% of your sales letter should become riveting.

2) Sentence Enders: At the end of key paragraphs you can add a special sentence that beckons your prospects to read into the next paragraph. Here are several examples: "Stay with me." "Let me explain." There's more." "What happened next will surprise you." "I was blown away by what happened next." "Now here comes the good part."

3) Preview: Have you ever noticed on talk radio or on various news programs that the announcer or radio host will give you a preview of what's to come in their show in order to whet your appetite to know more? You can do the same thing throughout your sales letter. Note this technique is closely related to Sentence Enders. Here are a few examples. "As you read on, you're about to discover how XXX can boost your sales by 30% to 400% in just 7 short days." "I'm going to reveal my magic metabolism secrets that can peel off 20 lbs within 30 days time. But before I do ... " "In the next 5 minutes as you read every word of this letter, you will know the 7 secrets to exploding your online profits without paying a single dime in advertising costs." "By the time you finish reading this eye-opening letter you will know how to take these three fighting techniques and stop any attacker foolish enough to get in your face."

Here's the bottom line. You must keep your prospects focused on your sales message. If your sales letter is like most people's sale letters - boring - no prospect will take the time to read it and as a result you won't get sales. Use these three techniques and try inventing some of your own to keep your reader focused and riveted on what you've written. Build suspense in your sales letter. As if you're constantly dangling a carrot before them. Do this and you should see your sales boost.

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Mike Jezek is the creator of Mega-Persuasion Psychology™ the science behind “Irresistible Copywriting” which employs a powerful combination of results-producing influence techniques and psychologically persuasive sales devices -- proven to increase Web SALES by 30% to 400% or more. Sign up for Mike Jezek's acclaimed "Confidential Psychological Selling Tactics" mini-course today at irresistiblecopy@worldresponders.com or enjoy more of his articles at www.irresistiblecopywriting.com