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In this issue:
Marketing Article: Regular check-ups will do you good: Data hygiene saves time and money
Marketing Article: 10 Important Marketing Tips

Reach over 35.000 Association Contacts and Executives by Region - New!
Special Pricing through January 31st, 2005

Mid-Atlantic - $349.00 (7696 records) Sale Price: $299.00
Mid-West - $399.00 (8790 records) Sale Price: $349.00
New England - $295.00 (2131 records) Sale Price: $245.00
South - $399.00 (7749 records) Sale Price: $349.00
South-West - $295.00 (3049 records) Sale Price: $245.00
West - $349.00 (6608 records) Sale Price: $299.00

Each listing contains address; telephone, fax and e-mail; contact name and title title of a decisionmaker; description of the organization; membership size; staff size; publications; and conventions/meetings.

Data is updated on a daily basis. The information you receive is burned on cd-rom and/or printed the day you order to ensure you receive the most accurate data!

Available on CD-ROM, in print, and on mailing labels.

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

These days, people are switching homes, jobs, phone numbers and e-mail accounts more and more often. It seems no one stays in one place very long. Just ask any database marketing specialist: they¹ll tell you that on average, up to 20% of direct-marketing database records are undeliverable, seasonal or vacant. In addition, up to 5% of records are identified as small to mid-size businesses, which may require different promotion and messaging than a consumer campaign.

To keep your mailing list clean, efficient and profitable, look into establishing a regular routine of data hygiene think of it as a good-health checkup for your bottom line. Data hygiene services, which include "scrubbing" telephone records, e-mail and postal addresses by updating them and checking them against the country¹s most current records, are an important part of any direct marketing campaign. Whether data hygiene solutions are used alone or in a group, they improve your ability to identify and capture your target audience. You can save mailing and printing costs and reap a higher conversion rate with every campaign by keeping your lists clean.

Hygiene Methods
Here's a general overview of data hygiene methods and sources and how they work for you.

Postal Hygiene
Data Consolidation and Standardization
This solution ensures that your addresses are standardized to meet the United States Postal Service requirements. The process includes:

• Validation and correction of street, city and state
• Street prefix, suffix and secondary address components are standardized
• ZIP+4 Codes are enhanced, added if missing and corrected
• United States Postal Service carrier Route Codes are added
• United States Postal Service Line-of-Travel data is added
• Delivery Point Bar Code data is added
• Undeliverable and non-forwardable addresses are identified and tagged

NCOA: The National Change of Address
Updates mailing lists with the latest change of address data filed with the USPS.

MaxCOA: Maximum Change of Address
Updates mailing lists with the latest change of address data filed with the USPS PLUS two previous addresses and it provides move data for the last 60 months.

Each of the following Ten Marketing Tips is based on a highly effective - but often overlooked marketing tactic. How many are you using? How many have you overlooked?

Tip 1: Insulate yourself against the impact of change by increasing the number of products and services you offer ...and by using a variety of different marketing methods. Only a small portion of your total business will be affected if the sales of one product declines or the response to one marketing method drops.

Tip 2: Customers are prospects too. Stay in contact with them. Find or develop other products or services you can offer them. It's easier to make a sale to a previous customer than to someone who never bought from you.

Tip 3: Avoid making any claim that sounds exaggerated ...even if it is true. A bold claim creates doubt in your prospect's mind and jeopardizes the sale. Reduce any bold claims to a more believable level.

Tip 4: Express numerical claims as odd numbers with fractions or decimals. For example, "Our clients save 17.7 percent" sounds more believable than "Our clients save 20 percent" ...even if 20 percent is the accurate number.

Tip 5: To create an absolutely irresistible offer, combine a special discount price and a set of valuable bonuses in the same offer.

Tip 6: Develop a series of 4 or 5 different special offers. Use them one at a time with an expiration deadline. When one offer expires, replace it with the next offer and a new deadline. Continuously recycle through the same series of offers. This enables you to keep using special offers to generate sales without taking time to develop new ones.

Tip 7: If you're attracting many prospects who really don't have (or can't get) the money to buy your product or service ...you need to change your market. Target a market where prospects have an intense desire for the benefits produced by your product or service - AND the money to buy it.

Tip 8: Set yourself apart from competitors by offering an exclusive benefit your competitors cannot copy ...or one they're not willing to copy. One business owner I know includes his personal phone number on every order. His competitors don't - and they are not likely to start making themselves that accessible to customers.

Tip 9: Advertising copy produces the biggest response when each reader can believe the message was written specifically for him or her. As you write any sales message, visualize you're writing to one person instead of to a large group of people. This will help you write in a less formal and more personal style.

Tip 10: Most sales are not made on the first contact. Develop a method to capture and save the names and contact information of prospects who don't buy from you. Follow up periodically. A little gentle coaching will eventually convert many of them into buyers.

Each of these 10 marketing tips implements a simple but highly effective marketing tactic. Take action now to apply those you overlooked. You'll be surprised by how much business it produces for you.

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Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched * BizTips from Bob * , a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV