Mailing Lists - The Two Kinds of Lists and Two of the Best Places to Purchase Them

In this, the first of this two-part article set, you'll learn from our discussion the types of mailing lists, and two of the best places to buy lists. In the second part you'll learn the other 9 places to buy a mailing list There are two types of direct mail lists, determined by their origin: compiled direct mail lists and response mailing lists. Compiled Direct Mail Lists Compiled mailing lists are a common source of name and address records that have been gathered, collected, and entered into a database. The names may have been acquired mailing list through public records such as vehicle owner registrations, court transcripts, or private sources such as warranty cards or purchasers at a store. The bulk of compiled mailing lists are generated from categories in phone books across the U.S. Examples of a few of the compiled lists available from phone books would be a list of all the photography studios, or a listing of all the luggage dealers in the United States. Or a mailing list of all the plumbing supply dealers, or Chevy or Ford agencies.

Most industries have trade directories that are usually compiled industry data from various sources; most are verified by phone and make pretty good direct mail lists. A directory of pet product manufacturers, or of heating and cooling contractors would be good examples of a compiled industry direct mail lists. Keep in mind that compiled information - like fish - gets old rather quickly and doesn't age particularly well. Mailings lists fall into the top of that category - the fresher the names, the better. The older the names, the less accurate - and the greater your returns.