I used a direct marketing mailing approach to solve a very big business problem for me many years ago. I didn't even know what the term direct marketing was at that time, but as a business person I understood how it worked intuitively. More importantly, I knew I needed to do something quick and a direct mailing approach seemed to me the best way to reach the people I needed to respond. From one letter I obtained clients that paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the following years.

Direct marketing is far and away the most effective means of advertising available to anyone running a small business. There are limitless direct marketing techniques that can be used, but all successful promotions have a few common elements. First, you must identify the people that are going to be interested in your product or service. Second, you must recognize what that audience expects your products or service to deliver to satisfy their needs. Third, you must demonstrate that your solution to their problems are better than any other solutions available. Fourth, you must give your potential buyers a sense of urgency to respond to your offer as soon as possible. Lastly, giving your audience precise information on what actions are necessary to benefit from your offer is a necessity.

Although direct marketing has developed a bad name due to over long, hype filled letters, direct mail can be an important element in your business portfolio. Direct response mailings for professionals have to be structured in a more business-like fashion. Tone down the letter's rhetoric and increase the usable content. Direct mail can be a very lucrative market tool when it pulls in customers or clients to use your services over and over again.

Most of us are used to the traditional direct mailings businesses send to consumers. On any given day, we may receive a dozen or more catalogs wanting us to at least make a one-time buy. Although they may continue to send us catalogs, we may or may not ever buy anything from them again. It's different, however, when one business works at building a relationship with another business for the purpose of developing a long-term client. The entire concept of direct mailing is different in this type of approach. Instead of getting a one-time sale, you'll be developing a client base that may spend thousands of dollars with you over the next few years.