You may know I’m a proponent of direct mail as a great business-building strategy for us solo professionals. I’ve had great success with it, but earlier in my freelance career I had two direct mail flops. Today I’ll tell you about the most elaborate, expensive and disappointing one.
They say hindsight is 20/20 but unfortunately that’s not true in marketing. So while I may never know with absolutely certainty why this particular self-promotion effort flopped like a carp in the hull of a fishing boat, I can make some educated guesses, as I’ve done here, for your amusement, at my expense. Quite literally…
Highlights of My Direct Mail Disaster: Why Did it Flop?
- I rented a list. I paid hundreds of dollars to rent a list of 800 names of marketing people from a source that seemed to be good. When I got the list though, I went through it and realized many of the companies on there were unlikely to hire me for my copywriting services. (What on earth would I write for Kellogg’s, for example? Cereal boxes?) So I basically had a list of mediocre, off-target contacts in the wrong industries… but I had EIGHT HUNDRED mediocre, off-target contacts in the wrong industries! How could this fail!?
- My letter made a “buy now” offer. Maybe my offer was weak, maybe not. It was basically a price discount on my copywriting services “if you act now.” Ok, it was weak.
- I had no bulky item. I didn’t have a bulky item to make the envelope bulge and arouse the recipient’s curiosity, so I relied on a normal #10 envelope. But I did have a fancy design on the outer envelope. Get a load of this…
- I did have an outrageous response incentive. I had what I thought to be a tremendous response incentive. (I can’t believe I’m telling you this.) I bought two tickets to a Rolling Stones concert at SkyDome in Toronto. Section A seats, on the floor, 14th row or something. They cost $350… EACH! And so the offer was, if you respond to the mailing you get entered to win these tickets. On the outer envelope, I had some teaser copy about the Rolling Stones tickets. You know… enter to win, look inside, etc.
Despite all of this, the mailing did actually get a response.
A response. One.
By some stroke of luck and timing, one person needed copywriting, so he gave me a decent-size copywriting project. Enough to just about cover the expenses of the mailout and the tickets. Which he won, by the way, having been the only person in the “draw”.
Well, that’s not all bad, you say. At least I got a new client I could nurture for repeat business.
Nope. Never got a single job from him again.
Must have been a lousy concert.
* Pete Savage is co-founder of this blog and did a lot of things wrong back then, but found it effortless. At the centre of all that wrongness was that damn list he rented. Definitely. But he’s learned a lot about list building since then, including these 12 Kick-Butt Strategies for Assembling Your Best Prospect List Ever.
photo courtesy of rising70
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel for you, buddy. When I first started as a freelancer, I wasted a couple hundred bucks on a PPC campaign that went straight to a long form sales page….
The average time spent on the page after I paid $1 per click was 22 seconds.
I found out about lead generation shortly thereafter…
Hey Henry,
Nothing like wasting a pile of money to make you want to LEARN the ropes, eh? Of course, without TRYING these things first, we’d never know what we need to work on. I think a big turning point in a freelancer/entrepreneur’s life is the day you realize… “Hmmmm… you know… I bet someone else has done something like this before, maybe I should try to learn a few of the ground rules from that person FIRST and THEN go off and try to make my mad idea work.” Once I started thinking that way, the mistakes became fewer, and less costly! Thanks for the comment.
I can feel your pain. I have not used DM to promote my copywriting (yet) but I have had similar experiences on DM jobs I wrote copy for.
I had a smash hit with one mailer and the second one I took my eye off the ball and it crashed.
The word crashed is not good when 500,000 pieces went out…
I learned and kept the client (somehow)
I am glad I found this site- great stuff!
Paul
I don’t know what mailing list you used, Pete. But I rented a list from the Direct Marketing Marketplace, which is supposed to the leading directory of people in the DM industry. The mailing was a total flop. Terrible list. I had a return rate of over 20% and not one single response. Upon examining the list carefully, I saw names of people I knew who hadn’t worked at the companies listed for years. In one case a previous client was on the list who had left over 15 years ago.
It all starts with the list. If you have a good list, you don’t need bulky items or expensive tickets or any of that. I’ve used plain letters and even postcards.
Paul – you must be some copywriter to have kept that client! Way to go. I’m glad you found us too! Thanks for your comment.
Dean – I was hoping you’d weigh in on this post! Was curious what your experience has been, and I’m not surprised we both agree the magic is in the list! BTW that list I used, I rented from some outfit out of Chicago that came recommended by a well known marketer. Thanks for sharing you wisdom here on the blog once again.
The best list in the world is the one you develop and nurture yourself.
Pete,
You are so right. I just did what I thought was a really effective DM drop for a client. The only thing I can fault was the list. Client even went through and scrubbed it himself (he did know the market and who he wanted) and still had big doubts. Offer was solid. 0 responses! Never had that happen before. Needless to say I lost the client. From now on-WE build the list first!
It’s SO tempting to go out and buy or rent a list that I don’t fault others for doing it (heck, I’ve done it myself!). But as Roberta points out, compiling a list yourself is the way to go if you’re a solo professional. In fact, if you do it right, you don’t need to put a large list together. You just need the right call to action, good copy and the discipline to NOT give up after just one mailing (you’ll need to mail several times over the course of a year).
Ed,
Your last point-multiple mailings-is crucial. I tell my clients at least 3-5 mailings before you assess your campaign. Too easy for the first one, two or even three to get deleted or ignored.
Exactly right, Gary, because you can have all the elements nailed down tight but the timing for the prospect is wrong. Repeated mailings up your chances to hit them with the right stuff at the right time.
Gary, great point. This is a mistake that so many companies, not just freelancers, make. Putting together ONE outreach effort and then waiting to see if it works. That’s like going to the trouble of getting a campfire going with a few twigs, but then stopping there. Unless you fan the flames and add a few logs, the fire will go out and you’ll have to start all over again.
Thanks for sharing, Pete. It isn’t easy to talk about our biggest mistakes. I really appreciate your honesty and sincere desire to help us with the lessons you’ve had to learn the hard way.
I’ve never used direct mail myself to get clients. How much would that cost? Not sure I want to make the investment.
Thanks,
Lexi
I feel your pain brother! About 3 years ago I did a huge campaign to build up the speaking side of my business. I printed up beautiful full color press kit folders and inserts at great expense, hired an assistant to build my database, and mailed 3 lead generating campaigns. When the campaign didn’t cause the phone to ring off the hook I had my temp start calling to the list as a follow up. She quit. 4 temps later…I finally found one that would finish the job!
My campaign was getting very expensive at this point and I landed one new speaking gig. It paid very well, left me with a *potential* future client and managed to pay off the campaign cost, but I didn’t make a penny in actual profit, you know the stuff that keeps you in business.
The moral of the story is I took 2 months, and a pile of cash to get some very nice press kits printed up
In retrospect I realize my list was terrible, my mailing stunk worse than a skunk, but those press kits…man those looked cool 
Michael,
This is turning into an interesting conversation. Your experience is similar to mine. I did three DM campaigns for my advertising business over the last 8 years. I built my first list, bought one and then used a blend. I got one client from my first mailing (who became my best client ever). The next two mailings managed to generate just enough project work to pay for themselves. The trend seems to be that DM is less and less effective.
But a killer offer, clearly and creatively presented, sent to the RIGHT prospects, can still work well.
BTW, are you in the Toledo area? I’m in Columbus. So you ever get down this way?
@Lexi – I’ve actually broken this down and the rule of thumb I tell people is to allow for $5 per mailed piece, but that allows for…
- above standard postage rates (in excess of $1)
- around $1.50 or so per mailing for a “bulky item”. A promotional item you insert into the envelope to arouse
- curiosity and “bulk up” the envelope that lans on the recipient’s desk
- factors like printer ink, labels, and paper (I’m not really overlooking anything here)
- this does NOT factor in renting a mailing list. I recommend you build your own mailing list.
I spent around $1000 on a mailing to less than 100 people… but a lot of that was because I purposely overbought on some things… i.e. although I was only mailing to 100 people, I bought 500 promotional items.
When you say investment, that’s exactly what it is. Let’s say you spend $1000 on a mailing and you get one project out of it that pays you $1000. You’re even… PLUS you have a new client and perhaps other responses from the mailing. Here’s what I tell other freelancers
@ Michael – wow, fancy press kits and hired help to follow up… imaging the results if you HAD had a quality list! Thanks for that story.
@ Gary – when you say the trend seems to be that DM is less and less effective… I don’t know about that. Direct mail done WRONG is not effective, sure. But I keep hearing freelancers saying they’re getting results with direct mail. I agree more with your next line… what works is “a killer offer, clearly and creatively presented, sent to the RIGHT prospects” That’s the right combination my friend!