Acquire New Customers... Without Spending $1K/M (1,696 words)

"Breathes life." I add, "And stay the heck out of the mail, or you'll go broke!"

Jack Schmid's Dictum

In the 1960s, '70s and early '80s when postage and list-rental costs were more reasonable and the mail stream wasn't so glutted with competing offers, it was economically feasible to look for new customers by renting names and sending your catalog. Today, we're looking at $1,000/M or more to prospect, that is, to send catalogs out to cold lists. If you're lucky enough to get a 2-percent response (20 orders per thousand), each customer will cost you $50, which most catalogers can live with. A lower response means your cost per customer is correspondingly higher.