Meet the Broker: Dan Bohlken
Today we meet Dan Bohlken, vice president of business-to-business list brokerage for Direct Media Inc. in Kansas City, KS.
He’s been with the company for six years, and was previously a customer of the firm, when he worked for Fred Pryor Seminars and other direct marketers.
On both sides of the fence, Bohlken has done a lot of work in the business seminars market. His brokerage clients include National Seminars Group, National Pen Co., Clemson University and Successories.
“My work has always involved business-to-business lists,” he said.
Probably 90% of his brokerage business currently involves cooperative databases, as business consolidation and acquisitions have superseded the number of new businesses start-ups doing traditional postal direct marketing in recent years.
“There aren’t a lot of new response lists coming on the market any more,” he stressed. “The list universe is shrinking as larger companies buy smaller companies. There’s been an incredible amount of consolidation.”
Bohlken has observed firsthand some major shifts in the list rental market over the last 20 years. Like many brokers he said the most significant trend has been the shrinking universe of new response files coming on the market.
His life outside of work revolves around his family and pets. He’s married and has a son, 10, and a daughter, 12, plus two cats and one dog. His downtime from list brokerage includes playing golf and coaching his son’s basketball team.
What advantages or differences do you associate with cooperative databases, compared to renting individual lists?
“It’s the cost,” said Bohlken. “More companies are putting an emphasis on reducing costs to find better or smarter ways to access lists.”
Multi-sourced data from cooperative databases is available for fewer selection charges and there’s no added expense for merge purge
