It’s an age-old discussion that began back when the cavemen kept lists of who purchased their wheels from Stone Age Catalog. What do I do with my names now that I have some?
Many mailers are very protective of their names, not wanting to make them available to other mailers. “Heck, they bought from me, they’re mine,” they think. “I don’t want anyone else mailing to them.” Well, guess what, if they are anything like me, they are on so many lists that they are being sent catalogs, magazine offers and donation requests from the very same people about whom you are worried.
What do I mean? Well, me for example: I buy from Eddie Bauer’s catalog, subscribe to Entertainment Weekly and NY Yankees Magazines, bought from the Hasbro catalog, Harry & David, Pro-Flowers, and ordered greeting cards from The Printery House catalog, so there are eight lists I am on already. My wife orders clothes from about three catalogs, is a subscriber to three magazines, has ordered gifts for our nieces and nephews and our own kids from many, many catalogs and has donated to another two or three fundraisers. So that’s another 10 or 15 mailings that are in our household. Still think your donors/buyers/subscribers are unique to your own company’s mailing list? Sure, I suppose they still might be
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