Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Adding to the above: what response percentage are you expecting? I'm not a direct mail person, but I've always expected between 1/2 % and 1% to be a reasonable response rate (unless you have an excellent giveaway). And so you may need to send many, many letters to get the number of responses you want.

And that brings up the issue of the list. Where will you find the right names to mail to? Do you have existing clients, e.g. can you look them up in ReferenceUSA or some similar online database to determine their demographics (SIC or NAICS code, number of employees, HQ or Branch, etc.) then run a search to find similar companies? Do you need to send to a specific person or title?

I'd say you need to focus on three elements:
1. The letter (addressed above)
2. The list (very, very, very important
3. KEEP GOING.

As you develop the letter, you might want to test different offers, or different style letters. Keep mailing and testing, keep what works, learn from mistakes.

Good luck.