Advertising your art: Using direct mail and mailing lists

August 1, 10:42 AMAtlanta Artist ExaminerDarla Dixon

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Atlanta Artist Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

  Photo by Wooties!/Flickr/Creative Commons license

Doing a direct mail campaign costs money, so you should do the research to make sure it's a good option for you. Take some time to determine if it will give you a good return on your investment.

Here's what I've learned about direct mailing campaigns.

You can purchase mailing lists from a site like InfoUSA.com. There are many companies that provide various services, from the list to the actual mailing process. The cost of the mailing list depends on how many options you select.

You can be very specific, for example, you can request a mailing list by families with children and income levels. A mailing list is a good option if you want to only mail to certain zip codes also.

You can select your mailing list to be sent to you on CD-ROM, if you want to use the list more than once, or you can opt for the mailing list to be sent to you on pre-printed mailing labels, which saves time.

MAILING LIST TIPS:

1. Have the materials you want to mail out ready before you buy the mailing list. If you buy the mailing list first, and then take the time to create your materials, some time can go by...so the addresses will not be as fresh. Get your stuff ready first. If you are going to be mailing to families with minor children, then the mailing list company is going to need a sample of what you'll be sending anyway.
2. Keep the postage costs in mind as you budget your mailing.
3. If you use a mailing list service, be sure to also include some 'blinds' (names and addresses of family and friends, so you can be sure the mailings are happening, and are taking place by the schedule you selected. Why using a blind is important:  if you add a friend to the list and the friend says they never got the mailing, yet you paid for it - you will know you have an issue to discuss with the mailing company.
4. Be selective about what you mail and how many. Figure up your budget. Unless you are very sure you will have a strong return on your investment, do not go into debt to do a mailing! You can only do so many artworks at one time, so why mail out 20,000 postcards when 20-200 would do for now? Because you create your product and it's handmade, it is often wise to stagger your mailings.

There are many services that also offer a mailing list and they will handle all the mailing and affixing postage for you. If you are in demand, then it's better to do what you do best (art) and hire a service to do this for you. That goes for almost everything if you're making a good return on your art, then you should try to delegate out everything you can to someone else.

More articles you might like:

Promoting your art for free online  Thanks to the internet, there's a world of opportunity for artists to show what they do best!But where and how can you promote your art without...

How to follow up on art quotes and leads  Using classic sales techniques to sell your art.  At the beginning of my art business, I didn't need to sort my leads. I didn't have enough leads to sort!...

Ideas for selling your art prints at a fair or convention I had an artist e-mail me to ask some marketing tips, and she mentioned she will be renting a table or booth at a convention of fans for a hit book...

Connect with me:

If you'd like to be in touch, you can find me on Facebook and Twitter or email me!  If your email is regarding this article in particular, please leave a message here, as that's helpful to everyone.