Here's an easy and affordable direct mail marketing tactic to help you capture leads online:

First - create an informational product your key prospects would find interesting and helpful. "White paper" is the current buzzword, but it's not important how you refer to the document, so long as you sell the value and uniqueness of it.

Next - use direct mail postcards to promote the value of this unique (and free) document, and point to the web page where it can be downloaded.

Lastly - have a web-based lead-capturing system in place to collect name and email address of interested prospects. One easy way to do this is to put the document online, use a newsletter sign-up box on the web page, and then send a link to the document via auto-responder confirmation message.

Keys to Success

• You must start with a valuable item. Valuable doesn't have to mean expensive -- it just needs to be something your key prospects would want, like helpful information.

• You must use the direct mail piece to promote the value of the item. Dont veer off course here. Focus on the item of interest and explain its value completely and clearly.

• You must make the download easy to find and retrieve. Don't give a long list of website navigation instructions. Make a specific, easy-to-type landing page for the item.

• You must have a lead-capturing mechanism in place. Otherwise, you're giving information away but gaining nothing.

Your prospect has gained some valuable information (which also serves to promote your business, by the way), and you've gained a way to contact them. Everyone gets something.

It's easy. It's affordable. It's measurable.

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