Direct Marketing for Beginners : How to Cut Out the Middleman and Sell Direct to Consumers

Direct Marketing for Beginners starts by defining direct marketing and shows what is involved with the process of disintermediation to cut out the middleman and increase profit margins. This book covers direct mail marketing, telemarketing and fax broadcasting. It shows how to effectively use newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, radio and TV. Two chapters are devoted to creating a Web site and provide reviews of eleven Web authoring software packages. They show how to conduct e-commerce and cover software that can be used. They demonstrate how to drive visitors to a Web site using Search Engine Optimization. They cover permission-based e-mail and e-newsletters. A chapter is devoted to selling at auctions on eBay and how to set up an eBay store. Trade shows and flea markets are covered, as well as door-to-door selling, making cold calls and selling at house parties. This book covers the preparation of a marketing plan and reviews some software which can be helpful. The final chapter looks at some of the laws and regulations which govern advertising and marketing together with the Do-Not-Call lists.