Take a look at your prospecting list, if you have one. Where 
did all those names come from? 

Most likely they're a hodge podge of names from a hodge podge 
of sources…with few added to your list solely on the criteria 
that they're especially good leads.

Now ask yourself how successful your clients would be if their 
lists were compiled in such an unscientific manner?

When you consider that the single most important element of a 
direct mail campaign is the list (followed closely by the offer, 
and THEN the copy), it becomes painfully apparent that a sloppy 
list is a liability indeed!

So how do you go about creating a solid list of quality 
prospects that you can mine for years to come?

There are some methods you can use and sources you can tap, and 
I reveal a few of the best here. However, It always boils down 
to looking in the right places for your particular specialty.


MY FAVORITE STARTING PLACE

Roughly half of my coaching students are new copywriters and 
when it's time to share my list building strategies with them, 
I always introduce them to Who's Mailing What 
http://www.whosmailingwhat.com/ , a rich online archive of more 
than 130,000 direct mail packages collected from more than 7,000 
companies since 1994. 

For $24.95 per year, you can go into the archive and literally 
see "who's been mailing what," which can be a real boon for 
copywriters who specialize in the dozens of categories - 
publishing, financial, collectibles, technology, and more - 
covered by WMW.

For instance, I specialize in software. And while there are more 
than 7,300 software companies in the U.S., I need only 300 to 
keep busy. So which 300 should they be? Well, the BEST 300 of 
course…the 300 that I know are direct mailers…the 300 that I 
know are financially stable…the 300 that I know are well 
respected and trustworthy.

When I started compiling my list, I mined Who's Mailing What to 
discover the names of software companies that had mailed over 
the past two years. As "sure mailers," these companies became 
the richest names on my list, and remain so today.


OTHER GREAT PLACES TO LOOK

Nearly every large industry has an association, and most 
associations have member lists. To get your hands on the list 
you often need to join the association, but unless the price 
is really exorbitant, it's usually worth it. Remember, time 
is money in the freelancer's world, so the faster you can put 
together your list, the faster you can market to it.

The library is another place to look for lists. In addition to 
my "sure mailers," I added the world's most profitable software 
companies to my list, tracked down at the local library in the 
Computer and Software section of the Dunn and Bradstreet Gale 
Industries Handbook. 

I completed my goal of assembling 300 strong names by surfing the
Internet in search of newsletters, Web sites, and publications 
that serve the software market. There I found lists like "The 
Top 50 Software Venture Capital Investments," which listed 
software companies that had recently been infused with millions 
of dollars each, in venture capital.


SOME STRONG SOURCES FOR GENERALISTS

Although I believe that every business freelancer should carve 
out a niche for him or herself, many start out as generalists. If
you fit this category, you'll find some excellent list-building 
sources at the library. 

Chuck Thompson, one of my early coaching students, discovered 
the "Mail Order Business Directory" at his Chicago-area library. 
It lists over 5,000 names, addresses, and basic facts about U.S. 
firms doing business by mail. 

Library sources I used in my early days of freelancing included 
the "Standard Directory of Advertisers" and "Standard Directory 
of Advertising Agencies." Also known as  "the red books" by 
industry insiders, you should be able to find them at any main 
library; I've had less luck finding them at the local level 
(and they're too expensive for most freelancers to buy).

The "Standard Directory of Advertisers" contains information on 
over 24,000 U.S. and international advertisers who each spend 
more than $200,000 annually on advertising. Each listing includes
advertising expenditures by media, contact information, address, 
and more.

The "Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies" contains 
detailed profiles of nearly 13,500 U.S. and international 
advertising agencies, including accounts represented by each 
agency, fields of specialization, contact information, and much 
more. These directories are truly exciting sources of information 
for the freelancer who recognizes the value of smart targeting.

Finally, you never know what you'll come up with while searching 
the Internet for lists and directories. One of my coaching 
students wants to specialize in catalog copy. We found several 
databases on the Internet, and last night I happened across 
"Mail Order USA," a guide to 2,000 of the top mail order 
catalogs in the U.S. and Canada. 

Compiling your own personal prospect list is never fast or 
easy, but there is a silver lining. And that is that no other 
copywriter will be marketing to the same exact list that you 
are. So do your homework and make your list as strong as it 
can be. Because most of your success will flow from your list, 
it pays to make it as powerful as it can be.