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Resources to
understand your Income
Direct Marketing....
What is it? and What is your strong point?
Products and services
have value when they satisfy a need of a consumer. The consumer
must acquire those products and services typically by purchasing them.
Sales people make that connection.
While there are many
nuances, the simplest way is to divide the sales effort into direct
marketing and other approaches. Direct marketing is one major
segment that consists of selling directly to the consumer.
There is a trade
association with 275.000 members. They indicate that about 1.6
million people are involved. For traditional sales, the Occupational
Information Network estimates that about 291,000 retail clerks will be
needed in the next 6 years. These are the traditional hourly
sales clerks.
In 2007, marketers -
commercial and nonprofit - spent $173.2 billion on direct marketing in
the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising
expenditures generated $2.025 trillion in incremental sales. In 2007,
direct marketing accounted for 10.2 percent of total US GDP. There are
1.6 million direct marketing employees today in the US alone, and
their collective sales efforts directly support 8.9 million jobs.
Each dollar spent on
direct marketing yields, on average, a return on investment of $11.69,
versus ROI of $5.24 from non-direct marketing expenditures.
From DMA's The Power
of Direct Marketing: ROI, Sales, Expenditures and Employment in the
US, 2007-2008 Edition.
The Direct Marketing
Association is headquartered in New York City and has an office in
Washington, DC. It represents its members’ interests in the 50 states
as well as on Capitol Hill and at the US Postal Service, the Federal
Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and other
federal agencies.
Why are businesses
interested in using direct marketing sales?
First the return on investment
is twice the amount from traditional sales approaches.
Why? It is estimated that 70% of all sales are the result of
personal referral or recommendation. Who has that ability?
Well many of us are swayed by the advertising by celebrities.
They are paid huge amounts because we tend to believe them. But,
in the final analysis, the person who actually knows you is more
likely to respond to a referral or recommendation,.
So, the key talent asset that
you have is the personal relationship with consumers in your circle of
friends.
Why are most home based
businesses related to sales? The reason is straightforward.
Your prime asset is your relationships.
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