IT’S ALL ABOUT THE LISTS!
“Succeeding in business is all about making connections.”
– Richard Branson, Virgin Group
By Charlie Rice and Molly Rinaldi
While we always talk about networking and being “connected,” in today’s digital world, we sometimes cheat and take the easy way out by just sending that email or text message. The truth is, though, today more than ever, establishing personal relationships with people can make or break your career because being successful in business is about maintaining personal relationships and not just having a list of contacts.
That’s why I value my participation in DMAW’s Annual List Bazaar. The List Bazaar is the only event solely dedicated to List Professionals. So it gives me a fantastic opportunity to connect in-person with other professionals in the industry.
We all know that lists are the foundation of any successful campaign. If you have great creative but a bad list, you know your ROI will probably tank. If you have a great list and mediocre creative, you’ve got a shot at generating respectable revenues.
Knowing how important lists are to any campaign, whether it is for a nonprofit, for-profit business or association, it is incumbent upon us in the list industry to truly hone, refine and improve our products and services. We know our success is based on our clients’ successes.
When list professionals get together, we are diligent about sharing advice, leads, and promoting our work. Before the pervasive digital world, the list industry was direct mail and telemarketing. Now, our education includes information on email lists, agencies and their broker/manager selection process, co-ops, telemarketing and more. Like everything else, digital has added many facets to our industry.
While we are serious about our business, list professionals are fun people, too! In fact, this year at the List Bazaar, I am looking forward to a speed dating session for list managers and brokers! What a great opportunity to establish a relationship and offer new list ideas to a broker.
So, if you want to have strong business relationships, you are going to have to pursue them and maintain them – try picking up the phone or getting together with the person over a cup of coffee. If you are in the list industry, I hope to see you at the DMAW List Bazaar – that’s where we’ll be connecting and building relationships.
Charlie Rice
*On May 5th the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) will host their annual List Bazaar at the USA Today/Gannet building in McLean, Virginia. If you are a list broker, manager or owner, I hope to see you there!
Charlie Rice, List Fulfillment is with MMI Direct. Charlie serves on the 2015 DMAW List Bazaar Marketing Subcommittee. He can be reached at (443) 5392683 or at charlie@mmidirect.com
Molly Rinaldi is Marketing Director at RMLC. Molly serves on the 2015 DMAW List Bazaar Marketing Subcommittee. She can be reached at 703-554-9776 or Mrinaldi@rmlc.net