I want to do some additional spring marketing, and was considering postcards illustrated with several pictures from my recent projects. There are several specific neighborhoods that I want to target. My problem is building a database with addresses for those neighborhoods. Does anyone know of a way to obtain specific addresses if one knows the name of a specific street.
For example, if neighborhood A has four streets, Elm Street, Maple Street, Pine Street and Hickory Street, how can I (easily) find all of the street numbers for each house. The Post Office Web Site can provide Zip Plus 4 but one must have a valid street address.
As a last resort, I thought that I could drive through each neighborhood and note the beginning and ending street numbers of each street. I like to find an easier method. Any thoughts>
Replies
Hill-Donnelly.com sell cds that have names, addresses and phone number all cross searchable. I have done this...many many ways and by far this is the best.
http://hill-donnelly.com/hdweb/html/cd-romsSales.html
Edited 3/27/2003 8:04:47 PM ET by Pete
I've done exactly what you're talking about using a CD set called Select Pro Phone CD. I see they are sold in the Staples and CompUSAs around us and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them in most office supply stores.
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"If you do what you always did, you're gonna get what you always got." --Yogi Berra
I have used Select Pro as well and by far Hill Donnelly is my choice
Coles Directory.
Maybe it's Coels....
We used to photocopy the library's version......btw....that's illegal......for a carpet cleaning company I worked for years ago.
They probably have online and CD versions now. It was a big huge book. The one we used was for the city of Houston.
Has all the streets alphabetically listed...then a reverse phone look up in the back.
The best thing about it...the streets had an income level..A, B, C, D....A being the hightest. That way..you could focus on the A and B streets and hit a higher income level.
Had the street names.....with the house numbers in order.....names of homeowners.....years at residence.....phone numbers.
Lotsa times we'd cold call and they'd ask how we got their unlisted number. So I'm not sure how the Coles people get their info.
Was a great book for prospecting. Had the zip codes in there somewhere along the lines too.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
The County Appraisal Districts around here have the info available online for free. (Some counties use a service that charges a fee.)
You can search on an owner's name, street, street with specific number, or tax account number. You also get the appraised value of the property.
If you have the street and the specific city you want to target you can get all the numbers on that street. Say you entered "Main" as a street in Dallas County you get every address in Dallas County on Main in each city, Dallas, Irving, Garland, etc.
The owner info might not do you much good as some will be owned by an estate or a trust. Go to Google and search on you county with appraisal district and see what you get.
Crazy thought, but why not use a free net based service?
Only one catch, you have to know the first two letters of one of the residents last name on the street in question.
http://www.anywho.com
Just search like you would for a phone number, then when you get a hit, click on the street name. It should be a link, and you will get the other residents on that street.
I tried it on my own address, and found 27 other listings. Might be difficult if you can't find anything out, but if you are targeting an area where you have done work it shouldn't be too hard to dig something up.
Just a thought.
I used a group called Daily Commercial Recorder which tracks all the county real estate sales. I bought a mailing list (on Excel, but also available on printed labels) of home sales (new and used) by zip code by date. It's the same data available from the county courthouse, but it's organized and sortable, and I felt it was well worth the cost... ten cents per listing. I told them I wanted to spend about $200 and after a little sorting and truncating, I got something like 2,300 addresses for $230. I sorted some more after I got the list and sent out 100 items to select neighborhoods. Net cost was $230 for the list, $37 for stamps, about $50 for printing for a per mailed-unit cost of $3.17. The net cost would be lower for more mailed items, because I amortizex the cost of the list over just the number mailed.
That company may be just a local group, or they might have offices in other cities, I don't know. Theyt were at primetimenewspapers.com
Do it right, or do it twice.
I am wondering how many here would be peachy-keen with it if they knew that others in their town were incuding them in such mailing lists ?
What if the people involved wanted to sell you herbal viagra ? Or a vacum cleaner ? Or vinyl siding ?
Would you be upset in any way shape or form if you discovered that a local vinyl siding company had gotten your mailing address in the same way ? No ? Then I take it that none of you have ever sworn under, or over, your breath when you got junk mail in the mailbox ? How is this any different than a piece of junk mail trying to sell you anti-fungal cream, or a new mortgage on your house ?
Understand... my point is not to say that anyone is wrong for doing this. You have to advertize somehow, and if this is how you choose to spend your advertising dollar, then more power to you. I am simply saying that one man's junk mail is another man's advertising. And if one is wrong, they are all wrong. If one is right, they are all right.
You can't complain about junk mail that others send you, when you are doing the same thing yourself. You can't complain about data-farming, (in any venue whatever), if you are doing the same thing yourself. Or simply buying the produce from the data farm, and using it to send your own junk mail....
Quittin' Time
First, thanks everyone for the ideas. I think I'll start in a (cheap) very focused way, perhaps pick one small neighborhood and use Internet tools, like the zip code finder and anywho.com, to find the specific addresses. If its successful, buying the data, especially for around $200 to $250, is a good idea.
Luka, your points are good ones about junk mail. I guess I really don't even think about junk mail, it goes from the mailbox to my hand to the trash can in one movement. One of the reasons I was going to use postcards was that the addressee can see, without opening anything, what I do (pictures on the front of the card) and a short verbal description on the back. My dentist now sends out "reminder postcards" that have a humorous "dental joke picture" on the front and the reminder data on the back. A clever idea.
I think you're on the right track with a post card, as long as it's well done.
The purchased mailing list doesn't have to cost $200. My source does not have a minimum order, so you could specify just a certain zip code, and/or filter by a sale date range or appraised value or whatever. I'm not sure you could filter down to just a few streets, unless you could do zip+4.
Do it right, or do it twice.
If U wanna start small time....
here's what I do.
I take the time when starting a new job in a good neighborhood to drive down the subdivision streets and note the address numbers of each street name.
Then...when I'm on top of things.....I re-type my flyer to be more specific to the job I'm doing and that particular neighborhood.
I'm late on getting the last one out....have already moved to a new job...but still plan to get the flyer out. I'll hand address the envelopes. In smaller culdesacs....I'll stick the flyer in the door.
I'm sure most people just throw them away....but I have had great success with the idea...going all the way back to my days in sales where I first started to do this.
Best case is being there doing the work when the flyers go out.
New neighborhoods get the flyer about dressing up the place with new trim/tile/basement conversions/etc.
Older homes in established neighborhoods get one worded more towards more living space and maintainence items.
I like the postcard idea....that'd cut to the chase and have a lower postage. Spped up the process of landing in either the garbage or on the fridge!
And postcards last longer on the fridge than a flyer.
Thanks for the idea.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
It's all called data mining, and it's done all the time. that's why every store uses airmiles points or some other system.
Say you want a mailing list of every household in your community where the residents buy strawberry jam and brown bread. There are companies that will produce it for you.
It's a slightly more targetted version of junk mail, because you are aiming at a specific audience.
Incidentally, I was told by a friend in the business that, for blanket type unsolicited mail (junk mail, as we call it), a response rate of 3% is considered a resounding success.
Edited 3/30/2003 8:54:32 PM ET by Cairo
Yup.
I was not trying to say that it was either wrong or right. Just that some would complain about being mined, or farmed, and then turn around and happily make use of the information gathered thereby.
Aside from that, you and ChrisA have between you, made the point that I was actualy trying to get across... the bottom line is that it is junk mail. There is an attitude toward junk mail, that has much of the dollars spent on it, making their way dirctly into trash cans.
I think the postcard idea is a good one. You have only the time it takes to go from the mailbox to the trash can, to catch people's attention. Better do something eye-catching, short and sweet. (Besides it would probably be cheaper that way, anyway. LOL)
Quittin' Time
Hi ChrisA,
The single most effective form of advertising I've ever tried, and I've used 'em all: mail, tv, radio, newspaper, etc.., is DOOR HANGERS. They say, "Hi! We've been working at your neighbors, the (name) at (address). We're (describe project). Perhaps we could help you on your next project? (Contact information)."
This is relatively cheap, (I use my cheapest kid to hang them, print about 10,000, leave blank the name, address and project description), and then be prepared to mess with your printer. I'll drop 500 or so on any given job. It's legal, (you can't put stuff into people's mailboxes without postage). It can't be ignored, (It's on the doorknob when you come home from work). It appeals to peoples natural curiousity about their neighbors.
I always ask my clients if they mind, so far no problems. I think they like the idea that if I don't take care of them, they will have neighbors who want to know. Plus, they get to show off.
It's money that matters!
skipj
Anyone know what it takes to create a decent postcard? Can it be done on a nice inkjet printer, or should a print shop be used? What about cost?
Do it right, or do it twice.
Work it up on the computer.
Print a test on the inkjet. If it looks like what you want, take the test, and a floppy with the computer data on it, to Kinko's.
They'll do a good job, on decent card stock, fairly cheaply.
Rather than stamping each individualy, if you intend to do much of this... you may consider getting one of those postage machines. That would also get them in the mail at the absolute cheapest cost per postcard.
Quittin' Time
Do not waste a single second screwing around with this on your computer----it will be a TOTAL waste of time.
Instead----go to a printer. I go to the same one who prints up our business forms,our regular business envelopes,and the large 10x13 envelopes that we use for "information packets" containing product lit., insurance info,workers comp. info , job proposals. newspaper or magazine articles published about your company etc.
I just looked it up----last fall I spent less than $150 to have some doorhangers and some postcards printed up. about 1000 of each. That money included an hour of design time by the printers graphic artist. In the future ,additional orders will be much cheaper per piece ,as they will not require the initial design time. Don't waste any time trying to do this yourself----it's simply not worth it. your printer and his graphic artist have WAY more experience in this than you do, they will be much more efficient, and most importantly ,their extensive experience will lead them to make suggestions to you that YOU WOULD NEVER THINK OF. Appropriate size,postage rates,color combo's, quality of card stock,FONT,----endless things that will make their product look professional----and your amateurish efforts look baffoonish by comparison.Do you really want a prospective customers initial impression of your company---to be based on a flyer xeroxed off at KINKO's?
I will assume you are operrating with a limited budget----thats OK. With a little planning on your part you can put together a system of promotional material that will include a professionally designed logo,professionally designed and installed truck signs(not cheesy magnetic signs), very nice yard signs( not crappy " campain signs"---mine are mounted on an iron frame and run about $100 each), envelopes,postcards,door hangers,business forms , company t-shirts etc. I re-stock my supplies bit-by bit as needed-----but I am sure I could outfit myself from scratch as outlined above for $500-700.
BTW----I have been carefully tracking the results of my expenditures on advertising for several years now----and BY FAR---the best return on money invested has been an ad I run in our church bulletin. I FULLY realize this won't work for everyone----but if you are in a similar situation I suggest you try this for at least 2 years.------------------------------------------------------------------ I have lived within a few block radius of our parish church for 40 years---and my parents even longer.my 5 brothers and sisters plus myself attended 8 years of the parish school, my 2 sons attended 9 years each (including kindergarden), my wife currently teaches at the same school,and my brothers wife formerly taught there for years.I either coached or sposored many of the local youth teams.------As time goes by it seems like virtually everyone I meet in the neighborhood has some sort of personal connection---I roofed their house,or their neighbors house,I coached or sponsored their kids teams,a family member taught their kids in school, I or a family member went to school with THEIR family member-----if there isn't a direct connection with the family----there is probably a connection with their neighbors family.I have very poor social skills,and am definitely not gregarious by nature----the best thing is that I don't even have to mention these "connections"---without fail the prospective customer will bring them up!----BUT BE AWARE-----you have to take EXCELLENT CARE of these folks. The ad in the church bulletin costs us a mere $12 a week---and often people who are calling from our yellow pages ad mention that they also saw the ad in the bulletin 1st.
The nice thing is that by having a large percentage of your companies work in a limited geographical area----your yard signs,your truck signs ,your employees wearing company t-shirts---all become more effective-----because the same prospective customers see them almost dailey---sometimes for years before they need your services. I call this playing the home field advantage.---but, I will mention it again----you have to take excellent care of these people, excellent care .
good Luck
Wow . . . that's good. Actually, I was going to produce them on my computer. I have a pretty good color printer, but was a little concerned about how the front of the cards would turn out. I was planning to take some digitalized photographs of my work, and print them on the front of the card. Even with the highest resolution, though, the pictures don't look like photographs.
I call the printer, at least for a quote.
Thanks everyone.
Luka said something you might checkout.
You probably don't have enough volume to make it worthwild to get a bulk mailing permit or a postage machine.
But you might check with the copy places and "services" such as Mail Box Etc. I know that they is a local company that has a mailing service. They have mailing list that you filter. And they can stamp them and use there bulk rate permit. And they can also sort them so that you can get down to paying about 1/2 to 2/3 of the price of an individual stamp.
Another thought. Our church, a pretty large Baptist church (perhaps 5,000), does not have a weekly mailed bulletin, but we do have a bulletin board where people put up help wanted, and for sale notices. I have put a ad on the board, and it does generate a lot of calls. Unfortunately, it's not meant to be a permanent form of advertising and so ads are taken down by the staff after a couple of weeks.
In the fall, I also sent this same ad to all of the area churches along with a cover letter. I was surprised by the success of the campaign, and in particular, by noticing that certain churches really generated a lot of contacts while most produced none. The local catholic church, also a big church, was a great source of referrals.
Re: door hangers/etc.
Here, you have to have a permit from the city for about $25 bucks to do door-to-door sales. Even hanging a flier or card on a door falls under this.....
And the city will issue very few permits. Long application, long wait time. Folks call the city all the time when they get door to door salesmen, or fliers left behind....there's a pretty stiff fine -- like $100 per instance. Can add up.
Check with local city codes before you do the door to door thing.
Lotsa places are overturning those local....no soliticing laws. Someone challenged it nationally......think some religious group......and won. So the "sales solicitation" people are trying to get favorable interpretations. But then..like ya said.....most local permits are pretty cheap......so...
For what it's worth......first coupla weeks this year I spent working on a house that had my flyer. Appearantly...their perents lived across town..in a neighborhood I'd worked in begining of last year. They held onto the flyer knowing their kids would be looking to get some remodeling...and then they called. Had a message on the machine when I got home tonight......one of their friends had seen my work....and want something similar done.
So......I spent a grand total of $50 on those flyers....made mine on the PC......takes time...but I was happy to learn it......and the wife had an advertising/print shop class at the same time and her professor would review each rough draft.....turned out great. That $50 included the plastic sleeves.....as these were hung on doorknobs around the neighborhood.
Already got me about 6 weeks of work....and looks like more to come.
That was $50 and time well spent.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
chris,
Our parish bulletin isn't a mailed bulletin------you have to actually show up for mass to get it. that actually works out well as it's circulation is then primarily limited to parishoners active in the community.
although most of the bulletin is in black and white----my ad is in color ( along with the front page of the bulletin) The color changes throughout the year along with the seasons of the church----it's one color during Lent, one color during Advent etc. most of the year it's green ---which happens to match my company color.
to be fair-----I also have been trying an ad in another parish in which I have a small connection. That ad(unfortuneately limited to black and white) has drawn ZERO response. I am just not really known in that parish plus the black and white format doesn't help me.I will give it about a year and if it doesn't begin to produce I will cancell it and invest the $600/year in something else---probably promoting back in my own neighborhood.
Of course you have to know your market----my neighborhood is populated by folks that are comfortable,hardworking---but not really affluent-----policemen,firemen,retired factory workers,teachers,nurses,machinists,insurance salesmen,small restaraunt owners etc. this works out well for me as a roofer----but wouldn't work well if I specialized in say---wrought iron work,marble & tile,or custom cabinetry.