Freelancers, consultants and small direct marketing agencies can make the difference between success and failure for multi-million dollar businesses. But you would never know it by the way prospects and clients sometimes treat us.

Business to business lead generation strategies continue to evolve. The Internet plays an increasing role in building interest and qualifying prospects

I grew up in the direct marketing world starting with advertising agencies then moving over to the client side where success depended upon proper application of the discipline

As most of you know by now, I have worked for, managed and even established direct marketing divisions for general advertising agencies over the years. And if you have also worked for or with agencies, you probably share my love/hate relationship with them.

If you are a freelancer, independent consultant (like me) or a small business offering marketing services to companies, then this blog speaks directly to your #1 problem. That is, stabilizing your business to yield consistent and profitable revenue.

The editor of Inside Direct Mail, Ethan Boldt, interviewed me recently asking a number of questions related to the importance of the offer in generating response. The range of his questions covered the how, when and what offers to test.

If you plan and evaluate direct marketing efforts, then you know the challenge of pulling together the essential information for your creative assignment.

I have two long time friends. They are both CMO types with tremendous direct marketing backgrounds. And neither seem to be able to land jobs that make sense anymore.

The answer is that many of my clients still struggle year after year with improperly integrated databases following mergers and acquisitions. Or in some cases, the name file does not automatically attach purchase or inquiry information at the record level.