Credit Bureaus Make Change to Leads

Telemarketing call centers and direct mailers utilizing true credit bureau lists will now have less data to market to. The three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, have modified the allowable age minimum that marketers are able to market to when using credit bureau lists and trigger leads. Going forward, consumers under the age of 21 will be excluded as eligible marketing prospects on credit bureau files.

The primary effect of this change for marketers is the loss of potential prospects for their offers. This modification may very well affect telemarketing efforts more than direct mail campaigns. In an already shrinking market due to the Federal Do Not Call List, telemarketers are yearning to maintain the largest potential prospect pool possible. Previously, direct marketers were able to include consumer prospects age 18 and above in their lead lists. Although some direct marketers may not consider this a blow to their marketing campaigns due to the nature of the demographics surrounding the 18-20 year old age group, they will be in for a sharp surprise when their already dwindling preliminary counts shrink to an all time low.

Dagon Design Form Mailer

First of all, I would sincerely like to thank the author, I believe his name is Matt, for this wonderful plugin. I want to give him credit for writing this amazing script and offering it to us all. You can find his complete instructions and download information at his website here.

Let me put it like this, this contact form plugin simply rocks. The Secure Form Mailer Plugin for WordPress from Dagon Design in my experience is the best contact form plugin out there for self hosted wordpress installs in terms of implementation, ease of use, and my personal favorite, customization. Matt has included some awesome features such as the ability to save input field information directly to a file in your server hosting account, the option for file attachments in the form emails, IP address and time/date stamp recording, and several methods of verification to drastically reduce and almost eliminate damn form spammers. These are just some of the features available in this dynamic form wordpress plugin.

So you get the idea, I really like his work. Also, as a note, be sure to check out his other plugins as well, especially the Sitemap Generator Plugin for WordPress which can be found here. And, before I continue to the reason I am writing this article, Matt has supplied not only the wordpress version of his secure form mailer plugin, but a straight up bad ass php version!

Ok, now for the goods, the only complaint I have about Dagon Design is the lack of some sort of forum for help and maintenance issues. He basically uses traditional wordpress post commenting as his support forum and with over 1,500 comments, questions are not easily resolved. That is what this post is about, one of the issues many people seem to have is the lack of some sort of phone validation for this contact form. So, I have taken it upon myself to customize his plugin for my needs and offer up my revised version. Below are the major changes and additions I have made to Dagon Design Secure Form Mailer for WordPress plugin.

• added a “min” parameter: Matt intelligently included the “max” parameter to limit the number of characters a user is able to input in a form field without returning an error, the “min” parameter functions in exactly the same way. The user must enter at least a specified amount of characters for the form to not return an error.
• added a “numbers” variable: This is something I came up with on my own. This variable applies strictly to the text input field for use in the “ver” parameter. Essentially what this does is force a user to only be able to input numbers 0 through 9 in to a particular text input field. Meaning, if a user enters any uppercase or lowercase letter, any special character, or leaves a blank space in an input field with the |ver=numbers| parameter, the form will return an error.
  
  NOTE: These two additions were added for a simple means to verify a properly formatted 10 digit phone number or 5 digit zip code in an input field. These two additions are not inclusive and were written for my needs. I basically wanted a phone input formatted like 5551231234 and a zip code formatted like 12345, where the input field would only accept numbers 0-9 and with the “min” parameter would specify the exact amount of numbers needed to be input, such as 10 for phone and 5 for zip code. (for more extensive phone and zip validation, I believe there is a php PEAR library to actually verify phones by area code and prefix and zip code by actual zip code, I believe it will also allow for various input formats such as (555) 555 5555, 555-555-5555, etc.)
• added option to add host name to file on server: This is something I did because as you may have guessed, if you saw the feeds on the right sidebar of this page, I own two list companies and sell telemarketing and mailing lists for a living. I actually use this form to compile data from several of my landing page sites. So, logically, when compiling responder type data, the more information you can gather on a consumer as they respond to an offer, the better and more marketable that file becomes. Basically, in the wordpress admin options page for an instance of the dagon design form mailer, I have added a check box which gives you the option of including host name in the file on the server. A screen shot of the additional option in the admin options page and a screen shot of what the files I compile look like are below.

click the images for a larger view

So that is the extent of what I have done to modify this awesome plugin. Please refer to the Dagon Design website linked above for the full documentation and don’t be shy to give Matt a small donation because his plugin’s for sure require a lot of time and effort. If you would like my modified version or have any questions on my experience with the Dagon Design Secure Form Mailer for WordPress just drop me a line below and I would be more than happy to send you a link for download and help out!

ClickBank Affiliate Marketing

I recently took my online endeavors beyond Google Adsense and other ppc marketing techniques. I signed up for a Click Bank account and replaced some of my previous 125×125 ppc ads with affiliate ads. So far I am exceedingly pleased with the results.

I opted for some affiliate ads from various sites offering recurring payments for their affiliate program in the hopes of making some easy money for extended periods. Click Bank makes it extremely easy to promote thousands of affiliate programs with their hop ad builder as well as a method in which your Click Bank account “nickname” is placed directly in to links to the affiliate sites. I didn’t use the hop ad builder though. Instead, I chose to navigate to the affiliate sites themselves by searching through the Click Bank marketplace and opening the links of the search results.

You see, many of these affiliate sites actually offer an abundance of marketing material such as pre-made email creatives, banners, graphics, text links and more. As you can see above (no, these are not intended to be offers as wordpress.com blogs are not aloud to promote affiliate products) I found a couple of 125×125 affiliate banners to replace some of my previous ppc ads. I especially like the 125×125 image banners not only for the efficient use of space and appealing appearance, but I utilize a great wordpress plugin called WP125 which displays, allows for editing, and tracks the number of clicks for your self hosted wordpress 125×125 ads.

So, to make a long story short, try this quick change up of money making techniques and see where it gets you, especially if you are on a self hosted wordpress platform and would like to try out the WP125 plugin. You can see the plugin and ads in action here. I have had this setup on this site for just over 24 hours now and I already have over $100 in Click Bank affiliate earnings! There is no way I would have made that much in my technorati engage and adsense ppc campaigns from that limited area!

Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl

The Boise State Broncos have gone undefeated again. Their 17-10 win over TCU has secured another undefeated season and avenged their only loss in the last 26 games. The Boise State defense came up big picking off Andy Dalton 3 times including a game winning interception with less than 30 seconds to play.

In a game that lacked consistent offense Boise State came alive with a fake punt where punter Kyle Brotzman completed a pass to wide open Kyle Efaw for 30 yards with about 9 minutes to play. Four plays later Boise State plunged in to the end zone from 2 yards out for the game winning score.

Reminiscent of Boise States Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma 3 years ago on the same field, the fake gadget plays once again give the Broncos a perfect season.

Urban Meyer Resigns

Urban Meyer is leaving his position as the head football coach at the University of Florida citing possible health concerns. Coach Urban Meyer will coach the Florida Gators in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati on January 1st. His resignation will be in effect immediately thereafter as reported in a statement released through the University of Florida.

In the statement Meyer says “”I have given my heart and soul to coaching college football and mentoring young men for the last 24-plus years and I have dedicated most of my waking moments the last five years to the Gator football program,”. “I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to reevaluate my priorities of faith and family.

“After consulting with my family, Dr. Machen, Jeremy Foley and my doctors, I believe it is in my best interest to step aside and focus on my health and family.”

Meyers resignation comes only weeks after being admitted to the hospital shortly after the SEC championship game in which the Gators lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide. It is not however evident there is any connection between that incident directly relating to any severe health condition. Meyer will be missed on the sidelines as well as by any college football fan who enjoys the dedication a great football coach displays for his school, football team and individual players.

And, on a side note, Brian Kelly better have a good couple years because after all, we all know Urban Meyer is a football coach at heart and can he really stop coaching forever at his young age?

10 Things You Should Know When Buying A Marketing List

Purchasing a telemarketing or marketing list does not have to be a complicated process. List brokers can usually steer you toward a particular list or database to fit your needs as a direct marketer, however, no one knows your product and what you are trying to achieve with your marketing campaign better than you do.

List brokers and managers are however the experts as far as telemarketing or mailing lists go, so, knowing that, it is always best to be educated on the particular type of data you are looking for so that you are knowledgeable on the generics of purchasing a marketing list. The idea is to be almost as fluent in marketing list speak as the broker you are dealing with so that in essence, you are telling them what you want so they can provide you the best data for your marketing efforts.

Again, the idea is to relay to your list broker as much information as possible so that together you can find the best marketing list for your campaign.

Below are ten items you should have prepared when contacting your list broker:

• Geography: Know the geographical location you would like to market to. All list brokers should be able to determine quantities and deliver your marketing list by a number of geography types. Typically, the common methods used to target locations are by state, area code, zip code, county, and MSA’s (metro statistical area). Have a list of states, zip codes, area codes, etc. prepared to give your list broker. If there are numerous area codes or zip codes it wouldn’t hurt to list them all in an excel file which can then be emailed to your broker. The clarity of this will avoid any confusion.
• SAN #: A subscription account number is required by the Telemarketing Sales Rule for all telemarketers using marketing lists to target consumers (most non-profit organizations do not need a SAN #). In other words, if you are marketing to anyone but businesses and are not a non-profit business you do need a SAN #. The complete details and registration for a SAN # can be found here. A list broker will typically ask for a SAN # before you are able to purchase a telemarketing list. SAN #’s are accessed by area codes. The first five area codes you apply for are free and every area code thereafter costs a fee.
• Information Needed: What information do you need on file “output”? Output simply means the fields you will see when your telemarketing or mailing list is delivered to you. Usually a list company will deliver your telemarketing or mailing list to you in excel, .csv, or .txt file formats. First, determine which format you need your file in, whether you are using a predictive dialer system or printing the list out for example. Second, decide what information you need on output of your marketing list. For instance, if you are utilizing direct mail, you will certainly need not only zip code but zip +4 (the four digits that come after the zip code) on output. Or, do you need specific fields such as first and last name separated in to two separate fields for your dialer.
• Consumer Lists: Consumer lists are usually separated in to two categories. Consumer lists and responder lists. A consumer list comes from a consumer database and usually contains information such as first and last name, full address, phone number, income, age range, children present, and homeowners or renters. There are numerous selects available on a typical consumer database for you to choose from. Be sure to ask your list broker for a complete guide to the selects available on their companies particular consumer database. From there, you should identify the selects, or criteria, of the consumers you would like to target.
• Responder Lists: Next are responder lists. There are thousands of different responder lists in which consumers have responded to various offers, either by purchasing a product or simply responding to a product offer asking for more information. Responder lists can be compiled in many ways, such as internet responders, direct mail responders, telemarketing responders, and even drop box responders. Usually, “buyers” files, where consumers have purchased a product, are the most responsive leads, and the most expensive.
• New Homeowners/New Movers: Additionally, New Homeowners and New Movers are another type of consumer list which can benefit your marketing campaign. New Homeowners are just that, consumers that have recently purchased a new home. New Movers would simply relate to consumers, such as renters, who have recently changed their residence. Both of these files are updated on a weekly and even daily basis, allowing you to contact these consumers as soon as possible. The idea here is that many of these new homeowners and new movers, having changed their residence, will be in need of certain services or products that they left behind at an old residence.
  
  Note: Determine which type of consumer list fits your needs based on the product or service you are offering and relay to your broker which you intend to purchase. Depending on your offer, either a consumer database file, responder leads, or new mover / new homeowner lists will work for you.
• Business to Business Leads: B2B leads and lists can also be an excellent marketing prospects. Basically, there are two types of B2B leads, existing businesses and new businesses. Existing businesses are compiled in databases, and are typically selectable by 40 to 50 different criteria including annual revenue, contact titles, SIC Code, employee size, square footage, and many more. New business leads are updated on a weekly or daily basis just as the new mover and new homeowner files are. New businesses are often very responsive for to various offers, however, new business lists are not selectable by near the amount of criteria an existing business database may be. Again, be sure to ask your list broker for a complete guide of available selects.
• Suppression Files: Now, assuming you may have purchased a telemarketing or mailing list previously, you have to take in to consideration providing your list broker a suppression file. When consistently purchasing marketing lists within the same geographical location it is very possible to receive a certain consumers information in multiple lists. You don’t want to do this for at least two very obvious reasons, you have already paid for that information (there is no reason you should pay for it again), and, you most likely want to reach as many new potential prospects as possible. To avoid receiving duplicate data, simply add the contents of every file to a new file which is always updated with your list purchases. It can also not hurt to add a date field to your suppression file so that you can tell when each individual record was added to the suppression file. Your suppression file can now be sent to your list broker to “suppress” out any duplicate records, meaning you will only receive, fresh, unique data for your marketing campaign.
• Terminology: I also wanted to take some time here to simply list a couple of the terms used in this post, and maybe a few more, along with descriptions just to add some clarity.
  1. DNC: The infamous Do Not Call list. Everybody has heard of it, and if you are utilizing telemarketing lists, you should know what it does. The reason I put this first is that many direct marketers don’t realize there is a Federal Do Not Call List as well as individual State Do Not Call Lists. Not all states have their own DNC databases, but many do, and you should adhere to them as well. Just a quick note also, approximately 75% to 80% of the callable universe is on the Federal Do Not Call List, meaning, out of a consumer database of 220 million consumers only about 150 million of those records will have phone numbers. Now, of the 150 million records with phone numbers, about 116 million of those records are on the Federal DNC. This means all telemarketers who are not non-profits are competing for the business of the same 30 to 35 million consumers. A good list broker will always “scrub” your list against the federal DNC, however, state do not call lists are typically the end user’s (you) responsibility. Scrubbing just means the process of removing records that have phone numbers on the do not call list from a marketing list.
  2. Select: Selects are the criteria by which a file can be filtered for your campaign. Example of selects include age range, income range, FICO score, and way too many others to list.
  3. Counts: A count is a breakdown of how many records are available in your marketing geography. Counts will include any of the selects you have chosen for your campaign and depending on your marketing campaign should already be scrubbed against the federal DNC.
  4. Universe: A specific database or file has what is referred to as a universe. This simply pertains to the total number of records available in that particular database.
  5. Hotline: Responder databases, new mover/new homeowner files, new business lists, and other consistently updated databases will have hotlines. This is the freshest updated feed of a particular database. Some files are updated monthly, weekly, or daily, therefore, you can request monthly, weekly, and daily hotlines. Keep in mind a monthly, weekly, daily hotline will have a monthly, weekly, daily universe as well as a total universe record count dating back to a specified date, whether it is 6 months, 1 year, or more.
  6. Pricing: Direct marketers should know that the list industry in general uses pricing such as $100/M. The M does not mean monthly. The M actually means per 1,000 records. So, a file of 5,000 records with a price of $100/M would have a cost of $.10 per record for a total cost of $500.00.
  7. SIC Code: Standard Industrial Classification. SIC codes pertain only to business data as an SIC code is simply a method in which the government assigns a business a specific numerical SIC code that refers to a distinct classification for that industry. NAICS – North American Industry Classification System is a very similar system to SIC codes. Your list broker should be able to query their existing business database by either method.
  8. Suppression: I also wanted to add a little on this topic. A suppression is simply when your list broker takes your existing lead database, queries it against their master database, and establishes a new list for you comprised solely of unique records. In other words, weeding out any duplicates. A suppression is usually done by comparing phone numbers and/or addresses.
• Negotiation: Here is the fun part. Most list brokers will have a base price per record for their database’s. In addition, you may have to pay for additional selects such as phone numbers, age, income, married, etcetera. Negotiating a small first order with a list broker may be a fruitless effort, however, as you place more orders with larger volume, your list broker should be willing to negotiate better pricing for you.

In conclusion, as said from the beginning, purchasing a marketing list does not have to be a difficult process. Some direct marketers may have poor opinions of the list industry, but as with anything, sometimes a lack of clarity and indecisiveness on your part may inhibit a list brokers ability to best serve you. So, remember the key, be knowledgeable, clear and concise in what you are looking for, and use a reputable list broker. Hopefully the tools above will help you do just that and best of luck with all of your direct marketing efforts!

Link Pyramids

Ok, first of all, I in no way condone or practice Black Hat SEO. This is mostly because I am completely self taught at this and probably couldn’t even tell you the difference between the two. I certainly wouldn’t even be able to tell you if something is Black Hat SEO or not, that’s for sure. So, now that that is clear, I came across a really cool post here all about building one way links to a hierarchy of your own sites.

When I started building sites with the hopes of earning some money, I actually emailed this guy whom it seemed really knew his shit and actually didn’t mind helping out answering a question or two. Now this guy certainly wasn’t going to give away his secrets but he did reply to my email and what he said in that email I find to be incredibly true. What he said, for lack a better phrase is “throw shit at the wall and see what sticks”. Now he also gave me some important advice, which I have always remembered, and that is, always have multiple projects going, experiment different techniques with each of them and essentially “see what sticks”.

So I did exactly that, I took my first site I built, Mansanity.com, and actually quit working on it to a degree just to see what effects it had on different aspects such as indexed pages, incoming links, traffic, etc. After a period of about a month and half I started focusing on distinct items to rebuild the site. One of the major things I had noticed in that month and a half was the dramatic decrease in incoming links. So, I started googling everything I could about building incoming links. Now please understand again, I am completely self taught and only speaking from my personal experiences, but once I started attempting to build incoming links I was amazed, as the links pile up, so does your traffic!

That’s where this post on link pyramids comes in to play. I would like to think of myself as a pretty intelligent fellow, and really I had already devised a plan to do this prior to reading this post. But I saw my plan was really quite elementary and this post really took it to another level.

In the long and the short of it, get as much free web space as you can for your bottom tier level, wherever you can find it (there is a ton of it out there). Add your one way links to a higher level of your own sites that are primarily self hosted but not the most extravagant and not even necessarily intended to make you money. Keep this process going with a multitude of sites continually linking ONE WAY to higher level sites, each level with better sites containing better content and more overall flow. Eventually your pyramid should contain all lower level sites that all point one way to a bad ass, money making mother of a site!

One point stressed in the post however is, never, ever, interlink all of your sites. I can only speculate as to the reason for this, which I think I have a fairly decent idea of, but I definitely need to do a little more reading before giving my two cents on that. So, still having so much to learn myself, and I have read numerous articles on this that give every answer you can think of, one question I still have is this, does adding a link from one of your own sites on one topic to another of your sites on a totally unrelated topic still help the link juice flow? I don’t know the answer to this but I have about 15 additional sites that are up and functioning already that I would love to throw in the mix. If anyone has any view points or advice on this it would certainly be appreciated. Thanks.

Tim Tebow Should Win The Heisman

First of all, this kid is truly one hell of a man. The world needs more Tim Tebow’s. Not only does he do all the right things off the football field, but on it he absolutely is the essence of everything a football player should be. Ok, statistically this year he should not win the Heisman, but for all the things he does for his team he without a doubt should.

For a long time the Heisman Trophy has been all about the best player in college football. In actuality, everyone, including these moronic idiots who commentate the big time college games (except for Musberger, Herbstreit, Blackledge, and Keith Jackson if he ever does another game) seems to forget that the Heisman is actually supposed to be awarded to the player that helps his team the most-meaning the most outstanding player. That is the way John Heisman wanted it but in this day of over hyped media the Heisman Trophy Trust that presents the trophy has been forced in to presenting it to a statistically over-hyped candidate. Just look at the majority of the NFL careers of many of the past winners.

I just think Tebow represents everything that is right and good about college football and truly feel he deserves a second seat at the pantheon along with Archie Griffin for not only his on the field accomplishments but his feats off the field as well.

New Miranda Rights

Ok, so I read this article yesterday about this guy who was read his miranda rights, arrested, taken to the police station and put in jail. I don’t even recall what he was charged with but the lead detective decided to interrogate this guy over some bull shit case the detective thought he may have some information on. So, the cop ends up getting this guy to sign a copy of his miranda rights which of course pretty clearly states that everyone has a right to have an attorney present before and during questioning by the police.

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but unfortunately I am somewhat familiar with my miranda rights, and one thing I know beyond question is, never, ever, answer anything a fucking cop is asking you unless your attorney is sitting right next to you. To make a long story short, this dumb ass guy ends up signing this paper with his miranda rights clearly stated on them, which by doing so he is saying that he clearly understands his rights. Now, what ends up happening is the guy admits to having a part in the other crime he was being questioned about, all the while, NEVER ASKING FOR AN ATTORNEY!

So eventually this guy gets an attorney and woila!, all of a sudden he was coerced in to a confession of some sorts which led to his self incrimination. This is bullshit, it’s stories like this that have led to the supreme court considering revising the miranda rights as we know them. This deuschbag was read his rights, signed a printed copy of his miranda rights, and still never asked for an attorney. Now, we, as US citizens and working tax payers have to shell out just a little more money in taxes to pay these so called supreme court “justices” salaries so they can waste time debating over whether or not the miranda rights need to be revised so people can clearly understand them!

This pisses me off to no end, the constant, petty issues that really need no discussion at all that we end up paying for. Just another example of what’s wrong with this country. If these idiotic issues could be averted and someone had the stones to just stand up to whomever brought this to the supreme court and say SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SIT THE FUCK down, not only would the national deficit be in much better shape, but it would save me a hell of a lot of aggravation

HERE is a similar case that’s a little more recent but you can see exactly what I am talking about.

later

Women and Their Ideas

I have got to share a story about my wife from over the weekend. We are currently in the process of completely refinishing our bedroom. Of course our new bedroom is on the second floor of our house, which comes in to play in just a minute.

Now, I have the knowledge and capabilities to build a finished house out of the ground, my wife, not so much, but in her defense, she works and tries really hard. So, right now we are still in the beginning stages and therefore in the demolition phase. She really likes doing this stuff so I feel pretty comfortable just letting her do it and I try to just take the rubbish out while she is tearing shit apart.

So here is what, as my wife put’s it, “just happened”. I am just coming in from taking a load of trash out and I hear an incredibly loud noise like metal banging on metal coming from above (our second floor bedroom) and descending downward until whatever it is hits bottom with a bang. At this point I just roll my eyes and yell upstairs to make sure she is ok. She is just fine. I knew that at this point she was only tearing up the old floor to take to the trash so I knew it shouldn’t be anything that bad. I go upstairs and there is my lovely wife staring at the heater vent coming up out of the floor, with the cover off. Instantly I knew that one of my tools, which I love, had dropped about 10 feet down to the basement in a 4 inch by 12 inch metal vent. According to her, that is how it “just happened”. So being on the second floor, a finished first floor, and no access to the duct work from the basement, the only way to retrieve my sentimentally valuable pry bar was to fish it out from the opening it had gone down. Of course, when the pry bar fell, it fell with some velocity and actually wedged itself somewhat in the 90 degree bend at the bottom.

I just laughed to myself, and with my wife, for a little bit and thought of how I could get this thing out of there. And do you believe my wife says to me, “can’t we just leave it in there”? I rolled my eyes again and headed to the building in the back yard to get a piece of ceiling wire to fish that thing out of there. By the point I get back my woman had tried a couple of contraptions with a magnet and an extension cord, I just rolled my eyes and laughed to myself again.

So after I bent a little hook on the end of the ceiling wire we begin trying to fish the pry bar out. Now, being between Akron and Cleveland OH at the end of December, it’s pretty damn cold out, so of course the heat kicks on and blows dust straight out of the vent straight up in to our faces along with a blast of heat. After about half an hour of fishing for the pry bar I am starting to get pretty fucking irritated and my wife of course is spitting out a whole bunch of her wonderful ideas on how to get the pry bar out in an easier way. She is relentless. She keeps telling me, “I have an idea, just let me try something real quick”. I finally give in to my irritation and her in my ear and take a back seat so she can try her idea.

She takes off to get what she needs and to my surprise, and fear, she comes back with a small hand held garden rake. I stare in disbelief as she ties the handle end of the rake to an extension cord and drops the rake quickly down the duct work. You guessed it, almost immediately she looks up at me with a look of “oh shit” on her face. I grab the cord, give a light tug, and feel there is no give at all, the rake is now wedged down there along with my pry bar.

I always tell my wife, “your ideas make more work for me”, and again I am right.

So, to make a long story not so long, it took another 20 minutes to get the rake out, with my ceiling wire, and probably another 30 minutes to finally fish the pry bar out of that god forsaken hole, again, with my ceiling wire.

The first thing I did when we got it out was cover up each of the vents and return airs. The whole thing took about 2 hours and was filled with laughter, and a little irritability on my part.

Women and their great ideas, what else do I have to say?