Secrets of Successful Direct Mail [UNABRIDGED] (Hardcover)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A legendary book on successful direct-mail marketing and advertising has just been republished by Bottom Line Books, and imprint of Boardroom Inc., the direct mail publishing giant whose famous ads start out, "What never to eat on an airplane..." Why has Boardroom decided to reprint this sought-after, how to classic now? Martin Edelston, Boardroom's CEO, explains, "Direct marketing, in one form or another , is part of all our lives. It's used by just about every business and non-profit...on church bulletins and utility bills, menus left under doors, coupon ads in newspapers and magazines, inserts with your bills--even the ads on back of ATM receipts and matchbooks. And most believe almost all direct marketing can be done better." In his foreward to the 1989 edition of Benson's book, Hank Burnett -- one of the great copywriters of all time - said "This is the equivalent of a doctoral-level course on how to make a great deal of money legitamately through the mail, and may well be the most valuable book ever written on the subject." Put simply, Dick Benson's view of direct mail marketing is deceptively simple: The promotor's goal is to get prospects to raise their hands and say they're interested in what you have to seel. His book shows how to get those hands in the air. Secrets of Successful Direct Mail is everything Dick Benson learned in 40 years in the business. How valuable is this information? As Martin Edelston, one of Dick Benson's clients since 1972, says now, "Dick's book has wonderful clear lessons on how to do direct marketing right. I wish it had been available when I was starting out. I learned a lot from it, and you will too, no matter what you're selling." Brian Kurtz, Boardroom's Executive Vice-President -- notes, "Dick's influence on our company has been enormous. As the primary consultant throughout our history, he deserves much of the credit for Boardroom's success, longevity and solid reputation."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bottom Line Books (2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887233341
• ISBN-13: 978-0887233340
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,266,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A primer for the beginner or your first mail campaign, November 7, 2006

By	Gotham Sanity (Gotham City, NY U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

I highly doubt that this reprint was orchestrated to hit the bookstores nationwide, especially the college campuses. Yet, with that said, it clearly describes the GEEK side of marketing, the direct side that finally is bringing accountability to the huge advertising budgets of companies like Walmart (who just selected Draft).

An introduction to direct marketing, direct marketing is about attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA). This text is about measurable results. Sure, lessons on copy writing, creative, format would be great if included and timely to boot but no direct marketing text is current once it comes off the presses.

With that said, with this not being the text for a University of Phoenix 12 credit semester, I would say that this is an excellent read if you are trying to decide on a career path or just a small business or professional doing your postal mailing for the first time.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Anecdotes and platitudes, March 19, 2006

By	Thomas Lundin (Lakeville, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been in the Direct Marketing field for a short time, and I have to say quite bluntly that despite the provocative title, this book does not contain any "secrets" that can't be found in many other sources of DM info. In fact, most of it is DM 101. Or maybe 201 at best.

Benson's thin book is a series of short anecdotes, like Aesop's Fables, each ending in a platitude that describes a general principle of DM that has held true for Benson. (Warning: Your Mileage May Vary, especially if you're not a big fan of employing sweepstakes and reply-card stickers in your DM.) Many of the anecdotes throughout the book share the same principles, and the anecdotes themselves are unsatisfyingly lacking in detail.

There is little actionable how-to information in this book -- Benson unapologetically declares himself to be an Idea Guy, leaving the implementation details of copywriting, design, and campaign planning to others.

So what we're ultimately left with is a skinny volume of mostly-obvious DM principles wrapped in undeveloped anecdotes, priced like a textbook.

Perhaps I'm too demanding, but I want meaty content in the reference books I buy. This one, sadly, is just spareribs.