A front end is a direct mail package sent to a prospect, as opposed to a customer. Some direct marketers lose money on front ends, but make money on back ends. Once you have converted prospects to customers, you send them more promotions, called back ends. Since customers are far more likely to buy from you than prospects, back ends can be very profitable. Before you start a direct marketing campaign, you should have back end products ready.
Mailing lists are valuable property, bringing in thousands of dollars in rental fees yearly.
List owners want to make sure that your offer is legitimate and that it won t compete with them. So most of them ask for a copy of your promotion before they ll agree to rent to you. An experienced direct marketing copywriter can write a brief summary that usually gets list clearance, and can help guide you through the clearance procedure. A control is a successful direct marketing package that is making a profit and that has not been beaten by a test package. Many controls wear out in 6 months to a year, and must be replaced.