There are three media approaches that Hamilton House offers:

Directmail- using Royal Mail or one its rivals to mail the people to whom you want to sell.

Emailing- normally used to attract readers towards a web site.

Websites- initially seen as a simple replacement for the catalogue, now a selling mechanism in their own right..

Email: When email was first introduced as a mode of advertising the notion was that it was going to be the ultimate in direct selling - a method of advertising that would cost next to nothing.

What has gone wrong is spamming.  It is quite possible to get hold of lists of millions of email addresses scooped from internet sites.  Automatic programs tour the internet day and night picking up every address listed, and the result is useless.  You can use them and all you will get is millions of people who would never buy from you in a million years.

There are  solutions.  The only mailing lists worth having are those that are properly researched, and these are obviously going to cost.  The main types are

• Opt in lists - where the individual ticks a box to say he/she agrees to receive emails
• Double opt-ins - as above, but where an email is sent back by the list owner asking for a reply to confirm that emails are welcome
• Newsgroups - wherein the recipients willingly sign up to receive email news on a particular topic - and the service provides occasional adverts in between the news.

While all options are preferable to lists that have been collected from web sites, there is something of a danger with opt in lists in that some of them allow readers to opt in to the list without them being aware that they have done so.

For details of email lists available via Hamilton House please click here

Websites: There are a million types of websites.  Websites full of pictures, websites that have flashy effects and exciting animations, websites that are lists...

Hamilton House specialises in producing websites built around articles and information.  The benefit of these is that they can contain so much information that they tend to attract people who are searching for sites on the internet because such people are more likely to type in a phrase used in a web site that is full of text.

If you are interested in the development of such a site for your business please do call 01536 399 000.   If you would like to see a site that we have developed built around specific information please go to www.schools.co.uk 

Hamilton House also runs the Top 5 website which contains details of hundreds of products and services aimed at schools, allowing teachers, administrators and managers to look up individual items with a single click of the mouse. The site is regularly promoted to schools through our email services to schools, through Education Management News, and via the School Administrators' Newsletter. If you would like information on the cost of advertising or how to get your company added to the site please click here

If you would like to see other examples of our web sites concerning direct mail you might care to take a look at the Mailing Information Exchange websites.  Please click here