Is there any waste? Sure there is.

People live busy lives. Even if your sales pitch reaches the right person it may not reach them at the right moment in time.

They might not have time to read it today. Or this week. They might not be ready to buy again. Your pitch might end up in the trash before it even gets read.

Overall ... doesn’t matter. Know why?

Because if you’ve mailed correctly a certain percentage of prospects are going to read your pitch. They’re going to respond they way you want them to.

They’re going to buy ... or call for more information ... or send for the free sample. You’re going to be offering people something they want. Maybe even something that makes their life easier. Or helps them out in some way. Or lets them be more productive. Or enhances their quality of life somehow.

So how do you know if direct mail is good for you?

Well … despite everything you may have read about response rates … the test is simple.

First thing though ... forget about the fact everyone says they don't like getting "junk" mail. The majority of people who get lots of "junk" mail (and say they don't like it) get on mailing lists after buying something through the mail.

Now …

Determine beforehand if a mailing can make money on paper ... then do a live test mailing. If, for example, you get a 16% response rate but your overall mailing costs exceed your net profits then your mailing is a failure.

Bottom line … if your net profits from a direct mail campaign are a lot higher than your costs to do the mailing then you’ve got a winner.

Some direct mail companies run successful advertising campaigns with less than a 1% response rate. They mail millions of ad pieces. But their mailing costs are low relative to their huge profits - - even with low response rates.

Response rates aren't nearly as important as actual profit margins.

Small businesses usually can’t keep mailing costs extremely low. If you don’t mail tens-of-thousands of pieces you won’t be able to get letters and envelopes printed in bulk for pennies-a-piece. Don’t let that bother you.

If the numbers work … and your product or service is priced right … then maybe only a few orders out of every 100 sales letters will make money.

So what are you waiting for?

Sit down. Work the numbers. Do a test mailing.

I bet if you think about it hard enough you’ll be able to figure out a way to make direct mail work for you. If you need some help contact me. And don't worry about what people say. Pay attention to what they do.

Joe Farinaccio is a direct-response copywriter. Joe specializes in writing sales letters and direct mail packages for small businesses. To learn how you can do direct marketing for your business, or get help with your sales letters and direct mail packages visit his website at http://www.sales-letters-and-marketing.com