What to expect/plan for with direct marketing

[Benjamin Cowles]

If I mail to 1000 prospects and get 1% response rate, 10 calls, I'd be lucky to get a deal out of that correct?

So if then I mail out another set of letters/post cards to the same prospects and what, get another 10 calls? If I do it myself we're at about $1000 correct? On my next $1000, two more mailings we're at 40 calls total or does the percentage increase at this point?

And to really get the higher response rate do we have to go our fifth to seventh passes as its been said? Is 1% high, average? I was trying to be conservative.

Ultimately after $3500 should one have a deal that will at least cover the marketing expense? Is $3500 a good budget to start with? And do I just keep mailing the same people until they tell me to stop? And if I keep my farm area tight I might have to as prospects become limited no? Like, how many new ones pop up every 7 months for say a small 70 square mile town? Another thousand? Anyone have any ideas on these numbers? Just trying to get a good idea what to expect.