New to direct marketing Questions

[Rich Perrin]

I'm new to direct marketing and want to give it a try but have a few questions. I want to concentrate my efforts towards flips however if a good buy and hold property comes along, that's fine to. I have been reading many posts about list companies, lists to get, kind of postcards/yellow letters to use. In the posts I've read, there really isn't any specific method for either. Everyone seems to have their own way of doing it. I expect some trial and error however would like to know what some of you on here have done when they first started.

Which to use: Yellow letters, postcards, regular letters, etc?

Which list company to buy lists from: Agent24/7, etc?

What kind of lists to buy: pre-foreclosure, probate, out of town owners, etc?

How large of a list: 250, 500, 1000+?

Do I repeat the list? If so how often?

I'm really looking to get this going starting in the beginning of next year and would really appreciate some feedback. Thank you in advance.