I just got my advance copies of the 2008 AGDM!!! (And I also realized that today is the 1-year anniversary of my promotion to editor, so I guess October 17 must be a lucky date for me.)

It's so exciting to see the finished product of my hard work. All the art looks great -- I can't wait for you to see it! I'm told the book will be shipping from the warehouse within the next week or two, but you can pre-order it from Amazon. As soon as I get my first shipment, I'll be sending comp copies to all the artists and writers featured in the book.

To peak your interest in the book (and to get you thinking about your marketing plans for the upcoming holiday season -- the perfect time to send promo cards), I'm providing here an excerpt from Maria Piscopo's article Self-Promotion in the Modern World:

Assembling a Mailing List

Successful direct marketing always starts with a targeted list of prospective clients. In addition to creating mailing lists based on researching Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market listings and your own networking, some artists purchase industry-specific mailing lists or labels.

      There are many industry-specific sources for your mailing lists. You can just buy the labels or e-mail addresses from these firms, but consider buying the database to use on your computer and make your own labels. Another option is to import the data if you are already using a compatible contact management software program for a database (e.g., Filemaker Pro or Microsoft Access). When buying data, look for individually prepared lists targeted to your marketing message.

      Make sure the company updates their database at least two to three times a year. If you are buying the database, make sure you can add your own sales leads, contact names and even mail/merge for printing custom letters and envelopes. Check out the search and sort capabilities of the program before you buy so that you can search the data by company name, city, state, zip code, area code, type of client, contact name or any of the other popular fields of information used for mailing lists databases.

      Here is a partial list of companies that sell targeted databases of clients that buy art and graphic design:

• ADBASE: www.adbase.com 

• Adweek Directory: www.adweek.com/directories

• Agency Access*: www.agencyaccess.com

• Agency ComPile: www.agencycompile.com

• ArtNetwork: www.artmarketing.com

• Bizjournal's Book of Lists: www.bizjournals.com/bookoflists

• Creative Access: www.bigroster.com/c1_cac.htm

• FRESH LIST: www.freshlists.com

• Gale Directory of Databases: www.galegroup.com

• The List: www.thelistinc.com

• Workbook Mailing Lists: www.workbook.com/mailing-lists

*Agency Access is currently offering the following discounts: