Foundation 10 of 20 · Reach
What Is Direct Marketing? Examples for Small Business
If They Cannot Walk Past Your Door, Your Door Has to Go to Them.
"The market's one day a month. What do I do with the other twenty-nine?" If your customers only find you when they happen to pass by, you are leaving most days empty. Here is what direct marketing is, with examples for small business: a customer list, one page, and the standing order.
Last Updated: 10/25/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Short Answer
What Is Direct Marketing?
Textbook Definition
Direct marketing is a form of advertising in which a business communicates directly with specific, identified customers or prospects through channels such as mail, email, phone, or personal visits, typically with a clear call to action and measurable response.
In Plain English
Direct marketing means reaching specific customers where they are, instead of waiting for them to pass your door. A letter, a catalog, an email, a call, or a visit, sent to people who have a reason to want it, with an easy way to order.
Why It Matters
Why Does Waiting for Customers Leave Money on the Table?
Most small businesses are built to catch people who walk past. If your customers are spread out, busy, or far away, nobody walks past. You spend your life waiting for a market day, a busy season, or a lucky week.
Direct marketing flips that. You know who your customers are, you reach them on purpose, and they can buy any day. It rests on a customer list: names, where they are, what they buy. It is also the most measurable marketing there is, because you know exactly who answered.
Signs you have this problem:
- You only get sales when customers happen to come in.
- You know your regulars' faces but not their names or contact details.
- Customers run out of what you sell and do without until they visit.
- You have never sent anything to your own customers.
- Your busy days are great and your other days are empty.
- Your marketing goes to "everyone" instead of to people who already buy.
What It Looks Like
What It Looks Like When the Shop Waits Twenty-Nine Days a Month
From the Fabled Forest · Chapter 10
Cal the Camel fixed his market stall into three clear sections, and market day worked beautifully. Then came twenty-nine days with no customers, because nobody walks past a counter in a dry riverbed. The post office forty minutes away sent a wagon everywhere twice a week. Cal had never once put anything on it.
He knew his customers' faces, not their names. The postmistress knew everyone, but would not hand over her list. So Cal built his own: caravan drivers, ranch families who bought from him, and eleven forest buyers Thelma the potter gave him. Thirty-four names, each with what they always bought.
Hazel drew a one-page catalog with every item, a price, and a sketch. The bottom said: tell me once, it comes every month until you say stop, with the order deadline and delivery cost. Eleven letters came back on the next wagon. Nine were standing orders. One rancher wrote: did not know you had seed, send the catalog to my brother.
Cal's story is Chapter 10 of Marketing for Small Businesses, Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.
The Fix
How to Start Direct Marketing in 5 Steps
Start with the customers you already have. They are the easiest people in the world to sell to again.
Build your customer list.
Every customer by name, how to reach them, what they buy, and how often. Ask permission to stay in touch. Never borrow someone else's list.
Make one page that shows what you offer.
What you carry or do, prices, and how to order without coming in. Plain, true, and easy to read.
Put the practical answers on the page.
Delivery cost, how to pay, and the order deadline. Leave those off and the first thing you get back is questions.
Send it to the list, not to everyone.
By mail, email, text, or hand, through whatever already reaches them. Follow the rules for commercial messages where you operate.
Offer a standing order.
"Tell me once and it keeps coming." A standing order turns a one-time buyer into a regular who never has to decide again.
Dr. Paul's Insight
The most common mistake is sending the page to everyone instead of the list. Everyone is not a customer. The list is. Respect it, too: only contact people who gave you their details or are already customers, make it easy to stop, and never sell or share the list. Trust is what makes the list worth anything.
Sample: A One-Page Order Sheet
What you sell, by group, with the practical answers at the bottom.
| For the road | Rope (9 sizes), lamp oil, feed, water skins. Prices listed. |
| For the ranch | Flour, salt, nails, cloth, seed. Prices listed. |
| Local gifts | Dates, local glassware, pottery. Prices listed. |
| How to order | Write what you want. Orders in by Friday arrive the next Tuesday. |
| Cost and payment | Delivery fee per parcel, paid on arrival. |
| Standing order | Tell us once. It comes every month until you tell us to stop. |
Sample for illustration. Follow commercial messaging rules where you operate.
The Shortcut That Costs More
Buy Every Poster Board in Town?
In the book, Franklin Talon, a hawk with a very large budget, papers the forest with his name. Every shortcut sounds bold. Every one buys attention. None of them earns a second look. Here is the one in Chapter 10.
Buy every poster board in the forest. If they cannot look anywhere else, they will look at you.
For a month, nobody can turn their head without seeing your name, and that feels like reach.
People learn to stop reading. And every dollar went to being seen by everyone, including the nine in ten who were never going to come.
Reach the people who already want what you sell. Thirty-four letters to the right names can outsell four hundred posters to the wrong ones.
Watch
Video: How to Sell to Your Own Customers Without Waiting for Them
What Is Direct Marketing? Examples for Small Business
Dr. Paul builds a customer list and a one-page order sheet with a standing order on screen.
From the Book
I Did Not Know You Could
Chapter 10 · Direct Marketing
Nobody Walks Past: A Camel's Catalog
"You knew Thelma did it."
"I knew Thelma did it," said Cal slowly, "the way I knew the sun came up. I never thought it was something a camel could do."
What did Cal put on the wagon, and how many letters came back? Find out in Chapter 10. Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.
Get the Book on Amazon →FAQ
Direct Marketing Questions
What are examples of direct marketing for a small business?
Is direct marketing the same as email marketing?
How do I build a customer list?
What is a standing order?
Keep Going
Related Foundations
Direct marketing connects four foundations that turn known customers into steady ones. New to a term on this page? Every one is in the marketing glossary.
Foundation 2 · Market Segmentation
Send each segment the things it actually buys.
Foundation 9 · Marketing Collateral
Your catalog is collateral that travels to the customer.
Foundation 20 · Relationship Marketing
Direct contact builds relationships big competitors cannot copy.
Foundation 13 · Referral Marketing
Your list is also the best place to ask for referrals.
Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant and author who helps owners get found by the right customers. Want help turning your customer list into steady repeat orders? See business growth plan options.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or other professional advice. Trademark, privacy, and advertising rules vary, so talk with a qualified professional before registering a name, collecting customer data, or making claims about a competitor. Dollar figures are illustrations. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.