Meet the Broker: Donna Peterson
Today we meet Donna Peterson, executive vice president of World Innovators Inc., Roxbury, CT. Peterson joined her mother’s company in 1989, after working in the real estate industry doing accounting.
“I was planning on becoming a certified financial planner, but I found that I loved brokerage work. One thing led to another and I started working with my own clients,” Peterson says.
Over time her original focus shifted from direct mail to e-mail marketing. “About 80% of my work now is for e-mail, but 20% of my business still involves postal lists,” she says.
More than half the files she works with are international lists, targeting consumer and business-to-business markets. She also has a hand in Internet lead generation for companies prospecting for customers.
Some of her clients include the B-to-B asset auction firm Go Industry and publishers like McGraw-Hill and Findlay Publications, based in the United Kingdom.
More recently, Peterson has started working with a number of homebuilders in the struggling real estate sector. “E-mail blasts have been quick way for them to promote open houses, special events or special prices,” she adds.
Peterson is still a traditional broker when it comes to list data recency. She’s a stickler for quarterly hotline or newer data when she makes list recommendations for clients.
“I don’t rent any data that’s older than 12 months. I don’t go near subscription expires data. When I can find current data with the right criteria that’s the file I’ll take,” she says.
Peterson juggles a busy life outside of work too. She coaches a children’s swim team and enjoys many outdoor activities including running, bicycling, hiking and skiing. She and her husband have a 10-year-old daughter and a son, 7.
How important is multichannel marketing to brokers?
“Clients are asking for these services so it’s important,” Peterson says, noting brokers have to get more involved on all sides and take advantage of the synergy between e-mail, postal mail and Internet lead generation.
“I’m still a broker but things have changed over the years. Banner ads are being followed up by e-mail. Lead generation campaigns are being followed up by e-mail or postal mail,” she continues.
What list selections work for promoting business asset auctions?
The key to selecting lists to advertise business auctions is to find selections that identify individuals with purchasing authority, certain job titles and specific product interests. “Broad based selections won’t work as well,” she says.
The business auction marketplace is expanding and demand is growing for e-mail lists to announce upcoming auctions worldwide for selling off business assets, adds Peterson.
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