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erm... as much as I'd like to say yes, me and my middleaged body prefer a more sedate team sport, preferably pub based 

The last thread we had by this title was started in 2010, and was getting a bit long!

Businesses that Aren't Yours but that You'd Recommend

So thought it was time to start a new one.

Zero self promotion will be tolerated, this is just a chance to recognise another business of any size that has surprised/impressed/amazed you with their customer service, efficiency or quality of products/services.

Feel free to add your recommendations below, and briefly explain why. 

The best data you have is your own, so apologies if sucking eggs, but assume you already maintain and look after you own data list. So email campaigns to current and former customers.

For fresh data, we sometimes buy in data from Market Location (they own 118 information and ThomsonLocal). For transparency we are also partnered with them, but there other data houses about. ML is now one of the major ones though in the UK.

Depending on the level of data you want, will depend on the cost, but they can target to your exact demographic and target audience.

An interesting development is Companies House, which has just opened up their database to the public. You only get public domain info, so no email addresses, but it will open possibilities to a cheap offline marketing campaign, as marketing companies will be able to tap into their data for free.

Results can vary when it comes to cold email sending. Don't expect instant sales, expect it to be the beginning of a conversation, so stay away from long sales pitches. Industry standard response rate is 1%, so be realistic about what you want to achieve versus cost of data.

Its a really complex issue, which none of us can probably really comprehend unless we are in that position. Personally I'm with the consensus of allowing it, with strict regulation.

I watched my granddad just waiting to die living on a portable oxygen tank and regularly asking to die. Conversely my Grandmother after years of MS, constant pain, bed ridden, zero quality of life (in my view) wants to live and is terrified of the prospect of death.

I'd like to think I'd have the opportunity of choice if faced with the prospect of chronic pain or zero quality of life. It seems most people you speak to seem to have a similar opinion, so why is it our elected officials see it differently?

Maybe one for a referendum?

Originally Posted by Rebecca (PayforPrecision)

“So original.....”

Ah honey, don't bee mean, the buzz around this story is sure to stir a hornets nest.

Do I get a prize?

Hi Andy, had to remove the image as it was a Getty Image copyright  

Used to play a bit of Rugby in my youth, was too slow as a winger, and to short for the scrum, so stuck with drinking games instead  Seem to have lost interest as I got older though, unless there is the mention of a barbie and a beer 

Now can I tweet that? 

That sounds like a great marketing tag line, not sure what for though 

Bang out of order, everyone knows you leave everything behind.

10/10 for the crew, 1 out 10 for the selfish passengers.

Imagine if half the passengers had died because of a bottleneck of people collecting luggage, or the emergency chutes getting ripped. Luggage can be replaced!

Its rubbish ignore it.

Data is the currency of the digital world we live in. But data has a huge flaw, it degrades. If you have a database of say 1000 previous clients, that information is only as good as the last time you spoke to them. If that data is 6 months old, some clients will be no more, ceased trading, moved address, changed contact details, or have opted out of marketing, such as TPS or MPS.

If that data is 2, 5, 10 years+ old, it will be mostly worthless, and legally unusable.

Now if I offer you a targeted list of 10,000 potential leads, with current up to contact details, with opted in permission to be contacted (that hasn't been sent to death), how much do you think that would cost? You can get this data, you can buy it in directly from companies house and other providers and it is very expensive.

Professional data houses will normally give you some sample data to evaluate and test, plus they would never use a web email address, it would be come from their own domain.

Selling data is a huge business, and old data lists are regularly nicked, scraped, repackaged and sold, again and again and again. If you get lots of business type spam, then your email is on one of them. Unfortunately until people stop buying this rubbish, it will never end

Using old/dirty data will at best leave you out of pocket, and worst land you in serious trouble as well as causing brand reputation damage.