They've Got Your Number

Ever wonder where those telemarketers got your number? It's simple -- they bought it. Selling telemarketing lists is a huge business, and with good reason. Whether or not we enjoy getting calls from telemarketers, they do drum up a lot of business by calling people who they know might have an interest in their products or services. Beats cold-calling, that's for sure.

When companies buy a telemarketing list, they expect (and get!) a lot more than a series of names and phone numbers -- if that's all they needed, they'd just open up the phone book and start dialing. What they are paying for are lists of people who have shown that they may be in the market for specific stuff. For example, if you have a high school aged kid, it's not a big stretch to think that you might be interested in reasonably priced car insurance for teens or that you may be shopping for college loans.

One of the biggest markets for such information are mortgage mailing list. If you've already got a house, statistics show that you aren't likely to keep it forever, so at some point, you may choose to employ a realtor or may be in search of great mortgage rates for your next place. Even if you stay put, a refinance might be in your future. Buy a house and one thing is certain -- you'll start getting stuff in the mail about real estate and mortgage rates.

Telemarketers may not be the most popular people in the world, but selling in this manner must have a certain degree of success. After all, they just keep calling...