1. 10 Laws of List Generation The underlying principles for successfully developing a killer list

2. The Law of Planning 1 Define your goal Define what data you need
Keep the big picture in sight
Create a list definition statement
Summarize the intended use of your list
Let it guide everything you do
Filter every aspect of your list creation through it

3. The Law of Standards 2 Define your target standards
The Container Company Incorporated
The Container Company Inc.
The Container Company Inc
The Container Co. Incorporated
The Container Co Incorporated
The Container Co. Inc.
The Container Co Inc
The Container Co. Inc
Container Co Inc
Container Company Incorporated, The
Container Co. Inc.
Container Company Inc, The
Container Co. Inc
Container Co Inc, The
Container Co Inc.
Container Company Incorporated
Container Company Inc., The
Container Company Inc
Container Co. Inc., The
Container Co Incorporated
Container Co. Inc, The
The Container Company
Container Co Inc., The
Container Co. Incorporated
Container Company Inc.
= Legal Name
= Common Name

4. Benefits Administrator
The Law of Permutation 3
Cover all synonyms when searching
There are many ways of saying the same thing
There are many ways to say the same thing
There are many ways for saying something
There are many ways to saying something
The Internet and disparate data sources are written in the language of the many and can not be encapsulated from one vantage point. You must therefore define your search in the language of the many. Build a comprehensive list of all variations.
Director of Benefits
Benefits Director
Benefits Advisor
Benefits Administrator
Employee Benefits
Benefits Manager
Benefits Specialist
Admin of Benefits
Manager of Benefits

5. The Law of Taxonomy 4 Uncover the Internal taxonomy
There are internal and external taxonomies
The External taxonomy is how you description
The Internal taxonomy is the target description
External description:
I need companies that make “Ophthalmic lasers”
Internal description:
I specialize in “Foldable intraocular” lasers for performing “Phacoemulsification” on “corneal microkeratomes”.

6. The Law of Iteration 5 Test your hypothesis
Research is fluid and changing
If using the Internet, don’t treat it Internet like a database
Each piece of knowledge you learn affects your next query
Never rely solely on technology
Cycle through (test/adapt/test/adapt) until list results are consistent
Iteration example: Finding manufacturing engineers...
First find out where they hang out
Create a list of those places and the variations of titles
Talk to a few experts & check your premises
Rework your search strategy accordingly.
Search again

7. The Law of Completeness6
Find your total available market (TAM)
First determine the total Companies/Accounts in your TAM
Take a random sample of Accounts, research all target titles and get an estimated count based on the sample size
Determine if your search is Company-First or Contact-First (niche or hard-to-find titles tend to favor contact-first method)
Understand the limitation of each search medium (i.e. google limited to 1000 results, LinkedIn limits per day)
If possible, work with all results from your search.
Understand diminishing returns when using Internet search.

8. The Law of Segmentation7
Record all significant attributes
Save any meta-data gathered while list building
Unique attributes will be critical for list segmentation
Analyze meta-data to select segmentation parameters
Pre-calculate and separate fields to speed future queries example: separate area code into it’s own field. Having data segmented exposes more information to more people without requiring technical skills. Data storage is cheap, development and custom report writing is expensive.

9. The Law of Frequency 8 Establish an update cycle
Based on your sales process, determine a cycle for updating data
Tag all records with date-of-update
Archive each iteration of your generated list (old results may never be available again)
Understanding data decay frequency
Contact data degrades 3-5% per month
Account data degrades 15% per year
s should be verified every 90 days
Social profiles should be refreshed yearly

10. The Law of Process 9 Document what does and does not work Document
The next list you create can borrow from past experience. Document each step in creating your list.
Make sure your documentation is available to all stake-holders (sales, marketing, technology, operations, executive)

11. Competitive advantage
The Law of Potential 10
Measurement determines methology
Data Potential
Accuracy + Timeliness
Data Quality =
Competitive advantage
Targeted Exclusive
Competitive Advantage =
Data quality
Your data potential will determine what is possible to do with your data

12. Permutations vs Taxonomies
Comparision cheatsheet
Permutations are linear synonyms
Taxonomies eventually diverge from synonyms
Multiple combinations
Like things
Iterative
Diminishing returns
Fluid
Creative
Iterative
Expanding returns

13. Do a free data assessment
Strategic data assessment - quick survey that will uncover the underlying issues with your data. Get insights that would normally take a 4-5 hour conversation with a data expert.
Dataset questionnaire - You have an existing list, but you need a strategy to make it better. Fill out the dataset questionnaire and let us know what you are dreaming about.
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