Hi Griff,

I've often thought about doing a welcome service, but at least initially I'm working on developing a community website in my county for the purpose of helping locals get to know local businesses better.

If I was doing direct mail for new home owners like you're talking about, I'd probably divide the area into different sections like you mentioned. Why? Well, people obviously do business with folks outside of their zip codes for one, and like you said doing individual zip codes could be more work than you want to do.

I can't say for sure if one way is better than another, but you might want to research and find out how other businesses like ValPack and MoneyMailer segment their areas.

HTH,

Steve Solem
www.ravedesigns.com