David M Raff interviewed by Listline

Meet the Broker: David M. Raff, MDI Lists
Feb 19, 2009 11:35 AM, By Jim Emerson


Today we meet David M. Raff, president of MDI Lists in Weston, FL. Raff brokers both domestic and international lists. He travels the world for business and pleasure.

“I got into the list business because I’m really good in math. After more than 20 years, I still have a passion for my work and I really love what I do as a broker,” says Raff. He started at Edith Roman Associates Inc. back in 1985. Later he worked for 21st Century Marketing, Uni-Mail List Corp., B.M.C. Marketing and DIMAC Direct.

An insatiable need to build new relationships for business, find fresh sources of data and improve upon response analysis is what keeps brokerage work challenging for many brokers.
List segmentation and response analysis are essential basic skills, but seasoned brokers know that opportunities for delving deeper into list strategies really have no bounds.

“We’re all learning the same stuff over and over in new ways. We’re looking for better ways slice and dice data, add new elements to lists and find better ways to read backend results for lifetime customer value,” says Raff.

Raff works and plays hard too. He spends his free time coaching his sons’ (13 and 17) flag football and basketball teams. He rides a motorcycle and travels extensively in Latin America and elsewhere. He’s also active in his temple. “One of my most interesting trips was to Columbia, where because of security concerns it’s common to see people walking around with machine guns everywhere you go,” he says.

Roughly 30% of his business involves brokering international lists.
His client roster includes the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, Excitement Ventures, Global Access Management and Marketing Magic.

Is there much difference between domestic and international list brokerage?

Finding international lists is more difficult and time consuming for several reasons, explains Raff. Outside the U.S. there are far fewer list management companies and brokers typically must deal directly with mailers, as most international list rental deals are handled privately, rather than on an open list rental market. Working in many time zones and looking for list owners who speak English further complicates international list brokerage.

Know someone you'd like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mailJim.Emerson@Penton.com