Several companies sell customized business and consumer marketing lists online. InfoUSA offers payas-you-go options for business (B2B) and consumer (B2C) lists. A nonprofit version of their product, ReferenceUSA, is available through libraries, but offers a limited number of downloads per screen. Other commercial web-based companies include Zapdata (B2B only), and AccuLeads (B2B and B2C). These websites allow you to create marketing lists of businesses or consumers based on multiple criteria, usually downloadable in a variety of formats. You can figure roughly $.10-$.15 per lead for a standard mailing list; additional features (e.g., phone numbers, sales figures, and other parameters) will add to the fee.

You can also purchase direct marketing lists that have been compiled by a third party, for example SRDS or List Finder. These are especially helpful for specific targeted audiences, such as people who travel to the Caribbean, own toy poodles, or suffer headaches.

AccuLeads
AccuLeads offers leads from more than 18 million businesses and 136 million households. The site also offers lists from real estate records, lists of new borrowers, and a list of affluent professionals. You can search the database for free and create customized lists based on a wide range of parameters. AccuLeads is often the least expensive alternative for generating lists, but they have a $50.00 minimum order.

InfoUSA
Info USA lists more than 14 million businesses and 200 million consumers (104 million households) in its database. You can create a customized list of businesses or residents based on dozens of categories such as geography, demographics, and sales figures. You can also purchase lists of new homeowners. Searching the database is free.

ListFinder
List Finder offers a searchable database of more than 50,000 direct mail lists. You can select the type of list you want (e.g., e-mail, postal mail, or telephone) and search by keyword. Summary information is provided for each list, with the option to pay for a subscription for more information or to contact a list broker. You can also send a message requesting information or a quote directly to the list manager. In addition, the site features articles about direct marketing, web marketing, direct mail legal and regulatory issues, and other topics.

SRDS.com
SRDS is the granddaddy of direct marketing lists. It requires an annual subscription fee (unlimited single-user access was $620 in 2005) to search the database of around 55,000 domestic and international lists. The subscription includes the printed version of the list as well (which is cumbersome and difficult to use).

Zapdata.com
Zap Data, from Dun & Bradstreet, offers business-to-business marketing leads from their database of more than 14 million businesses. Selection criteria include location, number of employees, annual sales, SIC code, job function, and specialty data such as import/export flags or IT demand. Price is calculated based on the number of records in a list as well as individual parameters selected, and can range from $.14 to more than $2.00 per record.