infoUSA Inc. -  Mailing Lists -  Category Directory

(402) 593-4500

5711 South 86th Circle

Omaha, Nebraska 68127

www.infousa.com

Sales

$311 million

Business Description 

infoUSA Inc. (the “Company” or “infoUSA”) compiles and updates one of the most accurate and comprehensive proprietary database of 14 million businesses in the United States and Canada and over 200 million individuals in the United States and Canada compiled and updated under one roof in Omaha, Nebraska. These databases are compiled from thousands of public sources. We believe our databases are the most content rich in the industry. In order to improve the quality of our databases, we make over 22 million phone calls per year to gather additional content and verify existing information. We maintain a staff of approximately 500 full-time employees in Omaha to manage the database. The data content changes by nearly 70 percent every year, which includes change of address, phone number, SIC code, employee size, owners names, executive names and other data within a record. Customers return to us to purchase updated information for sales prospecting. Recurring revenue is a major component of our revenue and accounts for approximately two-thirds of our annual sales.

More than 4 million customers have used our information in the form of sales leads, prospect lists, mailing labels, printed directories, 3 x 5 cards, computer diskettes, business credit reports, DVDs and on the Internet. Our information is used by businesses for sales leads, mailing lists, credit decisions, market research, competitive analysis and managing vendor relationships. Sales people and small business owners use our information for new prospects, due diligence and other day-to-day information purposes. During 2003, the Company enhanced its presence in e-mail marketing, e-mail customer retention and e-mail customer acquisition services with the purchase of DoubleClick’s email deployment business, ClickAction, Yesmail and Markado. The Company also continued to consolidate the printed and online directory industry with its acquisition of Hill-Donnelly and City Publishing directory companies. infoUSA is the industry’s leading provider of both business and consumer information

Business Strategy

There are approximately 14 million businesses in the United States and Canada. All of these businesses are looking for cost effective solutions to find new customers and increase their sales, especially during the slow economy.
 
Our goal is to be the leader in proprietary databases of businesses and consumers in the United States and Canada, and to produce innovative products and services that meet the needs of these businesses for finding new prospects and increasing their sales. The information provided by our databases is integral to the new customer acquisition process for businesses. Our organization is divided into three distinct groups: Database Compilation and Update Group, The infoUSA group (formerly known as Small & Medium Business Group) and The Donnelley Group (formerly known as The Large Business Customer Group). Additionally, we utilize the Internet for distribution of our proprietary content and business credit reports. Delivery of information via the Internet is the preferred method by our customers. We are investing in Internet technology to make our information more valuable to our customers.
 

Database Compilation and Update Group

We believe that we have the most comprehensive and up-to-date databases of 14 million businesses, 200 million consumers, 17 million annual new movers, 3 million annual new households, 24 million households and businesses that have filed bankruptcies, tax liens or judgments, and 50 thousand new businesses each week. Our information databases are created with thousands of sources and hundreds of proprietary processes developed over the last 85 years. We employ nearly 500 people within our Database Group, and spend over $50 million annually to create, maintain, enhance and deliver our databases.

BUSINESS DATABASES

Our proprietary business database contains information on nearly 14 million businesses in the United States and Canada. We believe that we compile the most accurate, timely and comprehensive file of business information through our proprietary compilation and verification processes. The business database contains a wealth of information about businesses such as: name, address, phone number, SIC codes, number of employees, business owner and key executive names, credit score and sales volume. We also provide fax and toll free numbers, website addresses, headline news, and public filings including liens, judgments and bankruptcies. Our data can also be further categorized in various segments such as Small Business Owners, Executives at Home, Big Businesses and their Corporate Affiliations, Growing Businesses, Places of Interest, Schools and Female Business Owners.

Sources

We compile and update the business information from over 15,000 sources. These sources include:
• Yellow Page Directories
• SEC Filings
• White Page Directories
• Telephone Surveys
• Public Filings
• Annual Reports
• Utility Connects and Disconnects

In addition, we use information licensed from the United States Postal Service’s National Change of Address (NCOA) and Delivery Sequence File (DSF) to update and maintain our business database. Accuracy is the most important characteristic of any database and our database is approximately 92% accurate at any given time. This is the highest degree of accuracy in the industry.

Other Specialized Databases

900,000 World’s Largest Corporations and 2 Million Executives by Job Title. Our idEXEC database of these large corporations and executives is the finest in the industry. This database provides a great deal of in-depth information on these individuals and companies, including revenue, asset and corporate linkage.

200,000 New Businesses Data Per Month. Our New Business Database contains the repository of newly opened businesses. This database is updated from new business listings and utility new connections and is updated with nearly 50,000 new businesses on a weekly basis.

Doctors and Dentists Data. Our Medical file contains a very robust database of over 600,000 physicians, surgeons and dentists and contains in-depth information regarding physician specialties, prescription volume, medical schools attended, lifestyle information and many other related data elements.

CONSUMER DATABASES

Our consumer database contains approximately 200 million individuals and 110 million households and includes hundreds of data elements. Key elements in our database include: name, address, phone number, age, income, marital status, religion, ethnicity, dwelling type and size, home value, length of residence, and dozens of self-reported lifestyle elements.

Sources

We compile and update the consumer database with over 2 billion records annually. Examples of the sources that are used to create the database are:

• White Page Directories
• Utility Connects and Disconnects
• Real Estate Assessments
• Real Estate Transactions
• Public Filings
• Voter Registration
• Self-Reported Surveys

We believe that our consumer data is compiled to the highest accuracy standards in the industry. Additional investment in acquiring and compiling real estate transfer and assessor data has allowed us to improve our coverage and key demographic models.

Specialty Consumer Databases

New Mover and New Homeowner Database. We believe that our New Mover and New Homeowner database is the most current file in the industry. We compile approximately 17 million new movers and over 3 million new homeowners annually. Our investment in nationwide utility new connects and disconnects has allowed us to identify new movers and new homeowners as they transact.

Occupant Database. Our Occupant Database includes 123 million residential addresses and is used for address only mailings, which result in lower postal rates for direct mail.

Public Filings Database. Our Public Filings Database contains over 24 million households and businesses that have filed for bankruptcy, or have tax liens or judgments recorded against them.

Email Database. In 2003 we continued to collect and acquire business and consumer email addresses. We now offer a database of over 50 million consumer and 1.5 million business email addresses with postal addresses that are available for email marketing and email append applications. We have matched the email addresses to our demographic and firmographic information in our proprietary databases for targeted email marketing campaigns.

Products and Services Derived from the Database

We create many products and services from our database to meet the needs of millions of potential customers. We create products and services such as prospect lists, mailing labels, 3 x 5 cards, diskettes, printed directories, DVDs, business credit reports, and many other products and services. We also offer our information on the Internet through our various websites, such as infoUSA.com, BusinessCreditUSA.com, CityDirectory.com, Drlists.com, referenceUSA.com, newleadsUSA.com, idEXEC.com and autolistsUSA.com. Our products and data processing services are used by clients for identifying and qualifying prospective customers, initiating direct mail and email campaigns, telemarketing, analyzing and assessing market potential, and surveying competitive markets in order to find new customers and increase their sales. Our data also enables extensive data hygiene and enhancement services and is included by many customers as a value-added enhancement to our flagship MarketZone product line. MarketZone Platinum is a fully hosted data warehousing solution including hygiene, updates, matching, campaign management, selection, reporting, and analytics for direct mail and email campaign development and execution. Market Zone Gold is a web-based prospecting tool allowing customers to integrate their customer and prospect data with InfoUSA data in a hosted environment. We are organized around two main customer groups: The infoUSA Group (formerly known as the Small & Medium Business Group) and larger customers through The Donnelley Group (formerly known as The Large Business Group). Our products and services are designed for the unique needs of each group.
Our Customers and Potential Markets

InfoUSA Group (formerly the Small & Medium Business Group)
Approximately 90% of all businesses are small companies with less than 25 employees. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. We dedicated this division to meet the unique sales and marketing needs of small- and medium-sized businesses, including small office and home office businesses, and aspiring entrepreneurs. This market holds about 4 million potential prospects for infoUSA. Our products and services are used to find new customers, analyze current customers, research new markets and verify business information. Our database changes by nearly 70% annually. As a result, our customers have a great need for current information on an ongoing basis. Our Small &

Medium Business Group offers sales leads and mailing lists in the following formats:

Sales Leads on the Internet. Our customers can buy all of our databases on the Internet at infoUSA.com, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our site allows businesses to search our database by any number of variables, retrieve a count of the number of businesses in a particular market, or obtain a credit report on a particular company.

Printed Prospect Lists, Mailing Labels, and Sales Lead Cards. The Company’s database can be “sliced and diced” to create customized sales lead and mailing lists for our customers. Our small business consultants work with a business to select the right criteria such as geography, type of business and size of business to generate the most revenue. The custom list can then be delivered in printed format, put on mailing labels or provided on 3 x 5 index cards.

Diskette/ CD/ DVD Products. Many businesses prefer the flexibility of getting their list electronically so they can import the data into any software application. Customers have the flexibility of ordering their list on disk, DVD, CD, or downloading it from an FTP site.

Directories and DVD Products — Printed Directories, CD-ROM, DVD and Internet access. The Company offers a variety of titles: US Business Directory, State Business Directories, Big Business Directory, Manufacturers Directory, 575,000 Physicians and Surgeons, Households USA, and Entrepreneurs Directory. Each printed directory is bundled with a CD-ROM or DVD and allows for access to the information on the Internet, for one low monthly subscription price. Our customers use the directories for lead generation, telemarketing and reference purposes.

Business Credit Directories and Reports. Our business credit directories include a printed directory bundled with a CD-ROM or DVD and access to Business Credit Reports on BusinessCreditUSA.com. The product is used by customers for making credit decisions, verifying company information, assisting in collection support, and identifying potential new customers. Customers can purchase individual business credit reports for $5 from the Internet or they may select a subscription based plan offering unlimited access to its Business Credit reports for a flat fee of $50 per month per person.

Polk Directories. Since 1870, The Polk City Directory® has been the trusted brand for providing residential, demographic, and business data information to small and medium businesses across the United States. Annually, over 900 versions of the directory are produced and delivered in hard cover book and CD-ROM format. Sales of these products are generated from approximately 200 field sales representatives, over 30 telemarketing sales representatives, and on-going direct mail programs. Polk Directories’ 110,000 customers cover a wide range of industries including service, financial, and retail businesses.

• The Polk City Directory® consists of seven directories in one, designed to help businesses save time by planning sales calls efficiently, saving money by reducing undeliverable mail, and increasing sales by identifying prospects.

• InfoTYME®, our CD-ROM version of The Polk City Directory®, allows the customer to quickly search and select prospects, download prospect records into other applications for lead generation programs, and produce labels for telemarketing or direct mail campaigns.

infoUSA acquired Polk Directories in the fourth quarter of 2001. Polk Directories provides us with another major channel for the sales and distribution of related infoUSA directory and list services products. We plan to offer Internet access and more directories in more cities to our subscribers.

Hill-Donnelly Criss-Cross Directories. During 2002, infoUSA acquired Hill-Donnelly, the nation’s original publisher of Cross-Reference Directories. Hill-Donnelly, founded in 1917, offers Cross-Reference Directories in over 300 metro markets totaling more than 40 million listings. Cross-Reference Directories may be searched by telephone number or by street address (e.g. cross-reference directories).

Small Office/ Home Office Products Division: The Company’s CD-ROM/ DVD division includes popular business and consumer titlesSalesLeads USA. In addition to being sold directly as subscription products through direct mail, print advertising and direct response television, a retail version of the product is also available at major retail outlets in North America, including Staples, CompUSA, Fry’s Electronics, Micro Center and Best Buy. Consumers and small business owners’ use these products to develop targeted direct mail campaigns, prospect for new customers, conduct market research, search for jobs and for general reference purposes. The retail product comes in the form of a DVD or CD-ROM and is currently priced between $149-$169 (dependent on the retailer).

The retail channel is an excellent vehicle to build subscription sales of infoUSA products. The retail strategy is to encourage a one-time purchase that leads to an up sell of an annual subscription resulting in a recurring revenue stream at $25 per month. It is also an excellent way to cross-sell the many other products and services infoUSA offers.

Sales GenieTM. In 2003, infoUSA developed and introduced Sales GenieTM, a revolutionary new vehicle for the generation of sales leads for small businesses. Packaged with infoUSA’s business and residential databases and business credit products, along with a computer, printer and labels, Sales GenieTM is a one stop solution for all their sales prospecting needs. This complete marketing and sales leads solution includes all the tools needed to help a business find new prospects and grow sales despite slow economy.

• Gateway® or Dell® PC with flat-panel monitor, printer, and one box of mailing labels

• Free demo, set-up and monthly consultative visit

• State Business Printed Directory and DVD

• State Residential Directory on DVD

• State Business Credit Printed Directory and unlimited access to Business Credit Report

• Access to Customer Analyzer® software

• City Business Directory (only for the seven metro areas that have Contacts Influential Directory)

• Four updates of data on DVD per year — every 3 months

• Access to internet for monthly database updates

• Unlimited viewing of data

• 30,000 sales leads per year

• Price of only $250 per month

Table of Contents

Sales GenieTM had a soft launch in 2003 and exceeded our expectations. We plan to increase our effort in launching this service nationwide.

Donnelley Group

Our Donnelley Group (formerly the large business group), as we now refer to the Group that serves our largest clients, is comprised of Donnelley Marketing, Catalog VisionTM, Walter Karl, Yesmail, idEXEC and the infoUSA Database Licensing Group.

Donnelley Marketing is one of the nation’s leading direct marketing solution providers, targeting large size firms where quality data and customer service is needed for their complete solution. Our mission is to help businesses find new customers, grow their sales, reduce selling costs and become more profitable. Donnelley’s reputation has been built by delivering consistent results to clients for over 85 years.

Donnelley Marketing serves a variety of industries including traditional direct marketers, packaged goods, retailers, financial institutions, telecommunications, utilities, technology, fund raising, automotive and catalog companies. Our goal in 2003 was to continue to increase client access to our databases and data processing services while reducing turnaround time and lowering costs. Both MarketZone Platinum and infoConnectTM ONE PASS, which was introduced in 2002, have been very successful for us. infoConnectTM ONE PASS is an Internet driven software that performs data cleansing and enhancement services online. In the past, customers sent their tapes to us and we would match those tapes against our databases and send them back to the customers in days or weeks. Now, they can do it online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not only does it save our customers money, but also our fulfillment costs are lower.

infoConnectTM ONE PASS provides online, real-time data enhancement and file cleansing access to the following databases:

• 220 Million National Consumer Database — the industry’s largest and most comprehensive consumer database.

• 14 Million National Business Database — the world’s finest business content.

• 15 Million National Privacy Database — provides marketers with the ability to eliminate people who will not respond to their offer.

• All Major USPS Data Hygiene Databases — Donnelley Marketing licenses all five of the major United State Postal Service data hygiene databases.

• infoConnect Privacy Protector — allows customers to process their files with the various do not call (DNC) lists, including the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general offices, Direct Marketing Association and other do not call databases.

Our newly positioned database marketing product MarketZone Platinum is, a closed loop, Internet-enabled, fully relational database tool for decision support, campaign management and execution system, was introduced to provided our clients the ability to expertly manage their customer relationships. This new product is an e-CRM (customer relationship management) solution that integrates the entire suite of Donnelley Marketing products to create real-time customer content integration.

CatalogVisionTM, a division of Donnelley Marketing, has been specializing in the catalog marketing industry for over 30 years serving both business-to-business and consumer direct marketers. CatalogVisionTM clients maximize the return on their promotion dollars through use of our information and processing services. Address integrity and merge/purge toolsets eliminate wasted mailings and optimize postal discounts. Relational marketing database systems enable multichannel contact management and personalization.

Walter Karl, a division of Donnelley Group, provides list brokerage, list management services and an array of database services to a broad range of direct marketing clients. Walter Karl also specializes in email list management and brokerage services for on-line marketers. Our specialized list management services provide a strong revenue base for our customers. In addition, we have our list brokerage business, which recommends and sells specialty lists to a wide range of businesses in many industries.
 

The infoUSA Database Licensing Group continued its strategy of working with customers for whom data remains the core foundation of their product or service. The strength of our customers’ products is predicated on the accuracy, timeliness, and relevance of the data that drives it. Our distribution channel of value added resellers and original equipment manufacturers understand that the success and profitability of their service is largely dependent on the integration of infoUSA’s best-in-breed business and consumer information.

In 2003 the Database Licensing Group also focused itself on maintaining and expanding its relationships with some of the most prominent companies in America. Furthermore, we increased our market share in Directory Assistance, Risk Management, and Navigation spaces.

Also of note in 2003 was the continued success of the Database Licensing Group in the Vehicular Navigation System market. infoUSA has relationships with the OEM providers of navigation systems for select General Motors, Lexus, Mercedes, and Acura vehicles, among others, for access to on-demand point-of-interest (POI) information. The leaders of this market all rely on infoUSA to provide the highest quality POI and emergency services information. When a driver of one of these vehicles searches for a gas station, restaurant, or other service, infoUSA data powers the response.

infoUSA’s databases impact every aspect of our customer’s business. From enterprise partnerships to direct consumer access, infoUSA provides a quality foundation to our partner’s database applications.

During 2003, infoUSA acquired Yesmail. We have combined Yesmail and ClickAction, a 2002 acquisition, into a single business unit that specializes in providing customer retention solutions for direct marketers, publishers and organizations that want to grow their customer database, develop personalized relationships with these customers and execute more effective email marketing campaigns. Yesmail provides email marketing solutions to their clients that deliver high returns on investment and strong overall results.

Computer Operations and Database Protection

The Company currently operates a primary data center located in Carter Lake, Iowa and two interdependent data centers located in Papillion, Nebraska and Ralston, Nebraska. Together, these three sites host the core products that are offered by infoUSA. The Company also contracts all mainframe data processing functions through (i)Structure, a subsidiary of Level3, headquartered and hosted in Omaha, Nebraska. The Company’s Greenwich, Connecticut data center was decommissioned in 2003 following a highly successful migration of processing to our upgraded Carter Lake facility.

Business continuity is assured through our use of the enhanced Carter Lake facility and the remaining Papillion and Ralston data center locations along with our partnered mainframe processor, (i)Structure. With minimal effort, the Company will be able to reestablish administrative functions, sales and marketing operations, data delivery and limited product order fulfillment at any combination of the unaffected data center locations.

The Carter Lake data center hosts our sales order entry systems, contact management system, Internet website systems, electronic data delivery systems, company enterprise systems (e.g. email, file/print servers) accounting systems, business and consumer order fulfillment systems, and a full range of servers hosting customer marketing and prospecting databases.

• Sales Order Entry and accounting systems run on an IBM AS/400 and (2) SUN servers. An additional SUN server provides contact management services for the Company.

• The Internet websites reside on several SUN and DELL servers.

• SUN servers provide electronic data delivery services for the Company.

• DELL servers drive the Company’s Enterprise systems.

• An IBM AS/400, and a myriad of DELL and SUN servers provide order fulfillment services.

• Various high-end printers, CDROM, magnetic tape, and diskette devices are used to produce product for our customers.

• Several SUN servers, DEC Alpha servers, DELL servers, and a large PC/ LAN Network support the customer database solutions (migrated from Greenwich.)

• A dry chemical fire suppression system, redundant uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), a diesel generator and redundant air-conditioning units protect the Carter Lake data center. Critical data is backed up daily and stored off-site. This facility is staffed by 40 systems administration, production, operations, and shipping professionals.

• This center is also the central node for the Local and Wide Area Network connectivity for desktop computers and application servers.

• A Nortel Option 11C PBX provides facility telephone services.

• Voice and Data communications survivability have been enhanced by the utilization of the Qwest Self Healing Network Service between the core sites.

• WAN connectivity is achieved through 9 Meg of X.25 FRAME service.

• Data connectivity is facilitated through an ATM OC3 pipe integrated into our OC48

• Self Healing Network between the Carter Lake — Papillion — Ralston — facilities and the Omaha (i)Structure facility.

• Internet access is established through Tier 1 services of AT&T and Qwest at 25 Megs each.

The Carter Lake facility also supports the Donnelley Marketing Group’s receipt of customer files and the creation of customer output. Customer data files are centrally received at Carter Lake, converted, uploaded and staged for further processing. When processing is complete, files are returned electronically, or via an electronic media created and shipped by Carter Lake staff.

Donnelley Marketing is engaged in a computer services agreement with (i)Structure to outsource all of its mainframe processing. (i)Structure provides Donnelley a secure processing environment and state-of-the-art facilities infrastructure with a dedicated mainframe, disk storage, and a combination of virtual, silo, and manual tape. (i)Structure is considered one of the premier mainframe outsourcers in the industry. They focus heavily on providing superior customer service and maintaining a high level of security. Some mainframe hardware is located at the Carter Lake Data Center to support customer file processing. This equipment is connected to (i)Structure via multiple high speed DS3 data circuits employing CNT (channel extender technology). Heavy emphasis is placed on quick turnaround, while maintaining a high level of quality control, to ensure that customer needs are met.

Our Papillion and Ralston Data Centers contain the data compilation systems, enterprise support systems, and software development platforms.

• The business database compilation process operates on an IBM AS/400 in conjunction with several SUN servers to support the DAVOX predictive dialing program.

• Software development and testing is done on a mixture of other IBM AS/400s and SUN servers.

• The consumer database compilation process utilizes several DELL servers

• Several DELL servers provide Enterprise systems.

• Network services to desktop computers and terminals and other data centers are supported in this center.

• This data center houses a Nortel Option 81C PBX with dial tone services provided by MCI and Qwest across the Self Healing Network.

• A dry chemical fire suppression system, UPS, and a diesel generator insure protected operations at the Papillion center. Critical data is backed up daily and stored off-site. This facility is staffed with a team of over 80 Information Technology professionals.

• Our Ralston data center hosts file and print servers.

• The Ralston data center is protected by a dry chemical fire suppression system and a UPS system. Critical data is backed up daily and stored off-site.

• The Ralston data center houses a Nortel Option 81C PBX for telephone and ACD Sales call center services within the facility. MCI and Qwest provide primary long distance and local dial tone service over the Self Healing Network.

Mailing List Providers in the Directory

GoLeads

infoUSA

Zapdata