In this Internet age, mail-order catalogs may seem like an ancient sales tool. But placing your product in a catalog can be a gold mine for a small business. Choosing the right catalog to target and making an effective pitch, however, can be difficult.

“Most mail-order catalog houses are open to overtures from small firms,” says Jim Tilberry, a veteran catalog consultant and author. “There are lots of businesses with one, two or three people that sell to catalogs.”

But where to start? More than 10,000 general market and specialty catalogs exist in this country, and the number is g rowing. Catalogs continue to thrive even though “experts” have long predicted they’d falter due to online shopping. In reality, many people collect ideas from catalogs and then buy online.

You don’t need an agent to pitch your products to catalogs and negotiate contracts. How it works: Catalogs usually buy small orders at wholesale prices and then order more if the product sells. You’d typically pay a one-time fee—ranging fro m $1,000 to $10,000—for a listing in the catalog. Publishers generally ask businesses to help pay for advertising, photos and shipping. They routinely request exclusivity on products.

“Catalogs always ask for big concessions, but it’s all negotiable. Don’t be intimidated,” says Tilberry (www.catalogrep.com).

Final tips: Consider whether your product is right for catalogs (see box below), and read through dozens of samples. Find hundreds of catalogs, listed by c a t e g o r y, at www.catalogs.google.com. Apply to between 30 and 50 of them, and you may earn a few listings.

Is your product right for catalogs? 3 questions

1. Is your product unique? “If 50 other companies sell something similar, it’s tough to make any inroads into catalogs,” says consultant Jim Tilberry. 2. Does the product solve a problem that’s significant enough to prompt people to spend money on it? And would they typically buy it through a catalog? 3. Does the product fit easily into a catalog format? Some complicated products might require several photos and elaborate text that take up too much space and confuse consumers.