A lot of people are going to tell you that there are "no more
secrets" to making the big profits in mail order. These same
people will laugh at you and call you a "fool" for wasting your
time chasing rainbows that don't exist.
Don't you believe or even listen to them! The opportunities for
wealth beyond your wildest dreams via the direct mail sales of a
product or service have never been greater!
If you have an idea, product, or service now is the time to
capitalize on it via mail order selling. You can definitely start
"on the kitchen table" and parlay it into millions of dollars.
Others have done it and continue making themselves a success. Now
it's your turn for a piece of the pie.
As with any other profitable business the procedure of making
"profits" by mail has its own set of rules. Learn these rules,
adhere to them, adjust them to your own circumstances, draw up a
"battle plan" and work, work. Persevere, be aware of other
people's marketing methods, continue up grading your own product
or service, and with determination you can become a millionaire
in your own right. Then YOU can look over your shoulder at those
who were laughing at you, and perhaps help them in some small
way!
Knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge are the basic
keys to success. You must identify the goal you want to attain,
understand what it takes to reach that goal, and then dedicate
yourself to getting there.
The path to the successful achievement of your goals through
direct mail fall into three distinct categories; (1) Market
Research and product selection, (2) The use of "targeted" mailing
lists, and (3) Customer Follow Up. If you can understand the
"hows and whys" of these rules then there's virtually no way you
can help but succeed in the field of mail order, even starting
from scratch.
Market Research has to do with the selection of the proper
product, identifying your "most likely" buyers, and getting your
product offer to these people. Product selection is the most
basic, and thus the most important first step.
Stop and think. Look around yourself. Listen to find out what the
"people" are clamoring most. In this day and age, much of the
noise in the air has to do with topics such as, "How can I find a
job?", "How can I put together a resume that will get me a job
when I spot an opening?" "Where are the best jobs to be found?"
With these thoughts in mind, the person who writes, publishes,
and gets and instructional manual or newsletter relative to these
questions to the people will sell as many as he can produce.
Thus, Step One is to "listen" to what the people want and then to
satisfy those wants. Do this by spending some time researching
the subject. Visit your local public library, interview a number
of people who have succeeded in satisfying their wants, conduct a
few "dry runs" for personal experience, and then write your
manual.
The "secret" to ultimate wealth is the capability of producing a
product that can be duplicated an unlimited number of times for
pennies and sold for dollars. A great many people get "bogged
down" within this "rule" because they don't understand "time and
motion" requirements. As an example, if you were to stage
seminars for the unemployed in your area to help them find and
land jobs, you would undoubtedly make a fortune very quickly.
But, you would be committed to a certain expenditure of time to
prepare and stage a seminar. Thus you would make a lot of money
for yourself, but at the same time you would sustain a loss of
time that could be spent enjoying your wealth by doing the things
you always wanted to do once you became rich. The only way around
this would be to train and hire other people to prepare and stage
the seminars, which would mean you would then be dividing your
profits.
In the end, the "only way" to succeed is to write something which
can be duplicated as often as necessary and sold virtually
forever. Look at it this way; you can spend a full month
organizing your material and writing a manual that costs $1 per
copy to produce in quantity. You sell it for $20 a copy, and over
a period of three years you sell three million copies. In
essence, that amounts to 60,000,000 for one month's work!!!
So writing something "the people want" is the only way to go.
But be careful. Make sure you've done your homework and that what
you write about is what the majority of the people "will stand in
line to buy". Listen to what the people want, and then give it to
them. This is the product selection part of your market research.
By listening to the cries for help, and catering to them, you
will not only have "discovered" the proper product, you will have
also "identified" your buyers. Do not try to interest the people
in something that does not specifically fulfill one of their
desires. Don't mistake a casual interest or complaint as "the
voice" of the masses. Spend some time "listening",
and then write to satisfy that need.
Once you've got your product ready for customers to buy, you
should spend some time creating the proper sales letter and
circular to use in presenting it to your potential customers.
Above all else, your sales materials must present an image of
professionalism and sell, sell, sell.
Use quality paper and printing in presenting your sales message.
Present what you have to say, not in a manner that tells the
prospect who you are, how well qualified you are to write on the
subject, or how much work you put into the project, but from a
stand point of how the customer is going to benefit from buying a
copy of your manual.
As an example; General Motors doesn't advertise cars by telling
you how they were designed and engineered, built by college
graduates or union workers, nor have you ever heard of someone
walking up to a car in a dealer's showroom, kicking the tire, and
exclaiming "Boy, this sure looks like a safe one!". In fact, new
cars are sold by the image of the prospective owners sitting in
the driver's seat and showing off by driving through his
neighborhood. "Just climb in there behind the wheel and see how
she feels to you. Go ahead and take it for a test drive. Drive it
home and see what your neighbors think..."
The benefits the prospective buyer is going to receive are the
starting point from which all "winning" sales letters are written
and circulars designed. It is the "secret" of getting people to
spend money on a product or service. Students form the
advertising classes at your college, freelance advertising agency
personnel,and believe it or not automobile dealership advertising
managers are the people to turn to for ideas and help.
Next, consider your follow up piece. This is a simple one page
listing of other "related" materials for your customers. Assuming
you've sold him a manual on how to land a job, your follow up
piece might list manuals on how to dress to project a winning
image, how to breeze through job interviews, and what to do after
the interview (perhaps an opportunity for your buyer to subscribe
to
quarterly newsletter listing job availabilities).
It's important that you have your follow up piece put together
and ready before you make your primary offer available to the
public. Then, when you start receiving orders simply enclose your
follow up listing of other materials available along with the
manual the customer has ordered. Thus you make one sale and as a
result you make further sales of related materials. These are the
kind of "back end" sales that will keep you in business and your
profits multiplying. Don't neglect the follow up piece.
Getting you offer to your most likely buyers is going to cost you
money, and here is where most direct mail beginners drop the
ball. Do not try to save money and send your offer out to just
any old list of names. Contact a reputable mailing list broker.
Visit your public library and ask the librarian for a copy of the
Standard Rate & Data Services Directory pertaining to mailing
list brokers. Find one in your area or one that looks appealing.
Tell the mailing list broker you contact about your offer and ask
for his help in choosing a mailing list that will be profitable
to you.
You'll probably have to rent a minimum of 5,000 names at a cost
ranging between $65 and &90 per thousands, but in the end you'll
save a lot of time and money because with a good offer and good
mailing list you can count on a tremendous response. For
instance, the one time rental of a good mailing list may cost you
$475 at 795 per thousand. However, a 20% response from such a
list on a &20 manual would mean $20,000 in your pocket.
To spend your time compiling names and addresses from incoming
mail order offers, or to rent and use a mailing list from any
source other than a reputable broker, is not only foolish but a
shortcut to the poor house! Identify your most likely buyers,
contact reputable mailing list broker, match your buyer profile
to his most responsive list, and you'll make money lots of money
every time. Anything less is just a exercise in futility!
There you have it. short and sweet. Cut and dried. The "easy way"
to the big profits in mail order starting from scratch. these are
the basics, the secrets to how other have done it, and how you
can do it too. Organize yourself, follow these guidelines, and
it'll be next to impossible for you not to succeed. Remember
though, your best product will be "how to information. Something
the people want to learn. Something you can research, write
about, produce for pennies, and then sell for dollars.
And don't forget, once you're ready to start taking orders, make
sure that you get your offer to the most likely buyers. Get out
of the mail order circle and out to the people who want to spend
money for your product.
It's easy, simple, and it can be very rewarding! Understand the
requirements, position yourself to succeed, and go after it! This
time next year you could be a millionaire!!!
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