73 Mail Order Success Secrets
How to develop a personal relationship with your customers?
Successful mail order firms make every effort to personalize their mail!
What inspires people to buy by mail?
Convenience and saving of time it would take to make a personal trip. Avoidance of rush hour crowds. Many find it fun to buy through the mail. Quite often mail order products have a price advantage. Curiosity is a big motive. Many prefer to buy personal items, such as certain kinds of books, by mail. Exclusiveness of many mail order products.
How do you begin with a mail order business?
Check at the post office to obtain information on various permits and fees for bulk mailing and all the other services which will fit in with your operations. You need very little capital to begin. The main thing is to use impressive printed letterheads and envelopes. Test before you splurge. Start with just a few classified ads, then build your programs from there. It's not the money but the thoughtfulness with which it is used that is the deciding factor between success and failure in the mail-order business.
Why are most mail order ads losing money?
The product, the price, the media used, the timing of the ad and the right prospect are all critical factors. Proper items must be selected, those that will readily sell by mail. The price must be especially attractive. Ads must be simple and easy to understand; attention producing with strong eye-arresting leads. They must convince customers and make it easy for them to order. All these ingredients need to be present to get good response.
What moves well in mail order?
Good novelty merchandise and scarce items. Books of interest to a large audience. Certain Multi-level marketing plans with good, reasonably priced products as a base. However, there are a great deal more poor, worthless, MLM programs floating around than there are good ones so one must be very cautious in choosing this kind of operation.
What make customers come back again and again?
The right product with orders handled carefully and quickly. Satisfied customers always come back, even via mail.
What limits the mail order business?
There is no limit to the mail-order business if you are willing to learn and expand. A real good hot item, even at a high cost can be a real winner. Don't let your programs just sit idle. Test... Test and more tests. Keep on the top of all your activities and follow through.
After you have been in the business a short time what can you use to build confidence?
You can accumulate testimonials from you customers and use them in your ads to build customer confidence.
What one mistake costs the mail-order operator a lot of money?
It is a waste of money to present established items that people can get most anywhere.
What are the 13 most powerful words for your ads?
Free, Rush, Limited, Guaranteed, Save, Sale, New, Get, Look, Money-making, Profits, Act, Now!
How do you get income coming from every direction?
After you have built up your programs (Sale of merchandise, books, publication, MLM, or whatever) and have a good customer list, rent or sell the names. Offer big mails for SASE to build up and expand your name list. Mail circulars of others, for a fee or commission, with your own Big Mails.
What should you know about catalog deals?
Stay away from catalog deals until you can check them out with simple tests that prove them profitable.
How do you realize your dreams to be a success in the mail order business?
Keep your mind open for new ideas and don't give up. Don't throw away your dreams because of only a few failures. Proceed carefully; watch out for fraud and fast buck artists. Hang in there and you can become a great success!
What is one of the most common questions asked by the would-be customer of most any money-making, how-to, self-improvement, mail-order, idea, or success publication?
What can it do for me! With the millions of books on the market it is an difficult question, to be sure. It's certainly much easier to expound on the advantages of one book over another "because it has more pages" or "It has a more expensive cover". But those are not the answers. The foundation of knowledge is learning and the best way to learn is to simplify everything possible. Eliminate all the useless non-essentials so the reader is not overburdened with worthless detail and let them know through proper advertising what your publication or book can do for them!
What are a person's two main alternatives for success or failure?
As chaotic conditions increase in this mad money world they can crawl in the corner and let the world pass them by, or learn new methods required to format their future wealth! Waiting for the day when they will have everything they need will never come without know-how!
Whether you are in "Big Business" or just working from your "Kitchen Table", what secrets must you apply in order to find riches?
Wealth will not materialize until you take action and generate the force needed to start the wealth-building process. Most people are just not oriented to do anything about gaining new wealth, while others believe it would take too much of their time and money to follow through a project to completion. They don't realize that knowledge is power and wealth favors the trained mind. This leaves the market place wide open for those who apply the proper ideas and methods. The ones who discover the ways to exploit the future. You must move ahead of the times, extend your knowledge and open up new avenues of personal growth! Expand your horizons!
Who to contact pertaining to any questions about the mail service?
Your local Postmaster or the US Postal Regulatory Commission.
If you suspect Misrepresentation, Mail Fraud or want to stop sexually oriented mail, who do your contact?
Your local Postmaster, or Chief Postal Inspector.
Where to get help from problems or questions about unordered products or non-delivery?
Why do a great percentage of persons fail in mail order?
Mail order is a complex business. Every phase must be analyzed and tested. The right products must be selected, the correct type of ads placed in the proper media and 1,001 other details attended to constantly. The mail-order enthusiast is led to believe they can be an overnight success with very little work. When they find this is not the case they drop out before giving themselves a chance to learn the right methods.
What is the "Inner Circle" of mail order?
A Mail-order House is commonly defined as "An establishment conducting business by Mail". A Mail-order Dealer is simply one who sells by mail. The circle of mail order relates to the thousands of mail-order dealers operating throughout the country. The "Inner Circle of Mail Order" refers to those successful professionals who have "climbed to the top" in the mail order field by long, hard work, study, knowledge and persistence.
How do you get in the "Inner Circle of Mail-order"?
As you learn and progress in the many and varied phases of mail-order business methods, you will set various goals. You must continuously change plans and programs to attain these goals. Unless you are one of those fortunate few who hit it "lucky" overnight with some special program, product, or gimmick, the best way to arrive at Ultimate success in mail-order is to "Dive" right into the "outer fringes of the Inner Circle" and start "climbing". When your successes overtake and offset your failures, as you work your way up to the "Hub of the Wheel", you will have finally reached the Ultimate height in Mail-order... The Inner Circle!
Where to Start in Mail-order?
The best way to start is to work with those who are already there. Obtain several small mail-order trade magazines. Get one page ad sheets and various circulars. You can spend a small amount on BIG MAILS and be flooded with magazines, ad sheets, circulars, etc. with thousands of different offers and potential opportunities. For a dollar or two you can get listed in these various media as wanting offers and "be assured", you will get your money's worth!
What is one of the most valuable assets for the mail-order beginner?
"Junk Mail". As you receive information and various packets, analyze the offers and send for full information on the ones that appeal to you. File and keep all the information you receive by the kind of program or plan, and we don't mean to put them in "File 13". None of this "Junk Mail" is Junk; there is no such word in the vocabulary of mail order dealers. It is one of their most valuable assets, if properly analyzed, filed and used intelligently.
What must you do as your files accumulate, in order to succeed?
Don't just send off for the many deals, then wait until you accumulate a room full of files. Time is money. You can handle only a small percent of the programs available, so right away, jump in and "lightly" test several of the programs that interest you. Spend only a minimum on each plan or program, until your tests prove out, then hit the winners hard and fast!
Some great money-makers to include in your mail-order business?
Printing and publishing... publish your own mail-order books and manuals. Manufacture your own product in your garage or basement. Purchase your product direct from factories at distributors cost. Get involved in the sale of the thousands of How-To books and programs available. Make up unique How-to-reports, stories, etc., in cartoon form. Write valuable promotion deals for the millions of merchants and retailers... put it on tape. Sell or lease your name lists. Make up your own commission circular programs and ad sheets. Offer big mail... Mail others commission circulars with your own mailings. i.e. Do everything possible through the mail that is legal until you find the right programs to make your million.
How to stay ahead of the game?
You must constantly keep up with what other dealers are doing! Check out the successful programs and build your own around them. Give constant attention to your ideas. Write them down and act on the good ones. Find new products, develop "solid" plans around them and test them in the market place.
How to double your earnings in mail-order?
Begin by running one or two ads in several different mail-order publications. When orders begin coming in take a full 50% of the profits and invest them in more advertising. You must continue to expand your advertising in order to double your income.
What is another method to double your income?
Multiply the number of products or services. If you are offering the right products and advertise in the right media you can be greatly surprised by the results. Continuous investment of profits for advertising and new items that generate orders are the secret if you wish to succeed in any business and mail-order is certainly no exception.
How do you get set up as a Co-publisher?
You place your ad in a trade magazine or ad sheet that is "Co-Publishable". Send your ad and remittance to the Co-Publisher who will forward the same, along with 50% of your payment to the Prime Publisher. Your ad will appear in the next issue and the publisher will send you full details on becoming a Co-Publisher.
What are the usual benefits of Co-publishing?
As a Co-Publisher, you generally get your future ads placed at one-half the published rates; 50% on commission ads you obtain; 50% for subscriptions received; 50% on products advertised in the publications which are to be ordered through you, the Co-Publishers, and receive 20 to 100 or so publications for your own mailings. You simply stamp your name and address as Co-Publisher and mail them out! If the ads don't pull, you may still come out ahead from orders which come to you as the Co-Publisher. When you receive orders, retain 50% (or whatever amount is the agreed commission) and forward the balance with the order, to the Prime Publisher... He will take it from there... It's that simple. Your own ads, of course, get full circulation based on the total published and distributed.
How you can control the number of orders you get as a Co-Publisher?
The number of orders you receive will depend on who you mail them to. If you mail to other Co-publishers, orders obtained will usually be for small one inch ads. They will reserve expenditures for large ads, until they become Co-Publishers of the publication themselves, thus getting their advertising at one-half rates! If your mailings are directed to mail-order beginners, opportunity seekers, or direct to the consumer, orders you receive will probably be for books or products offered under "Order From Co-Publisher" ads.
What must you do to get started economically and efficiently as a "top" commission mailer?
Order a good rubber stamp... Send for some free commission circulars, pay only the postage for these. They are available from prime source mail-order firms... Send for some free names who want Big Mail... Buy a supply of envelopes and stamps... Address the envelopes to the names wanting big mail... When you receive your circulars. stamp your name and address in the blank space provided, put one of each type of circular in each envelope, filling to the maximum weight for each level of postage rate; mail them. When you receive orders, take out your commission and forward everything else to the Prime source... And you are in business!
How do you make $50,000 a year by working from your kitchen table 4 hours a week?
There is money in the mail-order business but not as some advertise it. Don't believe it. You won't make $50,000 a year by working 4 hours a week. NO! It doesn't work that way! If you will follow instructions, be happy with from $100 to $400 a week spending a few hours every night, five nights a week, then you too can make money in mail order.
What is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a commission mailer?
It is good policy to never get your circulars, and your mailing list, from the same dealer.
How do you get started with your own ad sheet?
Ad sheets are sometimes started by the publisher cutting others ads from various ad sheets or magazines and pasting these on their own ad sheet without cost to the advertiser. This ad sheet is then mailed to these various dealers with an offer to re-run the ads at the published rate. This is not the best method. It is better to find publishers who will send you partial page, or full page ads that pay from 50% to 100% commission. You run these ads over your name in the first few editions of your ad sheet. As paid ads come in you simply replace these free commission ads with the paid ads. Until you get paid ads for your publication, you have a chance to make money whether you have paid advertisers or not. Moreover, some companies will give you substantial discounts on their various mail-order programs if you will run their ad in the first edition. Thus you can make money off of their ads and also get professionally designed mail-order programs at very little cost.
How do you keep your Co-publishing costs to Zero?
The discounts for your own ads are generally 50% with most of the mail-order publications. In return for the discount you are expected to mail a few copies. "Piggy-back" the copies in orders you fill and in your big mails, or advertise offering them free for payment of postage. Using these methods your postage cost to mail your copies can be Zero!
How can you get free printing?
Run an ad similar to the following in mail order magazines or ad sheets:
Attention Printers! We will mail Free all circulars you print with our ads on the back. Our mailers distribute up to [?] pieces each month, etc. (Your name and address)
There will be a few printers who respond, but one good printer is all you need. Your circular, to be printed on the back, should pay mailers 50% commission, leaving 50% for yourself. If your circulars are receiving good response you might even sell them for ??? per thousand and make money "coming and going"!
How can you start a mail-order business when you don't have anything to sell?
Contact the various mail-order dealers until you find a number of good plans to work with. There are many good mail-order printers and dealers offering commission circulars, even on a distributorship basis whereby you have the opportunity to set up your own wholesale business using the products being offered. In this way, you can have many dealers working for you and are in effect the prime source. Some of these dealer-printers offer a "Turn-Key" business. they are the "factory to you". You get camera ready copy of the publications they offer and in some cases full reproduction rights whereby you keep all the profits. One Prime Source, Publisher-Printer, who offers such programs is Prime Publishers, 1460 Boulder Ave., Crescent City, CA 95531.
How can you make money even when your ads don't pull?
As mentioned previously as a Co-publisher you generally receive your ads at 1/2 rates. You also receive 50% commission on ads, subscriptions, etc., that are placed through you, so with the copies you receive and mail you can make money as long as you stay with top quality publications carrying many articles of interest to mail-order dealers and money-seeking enthusiasts, and which offer good products or services at reasonable prices.
What is one thing you can do to increase your Co-Publishing income substantially?
Distribute your publication or magazine to people who are likely to place ads, etc. Check for firms who advertise in one co-published magazine and not in another. Send them a copy of the magazine they are not currently using. Since the publisher' name is not printed anywhere on the magazine, the readers will have to order through you. Go through all the literature and information you receive from your various ads and contacts with a fine tooth comb. You have paid for it all and somewhere within the pages of the publications you have received you should find the good programs to fit your individual business plans.
How do you prepare camera ready paste-ups for offset printing?
Your copy should be black (or red) on white paper. This doesn't mean gray on white or black on colored paper. Use liquid paper to "blank out" dirt, smudges, or anything you don't want to appear on the printed document. Preferably use line drawings, cartoons, headlines, etc., clipped from well printed magazines, but "half-tones" pictures that have grays in them such as photos) generally do not produce well. Be certain not to use copyrighted materials.
How can you get 6,000 circulars printed and mailed free?
Locate an offset printer in your area, or a mail-order printer, who will print both sides of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet for $25.00 per thousand. Then run an ad over your name similar to the following:
Co-op Printing (Our ad on back side) 1,000 2 1/2 x 5 1/2, only $5.00. Send Camera ready copy to: (your name and address) or Circulars printed (Our ad on back side) 1,000 3x6, only $5.00. Send Camera ready copy to: (your name and address)
Put six of your ads, free, on one side of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet and six of those received from responses to your ads on the other side. Have them cut into six 3x6's, 1,000 each. Send 1,000 to each of your customers. You now have 6,000 of your side printed free and mailed free by your customers. (Six responses to your ad will give your $30.00. $25.00 for printing and cutting and $5.00 for mailing the circulars to your customers.) As printing and postage costs go up, adjust your price accordingly, but check with other publications and stay with the going rate.
How else can you get your circulars mailed free?
Become a supplier of commission circulars. If you don't have offers of your own the easiest way to do this is to take "all-profit" offers and have circulars printed on two sides. One side for your imprint with space on the other side for the imprint stamp of those who mail commission circulars free, which means they get a commission on the one side; or if you really want to get rolling using this method, take two "all-profit" offers, one on each side, and give the mailer 100% on one side. You still make yours from the offer on the other side. Still another way to get your literature mailed free is to include this little note at the end of all of your advertising... "Stamp Appreciated"!
How can you mail 1,000 Big Mails Free?
Place at least one ad each day until you are receiving an average of 34 requests at day or 1,000 each month. Your ad will read as follows:
How to mail 1,000 big mails free! Complete plan 50 cents. (your name and address)
The 50 cent plan weighs less than 1/10th of an ounce and it can be included in your big mail without additional postage. The main point is that ads selling the 50 cent plan will usually pull many more orders than just "Big Mail 50 cents". And what is the 50 cent plan we are referring to? It's the one you are reading right now!
How can you sell a page from your old telephone book fo 50 cents?
Run the following ad over your name and fill the order yourself with your telephone book:
A page from my telephone book with names & addresses, 50 cents!
How can you get swamped with orders for your Big Mail?
Purchase 100 of the information sheets, mentioned above, then run the following ad over your name and address:
16 all-profit ads free with my big mail. Rush this ad and $1.00.
Where can you get Free information for mail order programs that don't cost an arm and a leg?
There are many good dealers offering programs and plans of every variety. You can find them in any of the various mail-order magazines and publications. As a courtesy and to make certain you will receive their information, enclose a stamped envelope with your return address affixed (SASE). Prime Publishers (see address above) is one such publisher-printer, offering free information on various programs they have available.
How can you get free postage for life?
Whenever you advertise a good pulling mail order plan or program, at the end of the Ad put: Rush $1.00 and one or two first class stamps."
What is a good way to shrink your printing costs?
When possible, without destroying the effect of the message in your ads, circulars, ad sheets, etc., have your printer shrink the material so it will fit on a smaller space.
How can you get set up as a circular mailer earning commissions?
There are many mail-order publications that will list your name under this directory... "Commission Circulars Wanted". List your name under this classification and dealers will mail bundles of circulars to you with a blank space at the bottom of the ad in which you stamp your name. You mail these out and the ads "appear" to be your own. Next, you can also run ads in different magazines saying that you mail circulars for others. Always mention in your ads that you mail commission circulars free!
How can you graduate from a part-time mailer to a full time money-maker?
The best plan to follow is to keep growing. Run an ad every chance you get. Take on new commission circulars, test them keep the ones that pull, omit the ones that don't. Before you realize it you can be working full-time making good money.
How to make money without ever seeing the product you are selling?
Many offers you will receive will be opportunities to sell information, merchandise or services for other dealers on a commission basis. You may be asked to buy the merchandise them resell to your customers at a higher price. You may offer the item and have it shipped from the supplier or factory direct to your customers. This method is known as Drop-shipping. You carry no inventory and merely act as "Middleman" between your supplier and your customer. Upon receiving orders, retain your commission, type or print your customer's name and address on your shipping label, with the product properly identified. Mail the label and/or order together with the balance of the remittance to your supplier. He will ship it immediately, direct to your customer under your label. The supplier's name will not appear on the package. Thus you can sell products you have never seen.
What are 5 good mail-order projects for your own publication?
Selling information, instructions, name lists, advertising and novelty or specialty merchandise. Get prospects with classified ads and sell with display ads.
What colors are the most appealing to women, in order of preference?
Red, Violet, Blue, Green, Orange, White, Yellow.
What colors are the most appealing to men in order of preference?
Blue, Red. Violet, Green, Orange, White, Yellow.
What appeals to people universally?
Price, style, characteristics and service. Tell your prospect what the product will do for them. Let them visualize the product and feel ownership. Discard items that do not sell within a reasonable time or in sufficient quantity. Stay with light weight products that are non-breakable and easily shipped.
Where is the best place to advertise your mail-order product?
Your best advertising will be wherever competitive advertising appears on a regular basis. Check for the many magazines which carry large numbers of classifieds and space ads. Where others continuously advertise heavily for the same kind of product you are offering indicates they are getting good results and so should you. A great many of the small mail-order magazines and ad sheets get good response.
How is the easiest way to write an ad for selling information?
Determine what kind of information you intend to sell by mail. Then go to the news stand and purchase magazines carrying ads selling that kind of information. Write for their free offers. Most will run ads inviting people to "write for more Free Details". Once you begin getting an influx of material, you carefully file it away and use it as a "model" for developing sales material for your own offers.
How to get free advertising?
It is possible to get free advertising if your product has a unique appeal or interest to the editor. Some magazines carry a special column of free or editorial ads and if your product deserves special interest it may be carried at no charge. There are many other ways of obtaining free advertising, detailed in various mail-order offers.
What is the simplest, yet most important thing you will need to get your mail order program off the ground?
All you really need to get started on your mail order program, product or service, is a small classified ad in the right publication for your particular offer.
If your ads aren't paying off, what is a quick way to remedy the situation?
Write an attention-getting headline... Not with phrases such as "Attention Please!" Let people know immediately just what you are selling. For example, if you have envelopes for sale at a discount, use a headline which says "Discount Envelopes!".
What is one thing included in an ad that will kill response?
Don't confuse the reader with several different offers in one small ad. Use more space if you intend to advertise several offers. If only one inch of ad space is being used, then sell only "one inch of offers".
What is the best media to use for advertising general merchandise or general services?
Just about any publication. Stamps are another category that can be advertised nationally in many different media as well as specifically in magazines and publications dealing with stamp collectors, etc.
What kind of ad gets no response?
Any ad that is not directed to the right audience. Stay with the media that is read by those who purchase the particular products or services you offer. You can spin your wheels and bury a lot of money with ads placed in publications which don't fit your offer with the readers.
What are your prospects most interested in?
The manner in which you "layout" your ads is of the greatest importance. Your prospects are not particularly interested in you, your firm, or in monotonous details. They are mainly interested in the benefits they will derive from your products or service. Therefore your headlines must promise the reader some kind of benefit with as few words as possible. Keep "talking" about the benefits, not about yourself or the product, but make it believable and keep the prospect's trust.
Where should illustrations appear in your ad?
They can be placed anywhere in the body of the ad next to the written word to which they relate. If illustrations are used at the top of the ad they should usually be placed above the headline in such a manner they will be the first part of the ad to attract the eye but will not detract from the headline that follows. Any illustration should be carefully prepared to show your product in its most attractive state, perhaps even being used by someone, but not to the extent that people dominate the situation. Photos can be used effectively.
How to write the body copy of your ad?
Write your message "person to person". Follow a pattern: Start with the opening; state the offer; give the advantages; prove your claims; urge action; and finally close to get the order. It is very important that the opening (the first sentence and first paragraph) be carefully written to retain life and action. You must grasp the attention of the reader and promise more to follow. Use "Sub-heads" to break up the heavy appearance of the body copy and invite the reader into the copy.
Where should the price appear in your ad?
When announcing price, never feature price in your ad unless it is your single most important selling point. Never put the price in the headline unless it is very startling and the biggest bargain of the century. It is generally better to bury the price in the body copy toward the end of the ad. It will be on the order form or coupon, so instead of stressing price in the main body of your ad, go back to "Benefits".
How many lines should an ad contain?
There is no set rule for the length of the copy. It will vary from one line to four pages, or even more, depending on the product or service and what is needed to do an adequate job of advertising and selling.
How to keep the attention of the reader of your ads?
You are always in danger of losing your reader at the end of each paragraph so you must keep your copy interesting and moving. Make your entire message easy for the eye to follow. Avoid reverses which detract from the main theme, or type so small one has to strain to read. Use narrow enough columns so the readers eyes can follow easily. Every word, and the placement in the sentence, is important if you are to reach prospects at a low cost per customer.
How to get your ads and circulars typeset free?
Place your ad in several of the better publications that have superior printing, clear and sharp detail; the ones that give you free typesetting services when you advertise with them. You simply clip out your ad and use it as a Camera Ready copy. Also, a 3x6 ad makes a beautiful 3x6 circular and you can have thousands of copies made from the ad once it has been typeset in an ad sheet or magazine.
When should you consider preparing your own circulars?
When you have acquired an exclusive product or developed your own with sufficient Markup, then the time has come to prepare your own circulars.
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