How to develop a personal relationship with your customers?
Successful mail order firms make every effort to personalize
their mail!
2. 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.
3. 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
mailorder business.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. What limits the mail order business?
There is no limit to the mailorder 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.
8. 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.
9. What one mistake costs the mailorder operator a lot of money?
It is a waste of money to present established items that people
can get most anywhere.
10. What are the 13 most powerful words for your ads?
Free, Rush, Limited, Guaranteed, Save, Sale, New, Get, Look,
Money-making, Profits, Act, Now!
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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!
14. What is one of the most common questions asked by the
would-be customer of most any money-making, how-to,
self-improvement, mailorder, 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!
15. 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!
16. 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!
17. Who to contact pertaining to any questions about the mail
service?
Your local Postmaster or the Consumer Advocate, U.S. Postal
Service, Washington DC 20260-6320, Phone (202) 245-4514.
18. If you suspect Misrepresentation, Mail Fraud or want to
stop sexually oriented mail, who do your contact?
Your local Postmaster, or Chief Postal Inspector, U.S. Postal
Service, Room 3517, Washington, DC 20260-2100, Phone (202)
245-5445.
19. Where to get help from problems or questions about
unordered products or non-delivery?
Consumer Inquiries, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC
20580, Phone (202) 523-3598.
20. From whom can you get the most general mail order questions
answered?
The local Consumer Protection Agency, or the Direct Mail
Marketing Association located at 6 East 43rd. St., New York, NY
10017, Phone (212) 689-4977.
21. 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 mailorder 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.
22. What is the "Inner Circle" of mail order?
A Mailorder House is commonly defined as "An establishment
conducting business by Mail". A Mailorder Dealer is simply one
who sells by mail. The circle of mail order relates to the
thousands of mailorder 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.
23. How do you get in the "Inner Circle of Mailorder"?
As you learn and progress in the many and varied phases of
mailorder 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 mailorder
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
Mailorder... The Inner Circle!
24. Where to Start in Mailorder?
The best way to start is to work with those who are already
there. Obtain several small mailorder trade magazines. Get one
page ad sheets and various circulars. You can spend a small
amount on BIG MAILS and be flooded with magazines, adsheets,
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!
25. What is one of the most valuable assets for the mailorder
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.
26. 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!
27. Some great money-makers to include in your mailorder
business?
Printing and publishing... publish your own mailorder 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 adsheets. 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.
28. 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.
29. How to double your earnings in mailorder?
Begin by running one or two ads in several different mailorder
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.
30. 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
mailorder is certainly no exception.
31. How do you get set up as a Co-publisher?
You place your ad in a trade magazine or adsheet 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.
32. 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.
33. 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 mailorder
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.
34. 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 mailorder 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!
35. How do you make $50,000 a year by working from your kitchen
table 4 hours a week?
There is money in the mailorder 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.
36. 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.
37. How do you get started with your own adsheet?
Adsheets are sometimes started by the publisher cutting others
ads from various adsheets or magazines and pasting these on
their own adsheet without cost to the advertiser. This adsheet
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
adsheet. 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 mailorder
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 mailorder programs at very little cost.
38. How do you keep your Co-publishing costs to Zero?
The discounts for your own ads are generally 50% with most of
the mailorder 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!
39. How can you get free printing?
Run an ad similar to the following in mail order magazines or
adsheets:
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"!
40. How can you start a mailorder business when you don't have
anything to sell?
Contact the various mailorder dealers until you find a number of
good plans to work with. There are many good mailorder 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.
41. 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 mailorder dealers and money-seeking enthusiasts, and
which offer good products or services at reasonable prices.
42. 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.
43. 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.
44. How can you get 6,000 circulars printed and mailed free?
Locate an offset printer in your area, or a mailorder printer,
who will print both sides of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet for $25.00 per
thousand. (Prime Publishers, 1460 Boulder Ave., Crescent City,
CA 95531 is one such publisher - printer you can depend on.
They specialize in quality printing at affordable prices for the
mailorder industry. Write for free printing schedule and
information on their publications and other exclusive programs).
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.
45. 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"!
46. 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!
47. 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!
48. Where can you get 1" all profit ads and the information
they sell?
Send a buck to Prime Publishers, 1460 Boulder Ave., Crescent
City, CA 95531, and ask for their "16 all-profit ads and their
information sheet". (Also Prime Publishers will prepay 100 of
these sheets to you for $4.00. There will be one of their non
conflicting ads on the back side.)
49. 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.
50. 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 mailorder
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.
51. 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."
52. What is a good way to shrink your printing costs?
When possible, without destroying the effect of the message in
your ads, circulars, adsheets, etc., have your printer shrink
the material so it will fit on a smaller space.
53. How can you get set up as a circular mailer earning
commissions?
There are many mailorder 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!
54. 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.
55. 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.
56. What are 5 good mailorder 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.
57. What colors are the most appealing to women, in order of
preference?
Red, Violet, Blue, Green, Orange, White, Yellow.
58. What colors are the most appealing to men in order of
preference?
Blue, Red. Violet, Green, Orange, White, Yellow.
59. 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.
60. Where is the best place to advertise your mailorder 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 mailorder magazines and
adsheets get good response.
61. 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.
62. 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 mailorder offers.
63. 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.
64. 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!".
65. 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".
66. 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.
67. 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.
68. 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.
69. 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.
70. 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.
71. 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".
72. 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.
73. 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.
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