THE CHEAPEST WAY TO DISTRIBUTE 8 1/2 X 11" CIRCULARS
Co-op Mailing (short for co-operative) means that two or more businesses
share in the cost and distribution of a direct mail campaign. It's
kind of
like having you and another non-competing business split the cost of
printing, aseembling and mailing an advertising flyer to a shared (same)
marketbase.
Co-op dealing is very beneficial (and usually safe) for everyone involved.
One example of co-op dealing in mail order is to send your 8 1/2x11"
cameraready
circular to a co-op printer and they'll print your ad on one
side,
their ad on the back side and ship them back to you for a low cost
of around
$10 per 1,000. You get your printing almost free and the other dealer
gets
his or her flyers mailed on the back of yours free.
But what do you do with them when they are mailed back to you? If you're
new
to mail order it's doubtful you have a mailing list to distribute them
to.
Plus, postage costs alone would run you about $290.00 first-class.
At this
rate it would have been cheaper to send the camera-ready to a tabloid
or
adsheet publisher rather than by a co-op. But don't despair.
Simply have the printer ship your copies to a co-op circular mailer
instead
of sending them to you. A couple good circular mailers we recommend
are BMG
Services, PO Box 429, Johnson KS 67855 (your cost is only 1c for 8
1/2x11
pre-printed circular) or Thorn Gifts, 1807 Stillwater #5, St Paul MN
55119
(your cost is only 5c for each 8 1/2x11 pre-printed circular.) Why
the
difference in price? BMG mails by bulk rate and Thorn mails by first
class.
Either method is effective and sure beats paying 29c each.
In addition, you benefit from the mailing list of the circular mailer.
If
this particular mailer sells a mailing list, having them do a 1,000
or 5,000
"test" mailing for you would be a way to test their names. You should
get a
few responses from a mailing of this size but it all depends on "what"
you
are offering and the "price" you are offering it for. It's very difficult
to
sell any item for more than $50 on a 8 1/2x11" circular. For items
costing
more than $50, you need to use the two-step approach. In other words,
use
the 8 1/2x11" circular to generate inquiries and follow-up with the
complete
sales materials that constitute the higher price the customer may decide
to
pay.
Another idea is that you could contact a dealer with products and services
not conflicting with your own and ask them to co-op mail for you. In
this
deal, you would pay for the 2-sided printing (with the mailer's ad
on back
of yours) and he/she would mail them for you free of charge. It works!
Another way to co-op deal in mail order is by co-op advertising. High
Mountain Advertiser and Popular Advertiser are both long running co
op
publications. You place your ad the first time through a dealer and
all
future ads are 50% less. Then you have the option of mailing pre-printed
copies with your name in the publisher's block as an authorized dealer.
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