BE A PRIME SOURCE

I am not complaining, but one of the main problems I see within the “inner circle” mail order market is everyone selling everyone else’s products. I haven’t picked up a publication recently where the pages weren’t crammed full with commission dealerships. Now, don’t get me wrong. We sell commission circulars ourselves, so I’m certainly not putting down the idea — however, a good thing can get out of hand.

It’s been said over and over again, but newcomers to our industry should realize that they need to develop their OWN products and services. Commission dealerships are fine to compliment your business if the product is relative to your main product, but everyone should strive for developing their OWN product too. No one will ever get rich dealing in just commission dealerships. And people who think this way will give up over a period of time because they go broke. Let’s stop this madness and spread the word about becoming a Prime Source.

How do you develop your OWN specialized product or service? It may take a few months to get your “feet wet” in mail order to determine your particular “niche.” However, you should already know the talents you possess inside yourself and what your own capabilities are. There has to be more to your business than making money!

What are your hobbies and interests? What would you like to do more than anything else and would you do it if you were not getting paid? For instance, I personally enjoy publishing newsletters. I get a surge of electricity when I am working on them and wish my body would last 24-hours a day so I could work on them all the time. This is loving what you do.

On the other hand, this may sound really crazy to you. Perhaps you would rather write, edit, paste-up or seal envelopes. I remember Dorothy Christian (Shells 345) once explaining to me the “high” she used to get when doing a mass mailing. She loved peeling off labels, sticking them on envelopes and folding the materials to insert. She said that every envelope she stuffed, she felt it would generate a big customer order. This is enthusiasm!

Therefore, Dorothy could have developed a specialized or confidential mailing service. Unlike big mail, she would be mailing circulars in envelopes, but a targeted-mailing for different programs and products. (Example: A circular selling books and reports would be marketed only to book buyers from lists Dorothy would purchase and use for these types of mailings. She also would be careful not to put any conflicting information in this special mailing she was preparing for specific customers.)

You can take anything you sell and creatively turn it into your own prime source product. A good friend of mine, Helen VanAllen loved to prepare big mails so she created the “Design-Your-Own-Big-Mail-Package.” Customers were presented with a list of the circulars Helen had on hand and they checked off the ones that interested them. (This is one example of how an old concept can be turned into something new with a twist that makes it YOUR OWN product.)

Another friend, Max Ross, created a new product called “Business-In-A-Box.” He took 4 or 5 good commission circulars that he knew worked well and pulled orders. When people ordered his “Business-In-A-Box” they would receive the 4 camera-ready circulars along with 100 copies of them, 100 names from his own mailing list, 100 envelopes and an instruction sheet that gave the customer ideas and tips about direct mailing.

Another gal I know created a “Complete-Business-Start-Up-Kit.” She was a typesetter and went in 50% with a mail order printer. When the customer ordered this kit they would receive 100 letterheads, 100 envelopes, 100 memo sheets, 100 address labels and 100 business cards. Everything was personalized for the customer and included information on how they could order more as their supply ran out.

These are just a few ideas that other mail order folks used to create their own product. You can use the same concept locally also. If you sell vitamins, for instance, you could sell them in individual packets and label them for each day of the week. Use the vitamins from the company you are working with but the individual packets and labels would be your own product. You can also charge more for this personal touch.

You are unique! You are an individual who has special talents and interests. Your business should be a reflection of YOU and your own contribution to mail order. Mail order is a wonderful business, filled with some of the best people in the world. But it’s up to every one of us to keep it that way.

ARE COMMISSION CIRCULARS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Everyone that starts out learning the mail order business is normally introduced to Commission Circulars very early in the game. Commission Circulars are ads that are already typeset. You stamp YOUR name and address in the “order from” box, then you print and mail them. It’s a very simple process and serves an excellent purpose for many people.

Commission Circulars allow a person to make money without handling the product. Orders normally will come directly from the customer to YOU. You keep 50% or more of the money and send the rest, with the customer’s order to the dealer. The dealer will process the customer’s order and ship it directly to them. Your only function is to take your money out of envelopes and re-mail the rest of the order and money to the dealer who is the prime source of the product. Some people base their business on Commission Circulars alone. Some people really love separating copies, stamping their name with a rubber stamp, collating and stuffing envelopes and mailing them at the post office. Some businesses get their families involved because children can help in most phases of this business process. It’s really a fun hobby for some people.

However, what happens if you are not right for Commission Circulars? What if you are just getting started in the mail order business and don’t mail more than 10 letters per week? What if you don’t know anybody to send the circulars to? Some people will tell you to buy a mailing list — but can you really afford to spend $290.00 for first-class postage to mail to 1,000 people at this time? Besides, 1,000 people probably wouldn’t bring in more than 2 or 3 orders. If you are only getting $2 or $3 commission from the circular — you’d go broke quick!

You need to ask yourself several questions before ordering Commission Circulars. First and foremost, you need to determine how much you are mailing per month. If your postage costs are less than $200 every 30 days, it probably won’t pay you to order Commission Circulars. However, if the Commission Circular can become a part of your mailing without causing you an extra postage expense, you might consider them. Commission circulars bring in good profits only when they are mailed to a lot of people — 1,000 won’t cut it. Big mail dealers who process tons of mail per week and mail to thousands every month benefit the most from Commission Circulars. They have the volume it takes to participate in this type of business and will generate enough orders to make them pay for themselves.

Now, a lot of people may disagree with me about Commission Circulars. Some people feel if you only mail 10 per month, it will bring in money. I agree — it will, but it will take many months (possibly years) at this pace to make it worth your time. A commission mailer who mails Commission Circulars is normally responsible for his/her own printing (some people provide pre-printed circulars at a cost) as well as their own time in mailing and postage. Depending on the amount of money (or stamps) the Commission Circular pays, you may not re-coup enough expenses unless you receive several orders. In other words, don’t expect to mail 1,000 circulars and get 500 orders REGARDLESS of what anyone tells you. There are so many variances in mailing lists and human beings it is really impossible to determine response rates.

There are a number of ways though for the new beginner to take part in Commission Circular mailings and receive a response that is sufficient. One way is to take part in Co-Op Printing deals. Read and study the mail order publications and you will find several good co-op printing deals. This is where you send a circular to a printer. He or she will print a certain number of copies. Your ad will be printed on 1-side and the printer’s ad will be printed on the other. They will send all the copies back to you and you are responsible for mailing them. This immediately cuts your printing costs in half! A lot of people use this method if they do monthly bulk mailings or mail a lot. (Just be sure the ad the printer puts on the back of your ad is something that doesn’t conflict with items you are selling also.)

If you don’t do a lot of mailings and/or you don’t want the hassle of stuffing and mailing a lot of envelopes, you can advertise your circular in a mail order publication. At a standard rate of $25 per 1,000 — you can get your circular printed and mailed without any additional work on your part. This is the least expensive way to take part in Commission Circulars because you save on postage, envelopes, mailing list of names, folding, stapling and the time spent carting everything to the post office. Purchase a few Big Mails and keep up to date on publications and prices.

The third way of getting your Commission Circulars out is by printing them yourself and having someone else mail them for you. Most bulk mailers (people who process large volumes of mail) will normally include your 8 1/2×11 circulars in with their own mail for 2c to 4c each. You benefit from the mailers own mailing list plus you are saved the time of mailing and processing them. If you have a office copier or other printing equipment that will make copies from a camera-ready master, you’re in business. Just print as many copies as you want, box them up and send to the mailer you select.

Commission Circulars are really a great way to help others promote their products and bring in an income also for you. I myself participate in 3 different commission programs, however I co-publish publications. The only difference between them and Commission Circulars is the fact that they are publications. You make money on any advertising ordered through you as well as subscriptions. Advertising, printing and mailing are the 3 MOST sought after products in mail order. So naturally, I take part in the promotion of advertising.

Before participating in any Commission Circular or Co-Publishing effort, you should always take the time to inspect the product you are promoting. If it’s low in cost, order it before promoting it. This way you will be able to answer questions if potential customers call or write you about it. If the product is more than you can afford or you don’t want to buy it — ask the dealer to send you a brochure or other information. You need to be aware of any product or service you are promoting because it is a direct reflection on YOUR company. Your company name is on the circular and people will think you are the Prime Source.

Think about it this way. Suppose a shoe salesperson came to the door without any shoes to show you. They had no brochures, no information about their product and no knowledge of what shoes were available. Would you make a purchase simply from a price list? Probably not! And your customer probably won’t either. If they do happen to take the time to request more information — get it for them. Don’t toss their letter in the trash and not answer it because you don’t know the answer. You could be throwing away a $100 order. Wouldn’t it be worth the 29c investment?

Direct Mail Mailing Tips

If you do decide to mail your own circulars yourself because you want to be sure they are mailed — here are some tips to cut costs:

• Be sure ALL the circulars are printed on BOTH sides of the paper. This way — you can get 8 circulars (4 sheets of paper printed on both sides) in a standard business-size envelope for 29c.
• Never, never, never put only one sheet of paper in an envelope and mail it. The person receiving it will be confused and you will automatically be recognized as a newcomer who loves to waste money!
• If you choose to include a cover letter with your direct mail, put a coupon or bonus offer at the bottom of the letter to encourage the customer to look through your offers and consider them.
• Fold your circulars in a “Z-fold” when placing them in the envelope itself. This way, as soon as the envelope is opened the customer does not have to unfold it. Your best offer or “eye-catcher” is looking directly at them.
• When printing circulars on the back of other circulars, turn one of them upside down. This way, the order coupons for the flyers are not back-to-back and customers can place two orders from one circular.
• Place similar or complementing offers in each envelope. Don’t put a hodge-podge of all kinds of different items as this will tend to confuse the customer. A good combination is:
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    • (a) Mailing List
    • (b) Stamp Program
    • (c) Printing or Typesetting
    • (d) Money-Making Program

Continually try different ideas to market your products properly. Work on it. Make a game out of it. Eventually you will hit upon the right combination that will literally stuff your mailbox with orders!

DID YOU GET RIPPED OFF AGAIN?

Research and development are a part of my daily mail order business life. It is extremely beneficial to you and your business to be well informed of what is going on around you. If you are a mail order business and you don’t have at least 7 or more mail order tabloids in your mail box each week — you need to get on more Big Mail lists. You could even have a 1-inch ad typeset that simply said: “Big Mails Wanted. All Offers Considered. Mail to: (your name and address)” Advertise this ad in mail order publications and be flooded with mail from other dealers. Read, study, read, study and study some more. Build your mail order education free.

As you begin reading and studying these publications, you will read about people that rip-off others. Rip-off schemes will be exposed through many of our fine, mail order writers. You will be shown just how these rip-offs make their money and how you can be on the lookout for others who come along offering the same rip-off service.

You also will learn valuable lessons and hear advice from other people who have been ripped-off. You will learn that something that sounds too good to be true, usually is. Now don’t get me wrong. One time a well-known, honest mail order dealer ran an ad where he offered people FREE advertising to 1,000 if they simply returned the ad they were reading. If I didn’t know this dealer personally, I would normally shy away from the ad. I would probably think this was “too good to be true” and there was likely a catch to it. Since I didn’t want to waste my time, I might pass up this ad. However, the ad was TRUE to its word and worth the effort to respond. However, this is only one isolated incident.

A good rule of thumb for protecting yourself, your business and your money is to write a personal letter of inquiry before ordering the product or service. If you get a chain letter that claims to bring you $50,000 in 30 days, write to some of the people on the chain letter. Ask them if they’ve made their $50,000 yet! See how many people respond!

How about that full-page ad in Small Business Opportunities that promises you the secret to making $100 with 2 sheets of paper? It has to be legitimate, right? I mean, it’s in a national publication and it shows their picture and the actual bank deposits! Can it be true? NO! The person in the picture may not be that person at all. How will you ever know? Are you going to drive to their house to check them out? How do you know these are really true bank deposits? Anyone can alter forms to make figures appear to be more than they are. The only reason this person advertised in this national publication was because they had the money to place the ad. Somewhere in Small Business Opportunities it will state they are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers. Just because the ad appears in this publication does not mean the publisher endorses this business!

Spend the time to analyze the mail order products and services you are considering purchasing. Want to locate a good mail order printer? Send them a small order OR write them a letter. Enclose a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (SASE) for their reply and simply ask them to send you one (1) page they have printed so you can determine their quality. If they don’t respond when you have taken the time to enclose an SASE, they won’t provide good customer service.

I’ve read horror stories of people who tell about their rip-off experiences. Some people even admit to having been ripped-off several times. One lady claimed to be ripped-off by the same company 5 different times! Sorry, but that was HER fault! While there are many legitimate reasons why someone gets ripped-off, the majority of them can be avoided by using common business sense.

During the last several months, a lot of dealers have complained about the new kind of rip-off artist. This person runs an advertisement in a publication offering a certain item. They ask the customer to send $1 or stamps for more information. When the customer responds, what they receive has absolutely nothing to do with the product depicted in the original ad.

If you get angry and write a letter back to them of your complaint, normally the advertiser will not respond. This costs you time and postage! It’s a lose/lose situation for both parties. Rather than the advertiser taking the time to build a business relationship with an interested customer, he or she turns them away. If the advertiser had taken the time to respond to the mail — they would reap a lot more financially! It’s insane, but some people actually operate this way.

The best way of combating these types of rip-off artists is to expose them through mail order. Write a letter to a publisher and tell them to warn others of this company. Keep a list of people who rip you off (in one form or another) with a detailed record of the date and reason for your complaint. After you have accumulated a few of them, type them up neatly on a sheet of paper and sell copies for $1 or include free in your mailings as a “free gift.” It’s always best to try and re-coup some of your money while still warning others of these rip-off artists.

It’s up to you to combat these shady businesses. If everyone does their part, mail order will become better and better. Although mail order is still dominated by honest, sound and reliable dealers; there are still people getting ripped-off financially on a daily basis. Please join us in stomping out these bad eggs so we all can enjoy much better profits and increased sales.