BJM Free Press |

For Mature Audiences Only

It is not the intention of this publication to proliferate or encourage sexually oriented merchandise. However, as an observer of entrepreneurial activities, this medium would be naive and pretentious to ignore a profitable, legal business that could possibly be of interest to others.

The concept is plain and simple. Renting video tapes is profitable business. Renting adult videos is even more profitable.

Most adults will watch x-rated tapes (adult videos) only occasionally. This attitude does not warrant them to purchase video tapes. They would rather pay a premium to rent the tapes that they want.

BUY WHOLESALE

Sources for adult videos include local distribut6ors, used tape distributors, and catalog houses.

The average adult video costs $40. In volume, you can buy them wholesale for around $15 each.

RENTAL REVENUES

Since adult videos are not sensitive to release schedules, they do not get dated in the same manner as theatrical films. As a result, adult videos generally enjoy a longer shelf life.

Because of this, it can be rented more often and over a longer period of time.

Where the average video can be rented approximately 40 times over a period of 12 months, adult videos can extend well in to 50 or 60 times.

If you rent your videos even at $2 each, you can expect rental revenues of around $100 per tape per year.

If you purchased the video for $15, you have just multiplied your investment 4 times.

Furthermore, you can offer your year-old tapes for sale for around $12 each.

(Note that selling adult videos across state lines is a Federal offense. If you want to sell tapes, sell them to your members in your local area. Likewise, you should check your local zoning regulations regarding this business.)

OTHER CLUB BENEFITS

An adult video & book club can be more attractive and more profitable if the benefits and activities offered to members go beyond books and videos.

You can offer club members special cruises where members of the opposite sex can be paired and offer special discounts available to couples.

You can also organize parties that charge admission, where single people can meet.

Producing Biz-Opp Expo Seminars

In this information Society, we have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. Add to this our desire to network with people who share our interests, professionals in our own trade.

Minimum Start-Up: $1,500
Average Start-Up: 10,000
Revenue: $25,000 - $5Mil+
Profits: $20,000 - $1Million
One Person Business: Yes

For these reasons, seminars and expositions have continued to grow. At a time when the explosive growth of electronic systems offer abundant ways information can be delivered, we continue to prefer the old fashioned, person-to-person contact with our peers.

OPPORTUNITY SEEKERS

As seminars become more and more specialized, the number of seminars continues to grow. According to industry statistics, there are over 1000,000 seminar sessions each year. There seems to be a wide spectrum of topics on which to develop a seminar.

The Business Opportunities market is at a strategic crossroads where new economic opportunities intersect with our growing disenchantment with conventional employment.

Thus, our continuing search for a “better way to earn a living” makes Business Opportunities Expos and Seminars one of the most profitable products.

Remember, where our economic interest lies, we are all opportunity seekers. And that’s a huge market.

TABLE-TOP EXPO

The most cost effective way to produce a “Start A Business” seminar is to have sponsors cover the cost of promoting the expo/seminar.

In exchange, you can arrange for sponsors to have a mini expo. Compared to conventional expos that use booths for exhibits, a “table-top expo” can take place in a foyer or hotel lobby.

A number of tables can be arranged where different, non-competing sponsors can consult with attendees regarding business opportunities being offered.

THE $10 EXPO/SEMINAR

If all your marketing and production costs are paid for by participating sponsors, your revenues will depend exclusively on admission.

In a city of 1 million or more people, it is reasonable to project an attendance of 2,500 to 3,500, each paying $10 for 3-hour seminars and an on-going consultation-style tabletop expo.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A MODEM, YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON FREE PROGRAMS AND A SECRET LOW-COST MARKETING SYSTEM YOU NEED TO USE!

The computer is now viewed as the most essential business tool available. The only problem is, many businesses buy a computer just for the sake of having one, with no plans as to how the computer will be used. Sure, they start to type letters on it, maybe a few marketing documents, and the customer list goes on it, but that’s the extent of computer use for many businesses. Some don’t even get THAT far. Well, those businesses are missing out on a valuable low-cost marketing opportunity open ONLY to computer users. To take advantage of this opportunity, you need to have a MODEM. First, I’ll tell you what a modem is, and an overview of how to use it. Then, I’ll let you in on some valuable marketing secrets.

WHAT IS A MODEM AND WHAT CAN I USE IT FOR?

MODEM stands for MOdulator DEModulator, and it’s just a fancy name for a telephone hookup for your computer. Modems can either be a card that is easily installed into your computer, or it can be an external unit. Basically, the only difference from modem to modem that the average user needs to worry about is the speed. Modem speed is indicated by a BAUD rate, which indicates how many “data bits” are transferred per second. The most common baud rates for modems are 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, and 14,400. Don’t get a 300 or 1200 baud modem, as they are outdated and too slow. A 2400 baud modem is sufficient for most people and is very economical (usually $50 or so).

With a modem and a special computer program called a terminal program (one is usually included with the modem), you can call up other computers and communicate with them, including transferring programs and files. You can communicate with individual computer users, or through BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS, or BBS’s, which are services run primarily by private individuals.

When you call a BBS, you are instructed to type your name and a password of your choice. If it’s your first time calling the BBS, you will usually go through a short registration process, similar to filling out a form. This is all done on your computer. The information you type on your end is sent through the phone line to the system operator’s, or SYSOP’s, computer, which is running the BBS. Once you are registered, there may or may not be a membership fee, depending on the individual SYSOP, though most will allow free use of their BBS by non-members for a short period of time each day. This will be all the time you’ll need, though, to use the methods I’ll describe in this report. There are also large ON-LINE (accessible by modem) services you can call, such as Compu-Serve, Genie, America On-Line, and others. These are basically the same as BBS’s, but on a much larger scale, and all have monthly membership fees, with most charging by the hour.

WHY SHOULD I CALL A BBS?

That’s an easy question to answer. The two main features of the average BBS are FILES and MESSAGES. Files are computer programs that you can DOWNLOAD (or transfer) to your computer. Here’s a simplified explanation of how you do it: First, you select the file you want from a list on the BBS. Then, you tell the BBS to send the file to you. The file is sent through the phone line to your computer. Then, after you LOG OFF (leave) the BBS, you can use the program just like any other computer program.

This process can also work in reverse. You can send a program you have written or acquired to the BBS, so other users can download it and use it. This is called UPLOADING a file.

Keep in mind that copyrighted programs, like the ones you buy in a store, CAN NOT be uploaded to a BBS. This violates copyright laws. The programs you find on a BBS will be either public domain (anyone can copy them and distribute them), or shareware (free for you to copy and try out, but there is a registration fee if you use the program regularly). Also, if you find a BBS that has commercial, copyrighted programs available for downloading, DON’T CALL IT AGAIN! You can get in BIG trouble if you mess around with copyrighted programs, including fines, jail terms, and confiscation of your computer. You won’t need to worry about this, though, if you stick to legitimate BBS’s.

BESIDES FREE PROGRAMS, WHAT OTHER BENEFITS CAN I GET FROM A BBS?

The other function of a BBS is messages. On almost any BBS, you can leave a message, either to a specific user of the BBS, or to everyone. You tell the BBS who the message is for, a short description of what the message is about, and then type the message, or upload a previously typed message. Then, when the person you’ve left the message for accesses the BBS, he or she will see a note on their screen telling them they have mail. Or, if you left the message for everyone, anyone who enters the message area of the BBS can read the note you left.

Many BBS’s participate in NETWORKS, which allow you to leave messages for people who don’t call that particular BBS, but call another BBS that is a member of the same network. There are many different networks, some dedicated to special interests or hobbies, others more general. Here’s how they work: You leave a message to either a specific person who can access the network on a BBS they call, or the message can be for everyone. The SYSOP of the BBS you call then collects all the messages in that particular network and transfers them by modem to the network headquarters, which could be in an entirely different state. At the same time, the SYSOP receives a packet of new messages from the network headquarters, these having come from the other member BBS’s. This distribution method means you can leave a message on your local BBS to, for example, your friend in Hawaii, who calls a BBS that belongs to the same network. In a few days, your friend will see a “mail waiting” note when he or she accesses the BBS. Many times, this will happen faster than if you sent a letter through the mail!

Hopefully, this will give you a basic understanding of what BBS can do for you. The programs alone will be exciting enough for anyone who hasn’t been exposed to this before. For example, the BBS I frequent, Radio Daze, has over 65,000 programs that can be downloaded! But what about the marketing secrets I promised earlier?

HOW TO USE YOUR MODEM TO MARKET YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AT LOW- (OR NO-) COST

The networks are the key to effective marketing with your modem. Remember that I said you can leave a message that everyone can read. Why can’t this message be an ad? Ah ha! I have used network ads extensively to publicize my newsletter, Small & Home Business Journal, and it has been very successful. I’ll use my marketing methods as an example.

One of the advantages of the way Small & Home Business Journal is published (on disk, instead of printed) is that, for all intents and purposes, it is a computer program. I made the first issue a sample issue that is copyright free. I then uploaded the sample issue to Radio Daze BBS, as well as CompuServe, one of the huge national on-line services mentioned earlier. Thus, people could download the sample issue into their computer and use it, the same as if I handed them a copy on a disk. This vastly reduced my marketing expenses, as I could get a sample issue to someone without the expense of the disk and mailing.

Here’s where the crafty part is. I then composed an ad on my word processor explaining the benefits of reading SHBJ. At the end of the ad, I noted that there are two ways the reader could get a sample issue. Either they could send two first-class stamps to me, and I would send a sample on disk, or they could download a sample by calling Radio Daze BBS or CompuServe. I saved this ad as a text file, then called up Radio Daze, which participates in a number of networks. I went into either the small business area or the classified ad area of each network (networks are usually composed of a number of message areas, making targeting easy) and uploaded the previously typed ad as a message readable by all. For the message description, I tried a number of different descriptions, with the most successful being “Make more $$ now!!!”.

My ads then were sent throughout the networks, and were seen by others across the country as early as the next day. Soon, my sample issue was being downloaded or requested by people who sent postage. Around once a week, I repost the ads, and get new requests and downloads. SYSOPs of other BBS’s have made the sample issue available on their BBS’s, increasing my exposure. As a result, hundreds of people have gotten a sample issue of SHBJ. How much has this cost me? NOTHING. ZIP. Well, actually, I paid a yearly membership fee of $40 to belong to Radio Daze. But, when figured in with all the programs I’ve gotten from Radio Daze along the way, the expense has been incredibly low. Also, I’ve had to provide a disk to anyone who’s sent in 2 stamps. But, you know what? When people see that they can make one phone call with their modem and IMMEDIATELY have a sample issue, instead of having to wait for the mail, almost all will use that method. Wouldn’t you? I know I would.

How can you use this method to promote your products and services? On a local level, you can post an ad on your local BBS(s) telling the BBS users how they could benefit from what you have. Give BBS users a special discount if they tell you which BBS they saw your ad on. This way, you can gauge the effectiveness of each BBS. If you sell a product or service by mail, use the networks. I’ve had users in almost every state get a copy of my newsletter. Don’t try to sell your product or service directly from the ad, unless it’s inexpensive. Rather, use the ad to generate inquiries, and follow up with a complete sales package through the mail.

TIPS TO REMEMBER WHEN USING THIS POWERFUL MARKETING METHOD

In your ad, as with any ad, don’t ramble on and on about the features of your products/services. Instead, hit hard and early with the direct benefits the consumer will experience. Tell them “what’s in it for them.” This will generate interest, rather than boredom.

Be sure you put your ads in the right network areas. For example, I limit my advertising to the small business areas and classified ad areas. I don’t think many people in the genealogy areas or gaming areas would be interested in my newsletter. It would waste my time.

Don’t over-advertise. I limit my ads to once a week. If you post your ads daily or even multiple times per day (I’ve seen it happen), it clogs up the message area and turns everyone off to what you have to say. You will be advised by whoever’s in charge of the network to either cut back on your ads or, if you continue, to cease and desist. Remember, you aren’t the only one using these message areas. The message areas were designed with discussion in mind, but advertising is permitted if you don’t overdo it.

Make sure your ads are appropriate and in good taste. BBS users come in all ages, so if your product or service is for adults only, confine your advertising to “adults only” BBS’s and networks. Use the same common sense you’d use if you were advertising in a magazine.

Every BBS will have rules stated regarding usage of the BBS. Follow these rules. You’ll find yourself barred from using the BBS if you don’t.

CONCLUSION

Used properly, this marketing method can inform large numbers of prospects quickly (no real lead-time, other than message transfer) and cheaply (no cost, other than membership fees, though non-members are almost always allowed to use message areas and networks - it can be totally free!). If you don’t have a modem, by all means go out and get one! You can get a modem card for your computer for as cheap as $50. You can even get one that can also function as a fax for around $100 or less. That’s peanuts, considering the benefits you’ll get from having one! If you already have a modem, but never put it to use, now you know what to do. Now go do it!

RESOURCES

Here’s a short list of computer services and BBS’s you should try with your modem. You should be able to get phone numbers of BBS’s in your area by consulting computer user groups.

America OnLine - Call (703) 893-6288 for information on membership and phone numbers.

CompuServe - Call (800) 848-8990 for membership information, and (800) 635-
6225 to get a local access phone number.

Delphi - Call (800) 695-4005 for questions or call (800) 365-4636 with your modem, press return, at password type BW34 for a free trial!

Radio Daze BBS - Call (219) 256-2255 with your modem and follow the registration process. Information about membership and non-member use is provided.

5 WAYS TO GENERATE QUICK CASH YOU NEED BY RUNNING A MINI-BUSINESS, PART 5 of 5

Continuing from part four, mini-businesses:

INCREASING YOUR INCOME FROM YOUR PRESENT BUSINESS

The easiest way to bring in more income quickly is to offer a special price or package of your current products or services. Your only upfront expense will be getting the word out about your special. Depending on the type of business you run, this expense could be minimal.

For example, one of the services I offer, in addition to my publishing efforts, is custom typesetting and layout work. I could offer a special price for a limited time, or a quantity discount off my normal per-page pricing. In this case, the most cost effective marketing method I could use would be to prepare a flyer for the special (no cost to myself but time spent creating the flyer and copying costs), and distribute it to my best customers and those prospects I would most like to have as long-term clients.

Besides the quick business I’d get from the special, I may entice a few newcomers into my fold that will bring long-term business my way. Used correctly, this technique can provide the quick income you need, while building your permanent customer base.

CONCLUSION

Every business has hard times at the start. That’s just a fact of life or the self-employed. It doesn’t have to be so bad, though, if you plan ahead and take whatever steps are necessary. Package your products and services for quantity sale. Run a small secondary business. These are the ways to reinforce your main business and keep it afloat in rough water.

This is part four of a five part series. Click to read part one, two, three, or four.

5 WAYS TO GENERATE QUICK CASH YOU NEED BY RUNNING A MINI-BUSINESS, PART 3 of 5

Continuing from part two, mini-businesses:

MINI-BUSINESSES

There are countless businesses you could run as a quick cash producer. I’ll go into a few that I think are the best ideas for most people. Some of these may sound minor league, but that’s what they’re meant to be: easy-to-run, low time and expense businesses you can use to up your income.

DISCOUNT CARDS

There is a good money business that can be started for next to nothing, with low risk, that involves giving away special cards. These cards are DISCOUNT CARDS, wallet-sized cards that allow the bearer to receive discounts at participating businesses. These businesses pay to have their advertisement on the card. They profit from the increased exposure and from gaining new customers who come in for the discount and become return customers. The card-holders benefit from the discounts they can receive. And YOU benefit from the profitable advertising you sell!

This is a relatively simple business to explain. Here’s an overview:

1. Design your card.
2. Figure your expenses and set your ad prices.
3. Contact businesses that frequently use discounts or coupons (potential advertisers for you) either in person or by mail, with an information package.
4. Gather the ads (and the money!) and print them together on wallet-sized cards.
5. Distribute the cards to the public.

That’s all there basically is to it. Of course, there are more details you need to know, and those will be covered in detail here.

This business works especially well if there is a college in your town, or any large number of people who either vacation there or move to town, but it can be run successfully in any area. The best part (besides the money) is that you can run this business from your kitchen table! Here’s exactly what you need to do to make great profits in the discount card business.

First, think up a name for your card. A catchy name that has words like DISCOUNT, SAVER, MONEY, BUCKS, BIG, FREE or other dollar-saving words will stick in people’s minds. If you (or a friend) have artistic ability, design a logo, either with your card’s name, or a picture conveying the money-saving feature of the card.

Next, design how your card will look. It should fit easily into a wallet, so stick to credit card size. On the front, your logo should appear, along with, at most, six ads, in three columns of two. The back should be divided into, at most, twenty ad spaces, again in three columns (7 on the sides, 6 in the middle). This might sound like a lot, but they will be readable. Don’t forget to put your business name, address and phone on the front or back, at the bottom of the card.

You should also put together a poster with your logo and information about the card. Leave space for a list of locations where the card can be obtained, and for a list of the advertising businesses. This poster will be inexpensive for your printer to produce, and can be produced on your computer, if you have one, reducing your expenses even further.

Now figure your costs. The major cost to you will be printing, so check with a number of printers for price quotes. You will want a one or two color glossy card, with price quotes for quantities for 1,000 - 10,000 cards. Find out at what quantities significant price breaks occur. This can help determine exactly how many cards you want to produce and distribute. This number will be important when it comes to contacting your advertisers.

Don’t be put off by how much the cards will cost! You won’t have to worry about laying out a lot of money for the production of the cards, because you should require that advertisers pay at least half of their advertising price at the time they decide to advertise, the remainder when cards are distributed. Some businesses will prefer to pay 100% upfront, which is just fine! You shouldn’t deal with businesses that won’t pay anything upfront, unless you have some desire to deal with collection headaches.

You should be thinking about how to distribute these cards. If there is a college in your town, here are a few ideas. Contact the admissions department at the college, explain your discount card, and see if they would consider putting a card into the orientation materials each incoming student gets. Also, find out places where you may put a stack of cards for students to take. Prime locations are cafeterias and dining halls, snack bars, libraries and any other places where students group.

For the general public, great distribution spots are similar to the college spots. Restaurants, grocery stores, theaters, apartment buildings, anywhere where there are large groups of people. Don’t forget that you can give a good supply to each advertiser, to give free to their customers. All you need to do is a few good, persuasive phone calls, and your distribution will be taken care of easily. Stress to the person you’re speaking with that making the cards available to their customers will be good business for them, even if they don’t advertise on the card, because their customers will appreciate being given these discounts and will look upon the business as their friend for doing so.

Now that you have your printing quotes, determine how much you can charge for advertising. Estimate what your phone, advertising, driving and postage expenses will be. Lump these all together and you have an idea of what your costs will be. Now, multiply that figure by five. Divide that figure by the total number of advertisers you will have on your card. The number you end up with is the average price you could charge per ad. Does this sound reasonable, considering the number of cards you’ll be distributing? If so, it should make a good starting point.

For example, if you are planning to distribute 8,000 cards with 26 advertisers, and your estimated expenses will be $1200, the formula is
($1,200 x 5)/26, or $230.77 average ad price ($28.85 per thousand), and your profit would be $4,800. Considering the benefits the advertiser will get from the cards (they will be kept and used for a long time, usually 3 to 6 months, and 5,000 people will be exposed to their ad repeatedly over that period of time), this will probably be reasonable. You need to consider the economy in your area, the size of your area, and any competition you might have, as this can effect what you may be able to charge.

When you decide how much to charge for ads, here are a few things to keep in mind. Ads on the front of the card should be much higher priced than on the back, and, as a result, should be slightly larger. On the back, you can set two different ad rates by putting using “boxed ads.” An ad with a black box around it will be noticed more than one without, so it can be slightly higher. A good example of ad prices corresponding to the above average ad price would be $200 for a plain ad on the back of the card, $230 for a boxed ad on the back, and $260 for an ad on the front of the card.

(Side benefit from this business: give yourself an ad for free!)

Now is the time to contact potential advertisers. Here’s a short list of the types of businesses that will be most likely to take advantage of your service:

• Restaurants, particularly fast-food and snack establishments
• Theaters
• Printers
• Dry cleaners
• Oil change and auto parts businesses
• Travel agencies
• Clothing stores
• Hair salons
• Formalwear stores

This is not a complete list, but it should give you an idea of the types of businesses you need to contact.

Put together a list of the businesses you want to contact, and send them a sales package with full details about the cards, the population you will be distributing them to, and ad rates. Include a postcard they can use to contact you if they’re interested. Here is an example of what you can put on the card:

Yes! I am interested in talking with you about (card name). A good time to contact me would be _________________. Please ___ call or ___ visit.

Name _________________________
Business ______________________
Address ______________________
City __________________________
State _____ Zip ________________
Phone ________________________
Fax __________________________

If you are selling 26 ads, try to send information to at least 200 businesses. This will help you easily get enough interested businesses.

When you contact businesses in person, be professional. Break all the costs down so you can show them exactly how inexpensive this advertising will be. For example, if your card will be “active” for six months, distributed to 8,000 college students and the ad the business is considering is $230, show them that it will only cost 4/10 of a cent per month per cardholder ($230 divided by 8,000 people, divided by 6 months)! Also, show them that you’re distributing the cards to an audience that will need and use their services. College students will always buy pizza, so if a particular pizza restaurant can snare the incoming students with this discount card, they’ll have the edge over the other pizza restaurants. This is how you will make successful sales. Stress the benefits that the business will get from advertising with you, as well as the fact that this advertising is targeted to a specific group, instead of everyone, which will make this advertising more effective than, say, a newspaper ad. Also, let them know that you will be preparing posters advertising the card and the businesses that are advertising on it, and that this will be extra FREE advertising for them.

When the conversation moves to payment, insist (nicely!) that the business pay at least half upfront as a good faith gesture. You trust them to pay the remainder, as they trust you to deliver on your promises. Honest business owners should have no problem with this.

Advertising copy must be direct and short, due to the limited space. Ads should be three lines at most, with the first line for the business name and phone, second line for a short description of the business, and third line for discount. For example:

JOE’S PIZZA 555-1234
Best pizza in town!
10% off large pizza.

When you have your advertisers and their ads, get together with the printer you’ve chosen. Your printer will help you with the card layout, if you’re inexperienced. If you have a computer and a good typesetting program, you may be able to produce the masters for the printer, lowering your expenses.

While the cards are at the printers, put up your posters. Put them in high traffic areas where the people you will be distributing the cards to will see them. Always get permission before you put the posters up.

When the cards are done, distribute them to the locations you’ve picked out, and collect the remaining balances from your advertisers. This whole process can be done in your spare time, and should take no more than four to six weeks. The example above yielded a $4800 profit, which is pretty good for that short amount of time!

Once you’ve done one card, do another one! Differentiate it from the first by using a different name, distribution to a different group of people, and different advertisers. Here are some target consumers groups to start with:

• Senior citizens
• Families with children
• Singles
• High school students
• Women only/men only

By distributing your cards to highly targeted markets like these, and contacting businesses that cater to these groups, you can successfully generate the extra income you need to give your main business a boost!

This is part three of a five part series. Click to read part one, two, four, or five.