BJM Free Press |

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!

There are many schools of thought on how to write a successful ad, letter or brochure. Some say you need to be subtle, some say be harsh, some say be roundabout, some say be direct. There is one technique, though, that is coming to the forefront as one of the most successful to employ. This is “info-jamming. “Info-jamming is, simply put, overloading the prospect with information about your product or service. The theory is, you give the customer more information than they’d ever want on your product/service, and they’ll feel more confident about you and what you offer. Also, the customer that actually reads through it all is the one who’s interested enough to buy what you offer. The good news is; it works!

Here’s how to do it. Say you’re planning a quarter-page display ad in a magazine. Instead of leaving a lot of white space, so it looks open, and instead of putting pictures in to catch the eye, fill the whole space with text! Load it with as much information as you can fit in, without making it unreadable. To prevent it from looking like a grey blur when the reader’s eyes scan through the page, put a bold, black box around the ad, a bold headline, and emphasize important words and phrases with bold print.

You can do the same thing with a mailing. Put together four-page sales letters loaded with copy, and then add a brochure/flyer that re-emphasizes the important points in even greater detail.

A few cautions with this technique. First, make sure you actually have something to say! We are so conditioned to being economical with our words in advertising that it’ll be hard to info-jam without feeling repetitious. Instead of rambling on about features, tell customers every single benefit they’ll get from your product/service. BENEFIT is the important word. Rather than telling them your “miracle dust-rag” has twice as many dust picker-uppers, tell them their cleaning will be done in half the time with half the effort. Tell “what’s in it for them.”

Give this a try. Depending on your audience and what you’re trying to sell, you may find that info-jamming can jam more sales into your bank account!

If you sell computer programs that you’ve written, shareware programs, or information products on computer disc, there are two little-known ways to make extra sales that most people aren’t using. Use these methods and your sales will increase!

Custom Disc Sleeves

The first way is to use a custom disc sleeve. Disc sleeves are those paper sleeves that the disc is enclosed in. Most are plain white. That’s a waste! You can make your own CUSTOM disc sleeve that can act as an information flyer for the disc it carries, as well as a catalog of your other products. If you have a laser printer, you can even customize these for each individual customer.

Here’s how I do it. Use an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white paper. On the 8 1/2 inch side, measure four inches from one of the long sides. Do the same on the opposite 8 1/2 inch side. Now fold the long way at this four inch point. Hold the paper so that the 11 inch side is horizontal, and the four inch high side is in the front. Next, measure 2 1/2 inches from each side along the 11 inch side. Fold each side, at the 2 1/2 inch point, to the back. You now have a disc sleeve! You will need to alter these measurements for a CD.

I use my laser printer to print a catalog of my products on the side of the paper that will be the inside of the sleeve. Then, I turn the paper over, and print information about my disc product (a newsletter on disc) on the front side. When folded as above, the front of the sleeve has information about what is on the current issue of the newsletter. Turning the sleeve over, subscription information is printed on the flaps. When you open the flaps, you see display ads on the rest of the front side. I printed a message saying “See inside for free info and special offers!!” in small print on laser printer labels, six times per label, and then cut them into small individual labels. I use these labels to hold the back flaps closed, until the customer opens the sleeve.

By doing this, I make use of what would otherwise be blank space and extra mailing weight. My sleeve weighs only a fraction more than a regular sleeve, so it doesn’t affect postage costs, and it sells products for me! Sure, printing and folding the sleeves takes a little extra time, but its easy work that brings in sales I otherwise wouldn’t have, which makes it worthwhile.

Catalog on Disc

The other way to increase your sales is to include a catalog on the disc itself. This is as easy as typing a letter, and will work with any computer.

With your word processor, type a letter to your customer, telling them that you have some resources that they can benefit from. Then, list your other products and services. Be sure to tell the customer exactly how they will benefit from each particular product/service. Then, when your letter is finished, save it as an “ASCII text file.” Almost all word processors will have this option. An ASCII text file can be loaded into any word processor, or can be displayed by typing “TYPE (file name)” to show it on the screen, or ” TYPE (filename) > PRN” to print it out. Save your letter with a name like README or READTHIS, something that will get your customer’s attention when they look at the directory of the disc.

On your disc sleeve, label, or instructions that you include with the disc, urge the customer to look at your file. Tell them you have important information for them.

Including your product listing this way will add NO weight whatsoever, and will only add the time it takes to create it. A short text file such as this shouldn’t effect how long it takes to copy the disc for the customer.

Summary

When you sell products on disc, you have two easy methods to use to increase your sales potential. Use both, if you want, and you’ll see a marked increase in your sales!

If you run a mail order business, a great way to expand your sales is to offer informational publications in addition to your regular line of products and services. The usual problem with doing this is that you have to commit a large amount of your resources for buying initial inventory and storage, not to mention the expense of putting together marketing materials for the publications you’re going to carry. There are some companies, though, who provide services for business people who want to sell publications, but don’t want the hassle and expense of inventory.

These companies will DROP SHIP items to your customers. For example, when you sell a book, you would usually send the wholesale price for the book, along with a shipping label listing you as the return address and your customer’s address as the “ship to” address. You keep the difference between the retail price you charged the customer and the wholesale price you sent the supplier (in most cases 50%) as your profit. The supplying company then ships the book directly to your customer. In this way, you avoid having to stock all the different publications you’d like to sell, while still having the ability to offer your customers a large selection to choose from.

There are many companies, large and small, that will provide a drop ship service. Services vary, with some providing sales materials for the publications you’d like to carry, others not. Some charge a dealership fee, some don’t. A few offer higher discount plans, which are good to consider if you plan on getting other people to act as dealers for you, increasing your profits with a lower marketing outlay. What follows is a short list of companies you may want to look into if you’d like to provide informational books to your customers.

PREMIER PUBLISHERS, INC.

Premier Publishers, Inc. is one of the largest wholesale dealers of self-improvement and money-making business publications, with over 500 to choose from. They even can supply books by well-known business authors like Jeffrey Lant. I received their 80-page dealer catalog and was quite impressed by the shear number of publications to choose from and the selection of familiar books, manuals and reports that Premier can supply.

Started by Owen Bates in 1971, Premier Publishers, Inc. also can supply retail catalogs that can be imprinted with your name and address on the front cover, as well as individual circulars for the publications you wish to sell.

There are a few ways to get set up as a dealer with Premier Publishers, Inc. To qualify for 50% off retail, place a first order that totals at least $50 at retail prices. The 50% discount can be used on this first order, so you can be a dealer for only $25, plus whatever shipping costs are incurred (in most cases, only $2.50). From that point on, no minimum orders are necessary for the 50% discount. To qualify for deeper discounts, you can either purchase in quantities of 10 or 100, or you can pay an extra fee to become either a “registered” wholesaler ($36/year, eligible for 10-lot pricing on any size order) or a “special” wholesaler ($100/year, eligible for 100-lot pricing on any size order). These extra discounts are quite substantial, so if you are planning to sell a lot of publications, either of these programs could be for you.

Contact Premier Publishers, Inc.

P.O. Box 330309

Fort Worth, TX 76163-0309.

SELECTIVE BOOKS, INC.

Lee Howard, who runs Selective Books, Inc., is probably familiar to you if you’re a regular reader of mail order publications. He started Selective Books, Inc. in 1969 and has been very successful since then. Lee’s books are, for the most part, directories and business-related publications. Some examples of the titles he has available are “Closeout Sources Directory,” “U.S.A. Wholesale Sources Directory,” “New Free Book Advertising Sources,” “How To Publish Your Own Book Successfully,” and a series of importing trade directories for Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Orient.

Most of Lee’s publications retail for $10 to $20, with profit percentages from 50% all the way up to 75% and more on drop shipping. If you want to stock his publications, you can get an even lower cost, and required quantities are as also includes sample ads, sales letters and a copy of each of the books you would be offering. With the high profit margins possible for his books, this may be an idea worth looking into.

Lee puts out a newsletter for mail order dealers that list all of his publications in detail, as well as information on his dealership programs and his business articles, which are well worth reading. Write to be put on Lee’s mailing list.
Selective Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 1140

Clearwater, FL 34617

MASCOR PUBLISHING

Mascor Publishing was started in 1983 by Peter Schruender, and continues to be a major supplier of publications for resale. Their catalog contains mail order and business related books, reports and tapes.

One unique set of publications that Mascor Publishing carries is the Career Report Series, which are concise briefings of 4 to 12 pages on over 100 occupations that are expected to experience growth in the next ten years. They contain job descriptions, working conditions, advancement potentials, salary and training information, all based on government and industry research.

Mascor Publishing offers two distribution plans. The Special Distributor plan has a one-time fee of $39, which qualifies you for an average discount of 60% on any quantity. The Super Distributor plan has a one-time fee of $95, with an added discount of 15-25%, no minimum quantity.

Mascor Publishing can also provide imprinted catalog and brochures for their publications. Contact them at:

Mascor Publishing

P.O. Box 8308

Silver Spring, MD 20907