Mail Order for the 1990's

INTRODUCTION

Welcome.  My name is Paul Gruenwald and probably, if you're a

regular reader of business start up manuals, you may have

purchased one of my guides in the past.

If you have, you will have noted that I write about ways in which

you can use your various talents and imagination to launch

yourself into a small home business, either part time or full

time.  I get quite a lot of people 'phoning and telling me they

have started, or about to start, in a business which I have

supplied the idea for.  This is, of course, very complimentary and

I hope you will be able to find a suitable venture to set your

ideas in motion.

You can therefore understand from this that the sale of business

guides is very lucrative providing you can obtain new material and

supply what people want to read.

This manual will show you the type of guides that are currently

best sellers and the type which can fetch the highest prices,

giving you a large profit mark up for very little cost.

Within these pages I will show you some of the outstanding mail

order successes of the past - and how we can very nearly duplicate

these successes today.

You will see what people REALLY WANT and what they ARE LOOKING FOR

when they browse through the business opportunities sections of

the popular magazines.

Old successes, new ideas - let's get down to it and help YOU

become one of the successful mail order dealers for the 1990's.

Good Luck.

PART ONE

PAST SUCCESSES

An introduction into the wonderful past of mail order greats

AN EXAMPLE OF SUCCESS

About ten years ago I brought a book written by an American

millionaire who was involved in the mail order business.

His name was Joe Karbo, and his book was called `The Lazy Man's

Way To Riches'.  (This book, I believe, is now the copyright of

Chartsearch Publishing).

This publication was originally sold through The Institute of

Small Business if I am correct, and this is where I acquired my

copy.

JOE'S INCREDIBLE TEST MAILING RESULT

An article mentioned that Joe Karbo had done a test mailing of

1,000 letters to assess the market for his book in Britain.  The

response was an incredible 20% orders.

Joe wrote to his customers, and asked them what made them buy his

book.  He was curious as to the high response rate from his

initial small test mailing.

Most of his customers wrote to say it was because of the TITLE of

the book.  It was called 'The Lazy Man's Way To Riches', as I have

already mentioned.  But think about this for a minute.  People did

not buy the book because of the contents, which I shall divulge,

but because of the TITLE!

SO THIS IS IN THE PAST

Yes, so it is, and the book is probably going down in popularity

now, but it made Joe Karbo a MILLIONAIRE.  Never forget past

successes because they can be repeated, and I will show you how in

a later chapter.  You can find out how exactly the same idea,

produced in a new concept, has made another man rich using the

very same basic principles that Joe Karbo and his guider used. 

Who is his guider?  Wait and see.

EVER HEARD OF NAPOLEON HILL?

If you haven't, then you should be ashamed of yourself.  You that

wants to make a fortune in mail order.

Napoleon Hill wrote the all-time best seller 'Think and Grow

Rich', which is available in the UK from Thorsens Publishing.

This book has the secret of success for all businesses, and our

Joe Karbo realised the potential of turning this information into

another best seller. Other people have tried the same, and only

recently has one come up to the success Joe's book achieved.

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT, PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR!

Yes, get a copy of 'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill, and you

will soon discover the secret of success as he puts it 'in every

page'.

Joe Karbo's excellent book is basically a mail order book using

these principles.  He admitted that himself, and what's more, the

whole concept works.

WHY THIS HISTORY?

If you are really interested in making a fortune, or at least a

good living, from a mail order business, you will need to know

some of the past successes as well as the ones which will make

future successes.

If you can conjure up a title like 'The Lazy Man's Way To Riches',

you are well on your way to a fortune.  Many have tried to copy

Joe, but few have come up with such a good mind-throwing title -

AND such a good book.

OTHER PAST SUCCESSES

Remember in the sixties, there was a great number of small adverts

appearing in magazines such as Exchange and Mart (in the

classified section) for self-help and money-making guides for

about 5/- each.  Even going into the seventies and eighties, these

adverts appeared, all from the same guy.

Because his company has since been sold, I cannot mention his

name, but one of his publications was called 'How I Made a Fortune

from Mail Order'.  Read it?  Who hasn't, if you have been involved

in mail order for as long as I have?  OK, I suppose I could say

have you heard of James Carr?  Is this his real name, because the

publications were sold under other names, probably all his pen

names.  His adverts were addressed to Mr. E ......!

2,000,000 SATISFIED CUSTOMERS!

Yes, this was his claim.  Over two million customers over the

years, and he claimed he had made an exceptional fortune from

his mail order business.  The guides he sold at the beginning were

just a few pages of duplicated sheets.  Some of the ones I

purchased were so poorly printed, I often wondered why he had so

many repeat customers.

Probably, at that time, there was nothing else at the price on the

market.  He certainly was original, and he made his pile, which is

what this manual is all about.

PART TWO

SUCCESSES HAPPENING TODAY

Have things changed that much, or is it just a repeat?

THAT MAN HILL AGAIN

So how does Napoleon Hill happen to crop up in today's new mail

order world?  Well, quite simply, the principles is his book have

been read and digested by a modern day Joe Karbo who has decided

and used these to form a new book for himself.  This book has made

him a fortune in the United States and, recently, over here.

CHARGING AHEAD

That young man is Scott Alexander.  His book is called 'Rhinoceros

Success'.  In his book are all the same ideas which are mentioned

in Hill's book, but with a NEW and entirely NOVEL APPROACH.

Alexander, who is now famous, has taken the basic ideas as in

'Think and Grow Rich' and come up with a new, but unique, approach

to these ideas.

He has told everyone to become a Rhinoceros!  Charge ahead, he

says, like a Rhino.  Sell yourself, choose to be audacious.  Set

your goals.  It's all in the mind.  These are basics, but put into

a FUN BOOK, by imagining you are a Rhino!

SOUNDS CRAZY?

Perhaps it does, but remember this is a lighthearted book on how

to be successful and one which, as I have said, has all the

principles of Napoleon Hill.

Not only has this (very) young man used all the basic Hill ideas,

just like Joe Karbo, but he has adapted it to a 1990's market.  He

sells Rhino T-shirts and toys and novelties, and has, at the time

of writing, another three Rhino books on the market.  How's that

for modern success for you?

SIMPLE IDEAS

The book is so simple it seems it has been written for a child. 

Yet it is amusing and has cartoons which are very well drawn by,

obviously, a professional artist.

WHY DOES IT SELL SO WELL?

Simply because we are now looking at a completely different

market.  One that you will have to become accustomed to if you

wish to make REAL money in mail order.

The book is UNIQUE.  It is what people want to buy.  BASICALLY,

THE BOOK SELLS A DREAM.

OTHER SUCCESSES

Funny isn't it.  Everyone likes to read about other people's

successes, but how many people actually try to do at least ONE

major thing to bring about a real success in their own right?  I

reckon that about nine out of ten people will read this manual,

and then think and think about how they will make their mail order

success - then do nothing about it!

THE SMALLER ONES

Not everyone regards success in millions of pounds, and indeed it

is very difficult to make a million in mail order.  But many

people make what we might call 'small fortunes' out of this

business.

Look through the business opportunities columns of the popular

magazines such as 'Exchange and Mart' and you will see many

display adverts from mail order dealers who have been advertising

for quite some time.

You've seen these ads repeated week after week, and if you think

that they cost sometimes hundreds of pounds per month, you will

understand these dealers are not 'playing' at mail order, but

making a very good living from it.

THE NOVELTY IDEA

Don't be misled into thinking that a novelty idea is just child's

play.  It can mean very big business.  Look at the Rhino book

mentioned previously, look at the seventies book 'The Lazy Man's

Way To Riches'.  Both are novelties in a way - both are very

similar, only written for changing times.

You may not be able to come up with some quite as, dare I say it,

unique, as this, but at least you can come up with something

original.  This I will show you later on.

ONE THING TO LEARN

All of these ideas from the pas and present have one thing in

common.  They were geared for the market at the right time.  You

may have heard people say "the time is never right", and this can

be true for starting up in most businesses - but not mail order. 

There is a right time and a right moment to produce something

which has to be original or given a new slant.  The 1990's has a

new breed of customer.

I will show you how that customer is.

LOTS OF PUBLISHERS - LOTS OF CUSTOMERS

You will probably know that there are a lot of 'publishers' in the

mail order market.  These mainly consist of people who have

brought guides with reproduction rights such as this one.  There

are, however, a lot of people who go into the mail order business,

with little or no experience, and who purchase the most awful

guides with reprint rights available.

These people will never succeed.  The reason being that in today's

market no-one wants to buy rubbish.  No-one will re-order from

someone who has sold, say, 100 pages of 'mail order fact sheets'. 

This is usually American rubbish which was originated in the

seventies and has been on the go ever since.

People are prepared to buy NEW and ORIGINAL manuals, but not the

kind of thing you take one look at and throw straight away into

your nearest dustbin.

If you ruin your reputation by selling this sort of junk, then you

will never get repeat customers.  You are, in other words,

finished with your mail order business.

WHO ARE PROVIDING GOOD MANUALS WITH SUCCESS RATES?

Well, just look at companies like Chartsearch, whom I believe

started very small and have now built up one of the biggest mail

order book suppliers (in the self-help field) in the country.

Look at Oldbike Publishing, who are another of the fairly new

publishing companies to make their mark, as it were, in the high

mail order success stakes.

There are a number of other successful people who operate in this

business, but this is a manual on how YOU are going to make a

success, so we'll get on with it!

LEARNING FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT

I hope that you will have learned something about what's been

mentioned, and will note that virtually every new manual or guide

(the difference is immaterial) has really been based on something

which has been written before - with a new twist.

DON'T FORGET THE NOVELTY IDEA

Remember that if you wish to make really big money in mail order,

the novelty idea must exist.  Without this you are just another

'maybe' - or could be a 'has been'!  Learn from the others and

guide yourself along their lines.

PART THREE

DOWN TO BUSINESS - THE FUTURE

What makes people buy and how to fill their needs

WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR TODAY

Gone are the days when you could offer two pieces of paper for #10

and hope to get away with it, yet there are still some cowboys in

the mail order business who try this.

You have probably seen some of the appalling chain letter schemes

which drop through the letterbox almost every week.  The Edward

Green and Charles Fairchild type.  These non-existent con men do

an irreplaceable damage to the decent mail order traders and help

to lose thousands of customers each year.  Still these people will

be taken in by this outrageous muck.

DON'T BE FOOLED

It may be tempting to join such a chain letter, but they simply do

not work and you will be prosecuted if you knowingly attempt such

a scheme.  Stay clear!  Be honest in your dealings and gain the

respect of other dealers, not forgetting your treasured customers. 

Don't try to sell them rubbish either.  It's a quick way to

financial disaster.

WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY

Yes, let's assume that you want to make lots of money in your new

mail order business - and who doesn't - so you want legitimate new

offers to give to your prospects.  What, for example, are people

today looking for?  Why do some mail order dealers make small

fortunes while others barely make any profit at all?

You are looking at a new market.  The type of person that may have

been fooled in the sixties or seventies, and indeed part of the

eighties, is just not around today.  This type of gullible poor

sod has disappeared from the market.

Today's person is looking for a GENUINE opportunity, and not some

rubbish produced by some fly-by-night looking to make a quick

buck.  You will have to be very careful in what you offer.  It

must be good quality material and the price must be cheap.  This

does not mean to say you will be looking for good information to

sell cheap.  No.  Good information can be sold at a price which it

demands.

I have, in the past, sold guides for up to #29 which have cost me

perhaps #5 to produce.  By this I mean printing, packing and

postage.  How did I get this sort of money?

The answer you will find out later.  You will also see how you can

do this yourself, and for once get into a mail order business

which really pays.  One which really shows a PROFIT!

A SEARCH FOR YOUR GOLDEN IDEA

Well, it isn't really so much a search - more a question of

opening your eyes, to see what you can do with what's readily

available.

I received some very interesting sales literature in my post about

twelve months ago from an enterprising publisher who has, over the

last few years, become very successful indeed.

PACKAGE OFFER

He was offering a mail order package on self-help manuals

concerning ways to get rich.  The package he offered for #12 was

well put together with the centrepiece being a paperback book on

the subject of creative thinking for gaining wealth.

This book was on offer with two of HIS OWN MANUALS, one of which

was a guide to dozens of ways to make money from home.  The other

was a little pocket-sized book about succeeding in a home

business.

WHAT WAS SO SPECIAL?

So, you may ask, what is so special about all this?  Well, hold

onto your chairs, because here's one of the secrets of making it

big in mail order.  He did it, and so can you.

The book that the whole special mail order package was centred

around was first published OVER 20 YEARS AGO!

Not only that - the original book sold millions of copies, and has

still been selling well today, widely advertised in catalogues AND

IS AVAILABLE TO ANY MAIL ORDER DEALER FOR AROUND #2 PER COPY!

WHY WAS HE SO SUCCESSFUL?

Please pay attention to this excellent sample, because there is

something for all mail order dealers to learn here.

Let's take the main book in the package.  We will just call it

'The Creative Thinking Book', or 'CT' for short.

I read this book many years ago, and it is one of the best books

on basic psychology for business success around.  It normally

sells either by mail order or in the bookshops for around #5 to

#6.  The author is himself a millionaire.

I will not mention the name of this book as the person doing the

package deal is still, as far as I know, promoting this offer

through direct mail, and it is only fair for him to reap the

rewards of his own original efforts.

WHAT HE DID TO MAKE HIS OFFER UNIQUE

This enterprising man took a well known and well published book,

available to all, and combined it with two of his own small

publications.  All the books related to one another, although at

first glance it didn't seem like it.

One of his books was offered as a free gift to people who replied

within ten days.  This was the small pocket sized book on how to

succeed.

The 'CT' book, being the basis of this package, was the first, and

main, part of his offer.  The other two complemented this.  The

'CT' book showed how to train your mind into creative, successful

thinking, giving people the enthusiasm to start their own

business.  But one they have that - what do they do?

MAKING A PACKAGE

Our friend has the creative thinking book, and knowing this will

give people the ENTHUSIASM, he provides a book giving people

dozens of business ideas they can put into PRACTICE.

Good thinking.  But, to top it all, he also includes a book about

what to do once you have started, and to make sure you SUCCEED.

And to make absolutely sure that you will place an order, he makes

up your mind by offering the third book entirely FREE OF CHARGE,

providing you order within ten days.

A GOOD MAIL ORDER OFFER

A really well thought out mail piece and one giving a profit of

around #7 on each sale.  This is the sort of profit you should aim

for with your mailings.

It is not always easy to get this sort of profit margin on mail

shots, but once you have built up a good mailing list of your own

regular customers, then these special mail packages are a MUST!

All of the most successful dealers use them.

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED

Often, if you take something old, perhaps an old guide which you

know is good, but has seen better days, and combine it with

something of your own, which is complementary, you can write a

terrific new sales leaflet offering something which appears to be

entirely NEW to your clientele.

Do this, especially today with a new type of customer, and you

will be onto a winner.

THE CREAM OF THE MARKET

Some people always seem to have that original new offer which they

bring out first - and other dealers follow suit.  Usually this is

done with great success and the dealer involved ends up supplying

others and making even more profit.

Unquestionably, this is the most effective way of assuring you

remain in mail order in this VERY competitive market today in the

information field.

Every new approach must be looked at and tested to determine

whether you could have a potential winner on your hands.  Remember

to test everything you have originated first to determine whether

there is a market for your goods, and make sure your literature is

up to scratch.  No cheap rubbish.

HOW YOU CAN CREATE SOMETHING NEW

Without doubt, the best way to offer potential customers, or

'prospects' your manuals is to offer an exclusive package similar

to the one we have already discussed.

You should not find it difficult to acquire a good basic manual,

even if it's already been around for a while, but remember the

secret of mail order success is to offer a new edge in your

marketing.

Combine something you can already obtain and prepare a sales

leaflet for this - which should be unique and like nothing else on

the mail order market.  It must be exclusive to you and well

written and presented.

Write it yourself.  Copywriters are fine, but for your sales

leaflets there is nothing like your own personal touch.  Spend a

whole evening writing and re-writing your sales material until it

is something which you yourself would buy should it appear through

your own letterbox.

GETTING SOMETHING ENTIRELY ORIGINAL

Even better than preparing a mail order package to offer your

customers, or 'cold' mail prospects, via a mailing shot, is to get

hold of a manual that is entirely YOUR property.  If you can write

such a manual - good, give it a try, but remember, if it does not

sell people will never buy from you again.  By this I mean should

you offer a manual to other publishers with resale rights, and the

stuff just doesn't move, you're finished.  If you can afford it,

get an experienced mail order writer to do one for you, but make

sure it is exclusive to you - you must hold the copyright.

PART FOUR

CREATING SOMETHING OF YOUR OWN

How to create your own business package and sell it

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW

So you have decided to start your mail order business on the right

foot, and instead of selling something you may have already seen

advertised before, you want a new package.  Entirely your own, and

therefore unique and something which the public has yet to be

bombarded with.

You want to make a BIG impression in the mail order field and

establish your name as one of the most trusted and reliable on the

market.  People should either want to buy from you or join you in

a combined effort to make your publication a success and start the

money ball rolling.

WORKING YOUR CREATIVE MIND

For some people reading this manual, you will note that I am using

various quotations from a previous guide I wrote many years ago. 

This is because the information is still as good today as it was

then.  Mail order has changed a lot, but the principles are still

the same.  The need to supply a completely new type of clientele,

however, is something we discussed before, and we shall find out

how to supply - and take - the cream of the market, leaving the

so-called experts in the shadow.

YOU WANT TO BE ANOTHER JOE KARBO

We would all like the success Joe had, and, like others who have

copied him, it is possible.

You need something new, as mentioned.  Not particularly a new

spectacular book - although this would guarantee your immediate

success - but just a new 'slant' on an old idea, which, as we have

already seen, can work wonders, especially with a young market

which has changed for the 1990's.

Remember that the new type of prospective buyer is looking for

quality and good information.  Get this, and a good subject, and

you will have no hassle with developing your mail order business. 

As said before, sell rubbish and you will last just a few months.

PEOPLE TODAY WILL PAY MORE FOR INFORMATION

If you have the correct information to offer - the sort people

want today - you have a potential goldmine on your hands.  People

will pay handsomely for the right material.  No longer do

prospects expect to get top value at cheap prices.  The old style

mail order manuals, some of which consisted of just a few badly

duplicated sheets of paper stapled together, are not popular

today.  There are some of these types still marketed, without much

success, but avoid these like the plague!

GETTING THE HIGH STAKES

To get the money which is freely available, and which people will

spend to increase their knowledge, you must come up with something

attractive and sensible.

One great selling manual or guide, whatever you wish to call it,

which fills these requirements, is my book on picture framing.

Why do people buy this so frequently?  The answer is, of course,

that this is something people can do at home and start up with

such a small amount of capital.  In fact, under #100 will start

off a picture framing business if you know the right way to get

equipment and organise your business.

However, there are many other business ideas which can be promoted

to the new market which will give people a good opportunity to set

up a business from home and make either full time or part time

money.  The idea in having a very successful mail order business

is to sell these people the idea.  Do this with a really genuine

and practical way of making money, and you have not only provided

them with information needed to see their own goals into motion,

but you are lining your own pocket as well.

CREATING YOUR OWN MANUAL

The possibilities today to create your own manual are tremendous.

The outstanding opportunity is an adaption of the manuals

available today, in their hundreds, with reprint rights - you

possibly know the type.  You purchase a manual, and included in

the rights you can copy the publication and re-sell it with full

rights once again.

Usually, these manuals come in loose leaf, camera ready form, and

can be printed for pennies each page at your local photocopy shop. 

The profit is enormous, but what about SELLING THESE IN THEIR

ORIGINAL FORM.

ONE CAUTION TO BE AWARE OF

Sometimes so many of these manuals are sold with reprint rights,

and have been on the market for such a long time that the market

is saturated, as previously mentioned.

This guide will show how to make use of manuals already available,

and, combining these with your own information, create something

original.  Plus the advantages of one-offs.

GETTING TOGETHER YOUR ORIGINAL PACKAGE

Doing this is not easy.  You must be in possession of either new

material or something which you can combine into an exclusive

promotion which will be yours entirely.

The best way to make the 'big killing' is to offer something which

no-one else has offered before.  This means an entirely new guide

which you can either write yourself, or, perhaps, have written for

you.

GETTING MATERIAL WRITTEN

If you can afford to spend #100 or more on, perhaps, a guide

consisting of 20 pages plus (which is about all you'll get for

#100), then do it.  If it's by a writer whose manuals are already

selling well, you cannot go very wrong.

ADVANTAGES

You can offer these to other people who are in publishing for, say

#30, with full reprint rights, and perhaps sell these to anything

up to 50 publishers.  Being a first off guide, you will recoup

your initial investment and make a considerable profit on your

outlay for the guide (with the reprint rights and sales leaflet),

and it will be entirely at your discretion who you sell these to.

If you have original material, then the market is ripe for your

intervention.  The information you sell of course, must be

entirely original and be sole copyright to yourself only.  In this

way, the opportunity of making money is your dream come true. 

Why?  Obviously, if you have the original information it will be

in demand, and you can sell this over and over again, plus when

new ideas come to mind you will have a ready market just waiting

to buy more material from you.

THE ONE OBJECTIVE NEVER TO FORGET IS TO PROVIDE NEW GUIDES TO

THOSE PEOPLE SELLING MANUALS REGULARLY AND WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON

SOURCES TO KEEP THEIR MAIL ORDER BUSINESS IN OPERATION.

BUYING MANUALS WITH REPRINT RIGHTS

Let's say that you have purchased two manuals with reprint rights

which relate to one another.  Imagine that one manual is entitled

'Making Money With Your Camera', and the other is a book on

starting a home mail order business.  You may not think these two

relate to one another - but think again.

COMBINING INFO

Both titles indicate a way to make money.  One has an obvious

appeal to amateur photographers.  Remember they are keen to sell

their photo's.  Photography is an expensive hobby.  The other

manual appears to those wishing to start a small business MAKING

MONEY FROM THEIR HOBBY.

ONTO A WINNER

Mail order is the best home business if you do not particularly

enjoy meeting people.  So think for a minute.

You could find several ways of creating one or two "new" manuals

out of these seemingly uninteresting ideas.  Or just combine the

best of the information and create one exciting manual.

PHOTO'S AND ALL THAT

So, we have a photo manual which, on it's own, just does not sell. 

Combine it with a mail order manual and you have a great potential

seller.

The amateur photographers would be interested in selling their

photographs by mail order.  Some specialise in glamour

photography, others in things like vintage cards etc., and others

in child portraits.

SELL BY MAIL ORDER

Of course they would like to sell by mail order.  Of course they

would like extra money.  So combine the two ideas and you will

have a customer ready and willing to pay you good money for

advice.

CREATE YOUR PACKAGE

First find a centrepiece for your mail order package.  Without

this you are just another mail order dealer trying to make a name

without any new information.

You cannot, and will not, make any money in the terms we are

hoping for if you try to sell ideas or information which has

already been offered many times before.

SO FIND SOMETHING NEW OR UPDATED

As we talked about previously, you need something new or something

you can update.  The original offer you have must be one which can

provide additional supplementary material to boot.

As I cannot stress more the originality aspect of all new mail

shots, all new mail order ideas, all new ads which appear

regularly for a period of six months or so, you must have an

exclusive mail order package.  Get one!

FIRST YOUR MAIN IDEA

Whether you have brought or written your main idea for your mail

order package is not your main concern - but it must be something

which has a good general interest.

Try to get as many details as possible on the subject you choose

that will appeal to your prospects.  You want them to buy,

remember, not just to look at your ads and pass by.

PART FIVE

THE SUCCESS BOOK

How to write it or make it a best seller

YOUR GOLDEN IDEA

I have tried to get the point across that your golden idea must be

original.  After all, you don't want someone else to take the

credit for your success.  You don't want someone else cashing in

on your idea.  You will be out there first and foremost, taking in

the revenue from all the other dealers who are looking towards you

for inspiration - if not just pure profit.

GETTING A NEW TITLE

You will, of course, need a new title for your new publication -

one which has visual impact.

We have already studied Joe Karbo and discovered that the title of

his book was the biggest selling point.

You need to think about this and come up with something as

exciting, or at least as order pulling, as his title.  When you

can possibly come up with a title as good as this, you are well on

your way to a million.

MIXING IT

If you have been lucky enough to be in a position to afford lots

of manuals with reprint rights, then you are lucky indeed.

First of all, you could rearrange these into a completely

different manual or guide.  You could create a new sales circular

for the new market, offering a bumper package with the goods you

already have, at a very good price.  But as we have said - not too

cheap, because people today will not trust cheapies, the kind of

manuals you used to buy which were just rubbish.

DO THE PACKAGE

This is what all the successful dealers are offering at the

moment.  A package of manuals disguised as a complete course.  It

is profitable, and you will have to think on these lines to make

any REAL money at all in this business.

CREATING A UNIQUE MAIL ORDER PACKAGE

Here's the real benefit.  You create a mail order package for

yourself, and you can sell it to other dealers for extra profit.

Think how much money you could earn if you had something

completely unique to yourself - something which no other dealer

can offer.

TAKE THE BIGGEST SLICE

Yes!  Take a good slice of the mail order market.  Do not be

content with just a percentage of the profits on some goods you

are purchasing from someone else.  You have your fortune to make -

never mind the others.

REMEMBER THE MIX, MIX, MIX GUIDE

If you already have a few manuals or guides, as I have said

previously, then invest in new literature.  I cannot stress enough

that this is the success idea of the 1990's.

WHO'S FOR RHINOS AND ALL THAT

Well, think about it.  Take a really old idea which has been

exploited so many times before, and create a book which has

'silly' appeal.  Almost childish appeal.  Yet here is someone who

has done this and made millions (in dollars by the way - not that

it will make much difference if you're still working on your first

million!).

This book is not trying to get you to come up with the equivalent

of Rhino Success, but if it does, you will be in my good books for

life.  I hope you make it in publishing.

I hope you make a fortune, but let's look at what you can do to

start right away to supply the new 1990's market for information.

GET THE IDEA AND MARKET IT

So you have this idea.  It could be anything which is popular at

the moment.  You decide to write a manual on it, and then what

happens?  NOTHING!  BOOM!  ZILCH!

What went wrong?  You think you have the perfect guide, and yet no

returns.  You've lost money.  You feel like giving up.  You're

finished.

LOOK AGAIN

OK.  Who's buying this manual?  No-one!  Why not?  Take a look at

your sales leaflets, your circulars and advertising copy.  Is it

good?  Does it make YOU want to buy, should you be reading it?

Probably not.

JUST LIKE THE NAME OF A BOOK - THE SALES PITCH MUST CATCH!

Sorry to keep going back to Joe Karbo, but not only was the name

of his book a deciding factor in the success rate of his sales -

the sales literature was too!  The title may have caught the

attention of the reader and drawn the reader deeper into the text

of the advert, but also the text is what came second to selling

the book.

Without good text you have nothing.  If it takes you three days to

write a good text to a sales leaflet or advert, it is well worth

doing.

JUST TALK NORMAL

Yes, it may surprise you, but most people will buy more readily

from sales patter which is talkative.  People do not like to read

leaflets or adverts which are formal.

If you have a chatty nature, then you're a winner at this

business, because there is nothing better than a person in mail

order who can write informal letters, especially in high priced

sales.  If you have something to sell - sell it with your natural

characteristic dialogue.  Do not try to put your customer in a

situation where he or she has to thin about your sales letter.  Do

that and it's straight into the bin.

TALK AS YOU WRITE

Yes.  When you write your sales leaflets or ads, talk as if you're

talking to Auntie.  Sell a letter to Auntie and you sell a product

to your prospect.

SO YOU'VE GOT AN IDEA WHICH WILL SELL

Either you've brought manuals with copyrights or you've written

something of your own.

If you have done the latter, then you have a real test to begin. 

Either you are going to make a fortune, or even a steady income,

or you're going to lose everything you ever stood for.

HARD TIMES

Today, in the world of mail order, there is no longer the easy #5

for two sheets of paper "take the money and run" sort of thing. 

This sort of rip-off went on for such a long time, especially in

the late sixties and seventies, that people were completely

dismayed with buying from mail order magazines.

LEARN FROM THE PAST

Today people want quality information for their money.  Stuff

which can either do them good or make them money - but definitely

no more rubbish.

If you start with rubbish, then your reputation will be ruined for

at least ten years.  On the other hand, come up with a real

winner, such as the Rhino book or Joe Karbo's book (sorry to keep

bringing these up, but these are REAL winners), and your financial

problems are settled for life.

SO YOU NEED ANOTHER LOOK AT THE MARKET

Take a look and see what you and I can make of the new mail order

market for 1990 and the decade beyond.  I am already thinking

about translating some manuals of my own into foreign languages. 

Just think of the market in the European Community for manuals

such as these.  Convert these into the correct language and you

have a whole new market.

TRY AND REMEMBER - EVERYONE ISN'T A YUPPIE!

Not everyone who buys these guides is a yuppie looking for extra

income to add to an already high salary!

Most people who buy these guides are people who want to start up

in their own business, and good luck.  You must supply the

information they want.  Be a consultant with mail order, your own

mail order business supplying the info.

SO YOU'VE GOT YOUR IDEAS

Just think of all the reprint manuals on the market today, and

consider what you could do with these.

Take pages from several and put these together and you have a new

manual.  As I said before, use some of your own writing and then

you have a new manual if you combine the lot with a little care.

GETTING OTHER WRITERS TO DO IT FOR YOU

If you can afford it, this is the best way to come up with

something entirely original.  Buying a guide which has been

especially written for you - and no-one but you - is the quickest

way to make some money in this business.

HOW TO SELL YOUR NEW GUIDE

Quite simply, offer it to all the other self motivated publishers

in the country.  Self motivated?  Yes!  You don't want to sell to

people who will do nothing and let your good works go to rot.

There again, you don't want to sell to people who will suddenly

advertise your manuals at such a low cost that others will not get

a chance to make any money.  This is not only not fair, but in the

mail order world, trying to become respectable, it is also

unethical.

HOW YOU CAN AVOID THE GANGSTERS

Harsh words, but how would you feel if you had just produced a

super new manual with repro rights and people started selling it

for less than half the price you originally offered it at?  Again,

how would you feel if people got hold of sales literature and

started selling this before you could even supply the manuals?

Selling manuals before they have been issued?  It is illegal.  It

is also, in my view, immoral.

MAKING SURE YOU GET RID OF THE LEECHES

Do you know how long it will take you to prepare your special

package?  Do you know how long it takes to prepare a manual for

distribution, let alone WRITE IT?

Yet some people have no respect for writers.  Don't fall into that

trap.  Make sure you get paid what you are worth.

SOME DOS AND DON'TS FOR YOUR GUIDANCE

DON'T

Mail out letters on a Friday or Saturday.  They will probably be

delivered at the beginning of the week when your prospect is

either short of money or has not the time to look at leaflets for

money making ideas.  By the end of the week, he or she has

forgotten about your offer and new offers have arrived.

DO

Mail out on a Wednesday.  If you use second class post, then this

will arrive by Friday when money and time are available.

DON'T

Write your envelopes in haste.  This creates a bad impression and

doesn't bring in orders.  The reason for this is that people do

not order from shabby looking dealers.  If you consider your first

impression is with the postman, you have a lot to answer for if

you send 'duff' mail.  It goes straight in the bin.

DO

Take time and remember that just a few more minutes with each

letter and envelope could mean an order.  Would you order from an

inefficient looking business proposal?  That, in effect, is what

you are offering.

DON'T

Be impertinent.  If your customer doesn't like your material or

goods, give a refund.  Without question.

DO

Send out goods even if the postman says the letter is 20p or so

short.  You may have a large cheque in the envelope.

DON'T

Put off starting this business.

_____________________________________________________________________

by

Paul Gruenwald

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

This publication of "MAIL ORDER FOR THE 1990's" by the author Paul

Gruenwald is copyright and protected by the Copyright Act 1956. 

All rights are reserved by the publisher Paul Gruenwald and author

1990.  This guide may only be published by other persons with the

permission of the original publisher.

MAIL ORDER FOR THE 1990's.  Copyright Paul Gruenwald 1990