ENSURE YOUR OFFERS ARE AIMED AT SUITABLE
PROSPECTS
Just
as it would be ridiculous to attempt selling the
proverbial
'Snow to the Eskimos', it would be similarly
disastrous
to offer even the most unusual or unique of
items
to people who simply don't want them, or don't
need
them.
It
could then be just as ridiculous to offer moneymaking
manuals
to company directors with already massive
salaries,
and jobs they have no intention of changing,
or
jeopardising with an extra workload.
So
it follows, if you decide to purchase or rent lists
from
the appropriate sources, you should ensure that the
names
included are actually looking for the offers you
intend
to make. The longer-established list
brokers
will
of course ensure that the lists they provide do
match
your requirements; they are after all in the
business
of attracting your regular custom.
Ensure
too that the lists you purchase are up-to-date,
and
don't consist of names picked at random from any
available
telephone directory, even one of dubious
vintage. Again until you gain in experience, stick with
the
larger brokers, even if their prices are
proportionately
higher (This isn't necessarily the case,
by
the way).
You
must maintain adequate records of customers who have
purchased
from you in the past - if your service and
goods
are satisfactory, these are the people who will
buy
from you with confidence in the future.
This
personal
list is the one from which you can expect a
higher
response to your mailings - guard the contents
with
your life.
KEEP
ACCURATE UP-TO-DATE RECORDS OF ALL CUSTOMERS
As
we've already discussed, you must keep adequate
records
of buying customers, to whom you might make
suitable
offers in the future. A simple indexed
card
reference
system will be adequate in the early days,
with
perhaps the intention to computerise (not as
difficult
as it sounds) your customer records as your
business
expands.
There
is however, another reason for maintaining
adequate
records, namely to discover whether an
identical
list has already been rented, not to
satisfactory
effect, in the past. Conversely, where
you
are
allowed to use the list on a once-off basis before
another
rental fee must be paid, you must have some
means
of locating a list which proved particularly
beneficial.
Again,
though possibly not a viable proposition for the
smaller
businessman working with manual systems, it
would
be useful to have access to names that appear on
several
lists; names that never buy and which quite
frankly
you could well do with out, even if only to save
on
postage. Such an option, best perhaps
available from
computerised
records, would weed out the poor prospects
from
an otherwise satisfactory list, thereby increasing
your
percentage response for future mailings.
I
sadly, have learned the hard way, the value of keeping
accurate
records. I have comparatively few mail
order
contacts,
and having offered manuals and reproduction
rights
to various firms and individuals, I have remained
quietly
confident that I know it is 'Superior
Productions'
which expressed an interest in a manual on
so-and-so,
just as I swear it was 'Mainstream Books'
that
bought the copyright in my very first manual.
It
was,
wasn't it? It was all a very long time
ago of
course,
but then the memory never fades, does it?
And
because
I was so certain of these things, I made no real
record;
just committed everything to memory - and now?
Ah
well.... Perhaps they'll contact me
again one day to
renew
our business partnership!
KEEP
ACCURATE RECORDS OF ALL CONTACTS
On
occasion you might find someone writing to you, not
to
obtain an item you currently have on offer, but to
express
interest in an item you might one day have for
sale. Even if at the time it seems unlikely you
will be
able
to fulfil that person's requirements, always record
the
details - BE PREPARED. And even if the
name is
never
to be of use to you as a dealer, you might be able
to
include that person's details on any mailing lists
you
choose to sell to other mail order specialists.
GET
TO 'KNOW' YOUR BUYING CUSTOMERS
It
is essential for expansion and increased orders that
you
get to know your better customers. You
may never
come
to meet them personally, but an asterisk marked on
their
record card or computer file, will serve to
identify
them as past purchasers of an item similar, or
else
related, to the offer you now intend to release
onto
the market.
You
are therefore attempting to predict the requirements
of
your customers, selecting the items you think will
interest
them, instead of items you want to see them
purchase. By predicting their present and future needs
you
will again achieve a marked improvement in the
response
rate to your mailings.
MAKE
YOUR OWN MAILING LIST
(Again,
Guard it with your life). You will,
perhaps on
many
occasions, be offered lists of 'buying' customers
from
fellow mail order dealers, or else from firms
specialising
in the provision of such lists. If from
a
reputable
source the prospect of sending mailshots to
individuals
named can indeed prove a most viable
prospect. Some lists though, are old, as you will no
doubt
find from the number of 'gone away' customers that
are
unearthed.
Nothing
will substitute for a list of customers compiled
by
yourself from contacts made as a result of
advertisements
you have placed in the normal course of
promoting
your business. You can be certain of the
freshness
of your list, just as much as you can be
certain
that the needs of the customers concerned
closely
match the offers you are making.
MAKE
BUYING AS ATTRACTIVE A PROPOSITION AS POSSIBLE
Even
if you are attempting to sell to long-established
customers,
you should of course do all you can to
stimulate
a sale. Often this is easily
accomplished by
means
of special offers, discounts, gifts and so on.
If
seeking to tempt an entirely new customer, making the
offer
as attractive as possible assumes even greater
importance. Offer as much in the way of discounts and
special
offers as you are able, without suffering
financial
detriment. Many mail order dealers sell
the
first-time
customer an item at very little over its cost
price
simply to make that all-important first sale -
could
be worth a try!
OFFER
INCREASED INCENTIVES TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF
ORDERS
As
in the last section, you must always make buying as
attractive
a proposition as possible. BUT hundreds
of
tiny,
low-profit orders are unlikely to make it worth
your
while financially, so try also to encourage
customers
to increase the size of their offers by the
use
of inducements of a similar nature. Your record of
transactions
should incidentally be geared so as to
inform
you of which special offers actually resulted in
greater
sales, or prompted a first-time sale.
OFFER
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS TO LAPSED CUSTOMERS
A
self-explanatory section, here we seek to bring back
lapsed
customers into our active buyers list.
Offer
inducements
similar to those discussed in the last few
sections. There is one great advantage here not to be
overlooked;
if you have done your homework well in the
past,
you will 'know' your lapsed customers and their
individual
preferences. Take advantage of this
knowledge
and make them an offer they can't refuse!
OFFER
INCENTIVES TO ENCOURAGE EARLY ORDERING
To
facilitate fast turnover of stock, offer a special
discount
or gift, perhaps offer a 'three for the price
of
two' package, to all customers who send in their
order
by a specified date. How long the period
concerned
should be is up to you to decide; most
dealers
I have seen operating on this basis seem to
favour
a period of 10-14 days.
INCLUDE
SEVERAL OFFERS IN ONE ENVELOPE
By
far the biggest advantage of having readers of your
advertisement
send for further details, is the
opportunity
to include in your reply, details of other
offers
similar to that in which the interest has been
expressed.
Don't
over-stuff the envelope for fear of creating a
tatty
impression - your stationery will consequently
bend
and crease in all of the wrong places.
Too many
offers
included in one communication will only serve to
confuse
your potential customer, even put him or her
off
reading at all when confronted by wads of
information. Try a maximum of six offers in one
envelope,
and take advantage also of having your
advertisements
printed on both sides of the paper,
thereby
saving bulk and postage.
ALWAYS
ENCLOSE AN ADDRESSED ENVELOPE FOR THE CUSTOMER'S
REPLY
Basically,
we all are extremely lazy at heart. A
customer
who has to search too long for the
accoutrements,
in this case a pen, scissors and
envelope,
not to mention cheque book and stamp, will all
too
often abandon the task altogether, intending of
course
to go back to it later.........
The
easier we make the task, the greater our chances of
making
a sale. Obviously no-one's suggesting
you send a
pen
with every mailing, or even the stamp for return
postage,
although in the latter respect there is a great
deal
to be said for providing FREEPOST envelopes as
some
mail order dealers know to their advantage.
But
there
is one inexpensive way in which you can make the
task
easier for the customer, and that is to provide an
addressed
envelope for the return of the order.
Your
assistance
is two-fold: one, there is no envelope to
search
for; two, the daunting task of transferring the
address
from advertisement to envelope is undertaken on
the
individual's behalf. A rubber stamp
bearing your
name
and address can save hours here.
If
you decide to offer 'FREEPOST' so much the better -
you
are getting an order out of it after all.
Those who
would
disagree on this point argue that if the customer
can
afford the cost of the item itself, then he or she
can
also afford the cost of postage. And
yes, that
indeed
is true, so here let us be content with the
prospect
of saving a trip to the post office; preventing
the
envelope from being lost en route, perhaps lost
altogether,
or else delayed to such an extent that the
customer,
when discovering the deadline for a special
offer
or inducement has passed, decides to consign the
whole
lot to the rubbish bin.
DON'T
HIDE THE PRICE
Don't
make your potential customers work too hard at
finding
out how much you want for the item you are
offering. Remember the 'first few seconds' rule; the
well-founded
proposition that certainly in mail order
you
must get at least the bare bones of your message
across
to the reader within the first four or five
seconds,
and do all you can to grab the reader's
interest
in that time - and price remember is something
of
universal interest. Don't of course make
it stand
out
in massive print as one often finds at the opening
day
of a mammoth and extremely trashy bargain sale.
Just
make the customer's side of the agreement obvious
to
him or her as soon as interest in the item itself has
been
aroused. Small print doesn't work in
mail order -
FIRST
FEW SECONDS remember!
DON'T
TRY TO BE TOO CLEVER
At
least in your approach to the customer!
Don't seek
to
confuse the customer with big, elusive words that he
or
she needs a dictionary to interpret - the dictionary
will
stay on the shelf and your letter will go in the
bin!
A
sincere, straight-forward approach is what you should
aim
for, not something that appears to have emanated
from
a huge London advertising agency. A
conversational
approach
will appeal to the customer and win him or her
over
to your side.
But
you shout "aren't my advertisements supposed to be
clever?"
And the answer is 'Yes, indeed', but
'cleverness'
in this context is best achieved by the
actual
words used and the manner of their presentation.
See
the section on the most effective words to include
in
advertisements.
MAKE
YOUR ADVERTISING BELIEVABLE
There
will always be people gullible enough to believe
even
the most incredible of statements an advertiser
could
create. Thankfully, such unfortunates
comprise a
tiny
minority of the public in the market for mail order
products. The remainder know, often as a result of
past
experience, that no-one can promise the world and
come
up with it. Try promising what you can't
deliver,
and
you might make one or two sales before your
advertising
is suspended by the very publications you
desperately
need to remain in favour with.
Be
realistic in all of your offers; by all means state
loudly
the worth and benefits of what you have to offer,
but
never make untruthful statements - any customer you
gain
will be a once-only contact, who incidentally will
never
give you the favourable references so necessary
to
expand your business.
ALWAYS
USE THE WORD 'YOU'
In
mail order, we seek of course to win the potential
customer
over to our side, to join us in a unique
partnership,
one in which we might never meet face to
face,
and one therefore based primarily on confidence
and
trust. Try therefore to achieve a spirit
of
friendship,
by writing in a manner similar to that you
would
adopt in writing to a friend. Don't seek
to
impress
the reader with your vocabulary, don't be too
clever,
and above all draw him or her into the heart of
your
message by using t he word 'YOU' - it's a word
guaranteed
to cement that alliance you hope to develop
on
a long-standing basis. 'WE', used in the
right
context,
is similarly effective. This is a case
where
'familiarity'
most certainly does not 'breed contempt'!
POSTING
YOUR CORRESPONDENCE
Even
the day on which you post your mail will have a
significant
effect upon whether the reader becomes a
buying
customer. Post too early in the month,
and those
on
monthly salaries will be unlikely to give your offer
much
of a thought if pay-day is still so far away.
Post
on
a Monday for Tuesday delivery, and weekly-paid
employees
too are financially reluctant to buy what it
is
you have to offer. Of course, in reality
you might
not
be able to assess whether your reader is weekly or
monthly
p aid, although the group to which you direct
your
mail may be some indication as to the frequency of
such. Teachers, receiving details of your new
manual on
opportunities
available for them, are almost certainly
monthly
paid. Those applying for details of
opportunities
in unskilled employment are likely to be
weekly
paid. Where you can't judge the
situation with
any
degree of accuracy, then assume that monthly paid or
weekly,
we all require access to some cash for the
purposes
of weekend activities, and mail your post to
arrive
just before those events get off the ground!
USE
ATTENTION-GRABBING WORDS, PHRASES AND SENTENCES
We
discuss later what are the most effective words to
use,
but to state the obvious, no word used in isolation
is
going to stand a chance of encouraging a sale.
Use
those
attention-grabbing words within the context of
neatly,
grammatically composed sentences, and use them
evenly
spaced throughout your text. Don't
overdo the
use
of one word to the exclusion of others that could be
just
as effective; constant repetition also becomes
boring,
even leads to suspicion that you may be trying
to
convince the reader of something you do not entirely
believe
yourself.
Choose
the words that will go into your message before
you
actually set to writing your advertising material.
Could
another word with a similar meaning add more
impact
to the message you intend to convey. If
you
choose
the word 'NEW' might 'AT LAST' no provide greater
impact,
assuming your product is of course unique as
well
as new.
Check
too that your wording is truthful - don't call
something
'UNIQUE' unless it actually is; loss of
credibility
is never going to win you repeat custom.
UNDERLINE
IMPORTANT WORDS OR SENTENCES
Again
stating the obvious, words underlined will strike
home
to the reader; too many though will cause
confusion,
look untidy and careless, and lead the reader
to
doubt your claims. Content yourself with
underlining
up
to a maximum of six occasions. Look at the
advertising
material of traders with more years of
experience
and see what their underlining policy is -
NEVER
BE AFRAID TO LEARN FROM OTHERS.
One
great advantage of modern typewriters, particularly
word
processors, is the ability to have chosen words
produced
in bold print, sometimes totally alleviating
the
need for underlining.
KEEP
SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS SHORT AND PUNCHY
Anyone
who writes for a living will testify to the
benefits
of short snappy sentences and paragraphs.
In
the
literary sense they tend to create a sense of
urgency
that positively wills the reader to hasten his
way
through the text, unable to put the document aside
until
the very last word has been safely devoured.
And
the
same applies to your mailing blurb; make them want
to
read it by your choice of words; use this 'speed'
tactic
to keep them reading until the gist of your offer
has
been completely digested.
USE
THE ADVERTISING WORLD'S MOST PERSUASIVE WORDS
Studies
of advertising trends and techniques, and the
resulting
efficiency in terms of orders produced, have
shown
that certain words used in advertising text tend
to
have a strong 'pulling' effect, that is they make the
potential
customer eager to know more, whereupon he or
she
will continue reading your words before hastily
reaching
for the necessary writing implements.
The
earlier
these words are used the better. If
incorporated
into your opening sentence you have
accomplished
a two-fold task; one of getting your
message
across in those vital first few seconds; and
two,
'hooking' the reader as early as possible.
Though
over
periods of time specific words will change their
order
in the hierarchy of persuasive advertising words,
the
following are generally regarded as amongst the
most
effective:
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING
BARGAIN BIG COMPLETE
CONFIDENTIAL
DISCOUNT DISCOVERY EASY
EXCELLENT
EXCITING FREE
GENUINE GIFT GIGANTIC GREATEST
GUARANTEE HEALTH
HUGE INDEPENDENCE INTERESTING
LARGEST LATEST
LOVE MAGIC MILLIONS
MILLIONAIRE
MONEY NEW
OFFER OUTSTANDING POPULAR
POWERFUL
PRACTICAL
PROFESSIONAL PROFITABLE PROVEN
QUALITY
REDUCED REMARKABLE RELIABLE RESULTS
REVEAL
REVOLUTIONARY SAFETY
SAVE SECRETS SENSATIONAL
SPECIAL STURDY
SUCCESSFUL SUPERIOR SURPRISE TERRIFIC
TESTED TREMENDOUS
TYCOON UNCONDITIONAL UNIQUE
UNLIMITED UNUSUAL
USEFUL VALUABLE YOU
WEALTH
WONDERFUL
REMEMBER
- THE WORD 'FREE' IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE OF ALL
ACTION
STIMULATORS.
QUESTIONS
ARE SOMETIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN STATEMENTS
In
seeking to involve the reader in what it is we have
to
say, we must attempt to create a relationship with
him
or her; one which allows us to question his or her
desires
and motives. By stating the potential
customer's
need for financial security and independence,
may
be tantamount, at least in the reader's eyes, to an
invasion
of privacy, creating an altogether far too
personal
an approach than one would expect in a first
communication
with someone who is after all, a stranger.
But,
questioning him or her in not too bold a fashion,
we
are able to talk to the subconscious, which is of
course
fully aware of the subject's needs in life.
So
'You
need to get well away from the rat race', becomes
'Like
to escape the rate race?'; before the subject has
time
to question your motives for such an intrusion, the
subconscious
has gone into overdrive - it needs to know
more!
Instead of 'How dare you?', the question becomes
'How?'
- an altogether better footing for you
to carry
on
with that all-important solution to the reader's
overwhelming
desire for what we all want in abundance:
success,
personal achievement, independence, and above
all,
wealth.
The
statements approach need not of course always lead
to
a feeling of 'forwardness' on the part of the writer.
It
may simply fall flat in its tracks - 'No-one gets
rich
working for someone else', might be met with the
answer,
'No, but there's plenty of time to worry about
that
when I get settled down for the night'.
The letter
is
put to one side and the vital first few seconds in
which
you must catch and maintain your reader's
attention
might never be resurrected. So instead
try
asking
the question 'Want to stop working for someone
else? Why not write your own pay cheque, get what
you
want
out of life, start enjoying yourself for a change?'
Ah! Well - it might be safe to leave the 'G &
T' for a
minute
or two, while we find out whether this really is
the
chance we've been waiting for all of those years
bashing
away at the typewriter, for a boss who hardly
notices
your existence, except of course when he
disputes
your professed entitlement to a wage rise.
MAKE
A CLIPPINGS FILE
If
you decide, for reasons of economy or because you are
capable
of doing so, you can help yourself to create
highly
professional circulars and advertising
literature,
simply by cutting out and keeping all of
those
parts of other dealers' advertising that might be
of
use to you in the future.
So
for instance, a bold headline giving the title of a
book
or manual you also have to offer, can be cut out
and
used for your own material. The pieces
you retain
are
stuck onto your master piece of artwork which is
then
photocopied to reveal any 'cutting' lines which
must
of course be obliterated. Snowpake and
other forms
of
typists' correcting fluid painted along the marks
will
erase them completely. Whether you carry
out the
correction
on the master or the photocopy is for you to
decide. My preference is to make amendments to the
master
copy, referring of course to the photocopy for
guidance
as to where such amendments are required.
The
reason
for my preference is that a master almost always
provides
better copies than do repeated photocopies.
Your
clippings file can also contain the borders used
around
some full page advertisements in the many
specialist
mail order publications. The better the
production
of the magazine itself the better will be
standard,
quality and clarity of the cuttings
available. Take everything that might be of interest
unless
of course by doing so you will steal a copyright,
or
encroach upon someone else's advertising slogan -
copycats
win favour with no-one! But words,
borders,
symbols,
all are of use, even if only to save you the
effort
and expense of making your own up with the
ever-popular,
superbly effective 'Letraset' and other
forms
of rub-down lettering.
I
personally need to produce many printed titles for the
front
pages of new manuals; I've lost count of the
number
of times I've been able to consult my clippings
file
and produce one of those paste-ups reminiscent of
the
movie world' 'blackmail letter', and subsequently
'snowpake'
it into an extremely attractive cover with
little
effort or expense.
HOW
TO GET YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS TYPSET 'FREE'
I've
placed the inverted commas around the word 'Free',
since
there will be some of you who disagree with me
that
what I suggest is actually a free service.
Still,
here
goes. In some of the better mail order
magazines,
those
taking a full-page advertisement are offered the
facility
to have their typed or written originals typset
before
being published. The advertisement subsequently
published
in the magazine can then be clipped out and
photocopied,
obviously with page numbers and magazine de
tails
obliterated with your ever ready typists'
correction
fluid.
Whether
the service is actually 'free' I suppose depends
upon
whether you would have taken a full-page
advertisement
without the offer of typsetting, but
remember
the cost of having your material typset is
going
to cost you a fair proportion of what you have
paid
for the advertisement - perhaps worth considering
for
the advantage of the re-usable professional artwork,
as
well as to test the effects of a change to your
normal
form of advertising.
DESCRIBE
BENEFITS RATHER THAN FEATURES OF THE PRODUCT
Perhaps
with the possible exception of status symbols,
the
potential customer is more interested in the
benefits
he or she will stand to gain from your product,
rather
than the features of the product itself.
In the
field
of home publishing, a manual is a manual when all
is
said and done; a badly typed or tattily presented
example
might not win you a repeat customer, but if the
information
imparted is of benefit to the customer he or
she
may choose to follow it and forget earlier
intentions
to complain about quality of presentation.
In
your advertising literature then, you should stress
what
benefits your manual will confer upon the reader.
Will
it allow him or her to set up in a chosen business,
find
lucrative homeworking opportunities, allow the
reader
to confidently sit an important examination?
It
will? Right, well get that message across as
directly
and
efficiently as possible, and omit any irrelevant
details
which might slow down the pace of the message.
PERSONALISE
SALUTIONS WHERE POSSIBLE
A
letter addressed to 'Dear Mr Smith' will be read with
far
more interest than would the same message to 'Dear
Sir',
and much, much more so than one to 'Dear
Sir/Madam'. Why?
Simply because if we feel someone has
taken
the trouble to address us personally, then what
is
on offer must be appropriate to our needs.
I suspect
too,
that such a personal touch endears the reader to
the
writer, as well as adding a touch of professionalism
to
the latter's correspondence.
It
really is worthwhile trying always to include a
personal
letter with your mailing; not so difficult for
the
small mail order dealer, but time-consuming for the
larger
dealer. Today's word processors can help
the
latter
by use of the 'mailshot' facility and the
opportunity
to have names entered individually on
letters
which are then produced as original copies for
all
recipients.
PUT
YOUR LETTERHEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF SALES LETTERS
Your
message reaches 'home' almost immediately by
placing
your address and Company name at the bottom of
the
letter, perhaps with a logo of some sort at the top
to
prevent overbalancing the traditional form one
expects
in correspondence. The greater part of
the
space
at the top, normally reserved for name and
address,
is allocated for the printing of your most
important
sales point.
For
example if you are stressing wealth within three
years,
you might make the first message the reader sees
'FINANCIAL
INDEPENDENCE WITHIN THREE YEARS'. Of
course
the
reader will then continue reading the text,
regardless
yet of who has sent t he document.
Attract,
and
hold the readers' interest in this way and you're
part
way to a sale already.
FOLDING
YOUR DOCUMENTS
We
are told that psychologically the first 4 or 5
seconds
after the recipient handles your communication
are
of vital importance. What happens within
that short
period
will make or break your chances of a sale.
So,
hide
your message, make getting into the envelope
difficult,
cause any kind of hindrance or unnecessary
delay
- and you've lost it!
Normally
when we remove the contents from an envelope,
we
are confronted by a blank, white folded paper or
batch
of papers. It takes a second or two to
open them
flat
for the message to be revealed - a second or two
too
long!
Almost
too obvious a solution for words, but one that
didn't
cross my mind until pointed out by a kindly
colleague,
is to fold your documents in the opposite
manner,
with print outwards. Pop it into the
envelope
so
that your headline, or message, will be the first
thing
observed upon opening, and those few precious
seconds
will barely have started to tick.
MAKE
YOUR PRESENTATION DIFFERENT TO OTHERS
So,
you're offering something similar to that of your
competitors?
Does this mean the early bird is the only
one
to get the worm? Most certainly not!
Unless that is
you
make no effort to distance yourself from your
competitors,
in which case yours will most likely be one
of
many identical offers the recipient throws into the
waste-paper
bin that day.
So
what can you do if you are, after all, offering an
identical
product? You might not be able to change
the
product,
but you can most definitely market your product
in
a manner that sets it apart, and above, those of your
competitors.
How? Use better quality stationery for a start;
perhaps
have
your circulars typset where others are using cheap,
faded
photocopies year after year, as they wonder quite
innocently
why their mailings never show a response rate
as
high as 'Peter Perfect', who just happens to include
a
personal letter to all of his potential customers,
typed
on quality paper and despatched in long, white
envelopes.
'Peter
Perfect' incidentally, also individually
hand-signs
every letter he mails; not for him that
once-written,
many times photocopied autograph appended
to
the bottom of his all-important communications.
Make
your message different to those of your
competitors. Study advertising trends and techniques
and
give your message the impact and immediacy your
competitors'
lack. If necessary have your sales
leaflets
written professionally for you. You will
have
to
pay for the services of an advertising copywriter of
course,
but if you feel this area is likely to be your
downfall,
then paying up can only be money well spent.
Where
possible, change what it is you have to offer, by
making
a package of items, for instance a batch of three
or
so manuals all relating to writing as a career, or
several
items concerning different aspects of mail
order. Your basic product won't be different; your
offer
certainly will! You can improve your
chances of
creating
an exclusive offer by including something only
available
to yourself; in a batch of manuals it's that
one
written by yourself, or one in which you have
purchased
the exclusive copyright from the author or his
or
her agent.
Keeping
prices competitive also sets you apart from
fellow
traders, as does paying great attention to the
quality
of the item you offer. If you offer
manuals you
might
decide to have them typeset or printed, anything
to
make your words different if not in context, at
least
in the manner of their presentation.
If
you can, include an exclusive free gift (one only you
can
provide), with your main offer, and again you have
accomplished
the task of making your mailing different.
A
while ago a well-known home publisher rang me at home
to
discuss the details of my order, which to my mind had
been
more than adequately conveyed. Why on
earth he
rang
me I had no idea. He didn't, as I expected,
seek
to
persuade me to increase the size of my order; he
just
chatted with me as would a long-lost friend.
When
my
manuals came, they were typset, beautifully
presented,
included all of the documentation I would
ever
need (in duplicate), and came with an extremely
friendly,
helpful letter to accompany them. I buy
everything
from him now - in retrospect I find that the
reason
for his 'phone call was simply that HE CARES -
about
his BUSINESS, his PRESENTATION, and most
importantly
about his CUSTOMERS. He will still be
going
strong
long after the 'fly-by-nights' have discovered
the
error of their 'grab-your-money-and-mail-the-goods'
trading
methods.
USE
DIFFERENT COLOURED PAPER FOR MULTI-SHEET MAILINGS
Where
you are including several offers in one envelope
as
is so often the case in home publishing, use several
different
colours of paper on which to have them
printed. Don't go for the bright, gaudy colours; all
too
often that tends to look cheap and tatty - a
selection
of pastel shades perhaps on better quality
than
photocopying paper is a different matter entirely.
You
will of course accomplish the task of making your
mail
stand out from the rest of the white offerings the
addressee
receive s that day - if hastily, perhaps in a
spare
moment or two, the potential customer decides to
take
you up on what it is you propose then it won't
require
a massive hunt to sort out the appropriate
documentation. Remember as always the need to make the
job
as easy as possible for the customer.
ACKNOWLEDGE
RECEIPT IF DELAYS OCCUR
To
maintain good customer relations, it is essential
that
you advise customers of any outstanding orders that
will
not be filled within the time originally specified.
A
short personal note will suffice, with a brief
apology,
and some indication of the revised date of
delivery. Don't omit this essential point - once you
have
a customer, this represents potential future custom
-
custom that will be taken elsewhere if you prove tardy
without
adequate explanation.
WITH
DESPATCH SEND MORE OFFERS
When
goods are sent out take the opportunity to include
offers
of other goods available, primarily items of a
similar
nature; though if you don't know your customers
exact
requirements or preferences, then include a
mixture
of non-related items at least with the first
few
business transactions.
THE
VALUE OF THE P.S. (POSTSCRIPT)
In
everyday terms a P.S. implies that we have omitted
something
of importance from the main body of our
communication. In the world of mail order it can serve
a
far different purpose, one of reinforcing the message
of
the advertising blurb. You may use this
device to
state
an extra benefit, repeat a benefit already stated,
or
to advise the customer of a special offer, thereby
attempting
to clinch a deal that might not be
forthcoming
without the appropriate additional
incentive.
ALWAYS
INCLUDE A CLIP COUPON
Make
life as easy as possible for the intended
purchaser;
don't in his mad scramble for stationery, pen
and
scissors, allow seeds of doubt to arise in his mind
and
risk losing the order. Just as you are
advised to
include
an addressed envelope with every order, also
ensure
your communications carry a clip coupon, i.e.
space
for the customer to complete his or her name and
address
for the delivery of the order. Once
safely in
the
envelope, it's much less likely that a change of
mind
will occur.
MAKE
YOUR BROCHURES THE BEST
In
the same way as you must make your presentation
different,
you should always make the quality and
content
of your brochures, or other form of
documentation,
as good as you are able in both financial
and
practical terms.
If,
like me, you've suffered periods when you've been
inundated
with chain letters and similarly suspicious
'get
rich quick' schemes, it must surely have crossed
your
mind, that if the method of making vast sums of
money
is as easy as the sender would have us believe,
then
why is the document professing such, produced on
the
tattiest piece of paper in the most unbelievably bad
photocopying
production you could imagine? How many
more
of us would be swayed I wonder, had the message
been
conveyed in embossed, or at least woven laid
paper;
printed instead of photocopied; typed instead of
hand-scrawled?
Someone
whose brochures spell 'quality' confers the
impression
of ability to come up with what it is he or
she
is shortly to offer. If selling
moneymaking ideas,
yes,
he or she has obviously made it if the money this
brochure
must have cost is anything to go by! If selling
goods,
then we subconsciously consider the goods to be
of
value proportionate to the medium by which they come
to
our attention.
TELLING
THE READER 'NOT TO' USUALLY MAKES HIM WANT TO
In
the same way that asking questions of the reader is
often
more effective than using bland statements,
telling
the reader not to do something generally evokes
a
'who's he think he is telling me what not to do? I
will
if I want', and he will. So 'Don't Read This
Unless
You Want To Be Seriously Rich', even if read by
someone
initially sceptical, will most likely leave that
person
with little option but to read it. Your
command
must
of course be worded with care if you aren't to
cause
hostility on the part of the reader, or indeed to
counteract
the remainder of the message that is to
follow. So 'Put this letter down at your peril',
might
not
in some instances create as sudden an impact as for
example
'Don't Throw This Letter Away - Your Future
Depends
on It'. Though you might like to, you'd
never
of
course suggest, 'Don't be such a stupid *'@?* all of
your
life....'
OPENING
LINE SHOULD ALWAYS OFFER SOMETHING OF BENEFIT
In
seeking to gain advantage of that 'first few seconds'
rule,
we must draw our reader into our 'power' as early
in
our message as possible. If you can
convince the
reader
within your opening line that he or she stands to
gain
something of benefit by continuing to read your
letter
or circular you have accomplished your mission.
Here
we can take advantage of headline openings, short
shocking
statements of fact or statistics, asking the
reader
a question the answer to which can only be found
by
reading on. You can instead make a plain
statement
but
one concerning a matter close to the hearts of us
all.
For
a publication revealing ways to succeed in business
that
opening statement might be:
ARE
YOU TIRED OF WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE?
MILLIONAIRES
MAKE IT BEFORE THEY ARE THIRTY!
RUBBISH!
IF
YOU'RE LOOKING FOR ONE GOOD BUSINESS IDEA, LOOK NO
FURTHER,
FOR I CAN SHOW YOU 1001....
CHECK
THAT YOUR PRODUCT HAS MARKET APPEAL
A
product similar to one being offered by others will,
perhaps
ironically, stand you in better stead of a mail
order
success, than will one for which you are the sole
supplier. Before you shout 'Rubbish!', let me explain
further. My statement assumes that you are in a
competitive
market, perhaps selling those products
available
also from other sources. In the case of
business
manuals, if the rest are selling '100 Ways to
Make
it by Yourself' and you offer the same title,
you're
in with a chance, albeit with a share of the
market. If on the other hand you seek to offer
'Fishing
Grounds
of the Western World' to similar customers, you
might
perhaps consider another calling, so wide will you
be
of the mark with respect to selecting items of
interest
to established readers of the publication in
which
you have placed your advertisement.
Consider
however a title in which you have exclusive
dealership,
perhaps one you have written yourself, and
which
you have named 'Hitting the Big Time - 1000 Great
Business
Ideas'. Here you will see that you are
offering
something different to your competitors within
the
field of publishing, but something that falls within
the
same general area of interest. You will
share the
same
readership, with their similar interest in making
money
- you will not share the market for your
publication,
for it is unique to your business.
GIVE
GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY
In
mail order we depend to a great extent, if not on
repeat
custom, then at least on word-of-mouth
recommendation
from satisfied customers. Always give
good
value for money and never refuse to make refunds to
customers
who prove not satisfied with y our goods.
In
home publishing we might perhaps provide our manuals
with
card covers; perhaps have our text typset; perhaps
include
an extra report free as a gesture of good faith.
ALWAYS
ASK FOR A STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE OR RETURN
POSTAGE
Some
will disagree with me on this point, arguing
perhaps
that the extra payment on the part of the
enquirer
might sway that person to transfer his enquiry
elsewhere
- to someone not requiring such additional
cost. Some mail order dealers indeed, go so far as
to
offer
a freepost service to alleviate the need for
payment
altogether in respect of enquiries.
It's
entirely a matter for personal opinion, but I for
one
think it will help to defray your costs to ask for
postage,
and will also serve to eliminate the curious
element
who send for lists and details of offers they
have
no intention of acting upon. As with
most other
things
in mail order it may be worthwhile trying out the
alternatives
to all of the rules surrounding the game -
always
do what works best for you.
NEVER
BE AFRAID TO LEARN FROM OTHERS
In
business, there is no place for pride, even less for
arrogance. Remember there will almost certainly be
others
with more experience than yourself, and the mere
fact
that they have been around for any length of time
confirms
that they have found the formula for business
success
that suits them. Their advertising might
not
change
from one year to the next, nor might the basic
stock
they offer, but if the firm itself continues to
exist
it surely isn't purely for the health of the
proprietor.
Never be afraid to ask yourself why certain
businessmen
follow one policy, whilst others cling
steadfastly
to another. Analyse the marketing
strategy
of
competitors, dissect their advertisements, attempt to
read
their minds, and never be afraid to learn from
them,
as others will seek one day to learn from you.
MAKE
EVERY WORD COUNT
Advertising
is never cheap, and so we must strive to get
the
best we can from as few words as possible.
This
applies
primarily if we are paying 'by the word' just as
much
as it does to the display advertisement of a
stipulated
size. Words will always be at a premium,
so
never
duplicate any part of your message or labour any
particular
point. Strive to find words that will
work
better
than those you have originally chosen.
BUT
never, never cut out important words and phrases,
that's
not what we are after - we seek simply to
eliminate
the superfluous elements.
ADVERTISE
IN LOW COST MAGAZINES
Usually
the higher the advertising costs the higher will
be
the expected response rate. BUT not
always. Some
smaller
mail order magazines have lower overheads and
therefore
can charge less for advertising. Some
seek to
circulate
items and advertisements of interest to
subscribers
only, not seeking to make a vast profit and
therefore
not requiring huge advertising costs to remain
financially
viable. In magazines for opportunity
seekers
and mail order home publishers, the cost of a
full-page
advertisement can be as little as œ10 yet
still
reach 3000 or more actively interested readers.
Don't
dismiss these small publications particularly when
the
mutual interest of the readers matches exactly what
it
is you propose to advertise. Advertising
is always
a
matter of trial and error - 'Nothing Venture, Nothing
Gain'
being the operative statement. You have
to accept
that
with inexperience you will make some mistakes,
whether
for higher or lower cost advertisements.
You
should generally expect to receive two enquiries for
every
œ1 your advertisement has cost; of those enquiries
a
sales ratio of 10% - 40% should result.
DO
SERIES ADS FOR LOWER COST
No-one
ever claimed advertising was cheap.
Those
seeking
to sell you advertising space know fine well
that
without advertising your business has no foundation
-
and they will charge for the privilege of keeping your
business
afloat. But getting you , and keeping
you, are
entirely
different matters.
Actually
obtaining your custom as an advertiser in the
first
place is often the hardest part of any publication
or
whatever medium's workload. Once you are
hooked they
move
on to other people hoping to attract them to the
organisation's
clientele. For this reason most
publications
will seek to retain your continued custom
by
giving discounts on series of advertisements.
One
insertion
will therefore cost proportionately more than
will
each of a run of thirteen or so consecutive
insertion
s, if only for the reason that staffing costs
will
be reduced once that initial first transaction is
completed.
If
not obvious that a series advertisement carries a
reduced
charge ask for such when you place your
advertisement. You might or might not get a discount,
but
you'll never know unless you ask.
KEEP
IMPROVING YOUR ADS AND BROCHURES
Whatever
your mail order line, always endeavour to be
the
best, even if your product is not unique to
yourself. Make your brochures the best, make your
advertisements
the ones that attract the browsing
readership. Once you think you have that magic formula,
remain
loyal to it, always of course making and testing
small
changes to your basic design, just in case some
outside
factor is having an unnoticeable effect upon
your
response rate.
GET
OTHER PEOPLE TO ADVERTISE FOR YOU
If
a viable proposition financially, it's always a good
idea
to gain extra trade by having others advertise for
you,
on a commission basis. This often
happens in the
field
of publishing where one publisher 'dropships' for
another
who has closed the sale. If you work on
a 50%
commission
basis you may feel this level of reduction in
takings
a small price to pay for a lower advertising
budget
and a reduced workload. Normally all
that is
required
is that you forward your circulars to the agent
who
then arranges for their distribution by whatever
means. For each sale he or she makes, the
appropriate
commission
is deducted before the remainder with the
customers'
details are forwarded to you, the supplier,
for
despatch of the goods.
USE
POWERFUL HEADLINES
Just
as a strong headline draws your attention at the
newspaper
stands, so does a powerfully headed
advertisement
attract potential customer interest. Your
advert
is likely to be vying with many others for the
attention
of the readership, and anything you can do to
make
those readers stop and take notice of your
advertisement
is a step nearer to a sale. Short,
punchy
headlines
tend to work better, and more so if they also
incorporate
those words listed earlier as the most
potent
in the world of advertising.
Analyse
the headlines of advertisers with more
experience
than yourself. Those advertisements that
have
remained unchanged for some length of time have a
great
deal to offer the newcomer - they have stood the
test
of time; they have been proved to work.
THE
POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
If
you aren't enthusiastic and positive about your
products
how can you expect the customer to feel that
way
about them? 'Accentuate the positive, eliminate the
negative'
I think is how the song puts it.
Guide
your potential customer through a positive,
enthusiastic
sales message, and your chances of a sale
are
greatly increased.
DON'T
ALLOW YOURSELF THE LUXURY OF 'WAFFLING'
Always
come straight to the point, don't waffle, don't
over-embellish
your words, and above all don't venture
from
the path of convincing the reader that what he or
she
really needs is your product. Waffling
is
guaranteed
to cause him or her to have second thoughts
about
your product. Once you have gained your
potential
customer's
interest at the beginning of your letter or
other
means of communication, keep him pointed firmly in
the
direction of buying your product.
MAKE
THE GREATEST EARNINGS AS A PRIME SOURCE
If
of course you sell an item identical or similar to
that
of your competitors you share the potential market
with
them. Sell something unique to yourself
and you
have
the market to yourself. In home
publishing the
prime
source has exclusive copyright in a manual or
folio;
perhaps one the entrepreneur has written him or
herself,
or else one that has been purchased outright
from
the writer or the writer's representative.
The
prime source might instead make up a package of
manuals
and folios including one exclusive to him or
herself. It might instead consist of manuals in the
possession
of several other publishers but in their
present
unique form of presentation they are of course
unobtainable
elsewhere for the price concerned.
KEEP
ON KEEPING ON
Perhaps
the most important advice on how to achieve the
Lion's
share of the profits is never to let your
business
grow stale, never become complacent, never be a
satisfied
second best, never stop learning, never stop
looking
for new pastures. Strive always to improve your
already
impressive standards, make your brochures the
best,
make your products the envy of your competitors.
Your
maxim must always be that old favourite:
EVERY DAY,
IN EVERY WAY,
I AM GETTING BETTER.
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