Look
in your mailbox. What do you see almost
every day? Coupons. Look in
your
newspaper. What do you see EVERY
day? Coupons. It seems like coupons
multiply
like rabbits. Why? Prices are rising, unlike a majority of
people's
incomes.
Coupons
only make good financial sense. But what
if you discovered that
someone's
making money from coupons? They are, and
so can you, by selling
a special
type of coupon.
Manufacturers
use coupons primarily to attract new customers.
The money
savings
entice people to try products they might otherwise not have. The
same
can be true of local businesses in your area.
Sure, they put coupons
in
their newspaper ads. But you can give
them the opportunity to get their
coupons
into the hands of the exact customers they need, and at a far better
price
than the local newspaper. You can
produce a Local Business Coupon
Book
easily, inexpensively, and profitably, if you follow the steps outlined
here.
The
first step in running a successful coupon publishing business is to
find
the businesses that will advertise with you.
Any business that relies
on
local advertising is a good prospect.
Here is a short list of businesses
you
should consider: Theaters; Hair Salons;
Fast Food Restaurants; Record
and
CD Stores; Dry Cleaners; Supermarkets; Car Washes; Muffler Shops; Ice
Cream
and Frozen Yogurt Shops. Basically, any
store that could reasonably
use
a coupon to draw in new customers is a prospect. You may want to
specialize
in one area, such as fast food restaurants.
Or, cover the whole
gamut. Look through your phone book for businesses
you might not have
thought
of.
When
you approach these businesses, target a group within a five mile
radius.
It will be more time-efficient for you, and you can use the area
grouping
in your sales pitch. Stress the fact
that around 80 percent of
their
business will come from that five mile radius.
Tell them that you
plan
to distribute the coupon book within that radius, so it will draw the
best
results.
To
be really profitable, you should get at least 15 - 25 businesses in the
book. The more, the better. How much to charge? That depends on how many
books
you will be distributing, and what your costs are. One coupon book
producer
charged $100 for a coupon going to 1,000 people in an eight mile
radius. His total cost was $300, and he sold 11
businesses coupons. This
gave
him an $800 profit in one week!
The
second step is to create the coupons. If
you have a computer, the job
of
designing the coupons can be quite easy with some of the word processor/
graphics
packages available. If not, talk to your
printer. He or she will
more
than likely have some ready-made templates for coupons. You can just
fill
in the blanks.
Be
sure to put YOUR business name on the coupon (in small print, so it
doesn't
distract). Subconsciously, people will
remember your business name
and
associate it with saving money. In any
case, you will need to put the
advertising
business' name, address, phone, logo (if any, many businesses
will
have them ready made for you to use), the amount of the discount, any
conditions
they may have, and an expiration date.
Your printer can help you
with
the layout, if you are inexperienced, or you can find easy to use
layout
boards at an office supply or art store.
Assembling
the coupon books can be done in a number of ways. The easiest,
and
recommended, way to start is by simply stapling them together. Only
one
staple will be necessary, on the left side of the stack of coupons.
Make
a cover coupon with your business name and the name you've chosen for
the
coupon book. Put that on top of the
stack before you staple. Other
methods
are perforating/padding, and perforating/perfect binding. Your
printer
should be able to provide pricing information on these and other
binding
methods.
The
third step is distributing. You have
already identified the radius
within
which you will distribute your coupon books.
There are two methods
of
delivery you can use. You can either
deliver them by car or foot, or
you
can bulk mail them.
Bulk
mailing is infinitely easier and more efficient, but requires a bit of
paperwork
and registration fees. If you are
delivering in one zip code
area,
you can use either five digit presort mailing, or carrier route
presort
mailing.
You
should check with your postmaster regarding rules and fees. As soon as
you
have mailed the coupons, deliver a copy of the coupon book to each
business
that has advertised in it, so they know that customers will now
be
bringing them in.
The
fourth and final step is follow up. You
need to know how your coupon
books
are doing. Ask the businesses that
advertise in your book to write
the
amount purchased by the coupon-bearing customer on the back of the
coupon,
and to hold them for you.
Stop
by at least once a week and pick up the redeemed coupons. Besides
giving
you purchase totals that you can refer to in future sales to new
customers,
this also gives you a chance to talk to the businesses about
purchasing
coupons in new books. You can show them
right then and there
the
results they have gotten, and they should be enthusiastic about signing
back
on.
It
is important to maintain a good relationship with the businesses who
advertise
with you. Show them that you are
committed to helping them
increase
their business. If you care, so will
they. This is a fun
business
that can be started part-time, and can easily move to full-time.
Remember
the man who cleared $800 his first week in this business. He was
just
starting out, and you can do that, too!
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