Mail Order Tips

There is a lot of excellent material being written and sold for beginners

to the mail order field. It seems everyone is ready, willing and able to

offer their "words of wisdom" to the new business owner _ and this is GREAT!

This action on the part of almost every stable mail order dealer only goes

to further prove my point in this report.

Mail order is loaded with the best people in the world! Walk into any

corporate-owned establishment and be introduced to "greed" first-hand.

Please don't get me wrong _ there are some very well run organizations,

but any time you hire employees, the dedication to your product or service

begins to deteriorate.

In the early 1800's most of the businesses were owned by one person or one

family. They took pride in their product and took the time to provide their

customers with high quality. The other day one of my customers called to

thank me for a publishing job I had completed for them. They said they

couldn't find my company's type of quality at any price locally. They

explained that the majority of people don't take "pride" in their wares.

But what is mail order filled with? Small, one-person-owned businesses.

We have built them from the ground up and we are PROUD to be able to service

our customers. And when we have a customer complaint, we normally do every-

thing and anything under our power (even if we lose money) just to make that

customer satisfied! This is PRIDE! And I'd like to believe that most of us

all have it!

Multi-level companies also sell excellent quality products. The shampoo and

conditioner I use, the cream I put on my face every night, the mail order

printing company I utilize as well as the many other products and services

I order through the mail are products I could NEVER purchase locally.

So don't forget to let the beginners know who we really are! Beginners are

like children (sort-of-speak.) They come into this industry with the

willingness to learn from experienced professionals. They do not know when

they are told to hand address their envelopes in red ink that this is

ridiculous!

If you take a 2-year-old child and tell them that people in Russia all have

green skin _ they will believe you without question. They will never doubt

your word until someone else comes along and convinces them otherwise.

Beginners to mail order are the same way. We have a duty to train them

correctly and give them honest and sound advice.

The problem is that some people are greedy and don't want to train them

properly. They are afraid if they teach them what they know that the beginner

will be better than them; make more money than them; outshine them and be

more successful.

Unfortunately this is greed talking. Any beginner you help to become

successful will take you right along with them. They'll never forget you

taking time and educating them on exactly how to make money. The more money

they make _ the more money you will make. But even besides this _ they will

benefit the mail order industry as a whole. You won't live forever. The mail

order industry will continue thriving long after you are dead and buried.

Shouldn't it be our concern to teach people to carry on what we started?

Sure, there are some beginners that are only looking for a fast buck and a

way to make some easy cash. These people don't need your time and dedication,

but they don't need you lying to them either and robbing them. Instead,

steer away from these types and concentrate your energies on people who

really want to succeed. The beginners who have pride in their business

is the same beginner that will grow up and remain dear to you.

Treat beginners of today like they are big companies of tomorrow. When I

first started in mail order, I didn't know that SASE meant a self-addressed

stamped envelope. I saw an advertisement from TOD House, PO Box 4769, Chicago

IL 60680 that I answered and I didn't enclose a SASE as requested since I

didn't know what it was.

TOD House wrote back a dirty note that said: "Your business tactics are

typical of women and we have more bad customers that we know what to do with.

We don't need another bum like you."

These words hurt me deeply. But guess what? Now 7 years later, I can tell

other people about this incident and educate them. Where did all this get

TOD House? No where! And to think all this started over a simple first-class

stamp? Come on folks! Don't you think it's time to start helping instead of

hurting? Don't you think it's time to contribute to our industry?