Introduction
How
Do I Sell the Items Concerned?
Direct
Mail
The
Two-Stage Sell (Enquiry Method)
Selling
'Off-the-Page'
Where
Does the Circular Mailer Come In?
Introduction
to Circular Mailing
Commission
Circular Mailing
Non-Commission
Mailing
Mailing
Lists
Standards
of Professionalism
Magazines
and Advertising Sheets
Selection
Of Mailing List Suppliers
Introduction
Imagine
a business requiring no outlay for stock; a business
without
risk. No cold selling, no previous
experience required,
no
need to even venture out of doors if you don't wish to do so.
Amazingly,
such a business could also make you a great deal of
money
in return for surprisingly little effort.
Your
business is to undertake a service on behalf of eager
customers,
namely publishers and other mail order operators whose
entire
profits depend upon the number of sales they make each
week,
and who are more than willing to share those profits with
you,
in return for your help in promoting their goods. That share
often
amounts to 50% of the selling price, your rewards coming
from
the sale of the product, theirs from the risks entailed in
holding
and forwarding the goods.
A
CIRCULAR MAILER is one who sends out leaflets or circulars to
the
public; orders are then returned to him, ready for forwarding
to
the principal dealer, after commission has been deducted.
Sometimes
the mailer is not working to commission; he or she
instead
charges a set fee for mailing out circulars on the
clients'
behalf. Orders are sent straight to the
client to fulfil
the
order, and retain all of the proceeds.
Often
the mail order operator is happy to attend to administrative
duties
of coordination within his enterprise, preferring to leave
all
selling to those undertaking the task on a commission basis.
With
such help he is free to improve the range and quality of his
products,
perhaps in the case of a home publisher, even to write
his
manuals and guides himself.
This
is not another get-rich-quick scheme though; nothing in the
field
of mail order was ever gained without initiative, foresight,
and
sheer hard work. And make no mistake, you will have to work
hard
to earn your often massive rewards in the process. But with
advertising,
printing and postal charges, comprising the bulk of
your
business expenses, your costs will be low in comparison to
many
other enterprises, and your percentage profits
proportionately
larger as a result.
How
do I sell the items concerned?
Selling
can take place either by direct mail, by means of
two-stage
selling techniques, off the page advertising, even by
promoting
the goods by door-to-door leaflet distribution.
These
methods
will now be considered in more detail, before we return to
our
discussions on commission mailing as a business, or spare-time
employment
venture in its own right.
Direct
Mail
Surprisingly,
considering how powerful a selling technique direct
mail
can be, it is still greatly under-utilized in today's
commercial
sector. This is that method of selling
in which the
customer
is contacted direct, usually as a result of names and
addresses
being obtained from a specially prepared mailing list.
Mailing
lists will be considered later; suffice to say they
consist
of buying customers and interested parties acquired by one
mail
order operative, and communicated by list to colleagues,
obviously
for a fee, often a high fee, but almost always in the
case
of the better list brokers, representing a more than
worthwhile
investment. Details of some of these
brokers are
included
at the end of this guide.
Circulars
of products and publications available, are then
forwarded
to all of the names included, either by using sticky
address
labels as received from the broker, or by handwriting or
typing
names and addresses in the usual way. It
costs only a few
pounds
extra to have the names and addresses produced in label
format,
but ironically your response rate may be lower that would
be
the case for handwritten envelopes, purely because labels often
spell
'circular', and sadly many such communications are by-passed
before
they are even read. It is worth taking
the extra effort to
make
your communication just that little more personal, and
thereby
more interesting.
By
working in this way you are able to include several offers in
each
envelope, even pass on details of products available from
several
prime sources. After a while you will
discover that some
products
sell better than others, in which case you can then drop
the
less profitable lines, and concentrate on the better paying
offers.
For
whatever reason, direct mail is not as popular in Britain as
it
is in America, where some circular mailers work full-time at
this
task, referred to colloquially as 'envelope stuffing', and
earn
massive profits in the process.
The
Two-Stage Sell (Enquiry Method)
Here,
sales are sought by means of advertisements placed, inviting
interested
parties to write for further information in respect of
the
offers concerned.
Success,
for those deciding to use this method of selling, demands
an
ability to write potent advertisements; not advertisements that
will
then be left to stand for all time, but which will instead be
regularly
monitored for effect. Advertisements
that prove good at
one
point in time, might find themselves left behind as fashions
and
tastes change. An effective advertising
policy therefore, is
one
never allowed to stand still or stagnate.
Costs
of advertising will usually be at a set rate per word, that
rate
differing between individual magazines, and depending to a
great
extent upon circulation figures.
It's
a mistake to assume that costlier display advertising will
prove
more effective than the straightforward classified
alternative. This is not always the case; the display
advert may
indeed
attract more sales but costs may be much greater, even
prohibitive,
when considered as a percentage of the products'
price.
Research
has shown certain words to have a great 'pulling' effect,
that
is they lead the potential customer to read the
advertisement,
and having finished reading it, they feel the need
to
find out more about what it is you are offering - you have an
enquiry!
Included
amongst those words are such as: FREE UNIQUE
AT LAST!
NEW REDUCED
AMAZING EXCITING NOW
YOU DISCOVER
HOW
TO FREE JUST PUBLISHED SECRET
SUCCESS
MILLIONAIRE WEALTH
CASH RICH. Using these words where
appropriate,
can greatly increase your chances of an enquiry
resulting. Don't over-use such terminology though, for
fear of
creating
an air of suspicion between yourself and your readers.
Don't
be afraid either, to study other peoples' advertisements,
particularly
those that have remained unchanged for some time.
Unless
the person placing the advertisement is doing so solely for
the
good of his or her health, it's more than safe to assume the
words
chosen to convey the message concerned are working, and
working
well! The same word, used in several
long standing
advertisements,
is one you should try to incorporate into your
own.
There
are many guides available which will take you through the
path
of successful advertising, although in the final analysis to
become
a successful advertiser is something the individual
achieves
with experience - if at first it doesn't work, don't give
up. Try again - you will get it right!
Perhaps
surprisingly, when deciding just where to place your
advertisement,
you should first of all turn to those publications
favoured
by your competitors. Yes, you will be
competing for a
share
of the market, but the mere fact that they choose a
particular
publication, is sufficient to prove that the medium
concerned
is effective. For business guides, and
many, many other
mail
order offers, 'Exchange and Mart' ranks as one of the best
advertising
mediums available today.
Selling
'Off the Page'
In
this case, either by means of classified or display
advertising,
the trader attempts to solicit an order from the
customer,
without the need to provide any further information.
For
obvious reasons, the cost of advertising in this manner is
going
to be much greater than for the enquiry method, since much
more
information must be conveyed to the reader, if that person is
to
be persuaded to reach for cheque book and pen.
Possibly
an advertising technique best reserved for only very high
profit
margin goods, this is something you can bear in mind for
the
future; it's not advisable for the newcomer to mail order to
advertise
in this way, except perhaps in respect of items which
can
be sold by means of a full-page or display advertising block,
in
the smaller, and less costly mail order magazines.
This
method can be very effective in respect of selling
information
and services to fellow mail order traders and
opportunity
seekers, in the many magazines published, usually
privately,
for these particular groups. Details of
some of these
publications
are listed at the end of this guide.
Where
does the Circular Mailer come in?
Circular
mailing is one of the very best means by which to earn
good
profits, without the need to hold any stock at all.
Sometimes
the mailer works for commission; sometimes not.
In the
latter
case, the mailer charges a set fee, often to many mail
order
dealers, in return for which he or she takes over all
responsibility
for hiring lists, stuffing and addressing
envelopes,
and subsequently posting them out to prospective
clients.
The
mailer may also offer to print the circulars concerned, unless
of
course the principal dealer wishes to provide the circulars
himself.
Introduction
to Circular Mailing
The
mailer receives circulars from the prime source; he or she
then
is charged with the task of sending out copies to appropriate
individuals
and organisations.
All
of the basics regarding mail order trading, standards of
professionalism,
secrets of successful advertising, and so on,
apply
equally to the circular mailer as to the big-time mail order
operator.
Sometimes
the mailer will be sent circulars free by the principal
dealer
often referred to as the 'prime source'; sometimes a token
charge
will be made for them. Alternatively,
the mailer may be
provided
with a master copy which he or she is then expected to
have
copied for himself.
When
the circulars arrive, there will more than likely be no
address
included to which the customer must send his or her order.
The
circular mailer must therefore type or rubber stamp his
address
in the blank space provided.
For
reasons of professionalism, handwriting rarely looks good on
these
circulars, and in fact can cheapen the most professional of
typeset
communications. You can of course have
your name and
address
typed onto one copy which is then photocopied.
You can
instead
rubber stamp your name and address, particularly if you
are
supplied with your circulars, and obviously do not want to
throw
them aside in favour of photocopied versions bearing a typed
address. Rubber name and address stamps can be made to
a very
high
standard, and many firms advertising in the smaller mail
order
magazines will provide you with suitable equipment for very
little
cost. Local stationers too, often offer
a similar service.
Sticky
labels bearing name and address can also be used, but the
cost
in this case is much greater than the alternative of rubber
stamping
the necessary details.
Once
you have an adequate supply of circulars ready for mailing,
you
buy stamps and envelopes, then take steps to obtain a good
mailing
list, even if that means paying a proportionately higher
fee
for such. You are working to commission
remember, and the
more
sales you make, the greater will be your own rewards.
Don't
be tempted to buy a very cheap list, unless you can vouch
for
its 'freshness', as may perhaps be the case in respect of a
supplier
you personally trust to provide you with suitable names
and
addresses.
Cheaper
lists very often consist of people no longer interested in
such
as what you offer, as well as potentially many 'gone aways'.
Don't
take the risk with your credibility as a mailer. If you
provide
the prime source operator with little in the way of
orders,
he or she is unlikely to consider you as a worthwhile
prospect
in the future.
Remember,
if you work without commission, it is of paramount
importance
that you obtain a good list; your business will be
doomed
to immediate failure if no orders are forthcoming to the
mail
order dealer entrusting you with sending out circulars on his
behalf. He will remember, get all of the orders
direct - or no
orders,
as the case may be. In the latter case,
it must be more
than
obvious that your future orders from that particular source
will
also come to an abrupt end. Any 'gone
aways' to find their
way
back to the principal operative will serve to indicate the
inferior
quality of the list you have used. Only
absolute madmen
cut
corners in this way!
Sometimes the supplier of commission circulars has his
own name
and
address printed on circulars, with orders therefore being sent
directly
to him, upon receipt of which your commission is
calculated
and forwarded to you. Only you can
decide whether this
variation
is suitable to you; it actually does not reduce your
workload
to any significant extent, though in respect of those
receiving
many orders, it will of course reduce the postage
required
to forward orders received by yourself, to the principal
dealer.
A
word of caution which I feel might even be unnecessary - it may
be
as well to decide whether you have a good working relationship
with
the supplier before you enter upon an agreement whereby he or
she
receives all orders. In some
disreputable firms, and there
are
thankfully few, the commission earned by the mailer has not
been
forthcoming! I enter this caution with
all due respect to
the
vast majority of reputable firms employing such practices
within
their selling strategies.
Commission
Circular Mailing
Here
your commission comes from sales that ensue from literature
you
send out; obviously no sales made, means no profit earned.
Often
you will be offered 50% of the cost price to the customer,
this
amount normally being deducted by yourself before you forward
the
remaining 50% with the customer's order form to the principal
supplier. The amount you earn can vary; sometimes it
will be
greater,
sometimes less than 50%.
For
obvious reasons, taking into account the time taken and cost
of
materials to yourself, you should choose those items you wish
to
promote with the utmost care. Sometimes
a circular offering
only
25% to you as the seller will yield a far greater
accumulation
of profits than will one offering 75%.
The secret of
course
lies in testing the profitability of your mailings.
You
can test by sending out a similar number of circulars for each
item
you are promoting, preferably sending all addressees the same
information
package. When orders begin to come in,
some offers
will
reveal themselves as more popular; these are the ones you
should
stick with. Remember though that because
prices and
percentage
profits vary between items promoted, you must also take
into
account higher profits earned from a lower level of sales.
To
demonstrate, if you have two items each costing œ10 to the
customer,
one of which earns you 50%, the other 75%.
In respect
of
that earning 50%, or œ5.00 on each sale, ten orders will earn
you
œ50. That which offers 75% or œ7.50 per
sale requires you
only
to produce seven orders to yield what will in fact exceed
œ50. Bear this in mind when testing profitability,
and remember
that
conversely, an items offering 75% commission on each sale is
useless
to you if simply no-one wants what it is you offer, but
25%
of a massive best-seller - that's something altogether
different!
As
mentioned earlier, in some cases the orders will come straight
to
you, ready for you to deduct commission; at other times the
supplier
of the goods will receive orders and send your commission
to
you.
Where
you choose to sell by means of mailing lists received from
brokers
or other sources, always key them in some way, in order
that
you can test the quality of the list. A
simple code, based
on
the initials of the list broker, placed on the order form will
serve
your purposes. When orders are
forthcoming, simply count
the
number of codes returned from each list; those which result in
no
orders should be viewed with caution in the future; those which
result
in anything of a 5% response rate and over, are worth
following
up with a further order.
Your
code should also include some method by which you can
identify
the actual list you purchased, perhaps also the date
concerned. To illustrate, a list purchased from 'Better
Brokers'
in
January 1991, could have the following code placed at the
bottom
of the circular on that portion which the customer returns
to
you: 'BBJa1'.
When
acquiring your list, make sure you know what your rights are
in
respect of those details received. Some
you may be able to use
time
and time again, even re-sell to other interested parties.
Others
you are allowed to use only once, often with a follow up
'reminder'
being permitted.
Non-Commission
Mailing
The
mailer here sends out literature in respect of which the
holder
of stock will receive all orders and all monies sent. The
service
offered is one which alleviates any need for the principal
supplier
to carry out mailings. You therefore buy
a list, address
the
envelopes, sometimes print the circulars on the supplier's
behalf,
obtain the stamps, stuff the envelopes, and mail the
offers
out.
For
the service, the supplier pays you a set fee for a set number
of
circulars mailed. Some operating this
service will send out as
few
as 100 circulars each time, others require larger mailings,
for
which the charge will often be significantly lower.
Several
clients' circulars can be sent out in a mailing, each
envelope
including a batch of different offers, but if possible
not
including any that compete with others.
You should out of
concern
for your customers, and taking into account your need for
their
future custom, endeavour to check that similar offers are
not
included in the same batch. If you have
competing orders,
leave
the surplus for a future mailing.
Don't
try to cut postal costs by over-stuffing the envelopes; it
looks
tatty and can actually result in far fewer orders, than
would
a mailing in which only five or so circulars are placed in
each
batch.
It
is generally accepted that where a clients' circular is placed
on
one side of a page, and the other side is blank, that you will
print
another, even your own promotion on the other side. This
can
of course save on paper and postage.
Always make this clear
to
your customer however, since some simply do not want to have
their
offers 'backed' with others.
A
variation on the 'backing' theme exists where you agree on a
lesser
mailing fee, if the client allows your own offers to be
printed
on the reverse of the circular he provides.
Various
other arrangements exists such as 'You Print I mail'
agreements,
which as the name might imply, if you photocopy on the
other
persons' behalf, they will mail out the circulars.
Conversely,
'I Print You Mail' is another way for the mailer to
cut
his own costs by having printing undertaken on his behalf.
Since
we deal in this guide with making actual profits from
mailing
out other people's offers, we need not concern ourselves
unduly
with these variations; suffice to consider them only in
that
you may acquire a taste for mail order, and decide to make
offers
of your own, in which case you might wish to consider all
ways
of cutting costs whilst increasing circulation to potential
customers.
The
rules concerning the acquisition of good mailing lists, or
carrying
out effective two-stage advertising are just as important
whether
you choose to work to commission or by way of a set fee.
A
bad list = few or no orders = little or no commission, and
almost
certainly no further orders from the client who entrusted
you
with his mailings.
Mailing
lists
Mail
Order is big business and exists in almost all areas of
commerce. Lists will therefore exist in respect of
those buying
or
enquiring about many hundreds of items, and it goes without
saying
you should choose a list relevant to the item or items you
are
promoting. Consider how pointless it
would be hiring or
buying
a list from 'Joe Bloggs, Garden Equipment Supplier', as a
working
list by which to promote Business Opportunities. You
might
of course obtain a few orders by choosing an inappropriate
list,
but you'll obtain far more from a list of clients whose
needs
match what you can in fact supply.
Don't
opt for the cheapest list you can find; chances are it will
be
outdated, it might not even consist of genuine buyers and
enquirers. Choose instead those lists for which you will
have to
pay
a little more. It will prove worthwhile
in terms of the
increased
orders that will almost certainly come your way.
Standards
of Professionalism
In
business, particularly more so in the field of mail order, it
is
of vital importance that a professional image is conveyed to
the
recipient of your mailings, as well as to those for whom you
intend
to offer a mailing service.
'First
Impressions' are lasting impressions, and you will serve no
useful
purpose by sending out tatty communications; by printing on
an
old inefficient photocopier; by purchasing cheap envelopes; by
forcing
too many circulars into those cheap envelopes, thereby
displaying
the contents to all and sundry once the envelopes start
to
split open.
A
good letterhead is equally important even though not everyone
will
receive one with their mailings.
Suppliers of the products
you
promote, will however, have greater confidence in you if your
letterhead
conveys an image of professionalism.
Choose good
quality
stationery, preferably printed as opposed to photocopied.
A
coloured letterhead is similarly effective in promoting your
image
- never skimp on costs where stationery is concerned.
A
telephone number on your letterhead also serves to increase
confidence
in your ability, as well as indicating that you have
nothing
to hide, by eliminating such communications as may result
with
buyers and sellers alike.
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