How To Make Money Placing Classified Ads

                 

With many small mail order publications, the cost of classified ads is

extremely reasonable. The trick is that you have to run several to pay off

any money unless the publication is not dominated by classifieds. Otheriwse,

people will simply skim them over and more than likely miss your ad.

Therefore, before advertising in any publication, make sure you write and

request a sample copy. This way _ you'll know up front how noticeable your

classified ad will be. You also will know the length of classified ad to run.

     (Example: if most of the ads are short, you can run a longer one and

      be noticed easier.)

Probably the most effective classified advertising is in national publica-

tions like The National Enquirer, Star Magazine and Small Business Opportu-

nities. But who has enough money to pay for a classified ad in these when

the rates are $6 to $10 per word? You do! That's right! Now there is a way

that almost everyone can appear in these highly-circulated and target-

marketed publications for $50 or less!

First of all, get yourself a Voice Mail Box. You can get these through a

wide variety of places but I personally use American Voice Mail. (Contact

them by calling 1-800-347-2861 or by writing them directly at 2233 Barry Ave,

Los Angeles CA 90064.) You don't have to live in California to establish

service with them. You don't have to go through a credit check or have valid

telephone service. You can even have a PO Box with no street address. Anyone

can establish a Voice Mail Service. There are no previous requirements.

Simply call them up and establish your Voice Mail Box over the phone. It

will be activated within 24-hours and the charge is around $10 per month.

You also have to pay the first and last month's charges within 10 days after

establishing your Voice Mail Box, but $20 is very little to invest for the

convenience and marketing advantage that will now be open to you! Once your

Voice Mail Box has been turned on and your payment received the company will

mail you information on accessing your Voice Mail Box and how to leave a

message on it.

Now start placing classified ads asking people to call your Voice Mail Box

number instead of sending in $1 or a first-class stamp for more information

(like you do in your ads now.) When they call, you will have a recorded

message describing your product or service in more detail. At the end of the

message, you will ask the person to leave their name and address so you can

mail them additional information with an order form.

Now, 24-hours a day, your Voice Mail Box service will be working for you. Once or twice a day, you can call the Voice Mail Box y

ourself and retrieve your messages (this doesn't cost you anything.) Write down the names and addresses and immediately send the

m follow-up materials as promised.

You would be amazed how effective this form of marketing really is. The call

doesn't cost you anything and you have up to 2 minutes on your recording to

tell the caller more about what you're selling. It sure saves classified word

space and cost _ plus, callers are more excited about your product or service

when they hear a "real" voice telling them about it. You'll get a lot of

fantastic leads and increased business!

Here are a few examples of classified ads you can run in national publica-

tions that will draw inquiries for you:

                Start your own publishing business.

                Call (number) Make money with me.

                Call (number) Free business information.

                Call (number) Start a real business.

                Call (number) Free gift.

                Just call (number) Make $1,000's.

                Call (number) Stay home and make money.

                Call (number)

Of course it depends on the product you are trying to sell. You want to make

your ad generalized so a lot of people will call it and listen to your

message. You can qualify them and eliminate people not interested in your

product or service because when they call, you'll tell them everything you

wanted to say in a classified. If they listen to the entire message and leave

their name and address to receive your materials _ they are probably

interested in what you have to sell.

However, don't be too generalized. If your product is bookkeeping services,

say "Low-cost Bookkeeping services. Just call (number)." If you offer items

for re-sell, say "Distributors needed for new product. Call (number)."

And if you sell gift-type items, say "Free gift catalog. Call (number)."

After you test a few out first in the low-cost publications _ you'll be

ready for the big time! Have fun!

Doing Business In July Or August

Whoever started the nasty rumor that mail order business is very slow

during the  months of July and August is dead wrong. In case you are new

to the world of mail order you are likely to believe this rumor.

The sad part is that a lot of people in the business really believe it!

Why do they believe it? Because they have been told by someone else and the

rumor was considered "gospel" _ so that someone told someone else and so on,

and on, and on.

What people don't realize is that there is foundation to this rumor. The

only reason the mail order business MAY slow down in the summer months is

because of the nature of the product being sold. Try selling winter clothes

in July!

Some people will go so far as to stop advertising during the summer months

because they are convinced they won't get any sales. Because of the drop in

revenue for publishers, due to this line of thinking - everybody suffers

and they keep the rumor alive and true. Only people believing this lie is

making it happen. Nothing more!

Think about it this way: Don't people still read magazines and newsletters

during the summer? I've never seen Globe or The Enquirer stop publishing

during those months. Don't people still open their mail during the summer?

I don't think the whole world stops paying their electric bill from July to

September - and it comes through the mail.

       

And it would seem to me that the majority of the population would have MORE

TIME to read and study offers through the mail during their vacation than

during their working hours. Don't people watch more TV, spend time at home

catching up on neglected chores and sleeping during their vacation? So if

these people have more time to relax during their vacation, wouldn't they

have more time to dedicate to reviewing your ads and circulars that come

through the mail? Lillian Vernon even keeps busy during the summer months!

Isn't she a part of mail order like us too? If the big companies are still

doing business during the summer months _ what makes the smaller dealers

any different? Like I said before _ "who" started this rumor. It couldn't

have been originated by the big companies could it?

It will probably be hard for a lot of you to choke down this concept

immediately. You have been programmed for years that the mail order business

is slow in the summer months. You have convinced your mind that this rumor

is true. It will take awhile to re-program your mind to the truth and I

sincerely hope this report helps you.

There are so many people "hung up" on the statistical data of exactly how

to run a mail order business. Here are some other rumors:

1.  Handwrite your envelopes instead of using a peel-n-stick address

    label. (Come on folks - this is the 1990's - the age of the computer.

    Nobody has time to sit down and hand address 1,000 envelopes anymore.

    This rumor might have worked back in 1920 when the average mail order

    dealer only mailed 10 or 15 envelopes per week _ but we are mailing

    100 times that amount now.)

2.  Only mail on Tuesday to arrive by Friday. (With all the inconsistencies

    in our postal system and UPS, you can never be guaranteed the day your

    letter will arrive. Everyday is a business day! It doesn't matter what

    particular day you mail. This is nonsense.)

3.  Dress your envelopes up to attract attention, such as placing sparkles

    and hand-drawing diagrams on the outside. (This is nonsense! In fact,

    this only cheapens your envelope. YOU have a business and your

    correspondence should appear like you are an established business.

    We're not playing pen-pal games here and we're not teenagers anymore.)

4.  Mail in a window envelope so the person receiving it will think it's

    a bill or check. This way they will open it faster. (Bull! Any

    established business opens all their mail. In fact, I never pay any

    attention to the outside of the envelope. I open them all! What matters

    the most is the content of the material inside and how it's presented.)

Now - please do the mail order industry a great big favor and pass the word

around. Let's keep busy making our businesses work like businesses. Don't

hold yourself back because of all these nasty rumors.

       

The Cheapest Way To Distribute 81/2 X 11" Circulars

Co-op Mailing (short for co-operative)  means that two or more businesses

share in the cost and distribution of a direct mail campaign. It's kind of

like having you and another non-competing business split the cost of

printing, assembling and mailing an advertising flyer to a shared (same)

marketbase.

Co-op dealing is very beneficial (and usually safe) for everyone involved.

One example of co-op dealing in mail order is to send your 8 1/2x11" camera-

ready circular to a co-op printer and they'll print your ad on one side,

their ad on the back side and ship them back to you for a low cost of around

$10 per 1,000. You get your printing almost free and the other dealer gets

his or her flyers mailed on the back of yours free.

But what do you do with them when they are mailed back to you? If you're new

to mail order it's doubtful you have a mailing list to distribute them to.

Plus, postage costs alone would run you about $290.00 first-class. At this

rate it would have been cheaper to send the camera-ready to a tabloid or

adsheet publisher rather than by a co-op. But don't despair.

Simply have the printer ship your copies to a co-op circular mailer instead

of sending them to you. A couple good circular mailers we recommend are BMG

Services, PO Box 429, Johnson KS 67855 (your cost is only 1c for 8 1/2x11

pre-printed circular) or Thorn Gifts, 1807 Stillwater #5, St Paul MN 55119

(your cost is only 5c for each 8 1/2x11 pre-printed circular.) Why the

difference in price? BMG mails by bulk rate and Thorn mails by first-class.

Either method is effective and sure beats paying 29c each.

In addition, you benefit from the mailing list of the circular mailer. If

this particular mailer sells a mailing list, having them do a 1,000 or 5,000

"test" mailing for you would be a way to test their names. You should get a

few responses from a mailing of this size but it all depends on "what" you

are offering and the "price" you are offering it for. It's very difficult to

sell any item for more than $50 on a 8 1/2x11" circular. For items costing

more than $50, you need to use the two-step approach. In other words, use

the 8 1/2x11" circular to generate inquiries and follow-up with the complete

sales materials that constitute the higher price the customer may decide to

pay.

Another idea is that you could contact a dealer with products and services

not conflicting with your own and ask them to co-op mail for you. In this

deal, you would pay for the 2-sided printing (with the mailer's ad on back

of yours) and he/she would mail them for you free of charge. It works!

Another way to co-op deal in mail order is by co-op advertising. High

Mountain Advertiser and Popular Advertiser are both long running co-op

publications. You place your ad the first time through a dealer and all

future ads are 50% less. Then you have the option of mailing pre-printed

copies with your name in the publisher's block as an authorized dealer.

When other people order advertising, they will send their orders to you.

You keep 50% of the money and send the rest (along with the order) back to

the publisher. This way, you can have your 8 1/2x11 circulars printed and

mailed in a publication at a 50% savings.

Coal Publishing, 27 South 4th Avenue, Highland Park NJ 08904 also offers

co-op advertising in their "Small Business Keeps America Growing" tabloid.

For the low cost of $35 per tabloid-size page, you can have your 8 1/2x11"

circular along with four 2-inch ads printed and mailed to a whopping 5,000

circulation. All you are responsible for is the mailing of 200 of them.

Any beginner can handle mailing 50 per week to a mailing list or to their

own customers. Besides, no one can offer you a 5,000 honest circulation for

this price. This is a real money-saver!

If you market the direct mail method, it's a good idea to send a good

circular you plan to keep around for awhile to a mail order printer and

have 1,000 printed on 1 side. Then, you can use the back of 100 or so for

testing purposes of other circulars. Run down to the copy shop and run the

circulars through the copier by printing on the back side. Only run 100 or

less and send them to the best names you can find. If they pull orders, you

may have a winner and can have 1,000 printed. Nothing is more annoying than

being stuck with 1,000 circulars with something you want to mail on one side

and something outdated on the back.

NOTICE: Rates and prices shown here were current at the time of writing.

Call for quotes.

       

How To Beat Depression!

Here's the story of a small, almost successful mail order entrepreneur, and

how he overcomes the blues that comes with his way of conducting business:

What an adrenalin rush! Last week when I visited the post office my post

office box was overflowing with orders.  One day, I had to get a plastic

container just to carry the mail home. At the end of the week, I had made

about $1,200 in orders!

Unfortunately, I spent money to stock up on inventory. I anticipated

receiving the same type of business the next week to make up for any

overspending I had done this week.That did not happen.

The next week brought in a total of $150 in orders _ and the week after that

brought in only $10!       After that,  depression set in. I kept saying

"What will I do now? I spent the $1,200 and only have $80 to my name. Rent

will be due in a couple weeks and I'm flat broke _ simply because I let money

go to my head because I was temporarily "rich."

This is one example of how a business works sometimes and it's important to

not take everything for granted. As employees of other companies, we were use

to the fact of receiving a paycheck every week. Whether we worked hard or

not, our paycheck was always the same and always on time. All we had to do

was put in our 8-hours, 5-days a week.

Also, we were not used to spending any money to fill orders. If we needed to

mail something, we sent it to the mail room or ran it through the postage

meter. As employees, we didn't pay for the postage out of our own pockets.

Our employer took care of it. That also goes for supplies. If we ran out of

paper for our typewriter, we went to the supply cabinet and got a pack out.

We never worried about spending our own money to pay for office supplies.

But when you own and operate your own business money is hard to come by

especially the first few years. You generate your own income! So instead of

thinking about riches and glory _ think about improving upon what you already

have. If you have a $1,200 week pat yourself on the back _ but don't be

stupid like I did and spend it thinking you'll have the same amount next week. This may not happen for another 6 months!

Instead, find out "why" you generated this much money one week and hardly

anything the next week. Did you stop marketing because you didn't think you

had to anymore? Did you spend time filling all those $1,200 worth of orders

and generating back-end sales? (A back-end sale is placing some form of

advertising in with the orders you fill that will generate additional sales.

These items should be for products and services that either compliment or are

the same as the product the customer purchased.)

Were all the orders that made up the $1,200 week for the same product or

different ones? Where did you advertise in order to generate this response?

Was it a specific publication or a combination of several of them? Were the

orders for something that people run out of frequently (i.e., printing,

typesetting and advertising?) If so _ you can have a special offer for these

same customers in a few weeks with a money-saving coupon for them to use.

This will generate repeat business and the likelihood of another $1,200 week

in the near future.

However, if you do spend the money like I did and depression sets i,

just sit down for a moment and reflect on what you do have: a roof over your

head, food to eat, a legitimate business that will grow and possibly steady

out in the future, peace of mind and the ability to work on your own without

employers and people breathing down your neck!

In addition _ if you spend the money and cannot buy the supplies to fill the

orders, DON'T just avoid your customers and hope they'll understand. Instead,

send them a postcard that simply explains that you had such a large response

that you sold out of the item. Tell them approximately "when" their order

will be filled and "when" to expect it. If you can't possibly fill the order

within 30 days, give your customer the option of getting their money back or

better yet _ issue them a Credit Voucher to use on future purchases.

If you have no income at all and cannot possibly refund people's money offer

them something in return that you can provide. You need to find some way to

compensate your customers. Remember that they trusted you enough to see your

ad, write out a check and spend their hard-earned money on you. They may not

have a lot of money either. Avoiding them will turn you into a "rip-off"

artist with no future in the industry!

Why Do Companies Ask For Your UPS Address?

When we began providing printing services for our customers (in order to

provide full publishing services), little did we realize that so many people

would get so upset and negligent in providing us with a simple UPS address

to ship their order to them. Therefore, I hope this report helps.

UPS is short for United Parcel Service. They are a separate company from

the United Postal Service and for some reason or another _ cannot reach an

agreement to deliver mail to a post office box address. This makes it hard

for all of us in mail order, but there is a way around that: Provide a UPS

shipping address when you place a large order.

What is your UPS shipping address? Your STREET address or anything other

than a post office box. Everybody has a UPS shipping address. My mother

lives in a town of 300 people and all her mail goes to a post office box.

It's required for every citizen in Dante, Virginia to have a post office

box and to use it as their address. However, her UPS shipping address is:

Third House on Rte 1420. Yes! Bizarre as it seems _ everyone has a

UPS shipping address. If you don't know yours, simply call your local

United Parcel Service and find out what it is.

Why don't mail order dealers just ship your printing or product orders by

Parcel Post or 3rd class through the post office? Several reasons _ and

good ones:

1.   Most mail order dealers have a UPS account. This means the

     UPS truck comes right to their door every day and picks up packages.

     They don't have to haul heavy packages in the car, drive to the

     post office and stand in line to pay a clerk. Besides _ the cost is

     only $5 per week for anybody to open up a UPS account and if you are

     shipping packages several times per week _ the $5 cost is certainly

     justified!

2.  The customer saves a lot of money when a dealer ships their package

    by UPS. Shipping 1,000 envelopes (13.7 lbs) would cost around $6.00

    at the post office but only $2.60 by UPS.

3.  The customer will get their order quicker. If a dealer mailed the same

    package to you through the post office it could take from 2-3 WEEKS for

    you to receive. UPS only takes 2-3 DAYS in most cases!

4.  The customer's order is automatically insured for up to $100 by UPS.

    If the dealer mailed the same package through the post office, he or

    she would have to pay an additional charge for insurance.

You should now be able to see "why" providing your printer or mail order

company with a UPS shipping address is as important to you as it is to them!

However, some people don't want anything shipped directly to their home

because they might not be there or a family member might get the package

instead.  UPS has a bad reputation for leaving packages inside a screen

door if no one is home _ opening up the opportunity for theft.

Therefore, you have 4 choices: (1) You can have the package delivered to

your employer's address (or wherever you might be during the day); (2) to

a friend or neighbor's address (who is home most of the time); (3) leave a

note on your door to NOT leave any UPS packages and pick them up yourself;

or, (4) pay an additional postage charge for the dealer to ship your order

to your post office box address.

The best rule of thumb for determining additional cost in sending to your

post office box address would be about 40% ADDED on to the total amount of

your order. Why 40%? Isn't that too much for shipping charges? You must

remember: not only does the dealer (or printer) have to pay the additional

postage charges but they have to haul it to the post office themselves

during office hours, take time away from their daily business, stand in

line holding a heavy package and drive back home. For our printer, this

is a 18 mile round trip. (Not everybody visits the post office everyday,

even though they are in mail order.)

Just recently we received a rude comment from a customer who refused to

provide us with his UPS address and demanded we ship to his post office

box. He said: "I'm not in the UPS business and I'm not in the phone

business _ I'm in the mail order business!" (He didn't want to place a

call to our office to talk to us about this so we didn't have a chance to

educate him on how this situation is out of our control.)

However, the United Parcel Service IS part of the mail order business,

and calling people IS part of the mail order business too.

So the next time you place an order that you know will be sent back to

you in a box (like printing), take the time to make sure you provide the

company with your UPS shipping address OR send extra money!