tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79672944589719819272024-03-14T01:21:43.468-05:00Victor Quinonez's BlogVictor Quinonezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08629539196230436272noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967294458971981927.post-61396227581085980232009-07-10T22:36:00.000-05:002009-07-10T22:38:31.172-05:00SUPER SALES BOOSTERS YOU CAN START FOR NEXT TO NOTHINGMaximizing profits involves cost-cutting methods of selling<br />your products. We are assuming for this article that you, like<br />most marketers are specializing in information and publications<br />marketing.<br /><br />The best way to increase sales cheaply and effectively is to<br />offer more items at any given time, and here's how to do it. By<br />all means examine every commission circular you see for<br />possibilities. It might be worth carrying. Camera-ready<br />circulars are available for most of the publications you see in<br />your mailbox, and all you need are a group of them on file that<br />can be reprinted as needed.<br /><br />In all cases, we repeat, DO NOT rubber-stamp your commission<br />circulars. Insert your name and address with dry type such as<br />Pres-Type, Geotype or Letraset. A professional appearance is a<br />must.<br /><br />If you've been in business for a while, you already know what<br />your bestsellers are and how to test new items. If you have<br />reports collections and other good items that are not such hot<br />sellers, keep your leftover circulars and include them WITH<br />PRODUCT when you fill an order from your home. Include as many<br />as you can up to the postal limit that applies to the product,<br />and you're basically sending it free of charge.<br /><br />As you have probably seen by now, we advise all our customers to<br />shop wisely but to continue learning about the business, and if<br />you have a slow-moving product which is nevertheless is an<br />excellent item for a small order dealer to own, this is an ideal<br />way to move it.<br /><br />It's an excellent idea to include a freebie when doing a direct<br />mail. This works especially well if you're handling a lot of<br />popular items. Chances are a good many of your packets will go<br />to people who try to get on a number of lists to keep abreast of<br />the latest offers, and since so many of them are so vague,<br />they'll be much more responsive to someone who can give them an<br />idea of what they'll be receiving.<br /><br />If you currently handle chain letters and report collections of<br />dubious value, it might be cheaper to drop them altogether than<br />to continue to include them, even if they do make you a small<br />profit. First time buyers are truly shocked when they see some<br />of the terrible scams going around in mail order, and you'll<br />lose them forever if you turn them off, which is never your<br />intent.<br /><br />You can make this absolutely painless. You might like to try<br />putting your best reports on the backs of your best circulars,<br />maximizing the value of each sheet of paper. If you're not<br />doing it now, you had better try doubling up your circulars at<br />the very least.<br /><br />One of the best follow-up offers you can give your non-dealer<br />customers, and you can tell which if your customers is a dealer<br />and which is not by the kinds of items they order, is a quality<br />book catalog. Melvin Powers, DAX and others offer excellent<br />dealerships in unusual books, and they pull extremely well on<br />follow-ups.<br /><br />The catalogs themselves are usually fairly heavy and not<br />cost-effective without a quality mailing list (a rare bird<br />indeed) or unless you can get cash up-front for printing and<br />mailing. You'll probably wind up buying some of these books<br />yourself! If you're marketing fairly common items. you've got<br />to have an advantage, something that makes your offer look<br />better than comparable offers for the same items.<br /><br />Unquestionably, the best advantage is a lower price. Free<br />bonuses and rebates won't cut quite as well. The reason is<br />simple enough. The customer might be sold on an item to begin<br />with, but he may be waiting for a better deal to come along. If<br />you're the lowest bidder, you'll get that sale. These sales<br />will not come right away in most cases. They will be trickle-in<br />orders, made by the customer after filing your circular and<br />waiting to see who can match the price.<br /><br />We feel much of the information offered by mail is ridiculously<br />overpriced when introduced, and we have on file dozens of<br />examples of some people offering item X at five, then, even<br />nineteen times the best price offered by others with the same<br />product.<br /><br />If you've been enclosing your own envelopes with return<br />addresses when you send out advertising, you might try a<br />half-and-half mailing to see if they're really pulling more<br />orders.<br /><br />Traditional schools of thought say the return envelopes,<br />especially the business-reply type which allows you to pay the<br />postage for the customer, do pull orders.<br /><br />However, most people use plain printed #8 envelopes without<br />business-reply marking, and especially for the small operator<br />specializing in a few selected items, it may be a poor<br />investment. If so, it's cutting into your profits and taking up<br />valuable weight in the envelopes better served by a circular.<br /><br />Adsheets can be good investments, but in most cases you'll only<br />really profit from them if you're offering something you've<br />developed yourself which can be sold through other dealers.<br /><br />Adsheets are generally advertising's version of the pyramid<br />plan. They circulate only among small time dealers, each trying<br />to get the other to sell what he's selling. Still, if you can<br />put a new twist in the advertising, and run a short ad in<br />selected adsheets (most dealers receive a large number, and<br />subscribing to several dozen is wasteful) asking for full<br />purchase price when they order, and NOT requesting information,<br />you could still do a profitable business, although the cost<br />involved adds up to much more than the usual $1 for a one-column<br />ad. You have to figure your costs in preparing the ad and<br />getting it to each publisher.<br /><br />If you have an article you've developed yourself and you want to<br />put a big push on, a great number of dealers will print and mail<br />your circulars with theirs. The cheapest deal is to have their<br />ad printed on the back. Many of these firms will take your<br />money and run, however, so it would be smart to call and write<br />first, get references from happy customers, and talk to them.<br />If he won't reveal his customer list and still claims to do a<br />good job, well, need we say more?<br /><br />Don't be afraid to compete with other dealers in a print and<br />mail deal if you've got a good product, but you do your<br />homework. It is probably the most cost-effective way to reach a<br />large number o dealers, but take care that you choose a<br />reputable dealer.<br /><br />Multilevel enthusiasts know that many of the better multilevel<br />programs requires substantial amounts of literature to fully<br />explain. If you're not prepared or equipped to expend the time<br />and money required to let every mail prospect know about the<br />programs you're using, why not make up a small half page<br />circular which briefly outlines each program, and offer to<br />refund postage for anyone interested in learning more? That<br />cuts your expenses, gives you inquiries of real value and should<br />take no considerable dent in your eventual downline.<br /><br />This takes five minutes, costs pennies, and give your commission<br />circulars a personal touch that also looks professional.<br /><br />Please stop writing hand-written notes and changes of copy on<br />your commission circulars! Save those hand-written notes for<br />leaders. A close matching letraset message will print<br />beautifully and get the message across much more effectively<br />than a freehand note. When using letraset, take care to make<br />the heading on a separate set of paper, clip the heading and<br />tape it with Scotch brand magic tape (we recommend Scotch<br />because it has a lower peel strength than competitive<br />translucent tapes and is easier removed).<br /><br />Don't do your first heads directly onto the circular or you'll<br />end up with minor mistakes that detract from the impact. Notice<br />how sloppy the "K" looks, and how small a mistake it took to<br />make it that way? (Believe us, your clients will notice<br />mistakes like that!).<br /><br />One cost-cutting method we do not advise is folding your<br />circulars so an outside surface is empty, taping it and mailing<br />it like a newsletter, without an envelope. It looks just plain<br />shoddy. One thing that does look good, however, is the white<br />9x6 envelope instead of the usual wheat-yellow manila envelope.<br />Anything different makes an impact.<br /><br />Speaking of different, try a few of your circulars in two<br />colors, perhaps red and black, especially those which many other<br />dealers are using. It does pull more orders on a competitive<br />item. And don't forget about using colored stock for a few<br />sheets (NEVER for your personal notes), but not too many.<br /><br />If you want to keep your customers for repeat business, don't<br />become a commission agent for mailing list firms unless you have<br />thoroughly researched and used their lists yourself. We<br />personally know of one firm which advertises premium lists, and<br />offers a very attractive dealership, but they have no trouble at<br />all selling our name to no fewer than 25 people in a four-month<br />span who all offer the same product! Those poor people wasted<br />not only the cost of the list, but the cost of the mailing as<br />well, and that is an absolute travesty.<br /><br />By all means, use your personal letters to inform the paying<br />customer of services you've had success with. This tells the<br />customer you're serious about his satisfaction and if he<br />experiences the same success, he'll trust you enough to order<br />from you again.<br /><br />And if you know of any popular plans that are no good, and you<br />have seen that the customer might be considering such a plan<br />from a letter or group of purchases which indicate he's<br />heading in that direction, tell him to steer clear.<br /><br />Finally, and this is absolutely vital to getting reorders, know<br />exactly what you are offering. If you're selling books, own a<br />few of them and read them. If you're selling plans and reports,<br />check them out to make sure they really do what they claim. You<br />are doing your customers a horrible disservice by advertising<br />Plan A as one of your biggest sellers (which may be true) when<br />it's an outdated piece of junk and maybe something you have<br />never even seen.<br /><br />If you're selling gifts from catalogs or other related<br />merchandise, there are really only two things we can advise that<br />will cheaply help sales.<br /><br />First, if you're selling catalogs and having your orders<br />dropshipped from the supplier, write the home office and tell<br />them you'd like to establish contact with other distributors to<br />help each other increase efficiency.<br /><br />It is highly unlikely this request will be turned down. The<br />supplier is every bit as interested in increasing sales as you<br />are, and will probably be happy to send you the names and<br />addresses of some of the company's top producers.<br /><br />Establish regular correspondence with these people and exchange<br />information on what campaigns and techniques are working for you.<br /><br />If you're selling products for which you are the prime source,<br />don't hesitate to send advertising for your other products when<br />you fill orders from newspaper or magazine advertising. If you<br />don't have other products, work an exchange program with other<br />sources and sell their products on commission, and drop-ship the<br />orders from the source of supply.Victor Quinonezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08629539196230436272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967294458971981927.post-80587651204060378902009-07-10T21:06:00.000-05:002009-07-10T21:14:02.421-05:00MARKETING YOUR OWN PRODUCTSOne of the main problems within the "inner circle" of the mail order business<br />is that everyone is selling everyone else's products. Pages crammed full with<br />commission dealerships is turning a good thing out of hand.<br /><br />It's been said over and over again, but newcomers to the industry should<br />realize that they need to develop their own products and services. Commission<br />dealerships are fine to compliment your business if the product is relative<br />to your main product, but everyone should strive for developing their OWN<br />product too. No one will ever get rich dealing in just commission dealer-<br />ships. And people who think this way will give up over a period of time<br />because they go broke. Let's stop this madness and spread the word about<br />becoming a Prime Source.<br /> <br />How do you develop your own specialized product or service? It may take a<br />few months to get your "feet wet" in mail order to determine your particular<br />"niche." However, you should already know the talents you possess inside<br />yourself and what your own capabilities are. There has to be more to your<br />business than making money!<br /><br />What are your hobbies and interests? What would you like to do more than<br />anything else and would you do it if you were not getting paid?<br /><br />Perhaps you would rather write, edit, paste-up or seal envelopes.<br />Dorothy Christian (Shells 345) once explained the "high" she used to get when doing a<br />mass mailing. She loved peeling off labels, sticking them on envelopes and<br />folding the materials to insert. She said that every envelope she stuffed,<br />she felt it would generate a big customer order. This is enthusiasm!<br /><br />Therefore, Dorothy could have developed a specialized or confidential<br />mailing service. Unlike a big mail where she would be mailing circulars in<br />envelopes, but a targeted-mailing for different programs and products.<br />(Example: A circular selling books and reports would be marketed only to<br />book buyers from lists Dorothy would purchase and use for these types of<br />mailings. She also would be careful not to put any conflicting information<br />in this special mailing she was preparing for specific customers.)<br /><br />You can take anything you sell and creatively turn it into your own prime<br />source product. A good friend of mine, Helen VanAllen loved to prepare big<br />mails so she created the "Design-Your-Own-Big-Mail-Package." Customers were<br />presented with a list of the circulars Helen had on hand and they checked off<br />the ones that interested them. This is one example of how an old concept can<br />be turned into something new with a twist that makes it <a href="http://www.twittertrafficmachine.com/?hop=click311">YOUR OWN product</a>.<br /><br />There are several ideas that other mail order folks used to create their own<br />product. You can use the same concept locally also. If you sell vitamins, for<br />instance, you could sell them in individual packets and label them for each<br />day of the week. Use the vitamins from the company you are working with but<br />the individual packets and labels would be your own product. You can also<br />charge more for this personal touch.<br /><br />You are unique! You are an individual who has special talents and interests.<br />Your business should be a reflection of YOU and your own contribution to mail<br />order. Mail order is a wonderful business, filled with some of the best<br />people in the world. But it's up to every one of us to keep it that way.Victor Quinonezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08629539196230436272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967294458971981927.post-71072046503742534032009-06-12T00:27:00.001-05:002009-06-12T00:32:40.246-05:00LOW-COST PROMOTION & MARKETING IDEAS<a href="http://tinyurl.com/og734m"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Promotion and advertising</span></a> can be a heavy expense, especially for<br />a new business that wants to make itself known in a community. A<br />home-based business, however, more often than not, has a very<br />limited budget when it comes to advertising. The home business<br />owner needs to make the public aware of his or her product or<br />service at the lowest possible cost.<br /><br />There are many ways. A pet breeder in a large city was struggling<br />for several years-until he came up with a novel idea. He started<br />giving away customized "birth certificates" for the pets he sold.<br />Almost immediately, his sales rose more than 10 percent.<br /><br />The owner of a new home cleaning service was trying to attract<br />clients. She couldn't afford much advertising, so she began<br />offering "home cleaning seminars" to civic groups. After two<br />months of seminars, she was swamped with inquiries and clients.<br /><br />Promotion often makes the crucial difference between business<br />success and failure. Customers or clients must know about a<br />business or product line before they'll buy and they must have a<br />reason to buy.<br /><br />If you are trying to <a href="http://tinyurl.com/og734m"><span style="font-weight: bold;">promote your business now</span></a>, you can move in<br />one of two directions: 1) You can take the conventional route to<br />promotion and mount an elaborate media campaign, spending a<br />considerable amount of money or 2) You can let your creative juices<br />flow and mount a low-cost promotion effort, using a potpourri of<br />attention-getting gimmicks to bring your message to the buying<br />public.<br /><br />Now, to be sure, conventional advertising is valuable. If your<br />enterprise is large enough or if you're selling numerous product<br />lines, you may find that a full-fledged media campaign is the<br />most efficient and cost effective way to promote your business.<br /><br />If money is tight, however, or you're not sure you can amortize<br />the heavy cost of a media campaign over a period of time, the<br />following is a assortment of low-cost techniques you can try. Not<br />all may be appropriate for your particular business, and<br />certainly it would be costly to try them all. But you're sure to<br />find some ideas that will work for you.<br /><br />GIVEAWAYS. People love to receive "free" items, especially items<br />they can use to gain knowledge or improve their lives. You can<br />base an entire promotional campaign on this desire. If you're<br />running a furniture repair business, for instance, you could give<br />away a furniture repair brochure, free furniture planning guides,<br />or color swatches. Once you begin giving away authoritative<br />information customers will begin to perceive you as an expert in<br />your field.<br /><br /><br />NEWS CREATION. Want to get names and news from your business in<br />the local newspaper? It may be easier that you think. If you<br />don't have any news to report to the local media, create some.<br />Maybe you've taken on a new associate. Or maybe you're selling an<br />unusual product line. Or maybe you've opened a free advice center<br />for the community. Or maybe you've received an award from a civic<br />or professional group. Local Pennysavers and weekly are often<br />quite interested in business news of this sort and can help you<br />attract the attention of thousands of people.<br /><br />EVENTS. You may be able to attract the attention of the media or<br />a crowd by staging a special promotional event. If you run a<br />fitness classes, for instance, you could stage a celebrity<br />instructor day. If you're promoting a new real estate business,<br />you can offer tours of a model home in the area. If you're<br />selling children's products and it's springtime, you can offer<br />lunch with the Easter bunny. Get the idea?<br /><br />CHARITY TIE-INS. Are you launching a new product? Trying to<br />increase visibility among a particular segment of your community?<br />Offer your product to one or more local charities as a raffle<br />prize or for use at a fund raising event. You'll receive lots of<br />exposure among people who buy tickets or attend the event.<br /><br />CONTESTS. Offer a desirable or unique item-or even several<br />items-as contest prizes. First, find a contest theme that tiers<br />into your business. A caterer might offer a quiche-eating<br />contest. A photographer might offer a young model contest. A mail<br />order craft firm might offer an "Early American" handicrafts<br />contest. Invite contest submissions and offer prizes to the<br />winners. Do contests attract attention? You bet. All it takes is<br />a few signs, a small press announcement or two, and the word will<br />spread throughout the community grapevine.<br /><br />COMMUNITY SERVICE. Nothing brings you to the attention of the<br />people faster-or more favorably-than community service. Ask<br />yourself how your enterprise can be a "good neighbor" to your<br />community. If you're running a lawn care and gardening service,<br />perhaps you can offer one season's services at no charge to a<br />needy charitable organization or nursing home in your area.<br />Hundreds of people will hear about your work in the process.<br />Volunteer for various community causes. If appropriate, you can<br />step in during community emergency, offering products and<br />services to help an organization or individuals in need.<br /><br />COUPONING. Americans are very coupon-conscious. Test the market:<br />at what level will coupons increase the volume of various product<br />or service lines? When you get some tentative answers, start<br />distributing coupons that offer a discount on your services.<br />Distribute them to area newspapers, on store counters, in<br />door-to-door- mail packets (which can often be quite<br />inexpensive), at the public library, at laundromats, at any<br />location where people congregate.<br /><br />BADGES AND NOVELTIES. You can easily and inexpensively produce<br />badges, bumper stickers, book covers, and other novelty items<br />for distribution in your area. You can imprint your business name<br />and the first names of the customers on many of these products at<br />little cost and distribute them for free. Or you can tie your<br />novelty program into a contest: once a month, you can offer a<br />prize to any individual whose car happens to carry one of your<br />bumper stickers or badges with peel-off coupons, redeemable at<br />your place of business.<br /><br />CELEBRITY VISITS. With a bit of persistence, you may be able to<br />arrange to have a local media celebrity, public official, or<br />entertainment personally-even a fictitious cartoon character or<br />clown-visit your service. The celebrity can sign autographs, read<br />stories to children, perform cooking demonstrations, or perform<br />any one of a hundred other traffic-building activities.<br /><br />CELEBRATE HOLIDAYS. You'll probably want to celebrate major<br />public holidays with special sales. But celebrate some of the<br />offbeat holidays as well. Almost every business has a few<br />little-known holidays. Ever hear of National Pickle Day, for<br />instance? Or Cat Lovers Month? Once you find the "right" holiday,<br />you can sponsor a special sale or special product arrange special<br />media coverage of a holiday event.<br /><br />GO WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE. Can you open sales information booths at<br />community fairs and festivals? This promotional technique can<br />work for gift retailers, craftspeople, and personal service<br />firms. If you have the people and the time, can you handle<br />regional fairs or even trade shows?<br /><br />MAILING LISTS. Once you begin establishing a committed clientele,<br />gather their names on a mailing list. Save the names from your<br />mail orders and telephone inquiries. Eventually, you'll be able<br />to send product circulars or even catalogs to the folks on your<br />list and you'll be able to promise your products by mail.<br /><br />SCAVENGER HUNTS. If you want people to buy NOW, offer them an<br />unbeatable deal. If they bring an old product-a small appliance,<br />a book, whatever-to you, you'll give them a worthwhile discount<br />on a comparable new item. Or stage a general purpose scavenger<br />hunt. Customers who bring in three canned goods for your<br />community's food bank will receive a discount on products<br />purchased that day.<br /><br />PARTIES. Everyone loves a party. Why not celebrate the<br />anniversary of your business or some special holiday by offering<br />baked goods and beverages? If you're running a service business,<br />perhaps you can offer an open house or obtain a small banquet<br />room in your community. Besides refreshments, be sure the place<br />is brightly decorated.<br /><br />GREETING CARDS. Do you send out greeting cards to major customers<br />or clients? Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries make nice<br />greeting card occasions. Greeting cards create enormous goodwill<br />and keep your name in front of people.<br /><br />SEMINARS. In this information hungry age, people love to receive<br />advice, especially about their personal needs and hobbies. If you<br />sell health foods or run fitness classes, perhaps you can offer<br />"wellness" seminars during lunchtime to your area's business<br />community. If you're an interior decorator, perhaps you can offer<br />one-hour decorating workshops to any group of ten people who will<br />gather in someone's home. If you're running a printing business,<br />perhaps you can offer tours and layout seminars at your plant.<br /><br />If you're not pleased with your promotional efforts today or if<br />you simply must increase your exposure among customers and<br />prospects-it's probably time to increase your publicity efforts.<br /><br />By all means, advertise in the media if you can or must. But<br />don't neglect your greatest promotional asset-your mind. Ponder<br />the products, services, and events you can offer the community<br />and devise a creative promotional strategy around them. You'll<br />have to invest a bit of time and energy in the project, but the<br />payoff will be worth it. You'll save hundreds-or even<br />thousands-of advertising dollars and, better yet, you'll travel a<br />well-worn <a href="http://tinyurl.com/og734m"><span style="font-weight: bold;">shortcut to profit</span></a>.Victor Quinonezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08629539196230436272noreply@blogger.com0