Many people are enticed to become part of the publishing industry because the idea of running ads, receiving orders, taking out 50% as their commission and not doing any actual publishing is simple, easy and sounds like fun. Now, this is all well and good but if this is all you do, you are only fulfilling 50% of your duties. Here is the correct procedure you should follow as an Advertising Broker for any publication:
1. Make sure the ads you are running to sell advertising space looks professional. If not, have them re-typeset. (Typesetters advertise in every mail order publication and are easy to find.) I cannot stress enough how important this is. Even if the publisher supplies you with junky ads imprinted with your name have them redesigned so you not only stand out from the crowd but draw more customers and more income.
2. Keep a notebook of all the publishers you are brokering for. Keep records of their advertising rates, your commission and the amount you are to send. This notebook will help you keep on top of things as well as helping you keep track of the proper commissions you are to keep. Every publisher normally has a different set of requirements and when you are bartering for 10 or 15 publications, things can become confusing very easily.
3. When an advertising order comes in, you should immediately notify the customer that their order was received. Also tell them which publications their ad will appear in (as well as the issue numbers if known.) Then, end your letter with a thank you and ask them to order from you again. Enclose a re-order sheet so the customer can easily place another ad with you next month so you can generate a commission. (Not acknowledging an order and not sending a re-order form will cause the customer to send their order to the publisher instead of you and you will miss out on your commission.
4. It also may be helpful to give the customer the publisher's name and address so they can contact them directly if they don't receive a checking copy. This takes extra work off your shoulders and saves you a long-distance call to check on an order you mailed to a publisher 30 or more days ago. However, make it plain that future advertising orders should come directly to you.
5. If you are sending a lot of ads to a publisher (more than 10), you can do the publisher a big favor by sending them typed labels of all your advertising customers' names and addresses so they will be sure to send them a checking copy. (Note: We all know the scenario of when an advertisement is sent and there is one address on the ad but a distributor actually placed the ad and has a different address. In this case, both parties need to receive a checking copy of the publication.)
Being an Advertising Broker has its financial advantages. The trick is to get a wide range of publications to do ad brokering for. You can't make money just being a broker for one or two publishers you need as many as you can get. (Hint: But make absolutely positive that the publication is solid and has been in business for awhile. If not, the publisher could go out of business, keep the money you sent them for your customer's ad orders and you will be stuck. Then you'll be labeled a scam artist through no fault of your own.)
Advertising Brokers also do well by combining several publications into one huge ad package. (Example: 250,000 circulation in 15 different publications for one certain price.)
So keep building your business and communicate with your customers. They will provide you with repeat business and your bank account will grow larger and larger just from using a little common business sense and tact.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
How to Become a Successful Advertising Broker
Understanding What is Going On Behind The Scenes
Has anyone noticed that the world is growing wickeder and wickeder? I sure have. Can you remember a few years back when human beings would give each other the benefit of the doubt rather than jump to conclusions?
But our human nature began to change because it seemed that every time we trusted someone they let us down or conned us. Naturally, after living through a series of these same situations it's easy to see how one's human nature would become scared and calloused.
Although it's all fine and good to be cautious, there is a problem when you allow yourself to be too cautious. So much so that you destroy your own future. Let me ask you a question: Is it wise to be uptight and cautious about something, so much so that it destroys your business?
Some people play the stock market. In a nutshell, an investor has two choices: (1) Buy a stock that contains no risk but pays low dividends, or (2) Buy a stock that contains risk and pays high dividends. (Playing the stock market is really similar to betting at the horse track.)
Using this basic stock market principle, we also have a choice in business. We can either, (1) Take continual risks in order to have success, or (2) Not take any risks at all and remain in the SAME secure environment (you are in right now) for the rest of your life. The choice is yours!
If you chose Number 1 above, let's start taking some baby steps today by doing one or more of the following:
1. The next time you place an order with a mail order dealer, don't immediately assume he ripped you off 2 weeks later because you haven't received your order. That's nonsense! Most small businesses are small businesses because they don't have lots of employees. Most small businesses are run by only one person who does everything. Perhaps your order arrived when this small business was swamped with work and is running a little behind. Don't go nuts! (Even items you order from television or magazines asks you to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.) Why do you put so much pressure on small businesses to process your order and have it back in your hands within 2 days? Give me a break!
And do you also realize that you probably will destroy your business' future by making an enemy with this small business? That's because you'll probably run into them again and again during the course of your career. Then you'll spend more energy avoiding them , thereby creating negativity that hurts your own business. Accusing people of wrongdoing before you know all the facts is a really stupid move!
2. Having a home business means that you have to develop a business attitude which you can switch on and off at any given moment. Let me explain: If you and your spouse are in the middle of a disagreement and a customer calls you, in order to tend to your customer's needs, you have to put your stressful emotions on hold almost instantly. If not, you'll probably lose the customer. (Try to always remember that someone calling you on the phone cannot see what is happening on the other end of the line.)
3. When you decide to step out of your mold and take a risk, make sure the risk involves something you don't care to lose. For instance, don't risk $100 if you can't afford it. Instead, find an opportunity where you only risk $50.
Now this doesn't mean to buy into worthless programs and low-end money-making opportunities just because they are low-cost. This action does not qualify you as taking risks. Always remember: If you begin a business with little or no money, the road is rough and rocky to make a decent living. But the rewards are worth every bump!
The Right Way To Market With A Fax Machine
Nothing is more irritating for a business to walk into the office one morning and find a whole pile of fax paper on the floor containing nothing but money making opportunities.
In my particular case, I have a small fax machine that uses 49-foot rolls. I cannot buy any larger rolls because of my fax machine's capacity. Each roll costs $2.39. If I receive 50 faxes of nothing buy money making opportunities, naturally I won't read any of them and become angry if another one is sent.
But the person sending the fax has no idea this is happening. In fact, they believe that they are marketing correctly. Why? Because they have been taught by everyone else that "fax blasting" is the way to make money. They are told it is a cheaper and more effective way compared to direct mail. Boy are these people WRONG!
Some marketing experts feel that you have to push your product or service down people's throats to make a sale. This is ridiculous! If someone is forced to buy something just to get rid of you, you will never get any repeat business from this person. In fact, you and your company will leave a bad taste in this customer's mouth and you'll never be able to build a solid business if you do this to all your customers.
What the marketing experts don't tell the people who are instructed to fax blast is that you are NOT supposed to send 5, 10 and 15 pages all at one time. (They assume you know this, but most don't.) Instead, the CORRECT way to fax blast is to write a cover letter about your product or service and give the potential customer a phone number or fax-on-demand number to call for more information. Then you can send the 5, 10 or 15 page fax.
That's right! You must use the two-step method in fax blasts or you won't get anywhere. Not only will you be annoying to the customer, but you also will cost yourself a lot more money than a direct mailing and your chances of a sale are much less because you are annoying people.
Doing a fax blast is the same thing as purchasing a mailing list. In a fax blast you normally purchase fax phone numbers from a company without having any knowledge of who these people are and what they are interested in. Oh sure, those companies will tell you the fax numbers they are selling you are hot prospects and people interested in MLM or money-making opportunities, but how do they know? Do you think they can really tell you the demographics of a particular company's fax number? Of course not. You might have to send out 3,000 fax's before you make one sale. It is worth it?
As with anything else. Before you can close a sale, you have to get the customer to part from their money. In order to do that, the customer must have an interest in the product or service you are trying to sell. You have heard the old saying: You can't sell ice to Eskimos, so you can't sell a product or service to someone who doesn't need it.
A friend of mine purchased a fax phone list from a company and did a fax blast attempting to sell a program that saved homeowners lots of money on their mortgage. He faxed about 2,000 before he called the company and requested the demographics of the fax phone numbers he purchased. He discovered the numbers were for people who rented their dwellings and did not own a home. Naturally, renters would not be interested in saving money on their mortgage when they didn't own a home. My friend lost about $250 because he didn't make one simple phone call.
Marketing with a fax machine is effective if you keep these 2 things in mind. Check out the demographics and only fax 1 sheet of paper.
The Right Way To Market With A Fax Machine
Nothing is more irritating for a business to walk into the office one morning and find a whole pile of fax paper on the floor containing nothing but money making opportunities.
In my particular case, I have a small fax machine that uses 49-foot rolls. I cannot buy any larger rolls because of my fax machine's capacity. Each roll costs $2.39. If I receive 50 faxes of nothing buy money making opportunities, naturally I won't read any of them and become angry if another one is sent.
But the person sending the fax has no idea this is happening. In fact, they believe that they are marketing correctly. Why? Because they have been taught by everyone else that "fax blasting" is the way to make money. They are told it is a cheaper and more effective way compared to direct mail. Boy are these people WRONG!
Some marketing experts feel that you have to push your product or service down people's throats to make a sale. This is ridiculous! If someone is forced to buy something just to get rid of you, you will never get any repeat business from this person. In fact, you and your company will leave a bad taste in this customer's mouth and you'll never be able to build a solid business if you do this to all your customers.
What the marketing experts don't tell the people who are instructed to fax blast is that you are NOT supposed to send 5, 10 and 15 pages all at one time. (They assume you know this, but most don't.) Instead, the CORRECT way to fax blast is to write a cover letter about your product or service and give the potential customer a phone number or fax-on-demand number to call for more information. Then you can send the 5, 10 or 15 page fax.
That's right! You must use the two-step method in fax blasts or you won't get anywhere. Not only will you be annoying to the customer, but you also will cost yourself a lot more money than a direct mailing and your chances of a sale are much less because you are annoying people.
Doing a fax blast is the same thing as purchasing a mailing list. In a fax blast you normally purchase fax phone numbers from a company without having any knowledge of who these people are and what they are interested in. Oh sure, those companies will tell you the fax numbers they are selling you are hot prospects and people interested in MLM or money-making opportunities, but how do they know? Do you think they can really tell you the demographics of a particular company's fax number? Of course not. You might have to send out 3,000 fax's before you make one sale. It is worth it?
As with anything else. Before you can close a sale, you have to get the customer to part from their money. In order to do that, the customer must have an interest in the product or service you are trying to sell. You have heard the old saying: You can't sell ice to Eskimos, so you can't sell a product or service to someone who doesn't need it.
A friend of mine purchased a fax phone list from a company and did a fax blast attempting to sell a program that saved homeowners lots of money on their mortgage. He faxed about 2,000 before he called the company and requested the demographics of the fax phone numbers he purchased. He discovered the numbers were for people who rented their dwellings and did not own a home. Naturally, renters would not be interested in saving money on their mortgage when they didn't own a home. My friend lost about $250 because he didn't make one simple phone call.
Marketing with a fax machine is effective if you keep these 2 things in mind. Check out the demographics and only fax 1 sheet of paper.
How to Advertise Out-of-Circle For $3.00 to $10.00 (U.S.)
The associations listed below represent many different newspapers in the state they operate in. Most newspapers only cost you $3 to $10 for an advertisement and the circulation could be in the millions. But before you run to the phone and start calling these associations, you must remember these two things:
1. Will the product or service you want to advertise appeal to consumer-type people? Before spending any money, look at the classified ads in your own local newspaper under Opportunities or Business. Check and see what other people are selling nationally (normally recognized by 1-800 numbers and out of state addresses.) Is your product or service similar to these?
2. When contacting these associations you must sound like a business professional. You can't have the TV blaring in the background and children crying at the top of their lungs. You also cannot act like you don't know what you're talking about (even if you don't.) Practice your approach before you call. It's okay to not know all the proper techniques at first because you will need to fail in order to learn. Also, it's okay to ask questions. However if you appear to be a "bottom dweller", the association may suspect you are a beginner and not take you seriously.
Here are a few associations to get you started. For a more complete list, go to your library and ask for a listing of State and National Newspaper Associations.
Inland Daily Press Association (Illinois) 847-696-1140
California Newspaper Press, 916-443-5991
Iowa Newspaper Press, 515-244-2145
Colorado Press, 303-571-5117
Indiana Hoosier Press, 317-637-3966
Alabama Press, 205-871-7737
Publishers Association (Washington DC) 202-588-6764
Allied Daily Newspapers (Washington State) 360-943-9960
Kansas Press, 913-271-5304
Arizona Newspaper Press, 602-261-7655
Maryland College of Journalism, 301-405-2399
New Jersey Press, 609-406-0600
New York Press, 518-464-6483
South Carolina Press, 803-254-0345
Wisconsin Newspapers, 608-238-7171
Texas Daily Newspapers, 512-476-4351
Suburban Newspaper of America (Chicago) 312-644-6610
Ohio Newspapers, 614-486-6677
Pennsylvania Newspapers, 717-234-4067
New England Newspapers, (Boston) 617-373-5610
Kentucky Press, 502-223-8821
Southern Newspapers (Atlanta) 404-256-0444
American Press Institute (Virginia) 703-648-1000
Canadian Newspaper Publishers (Toronto) 416-923-3567
Many of you will be able to generate a lot of income with this list. Multi-level marketers especially can do well in consumer-type newspapers. The only difference is that you CANNOT sell dealerships. Instead, you must write your ads to sell the products only. Dealerships scare consumers away. (But dealerships do entice some homebased businesses.)
However, selling a real product FIRST, getting satisfied customers and then selling the dealership (or multi-level concept) will make money for you faster and build a more solid downline of people who are really interested in staying with you for the long-term. My best to you!
How Adsheet Publishers Can Destroy any Publication
How Adsheet Publishers Can Destroy any Publication
Almost 10 years ago I wrote a book entitled "Marketing Your Own Adsheet to Make Money". In this book, I advised people to paste-up their customers' ads on a 8½x11" sheet of paper, then send the whole sheet to a tabloid publisher to run at the 8½x11" advertising rate thereby saving money on their printing and mailing expense.
This idea was great advice 10 years ago because only about 50 or less adsheets existed within a particular market. However, today, there are literally 100's, if not 1,000's of different adsheets. Many of them come and go overnight. And the ones that stay around and use this old method will destroy tabloid publishers without even realizing it.
Let's take an example to help you understand what I mean. Suppose that Sue publishes a tabloid that is printed and mailed to a 5,000 circulation. Let's assume that each tabloid page costs Sue $30 in overhead expense (printing, paste-up time, mailing.) Sue has advertising rates of $12 per 1" of ad space or $80 for an 8½x11" circular.
Now, Lori has an adsheet that is also circulated to 5,000 and she charges only $7 per 1" of space. She sells 24 inches of ad space at $7 per inch for a total income of $168. She pays Sue (the tabloid publisher) $80 for an 8½x11" circular and pockets $88 profit.
So, now Lori is getting all the orders. It won't take long before all the higher-priced adsheet publishers stop sending their adsheet to Sue's tabloid and Sue feels the effect of the loss of income.
Besides, why should they keep sending their adsheet to Sue's tabloid? They are not making a dime because all the other adsheet publishers in the same issue are underbidding them. In the end, Sue's tabloid is destroyed and she goes out of business. And the sad part is that Sue never realized the problem existed.
It would seem the simple solution to this problem is for tabloid publishers to not allow adsheets to be printed in their publications. But that is easier said than done. How many people could give up a $1,200 or more per month income for their tabloid that is based on the sales from adsheet publishers? They have painted themselves in a corner with no way out.
But there is a way to solve this dilemma without any loss of income. All you have to do is not run adsheets as one single 8½x11. Instead, cut the ads apart and run them throughout the tabloid instead of all bunched up in one location. Here are the advantages to doing this:
>The actual customer who paid to advertise in the adsheet will get a better response since their ads are not mixed in with 24 or more other ads in the same location.
>The adsheet publisher can run their masthead as a separate advertisement, thereby still generating an income for their particular adsheet. This way, lots of different adsheet publishers can advertise in the same tabloid with different rates eliminating competition with each other.
>The adsheet publisher will also still get their price break. If they pay Sue $80 for an 8½x11" adsheet, the ad space is only costing them $2.96 per inch, compared to the $12 per inch that Sue normally charges.
>Sue's tabloid still makes money. In fact, she makes a good steady income since she eliminated the unnecessary competition between her adsheet publishers.
But even with all this spelled out in black and white, some of you out there will still not accept this method. Why? Because you are probably from the old mail order school of doing things (or were taught by people who were from the old mail order school of doing things.) You would rather keep doing what you have been doing for the past 20 years although you see no evidence of making more money. People like you, I'm sorry to say, cannot see the forest for the trees.
However, you have to realize that what worked 30, 20, 10 or even 5 years ago may not necessarily work today. That's because there are more homebased businesses and more people living on the planet Earth than ever in recorded history. This fact alone changes the various ways of marketing. Besides the general buying public are of a different mindset than they were 5 years ago. Just look around you.
So, because of this on factor, we all have to bend and make changes in our business or we will never grow and prosper. Always remember that marketing (finding ways to sell a product or service) is a PEOPLE business. You have to change with them to supply their wants and needs.
But for those of you who are happy with barely getting by with your publication, forget everything you just read. It would take effort for you to make changes and I certainly wouldn't want to ask you to do something so strenuous!
At this stage of the game, everyone is happy. Lori made a $88 profit from her adsheet and Sue made a $50 profit from her tabloid. But did she? Let's see what happens when Sue's tabloid is published:
Lester receives a copy of Sue's tabloid and he really likes it. He plans to advertise. However, he notices that he can send Lori his advertisement for her adsheet and pay only $7 instead of sending it to Sue and paying $12. Which person do you think Lester will order from? Lori, of course! Sue just lost a $12 sale!!
Over a period of a few months, Sue notices her income for the tabloid dropping significantly. On the surface, she doesn't suspect that Lori's adsheet is the problem. All she knows is that Lori keeps sending her a monthly adsheet, which is guaranteed money she can depend on. Sue would never think of eliminating Lori's adsheet since she is a repeat customer.
Sue then assumes that it is to her benefit to offer her tabloid's $80 per 8½x11" advertising rates to more adsheet publishers and markets to publishers in this fashion. In a few months, Sue has 15 different adsheet publishers running their full-page adsheets in her tabloid. That's a monthly income of $1,200 for Sue and therefore she finally feels she has been successful in her marketing.
But guess what? When Lester receives Sue's tabloid this time, he noticed that Frank was running an adsheet with rates of $5 per 5,000 circulation. Rather than send his money to Lori's adsheet this month, he sends it to Frank.
In the next issue, Tony comes along and underbids Frank by advertising a 1" ad to a 5,000 circulation for only $4. Lester keeps getting cheaper advertising while all the publishers are losing money.
Pretty soon, Sue's tabloid is filled with nothing but page after page of adsheets. Each one is in direct competition with each other due to the different advertising rates for each adsheet. The person with the lowest priced advertising rates gets
Hidden Truths About Legitimate Scams
What's a legitimate scam? It's a scam that delivers the product or service it claims to but the customer is still left with nothing!
Following are some examples of what I mean. Maybe you recognize a few of them
Establish AAA Credit in 30 Days. All you do is take $500, deposit it in a bank and then ask the bank for a $500 loan (holding your original $500 as collateral.) After getting this loan, you go to another bank and do the same thing. Within 30 days, you actually can be approved for 4 different bank loans, and when you repay them you have AAA credit.
Wipe Out Debts Without Filing Bankruptcy. If you owe 20 different creditors, its common knowledge that only 1 or 2 will show up for your Creditor's Hearing. (Less if you owe less than $5,000 per creditor.) You won't have to file a bankruptcy on the other 18 or so that don't show up personally thereby wiping out your debt with these particular creditors.
How to Stop Credit Collectors Dead in Their Tracks. Just demand that all further correspondence about your debt be mailed to your home. By law, the credit collection agency cannot call you at home or at work again. That's why it's best to send this demand in writing by Certified Mail. This will stop them immediately.
Federal Jobs. This information can easily be found in almost any public library. There is no reason for you to pay for it.
Drug-Seized Cars and Homes. Again, this information can be found free of charge in any public library.
How to Live Abroad Free. Universities and businesses in foreign countries pay handsome salaries to English teachers.
Earn Money Reading Newspapers. This legitimate scam involves being in the middle of a real estate deal. You locate properties for sale by owner and hook them up with buyers (and charge a nice profit for your services.)
College Degrees by Mail. These are imitation degrees you can buy for $50 and $100 for novelty purposes. Many companies sell them through the backs of many national magazines.
Get a Visa or Mastercard Free. Simply apply for a check/debit card at your bank. They will issue you a card that looks like a Visa or Mastercard and deduct the amount you charge from your checking account. Anyone can qualify regardless of credit history. All you need is a checking account.
Borrow Money Interest Free. If you have good credit, you can apply for Over-Draft Protection at your bank. By setting up two or more checking accounts with overdraft protection, you can write checks on money you don't have. Before the check clears the bank, you simply write another check (from one of your other accounts) to cover it. Keep doing this back and forth between your two or more accounts (commonly known as check kiting) and you can have extra cash interest free.
Live in a $150,000 Home Free. Become a house sitter while the owners are away on vacation or other business-related trips. (Of course you must have references.)
Get a Free Mercedes or Other Luxury Car Every Year. Form a non-profit institution and have this institution furnish you with the vehicle of your choice. Another way is to become a used car salesman and qualify for a new car by selling the most cars for the dealership. Another way is to become a Mary Kay Cosmetics Dealer. (Get the picture?)
50% Off Hotels. Just tell the desk clerk when you check in that you are a government employee and qualify for the lowest rate. Most do not ask for identification, but if they do tell them you left it in the car and try another hotel.
Remember friends no one gives you something for nothing! You've heard that before but for some reason you believe that you can. If that were so, someone would have found it by now.
Inside Marketing Information for Entrepreneurs
A friend of mine told me one day, "I hate marketing". I just want to do the work. I replied to him, Then go find a job and work for someone else!
There is no way an entrepreneur can make money or be successful unless they learn how to properly market their product or service. Without marketing, you won't get any orders to process and you won't make any money. Plain and simple!
Advertising is one small way to market. But placing a few ads, doing a few co-op print and mails and completing a 1,000-piece direct mail to a mailing list is only the beginning. At this point, you have only opened your eyes. Now you have to get out of bed and walk!!
Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut, step-by-step methods for marketing. What works for one company may not work for another. What ad works for one may not work for the other. The variances every step of the way are wide. And you can go from one extreme of the scale to another.
Marketing is like opening a safe, to which you have lost the combination to. How many tries and different variances will it take to unlock the safe? For some, it might take 10 tries. But for you, it make take 2 million tries.
Don't Be Discouraged
But don't be discouraged. Marketing is much safer than playing the lottery. And the great thing about marketing is that you get BETTER every time you make a mistake. That's why it is extremely important for you not to brow-beat yourself and think you are a failure when a marketing mistake is made. All you have to do is analyze why you made the mistake and try something different. (Personally, I talk to others about the mistakes I make. It helps me to not secretly hold it inside and brow-beat myself over it. Plus it helps the other person not to make the same mistake I did and we learn from each other.)
The best way to start out learning how to market is to analyze YOURSELF and your buying habits. Why did you buy Wonder bread this week at the store instead of Nature's Own? Why did you shop at Winn Dixie instead of Kroger? What really made you buy that new CD at Wal Mart yesterday? Why do you really go to Sears for your tires?
When the junk mail comes in your mail this week, analyze why some are immediately thrown in the trash and others opened. While thumbing through a card deck, analyze why the ad you stopped to read caught your eye. Was it because you needed the item or was the headline too interesting to pass up? On those rare occasions when you are drawn to an advertisement to the point that you read the whole thing and are excited about ordering the item, keep it in a reference file so you can use it for ideas when writing your own ads.
Summary
This is only lesson one in developing a mindset to getting started in marketing. There are a zillion more ways, techniques and methods we cannot cover in this report. But remember: it will take some time to be successful as an entrepreneur. So if you don't have the patience to wait that's okay. There are lots of jobs working for somebody else. Not all of us can be sellers. We have to have people like you to buy from us.
Do You Sell By Mail Order? Here Are Some Tips to Help You!
Commission Dealers
If you see ads for the same opportunity you are trying to sell, invest a few dollars and have a typesetter design you a completely different looking ad from everyone else that will stand out and be noticed.
When you send your advertising order to a publisher, be sure to include a note that reads: If you have other advertisers selling the same thing I am, please return my ad and payment. This will give you a fighting chance with the competition.
Don't overlook the low-cost of classifieds. One great place to crank out classified ads nationally is National Mail Order Classified, PO Box 5, Sarasota FL 34230. (Send for their info package and include $2 for postage. It's a big package of stuff and contains everything you need.)
Don't limit yourself to advertising only in the inner circle. One way to tell is when you find a publication running the same ads and articles as another publication, they are paper-passing and your ad probably won't get much response.
Don't limit yourself to selling a money-making opportunity. Instead, try selling the product with no strings attached then sell the money-making opportunity to satisfied customers who want to make more money.
Continually strive to develop your own product. Commission dealerships are fine to use in developing marketing skills. But don't die there. Instead, look for a product that you personally are interested in selling. Then, if possible, develop your own similar product that's more improved.
Prime Source Dealers
Don't limit your product to having other dealers sell it as an opportunity. Try to sell it outright with no strings attached and as a full page ad on your own. Or run small classified ads giving away a Free Report which would be returned as sales literature containing good-quality information.
> Be selective when offering dealerships. Keep in mind that every dealer you sign-up is a reflection of your company. You have to pick and choose them like you would when hiring a sales staff. Can the negative thinking that the more dealers you have the more orders you have. Believe me it doesn't work!!
>Be a good Prime Source. Keep a mailing list of all the dealers you have (just like an employer would.) Periodically, drop them a postcard and ask them if they are still participating in your dealership. If not ask them why. Don't abandon them or they will abandon you.
Continually strive to develop new ways to market your product or service. Play around with wording your ads, changing the price of the product slightly, offering extra freebies or not offering them, etc. When you find something that works for you, write down exactly what you did and let your dealers know. Educating them brings in lots more orders for you plus they will feel dedicated to you since they know you are working with them.
To me, owning and operating a homebased business is very important to me. Without it I would have to work full-time for someone else. If you love freedom learn the ways to achieve it in your life.
A Marketing Angle I Use to Sell My Own Products
Businesses to make money with fall under one of these two categories: (1) Service, or (2) Product.
A service business is more specialized to a specific, target-marketed group of people who need the service performed. A product can normally be sold to a wider market and you can span the mail order as well as the consumer market (John Q Public.)
The item I sold was Colloidal Silver, so it fell under the category of product. But the MLM company that manufactured this product kept instructing me to build a downline and sign up as many distributors as possible. Since everyone was given this same advice, I decided to do something different and more exciting.
I learned from a colleague that the consumer market is the most overlooked market for smaller homebased businesses. Big companies market to the consumer, but the little guy is never told to do it. They are led to believe that it's too expensive, which is a lie. In fact, running classified ads all over the country is less expensive per 1,000 than mail order publications.
Now I knew from experience that if I even mentioned the word distributorship to a consumer they will immediately envision door-to-door selling. This, of course, would turn them off. Because of this I knew that marketing with this method would not get me anywhere.
So I used another angle. Why not just sell the product itself with no strings attached? Don't most consumers buy products at the store because they want to use them? When you purchased your living room sofa for instance, did you purchase it so you could re-sell them and make money? Of course not. You bought it, brought it home and used it!
So I wrote 5 different classified ads selling Colloidal Silver for $30 a bottle. I told about the benefits of Colloidal Silver and asked the reader to call my toll-free number to learn more about its health benefits. My toll-free number was a recording that sold the product (not the opportunity.)
I invested $850 to get my 5 different classified ads in newspapers across the country. My cost per 1,000 circulation was 23¢ much lower than mail order and my ad appeared within 2 weeks.
From the $850 investment, I made only $300 of my money back but the idea worked! I analyzed which of the 5 different ads pulled the most response (they were coded), eliminated 3 that didn't and invested another $500 ($200 of my own money and $300 from the first sales) the next week in classified advertising again. This time I made $750 in sales.
The next month I narrowed down the papers that pulled the most orders, added on some more and repeated the procedure. I made another $500 the first week in sales and $1,200 the second week. After processing the paperwork to get these orders filled, I ended up with 100 customers who had purchased the Colloidal Silver and 2 who wanted to join the distributorship in my downline.
Now granted 2 out of 100 is not a lot. But 2 people who REALLY want to work the program is much better than 2,000 that don't want to work or don't even want to learn how to. Besides, I had the potential of 100 REPEAT customers and the opportunity to sell them more products. I made a great deal of money using this method and you can too!!
What Would You Really Do If You Got 500 Orders A Day?
You've seen all the money-making articles claiming that you can make $10,000 a month or more. You've read success stories about people who make $1 or $2 million a year. But did you ever stop and think about the work involved in processing the orders? Sure, the money sounds great, but you'll work A LOT of overtime in making it.
Let's examine this a little more closely:
Suppose you wrote a booklet that sells for $10. You advertise it nationally (through a ad placement service bureau) and it hits! One day you go to your mailbox to pick up your mail and there is a note inside that says See Clerk. You go to the front desk and tubs filled with mail are stacked on top of each other and have to be wheeled to your car. They completely fill up the trunk, back seat and floorboard of your car. You can't believe it.
After getting the mail home, it takes you 8-10 hours to open it, separate the junk from the orders and stack up the $10 checks in a pile. Your family may help because they share in your excitement. Besides, everyone keeps saying: You're rich! You hit it big! Your book is a success. Oh, what a glorious day this is!!
You grab yourself a bite to eat since you have spent the last 8-10 hours opening mail. Now it's time to fill those orders. You discover that you have 500 orders to process for your book, plus $5,000 to deposit in the bank the next morning. Doesn't sound too hard on the surface does it? Let's look again.
>Even if you're a fast typist, it will take 2-3 hours to type out 500 mailing labels and check them for accuracy. (Retail: $40)
>You'll need 500 catalog envelopes, assuming your book is the 5"x8" size. (Retail: $25)
>You'll also need 500 copies of your book. If you don't have that many in stock (most people don't) you'll have to find a local printer and ask them to do a rush job. (Retail: $1,000+)
>You'll also need 500, 55¢ postage stamps to mail the orders. (Retail: $275)
But guess what? The next day when you go to the post office you have another 500 orders waiting for you. Since you only got about 30 minutes of sleep the day before, you now find that you have to go through the whole process again. (Somehow, this second bunch of 500 orders is not quite as exciting as the first bunch.)
While you and the kids are opening up the mail from the 2nd day, your printer calls and says the 500 books are ready to pick up. You instruct him to do another rush job of 500 and to deliver the first 500 so you can fill the 1st day's orders.
You get neighbors, friends and family to stuff the 500 envelopes while you are still opening the mail from the 2nd day. But after 48 hours of not getting any sleep, you lay down for a 6-hour nap.
When you awake, you don't have time to eat or relax. You immediately have to start processing the 500 orders for the 2nd day. But first, you load up the filled orders from the 1st day and make a trip to the post office. But guess what? Today you have 3,000 pieces of mail waiting for you, which takes you 25-30 hours just to open and results in 1,200 more orders. What are you going to do?
This is only one example to demonstrate the work involved in making the millions of dollars those ads claim that you can make. Even if you just sell a product and rely on another company to fill the orders for you, can you imagine the paperwork involved to process 500 orders one day, 500 the next and 1,200 the next? The paperwork, accounting and just opening the mail alone would take 14-18 hours a day and more. You never have time to sleep, eat or even sit down and say "Whew!"
Also, I need to point out that if you are a one-person operation, meaning you have no one to help you, your income can only reach a certain level because you can only do so much. After that level is reached, you must hire more people or another company to process your mail and orders.
It only goes to show that making money is hard work!! It's not quick and easy like those infomercials and ads claim they are. Be wise!!!
What The Right Articles Can Do to Improve Your Publication
Articles are one of the most important assets a publication can have. However, most people overlook this fact because their focus is only on making money by selling adspace.
But anyone can publish an adsheet that contains page after page of pasted-up ads. There are even some so-called publications that contain nothing but ads. (Publications of this type are only print and mail services. They do not qualify as a publication in my opinion.)
But if you want to step-up from a print and mail company and become a publisher you must recognize the importance of the articles you allow to be printed in your publication.
Articles are show stoppers. If you don't believe me, the next time you are in the waiting room at the doctor's office, watch how people read magazines. They flip to the articles, read the headlines and only read the article if the headline is of interest.
The second thing the reader looks for are the full-page ads. It's easier to flip through the pages and read a full-page ad, then to spend a lot of time on one page reading the smaller ads. Again, if they find something of interest, they will dig deeper into the publication and perhaps read every page.
As a publisher, why should you care that someone reads every page? Because you should be working for your advertisers. Remember, if they don't get a response from their ad, they won't advertise with you again. Besides, when you place an advertisement in a magazine, newspaper, tabloid or adsheet, do you advertise in it again when you don't get any response? Of course not. So why should your advertiser feel any differently?
Therefore, your articles should be selected with as much care as you give full-page ads. Here are some steps to determine if an article is okay for your particular publication:
1. Read the article in it's entirety. If you don't have the time to read it now, put it aside. DO NOT print the article until you read it and determine if it would be interesting to others. How would you know this? If you like the article and learned something from it, the chances are good that your readers will too. (Remember, your reader will judge your publication by the articles you allow to be printed in it.)
2. Never print an article just because someone else wants you to. Remember: you are in control of your publication. It is your baby and you have the power to print whatever you deem necessary. If anyone tries to force you to print their article (and you don't want to), tell them you'll print it if they pay your standard advertising price for the space the article will take up. That will force them to put their money where their mouth is.
3. If an article is too long but the content is good, don't be afraid to send it back to the writer and ask them to revise it. For The Pay Day Tabloid, John allows 800-1,000 words maximum for articles that I typeset for him. If an article is too long, I simply send it back and the writer will reformat it and send it to me. (This is standard business practice and in no way hurts the writer's feelings.)
Another option would be to run the article in two separate issues. Split the article at a point that is extremely interesting. (Think about how Soap Operas on television get you to tune in and watch the next day. They do it by stopping in the middle of something very interesting. Then, you have to tune in the next day to see what happens.) When you split your article to run in two issues of your publication, the first one should stop at a very interesting point so the reader will want to get next month's copy to read the ending.
4. Be very careful about printing the same articles that everyone else if printing. It's okay to have a few overlapping with another publication, but if the majority of your articles are not written exclusively for your publication, you will be defeating your purpose and offending your readers. (Don't believe me? Go to the newsstand and pick up a copy of Home Office Computing and Entrepreneur Magazine. Compare them. You will never find the same article appearing in each one.)
Finding Good Writers
There is absolutely no reason of any kind that you should be stuck running the same articles that every other publication is running. It's a bad habit that needs to be broken. There are literally millions of writers that are unknown and looking for a break. They would jump at the chance to write articles just for your publication. Most of them can be found on the Internet by doing a search under the words authors or writers or by looking through a copy of Writer's Digest.
Typesetting The Article
It may seem too picky to some publishers to point out that ALL articles appearing in your publication should be typed in the SAME font. Pick up a newsstand publication the next time you are in a grocery store. You will never find articles looking different from other articles by varying font styles. Instead, they all look uniform. (Most of them are typeset in Times Roman.)
However, many publications will have articles typeset in a 10-point type, another in 12-point and another in 8-point. One greedy publisher I have witnessed always typesets his articles in a 7-point type that is so hard to read you have to have a magnifying glass. This clearly demonstrates that the publisher has no idea about the marketing benefits of articles. He immediately appears greedy and solid, professional writers would never submit anything of value to him.
If you do not have the ability to typeset your articles, ask the writer to format them properly before sending them to you. Any article in any publication should be a minimum of 12-point (you can get away with 11-point sometimes) and preferably in a Times Roman font. Leading (the space between the lines of the text) can often be reduced and enlarged to take up less or more space without sacrificing the size of the font.
Conclusion
Some people may not actually realize the power and necessity of publications. They are the lifeblood that brings the advertiser and customer together. That's right! Every time you paste-up or typeset an advertisement to appear in your publication, it's another business you have partial control in prospering or destroying.
Articles though become YOUR lifeblood that keeps readers coming back for more. They are the entertainment for your readers. They keep your readers turning pages and contribute to keeping them in the mood to buy from your advertisers. They are really that important! All you have to do is pay attention to your articles just like you would a paid advertisement and you should do well.
Publishers have a powerful responsibility that more of them need to understand so they can grow, prosper and make more money.
Tips For Handling Business Phone Calls
Often times, we overlook the power of the telephone. There have been many times when I left the answering machine on to screen my calls. But I discovered that most people don't like to leave a message. They would rather talk to a real live human being.
I saw this trait even in myself. When I was in the market to purchase a modem, for example, I called several companies comparing prices and features. If an answering machine came on, I normally would hang up the phone because I wanted the information NOW so I could make my decision. On modems I was especially interested in buying, I would leave a message. If the company didn't call me back within 24-hours I forgot about them. In the end I chose to buy a modem from a company that had a higher price, but they seemed the most interested in my business and had, in fact, returned my telephone call.
Now I realize that as one-person operations, we cannot always answer all our telephone calls, but we can play back the messages as soon as possible and return telephone calls. In fact, almost every time I return a telephone message the customer will say: Thanks so much for calling me back. Some are amazed that I even made the effort. This tells me a large majority of people are losing a lot of business because they are afraid to return a few simple 2-minute telephone calls.
Now let's look at how to handle the telephone call once you receive one. To reiterate, I landed all my previous jobs due to the result of an interview with an employer. And one thing I learned from an executive a long time ago is to let the employer do all the talking during an interview. Why? I asked. Because when you leave the interview, the employer will have a good feeling simply because he/she did all the talking. Think about this for a moment and you'll find it to be true.
Of course there are variables to this. One time I interviewed with an employer who was smart. He sat back in his chair, was a man of very few words and allowed me to sell my skills. This was certainly a switch but one of challenge, which I enjoyed greatly.
The first step, when faced with a situation like this is to RELAX. This employer is not God. Getting turned down by this employer is really no big deal. You were looking before you had this interview, right? Play any games you have to with your mind to relax. Because if you appear nervous and frigid, the man of few words will be totally turned off and probably not hire you. Sure, there are exceptions to every rule but this scenario holds true for the majority of these situations.
Okay what have we learned by this? When you are marketing any product you must think of your customer as the employer you are seeking to work for. Imagine yourself on a job interview. Pattern your mannerisms in this fashion and you will find yourself climbing the ladder to success.
In direct mail, your mailing piece takes the place of your personal appearance. Sloppy mailings are the same thing as walking into a job interview for an Account Executive with boxer shorts and dirty tennis-shoes on. In other words, sloppy mailings damage all chances for your success. You may be saving money but your company is losing much more.
So stop for a moment and learn how to conduct yourself in a professional business manner over the telephone. Learn to recognize the different types of people by LISTENING to them. Never, never, never do all the talking. Allow the customer time to explain what they want or need and then find a way to fill that need in the hopes of securing an order. Hardselling doesn't work anymore. But when people WANT to buy from you, you have a good customer for life!!
