How To Succeed With Your Own Money-Making Ad Sheet

Publishing and distributing a mail order ad sheet can be very profitable. They are simple and easy to produce, with most quick print shops able to handle the printing at fairly low cost. The important consideration is that you can use them to pull in advertising dollars for yourself, as a free advertising media for your own products, and as an exchange medium with which to get greater exposure for you own ads.

Before starting an ad sheet, you should plan it all out - decide on an interesting, informative title, choose a masthead, lay out your columns for size, determine if it is to be a simple 8 1/2 x 11 single sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet folded in half. you'll also need to know your production cost for the number you intend to have printed, and the postage cost to mail them out.
Most of the ad sheets start out as single sheets of paper, 8 1/2 x 11, printed on both sides. Usually, the front side is divided into three equal columns about 2 1/4 inches wide, with a 1/2 inch margin from the edge of the paper on both sides and top and bottom.



Assuming that the space occupied by your title, masthead and listing of rates for advertisers interested in placing an ad with you is two inches deep, this leaves you about 24 inches of advertising space to sell on the front side. Figuring a cost of $50 for 1,000 copies of such an ad sheet, printed both sides, and a third-class bulk-rate postage of $110, this means that your 24 inches of ad space will have to be sold at a rate of $6.25 each in order to break even. This means: You have to sell all of the ad space on the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 each in order to break even. This means: You have to sell all of the ad space on the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 per ad - and then expect to make your profits from the sale of the back side of your ad sheet. Actually, it would be feasible to charge $7.00 per inch for the space on the front side, and carry you own full page ad on the back side. At any rate, don't box yourself into a loss situation where you can't afford to place your own ads in your ad sheet.

You get ads by making up an advertising solicitation sales letter and sending it out to as many mail order dealers as you can find. You can also run ads in other people's publications, inviting the readers to check with you regarding placement of an ad in your publication. And of course, you'll be wanting to work out some exchange advertising deals (whereby another publisher runs your ad in his publication, and you run his in exchange). From the experience of many, many publishers, this can be one of the most effective ways of getting your ads run, at low/no cost, and it is recognized to be successful in the field of Mail Order.
You probably won't be able to fill up all of your available ad space with paid ads until you're well established - but no problem - first you fill your ad space with paid ads, and then you fill in the empty space with ads of your own. Some beginning advertisers fill a part of their empty space with complementary ads for other mail order operators, send them a

copy of the issue in which the complimentary ad appears, and invite them to continue the ad on a "paid" basis from there. Many of them will appreciate the favor and send you a check or money order to continue running the ad.

If you undertake the publication of an ad sheet, be sure to consider the possibilities of sending out 100 to 1,000 copies of your ad sheet to other mail order operators to rubber stamp their names/addresses as co-publishers and mail out for you. Thus, if you had 50 other mail order operators sending out 100 copies each of your ad sheet, you'd be talking about a circulation of 5,000 copies plus the number of copies you mail out. If you can get this kind of program going, you'll quickly build your reputation as well as your circulation, and at the bottom line, your profits.

Some ad sheet publishers, once they've established themselves and are putting out an impressive publication, set up distributor networks. Generally, they run ads calling for distributor/dealers and asking for a $5 to $10 registration fee. In reply to the registration application, they send out a letter explaining that each distributor can buy at half price, so many copies of each issue of the ad sheet, rubber stamp their name on each copy, and send them out as their own. In return, the distributors usually get 50% of the incoming advertising orders, a half-price ad for themselves, and an opportunity to sell subscriptions.

The bottom line relative to becoming a successful ad sheet publisher has to do with keeping your production costs printing and mailing - as low as possible, while putting out a quality product that other people in the mail order business will want to advertise in - while at the same time using it as a advertising/selling vehicle for your own products.

My advice is that almost everyone involved in mail order selling should have some sort of ad sheet - if for no other reason than as a means to an end - an advertising vehicle for your own products, an extra income form advertising revenues, and as an exchange media with which to gain greater exposure for your own products in other people's publications. Once you've got an ad sheet, or any kind of publication set up and being seen by other mail order operators, you'll quickly gain stature and a certain amount of prestige.



As with any business, your ultimate success depends on your own feasibility studies, and your "sharp-pencil" planning completed before you order your first issue printed. Think about it, weigh the pro's and con's, then go with your decision.

How To Recruit Dealer/Distributors To Sell For You

Everyone dreams of owning a super money-making business where other people do all the work, and their only duties involve the approval of sales and bank deposit slips. It's the only way to go as a business owner.
The problem is however, not too many people seem to know how to " put together" such a business. What you're really talking about is an operation where you supply the product and other people do the selling-A prime source with a dealer or distributor network.
Assuming that you have the product, you'll also need a sales kit and plenty of impressive, eye-catching promotional materials. If you don't supply or offer to supply materials with which your sales force can sell the product, you'll have a hard time enlisting people to sell for you, and you probably won't set any sales records relative to your product either.
Let's assume that you've just written a book-HOW TO MAKE $100,000 PER YEAR AT HOME, WITH YOUR TYPEWRITTER..Okay, in order to sell this book, you've got to get the word out to the people that you have such a book available. Advertising on your own is going to cost you money, and unless you've got a good understanding of the advertising business, you may never reach your full sales potential-besides, the time and effort expended in finding the "right" place to advertise, the placing of your ads, monitoring your returns, and the frustrations of dealing with the curiosity seekers, will quickly wear you out. Such is not the way you envisioned your life when you got the idea to write the book, get rich and enjoy a life of leisure.



So, just as soon as you've got your book written-the book is your product-get some "bids" out to the advertising agencies in your area, the freelancers, and the advertising department at your local colleges. What you want these people to do is make up an advertising circular promoting and selling your book. Now then, in a different-maybe smaller-type, and kind of like an afterthought-at the bottom of this circular, you include the phrase: Dealer Inquiries Invited...
Look over all the submitted circulars and choose the one (s) you consider the best. then have a supply of these printed up at your local print shop, obtain a mailing list of opportunity seekers, and get them in the mail.
Just as soon as you've dropped these first circulars in the mail, start writing your dealer/distributor letter. This should be simply an explanation describing how you will drop ship orders for their customers, allowing them a certain commission on each sale and, the price per copy you'll sell your book to them in wholesale quantity lots. At the same time, this letter should include a copy of your advertising circular, and an explanation, reassuring these dealers that they can reproduce this circular with their name/address in place of yours on the order coupon.
You might even include a brief note that you will pre-print these circulars with the dealer's name/address and ship them to him for a wholesale printing price. All of this boils down to your supplying him or her with whatever is needed to promote and sell copies of your book for you. The bottom line is simply that you can only reach so many people, and sell so many books yourself. With 1,000 people helping you-mailing out advertising circulars and running small ads in hundreds of opportunity seeker publications-your costs of running your business will be minimal while your book sale skyrocket.
Remember though, you need an impressive, eye catching advertising circular or mailing package for your sales force to use as their own, and you need a clear easy-to-understand books in wholesale quantity lots, and the availability of advertising materials for your dealers.
The advertising circular should be dual purpose- you send it out to solicit sales of your product, and at the same time, recruit dealers who are impressed with your advertising materials and feel that they can make some money for themselves by promoting product. Again, this needn't be much more than a simple "throw-way" line at the bottom of the circular: Dealer Inquiries Invited...
Now that you're organized thus far, the next thing is to contract to run as many small DEALERS WANTED ads in as many of the mail order publications as possible. Such ads can be either a classified or a small, but eye-catching one inch display ad:
DEALERS WANTED! Outstanding new book. Sells like wildfire! Everybody wants a copy! Make $10 profit on every $15 sale! Details for SASE to:
Basically that's all your "dealers wanted" ad needs to say, and then with plenty of exposure in all the mail order publications over a period of six or eight months, you should have hundreds of people all over the country selling your book for you. Simple, easy, almost cut and dried, but it works!
In building my own business from scratch over the past 10 years, I've found that once you've established a basic dealer/distributor network-or a list of people selling for you,you can add hundreds of related products, and the orders just keep coming in. Give it a try and see for yourself just how easy and profitable it can be for you!

Money-Maker's Guide To Easy Mail Order Riches

Selling products and/or services through the mail is one of the fastest growing methods of doing business in the world today. It's estimated that sales for 1983 will top the 100 billion dollar mark!
Millions of people from all walks of life, and in all parts of the world are "into" mail order, with more coming in every day. Some of them are grossing in the millions, others are chalking up sales figures of several hundred per month, and there are others who only give it a quick try, make a few dollars and drop out।
Mail order selling appeals to almost everybody with a desire to get rich. Generally, it doesn't require complicated equipment, a lot of start-up capital, or an expensive office. Mail order is a kind of business that can be run by anyone from the comfort of his or her own home.
About all that's required for success in mail order is selling is an understanding of what you're doing--it's not a game or kind of thing you want to just give a quick try...It's a way of doing business, a requires a good understanding of what people buy, why they buy, and an operational plan that will lead you to success.
In order to make it big in mail order, you must understand that it's a selling business. Thus, you've got to decide on what you want to sell--who your buyers will be--and know why they buy, and then, program your selling efforts in such a way that these people will buy from you.

The best, and the easiest selling product or service--because it has the greatest appeal to the most number of people--is information that gives people knowledge or instructions that will enable them to get rich. The bottom line is simply that everyone in the world wants to know how they can get rich--without putting forth too much of an investment in either money, time or effort.
So, the first thing that you should do is some marketing research: Look in all the publications running mail order advertisements and opportunities--get a good understanding of what they are doing--how they are doing it--and then formulate a business plan of your own that will allow you to duplicate what they're doing.
With get rich information or instructions--and knowing that to make the really big money you have to be the author or a prime distributor--there are two ways to go. You can become the author with all the involved headaches and demands upon your time, or you can buy the reproduction rights and re-sale or distribute them as your own.
As the author, you'll have to do the research, the writing, the printing, advertising, and order fulfillment.
As a prime source distributor, you can pay a one-time fee for the reproduction rights--then spend your time and money on selling efforts. You still have to handle the printing, the advertising, and order fulfillment--but you have the advantage of "choosing and picking" only what you feel will make money for you.
With most writers, only about 10% of what they spend hours, weeks, even months researching and writing, ever sells for them. Writers are just not geared to the profitable marketing of their materials.
Your initial marketing research should give you a good idea of what is selling--what the people are buying--and which titles of any particular author you want to promote and sell for your own profits.
The next thing is to look through all the publications you can find that carry mail order ads--those that run issue after issue (but not those run as fillers by the publisher) are usually the ones that are not making money for the people selling them(or you can bet they wouldn't still be running them).
Decide which kind of program you want to run, and how you want to make money...The best ad to run is one that offers a free report relative to a money making plan. Your ad might read: FREE REPORT! Insider's Secrets to Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Send SASE to (your name and address).
In reply to each of the responses you get to this ad, you send them a one page report that briefly explains your multi-level secrets, with an invitation at the bottom for those really interested in multi-level marketing, to send in another $15 or $20 for your complete multi-level marketing "how-to" manual. You can then fill up their SASE with other offers, such as the availability of mailing lists for rent, a multi-level program of your own, and a listing of other business success reports you're offering.
At the same time, you compile the names and addresses of all the people sending for either your free report or their own materials, and you have the beginning of a mailing list of your own that you can rent out over and over again at huge profits to yourself.
Clip the stamps off the envelopes as you receive them, and save them in an old shoe box. When you have a box full, you can sell them to any number of stamp collectors, and pocket an easy $10 or $15...
Save all the envelopes with return addresses, and when you've accumulated a thousand or two of these, you can send them in to list compilers and pocket another $50 to $100...
The other way of advertising is the offering of your report or book for sale from the ad. Such an ad would read about like this: Insider's Secrets to Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Dynamic new reports shows the easy way. Send $3 to (your name and address).
It's very difficult to sell anything directly from a classified ad because there just isn't space enough in which to do a complete job of selling. Thus, if you try to sell from a classified ad, be sure to keep your selling price under $5...
A $3 item should pull well with a classified ad--A $5 item will take at least a one inch display ad--a $20 item will take a well written sales letter.
When you're just getting started in mail order selling, stick to small classified ads--test the pulling power of your ad, and your product, as well as the publication your ad runs in...
Analyze and practice rewriting some of the ads other people are running--experiment, and run a few ads in only one or two publications--and then build upon your success. In other words, if your first ad costs you $30, and you take in $90--take that $90 and run the same ad again, not only in the same publication, but in a couple of other publications as well. Use your profits to expand the exposure of your offer--let as many people as possible see it.
It's important to note that you cannot expect to "live off" the income from your beginning efforts. You have to have "other" money to pay your lights, water, and gas bills.
Mail order success is built upon the wise investment of your advertising dollars. Take $100 and run a classified ad for your reports in one of the big national publications. Figuring that from that first $100, you can take in $300, run the same ad again in that publication, and at the same time in two other publications. Thus, your real profits should triple--and if you keep on reinvesting your profits in additional advertising exposure--conceivably within six months or less you should be hauling in several thousand dollars per month in profits.
For complete reproduction and re-sale/distribution rights on this report, as well as a list of other reports that will make money for you, just drop a line to the mail order dealer from whom you bought this one.

The Dos And Don'ts of Profitable Mail Order Ads

Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect of any successful mail order business is its advertising. In fact, mail order success is wholly dependent, and even predicated upon good advertising.

First of all, you've got to have a dynamic, spectacular ad that attracts the eye and grabs the interest of the people you're trying to sell to. Thus, unless your ad really "jumps out" at the reader, your sales won't live up to expectations, and your ad money will be wasted.

The eye-catching appeal of your ad must start with the headline. Use the headline to very quickly create a picture in the minds of the reader--a vision of all their problems being solved, and attainment of the kind of happiness they seek. If your headline fails to catch the attention of your prospect, you cannot hope to capture him with the remaining of the ad, because it will go unread! So in writing your advertisement for just a little while, so you must quickly interest him in your offer, show him how he can get what he wants, and then cause him to send immediately for your "solution" to his problems. Your copy must exude enthusiasm, excitement, and a positive attitude. Don't be afraid to use a hard-sell approach! Say what you feel and believe about your offer. And use common, "everyday," but correct English.

Even so, you can and must remember to be honest. Don't exaggerate or make claims you can't back up. Never make promises you cannot or don't expect, to keep. To do so could get you in trouble with the Federal Trade and Fair Practices people.

Stress the benefits of your product or service. Explain to your reader how owning a copy of your book (for instance), or receiving your services will make his life richer, happier, and more abundant. Don't get involved in detailing all the money you've spent developing the product or researching the information you're selling, or you're selling, or your credentials for offering it. Stress the "sizzle" and the value of ownership.

It is important to involve the reader as often as possible through the use of the word "you." Write your copy just as if you were speaking to and attempting to sell just ONE person. Don't let your ad sound as a speaker at a podium addressing a huge stadium filled with people, but as if there were just one individual "listening."

And don't try to be overly clever, brilliant or humerus in your advertising. Keep your copy simple, to the point, and on target toward selling your prospect the product or service because of its benefits. In other words, keep it simple, but clear; at all costs, you don't want to confuse the reader. Just tell him exactly what he'll get for his money; the benefits he'll receive; how to go about ordering it. You don't have to get too friendly. In fact, becoming "folksy," and don't use slang expressions.

In writing an ad, think of yourself as a door-to-door salesperson. You have to get the attention of the prospect

quickly, interest him in the product you're selling, create a desire to enjoy its benefits, and you can then close the sale.

Copywriting, whether for a display ad, classified ad, sales letter or brochure, is a learned skill. It is one anyone can master with a bit of study, practice, and perhaps some professional guidance.

Your first move, then, is to study your competition, recognize how they are selling their wares. Practice rewriting their ads from a different point of view or from a different sales angle. Keep a file of ads you've clipped from different publications in a file of ad writing ideas. But don't copy anyone else's work; just use the ad material of others to stimulate your own creativeness.

Some of the "unknown facts" about advertising--and ad writing in particular--tell us that you cannot ask for more than $3 in a short classified type ad. Generally speaking, a $5 item will take at least a one-inch display ad. If you're trying to sell a $10 item, you'll need at least a quarter page--perhaps even a half page of copy--and $15 to $20 items require a full page. If you are selling a really big ticket item (costing $50 or more) you'll need a four-page sales letter, a brochure, separate order coupon, and return reply envelope.

If you're making offers via direct mail, best to get into the postal system with it on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, to be sure it does not arrive on Monday, the first and busiest day of the week. And again, unless you're promoting a big ticket item, the quality or color of your paper won't have any great effect on the response you'll get, but the quality of your PRINTING definitely will, so bear this in mind when you place your printing order.

One final point to remember: The summer months when people are most apt to be away on vacation are usually not good months for direct mail. But they ARE good for opportunity and advertisements in publications often found in vacation areas, and in motels and hotels.

Again, it cannot be stresses too much or often: Success in mail order does, indeed, depend upon advertising, and as with anything else, quality pays off in the long run. Read this report again; study it; let it sink in. Then apply the principles outlined in it. They have worked for others, and THEY CAN WORK FOR YOU!

How To Write Profitable Classified Ads

Everybody wants to make more money... In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth, is mail order or within the professional circles of the business, direct mail selling...

The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the basic ingredient of selling by mail--the writing of profitable classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then you must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that sell your product or services!

So what makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must appeal to the reader, and as such, it must say exactly what you want it to say. Secondly, it has to say what it says in the least possible number of words in order to keep your operating costs within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired results whether inquiries or sales.

Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must assume the reader is "scanning" the page on which your ad appears in the company of two or three hundred classified ads. Therefore, there has to be something about your ad that causes him to stop scanning and look at yours! So, the first two or three words of your ad are the utmost importance and deserve your careful consideration. Most surveys show that words or like this. MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer. Send $1.00

These are the ingredients of any good classified ad---Attention--Interest--Desire--Action...Without these four ingredients skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your ad will just "lie there" and not do anything but cost you money. What we've just shown you is the basic classified ad. Although such an ad could be placed in any leading publication and would pull a good response, it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull inquiries and responses from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication in which it appeared. In other words, from as many "time wasters" as from bona fide buyers.

So let's try to give you an example of the kind of classified ad might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one...Using all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and saying exactly what out product is, our ad reads:

MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How to Write winning classified ads. Simple & easy to learn-should double or triple your responses. Rush $1 to ABC Sales, 10 Main, Any town, TX 75001.

The point we're making is 1) You've got to grab the reader's attention...2) You've got to go "further stimulate" him with something (catch-phrase) that makes him "desire" the product or service...4) Demand that he act immediately...

There's no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the best ways of learning to write good classified ad is to study the classifieds--try to figure out exactly what they're attempting to

sell--and then practice rewriting them according to the rules we've just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a classified, always write it all out--and then go back over it, crossing out words, and refining your phraseology.

The final ingredient of your classified ad is of course, your name & address to which the reader is to respond--where he's to send his money or write for further information.

Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that include a name than to those showing just initials or an the number of words, or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of some names in classified ads could become quite expensive. If we were to ask our ad respondents to write to or send their money to The Research Writers & Publishers Association, or our advertising costs would be prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name Researchers or Money-Makers. The point here is to think relative to the placement costs of your ad, and to shorten excessively long names.

The same holds true when listing your post office box number. Shorten it to just plain Box 40, or in the case of a rural delivery, shorten it to just RR1

The important thing is to know the rules of profitable classified ad writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line.

Now you know the basics...the rest is up to you.

How To Develop A Worldwide Distributor Network

When you select a product, your choice should be based upon your knowledge of how and to whom you're going to sell. You may have the greatest bargain in the world, but it will be of no value to you if you don't know who's going to buy it, or how you are going to get the word out about it.

The first rule of achievement of a fortune is to produce or buy your product for pennies and sell for dollars. So after preliminary market research to determine who'll buy your product, the next question to answer is: How munch will the majority of this market be willing to pay for your product?

For the sake of our discussion, let's say that you've written a "How TO" manual on how to make $100,000 a year compiling and selling mailing lists. You check with a number of printers and get a production cost of $1.50 per book in lots of 1,000. You figure that with sharp advertising, you can "sell a million" of these books at $10 per copy, but that advertising will cost you $1.50 per book. Thus far, the basic cost of your book is $3 per copy.

Even though you will probably be the one selling most of your books, you must realize that it will take you an awfully long time to move out a million copies of this book. It will keep you busy 25 hours a day, 8 days a week to do it all by yourself. So the thing to do is recruit as many other people as you can to help do the selling. This means setting up a dealer distributor network.

To do this, you must make it worthwhile for other people to sell your product. You offer a percentage of the sales price to each book they sell for you. Generally, this is about 50% for each single copy sold; 60% when purchased in quantity lots of 25 to 99 copies; and 75% when purchased in lots of 100 copies or more. The important thing is to shave your profits to a minimum when you have other people doing the work for you.

Let's use, the, our example of a $10 book that costs you $1.50 to produce in lots of 1,000. For people who buy from you in lots of 100 copies, you could cut your profit to $1 per book, sell it to them for $2.50 per book, and let them do all the advertising, as well as the selling. Don't offer more than 50% on single copy drop ship sales, because you'll have to furnish this type of dealer with selling materials, and continue to do most of the advertising yourself.

Setting up your distributor program will require advertising and a sales kit for the sellers. Thus, you should make up a series of "Dealers Wanted" ads and place them in as many different publications as you can.

The national "opportunity" magazines are the best place to place your advertising for dealers. Remember, the ad should be a call for dealers, distributors and independent extra income seekers. Do not try to sell your product in this ad. Use it only to enlist or recruit people to sell for you. Remember too, the more you run your dealers wanted ad, and the more different publications you run it in, the more people you'll get to sell your product for you. The easiest way to go is with "Dealers Wanted" advertisements in as many worldwide publications as possible.
You'll lose your shirt attempting to recruit sales people via direct mail, and you'll never make any headway with just a "Dealers Wanted insert" in each book you sell. If you want sales people, you must advertise for them.

To actually get these interested opportunity seekers to sell your product for you, you'll need a dynamic sales letter and seller's kit to send out in response to the replies to your advertising. This kind of sales letter is usually four pages in length, printed on 11 by 17 inch paper, to sell the prospect on the idea of selling for you, use the amount of space and paper that's necessary.

If you've written sales letter properly, that's all there is to it. Some people charge an "up-front" dealer's registration fee. We don't recommend this, for a number of reasons--mainly because it immediately eliminates a great many people who might want to least try to sell the product for you, but are not willing to "pay" to sell for you.

Some sellers charge $1 to $5 for details and complete dealership set-up to offset the cost of the initial seller's kit and postage. This is what we recommend at the start. If you offer your program for nothing, you'll get as many responses from curiosity seekers and opportunity collectors as from bona fide prospects.

If you charge for the dealership set-up, you should include a sample of your product. For the more elaborate sales kits and expensive products, most people ask for deposit, which is refunded after a certain number of sales are made by the dealer. Any charges more than $5 should not be mentioned in your "Dealers Wanted" advertisements, but held over and fully explained in your sales.

This is how you set up a dealer/distributor network: Get other people to sell your product for you! You can, and should be prepared from the start, before you place your first dealers wanted ad, and proceed only as you can afford the advertising costs from the profits of sales of your product.

It's simple, and it's easy, and, it can make your rich! You had to have real interest to have ordered this report. We hope that it has motivated you with the entrepreneurial spirit, and that you act on it!

Electronic Marketing For Everyone

Most people who are prospering from this form of marketing are selling the sizzle and have forgotten the steak. This article will provide the facts behind the hype. You will get the straight truth from someone who uses online marketing personally and who isn't trying to get rich by selling direct response techniques as realistic BBS marketing concepts.

Marketing Electronically is a hot topic especially in these days of instant gratification. There are advantages and disadvantages to any form of marketing, but lately all I hear are the advantages.

Let me first mention the benefits as expressed by others and then I will provide the negatives that have been unvoiced.

(1) You can reach millions of people.

(2) Lower lead costs.

(3) Quickness of response.

(4) Lower inquiry fulfillment costs.

 

All of this sounds great huh?

The disadvantages include:

(1) You must consistently market, more than with direct responseadvertising or direct mail.

(2) Trying to keep your material on the boards.

(3) Your material can t be sales related.

(4) Finding out if there is an audience for your product orservice involves searching the online networks to determine if it's large enough to even bother uploading your material to.

 

One major disadvantage to online marketing as I mentioned in item three is:

You can t blatantly promote your material, your product, or your service. With conventional advertising you can go right after your potential customer with a salesletter, but, with bbs marketing you have to provide up front information in the form of a how to article and at the closing of your article you can include a resource box which invites the reader to respond to an offer that you make within it.

There are two advantages to utilizing a how to article. (1) You are considered an expert on the subject that you have written about. (2) Your material if information rich could remain on the boards for years.

You cannot provide information that points the reader to your product or service. In effect it must be generic. Give plenty of information up front. This is what the system operators want on their board and this will be what determines whether your material stays on the board.
The online services are like magazines, readers call back again and again if there is valuable information. If you re not providing valuable information that they can read and download, then your material won't remain up on the boards. Packaging Is Everything
One of the best ways I know of keeping your material on the boards is in a newsletter format.
You accomplish this by using a software program. I recommend Writers Dream (available from Infopreneur publishing for $5) It s an easy but powerful program. You can create up to forty five individual chapters, each chapter can be a separate article, a portion of a book, manual, directory, etc. The online publication once created can be compressed with PKZip and uploaded onto the boards. When you place material as an online newsletter your chances are greater that it s going to remain up on the boards. I have a business associate who has had his material in this format on one large commercial network for over a year. One important point, you can't put your sales letter (water-down or not) into this online publication format and expect for it to stay on the boards.
If you create an online newsletter in this IBM software driven format, also create an issue that is in a straight ASCII format. This can be accomplished with a simple text editor or word processor. This will cover all the bases and allow additional computer platforms such as Macintosh, Amiga or Unix to read it.

Direct Response Techniques Don t Work!

I must keep emphasizing that you must provide solid information. This form of marketing can not be approached using direct response marketing techniques. It won t work! I warn you to be careful if your following the advice of those who have a direct response marketing mind set. You need to listen to those who use the computer bulletin boards personally and know how to operate a computer. Such as myself.

Listening to those who don t market electronically or know how to use a computer is like trying to take advice on how to run a successful business from someone who has never started one. It s simply foolish!

Direct response marketing involves hype in print, you don t tell a lot, instead you sell a lot, offering the reader plenty of benefits that spell out wants in it for them." With online marketing you need to tell a lot and I don t mean tell them what they re going to get if they buy your product or service. What do they need to do to accomplish specific objectives. If you re writing a report on 25 ways to make money staying at home, you can t write order my book and I will reveal these 25 ways. No! You need to write an article that details the 25 specific (workable) ways to make money at home and within the resource box at the close of this article you can mention that there are also an additional 75 other ways to make money at home and if they would like to receive this valuable report simply contract you.

An Effective Method

Focus on building a list by lead generating. Offer something for free. Generate the name and address. Then follow-up with direct mail. This approach allows you to present the salesmanship, the professionalism (straight ascii text is not very nice looking) the potential customer is getting your sales message.

You cannot do this on the boards, without gathering the names and addresses and mailing to them. This is the method that I prefer to use, and one method I see working.

If you don t have a computer then you need to get into the computer age. You can't utilize this new marketing method without one. Actually, this form of marketing is not new it s been around for quite some time. It s just been brought to the general publics attention most recently. However, it s been presented in a false and misleading way. All the hype and misinformation that has been given as fact has confused a lot of people.

Through a great deal of online research I have found that some things are down right false, yet they are still being presented by some individuals as fact. For your own benefit I highly recommend that you research this technology. I will tell you, from my own research that you re not going to make thousands of dollars just uploading your sales material on the boards.

There are realistic methods that can make you one, two, three, or four thousand dollars or more a month. But, it s not going to be instantaneous. You re not going to put your material up on these bulletin boards one time and then overnight get flooded with orders. I have discovered that online marketing is a method that must be consistent and met with strict regulations. Each board has it s own rules and you must adhere to them. Otherwise spending time uploading your material onto these boards isn't going to do much good. Your material will get kicked right off. Ignore the hype associated with this marketing method and do some research to determine what is true and what isn't.

One truth that will ring loud is that there are plenty of inconsistencies being promoted. If you do your homework you'll have an advantage over those who are still being taken for a money stealing ride.

Your first step should be of course to get a computer if you don't have one.

If you are going to get serious about online marketing get a computer if you don't ave one. I have dealt with clients in the services end of my business (placing their material on the boards) and I can honestly say that if you want to get involved in online marketing you need to do it yourself.

The online tools that are needed for electronic marketing success can actually do a better job in your hands than mine or another. It s similar to marketing a book that you have written, you have a love for it because it s your creation. Only you can promote the book and sell it with the enthusiasm and intricate details that nobody else an. It s your own pride and joy. Its the same way with online marketing.

E-MAIL & CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

E-mail is a powerful tool to use. It s instantaneous delivery of your on-line classified ad inquiries. A lot of the boards like CompuServe, America On-Line, Delphi, Genie all except classified ads.

Classified ads on the various commercial on-line services are inexpensive. I placed a classified ad on CompuServe ( a user base of 2 million) to run for 26 weeks and it's under fifty dollars. A benefit with on-line classified advertising is; readers of you ad can automatically respond to your ad via E-mail instantly. E-mail is faster than the postal service, even overnight delivery is slow compared to e-mail! The simple steps that it takes to place an ad on CompuServe for example include:

(1) You type your advertisement into a classified section(exactly like those found in magazines), (2) The money is electronically pulled out of your bank account or charged to your credit card for your advertising order, (3) Your ad is posted usually 24 hours later on the board, (4) Within minutes of it being posted you can start receiving replies in regards to your classified ad.

Once you receive your replies. You could E-mail back to your inquiries your sales literature. This eliminates printing and postage. However, I have found that orders increase if you actually mail them your material by snail mail (first class). I believe that the professional hard copy appearance is a better selling device then straight ascii text.

Detailed Know How Cheap!

If you want to make money marketing online, then you need to order a new 90 minute audio tape and special report (it s not a salesletter) entitled Electronic Marketing Bootcamp This is truly a need to listen to resource that will get you started making money on the information superhighway. Send your order to: Infopreneur Publishing, Box 20412, Dept EMBC-R, El Cajon, California 92021.

A word of caution, don t become overly enthusiastic about online marketing that you forget other forms of marketing such as direct mail and print advertising. Online marketing is just another form of marketing not an end in itself. I would continue to do your print advertising and direct mail, but also utilize online marketing.

Electronic marketing like I've already mentioned is much more demanding. Your not in complete control. You have to overcome a lot of obstacles (as I have personally found out). If you cannot be patient and you cannot be consistent with this form of marketing I would not market electronically. As a simple starter, place classified ads on the boards. Lead generate, gather names and mail your offer.

Use this simple online marketing method. Gather your inquiries by placing a lead generating (offer something for free) classified ad or article. When you retrieve all your requests send out by first class mail your sales literature.

The following article was taken from The Infopreneur Report Newsletter which also discusses: Fax on Demand, voice mail, sending your sales material via E-mail, how to put together an online newsletter, how to create an disk based catalog and how to package your how-to-reports, articles, or books that you can sell at a high mark up, but produce for under a $1 postage included! If your current information products are costing you two to five dollars to produce. They can be produced for 23 cents. This information and more is available in the pages of this insightful newsletter. You can get 4 issues for just $5 by sending your subscription request to: Infopreneur Publishing Box 20412-IRR, El Cajon, California 92021.

I want to mention one important and almost over looked point. Focus on the commercial boards, don t waste your time with the little boards. A great deal of these little boards don t have the funds to promote their service in the massive scope that CompuServe, America On-Line, Delphi and Genie can and do.

They also don t have many callers as the larger broads have. Even if you got your material on 70,000 of the smaller boards, it still would dwarf the number of callers on the larger boards in a 24 hour period. You want a lot of people calling
the board if your material or classified ad is on it. I would only utilize the smaller local bbs for practice and fun. For serious online marketing the only way to go is the larger commercial networks.

 

How to Increase Your Business with an E-Mail Newsletter

It is an accepted fact that a newsletter sent to your regular customers is an excellent way to keep in touch with them about new offerings, special sales, etc. Newsletter publishing is not an easy process, though. You have to write or find articles, lay it out, get it printed up, mail it... it takes time and money, enough that it may not pay off if you do it the traditional way. However, if you publish a newsletter that is delivered by email, you can accomplish the same goals while eliminating most of the time and expense. This report will show you how to put together an email newsletter, how to maintain your database of subscribers, and how to deliver it reliably via email.

First, you need to decide exactly what the intent of your newsletter is. Do you want it to be a line of communication with your present customers? Do you want it to generate new customers? Do you want it to be content only, or include advertising from other companies? How frequently do you want to publish? Monthly? Weekly? No regular schedule? Answering these questions will go a long way in planning your newsletter.

The content of your newsletter is the most important consideration. Articles should pertain strongly to the type of business you run, and the needs of your customers that you address. You, yourself, should be in an excellent position to write articles for your newsletter, if you know your business, products, and services. Write about new developments, new uses for your products, etc. Make sure the articles you write aren't weighted down with sales spiels. It's alright to occasionally put a short sales message at the end of an article, but that's what the rest of the newsletter is for. Your articles should contain a lot of "meat" that your customers will WANT to know about.

What if you don't want to write articles? Then solicit them from your customers, your suppliers, members of related associations you belong to, etc. Let them know that you won't be able to compensate them monetarily, but you can print contact information (their name, address, phone, and a short paragraph about what they do) at the end of their articles. In this way, their articles in your newsletter can draw business for them. Remember, though, it's extremely important to keep the articles concise, beneficial, and on-topic with your customers. Otherwise, they'll gradually cancel your newsletter!

Once you've assembled a collection of material, it's time to assemble your first issue. It's not necessary to use a fancy word processing or desktop publishing program, as people will be receiving this via text-only email, with no graphics. So, you can use a simple word processor (such as Windows Write or Windows Notepad) to put together your newsletter. Be sure to set the left and right margins wide (1.75 inches or better). Otherwise, some people will receive your newsletter with longer lines of text wrapped around to partial second lines, making it hard to read. A good newsletter consists of an "editor's letter," two to three decent articles, and a few ads at the end. Any more than this and the newsletter will be too long.

How should you get email addresses to send your newsletter to? Ask for them. Ask your customers for their email addresses, so you can send them a free newsletter. (IMPORTANT: A customer will be more likely to give you their email address if you assure them that you will not rent or sell it to another company. People, in general, don't like unsolicited junk email. Don't do this to your customers, or you'll lose business.) You can use a database program to store your email addresses, but it's just as easy to use the Windows Notepad program. Just type them in a continuous line, separated by commas. The method of how you send your newsletter to a long list of people will vary, based on what email software you are using. You may be on an online service, such as America Online, and be stuck using their included email program. Or, you may be using an email program such as Eudora with a regular Internet provider. Regardless, your email program should provide a space for: your return email address; the send to email address; the subject line; and (this is important) cc: (carbon copy - where you put a list of people who should also receive the same message) and bcc: (blind carbon copy - similar to a regular carbon copy, but the recipient will not see the list of other people who received the same message) spaces. If your email program does not have an explicit space for cc:/bcc: entries, check your instructions, or get another program!

When you want to send out an issue, you will want to put YOUR email address in both the return address AND the send to address spaces. Then, copy and paste your mailing list from the Notepad program into the BCC: space. Finally, copy and paste your newsletter copy into the message body space. When you send this email out, everyone on your list will get a copy, as well as you. Nobody will get your mailing list, as it won't be listed in the email.

Some final tips:

Put a write up about your free newsletter on your webpage, along with an email link, so visitors can subscribe. Put this same information on your stationery, business cards, press releases, etc. The more people on the list, the more business you generate.
Prepare a welcome message to new subscribers, detailing how they can "unsubscribe" (remove themselves from the mailing list), what the goals of the newsletter are, how to submit items for publication, etc. Send this to new subscribers, along with the latest issue.
If a person wants to leave your subscription list, promptly take them off without complaint. Send them a final email message telling them that they have been unsubscribed, as well as how they can re subscribe, if they choose to.