MAKING MONEY FROM ONE PAGE REPORTS

Lord-of-the-Manor-Titles (Registered Name)

Internationally available - Buy a British ...... LORDSHIP OF THE MANOR

How will your life change........? What difference will it make if you became a LORD OF THE MANOR ? (Click on photo to find out more)

^{Over
six years ago I wrote TWO reports. I am still selling those reports for £1 a
time and have since written many more reports which I am also making a good
profit on.}

^{'One
Page Reports' are so good because they are so easy to produce and are easily
sold at well over TEN TIMES the cost of producing them. They are also a good
introduction to selling large and more expensive items. Another attraction that
they have is that they can be packaged together and sold as a 'package deal'
thus giving a choice of a single sale or many sales together.}

^{It is difficult to make
advertising pay when you spend even as little as £2 on an advert if you then
only receive one reply. It isn't until you realize the FULL potential of the one
reply that you realize just how profits are made in mail order.}

^{Say,
for example, we sell one report for just three postage stamps to pay for the
product, further sales brochures to include with the report and what remains
goes towards further advertising. We mail the product and, hopefully, the
customer is pleased with what he or she receives. They look at the brochure and
, if it is good, order more items. However, THIS time they may spend £5, £10
or even much more.}

^{Now,
we only need ONE reply in five at £10 a time to cover the cost of advertising
FIVE times. Then the second order can go on to produce a third, fourth and even
more orders. Each one of those orders is profit. So you can see that although it
doesn't at first seem as if you are making money from advertising, it can really
lead to quite big money on a fairly regular basis.}

^{Bigger
orders can come from reports also. A batch of 30 reports with Reproduction
Rights for just £10 sounds very good. You can list out the reports and sell
them in batches of four for £1.50 or all 30 for £10. This will give you some
small sales and also some bigger ones. If you do the photo copying yourself, or
can get it done for 5p a sheet, it will only cost a maximum of 20p for four
reports. Your profit is £1.30 on one set of four or £8.50 on all 30. To save
postage, you can copy them double sided onto A4 size 100gsm paper which is
slightly thicker.}

^{If
you have the facilities, you can sell them even cheaper and STILL make as much
profit. Just reduce them to A5, put four on a double-sided A4 sheet and sell all
30 for about £7. You'll get more sales and approximately £6.50 profit on each
sale.}

^{If
you make up a brochure to sell them, be sure to list ALL the names of the
reports. It looks quite impressive. Having the brochure properly typeset and
printed is very well worth considering, as it really is your 'silent salesman'.}

^{Of
course you don't have to write your own reports, as there are already many on
sale with Reproduction Rights. However, if you do write your own, you can keep
the copyright yourself and, like me, sell it for years}

TWELVE WAYS TO CUT ADVERTISING COSTS WITHOUT LOSING RESPONSE

1. Cut the number of words in your classified adverts. Not only will they be cheaper but you will also find that it gives more punch.

2. Advertise in low cost magazines. It is not always true that you get what you pay for. Some of the smaller magazines give just as good a response as the more expensive ones. It pays to experiment to find out which ones give you the best results.

3. Co-publish a few magazines. It makes sense to do this but it also makes sense not to overdo it. It really depends on how many mailings you do per month and how many brochures you have.

4. Most magazines will insert three adverts at a lower cost than three individual adverts. If not stated, ask and they usually agree.

5. Take advantage of free advertising and also advertising for just a couple of stamps. Results are small but the cost makes it sensible.

6. Join clubs where they give low cost advertising, low cost mailing or exchange mailing. You may find your results are not worth it. Don't expect more than a half per cent result from other people's mailings and only then, that is selling something at a very low cost or even giving it away free. If you can make it pay, it is well worth it.

7. Keep responses high by only advertising good for under £1, free, or for one or two postage stamps. It will make your response rate much better. To make money, you need a good follow up procedure.

8. Rather than mail out one hundred brochures, which will cost a lot for printing, mailing, and buying mailing lists and not forgetting time, why not put a full page advert in a magazine? If it costs you £20 for a 2,000-circulation magazine, it is still cheaper and you can find magazines that do it for less than that.

9. Keep records of all your advertising results including date, order or inquiry, what sent in return, where it came from and how payment was made. You are sure to find them quite revealing.

10. If you expect people to pay out £15 or £20 each time you mail them, then you must expect your return rate to be low. If you want your response to increase, use your brochures to sell things for £5 or under. Not only will your response rate be higher, you will also get people to improve what you sell in many ways.

11. Better copies, card covers, add an extra report. It costs hardly any more to have neat, good quality products. The advantage to you is that people are more likely to buy again if they get their money's worth. If they only get tatty bits of paper, they are highly unlikely to buy from you again.

12. Become expert at one part of mail order. Mailing, printing, duplicating, mailing lists etc. Use what you can do best to get other things done for nothing. If you print - print for others if they mail yours. If you mail - exchange mailing for printing. You can get many things cheaper this way.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS GROW FASTER

Always give customers encouragement to order early. Potential customers will often intend to buy and then put it aside to send off later. Of course, they forget all about it. If you give the sort of inducement like 'Reply within 10 days and buy for £2 less' or 'Order within 10 days and get an extra report for free', people who like your advert are liable to send off immediately instead of waiting. So you have given a double incentive to buy.

1. They will get it cheaper or get something extra.

2. They won't put off ordering because they don't want to miss out on the extras.

Keep improving your advertisements and brochures even when they are doing well.

A slight change, just a few words can mean all the difference of just one extra reply. That extra reply can be the deciding factor between gain and loss.

Always put a sales letter with your brochure, it makes all the difference. I prefer to make it a hand written letter. I find that even a copied hand written letter is read where a typed or printed letter is ignored.

Write and design your own brochures, leaflets and flyers. You won't get such good results if you keep sending out brochures that potential customers have seen a dozen times before. Make yours different so that people get a fresh look at it. Keep re-writing and designing it until it really sells.

Vary the offers in your package to get the right combination and the right amount. Keep records of what you send so that you can find the best combination.

Add a 'leader' to your brochures. A 'leader' is a piece of paper (usually coloured) that is stapled or stuck on the top left hand corner. It makes an attractive comment about the article being sold.

Fill in the order form for the customer. People are basically lazy. Filling the form in will get half the work done for them. Alternatively, design the order form so all they have to do is enter their name and date. An addressed envelope also helps - a pre-paid one even more so, BUT only if the response ratio justifies the cost.

Get other people to advertise for you. Use 50% commission brochures but offer fifty more for every sale.

You can buy postage stamps legally at a discount. Most Stamp Dealers have been checked by the Police recently so any stamps that they may wish to sell are unlikely to be illegal. You can also buy envelopes ready stamped which also saves money on envelops.

Get commission brochures that are only printed on one side and have your advertisement printed on the back. Saves on the cost of paper.

HOW TO KEEP INCREASING YOUR MAIL ORDER PROFITS

One thing more than any other goes towards making bigger profits than anything else. That is 'keeping and using results from records'. How many dealers spend hundreds of pounds joining clubs, MLM's and using commission circulars yet never find the answer to making profits? After six months or a year, they give up. If only they had kept proper records, the few sales they had made would have led them to finding out how they had made those sales and so enabled them to repeat them.

There is no doubt at all that certain brochures and certain adverts DO bring in more replies than others. Even more important is that some sales produce follow-up sales whilst others don't. Keeping records is so simple and so cheap that no one can be excused for not doing it. All that is needed is some cards, index cards and a box to keep them in. Details on the cards are very simple. You must have the name and address of the buyer, what they bought, and date bought, what was sent in return, where the sale originated from, how much was spent and in what way the money was paid.

My cards are made out like this:

Name (surname first) Year

Address

Post code Telephone number Fax number

Order or enquiry (O or E) Date

What was ordered or enquired about

What was sent in return (Item ordered, any extras etc)

Where originated from (magazine, own mail etc)

Amount paid and whether cheque. P.O. or cash

This is all there is to it. The cards are then filed alphabetically. If another sale is made, the same information can be abbreviated e.g. Date, Order, What ordered etc. After the first time, it only takes up two lines as the address is not needed and neither is too much description. After a few months, even if only about ten replies have been received, you can remove the cards and go through them for any pattern emerging.

Mark down on a sheet of paper what was bought and where bought from. You are sure to find a certain pattern. They will not only tell you what sells best and what is the best place to advertise but also what creates the best follow-up and what should be included in your follow-up. From this information, you can alter your mailing and advertising to create greater profits for yourself in the future.

I know that many dealers think that there is enough paperwork in mail order and this is a bit of writing that can be avoided. Some also believe that they can do the same thing from memory. However, from my experience, keeping and sorting records has been one of my greatest steps to advancement and earnings in mail order. I don't see how the information resulting from it can be obtained in any other way.

This information is supplied by courtesy of:

www.Lord-of-the-Manor-Titles.co.uk

HOT TIPS FOR MAIL ORDER DEALERS

Advertise a number of reports in one large advert selling five or six reports for £3. This will bring you in more orders and open the way for more repeat sales

Make your sales brochures the best you have ever seen. As well as the words, concentrate on the layout, graphics, general attractiveness and ease of reading

Keep mailing to old customers for six months so that you build up a really big customer bank.

Keep detailed records of advertising and follow-up results. Use them to find your best adverts, magazines, brochures and generally your best approach.

Use FREE advertising wherever possible. It is sometimes offered with new magazines or there are some ad-sheets that give free advertising.

Take advantage of 'discount' advertising. Sometimes, magazines give three adverts for the price of two. Watch out for 'Special offers'.

If you are having your brochures printed, print your advert up the side of the brochure as well. Even if you only get ONE reply in a thousand, it is well worth it.

Don't confuse people in your advertising by selling more than one offer. Use more space if you want to offer more.

Use short sentences and paragraphs. It makes words sound more dramatic.

Study other people's adverts - especially those that run year after year.

Use words that 'pull' such as Free, New, Special Offer, Discount. You need to catch the eye before you can sell.

Co-publish magazines and ad-sheets to make up your 'Big Mails' and get free or low cost advertising.

More expensive advertising can sometimes work out cheaper because the CIRCULATION is that much greater. However, lower circulation magazines can often give better results. Judge on 'results' rather than price.

Advertise as you mail. Put your BEST advert on the envelope. This will cost nothing extra and the few results you get will be a bonus.

If others mail for you, reduce your A4 adverts to A5. You can get four adverts on one sheet of A4 paper and increase the circulation.

Don't put too many brochures in your envelope nor too few either. If you put too much in, people just don't reply because they are confused as to WHAT is best. Just one in an envelope is equally silly because those who aren't interested in what you are selling will have nothing else to attract their attention.

MAIL ORDER AND THE CUSTOMERS POINT OF VIEW

How many people start in mail order with the view, 'I want to make money'.This product is sold by others so I will sell the same thing and ALSO make money?

Of course it doesn't work. Why not? Because you are not giving the customer what they want. In fact, you haven't even considered the customer at all.

To find out what the customer REALLY wants, you must impartially study yourself as a customer. If you then apply this study to your product, and the way you present it, you will have a far greater chance of success.

Looking at myself for example, only last week I started shopping at a different DIY store. Why did I? What was my motivation? Will I continue to do so? If so, why? I started because I thought that it might be cheaper but when I went there, I found that it was far more friendly, better display of goods, easier to get assistance yet it wasn't any more expensive than where I used to shop.

What observations have I made regarding mail order?

Probably the most important is that I personally need to see an advert three or four times before I am likely to respond to it. I find most other people do the same. When I receive mail through the letter-box, I find that a short hand written letter gets read. In fact, I find it almost impossible NOT to read it. A type-set or word processed letter doesn't stand much chance - especially if it is long. I may read the first line but if it is obviously selling, I will usually bin it within five or six seconds. The same goes for brochures. Layout is more important than words although I am not saying that words are of no consequence as they obviously are. If the layout LOOKS like a lot of reading, then it goes straight in the bin. If it looks interesting and easy to raed, it stands a far better chance of getting read.

A few years ago, I went through about five hundred brochures to find out what attracted me the most. I ended up with two brochures that seemed to attract me more than any others and was very suprised to find that they were both exactly the same layout.

What makes me buy from one dealer again and again?

Price matters as too does the quality of the goods but are they REALLY what is the most important?

Friendliness, ease of buying, number of times I am informed, dealing with exchanges - these ALL go towards making a sale to me.

Take an impartial look at yourself. Study your actions and reactions. You are not THAT much different from any of your customers. You will find that selling to you is very complex. You demand a lot.

Isn't it therefore only right that YOUR customers should ALSO demand a lot from you?

TEN WAYS TO SURVIVE THE DEPRESSION & MAKE A PROFIT

1. Only attempt to make money where you KNOW you can really make it. Don't attempt to make money in new directions unless you can 'test the water' very cheaply and can afford to lose the time and money that you have invested.

2. Have a good long look at your expenses. Where can you obviously cut down? What can you do without?

3. Try to pay all your bills immediately. By doing this, you gain greater peace of mind because you can always delay paying if necessary. You may need a cushion to fall back on which you won't have if you are already paying bills at the very last moment.

4. Keep track of your spending and try to spend less. For example, when you go shopping and normally spend £20, take only £19. This will FORCE you to cut back. If you are in business, keep track of each days expenses compared with each days takings. Never spend more than you take. Compete with yourself on the smallest weeks expenses and largest weeks takings.

5. Look, look, look all the time for LOWER prices on the items which you must buy. Check the quality first; it is amazing the savings that can be made.

6. If you have the time but little money, don't spend that time brooding or getting depressed. Read books that will uplift you. Learn more on the subjects that could help you make more money and plan your way to more money. Keep active. You won't get anywhere if you don't.

7. If you don't have time, it is still important to keep your spirits high. Record some lifting chapters or quotes from books and play them while you are working. Keep a note-pad handy and write down any ideas you have to improve your situation. Try to find fifteen minutes to half an hour each day to plan your work and make a plan for the future. This is vital as it will save you more than the half an hour spent.

8. Before borrowing to raise capital, look around your house and find unwanted things that are obviously saleable. You could raise quite a few hundred pounds this way if you are lucky.

9. Don't go for big money fast. Only a very small minority EVER achieve it. Aim to cut costs a little each week and increase your income a little each week.

10. If you really need to borrow, always remember that you Must pay it back PLUS interest. There is nothing wrong with borrowing if it is carefully planned. Take into account your initial expenditure, advertising costs and the time it will take before you will get paid. NEVER borrow unless you have thoroughly tested as much as you possibly can first and even then, plan for things taking longer than you thought as well as being much harder than you first thought.

'Slow but sure' is a must. The good thing is that if you can survive during a depression, you will be sure to find it easier after it.

MAKING COMMISSION CIRCULARS PAY.

One of the biggest mistakes that people new to mail order make is thinking that getting commission circulars and mailing them to people on mailing lists will pay. It doesn't. At the VERY best, you will get 4% responses but usually you will get 1% or less.

So how do we make commission circulars pay?

The only way that you can make them pay by mailing them to mailing lists is to have your OWN mailing list of people who have bought from you before. That basically means that you have got to take a risk and lose money before you can make any. Once you have found your own pattern of doing this, you can repeat it as many times as you like and make as much money from it as you have time to carry out your own plan.

I consider that advertising in mail order magazines is the easiest, most certain and cheapest way of building up your own list. To get results from advertising, you need to almost GIVE something away. You could offer a Report for just two stamps. This would cover your costs but not your time. When you send the Report out, you include with it your commission brochures and, if they are good, you will get a number of sales.

Another thing worth advertising is 'Big Mails'. Make up your own Big Mail by getting involved in as many commission circulars as you can as well as Co-Publishing a couple of magazines which will also cut down the cost of your advertising.

Yet another way of building up your mailing list is to mail to mailing lists or through other mailers who can possibly do it cheaper than you can but make YOUR offer almost a 'give-away'. You can use your brochure to get enquiries for just a stamp or sell something very low cost that will bring in a quantity of replies rather than large money. I don't recommend giving 'free' as in my experiments, I have found that giving 'freebies' rarely brings follow-up sales whereas those who give a stamp also give better follow-up results.

You may well have realised that building-up your own mailing list is going to take time. Most advertising in mail order magazines will only bring one, two or three replies per issue. That is a large number of issues to get one hundred names for your mailing list. If you have the money to invest, your best bet is to advertise by mailing to mailing lists or through other mailers.

Once you have compiled even a small list, you should mail to these people once a month. It doesn't matter if you include the same items in your mailing although do try to include at LEAST one thing that is new and different.

To improve response, include a personal letter. I have found that a written letter is best but you can type it. However, NEVER send a printed letter. You will notice yourself that when YOU receive mail, YOU will read a written or typed letter but NOT a printed one. Others are much the same as you. Your letter should be short and point out a few advantages to be had from your products.

PERSONALISING YOUR MAILING

A good sales letter will be short, to the point and say for example;

'Dear (give their name if possible),

I have included some of my latest offers and would like to point out that you can get reduced prices on a few of them if you answer quickly. In particular xyz is very good and I would thoroughly recommend it. However, if you are interested in abc, then I would recommend xyz as well. I hope you will take the trouble to thoroughly read the information on these and others for which I very much hope that I will hear from you again.

Yours sincerely,

(Your Christian name).

With a litte thought, you can, probably come up with a much better letter than that. Most of my letters are either personally written or written with a purpose in mind. Therefore, it is difficult to write one that will suit ALL purposes. Once you can write letters quickly, you will find that it is little trouble to write a page that really WILL be read. The personal letter makes a lot of difference. I like people who buy from me to feel that I am their friend. Once they trust you, they will buy more from you and follow your advise and recommendations on what is worth buying. Never try to fob someone off with something that they obviously don't want.

The packaging of a mailing is also very important. It doesn't , in my opinion, need to be expensive but it DOES need to neat. I use 9"x6" white envelopes so that all the A4 brochures can be folded in half . Each brochure should be folded indervidually and the fold should be at the side it is opened. Letters are usually opened from the back and for that reason, your brochure should be arranged so that the titles are seen when withdrawing the mail so make sure that it comes out the right way up. Your letter must be at the front. It is a good idea to include a self-addressed envelope or a 'Freepost' one.Try to make the whole package neat and interesting when it is opened.

Keep records of all your sales and what you sent back in return. You will find some brochures sell better than others. Keep them going. You will also find that some brochures give a better follow-up response than others. They may not bring in as much money but they are a better sale than any other. Watch for them. Records are VITAL to the mail order dealer. Don't try to do without them. I have a computer but I still find it easier to keep my records in a filing box so don't think that you are at a disadvantage if you don't have a computer. Make certain that you learn from your records. Every six months, go through them and work out which are your best sellers, which sales generate follow-up sales and any other patterns that may appear,

Getting results from mail order is hard work but it can be done with little equipment and a cost of around £20. 'Repeat Orders' is what it's all about. Be honest and only sell the best. A good business can be built up if you take it slowly and carefully. Plan how you are going to go about it and learn after you have done it.

EASY WAYS TO GET FREE ADVERTISING

Place copies of your circular on bulletin boards throughout your community such as in coin-operated laundries, grocery stores, barber shops etc. Concentrate on Fridays and Saturdays when shopping increases.

Check with local newspapers. Before going to press, many smaller newspapers have space left that needs filling. Your advert may just be the right size to occupy the unfilled space and they may well agree to run your advert for free.

Place your circulars on the windscreens of parked cars. Youngsters will be happy to do this for a few pence. Check first with your Local Council or car park operator to see if this is permitted as regulations do differ quite considerably from one place to another.

Leave sales literature on doorsteps of homes and businesses in your area. Do this on weekends in residential areas and weekdays for businesses.

Have your best pulling 1" and 2" adverts made onto a rubber stamp. Then stamp it on envelopes of all your outgoing mail.

When you have envelopes printed with your return address, have them also print your best advert directly beneath your address. It costs nothing additional to have this advert printed on the front of your envelopes. Check with the Post Office before doing this as they do have certain restrictions which vary from time to time.

Take advantage of advertising 'specials'. Many publishers offer adverts on a three for the price of two basis. Use the free advert and pocket the difference.

In your adverts, always request an S.A.E. then insert some of your other offers in the outgoing mail. This is the same as getting free advertising. Never miss an opportunity to get your offers out to your potential customers - particularly if you can save money at the same time.

Become a 'Mailer'. Get your Printer's lowest price for printing circulars on both sides of the sheet. Contact other dealers and state that you will print and mail their circulars for this price 'with no conflicting adverts on the back'. Then print your circulars on the reverse side and distribute them with your outgoing mail. There is no extra cost for postage or envelopes and your side of the circular is paid for by your customer.

Offer free commission on circulars. Print one of your regular offers on one side, a small commission offer on the reverse and leave space where the mailer can rubber stamp his or her own name and address. Your offer then gets a free ride.

If you use a postage meter machine, use the space directly to the left of the stamp imprint for placing a small advert. This way you get a FREE message to your potential customer.

ADVERTISMENTS THAT SHOULD NOT BE REPLIED TO.

How to get free advertising.

Whilst the Heading may LOOK very tempting, the Report itself contains no more information, once all the padding words have been stripped away, than telling the reader to place advertisments in 'FREE ADVERT' publications and also checking through magazines such as the Exchange and Mart for sections that are FREE to private advertisers. It's unlikely that anyone receiving such a Report will be very impressed.

How to get free artwork.

Again, the Heading looks very tempting but one would have to have a very low standard of ethics to consider such a scheme. There isn't anything clever in telling someone to take their draft artwork to a print-shop for a 'quotation' and then asking for the proof for checking before going ahead with the order. The proofs are rarely crossed 'sample' and usually of a good enough quality to permit photocopying. Paying good money for such a report isn't going to bring 'friends' or repeat orders.

How to get free business opportunity magazines.

This report advises that once the magazine (or magazines) of your choice has been selected, write to the publishers Mailing List department to ask for their latest price list. The Circulation department of the magazine wil automatically be given your name and address to then forward you a sample copy of the magazine in the hope that you will subscribe. By writing each month using a different names and addresses, the magazine publisher will be none the wiser. Alternatively, by using different names and addresses each month, simply write to the magazine under the pretext of considering subscribing and wanting a back copy for perusal - you will inevitably be sent the latest edition. It's hard to see that such hassle would be worth the amount of saved subscriptions BUT - there is no doubt that the information does balance with the report's title.

Summary.

Reports with such eye-catching titles as the above ones will easily attract large numbers of unsuspecting buyers but I am of the opinion that if someone is prepared to stoop to such low levels of ethics then 'self respect' can have no meaning to such people. I would strongly advise that such reports should NOT be purchased nor sold on grounds of ethics and also as there is always the possibility that some dissatisfied 'crusader' could take legal action as a point of principle.

Warning.

This information has been provided on the strict understanding that it is for 'information only' and NOT to be acted on.

THINKING YOUR WAY TO RICHES

It sounds daft to say that the way you think can make you either rich or poor yet, to a very large degree, it is perfectly true.

'Aim for the stars and reach for the rooftops' is just one commonly voiced saying that almost sums up the right attitude.

I am sure that 90% of people live just beyond their means. It doesn't matter what they earn, they always need just that little bit extra. It amazes me that a person who only has themselvs to cater for is just as badly off as some friends down the road to me who need £800 per month for a mortgage AND they have three children.

In building up my business, I used psychological stepping stones.

I knew that I couldn't make the business work in just one year so I set myself specific aims. To start with, it was just a matter of getting work so I aimed to do just that. I realised that my redundancy money wouldn't last forever so I aimed to get enough work to make at least half a weeks wage. I managed to do that for a few months so I steeped up the amount that I needed.

By gradually enlarging the amount that I needed, I stepped up my takings in little bursts.

A few mistakes made me realise that just earning enough to live on wasn't anywhere near enough. So, in my private accounts, I put in extra payments that didn't really exist. The idea was to con myself into believing that I needed more than I really did. It worked.

Although I knew that I had more money than I really did have, I still had that sense of urgency to find even more.

Another little psychological trick which I found extremely helpful was to pay all my bills as soon as possible. This meant that when I was in any financial trouble, I could always leave a bill a little longer before paying it.

Earning more money is not the only way to become richer. Another way is to spend LESS. Living within your means is just the same as being rich. Always wanting more and more only leads to misery.

It seems to be human nature to always want to work less, have less problems and have more money. It is only a little twist of the mind that can help us to want to work just a little more, handle just a few more problems and accept that we have enough money.

If you can develope that attitude, then you are RICH.

Working with the right attitude is very rewarding. Problems are a part of everyday life and finding answers is very satisfying. Except in a very few circumstances, living within your means isn't really as hard as many people make out and it certainly leads to greater peace of mind.

TEN BIG SECRETS OF SUCCESS IN ADVERTISING

I have always considered that learning any subject is really the learning of secrets. Well, they aren't REALLY secrets but they are rules that contain a main basis or subject.

Consider spelling. To know the rule, 'I before E except after C' tells you how to spell more words than learning that ceiling is spelt as I have just spelt it.

Learning mail order is no different from learning any other subject. Certain rules or 'secrets' will bring you more success than experimenting your newest ideas. I am about to outline some of the secrets which, after many years in mail order, I have learnt about advertising. I must point out though that these secrets will not really be known to you until you have actually PROVED them to be right for yourself.

1. One order from one small advert in a mail order magazine is about normal. Two is good and three is excellent. It isn't really the number of replies that is important so much sas what to do with the replies.

2. Never try to sell anything in a small advert in a mail order magazine for over £1. Anything advertisied for over £1 will normally (not always) receive no replies at all.

3. You will rarely ever make a profit from a small advert. It is the FOLLOW-UP that makes the profit.

4. Advertising something FREE will bring most replies but asking for one or two stamps will bring the best results. In my experience, I have proved that this is true no matter WHAT other articles may say.

5. Always give more than the customer actually expects to receive as this creates a good position to follow up from.

6. Try to make the wording of your advert leave the potential customer wanting to know more. e.g. The above title left YOU wanting to know 'The Ten Big Secrets' - didn't it?

7. Aim your advert to the reader. Readers of mail order magazines are mainly mail order dealers and NOT Opportunity Seekers although there may well be some others.

8. Always put a personal hand written letter in your follow-up unless of course your handwriting is on the down side.

9. I have never found that MORE words mean MORE success although more words can be used to advertise more than one thing which can bring in more money from the advert itself but it does not increase the overall number of replies.

10. Rules can be broken BUT it is a good idea to stick to rules in the main until you really know how to break them.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN CIRCULARS

Very effective circulars can be created using a very minimum of equipment. A typewriter or word processor, some large rub down transfer letters such as 'Letraset' and imagination.

The reason why so many homemade circulars look so un-professional is due maily to two things. Lack of writing ability and not enough knowledge of layout.

Writing can be improved by taking longer over producing the script and splitting it into manageable parts. Successful circulars are not written in an evening. They usually take weeks of alteration and improvement. Consider first the ideas that should go into the message. List your basic ideas and try looking at them from the customers point of view. List more ideas than you need.

Once you have your ideas, pick out the best and put them into the order which you want to write them. Writing will now be much easier and far more effective. Put it aside and the next day, try to improve on it. Alter words, paragraphs and sentances if need be. You may even want to cut some out or add to it. Do this about three or four times until you have something that makes sense and has some real 'pull' to it.

Spend some time on creating the right headline to your brochure. These are the most important words as they will be read first and make the potential customer decide whether to read on or not.

Just typeing the words and adding a large heading is all that is needed although it will look poor if it is done poorly so be sure to get a new quality ribbon for your typewriter/word processor and take your time producing it.

If you want to do 'paste-up', only glue them in place AFTER you are fully satisfied with their positioning. To stop the edges creating a line on the photocopier, turn the paper over and run something fairly sharp or pointed along the edge of the new piece so that the origional sheet is brought level with the new one. A paper knife is usually ideal for the job.

If you want to add pictures to your circular, this can be done by using 'clip-art' books. The pictures in these books are 'copyright free' so you can photocopy them and paste them where you want. To improve the pictures, it sometime helps to go over some of the areas with a felt tip pen to bring out the blackness. Graphics are very good at drawing attention to your circular and arousing interest in it. If possible, try to use graphics that bare some relation to your message or product.

If you want to know more about creating better circulars, the guide 'Beyond Basic Brochures' goes into details of layout, writing, ways to bring in more sales and much more. It also gives examples of successful brochures and points out reasons for their success. Further details of this guide are available from any 'Exchange Mailers and Remailers Club' member.

THE TWO HOTTEST "USED" PRODUCTS TO SELL.

An easy business to get into is selling used products. Many things, from books to furniture, are commonly sold when used. However, there are two products which are exploding into the "used" market. These are Compact Disks and Video Game Cartridges.

Compact Disks (CDs) have almost totally replaced records and tapes as the most popular way to listen to music. They have all the advantages: they provide the highest quality sound, and won't wear out, like records and tapes will. The only disadvantage is the price. CDs retail for around £9 to £12, depending upon the local competition. The fact that they won't wear out, though, makes them ideal for the used market. People frequently buy CDs and either don't like them, or get tired of them. What you can do is buy them for resale. Advertise in a classified ad that you will buy CDs for £2 to £4. Pay the higher price for the more popular and newer CDs. Be sure the booklet insert that came with the CD is included, and the CD is relatively free of scratches. You can then easily resell them for £3.50 to £7.50. Selling used CDs can be done by mail, or in a retail store. In my city, there is a store that sells ONLY used CDs, and they are ALWAYS packed full of buying customers. If they can do it, so can you!

Along the same lines, Video Game Cartridges are a goldmine. New games for the Nintendo and Sega systems go for up to £40! Yet, people buy a game and get tired of it, or figure it out. Offer them £3 to £12 for their old games, depending upon the popularity of the games they want to sell. You can then resell them for £6 to £20. Make sure the instruction booklet is included with the cartridge.

Both CDs and Video Game Cartridges take up little room, and can easily double your investment upon sale. Ideally, you should handle both, so you can expand your potential markets.

THE RUBBER STAMP BUSINESS

Rubber stamps are one of the necessities of a mail order business. You need to have at least a rubber stamp with your name and address on it, not only for envelopes, but also for commission circulars and ad sheets that you co-publish. Other rubber stamps you may want to have on hand are ones that say, in large block letters, things like "SPECIAL!!!," "ORDER NOW!," etc. If you read ad sheet and mail order publications, you may see dealers selling rubber stamps. How are they doing this?

There are three ways to sell rubber stamps. The first, and easiest, is to act as a broker for a rubber stamp producer. This is similar to being a printing broker, outlined in an earlier report in this series. Contact a stamp maker in your area, and outline your plans for selling rubber stamps by mail. Explain that this will add business for him that he wouldn't otherwise get. The stamp maker should offer a commission to you (or free stamps) for taking orders. Then, advertise your stamp-making business in ad sheets and other publications that mail-order dealers regularly read. When you receive an order, take your commission off the top and forward the rest with the order to the stamp maker.

The second way is to produce the stamps yourself. This is something you can set up in your basement or a spare room. Spread the word around the printers in your area that you are looking for used rubber stamp making equipment. If you can, find someone who is currently in the business who is thinking of getting out. Learn the process from them, and you can probably get good terms on the equipment.

The third way can be done if you have a computer and laser printer, or access to one. There is a company called Grantham's Polly Stamp (418 Central Avenue, East Grand Forks, MN 56721 218-773-0331) that sells a machine called the Polly-Stamp. This machine makes rubber stamps from your laser printed artwork. Anything you can print on your laser printer can be made into a stamp in 20 minutes. It uses a light sensitive rubber-like liquid resin and is very easy to use. A new unit costs $1095, but you can get a good refurbished unit for under $500.

Rubber stamps are a vital tool for mail order dealers. If you offer this service, you will greatly expand your customer base. Be sure to send your latest and best offers with the customer's stamp, and you'll get even more orders.

SELLING CLIP ARTS

Have you ever seen an ad in a publication that was just text? Just a big block of words. I'm sure you have, and wasn't it boring? If you're scanning quickly through ad sheets, your eye won't stop at a block of grey text. It'll skip right over. To make your ad interesting and eye-catching use ready-made graphics called CLIP ART.

Clip-Arts are ready-to-use pictures, borders, headlines and other little pieces of art, printed in groups on a page, that you can clip out and use in your ads and publications. Clip art can be found at office supply stores, and from mail order dealers. Here's how you can get into the business of selling clip art.

First, you need a source of clip art. If you, or a friend, are artistically inclined, draw your own. Don't worry about having to draw it small enough, you can reduce whatever you've drawn with a photocopier. It's a good idea to make your art relatively free of small details, since they'll get lost when you photocopy the picture. Draw items that would be useful in mail order ads (business related pictures, money, mail, etc.). Then, reduce them and assemble them on one page. You now have a product you can sell!

Another source of clip art is other dealers. Many dealers sell copyright-free clip art packages that you can resell, either for 100% profit or for a commission. The only drawback is it will be the same clip art that others are selling. That's OK, though, if you make sure to advertise it in places where other dealers aren't.

Finally, if you own a computer, you have a wealth of clip art at your fingertips. Many graphics and sign-making software packages allow you to create your own graphics. These can be printed out and used as clip arts. A laser printer will produce the best, professional quality clip art you'll ever see.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A PARTY PLANNER

Let's Plan A Party! "MAGIC" is the buzz word that usually describes what this business offers. No - the Party Planning business we're talking about has very little to do with Goof-Doop The Clown or serving cake and ice cream to 6-year old kids.

CORPORATE SCENE

For a Party Planner, this is where the money is. And if you have the knack for organizing fun things for grown ups, you're in for a big - £100 Million - surprise. And it's a business worth celebrating.

BROKER MENTALITY

This is a business you can virtually start with little or no capital. All you need is a great idea and a client who wants to have fun. The best way to implement this business is to act as the broker for all services entailed in any given event.

You do not prepare the food, you hire a caterer. You do not sing or dance, you hire entertainers. In fact, in some real big parties, you can negotiate with talent agencies to have celebrities attend your party.

For example, you can have named stars "drop by" your party for around £10,000 or better. If your budget cannot afford the real celebs at £10,000 a piece, then you can hire look-alikes for £200 a night. Do not introduce them in the party, just let them roam around and mingle with the guests.

THEME PARTIES

You can also plan an event around a theme, depending on the reason for the party and the number of people attending.

You can build festivals around parties. If the party is an extension of a convention, work around ideas that are conducive to people in that trade or industry.

START-UP

To get started, line up businesses that are involved in parties: florists, videographers, caterers, hotel managers, equipment rental companies, and others.

Set your rates based on the price lists of these related businesses. These tie-in companiwes will dictate the way you structure your prices.

Once ready, compile a mailing list of potential corporate accounts in your area. If you live in a city with a convention center, it would be ideal to do some networking and get referral business.

PICKING THE BEST MAILING LISTS

"If you are selling a coffee mug for people who are

left handed, make sure the mailing list you get IS

NOT of people who are right handed. A bad list is a

disaster from the very beginning."

- Ben Deleon

BCI President

I can honestly say, if your product or service is good, you should receive orders from any mailing list. But, percentage wise, some will pull less than 1%. The best mailing lists pull in 20% or more! In other words, better than 200 orders per 1,000 mailing. The most important deciding factor that indicates a good list from a bad one is this:

THE SOURCE OF THE NAMES.

If you buy a mailing list from a dealer who has compiled the names from his or her own customer list, the list will pull in the more orders than one that is compiled from a phone book or some other general source. And remember, the best mailing list you can have is your own. I am convinced that if a person is ACTIVE in mail order (especially if they have bought something within the past 90 days), he or she will respond to a good offer. I run a full-time mail order business but in all reality I am still an OPPORTUNITY SEEKER! I can use a good mail order plan, clip art and I still buy lots of advertising and mailing lists. So, if you will get your offers to ACTIVE people, then there is NO reason why you shouldn't get orders. If you still don't get orders, you should look further into your marketing materials and your offer. There must be some fault in one of these.

TAKE NOTE OF THIS: The best name lists you can buy are from businesses that compiled names from their own advertising programs, not from a mailing list company whose names are years old. Always inquire about this when writing to others about mailing lists. I don't think I would ever be

interested in names over 60 days old.

SELLING PRODUCTS ON FLOPPY DISKS.

If you sell computer programs that you've written, shareware programs, or information products on computer disk, there are two little-known ways to make extra sales. Use these methods and increase your sales!

The first way is to use a custom disk sleeve. Disk sleeves are those paper sleeves that the disk is enclosed in. Most are plain white. That's a waste! You can make your own CUSTOM disk sleeve that can act as an information flyer for the disk it carries, as well as a catalog of your other products. If you have a laser printer, you can even customize these for each individual customer.

Take an 8 1/2 x 11 paper. On the 8 1/2 inch side, measure four inches from one of the long sides. Do the same on the opposite 8 1/2 inch side. Now fold the long way at this four inch point. Hold the paper so that the 11 inch side is horizontal, and the four inch high side is in the front. Next, measure 2 1/2 inches from each side along the 11 inch side. Fold each side, at the 2 1/2 inch point, to the back. You now have a disk sleeve!

Use your laser printer to print a catalog of your products on one side of the sleeve. Then, I turn the paper over, and print information about the disk.

By doing this, you make use of what would otherwise be blank space and extra mailing weight. Your sleeve weighs only a fraction more than a regular sleeve, so it doesn't effect postage costs, and it sells products for you!

The other way to increase your sales is to include a catalog on the disk itself. This is as easy as typing a letter. With your word processor, type a letter to your customer, telling them that you have some resources that they can benefit from. Then, list your other products and services. Be sure to tell the customer exactly how they will benefit from each particular product/service. Then, when your letter's finished, save it as an "ASCII text file." Almost all word processors will have this option. An ASCII text file can be loaded into any word processor, or can be displayed by typing "type (file name)" to show it on the screen, or "type (filename) > prn" to print it out. Save your letter with a name like README or READIT, something that will get your customers attention when they look at the directory of the disk.

On your disk sleeve, label, or instructions that you include with the disk, urge the customer to look at your file. Tell them you have important information for them. Including your product listing this way will add NO weight whatsoever, and will only add the time it takes to create it. A short text file such as this shouldn't effect how long it takes to copy the disk for the customer.

When you sell products on disk, you have two easy methods to use to increase your sales potential. Use both, if you want, and you'll see a marked increase in your sales!

PRODUCING POWERFUL AD LAYOUTS.

Anyone can lay out a good ad. Anyone. You don't need years of graphics arts or marketing instructions. All you need to do is to remember some simple tips that can turn a drab, mediocre ad into a powerful order-pulling masterpiece.

First of all, there are two ways to build an ad. Either fill it with text, or leave plenty of open space. Both ways are good, depending on the type of product or service you're selling, and the crowd you're trying to reach. If you're selling a product directly from your ad, and it requires a lot ofexplanation or description, pack that ad full of text. This will create a block of grey text which will not stand out to the eye, so you'll need to put a strong black border around your ad. If you're trying to solicit responses, which you'll follow up with more information, cut the text in your ad to aminimum. The white space in your ad will draw the eye, so you won't need as strong a border. You still should put a border around the ad, but a thin double line will do, so as not to attract attention away from the message of the ad.

A few words about the wording of your ad. Make sure it follows a logical progression. Start with a headline emphasizing the benefit the customer will get from your product or service. For example, Increase your business' profits and lower it's costs!" Follow up with a subheading hinting at what will follow in the body of the ad ("Secrets of a professional marketing consultant revealed!"). The body text of your ad should tell just a bit about your product, but should concentrate on the benefits your customer will receive. Personal benefits, not features, are why people buy products and services. End with your contact information, how prospects can either contact you for more information, or how they can order your product or service.

Spice up your layout with a bit of graphic art. Clip art is widely available at office supply and art stores. It should be easy to find a book of art that will apply to what you are selling. Cut the selected art from the book and paste into your ad. Don't overdo the art, though. Use only one graphic at the most. More than one looks unprofessional.

What follows is the biggest, most important tip I can give. When laying out your ad, USE A RULER! The worst thing you can do is use an ad that has crooked text that is off center. So many people try to do their own ads by "eyeballing" it, which will only yield unprofessional results. A good idea is to get some layout boards, also available at office supply or art stores. This is cardboard that has a blue grid printed on it that will not reproduce when copied.

Use rubber cement to attach your blocks of text. Typewritten is ok, though computer laser-printed or "rub-down" text is better looking. Check at the office/art supply store for rub-down text. Attach or draw your art and borders. Remember to emphasize benefits, keep things even and straight, leave white space if applicable, and use art sparingly as a compliment to your ad. If you follow these suggestions, your advertising quality will improve vastly.

IMPROVING YOUR CREDIT BY PAYING BILLS LATER, RATHER THAN SOONER!

Every business will get to the point where suppliers will offer terms on bills, rather than requiring payment up front or on delivery. Their bills will probably be marked "2/10, net 30." This means you get a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days, and the bill is due within 30 days. Many business owners will jump at the opportunity to save the 2% by paying early, and rightfully so. However, believe it or not, they can help their credit rating by paying at the end of 30 days.

How is this so? It's all a matter of your business' CREDIT HISTORY. All of the companies who offer you terms will be reporting your history to various credit bureaus. These bureaus are who gets consulted by banks when they decide whether or not to give you a loan.

By always taking advantage of the 2% discount, a business establishes a paying pattern. Thus, if you've been paying a company's bills in 5 days for the past year, this is what they will expect from forthcoming bills. Now, say one month has a tighter cash flow than normal, and you must take 20 days to pay that bill. This sends up a red flag for the billing company. You normally pay in 5 days, why are you now paying in 20? Even though you paid the bill well within the deadline, you have given a sign that you had a cash flow problem. This uneven paying pattern can show up on your credit rating. Even though all your bills are paid on time, an uneven paying pattern can jeopardize your future chances for more and larger credit limits.

Now, if you always pay your bills on the 25th day of the due period, even when you can pay them early, that cash poor month won't look any different to the billing company. Most companies would rather grant terms to a company that always pays on the 25th day, than one that sometimes pays early, sometimes pays later, as this reflects an image of disorganization and uneven cash flow.

Also, always paying toward the end of the due period will aid your cash flow. If you pay your bills consistently, at the same time every month, you will not be surprised by a sudden cash shortage. For example, say you decide to pay a bill early one month. Then, the next week, your main supplier calls to tell you about a closeout deal he has that would double your profits. Only problem is he can't offer terms, it has to be cash. Because you paid that bill early, you can't take advantage of the special deal. If you would have waited to pay it, your cash flow would have allowed the purchase, and the resulting higher profit margin would have yielded the cash to pay the bill.

So, you see, paying bills later, and not taking advantage of any early payment discounts, CAN work to your advantage. You need to consider your future plans and decide if saving 2% now is really worth it.

Producing How-to-Videos

A Florida video-grapher produced a How -To wedding planner tape and sold over £250,000 worth of videos in just 12 months. Think about it: If you sell your video for £25, all you need to do is sell around 80 videos a week, or 325 videos a month to gross £100,000 a year.

A typical "small" production can sell as much as 1,500 videos a month, or 18,000 units a year, at £25 each.

It's the Topic: If there is one single factor that makes or breaks a How to video, its the choice of topic. Another factor to consider is the length of the material. To remain interesting the average how to video must be fast paced and relatively short not exceeding 45 minutes. More successful videos are no more than 30 minutes long as this is a tolerable length by which a video can effectively cover a topic and remain interesting.

Duplication cost The length of your video also affects your duplication cost. Following is a rate structure for duplication charges based on set quantities for a factory-load VHS tape:

Length 1000 2500

10 min £1.50 £1.15

20 min 2.10 1.80

30 min 2.50 2.00

The shoot. Who's going to do the shooting? If you decide to do it yourself, where will you get the camera? What format are you going to shoot it in? The average cost of renting a 3/4 inch U-Matic camera, with wireless mics, and standard lighting equipment is around £495 a day. A camera person with an assistant will cost an extra £250.

The Editing. Once you've shot all the footage you need, you edit the work, assembling the footage in an orderly and coherent fashion that will effectively deliver the thought. Depending on how you shot your footage, editing can take 20 to 50 times the estimated finished length of your video; this means a 10 minute video may take 4 to 5 hours to edit, and so on.

Studio time ranges from £40 to as much as £100 an hour, depending on the special effects you want to have available for your editing project.

Packaging Full color printed sleeves start at around 40p a piece if you order 1,000 or more. You also need face labels on your tapes, as well as shrink wrapping for protection.

Making Money With Voice Mail

Although this money-making is continuously being marketed as "a way to make money with your answering machine", new technology has actually rendered this idea obsolete.

With the proliferation of voice mail, fax-back service, and very inexpensive computerized voice processing systems, the answering machine, with its limited one-call-at-a-time capacity, is no longer ideal for making money.

With the advent of these new technologies, the concept has also expanded to a variety of processes which you can use to make money.

PEOPLE MUST CALL

With answering machines, the only way you can make money is when people call you. Since an answering machine is hooked up to a specific phone number, and since it does not advertise on its own, you will have to establish ways to attract people to call your phone number so that people can listen to the message recorded on your answering machine.

THE MESSAGE IS THE KEY

The message recorded on your answering machine is the key to your ability to make money. The message can instruct people to send money for information about any subject matter, or instruct callers to leave their name and address so you can send them a sales brochure. The information you have recorded on your machine should be encouraging and convincing enough to motivate the caller to do what you have instructed.

THE 1-MINUTE SPIEL

Think of your recording as a radio commercial. Since callers have short attention spans, and are used to hearing radio and tv spots that are not more than 1 minute long it is advisable that you limit the length of your message to about 1 minute, 2 minutes tops!

GETTING THE CALL & COLLECTING PAYMENT

Whatever it is you are selling, and by which you are using your answering, your primary challenge will be in two areas: (1) How you can advertise and make your telephone number known to a lot of people, and (2) How you are going to collect payment for whatever it is you are selling. One of the most popular topics sold on "answering machine schemes" is information abourt how people can make money with their answering machine. This is worn out and very unimaginative. More than likely, your caller will feel insulted and not order whatever literature, report or booklet you want them to order. Remember, if you want to have a recorded sales message over the telephone, use a voice mail service, which may cost you around £8 a month.

MINI-OFFICES: Home For Start-Ups

The primary reason businesses start at home, or with a meager P.O. Box is because, renting an office can be very expensive.

On top of your basic rental, you will have to worry about buying and setting up tables and chairs, and bother yourself with a lot of moving-in blues when you should actually be concentrating on one thing: Making Money.

Therefore, for many start-ups, the kitchen table offers a "ready-to-go" alternative which is also rent-free. But what if there's an office "Cube" with a desk, a phone, access to a copy machine and a fax machine?

What if it has a common secretary receptionist who can type your letter and charge you only based on the amount of work done? What if this office were to rent out at £200 a month? Would you take it?

INCUBATOR

Many profitable businesses are born and raised in incubator situations. A mini office is just that - a slightly bigger mailbox where you can physically show up and do your work.

It's an ideal breeding ground for start-ups with limited capital, yet need legitimate workspace that neither the kitchen or a mailbox can offer. This is where you come in.

THE LAYOUT

Picture this mini office in a middlerange commercial location. The ideal space for you to rent would be around 1,800 square feet. You can build wall-to-wall cubicles that are about 5 x 5 each. Including common areas and a small corner for your secreetary, fax and copy machines, you can have 30 Cubes that can each rent out for £200 a month.

If all your cubes are rented out, this will give £6,000 in gross rental revenues. If you can lease your space for around £0.75 per square foot, your 1,800 sqft space will cost you £1,350 a month.

Add to this the salary of the secretary, and your margin can still be at around 50% of your gross rental revenue, or roughly £3000. In addition to your rental revenues, you will also make money on copies, faxes and secretarial functions.

ADVERTISING MAPS:

The Road to Big Profits

Maps serve a purpose. People use them for directions. They trust them and depend on them to get them where they want to go. It tells them where the local attractions are, and other places if interest, particularly among tourists - the people who use maps the most.

Considering the credibility and the power of maps as a printed medium, it takes an entrepreneur 2 seconds to realize that there's money in maps...as an advertising vehicle.

You can design your city map to be as large as 28" x 40" which can be printed by commercial print houses with large format presses. Or you can use the 11"x 17" format and bring it to your neighborhood quick printer.

THE MAP

What you're going to make a map of is as critical as deciding about how you're going to do it. These are the two questions that will make the foundation of your business.

Big cities are very seldom a great market for City Maps. However, if you break them apart and make maps for selected business districts, even down to selected neighborhoods, the taking is plenty.

Focus on dense retail districts. Target those with neighboring restaurant rows, historical spots or other tourist attractions.

Purchase reprint rights of already existing maps as this would prove significantly easier and more cost efficient than producing one yourself.

"Cartoon" maps may be visually entertaining, but they are seldom useful. You will probably attract more advertisers if you can equate your advertising rates with potential use.

Advertisers position advertising blocks on the outer edge of the map area. Depending of the size of your map and the paper you plan to print it on, you can have as many or as few "blocks" to offer for advertising. Encourage your advertisers to buy more than 1 block of advertising. This will not only makeyour map look more exclusive, but it will also make your selling task much easier.

www.Lord-of-the-Manor-Titles.co.uk