By Shelly Hopkins
The real profit in selling books by mail is by having dealers sell for you. Rather than mailing out thousands out thousands of your own mailing packets at today's high postage cost, get hundreds of thousands mailed out through your own dealers. This can generates steady orders and profits and is one of the great secrets to a successful Mail Order book business.
There are a number of Prime Source Mail Order firms offering good Mail Order distributorships. They offer high quality books, reports, and folios that appeal to the public; the kind of publications that have generated consistently high profits in the Mail Order business.
You should give wholesale book selling a try. Recognize the profit potential and determine if this method fist with your other programs.
Most of the better Prime Source firms offering distributorships have a simplified program with includes instructions, profit tested literature, sales letters, brochures, order forms and return envelopes to do the selling job for you. the simple instructions can be followed even by the inexperienced person. The old timers in Mail Order can use the wholesale book selling programs to supplement their other projects, in many instances combining book selling with their other mailing activities with very little added expense.
The Prime Source will ship your customers orders for literature, brochures, etc...,under your shipping label. They will also drop-ship the books and publications direct to your dears, using your name or label.
Your wholesale cost for publications will vary depending on whether you have the Prime Source drop-ship direct to your dealers, or in quantity to your place of business. The amount you charge your dealers will also vary depending on drop-ship services or quantity purchases. You, as the wholesaler, should make an effort to purchase the publications for a minimum of four time below retail price.
You must ascertain that the Prime Source sufficient inventory with a number of different titles and that titles may be assorted in making up quantity when you purchase in volume. Determine if shipments are made promptly.
The price you have to pay the Prime Source often is the determining factor in the success of your program. If the book retails at a price too low, considering the high postage and mailing costs, no profit can be realized by your dealer, nor by yourself, unless orders are limited to a minimum number of titles for each total purchase. Be certain that the program offered by the Prime Source allows sufficient margin to pay all your costs, and your dealers, while generating fair profit for you both.
To find the right programs for your operation write to a number of firms offering book selling wholesale programs. These can be found in any of the hundreds of Mail Order ad sheets, magazines and publications available today. (Some call it "Junk Mail" but if they only new the money-making potential of the right program,( "Gold Mail would be more appropriate).
Get their literature then order a minimum starting packet of the programs that interest you and fit in with your Mail Order business schedule. Make tests to prove the value of each program. Drop those that do not prove out after a reasonable test.
THE BEST BOOKS TO SELL BY MAIL
First, forget about fiction! These can be purchased at most any store, on the corner found at the library, or bought through the large Mail Order book clubs. Scientific, technical and text books are other categories to stay away from. All others have a good Mail Order potential. There is a broad market on religious books especially those dealing with the "End Times", however, most books in this classification are controlled by the various church outlets.
Self help and do-it-yourself books are best for newcomers. Sex books are one of the most profitable fields of selling books by mail. Repeat orders are high, but so is the penalty if state or local laws are broken. The Publisher does not advocate selling this kind of material as one can make a fortune without resorting to what is or could be considered immoral.
Mystic and metaphysical books are more or less specialized field ad generally the demand is not large. Health and recreation books have a steady market, but they are mostly tied up by firms in the catalog business.
Choose the type of books that interest you most. You can better enjoy and promote things you like. Keep card records for each of your customers. Above all guarantee satisfaction and back it up with prompt and courteous refund policies
THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IN YOUR BOOK SELLING MAIL PACKET
Test indicate the most important component of your mail packet when selling books is the order form. Many Mail Order dealers are not aware that most people in opening "junk mail" will merely skim over the contents of the package, put everything else aside and study the order form to try to determine if the offer is appealing.
This being the case, it is of utmost importance that the order form be attractive, with the right wording to make it extra appealing. You should make up the order form first ad build the rest of your mailing packet around it.
The order form must clearly tell the prospect the action to take such as: "complete and return for information"..."send $9.95 with the order form", etc.
It should tell the prospect just what he will be getting: a book, magazine subscription, catalog, membership, product, etc.
It should contain a sentence whereby they accept the benefit of your offer, such as: "Yes, I will appreciate your information on How to Make a Million Without even Trying"...or..."please send me the latest edition of your book on "How to sell books by mail", etc.
The form should be large enough for the necessary information and still fit in a reply envelope. The color should stand out from the rest of the mailing so it will be easy for them to spot right away when they first open the packet. Since the order form is the first thing they will be looking for when they pen the mail, a bright color will get attention immediately.
HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK IN THE SALES LETTER
After the order form, the sales letter is generally the next most important document included in your book selling packet. The prospects will want to review the sales letter or see what the offer involves. The first time over, they will usually just hit the headings and any sentences which stand out enough to arouse their interest. If it appears interesting they will then start over and read the whole body of the letter.
To retain their interest as they first review the letter, make several of the more important parts of your sales message stand out by using capital letters, underlines, indentations, colored ink, or a few handwritten notes along the edge of the letter. These "messages" are only to arouse interest and make the prospect want to read the entire letter. Therefore they should not be pressure words or state the main benefits of your offer.
You should use the information pertaining to the benefits the prospect will derive from reading your book to the act of ordering the book rather than directly from reading the book. In other words, let them know that they will benefit only when they have acted and already ordered the book, it is in their lap and they will learn how to do,or control something of value to them by reading the information
There has been a great deal of controversy as whether the long or short sales letter creates the most orders. Generally, keeping the letter short and to the point is the best policy, at least for your first few books or publications. This however depends on just what your offer entails. The only really practical way to find out which is the better way is to make both styles and maintain comparable records of the results.
MORE TIPS FOR BOOKSELLERS!
As you progress in this business, you can save a great deal of money by learning to prepare your own layout and "camera ready" copy. Have it all ready for the printer's camera then all they have to do is shoot it, make a plate, throw it on the offset press and run as many copies as you want.
Even though it takes more time than you might expect, when getting started, it will pay you to do your own folding, collating, stuffing, stamping and mailing. When the money continues to pour in you can then purchase necessary mailing equipment, or have a good, reasonable letter shop or printer do the stuffing and mailing for you while you concentrate on promoting more books and adding to your operation.
Continuously analyze your results so you will know whether your promotion is doing the job or not for each of your products. When you find the right combination and the results are positive, go for it full blast! Duplicate and compound your profits as rapidly as possible by investing all of your income from the particular book or publication in ads with new and different media of the same type as those bringing in the money.
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