Mail Order Money Making Plans And Ideas
16 All-Profit Ads and Their Information Sheet
Run any of the following ads over your name in any publication, adsheet or circular. When the orders come in, send the customer the answer shown, or just circle the answer on one of these information sheets and mail it to them. (This gives them the rest of the ads and answers free as a bonus).
You can have your local printer print a batch of these sheets in volume, or just have a few copies made as needed to fill each order, using this sheet of the original camera-ready copy. Or these sheets may be obtained from Prime Publishers, 1460 Boulder Ave., Crescent City, CA 95531 for $4.00 per 100 sets, prepaid to you!
Ad 1: "How to sell your old telephone book for 50 cents a page! Information $1.00."
Answer: Run the next ad (ad 2, below) over your name and fill the order yourself with the pages from your own telephone book.
Ad 2: "A page from my telephone book with names & addresses! 50 cents."
Answer: Fill the order yourself with your telephone book!
Ad 3: "One inch all-profit ads and the information they sell, Only $1.00!"
Answer: Fill the order with one of these adsheets.
Ad 4: "How to get swamped with orders for your Big Mail! Information $1.00."
Answer: Run the next ad (ad 5) over your name and address.
Ad 5: "16 All-Profit ads free in my big mail. Rush this ad and $1.00."
Answer: Slip one of these sheets in your Big Mail and mail it to them.
Ad 6: "Gross $100.00 from a $4.00 investment. Information $1.00!"
Answer: Send $4.00 to Prime Publishers, 1460 Boulder Ave., Crescent City, CA 95531 and ask for 100 of these all-profit ads and answer sheets (100 prepaid to you for $4.00). Sell them for $1.00 each!
Ad 7: "Start your own "Turn Key" Mailorder Business! Rush $1.00 for information!"
Answer: Write to (place your name and address here if you have "Turn Key" mail order plans or programs to offer) for free information on their "Turn Key" mailorder programs. Send them the full information about your programs OR, if you have none available, send them one of these sheets.
Ad 8: "Name of a firm who will put you in business for only $4.00. Rush $1.00!"
Answer: If you can put them in business with one of your programs for $4.00, or convert this ad and answer sheet to a $4.00 program for them, place your name and address here. (As mentioned above, you can always refer them to the name and address of Prime Publishers if necessary).
Ad 9: "16 ads you can run over your name and keep all the money. Full information for only $1.00!"
Ad 10: "Stuff 100 envelopes and Gross $100.00. Rush $1.00!"
Ad 11: "How would you like to receive 100 letters a day, containing $1.00 in each one?"
Answers to ads 9, 10, 11: Fill orders with one of these adsheets. (You can have your local printer make as many copies as you need" or you can get them from Prime Publishers at $4.00 per hundred sets.)
Ad 12: "100 Circulars mailed with ours in our big mail. $4.00!"
Ad 13: "Letters remailed 75 cents each."
Answers to ads 12 and 13: Perform the above two services yourself.
Ad 14: "How to Destroy the desire for cigarettes. Completely tested, proven... $2.00."
Answer: Before breakfast take 1/2 teaspoon each, of Rochelle Salts and Cream of tartar. Also chewing Ginseng root and swallowing the juice helps.
Ad 15: "How to destroy the desire for liquor... Tested and proven... $2.00!"
Answer: Mix Gold thread herb with Golden Seal in tea. This creates a violent distaste for alcohol. Grains of spices added to liquids helps also.
Ad 16: "How to get free postage for life. Details $2.00!"
Answer: Advertise a good pulling mail order plan and at the end of the Ad put" "Rush $1.00 and one or two first class stamps."
Save! Have your printer fit these 16 ads and answers on one Sheet!
Profits in Direct Mail
Due to the continuing increase in postage rates, many mailorder beginners, and some of the old timers have called it quits. They believe postage costs together with soaring advertising rates have made it unlikely that a reasonable profit can be made in the direct mail business.
To deliver a sales message to your prospects through the mail is really no different than it was before the increases. Everything else has increased, perhaps not proportionately, but enough to offset the over-all increase in the total direct mail packet. With some of the competition dropping out, it leaves that much more market for the operator who wants to make money in this field.
The direct mail packet usually consists of a "Personal" sales letter, a circular or flyer, an order form and a return envelope. It is an offering of specific merchandise, service, or coupons to specific mailing lists. The lists include only qualified prospects for your offer so there should be a good response if you have done your homework on the mailing packet.
Direct mail provides all the space you need to influence your prospect through use of the letter and circular. In working up the direct mail packet, it is important to lay out your entire story properly at the most reasonable mailing cost. By using third class when necessary for larger mailings and by planning the weight of your message to fit the maximum weight class you can save a great deal over a period of time.
Direct mail is an expensive method and you should test with a series of small mailings to determine the efficiency of your mailing offer before proceeding with an all out campaign.
In order to properly record the results of your direct mail offer, you must key your mailings so you know which ones are getting the response. This can best be done by using a different "Dept. number" on the order form, by a different color, or a different marking for each test mailed out.
Compute the results as a percentage of sales dollars or by the number of sales per number mailed. In analyzing the results of your tests, you must take into account the quantity mailed, the dates comparable offers were sent out, the kind of merchandise or services being offered, the general area of the country covered and other variances in the same or different programs.
How to Get Best Results With a Short Advertising Method!
A well written sales letter generally draws more response than the best brochure.
The personal touch is the important difference.
Direct your letter to the person and concentrate on the word "YOU"!
Present the product to the prospect as if he already owns it.
Let the prospects know the best points, in no uncertain terms, so they will understand fully what your product will do for them.
You can't sell it unless you have confidence in your product and if you have confidence in it you can give it a full 100% guarantee. In mailorder you should never offer anything unless you can offer a full money-back guarantee!
As with any other selling method or advertising technique, the letter must close by telling your prospect How, When and Where to order the product and must ASK HIM TO ACT RIGHT NOW!
Perpetual Money-Making Circular Program!
They continue to come! The endless "money-making bonanzas"! Now there's the one called "Perpetual Circular Program", supposedly an endless money-making system where everyone wins. This "typical" plan consists of a list of 10 names, numbered from 1 to 10, indicating what each has to sell and their address.
In order to join the "Perpetual Circular Program", you send 50 cents to each of the individuals listed, plus a large self addressed stamped envelope, which will be returned to you with their advertised offer. Then cross off the name in the number 1 position and re-number the list 1 through 10, adding your name in the number 10 position. (Sound familiar).
Next you are supposed to re-type the list and print at least 100 copies. Send a copy to each of the ten names (advertisers) and the remaining copies to names of your choice, by mail or in person.
In turn, these businesses are supposed to do the same, and as your name moves from the #10 position to the #1 spot, they state that you could receive up to 12,000,000 requests. Assuming a 5% return from all the mailers, you would receive $240,000 based on 30 cents profit per request??!!
By keeping the advertisers at ten, to ensure growth, they think the ads seem reasonable, at least less speculative than lotteries or fluctuating investments.
Also, to help ensure continuation of the "Perpetual Mailorder circular" you can print your own mailorder ads on the back.. Another way to get your ads to new sources.
Even though this plan may first appear to be merely an advertising program wherein you receive full value for you $5.00 (50 cents x 10), it is a pyramid scheme dependent on continued participation in order to produce the results it dictates. Therefore, it appears to be no more than just another of the endless illegal chain letter schemes that all of those who have been in the mailorder business for a short time receive every day of the year.
However, you can always check out this type of plan with your local postmaster. If it should happen to be legal it could be a good money-making proposition. Your postmaster may tell you that it is illegal, even though he probably doesn't take the time to really check it out properly.
If programs similar to this are illegal, or even if they appear to be against the law, don't touch them. These kinds of propositions never produce any money anyway. They only cost the participants' time and money, and could cost a lot more in the event the postal authorities follow through and prosecute.
Keep Your Offer Out of File 13
The best way to keep your mailing offer out of the trash can is to mail it to the right prospect. If you are offering How-to-do-it reports don't send the offer to a list of novel buyers.
A large percent of all mail is thrown away unopened. Most all of us in the mailorder business appreciate "Junk Mail" as it adds to our knowledge and learning process. This is not the case for the majority of the rest of the populace. The first thing they look at is the return name and address unless there is something else on the outside of the envelope that attracts their attention. When they see it's nothing to do with their business or their personal interests, it will either get a casual glance inside before disposal or go direct to "file 13" without even being opened.
If your offer is such that you can place some effective "teaser" copy on the outside of the envelope it will be the first thing they notice and will be an incentive to see what is inside. However if there is too much detail on the outside they may think they have seen all the message so why waste their time reading the enclosures. there must be the right balance.
When they do open the envelope the first thing many of them look at is the order form to determine the price and what they will get for their money. Consequently it is of utmost importance the wording and/or illustrations on the order form be properly laid out and attractive to the eye.
When preparing your marketing plan and mailorder packet, spend sufficient time to work up several different attractive, but brief messages to place on the outside of the envelope. Make tests and "flood the market" with the ones that pull!
What You Need to Know About Mail Fraud!
When the mails are used to intentionally misrepresent a product or service it constitutes Mail Fraud. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is charged with investigating violations of the law, usually in response to consumer complaints.
The best way to protect yourself from mail fraud is to recognize that it is a fraud and not become involved. This is not easy to do because of the attractive wording in the deceptive ads. Anything that sounds too good to believe is suspect. Medical formulas and gadgets that make "insane" promises are probably "insane" and you should stay away from them. Especially be cautious regarding some of the thousands of different weight loss products and overnight cures.
Never purchase land through a mailorder ad unless you or your personal representative has seen the land, to determine if it is as represented and that the value is there. If the sales person has shown you the property report you can cancel your purchase agreement within seven days. If no report was shown to you before signing an agreement you have the right to cancel out within two years.
There are a number of insurance frauds floating through the mails. Requests to sign blank insurance forms, last chance bargain offers, payments in advance and cash payment requirements could indicate con artists at work.
Of course, most everyone has received chain letters sometime in their lifetime and if you are in the mailorder business you should get several every day as a minimum. Chain letters are illegal and do not work anyway. Need we say more?
We've all seen the ads offering job placement and job opportunities. Most of them are legitimate but some are 100% nonexistent or complete misrepresentations. Don't spend your money for the required fee until you have checked with your local consumer affairs office or Better Business Bureau.
Then there are those who promise huge profits without risk in commodities, stocks, oil, gold, silver or coins, through the mail or over the telephone.
There are hundreds of very fine investment opportunities offered but you can't risk your hard earned cash, or in some cases people have lost their life savings, to mail order or telephone swindlers.
Several of the larger, well recognized firms have gone bankrupt through internal fraud and management manipulations carrying their client's investments right down the drain with them. Always use caution and investigate the company thoroughly before you put up one dime.
Another favorite of the crooks is home improvements. Quite often you never see them after you sign a contract and pay them a deposit to do the work. If they send brochures through the mail and the work they perform is not as represented by the information it could constitute mail fraud. Get estimates from local service companies to determine if the price of the mailorder offering is reasonable and in line. Check the reference of the organization.
The laws, regulations and paperwork involved in setting up franchise operations are horrendous. Various large distributorships are equally difficult to establish but generally do not have to conform to near as many controls and regulation.
On the other hand, some mail order distributorships and wholesale outlets require very little effort and the home company has little control over their activities.
If profits promised are unrealistic or if the product or service is secondary to selling the franchise or distributorship, proceed with caution!
How to Make $100 Mailing 100 Envelopes By Using the Exchange Mailing Plan!
Regarding this plan they have been telling you to have 5,000 3x6 commission circulars printed, the circulars offering $1.00 items and paying 50% commission on every order received. Then mail 100 each to 50 "Exchange Mailers" in 50 envelopes marked X-100SY (which means Exchange 100-Send yours). When you receive 100 circulars from each of the exchange mailers, mail out one each in 50 envelopes. This way 100 envelopes mails your 5,000 circulars. If you have a good circular offering a popular seller, and the exchange mailers you sent yours too, are honest and dependable, you should receive at least a 2% return. Then they state that this plan will bring $50 profit.
This is the complete plan and they say it works. That it is working every day for many mailers and that it will work for you!
I have no doubt that it works; however the $50 profit they mention is Gross Profit before any expenses. Figure it up. By the time you purchase the printing, the envelopes and the stamps, your expenses will leave you little if any Net Profit.
Of course, if the exchange mailers send you top pulling circulars for their "fast selling products" and you receive 50% or more commission on orders from these, you can make a substantial Net Profit, perhaps enough to pay for your time and effort.
If you are serious about making money at home, commission mailing is one way to do it, but you must have circulars that offer top selling items. In this day and age of inflation and high postage costs it is difficult to make a buck by mailing circulars selling only $1.00 products. You should have a very minimum selling price of from $5.00 to $8.00 in order to pay you a reasonable amount!
For just the postage and handling, many mail order firms will send you commission circulars and the names of other mail order dealers who will send you all the names you want, FREE! There are other dealers who are happy to send you their circulars without cost in order to defray their mailing expenses. All you have to do is write and request their circulars or place a small display ad in various mailorder advertisers and ad sheets indicating that you mail good commission circulars free!
You can get the names of a number of printers in the mailorder business who print commission circulars for a very reasonable fee. I would suggest that you order 6,000 3x6 circulars rather than 5,000 as suggested on the prior page for the simple reason most printers like to keep their printing formats and price schedules in round figures and 6,000 3x6's (approximately 2-3/4x5-1/2, not actually 3x6) will fit on 1,000 sheets of the standard size 8-1/2x11 paper.
If you handle your commission programs on a conservative basis until you have tested and proven the value of each program, you can very well make $100+ by mailing 200 envelopes with an exchange mailing plan!
How to Set Up Your Own Mail Order Distributorship!
When you have developed, or found, mailorder products over which you have exclusive ownership or control, you may want to consider selling through agents, wholesalers or dealers. If you go this route you should limit the number of agents and not spread your program across the country for just anyone to enter. A few good agents distributing your product without "flooding the Market" will keep them working enthusiastically and generally make more money for them and you both.
When you advertise for distributors explain the exclusive features of your products and programs and how you support them 100%
You need to develop good marketing programs for your associates, using the same general principles for the mail order business as used in any other kind of business enterprise.
Before you start recruiting associates or salespeople, prepare a realistic packet of instructional and promotional materials, including marketing plans, camera ready circulars, photos, sample ads, sales letters and stationery, order forms and whatever else is needed to make your program a winner. Make it simple so it will fit in with other offers your distributors are involved with and can be handled efficiently with little or no additional shipping or postage costs for them.
Make your prospect a distributor upon receipt of the first order and send out the packet with an exclusive number assigned to each one to be used on all orders and correspondence. Keep in contact with all your distributors by sending out information bulletins or newsletters announcing new products and promotional data. Build a drop-ship arrangement into your programs but try to get the distributors to carry a reasonable inventory. Give them special discounts, etc., as incentives to stock more of your products.
How to Be the Prime Source!
Information can well be one of the most profitable items in mailorder. Gathering and writing information can be one of the easiest ways to enter the field. There can be many variations by using merchandise and/or circulars of other dealers, but to actually make a big profit without including the middleman, one must compile and write his own.
A lot of thought should be given the subject before attempting the writing project. Never try to move to fast thinking you will get rich overnight. This is simply unrealistic. There are a certain few who try to make it by cheating the public but the law will eventually catch up with them. If you are honestly sincere about writing, then set out to get the job done in an orderly and honest way.
You will have to spend money to pick up enough information to begin your writing project. You will have to devote much time and research in order to get started and must continue to write most every day in order to make reasonable progress.
The best kind of information to write about is that which helps others with information and advice on how to do certain things. Acquire all the information possible concerning your desired subject and study it well. You will always have the possibility to make a hit with a new idea. A good report can bring you literally thousands of dollars, even more than the big time literary and novel writers in some instances.
The U.S. Government is a good source for certain kinds of information. They have a list of over 30,000 different subjects available for a reasonable price and some are free. You can write to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Printing Office, Washington, DC and request to be placed on their mailing list.
Get started writing right now!
Money in "Big Mail"!
The amount of money you make with Big Mail depends primarily on how your programs are handled and on the materials you make available for the Big Mail Packet!
Unless you have a number of your own offers to include in the packet, to get started you may have to re-mail some of the big mail you receive from other dealers. They won't mind... If you are not buying perhaps your customer will. It is much better for them than to have it wind up in your file "13".
To get the Big Mails coming in, you will have to promote to the effect you are a professional mailer and for a reasonable fee will mail circulars, ad sheets, etc, to the inner circle, outer circle or both, depending on the best route for a particular offer. You can stuff many offers in a packet weighing just a few ounces.
A certain amount of free mailing of commission circulars which offer good selling products can also enhance your operation by keeping your inventory of "BIG MAIL" offers sufficient to fill demand.
On the outgoing side, promote the fact you have "thousands of offers" from "hundreds of dealers" available for a small fee (assuming, of course, this is fact). This is better than using the over-worked words "BIG MAIL".
Include your own offers with all the outgoing packets. Get 100% value for the high postage costs. Fill them right to the weight limit!
Name List Analysis!
As to name lists offered by the supplier or dealer... again the questions flow. What is the source of the list? Why doesn't the Prime source supplier hire a "mailorder crew", use the total list and make all the sales themselves? Does the Prime Source Supplier purchase the list from another source then sell it to you at a profit?
Unless the firm has built substantial name lists, perhaps through the sale of other related products, they must buy their names from list brokers or from other firms.
If they are buying names in volume lots, perhaps in the millions, they are entitled to substantial discounts and may even be able to offer such lists to their dealers at less than the dealer could buy direct from the same broker. In this event, certainly, they are entitled to a reasonable profit on the list resold.
It is unlikely that a substantial supplier would jeopardize the goodwill of his dealers or consumers by extensive multiple sale of name lists.
As to hiring a separate "Mailorder crew", in effect, that is what the supplier is already doing in making his offer to dealers across the country... Except the supplier has the advantage whereby the dealers are independent contractors and as such, the supplier has no payroll taxes and payroll expenses involved. Promotion and sale of their products are thus handled by experienced mailorder dealers throughout the nation, without delay and in great volume!
How to Make It in the Mailorder Wholesale Book Business!
The real profit in selling books by mail is by having dealers sell for you. Rather than mailing 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 generate steady orders and profits and is one of the 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 mailorder business. You should give wholesale book selling a try. Recognize the profit potential and determine if this method fits in with your other programs.
Most of the better Prime Source firms offering distributorships have a simplified program which includes instructions, profit tested literature, sales letters, brochures, order forms and return envelopes that do the selling job for you. The simple instructions can be followed even by the inexperienced person. The old timers in mailorder 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.
Imprinted sales literature, to solicit dealers and for the dealers to use in selling to the consumer, is furnished at reasonable prices; or camera ready copy is usually available so that the printing can be done locally. The literature for dealers is priced a little higher than cost to pay for processing the order.
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 dealers, 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 quantify purchases. You, as the wholesaler, should make every effort to purchase the publications for a minimum of four times below retail price.
In other words, you purchase 100 booklets for $1 each = $100; you sell to your dealers at $2 each = $200; your dealer must realize at least double his cost when selling to the consumer, or $4 each = $400
You must ascertain that the Prime Source carries 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 and if the Prime Source pays all handling and shipping charges so that your cost is "Net". Even though your cost is "Net", you must pay for shipping to your dealers; they must absorb the cost of mailing to their customers.
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 for all your costs, and your dealers, while generating a 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 mailorder adsheets, magazines and publications available today. (Some call it "Junk Mail" but if they only knew 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 mailorder business schedule. Make tests to prove the value of each program. Drop those that do not prove out after a reasonable test. When you find one that is "Hitting", multiply it cautiously until you know it is a winner, then go full blast in every direction to make it pay off BIG!
The Best Books to Sell by Mail!
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 textbooks are other categories to stay away from. All others have good mailorder potential. There is a broad market on religious books, especially those dealing with "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 mot profitable fields of selling books by mail. Repeat orders are high, put 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 a specialized field and 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.
To start in the book selling business, first get sample books of the ones you think you would like to sell. Get mailing lists of book buyers and opportunity seekers; start advertising for inquiries rather than first trying to sell the books direct through the mail. It's tough to sell without proper literature. Direct mail packets to follow-up the inquiry are the preferable and more profitable method.
Choose the type of books that interest you the 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.
How to Sell Short Reports!
Several dealers give you permission to reproduce their various short reports and sales letters. You will often find some of these reports sell equally well direct to the consumer, beginners in mailorder, and to the seasoned dealers. Here are a few ways to make the most money with them:
1. Have circulars printed, listing the reports by title, selling them for $1 each, or say 5 for $3. Include a circular in all outgoing packages and letters.
2. Place small ads in mailorder trade magazines similar to the following: Why pay when you can get it free: Sources of Free Mailing Lists $1.00; Sources of Free Commission Circulars $1.00; How to get Cirx. Mailed Free $1.00 (Your name and address here)
3. Reproduce sales letters that sell your reports, including reproduction rights, inserting your name as the Prime Source. Mail this sales letter to your own list or one that you purchase.
4. Place small classified ads in national mailorder magazines and send the sales letters to the inquiries. A good ad for this purpose follows:
2000% Profit, selling information by mail. Free report tells how. Send SASE (your name and address)
5. Some of these reports will sell quite well from small classified and space ads. The best way to use this method is to offer a single report for $1.00 then fill the order with the report plus the sales letter which offers all of the reports and reproduction rights. Here is a typical classified ad:
HOW TO make $100 a day. Complete instructions! $1.00
In addition to giving you a small profit, these reports are designed to build up your mailing list. Generally speaking, because the reports are so cheap to produce, you can offer them free just to get fresh names in exchange. There is no need to have a large quantity of them printed up until you develop a feel for the best sellers for your operation.
The firms who initially sell these products to you usually offer to print up the reports and letters for a fee; or for those who don't want to stock the reports, they will generally drop-ship direct to your customer for 50% upon receipt of an address label and information on what reports to ship.
How to Get and Sell Name Lists!
There are numerous methods of obtaining and selling name lists. If you want to prepare a national directory of mail order operators, how do you get the listings? One way is to advertise that you are creating such a directory and will list them therein upon receiving their name and address, together with a brief description of their operations and activity.
Sell the directories by mailorder or by direct mail, nation wide, offering them at half price to those listed therein.
You can advertise that for xxx dollars you will circulate customers names and addresses to firms eager to send them offers and programs... Sell the name lists to other dealers and firms who in turn will mail out offers to the list of customers... This will save money for the person wanting the offers, supply the name list buyers with customers, and put money in your pocket from both ends!
Here is another way to obtain name lists for nothing! An ad such as:
Big Mail? Send 200 of your address labels and $3.00. We will distribute to mail order dealers, wholesalers, distributors, etc.!
AND of course... You will be accumulating name lists from your big mail activities and from many of your other programs... The names you compile as your business progresses are very valuable. You have customers for future mailing and can also sell or rent name lists to other mail order dealers. Retain the original envelopes received so that you will have proof of names, dates, addresses, etc.
Many list brokers across the nation have lists available for rent or sale. These lists cover every imaginable classification of potential customers for your various offers.
You should start with only a small test list to determine if it is profitable. If it tests out reasonably well, then order a larger number of the same list. If this still proves out and the orders are pouring in with enough volume to cover all your costs and show a reasonable profit, then and only then, it should be safe to multiply your earnings by going all the way with the full list that is available.
Always remember that some lists will be completely worthless for your offer. You must test each list before committing mail order "suicide". Be certain to choose the right category of names. If you are selling a novel you wouldn't want to mail to a list of opportunity seekers.
However, if it is a How-to-do-it type book, report, or folio, then a list of opportunity seekers may be even better than a list of known book buyers. Tests!... The only way to know for sure.
All Profit Ads... You Keep It All!
A number of mailorder dealers publish information "folios" which they will send your customers free for a stamped addressed envelope. They provide the ads which you circulate over your own name, usually asking $1.00 or $2.00 retail. Although called "All Profit", they are really 80% commission ads or circulars. (It will cost you a first-class stamp to send the order with a stamped addressed envelope to the source, who then stuffs the envelope with the order plus ads for some of their other products.)
The source for "All-Profit" ads hopes your customer will them order something from them. Their ads cost them only the labor of stuffing the envelope and printing the materials.
Send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to the various sources for samples of their all profit ads and circulars together with full details of their offerings.
You will find numerous mailorder dealers who offer the "All Profit Ads" in most every mailorder ad magazine.
Be sure to give them a test before blowing your money as most of them are good only for acquiring name lists, other mailorder contacts, general information and for education in mailorder methods... Not for direct money-making activity!
The $100 a Day Plan Plus 6 Formulas
Insert the following ad in the classified sections of local papers, in mailorder magazines, etc. It is represented (not by the author but by many of those in the mailorder business) as a quick dollar-pulling ad, but you be the judge.
Make $100 a day! How would you like to receive 100 letters a day, each containing $1.00? It's easy. Plan with directions, PLUS 6 money-making formulas for only $1.00. (Your name and address)
When you receive an order from this "dollar-puller" (?), fill it yourself by mailing the customer a copy of this information sheet. (You can get 100 copies printed for as little as $5.00.) This is an old-time mailorder ad and is represented as one of the better pullers but I reserve my opinion!
The Six Formulas: Make Them Yourself and Sell Them for Big Profits!
1. Eye glass cleaner: Mix together 8 ounces of ammonia and 32 ounces of denatured alcohol. Put up in 2 ounce bottles to sell for somewhat less than eye glass cleaner in your local drug store or department store. Or if you have the opportunity, sell the cleaner with your own label on it, in volume, at less that wholesale price to various retailers for resale to their customers.
2. Mosquito Remedy: Mix oil of citronella with common vaseline. Apply to hands and put on shirt collar, or on a cloth handkerchief which may be tied around the neck.
3. Liquid Hand Soap: Dissolve any good powdered soap in boiling water. Add one part alcohol to each 30 parts of soap solution. A perfume scent may be added when the mixture cools.
4. Powdered Hand Soap: Put ordinary tri-sodium phosphate in sifter can, or mix seven ounces of the same with three ounces of fine powdered pumice. Retail 4 oz. bottles, or boxes for $1.00 or so.
5. Insect and Roach Exterminator: Mix the following: 1 pound Borax and 6 ounces powdered sugar. Add 1 oz. cocoa powder and 2 oz. sodium fluoride. Mix well. Sprinkle around places pests are known to frequent. Keep away from children!
6. Athlete's Foot Remedy: Mix four ounces of Borax with a gallon of water. Put up in 8 ounce bottles and sell for $1.00 to $3.00. Helps to get rid of sores on feet as well. For use on feet only.
Any or all of these formulas may be used to build an excellent home business(?). They are all good sellers(?). By mixing and packaging them yourself you can sell them to wholesalers in large quantities(?).
Prosperity Plans!
We are including these plans as general information only. Tdhere are many different ones going around the country but the basic method is about the same in all of them. There are thousands of mailorder enthusiasts taking up their time with such plans. Apparently most are legal and they may be educational, or they may be used to gather name lists, etc., but you can spend a great deal of time and effort for very little return.
At any rate, they go something like the following:
1. Make extra money by running the following ad over your name:
Amazing prosperity plan... Pays eight ways. Up to $6 all profit. Rush $1 for your copy today. (your name and address).
Fill your orders with a copy of this sheet. That's all there is to it.
OR Advertise as follows:
Receive $250 from $10 investment. Method and sample $1. (Your name and address)
OR
Receive $1,000 from $25 investment. Method and sample $1. (your name and address)
Fill orders with the following information: 250 copies of this prosperity sheet can be bought for $10 and sold for $1 each ($250). Or 1,000 copies can be bought for $25 and sold for $1 each (That's $1,000). Order from ________(The promoter, dealer, or printer initiating this program would have his name and address here).
2. Here's a $2 to $10 All-Profit Deal: Run the following 21 word ad over your name:
Choice Mailing List! 1,000 prospects wanting money making offers - 1 cent each. Minimum order 250 ($2.50). All 1,000 ($8). (Your name and address).
Continuing with example (2). (The name and address of the dealer or printer would be laid out here >> ________) fills orders FREE for a first class stamp plus first class stamped envelope addressed to your customer for each 250 names. Be sure to state how many names were ordered and to be sent to your customer.
3. More All Profit Ads and the Information They Sell:
Run the following ad over your name in whatever publications you choose. when you receive orders, send your customers this prosperity sheet with the answer.
AD: Name of company that will put you in business for only $5.00. Dignified work, no ringing doorbells. Full information $1.00. (Your name and address).
ANSWER: Send $4.00 to ______ (Again as above, the name of the dealer or printer promoting this program, who has such an offer available, would be placed here), and ask for complete Mailorder Business... They will send you the program and full instructions. It's 100% guaranteed and if you wish to return the same in good condition, your full $5.00 will be refunded immediately with no questions asked! For 50 of these prosperity plan sheets send $5.00 to: _______________ < < (Again the Name and address of the promoter who will fill the order for you).
As you can readily recognize, this could be a good deal for the dealer, printer (promoter) having others drum up business for them without any expense involved themselves.
$500 a Month Plan!
One way to make extra money or start a business of your own is by placing advertising which will pay a good profit. Selling printed information by mail can be financially rewarding. Classified advertising is the cheapest way to get into mail order and it is often possible to raise a fortune from these small ads. Just check any large publication, such as Popular Mechanics, for their classified advertising section and you can see for yourself the many ads.
These small ads, running month after month, would not be there if they were not profitable and making money. According to some of the promotional materials being sent around the country you could make up to $500 or possibly more by running the following classified ads over your name and address. They ask you to pick up a top national publication and test either one or both under "Money-Making Opportunities" heading and watch the dollars come in. I doubt if you can make this kind of money from such a project but for your information here are the programs and the advertisements they are talking about:
"How would you like to receive $25 daily and keep all the money? For complete set-up rush $1 to: (Your name and address)".
OR
"$500 monthly. work at home, receive money daily. For complete set-up send $1 to: (your name and address here)"
You are supposed to fill the orders you receive with a copy of this sheet you are now reading, perhaps changed somewhat to delete the negative tone I have injected! You would make photocopies or get a supply printed to send out as needed. There are other variations of this plan, but all serve the same purpose: To sell printed information to people who are interested in making some extra money. (They say it is truly possible to make money with this plan... My tests indicate otherwise).
If you study the many classified ads in the big national publications, you may get a better idea of what the leading companies in mailorder are doing. You will get a better idea of how classified advertising works. If you have limited capital, it would be wise to run your ads in smaller publications such as small newspapers, small mailorder publications, and adsheets.
If you have sufficient capital, some good pulling national magazines or Tabloids are:
Popular Mechanics
Money Making Opportunities
Salesman's Opportunities
Specialty Salesman
Mechanics Illustrated
National Enquirer
And Many others to numerous to mention here!
Many such magazine, tabloids and other good publications are available at your local news stand, library or through mailorder. Many of them require a copy of the material you are selling with your ad and reserve the right not to print certain ads they feel may be injurious to the public or to the image of their publication.
Yes! You can start your own advertising and mailing business sat home and keep your finances ahead of inflation but be sure you are involved in the kind of program that gives you a reasonable chance to be a winner!
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