Money From Mailshots 2

It is best to put the printing of your mailing in the hands
of a high quality printer. Obtain several quotes first.
Poor quality literature is definitely a false economy. Some
printers will print all your requirements and also pack and
seal it into envelopes to save you a lot of time.




For best results use good envelopes. These should be printed
with an eye catching slogan to really grab attention.

MOST FROM THE POST

Your next job is to post your mailshots - and this can be
quite a technical operation. For a start you can’t just mail
anywhere. You must mail to recognised mail order buyers.
The names and addresses of such people can be bought from
list brokers. There are many firms, but try several to find
those with the best lists.

Purchase buyer names can usually only be used once for one
payment. But, most brokers will supply their names printed
onto address labels. This makes your job really easy!

Before mailing circulars, contact your local head post
office. From time to time, there are special introductory
postage discounts. And, bulk mailings of several thousand
qualify for quantities of free postage.

It’s probably best to release your mailings in batches to
produce a steady flow of orders. Experiment with the actual
day of posting which hence affects the day of receipt.

Mailings received on Monday are often less successful - but
those received on other days can do either well or extremely
well. Test and see!

ORDER HANDLING

People who do best in mailing give little regard to order
handling. Yes - it should be prompt and careful, but you
should give most time to preparing and mailing circulars.
If you can, take payments on trust and post orders by return
- within 7/14 days at least. Always enclose details of
additional products when fulfilling orders. Past customers
are highly likely to buy again. Also keep addresses of past
customers - mail new offers to them as they are launched.
Again, they are likely buyers.

Nothing is better for business than a delighted customer.
But, if you do receive complaints, it’s best to make a full
refund. That customer may well remain loyal!

The whole future success of circular mailing sits behind
giving good service and getting repeat orders. If you can
attain this, you won’t need to spend much money on
advertising in future.

ACTING ON INFORMATION RECEIVED!

Studying your market and results obtained is crucial to the
success of mailing. Basically, the idea is to minimise
failures and maximise successes for a huge overall gain. If
you send enough mailings you are sure to be able to tell
which are most successful.

The business is really a continual testing process. Try with
different approaches and different methods. Try different
products - different prices - different wordings. All these
things can combine to make either a disappointing result - or
an outstanding success. This is just the same procedure used
by the ‘millionaire’ type mail order venture.

Some mailings you make are bound to be less than satisfactory. But, the trick is to monitor and record results carefully so you can spot such mailings. Then - cut your losses. On the other hand you will be able to quickly spot your successes - and cash in on them.

For example, you might find that a particular product priced
at oe25.50 is selling poorly, despite what appears to be good
advertising. So, why not experiment with a cut in price to
oe24.99? This is just the sort of thing that can boost
response by hundreds of orders - it has happened!

A sensible approach is to prepare mailings for the same
product, but in different ways. Record what you send out -
and record the orders that come in. You can then spot which
works best and concentrate on that. Try enough variations
and you’re bound to find a highly efficient approach that
will make you a lot of money.

Success in mailings is very much a matter of ‘trying
anything’, keeping your eyes and ears open - and then jumping
on the bandwagon when you find a success. A good success can
be very good indeed.

A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH

Mail order has always been known to be a powerful business.
But, many successful mailers are not full mail order dealers.
They know how powerful circulars can be and just concentrate
on that part of the market. You are best to start that way
too.

Circular mailing is so potentially profitable because it is a
very exact science. Something you can succeed in with
minimal effort now you know the success secret.

Never vary from the proven principle of trying, testing and
aiming for what works best. Quite simply, success breeds
success and a mailing that pulls 50 orders out of 1,000 could
just as well pull 5,000 out of 10,000. At perhaps oe50 per
sale that’s no small sum - and it can all start from a
handful of mailings sent out to locate just one that really
works. A powerful medium indeed!

Copyright Avril Harper, UK

For more information on Direct Mail, visit http://www.directmailmillions.com