Marketing

In general the answer to this question is always but the answer is much more involved. Sure Internet marketing is worthwhile but as with any type of marketing it is only worthwhile if it is done well. For example you can spend thousands of dollars on a television marketing campaign but if no one sees your commercials or your commercials do not reach your target audience and generate sales, the advertising was not worthwhile. So perhaps a more appropriate answer to this question would be that Internet marketing is worthwhile when it works. This is a rather vague statement but this article will investigate the issue further and explain how you can make Internet marketing work for your business.

One of the most basic principles of marketing is to make sure you reach your target audience. This is so important because your target audience is the people who are most likely going to be interested in purchasing your products or services. It is much easier to sell your products or services to those who already have an interest in the products and services you have to offer than it is to convince those who are not interested in your products or services at all. As an example consider a business who sells fishing rods. You will want to market your products to those who enjoy fishing either competitively or as a leisure activity because among this audience you are likely to find people who may be interested in purchasing a new fishing rod. It would make sense to place an advertisement for your business on a website selling bait and tackle or a website which organizes fishing trips in exotic locations. Conversely it would not make sense to place your advertisement on a website selling telescopes because you are not likely to reach a large target audience here. There may be some stargazers with an interest in fishing but your advertising dollars and efforts would be better spent placing advertisements with websites more closely related to your business.

Another factor to consider when purchasing advertising space on another Internet website is traffic the amount of traffic the other website receives. This is significant because you want to place your advertisement on a website which is closely related to your own and likely to attract a similar audience but you also want your advertisement to receive a large amount of attention. For this reason it is important for your advertisement to appear on a website which receives a great amount of traffic each month. This will help to ensure your business is getting a great deal of exposure through this advertising.

When it comes to Internet advertising, there is a fine line between great advertising and spam. Some business owners get carried away trying to get as much exposure as possible and can sometimes go overboard and wind up being considered spam. Internet users who see your advertisement in a couple of key locations will likely notice the advertisement and may be compelled to visit your website immediately or may keep your website in mind for future use. However, Internet users who see your advertisement everywhere they look are likely to view your advertisement as spam. This can be harmful because they are not likely to visit your website because they expect it to not be worthwhile.

In any Internet marketing campaign it is important to carefully monitor the results of your marketing efforts and make changes to your campaign as necessary. This is important because you want to make sure your marketing efforts are paying off and the best way to do this is to evaluate the results of your advertising carefully. One way to do this is to place specially coding in each one of your advertisements so you will know which advertisements are generating business for you and which ones are not. You can use this information to decide whether you should modify the ineffective website or stop running these advertisements. If you decide to modify them you will want to continue to monitor the results to determine whether or not the changes made the advertisements more effective.

Tags : email marketing, crm marketing, fax marketing, marketing campaign, search marketing, marketing list

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This is an extremely difficult question to answer because there are so many complex factors involved. Specifically they techniques you employ in your Internet marketing campaign as well as the execution of these techniques can determine whether or not Internet marketing will work for your business. Additionally, the likelihood of your target audience using the Internet and responding to your marketing efforts should also be considered into the equation. This article will outline the potential for success in an Internet marketing campaign.

Before making the decision to embark on an Internet marketing campaign you should carefully consider your target audience. The Internet is used widely around the world but whether or not members of your target audience are likely to utilize the Internet to research or purchase the products or services you sell is not guaranteed. This is significant because investing a great deal of time, effort and money into Internet marketing when your target audience is not likely to respond to these efforts is not worthwhile.

Conducting market research can do a great deal to help you determine whether or not you should invest in an Internet marketing campaign for your business. This step is very important because it will give you a good indication of whether or not you should even begin marketing your business on the Internet. Hiring a firm specializing in market research is recommended because they can conduct this research quickly and efficiently and will likely gain a great deal of valuable information as a result of their research efforts. If they determine your business can benefit from an Internet marketing campaign, it is time to start thinking about how you want to advertise your business online.

Again, seeking the help of professionals can be an extremely worthwhile investment. If you are not well versed in the industry of Internet marketing, hiring a firm with a great deal of expertise in this industry can be very helpful. They can assist you by consulting with you to determine which marketing strategies will be most effective, designing advertisements for your campaign, helping you to orchestrate your Internet marketing campaign and evaluating the results of marketing efforts to determine which strategies are working and which are not.

The potential for success with an Internet marketing campaign is virtually limitless. The success you enjoy is only limited by your ability to promote your products and services and execute effective marketing strategies. Some of the marketing strategies you may wish to employ may include optimizing your website for relevant search terms, placing links to your website judiciously on the Internet, writing and publishing e-newsletters and utilizing affiliates to promote your website.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of any Internet marketing campaign. SEO is so important because it dictates the ranking of your website on popular search engines. Internet users value these results and are not likely to seek out websites which do not rank well with search engines. Conversely, high ranking websites can enjoy a great deal of increased website traffic as a result of these rankings.

Inbound links to your website are also important in Internet marketing. Inbound links are links on other websites which direct users to your website. These links are important in an Internet marketing campaign. First of all many search engines factor inbound links into their ranking algorithms which means inbound links can result in higher search engines rankings. Also, these links can be used directly by website users to access your website. This means you can gain traffic directly from these links.

Another way to enjoy a successful Internet marketing campaign is to orchestrate an affiliate marketing campaign. Affiliates are essentially website owners who place a banner ad on their website to direct traffic to your website. Typically, affiliates are only compensated when the advertisement on their website produces a desired effect such as enticing the users to click through the advertisement, resulting in a sale or resulting in another action such as filling out a survey or registering with your website. Affiliate marketing can not only be highly effective but it is also cost effective because you only pay the affiliates when they produce results.

Tags : email marketing, crm marketing, fax marketing, marketing campaign, search marketing, marketing list

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The whole idea of the marketing and sales is to play with the psychology of the consumers. In any campaign, efforts should be made it make it so influential that the decision making of the customer is totally in the favor of the company.

There are some tricks to manipulate the mind of the consumers, which can be utilized by not only ordinary sales person, but can be used by larger firms. Although they are used unknowingly, there is no set list.

Mutual exchanging is the first and powerful trick. The company can start with giving something for free to the customer. He will take it for the first time, but from next time he will feel obliged and will try to return the favor. Offering the product for free initially can do this. And if the customer is satisfied with the product, he will buy it for himself from next time. Some salespersons get confused with this principle.  For example, it is ineffective and wrong according to this principle, to quote ‘Spend over $25 and get a free t-shirt’. The offer is not free; the customer has to spend something to get the free product. The product being given should be totally free without any condition to be fulfilled. For example, the line ‘Get the latest lipstick shade absolutely free’ will do the trick. If the shade is really good, they will buy it the next time and might even think of buying other shades of lipstick.

The next trick is to present something as of high value, but the company should incur only small or no amount in producing it, like information. It can tempt the customer by saying that the information provided to them is a big time secret and is not known to anyone at all. But some mess it up, by saying that they are providing very valuable information, but it turns out to be another advertisement.

Another example is giving out free sample to the targeted customers. Again the mistake made here is that companies distribute samples of poor quality or rejected products. This certainly lowers the customers liking towards the product and he will assume that’s the way the product is actually and won’t go ahead to buy it.

Use words, which initiate immediate action, like ‘Limited time offer’, ‘Offer ending soon’, and ‘Offer till stocks lasts’ are really motivating. The customer gets the impression that the offer will end really soon as the products are limited edition and he should go out and buy it at the very first chance. This works well specially with customers who have an interest in collecting antiques, collectibles and anything which are not easily available.

Tricking the customer in making a commitment is another next good method to increase sales. The trick is to make the customer to take small steps toward the goal, without realizing about it. Like when the customer requests for some information, provide them with the relevant information for free and make them fill a form and take contact information from them. This is like committing to get offers and information about products in future. Do not advertise in this step. In the next step advertisements about products and services can be sent to the customer to the address provided by them. Conducting surveys is another example.

Lottery is another good method. When a person buys a lottery ticket, he fills his address on the ticket. This information can be used to contact the customer in future. In the above practices it’s very vital to not to advertise in the first step. Only after getting the customer contact information, should promotional mails be mailed to him. Long advertisements that are featured in the newspaper are a small twist to this trick. If the customer invests time to read the whole advertisement, he has committed and will surely respond to the ad.  

Tags : email marketing, crm marketing, fax marketing, marketing campaign, search marketing, marketing list

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This is it what I use BEFORE I begin to write any marketing copy or launch any new product or service. You can complete this with the by-hand method listed here or use the form that I''ve created (available in the FORMS section of our web site, http://www.abundancecenter.com/forms/main.htm).

I complete this exercise even when I think I''m sure that I have it done. The mind plays some funky games, by redoing this exercise, my thoughts zone into what I''m working on, and my mind becomes razor sharp.

In other words, if I am writing marketing copy and I do this every day for many different projects, even though I did the exercise yesterday for the same project, I repeat it without looking at the previous version.

Almost every time something new emerges that surprises the ding-dongs out of me. This works on the principle that when you dump it on a page, your mind becomes free to allow what is underneath to rise to the top.

By Hand Method

On a new sheet of paper, draw a vertical line down the center into two columns. Title the left column "Features" and the right "Benefits."

Let''s first start by listing the features. Leave the Benefits for after you dumped as far as you can at this sitting. Features are the adjectives that describe the product or service.

Here is a few questions that will help speed your progress: * What does it look like? * What does it do? * How does it help? * What unique advantage does it offer?

How is it different from other products/services?

Your goal is to list at least 10 features.

Now let us switch to the "Benefits" column. Here you need to describe the outcome (results) of each feature. They need to describe the results of the feature you listed. If you don''t come up with anything, ask yourself if that is really a feature. If not, scratch it out and keep moving down.

Here are a few questions to get you started: * How does that particular feature bring value to the customer? * Will they sleep better, eat better, make more money, or what better because they have it?

Next, contact some prospects or past customers (not current customers). Ask them to identify the benefit they see in your product/service. Usually they can give you benefits you could not see. This is usually an eye-opening experience so don''t skip over it.

Now, number each of the benefits in significant order from the prospect''s perception. You can number them and then e- mail ten or so prospects, present and past customers, and ask them to number them. Then you can see how well you know your prospects. If you are way off to their perspective, then at least you know you need to get to see things from their viewpoint and you can work on that.

Finally, yet importantly, choose the top, number one, ultimate benefit that stands out. THAT, my friend, is the foundation of all of marketing and writing marketing copy. This isn''t the end, now you need to build your marketing strategy around this ONE, repeat ONE, benefit.

Don''t make the mistake juvenile marketers make by expressing all the benefits. This only confuses the buyers. Moreover, if your prospects are responding, "I need to think about it" more frequently then you prefer -- let this be your clue.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com', 177, 'Features and Benefits Brainstorming, Marketing, Marketing articles, Marketing information, about Marketing, what is Marketing, Marketing Information', 'Features and Benefits Brainstorming plus articles and information on Marketing

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As a business owner, you know how valuable being good at marketing is. Yet, I have found working with business owners for the past 20 plus years that 99.9% of them have never defined what a good marketer is -- what it means in their terms.

Let''s take a moment right now and think about what you are measuring yourself against. Without a measurement, you can''t possibly know what you are shooting for and this will lead to a misconstrued representation or always believing you are never good enough or doing enough.

Yes, the best measurement of good marketing is the revenue you are receiving. Yes, there''s nothing like the confirmation that people are opening their wallets to your business. There''s also feedback -- the testimonials -- they are good for pats on the back or to show other people that someone cares about what you offer. Is that it though? To most big companies it always the bottom line -- profit after taxes. It''s how much the stockholders make or some other reference to money.

Yet for entrepreneurs who purposes when their own direction because they "wanted something more" what is the measurement. What is the "something more?" Okay, you want to be happy and have fun along way. Oops and before I forget to have balance between the business and the rest of your life.

Hey, I think we''ve made good progress so far in starting to define what your measurement definition of a "good marketer" is, didn''t we? Not actually, we defined what you want for the whole business most of the time with a few exceptions, like the revenue. But what makes up a "good marketer" in your definition.

Great, I love challenges, don''t you? Today, let''s take a few minutes out sometime and ask ourselves, "What is my measurement of who I would be if I were a good marketer?" Here is a list of questions to guide you as you think through and create our own definition. On a scale of 1-10, give each of these a measurement of where you know you stand right at this moment.

1. How well do you think you know who you are selling to or who has purchased from you in the past?

2. How well do you KNOW the principles of marketing?

3. How well do you practice those principles?

4. How well does the public understand what you do?

5. How do you teach them what they need to know to understand what you do?

6. Are you leaving it up to someone else to do this, or have you taken it upon yourself to make sure you educate at every possible opportunity?

7. How well do you know what you are selling ? your uniqueness, your product''s uniqueness?

6. Do you change your marketing strategy frequently whenever you get tired of it?

7. Is the change timing when the market has changed or when you are tired of it?

8. Are you enjoying what you have accomplishments or beating yourself up for what is left to do?

9. Are you enjoying the learning process as fun or frustrating? Are you allowing additional time to learn and grow? Are you including the learning time to be included in with the "this needs to give me results" time? How are you measuring that growth?

10. Do you repeat your offers frequently? Did you know that the "open" rate of emails is only 48% on a good day and 8% on a bad day? The 48% rate is for opt-in material. This means that there are a low number of people taking the time to read your material most of the time. This is why it is important to repeat your messages. Yes, a few will read it several times, however, they will use the delete key quickly.

11.Are you commitment 100% to marketing when you do it? Are you playing full out when you are in marketing mode, or is your heart only half in it?

12.Is it making the money you expected?

13.Do you take "no" personally?

14.Do you take good care of your health and other parts of your life as well?

There are lots more questions that you may want to ask yourself. What you want to come up with are 5-7 measurements for you to measure yourself against. If you still are having problems with defining this for yourself, ask other people who you feel meet that description.

Is all of it dependent on "results" only? When I get" when I''m over there" when I have $X dollars in the bank, then I will be a good marketer.

When you know what you are shooting for you will not ever come short or overshoot. This will keep you focused, clear and very attractive in the universe. Especially since most of it is competing against you.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com', 177, 'A Good Marketer: What?s the Measurement?, Marketing, Marketing articles, Marketing information, about Marketing, what is Marketing, Marketing Information', 'A Good Marketer: What?s the Measurement? plus articles and information on Marketing

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Just like there are reverse dictionaries, there is a reason to create a count down calendar. A count down calendar starts with Franklin Covey''s philosophy, "start with the end in mind."

The biggest advantage to a countdown calendar is that it makes you think and focus harder as well as makes the planning easier.

First, you write down the exact results you want or expect. Let''s say you have a teleclass, seminar, speaking engagement you are delivering on X date. This becomes your D-day -- sort of speaking. It may be end of the event planning, however, it can also be the beginning of your follow-up plan. For simplicity sake, let us stop at the D-day point.

Now you can prepare a count down calendar in several ways. One way would be to use a calendar with the days of the month filled in. You mark down the D-day and then you back track from there to today.

Count down the days until __________. Number of marketing days to go until __________.

Example: Count down days until seminar. 20 marketing days to go until seminar.

Any doesn''t matter which calendar method you use, you will need to write down your measurements or your mini-results that will deliver the end results you want. I use the pivoting question, "What is it going to take to..." to get my thinking moving in the right direction. I like to think through and write these on the back of my calendars. This gives me a bird''s eye view for that particular commitment that my software does not provide.

Another way would be to use a blank form like this with the appropriate number of days in between. Then cross out the days that you will do any marketing -- say Sundays or days filled with other requirements. For my teleclass programs, my D-day back to Day 1 is always 3 weeks, so I have created a regular calendar for these. In fact, I use green color paper to print out the calendar.

If you don''t want to create your own, visit your local office supply store, they have countdown calendars available for purchase (blank planning books).

A third way to complete a countdown calendar would be to complete it in a linear form.

Day 21: Speaking event results I desire -- describe those results.

Day 20: Get handouts printed at Kinko''s.

Day 19: Write and send out reminder e-mail to organizer.

To Day 1: Today.

Again, if you have a reoccurring countdown, like teleclasses, you can create a linear countdown calendar like the one above. Eventually you will see a consistent pattern of to-dos.

At that point, don''t stop doing this with the thinking you have it down pat and you don''t need to. This will jump up and bite you in the assets fairly quickly by bogging down your mind and making you wonder if you are missing something. If that occurs, jump back into the habit, it is a great one to have. Even if it is frustrating because it takes thinking time.

Once you have your count down calendar completed then you can enter it into your automatic reminder calendar, like Outlook or Act. This will track all your deadlines, goals, and projects. You will have a separate count down calendar for each one.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com', 177, 'How to Create a Countdown Marketing Calendar, Marketing, Marketing articles, Marketing information, about Marketing, what is Marketing, Marketing Information', 'How to Create a Countdown Marketing Calendar plus articles and information on Marketing

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THE GREAT MAIL ORDER MYTH There are a number of totally unrealistic beliefs about the mail order business. To belive in any of them can be dangerous to your pocketbook. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. It is possible to make vast amounts of money in a short period of time under the following conditions:

a. No experience b. Little or no investment c. Insignificant work effort

If this were a multiple choice test, then A, B, and C, would be FALSE-- FALSE AND FALSE AGAIN

It does take experience, and knowledge, which can be acquired through reading, observing, and doing... There are many good books as well as some bad ones, on the mail order business. Stay away from books that make unreasonable promises. Our Special Report Series is designed to give you factual information on a specific subject. Universities and colleges across the country give courses in mail order and direct mail.

You can learn a great deal by observing companies that have been around for some time and are successful. Read their ads, study their offers and promotional literature. Some of the most effective direct mail offers are written by professional writers who are employed by large companies and who will not have a job unless they write successful and effective material. So, the next time you throw away a piece of mail from American Express or the Book of the Month Club, look at it and study it carefully.

The mail order business, like any business, requires an investment. It may be smaller, in many cases, than a business which requires a store front.. In most cases, mail order entrepreneurs launch their businesses from their homes. The amount of the investment is largely determined by the magnitude of the entrepreneur''s effort. A part-time mail order business can be gotten off the ground for less than a thousand dollars... The belief however, that a business, any business, can be started for $50 or $100 is totally false. I might add, it can be very profitable to those who make their living telling people it can be done. of course, they are usually the ones that want, and often get, the only $50 they say it takes to start the business.

And now we get to the really good part--little or no work. In some peoples'' minds, it goes something like this: Put in a few hours here and there, easy work, just stuff some envelopes, run a few ads; and wow, the money will be pouring into the mail box! Anyone who belives that probably also believes they are going to win a few million dollars in the lottery. The odds are not very far apart. Building a business, mail order or any other, is hard work. It takes great perseverance, belief in your efforts and lots of work.

2. Many people belive that they can get lucky in this business. Don''t believe it for a minute. It is the greatest mail order myth of them all. To belive it is fatal. Look at this business in the same way you once looked at your job anytime you first began to learn a new skill. It took time to acquire those skills and this is no different. It will take time and also effort.

3. Finding the one book or product that thousands or even millions will buy. Well, it is obviously possible since it has been done, however, your chances of coming up with another Pet Rock or Rubik''s Cube are highly unlikely. It is equally unlikely that you will discover the one book that will be bought by hundreds of thousands. But your chances of becoming a success in this business and making a lot of money are excellent, if you adhere to the rules and principles of the business.

4. Running a small ad in a national magazine and getting hundreds or even thousands of orders.

5. Renting a mailing list of 1,000 names and getting 150 to 200 orders. A very good list will generally produce no more than 2% to 3%, 20 to 30 orders for 1000 names. Your own list may do much better.

There are a few of the most common beliefs about the mail order business that are almost always totally false.

PRODUCT CHOICE

The first task any new entrant into this business has to deal with is to determine what product to sell and to whom he will sell it. This is a considerable task and it should not be taken lightly. Many serious errors are committed in this area.. To become well informed in this area, it is necessary to read various publications that cater to those people to whom you wish to sell your products. Read the news content and study the ads. Send in for free information on those ads that are close to the products that you select have an ongoing demand so your customers will want to buy from you again and again.

During this early stage of your mail order career, it is of utmost importance to control your enthusiasm. If you don''t, you will get drawn into the SHOTGUN APPROACH. In this scenario, you will be so enthusiastic and impatient that you will make a number of rapid moves such as the following: You will buy one or more distributorships; choose one or more products that you know little about (it amazes me beyond belief that people make marketing decisions about products they have not seen--this is simply insane): run one or more of the publications; or rent a mailing list and have no idea how the names on that list were accumulated.

Needless to say, you can spend a thousand dollars or more in a hurry and you may get little or no results from your efforts. And what is even worse, you will probably become discouraged and get out of the business before you had a chance to understand it at all.

When choosing a product, take care in considering all aspects associated with the marketing of it. The most important considerations are: demand and repeat demand Cost and mark-up potential Shipping or dropshipping arrangements Reliability of your major suppliers Product storage in case you decide to do your own shipping Cost of shipping

The most important consideration in choosing a product or line of products is your belief that this product represents a service or need to your potential customer. The product or products must also have related products that can be sold to your customer at a later time.. Each product you sell should be marketed with the aim of selling additional products. This is why, in general,, selling just one product is so very difficult and selling a line of products via a catalog for example, is so effective. The more items you can sell each customer, and the more repeat sales you can generate, the more money you will make.

THE PROMOTIONAL OFFER

Once you have chosen your product, set the price, decide who your supplier is going to be and how it will be shipped, you begin to put together the marketing material.. This is more crucial in our business than in any other business and it is also precisely the reason why a percentage of the population will not buy by mail---because they cannot see, smell or fell the product until they have paid for it.

The most common mistake committed in this area is to duplicate exactly what another enterprise is doing. One of the big problems with this approach is, since there is so much plagiarism going on in this business, you may be copying someone who is just as new in this business as you are and who is also copying someone else''s idea. It is OK to copy what others are successfully doing example, many companies in the information product line will provide their dealers or distributors with ready-made promotional material. In most cases, this is the least expensive way to get started and, if you are dealing with a reputable and successful company, you will be promoting products that have been proven successful.

It is recommended however, that you use this approach only until you get your feet wet. Then you should begin to develop your own material. Once you have a better understanding of what sells and who is buying it and why, develop your own brochure, circular, etc. You can still utilize the material of others as an addition or follow-up to your material. Developing your own material is not at all difficult and can be done professionally and effectively on a rather small budget. A good promotional offer consists of several important components which include:

The circular or brochure, or catalog. A brochure or catalog does not have to be a 40 page instrument but can be as few as 4 pages

An effective sales letter

The ordering instrument--this may be a built-in order form, separate order form, etc.

Return envelope

Of the above, the development of the brochure, circular or catalog, is the most expensive so here is where you will most likely use something that is supplied to you by your supplier.. A hard hitting sales letter is as important as the brochure. You have generally three options in tackling this project:

1. You can copy one from someone else. Since an exact copy may be illegal, you should probably use elements of the letter and make some changes but the end result generally leaves much to be desired.

2. You can pay someone to write one for you. This can be very expensive and may still bring about less than desirable results. The biggest problem here is that the writer of your sales letter will generally not understand your product as well as you do.

3. Do it the right way, the hard way. Do it yourself.

There are many good publications on effective letter writing for direct marketing and you should read one or more of them. Keep in mind that no one will understand your product as well as you do..

To do a good job, it is a definite requirement that you believe in the product and believe that it has one or more important benefits to the buyer. Just having the desire to sell the product, so it will make money for you,, will not cut it as a rule.. Once you understand the basic components that need to be in every sales letter, you should be able to write one.. A little practice may be necessary. You will become more proficient with each new product.

An order form should be user friendly. Your customer should be able to read the instructions with ease. If your brochure, circular, etc. has a built-in order form, it is generally a good idea to enclose a separate order form.. This way the customer can keep the original offer intact.

Enclosing a return envelope is strongly suggested. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for your potential buyer to part with his money and send it to you without too many hurdles.

The biggest sins are committed under this topic of The Promotional Offer and, since the promotional offer is the only thing your customer sees before deciding if he will buy from you or toss you in the nearest trash can, you must do things right,, there are absolutely no exceptions. If you are sloppy here, if you try to save a few bucks, you are cheating yourself, not your customers. Keep in mind he is an expect at rejecting offers since he had many years experience. the average American is presented with approximately 6,000 plus offers to buy something per week--TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, road signs and, last but not least direct mail.. Or, putting it into more personal terms, YOUR OFFER. So sweat over this one SO YOU WON''T GET TOSSED.

The money which is wasted annually in this country on substandard direct mail would make a substantial dent in our country''s national deficit. Every week I see dozens of offers come across my desk that could make me weep.. Such garbage! Return envelopes with crooked rubber stamp imprint, sales letters with spelling errors, grammatical errors, etc., so called brochures which were apparently copied by a 20 year old copying machine.., circulars that look extremely unprofessional because the order from section has obviously been changed by a typewriter and they arrive all by their lonely selves, no sales letter, no return envelop.. God it is awful! The authors of this garbage are screaming to the world: "i am an amateur, I am an amateur, I have no idea what I am doing but I want your money. You''d better belive and not forget that this country is made up of 240 million of the most sophisticated buyers to be found anywhere on this globe.

Yet, this is also the area where you can shine and excel beyond your wildest dreams.. Modern technology has given us the tools to produce marketing material that can make you look as good as some of the largest and most successful companies in this country. And you can do it right out of your home. You will find professionals who can help you in this endeavor. Right in your own city there are desktop publishers, graphic designers, and word processing services that are eager to help you. You could get a 4 page brochure designed for as little as approximately $100, in most markets, plus printing. The brochure can look just as good as the brochure of a million dollar company.

Therefore, you must do things right. The average buyer will look at your piece for less than 8 seconds to decide whether to junk it or study it.

MARKETING YOUR PRODUCT VIA ADVERTISING

Most new mail order entrepreneurs will sell their products through advertising once they know what they will sell and have developed their promotional offer. Since display advertising is generally quite expensive, it is best to start out with classified ads in monthly national publications. Classified ads, as well as small display ads, should only be used to get inquiries from promotional buyers. The inquiries are sent the promotional material you have developed and a percentage of them are converted into buyers. This percentage generally will range from between 6-12%. If you want to sell something directly from an ad, the item should cost less than $4. There is not enough space in a small ad like that to convince a buyer to spend $10 or $20. For that reason, you see full page ads selling products in that price range.

The first task is to choose the right magazine. One of the most effective ways to find the right magazine is to choose one that carries ads by successful companies that sell products similar to yours... The wrong magazine is generally the one whose content attracts readers who are not at all interested in the product you are selling.

Choosing the right classification in the publication is as important as choosing the right magazine.. Again follow the leaders. Since there are thousands of magazines catering to almost every possible interest group, the possibilities of finding new opportunities to market your products are unlimited. I suggest, however, that in the beginning you stick with well known magazines and leave your experimentations for later when you are better established.

Monthly publications are generally more cost effective than weekly magazines, and certainly, daily papers. You can get inquiries from a national publication, such as Popular Mechanics, for months and sometimes well over a year. A daily paper, on the other hand,, will rarely produce an inquiry beyond 2-3 weeks after it was published.

A common advertising mistake is to choose inexpensive advertising such as in shoppers papers, mail order trade journals, etc. It is not how much the ad costs but how much each inquiry costs you... If you ad costs $100 and you receive 100 inquiries, each one has a direct cost to you of $1. Early in mail order career I spent a lot of money for a $10 ad here and a $20 ad there. I soon learned

that sometimes I would only get one or two inquiries for my $10. Expensive! To test a product and promotional offer it is sufficient to run the ad just once.. The magazines and advertising agencies will often tell you that to test an ad you must run it 3 or more times. I say no. Not until you know how the

first one pulls. You will need some patience for this endeavor since most monthly publications have a lead of two or three months.. But its is much better to wait a little while than to spend hundreds of dollars without getting needed results. To write successful ads also takes practice and work.. Once again,, follow the leaders. A successful ad can often pull two, and sometime three, times as many inquiries as an ineffective one.

MARKETING YOUR PRODUCT VIA MAILING LISTS.

This approach is often preferred by the newcomer. Unfortunately, it is also generally the least effective way. It is preferred by many because it is perceived to be easy. And if it worked it would be. Millions of dollars are made by companies in renting the wrong names and stale names to new mail order entrepreneurs.. Both sides lose. The company renting the names will not get any repeat business and the customer often goes out of the business if his efforts are futile.

The most unfortunate mistake newcomer make here is to assume one list as good as the next one. The inexperienced mail order operators should start out advertising, and as they gain experience, begin to use mailing lists in addition to their advertising. But, if you absolutely cannot resist, at least be very picky in choosing your lists. Deal with a reputable broker or smaller mail order company that you know advertisers frequently. Find out how the names were generated. What did the ad that brought the inquiry sell? If you are trying to sell books on how to start a new business and end up with the names of people who answered an ad about how to find a better job or learn a new hobby, you will have wasted your money. Likewise if names are older than 6 months, preferably no more than 3 months, you will get too many returns and people may not be interested in the same subjects anymore. Mailing lists especially your own, can be highly successful, but only if you have gained enough experience to make wise selections.

The preceding pages have attempted to cover some of most important areas you should be aware of as you start out in this exciting business. Although the emphasis in the preceding pages has been largely on the negative, I belive strongly that this business has immense potential and rewards for anyone who has the interest and dedication to learn it. If you do your homework and make deliberate moves based on your personal knowledge and experience and you expand with each success, the potential for your ultimate success is almost unlimited. Don''t forget that unlike your friendly neighborhood retail store which sells only to a confined geographical market, you can market your product to over 260 Million people in the U,S, and Canada.

So remember before you can earn you must learn!

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Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer
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