The following businesses featured in this collection are some of the best information-marketing-related mail order businesses you can easily start with very little investment. They are simple businesses that in many cases are related and fit together rather well. You can have a profitable, part-time or full-time mail order business by running as many of these mini-businesses together as you can. Take another look through the reports and see how producing and selling information, print brokering, circular mailing, producing ad sheets, co- publishing other ad sheets, big mails, mailing list rental, typesetting, rubber stamps and clip art all fit together with each other. You can advertise your services in flyers that get mailed with other circulars and ad sheets in your big mails, which are ordered by customers whose names and addresses get added to your rental mailing list, which is ordered by other dealers who find out about your other services. Customers who are not in the mail order business can still gain useful information from your products, use your print brokering services to get the best prices on their other printing needs, and can purchase return address rubber stamps from you. It all goes together in a cycle that will make money for you. All you need to do is be persistent and remember the following tips: * ADVERTISE! People can't and won't order from you if they don't know who you are and what you sell. Get those ads out there! You don't have to spend thousands of dollars on full page ads. Put those one-inch ads in the ad sheets you get in the mail. They are inexpensive and they're effective. * REINVEST! Don't expect to build a full-time business by putting a few ads in ad sheets, then never advertising again. If you want to succeed, you MUST put at least 50% of your profits back into advertising. Expand the amount of advertising you do until you saturate the market. That's the way to be a success. Start your business part-time, and keep your full-time job, so you don't need to dip into your profits for spending money. If you put your profits into advertising at the beginning, it will take less time for your part-time business to become self-supporting and full-time. * KEEP IMPROVING! Read and save all the mail-order related mail you get. Your files will prove to be a valuable source of information and ideas for future products, ads and services. * WORK WITH PROS! You will find that the competition in this business can also be your friend. When co-publishing and mailing other dealers' circulars, you will be helping them. They will help you in return. Be honest, trustworthy, and deliver on all your promises, and the other entrepreneurs you work with will do the same. * DON'T GIVE UP! If you think you can get rich overnight in mail order, you need to rethink things. Sure, some people have gotten lucky, but the majority of mail order businesses start slow and build slowly. You can't give up after the first month. Be like the little engine that could, and keep pushing along. It will take time, but the time you take will be worth it. * BE PRUDENT! Keep in mind the old adage: If you see an offer in the mail that is far too good to be true, it probably is. Don't fall for the get rich quick junk, and don't try to sell the stuff, either. Customers don't stay very loyal after they get burned. * KEEP THE CUSTOMER INFORMED! Customer service is of the utmost importance in mail order. Give a good guarantee on your products. If they are good and deliver on your advertised promises, you won't have to worry about many customer returns. If a customer has a complaint, make sure you answer them quickly and kindly. Sometimes, the best repeat customers are the ones who have had problems that you've corrected. They see that you have their interests in mind, and respect you for that. * STUFF THAT ENVELOPE FULL! Return business is the key to making money in mail order. That first order covers your costs; the return business is profit. Always give your customers a lot of products and services to choose from. If you follow these rules and use the information provided in this collection of reports and business ideas, you should find yourself on the way to an exciting part-time or full-time mail order business that you can operate out of your own home!
Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer
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