Direct mail can change your entire life and business philosophy. That
may sound like hype, but it's not: that's exactly happened to me and my
wife. When we first started our business, we built $300.00 -- that's
right, just three hundred dollars -- into income of about $16,000.00 a
month in less than a year. We were doing well just by running space ads
in national magazines and pyramiding the proceeds to buy more ads to
attract new customers -- just as a lot of other small business people
are still doing. But once we started working with our mentor,
experienced direct marketer Russ Von Belcher, we stopped focusing solely
on chasing after new customers and started to mine the money available
in reselling to existing customers by appealing to them through direct
mail.
Within nine months, we were making about $25,000.00 a
week using the direct mail methods Russ taught us. I know direct mail
marketing works, because I'm one of its many success stories.
We
used to hire Russ to come to our home in Kansas and work with us over
the weekend. At that time, Russ charged us $2,500 for a weekend of his
time and expertise. He's an absolute master when it comes to making
money with direct mail, and I was privileged to watch the master to
work. We'd pick him up at the airport on a Friday night and, starting
very early Saturday morning, we'd sit around the dining room table and
talk about all kinds of products and services our customers might be
interested in, as well as new promotions. Russ would get excited about
something that we were talking about, and he'd start writing on one of
the many legal pads we had waiting for him there.
Meanwhile,
Eileen and I would sit back in awe, watching him writing fast and
furious, as quickly as he could; and when he'd stop, we'd talk more,
drink some more coffee, and eat some good food. Then he'd be at it
again. He was taking all the ideas we were expressing, and translating
them onto his legal pads as he wrote the sales letters. When he left on
Sunday, we'd stop by the typist's house and drop off all those pads to
have them typed out and saved to a floppy disk. Then I'd tweak the copy
he wrote, send the resulting sales letters out to our customers, and
start raking in the profits.
Somewhere along the line I said to
myself, "I want to learn how to do this." It took me eight years to
learn it to my satisfaction -- and I'm still learning. It's a
fascinating, lifelong process.
Direct mail marketing sounds
simple, but doing it well is not. Sure, it's just a matter of taking
ideas for new, related products and services, writing simple sales
letters communicating those ideas, putting them into envelopes, and
sending them to your best customers -- people who have already bought
something from you before. That's as simple as it can be. But most
businesses aren't doing that. They're doing what Eileen and I did before
we met Russ: constantly chasing new customers, not doing enough to sell
additional products to their existing customers.
Once we
started using direct mail to sell to existing customers, Russ helped us
learn how to use direct mail to create sales letters for new customers
-- those who were interested in the kinds of things we were selling, but
had never done business with us before. That's when the millions came
pouring in. You get an incredible feeling when you put together your
first direct mail package and the orders start arriving. It's exciting,
addictive, and profitable. So: let's take a look at the main advantages
of direct mail marketing, and why you should make it a part of your
business.
Advantage #1: Direct mail works. It's like a recipe:
Follow the instructions, and you'll get the results you desire. Forget
that so many other people aren't using it. Don't be restricted by the
fact that may it not have worked for you before. You didn't know then
what you'll know by the time you finish reading this article.
Advantage
#2: It works for everyone, including small businesses. In your local
marketplace, you probably won't have much direct mail competition, if
any. You'll have a chance to run right past your competitors and become
the dominant business in your field. Even if you run a regional or
national business, the chances are good that none of your competitors
are doing what you can do with direct mail.
Advantage #3:
Direct mail is targeted marketing. You can pick and choose people who've
bought services and products similar to yours in the past. Most other
forms of advertising don't allow this. Those methods waste most of your
advertising on people who aren't interested in what you offer, spraying
your message out to people from all walks of life, just a tiny fraction
of whom are your best prospects. Direct mail makes it easy for you to
choose only the people you want to reach -- and then to reach them in a
personal way. You're actually sending a letter to someone, communicating
via a printed letter, one-on-one. Always act as though you have
something special to say to one special person. That's what makes direct
mail so personable.
Advantage #4: Almost no one knows these
secrets. If they know anything about direct mail, it's usually very
basic; they understand it involves mailing things to prospects, usually
postcards. They may have tried it, and found it didn't work for them.
Again, that's because they're doing it wrong. They don't understand the
industry or the methods -- not even the basics, let alone its
intricacies. As shipping magnate Aristotle Cassis once said, "The secret
to business is to know something nobody else knows." That's true of
direct mail. If you can learn to understand direct mail marketing at a
basic level, and you're willing to focus your efforts on it, the rest
can come later. It takes a lifetime to master, but you can earn while
you learn.
Advantage #5: Direct mail gives you an unbeatable
lead, almost an unfair advantage, over other marketers. It's a stealthy
way to promote your offers to your marketplace, because your competitors
may have no idea what you're doing. The only way they'll learn is if
someone tells them, or if they get on your mailing list somehow.
Advantage
#6: Direct mail marketing is scalable, whether up or down. With an
initial test, when you're just getting started with an offer, you'll
want to keep the volume low. If the market responds, you crank the dial
up, mailing out more pieces. If it doesn't, you try another offer.
Whether or not you scale up and down may also depend on the marketplace
you're in. If the whole Internet is your marketplace and you have
millions of potential customers, then even a small return may make it
worth cranking up the volume. If you're in a small local economy, with
thousands or tens of thousands of potential customers at most, you'll
require a greater response. Always check your numbers and always test,
and you can continue to grow your business.
If you don't think
you can handle all that work yourself, hire more employees. This is
especially true if you're a one-man band, because your ability to grow
is limited by your ability to perform. Let other people do some of the
work; act as the brain behind it, the person who directs and facilitates
it. This method can work whether you mow lawns for a living, own a
small mechanic shop, or you're an electrician and think you don't need
to advertise because you have all the business you can handle right now.
Build a team you pay to do most of the actual work. Don't limit
yourself by thinking small.
Advantage #7: You can segment your
customer list, so certain offers go out only to specific groups of
customers. Your very best customers -- the people who spend the most
money with you -- will get offers the rest of your customers don't; so
even within your customer base, there's stealth selling going on. Your
other lists won't even see an offer unless it's a hit with your best
customers, whereupon you carefully introduce it to everyone you think
might buy it.
Advantage #8: You can make grand offers with a
much better chance of success than most advertising methods. One of my
personal heroes is P.T. Barnum, one of the founders of the Ringling
Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus. He was an incredible entrepreneur,
involved in all kinds of businesses. Many good biographies have been
written on the man, and it's worth it to study his life -- because he
understood marketing at a deep level, which helped him become one of the
world's richest men in his day.
Barnum once said, "Most
business people are trying to catch a whale using a minnow as bait."
They throw together small direct mail flyers or postcards that aren't
connected to any kind of strategy. Those campaigns fail to produce, so
they give up and declare that direct mail doesn't work. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. Direct mail beats the pants off all other kinds
of marketing and advertising methods. You'll see one of the reasons for
that with our next advantage:
Advantage #9: Done correctly,
direct mail marketing does a complete job of selling. It's like a
salesperson in an envelope -- one who never gets sick, never complains,
never wants a raise, and works 24 hours a day. If done correctly, it's
disruptive -- which is precisely what you want it to be. I was involved
in the business for years before I really understood the full impact of
the word. Direct mail has to be disruptive in order to catch people's
attention. Yes, people still sort their mail over a trash sometimes, not
paying close attention to all the direct mail they're getting; but it's
still far more disruptive than any other method, except for a live
salesperson.
Think about how easy it is to delete your e-mail;
you don't even have to read it. Direct mail is far more disruptive than
email; it gets in the way and drives in that little wedge that's
necessary in order to get the right people to pay attention. It seems
like everybody's in love with whatever's new, and direct mail is
old-fashioned -- so most people ignore it. Yes, it's old news, but it
works better than all those fancy innovations.
Advantage #10:
Direct mail can make you big money. My company has generated over $150
million in gross direct mail revenue in 24 years, and my wife and I are
the most average people you'll ever meet; you'd never pick us out of a
lineup of successful people. Yet direct mail marketing has been
responsible for almost all of the millions of dollars that have come
pouring into our little company. Our headquarters are in Grosse, Kansas.
If you didn't know it was an hour north of Wichita, you wouldn't be
able to find it on a map. You probably still wouldn't find it.
Now,
we love Kansas and are passionate about our state, but we also
recognize it for what it is. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere,
and we like it that way. But although we're in a town of just a few
hundred people, we're generating millions of dollars with direct mail.
That should inspire you. This is something that really can make you a
lot of money.
If there's a single business tip that will profit
you more than any other, it's this: you have to sell more things to
more people more often for more profit with every transaction.
Everything else is details. But such details! You have to figure out all
the ways and means, strategies and methods; and you have to get it all
right. But it's still just selling more to more people more often for
more profit per transaction. Direct mail marketing is the ultimate way
to do that. You're in full control of every aspect of the process.
Yes,
there's a learning curve. You have to be willing to both learn and
practice. Try to make it fun and exciting; but even if you don't feel
that way about it, just keep your eyes on the prize. You can earn
incredible amounts of money while you're learning, and even more when
you've mastered direct mail. There's simply no better way to use that
little formula of selling more stuff to more people more often for more
profit every time than direct mail.
Check the other articles
I'll be posting in the next few days and months, where I'll provide
secrets on everything from the best direct mail marketing methods to
copywriting tips. I think you'll soon realize that this really is the
best way to go forward for most businesses. So dig in deep and really
use these methods I'll teach you here -- and you'll end up light years
ahead of the competition.
In addition to his other articles
posted on this website, you can get 1,000 pages of Mr. Prophesiers'
greatest marketing and success secrets absolutely free by going to
http://www.6159FreeSecrets.com.
The Greatest Advantages of Direct Mail Marketing
Getting Your Internet Marketing Plan Right The First Time
Having a sound Internet marketing plan will take you places, and you
need to realize that there are many unknown variables that you'll only
discover as you progress. It only seems to be sensible that some
direction and clarity of purpose is in order for any business. Each step
along the way will be the right step, and that is thanks to your clear
plan. There is often no getting around some speed bumps along the way,
but things can be a lot simpler. The article below talks about three
useful tips to help you strengthen your Internet marketing plan.
If
you are not even sure of where you are heading with your business, then
that has to be cleared up prior to making a plan. So, just stop doing
everything until you figure out what it is you want from life - find
your goals. As you know, there are enough challenges out there, and you
do not need to make things unnecessarily difficult for you. So, learning
what your real goals and aspirations are is an integral aspect of this
entire process. It is normal for people to evolve in different ways
which is a good reason to validate your own goals from time to time.
No
matter how small your web business is, you must begin brand marketing
as early as possible. Give your prospects something that will help you
carve out a better brand. Remember that when you are branding, one o the
things you are doing is relationship marketing. When you are branding
your self, you are really marketing your self which means it goes in the
plan. Branding helps with your audience and how they perceive and
connect with you.
Include your website in your internet
marketing plan. It's a part of your overall online marketing strategy.
So ensure that your website has all of the essential items. Put your
subscription box in a place that is very prominent. See to it that your
site's not lacking in any way. You can only do this with a working plan.
Also, jot down what type of software is needed. This lets your plan and
stay on track.
Creating your internet marketing plan is vital if you want to have a business that really succeeds.
But
even though new strategies keep coming up every now and then, the core
tactics remain the same. Your Internet marketing plan helps you master
these very basics that are required to build a strong foundation. People
who operate with increased levels of organization and purpose tend to
do better in business. Those who are smart will do this and make it the
best they can because they know it will help them.
Avoid These Mistakes to Make Your Social Media Campaign a Success
Marketing through social media can be done by anyone who knows the basic
working of social networks. But are sure you are doing it the right
way? You should learn from your mistakes, but it is even smarter to
learn from others€™ mistakes. To ensure that the campaigns or
promotional activities that you are conducting through social media are a
success, it would be wise to keep these things in mind.
Set your goals
Engaging
in social media is a free activity. That does€™t mean that you should
just start using it as a marketing gimmick. There is no investment in
any business that is free. Maybe it does not require monetary
involvement, but you will be dedicating time and effort on it. To not
let these investments go for a waste, know what your goals are before
taking up this challenge. Whether you are using social media as a tool
to promote new products or to engage your audience, you should have your
goals worked out to gain from it.
Focus on content
The
content that you provide is what will reflect your business. If you do
not provide quality content, your reputation in the industry will
automatically decline. It is necessary to highlight your objectives and
focus on information that your audience is looking out for.
You
should not share the same post on all your social networking accounts.
Every website has its own set of readers who are looking out for
information as per the trend. If you share the tweet you posted on
Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Four Square, what is the point of a
person following you on all of them? They might as well as follow you on
only one site.
Know your target audience
There is no
better campaign than the one that goes viral on the web. For this, you
need to focus on quality contacts. The thousand followers on your
Twitter account do not matter if they are not spreading the word. You
need to focus on followers who can influence their contacts. Your
customers have the ability to take over the task of marketing from you.
That is why it important to target the right set of audience.
You
should not go about shooting mass-mailers to thousands of people
without even knowing if they are interested or not. Make the option to
subscribe and unsubscribe an effortless feat. You can never be sure if
the e-mails even reached all the addresses, and there is always the
possibility of getting spanned. This can get you blacklisted by many
servers and you will end up straight in the junk folder.
Success of your campaign
The
best part about social media campaigns is that you can keep a track of
its effectiveness. If you are not utilizing this benefit, you are the
only one on the losing end. With tools like Google Laplander, you can
find out the number of visitors on your page, prospective leads and the
overall success of the campaign.
Importance of communication
It
is extremely important to engage your audience with the content that
you are providing. Every time they post a comment, respond to them. It
does€™t matter whether it is positive or negative. You have to know what
is good or bad about your product or service so that you can make them
even better. This is the best medium through which you can maintain a
good relation with the market. They are the ones who will determine your
reputation.
A lot of you have started online campaigns and
gave up because you Dina€™t see the results. Social media marketing
takes time to show its effectiveness. No matter what, it is important to
keep your networks updated. That is the only way you will see results.
Online Marketing Strategies for Your Business From a Web Marketing Specialist
Online marketing is exciting, challenging and make your career in the
internet business and yet many people who depend on internet marketing
do not have a full take hold of of the fundamentals involved in online
marketing. Actually, a lot of internet entrepreneurs waste a lot of
time, energy and money because you do not fully understand internet
marketing. Do not let this lack of understanding can undermine your
income potential. Farmhand Hussein in Soulfully has over eight years of
marketable hands on internet marketing & web product development
knowledge and his specialties include Web Site Implementation, SEN- PPC
(Paid Search), Search Engine Optimization, E-mail & Social media
marketing. Farmhand Hussein has in intensity e-commerce and internet
brand information with experience in elevated volume transactions and
multi channel websites. Marketing is actually rather easy. Marketing is
communication about a thought, product, service or company.
Farmhand
Hussein Soulfully is an excited, self motivated personality, who
strives to accomplish and deliver the very best, enthusiastic to pursue a
profession in the energetic field of Information Technology and within
working surroundings that will in attendance innovative challenges and a
scope for progression. Farmhand Hussein - Soulfully have Skills Pro,
Ahrefs.com, Linked, Search metrics, Link Assistant, Google Analytics,
Google, Majestic SEO, SEO Google AdWords, SEO Power Suite, Microsoft Ad
Center and Webmaster Tools.
Farmhand Hussein has social media skills
like Facebook Advertising, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,
Interest etc. He has web development skills like WordPress, Drupal,
Joomla, Blogger.com etc. He has good idea in programming language, her
programming skills are C#.NET, PHP, Java, HTML & Lisp Programming,
MS SQL Server & MySQL Databases and Oracle. For you to superior
appreciate internet marketing and its contact with your online business
you must know the answers to these questions. Marketing is broader than
simple advertising or promotion that includes market research to find
out what the customers are actually demanding and then just set out in
order to meet their needs with the product, price and allocation method.
Marketing includes market do research, deciding on products and prices,
advertising and promotion, distribution and sale.
Online Marketing
also covers all the behavior involved in moving goods and services from
the basis to the end user including making customers conscious of
products and services, attracting original customers to a product or
service, keeping accessible customers interested in manufactured goods
or service, and building and maintaining a client base for a product or
service. Internet marketing includes these same tricks but also pulls in
a variety of internet tools including web sites, email, magazines,
banner advertising, blogging search engine optimization, RSS, text
links, affiliates, auto responders, and other applications ecommerce.
The
range of Internet marketing expenses is huge. There are a number of
promotional and marketing initiatives that can cost nothing or just
pennies a day while other advertising efforts can cost thousands of
dollars a day. It is significant to think about your goals - both long
term and short term - as well as how much each potential consumer is
worth full for you. This will help you determine a budget that works for
your internet marketing campaign.
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