Mail Order: How to Get Your Share of the Hidden Profits That Exist in Your Business [1 ed.]

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MAIL ORDER! of l{o41togetyoursl'rare pnofits tt'ehdden thatexistnycurhsirress

MnilOrder! HOW TO GETYOIJRSHAREOF THE THAT EXIST PROFITS HIDDEI,J BIJsINEss ]IJ YOLJR

EugeneM. schwartz started in mail order asa delivery boy in 1949,becamc a junior copywriter before the end of that year, a copy chief in l95l . and prc-.ident of his own million-dollar mail order firm in 1954.He hassincesold rcn: oi millionsof dollarsworth of almosteveryconceivableproduct in mail ordc-r.borh in his own firms and asone of the world's highest-paidconsulranrs( RodalePress once paid him a commissionof $54,000for four hours uork). t{is prerious book, Breakthrough Advertising, is considered a mail order classic, and thc "most stolen" book from public libraries.He haslecturedand taughtextensirely, has built one of the most famous collectionsof modern American art in rhcworld, and is inordinatelyin love with Barbara, his wife of 3l years,and their 23-year-oldson, Michael.

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INTRODUCTION xiii oNE: MAIL ORDER PROFITS FROM YOUR BUSINESS? WHY NOT? I Two avenuesof directmarketingopento your businessI Takingyour presentproducts into moil order I Settingto the invisible auxiliary market 2 throughmail Your specificgoalsin enlargingyour presentbusiness order 3 Reochpresentaccountswith additionalyearly "solescalls" 3 Getfaster settlementon your accountspayable 3 Getting a new customerrecommendotion4 Opennew accounts4 Improved efficiencyin your organization 5 Waysmail orderwill makemoneyfor you in areasoutsideyour presentbusiness5 A brief surveyof availablemail-ordermedia 6 Direct mail 6 Other media 9 An interviewwith David Geller l0

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Viii / CONTENTS

TWO: THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN MAIL-ORDER SELLING: COPY 19 Why you're alwaysin charge-from the very beginning20 What copy to useand wherein your new direct-mailpiece 2l The envelope 2l The letter/brochure copy 23 The orderform 24 The stuffer and cotalog 24 How to find and deal with the right copywriter 24 How to evaluateprospective copywriters 24 W'hatto put together before your copywriter begins 27 How to make the ossignment29 How to negotiatethe copywriter'sfee 32 How to judge thefirst submissionof copy 33 How to know whenyou havetestoblecopy 37 Why not yourself,or oneof your staff, asthe copyrvriter? 39 An interviewwith Sol Blumenfeld41 rHREE: HOW TO USE THE MAIL-ORDER ART SPECIALIST 5l What doesgood mail-orderart look like? 5l Elementsof good mail-orderart 53 A specialnoteabout stuffersand catalogs55 Buildingyour own referencelibrary of mail-orderhits 55 How to evaluateprospective direct-mailartists 56 How to get art estimates57 Creativity vs.serviceability in ort 58 Thefirst roughs 59 Put it in writing 6l How to evaluatethe roughs 62 Whenyou get the finishedmechanicals for the first time 66 How much to pay and how to pay it 68 How artistsdiffer from other outsideexperts70

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CONTENTS/ ix

FOUR:HOW TO RENT THE RIGHT MAIL-ORDER LISTS 73 What mailinglistsare 73 Formsin which listscomeand whento usethem 75 Expandingyour own list 77 The right way to maintoinyour |ist 78 Building in greaterselectivity 8l How ond to whom to rent your listfor extro income 85 How often, and with what, to mail your listyourself X) Outsidelists 92 How to reoda list card 95 How to selectond get the bestfrom a tistbroker l0l Your controct with the brokeragehouse 105 Other seryiceshe con provide repeotedly 106 An interviewwith RobertCastle 112 FrvE: HOW TO BUY PRINTING 123 Typesof printersand whento usewhich 123 Pricingthe job 124 How to avoid extracharges125 How to reada printer'sblueprints126 A quick note on specialstocksand dramaticextraeffects 128 How to get your printingout on time 128 Whento pay the printer 129 An interviewwith Frank Gesualdi 130 SIX: HOW TO CHOOSEA LETTERSHOP l4l How to evaluatedifferent shops l4l How to get the fairest price 142 Making sure the lettershop meetsthe mailing date 144 How to "seed" your own list 145 How to check the exact quantity mailed 146 How to avoid "invisible" surcharges 147 How to finance your mailine 147 An interview with Michael Baron 148

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SEVEN: PUBLICATION

MAIL ORDER I59

The top mail-ordermedia 159 How big an ad shouldyou use? 16l A direct-mail winner 162 A catolog winner l& An ideafor a new salespitch 166 to media 166 Agenciesthat control mail-orderaccess Position 167 Discounts 168 Editorials 169 Per Inquiries 169 Make-Goods l7O How to choosethe right agencyfor you l7l What and whento pay the agencY175 giveyou 178 How to judgewhattheagencies The ad basedon your direct-mail winner 178 Theod donefrom scratch l'79 Your own houseagency?180 An interviewwith LesterWunderman 182

EIcHr: THE SIMPLICITY

OF MAIL-ORDER

MATHEMAZCS

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How manydollarsdid you spend?How many dollarsdid you make? 193 SpecialNote: Thehighestsinglecosl in mail order 198 The mathematics of the first test 200 Direct mail 2OO Publicotion odvertising 202 Packagestuffers, either in-houseor cooperative 2M Catalogs 2M TV and radio 205 Whenand how to approximatetotal results206 Direct mail 2O7 Newspapersand magozines 209 Pockagestuffers 2ll Cutalogs 211 TV and radio 2ll

CONTENTS / xi

campaign2l I Whento takethe next bite in a successful Projectingyour in-houselist and moking sureyou get the maximumprofitobility 213 Projectingfrom test newspqpersand magozinesto u nationwidecampoign 216 Catologs 218 TV and radio 220 What to do whenthe risk outweighsthe opportunity 22O A specialnote about tests 222 A belatednote aboutelectronicmail order 223 An interviewwith RichardBenson 225 NINE: ORDTR FULFILLMENT: THE ESSENTIAL ADDED PLUS 237 How to choosethe right fulfillment house 237 How to negotiateprice 238 How to makesureyou receiveweeklyrecordsof ordersreceived and shipped,and a continuousinventoryof products and stuffers 238 The weeklyrecordsyou must receive 238 A weeklyinventoryof products and enclosures239 How to ship assoonas possible24O

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What to do whenyou run out of stock 241 How to avoidlossof cashand other stealing 242 How to handlecomplaintsand testimonials244

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Methodsof receivingo secondorderfrom a nek)customer 246

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TEN: HOW TO GET INTO MAIL ORDER IF YOUR FIRM IS YERY SMALL 249

ELEVEN:THE ACCUMULATED WISDOM OF MAIL ORDER 253 ;

What sellsand what doesn't:a thirty-yearrecord 253 Consumeritems 253 items 255 Business Products with not-so-soodmail-orderrecords 255

Xii / CONTENTS

A samplingof surprisemail-ordersuccesses256 industryleaders 159 A samplingof casehistoriesof representative Two extra sourcesof mail-orderrevenue 261 "Drop-shipping" 262 Syndication 262 Tax advantagesa mail-orderoperationcan give you 263 Yaur tax yeor 263 Shifting taxablefunds 265 The mail-order"follow-up" business265 Whereand how to get a continuing streamof new products 2fl

Introduction

T I Hts eoor ts actuallycomprisedof two booksin one-which complementoneanother,and whichhaveonly one purpose:to makeyou and your asmuchmoneyin mailorderaspossiblewith theleastpossibleexpendibusiness ture of time, effort, money,and mistakes. The first of these"books-within-a-book"is written by me and is divided ex"book" Covers Copy,art, liSts,andsOOn.The seCOnd intOchapterscOvering most written the is by and my chapters, end of It is at the actlythesesametopics. renownedspecialistin eachparticularfield. Their contributionwill giveyou a of the second,diverse,and in-depthviewof the hiddentrapsand complexities mail-orderbusiness. In this book you're going to meetsomeof the smartestand richestand nicestpeoplein theworld. And, of course,you'regoingto meetme.Therefore, the first thing you shouldhaveis an introductionto all your mentors. Let'sstartwith me, for thesolereasonthat my chaptersappearfirst in each sectionof this book. I havebeenin mail ordersince1951,a total of thirty years, likeonly a day.I beganasa deliveryboy with a mail-orderadverthoughit seems was trained as a junior copywriter that sameyear,and lessthan tising agency, threemonthslaterhad soldhundredsof thousandsof dollarsof books,plants, then,and I hopeI do a andgamesthroughmail order.I had wonderfulteachers similarjob in conveyingto you what theytaughtme. whichdid over$2million in In 1954,I startedmy own mail-orderbusiness, grossvolumethe first year.Sincethen,till I "quasi-retired"in 1978,I havehada all of whichhavesoldmillionsof dolseriesof marvelousmail-orderbusinesses, everyyear,and which havelet melive quite larsof variouskinds of merchandise comfortably. In addition, I have beenconsultantto such nationallyknown firms as BoardroomReports,RodalePress,The New York Times,Prentice-Hall,and a few dozenmore. ln all theseendeavors,I havestrivento perfectasimple system of mail order,requiringno lengthyabstractstudyto master,whichcouldbe put

xiv / TNTRODUCTION

into operation with a minimum of investment and personneland which could start showing profits within the first month after it's instituted. Mail order is an extremelycomplex business,but I have alwaysbeliered rn doing it the simplestand easiestway possible.This method of simple mail ordcr is, I believe, ideally suited to your particular problem of taking your o*'n businessas it existstoday, with your own products as they exist tOday,and discorer' ing unfound profits, simply by sellingthem through paper and ink and nothing more. Having said this, I now turn to the battery of experts-the renowned men and women who do practicea more complex and larger form of mail order than I -all of whom have so generouslyoffered up their time for the interviews that follow. These experts know a great deal about lists, art work, mailing houses, and the analysisof daily results, as well as all the other hard facts you needto arm yourself in the rough-and-tumble arena of mail order. These men and women have helpedcreatemail-order merchandisingempires,and I reverethesepeople. The testimony and generouslyshared secretsof theseexperts give you a rich background in the finer detailsof mail order that my own simplesurveydoesnot in this reveal.I usetheir knowledgeasa safeguardto protectmy own investments probably more. you much well, as and will least that to be at field; their advice Our combined information will give you a college-levelcoursein practical mailorder procedure, plus a postgraduatelook in depth at its finer methodologiesall in a singlevolume. I suggestyou check their biographiesat the beginning of eachintervieu right now. Do it beforeyougo on with this book. Get to know the teamthat's going to work for you in thesepages.You'll have much more confidencein *hat they promise and instruct you. So there you have it. First, my purposelysimple,overall plan for creatinga mail-order profit center in your businessas it existstoday. Then a battery of erperts in eachaspectof that endeavorto solveyour specificproblems in advance. And, finally, secretsof the suprisingly different kind of copy neededto make profits-not from salesmenor r-egulartrade advertising,but from nothing more than paper and ink sent to prospectsabout your products-that will whet your potential buyers' appetitesbefore they have seenor tried your product. Using thesemethods, you can exploit your own mail-order opportunities at once. And in this way, you can also seerhore clearly why they are working and. more vividly, how you can make them work even better. This book is as practical, down-to-earth, and step-by-stepas I can make it. There is no abstract theory in it, only practical rules. Mail order is about making money-fast. This book is designedto do that for you. And I would appreciate your writing to me, when you have put its rulesto work, to tell me how and what types of profits it has created for you. I thank you in advance,and I wish you a great and profitable adventure.

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Ol'/E

Mail - OrderProfits f romYowr WhVNofT BwsinessT

TwoAvenuesof Direct Marketing

Opento YourBusiness 1you can usethis book to makealmostinstant I Henr ARETWOWAYS beforeyou independently moneyin mail order.Theyshouldboth beconsidered beginwork on your first mailing.They are: 1. Sellingyour current retail winnersthrough proven direct-marketing and techniques, to establishan adjunctmail-orderbusiness 2. Usingthesesametechniques that featuresproductscloselyallied to the onesyou are now selling throughyour presentdistributionmeans. Let me giveyou an exampleof eachof thesetwo distinctopportunities: Thking Your PresentProducts Into Mail Order At the moment,I assumeyou areeitherin the manufacturingor the retailTherefore,you makeandsellproducts,or buy and of business. ingor serviceend sell services.You sell thosevariouscommoditieseither through salesmenor but you wantevengreater in theseprocedures, stores.Youhavebeensuccessful you mightwantto achieve: profitsfrom whatyou areselling.Thesearethegoals call upon todayor thephysicallon To reacha widermarketthan your salesmen you in at this moment. your to bring storeenables cationof D To reachcustomerswho could be profitableif you didn't haveto spendthe full costof an individualsalescall to contactthem. of tr To calluponyour bettercustomers, andmanymoreindividualdepartments you profitably, than more thosecustomers,far morefrequently,and therefore areableto today.

2 / MAIL.ORDER PROFITSFROM YOUR BUSINESS?WHY NOT?

D To transcendthe physicallimitations of sendingthe human body to your customers to securethose orders, or you want to transcendthe physical "fixedness" of a store in a particular or limited neighborhood. D To expand your salesarea until it includesevery conceivableprospect,every individual home or office or store, everyman or woman in theseUnited States who could becomea viable customer for your particular goods or servicesand you want to do it for penniesinsteadof dollars for everysinglesalescall. With simple mail-order techniquesI'm going to show you, you will immediately expand your market outward to the very edgesof this country, including customersthat the salesmethods you rely upon today cannot possibly reach. You have theseproducts on hand. You know from vast experiencewhere their strongestappealslie, the objections that might possibly cut off their sales, and how to overcometheseobjections. You have worked out, in the many years you spent building your business,the salesapproachesand techniquesthat are now the foundation of your business.But you are at presentconfining them to too small a market. You are not allowing them their full market range. You're simply increasing the range of your proven salestechniques for your proven products at the leastpossibleprice and with the leastpossibleeffort. This is the first great servicethat mailorder can perform for your alreadyexistingproducts, in your presentcompany, starting today.

Selling to the Invisible Auxiliary Market A secondservicethe very samemail-order techniquescan perform for you right now-equally as tempting, and with equal potential profit-is the invisible auxiliary morket that existsright alongside the visible market you're already exploiting. The market of firms and peoplewho buy products that you don't presently sell, to use along with the products that you do presently provide them with. Here are examples:the man who buys a pen from you, and needsstationery to write on; the store owner who hasyou keep his books, but tries to do his own income tax every year; the family who buys your luggage,but then goes somewhereelseto buy the vacation resort that they needthat luggagefor. These people are the secondarymarket, the invisible market, the wide-open market, the "how-do-they-use-it" market and the "how-do-we-sell-them-that-use" market. Of course,you're not in that market right now, but the odds are that you could be. And, as you'll seein the following pages,the cheapestand surestway in the world to find them out is: mail order. So there you have them: two vast marketing areas.Two fat plums from the opportunity tree hanging easily within your reach. Keep them both in mind throughout the rest of this book. Let's look at someof the sub-goalswithin each

YOUR GOALS IN ENLARGING YOUR BUSINESSTHROUGH MAIL ORDER / 3

OneSowe can sharpenour focus, closerand closer,until we produce the almOst automatic answer: Thisis exactly what we should do to start making money in mail order-right now.

YourSpecfficGoolsin Enlorging YourPresentBusinessThroughMail Order Reach Present Accounts with Additional Yearly "Sales Calls" mail-orderbusinessworks evenfaster The sameprincipleof repeat-sale on your bookstoday,Eachone of those with the accountsthat are established presentaccountshasthe nameof the manor womanwho is now buyingat least one product from you. But you no longer hove to be satisfiedwith that single saleswrite-upeverythreeto sixmonths,whenyour salesmangetsaroundto that person'splaceof business. Now your mail-orderpackagecan "call on him" as often asoncea month; and presentto him, at his leisure,qll the productsyou now havein yOurentireline. Now the customerdoesn'thaveto sayyesor no within thelimitedtimeof an hour or so;now hehastime-days and weeksat his leisure-to file awayyour direct-mailpieceand studyit whenhe runsinto a specific problemto which it applies,or whenhe'slooking for betteror moreecoin theareasyou serve.Your "mail-ordersalesman" nomicalwaysto do business prospect's deskor file everyworkinghour of everyworkingday.You're is on the neverquite outsidethe customer'sreach,and with eachnewmailing,you havea chanceto calt to his attentionthe latestinnovation,the most efficient improveyou'vejust put into yourline. savers time-and-money ments,thenewlydiscovered Get FasterSettlementon Your Accounts Payable Mail order makesit doubly worthwhilefor your customersto settletheir occountsimmediotelyand, therefore,transferthe moneyfrom their pocketsto yours.One of the greatestsurprisesmail order offers is the datingof your acafter youinstituteyour mail-orderprogram.Beforemail orcountsreceivable, der,your averagedatingmay run 6Oandeven90 days.Whenyou do mail order, before the averagedatingmay drop to aslittle as30 to 45 days.Why? Because you weresendingyour customersnothingbut a bill, but now you're not only it with thepromiseof some sendingthemthat samebill, but you'resugarcoating newdevicethat they may want or need,and that they can order immediately,at the sametime they'rewipingtheir old debtsoff your books. People-evenpeoplein business-loveto buy, and they hateto pay.You know that all too well already.Soalwaysgivetheman extraincentiveto pay that old bill and somethingnewin returnfor that promptsettlement.That maximis

4 / MAIL.ORDER PROFITSFROM YOUR BUSINESS?WHY NOT?

basedon humannature,and it works. And it getsthat moneyin your bank acwhilebringingin evenmore extraordersaswell. Count,whereit belOngs, At the sametime, thenumberof "deodbeats"dropsat the samerateasthe numberof slow-pays;moreof themcomein overthelongrun. Thesameadded incentiveworksboth ways.Theywantsomethingnewfrom you;therefore,they pay for the old to getit. Not only do you getmorefastcollections,but you also getmorecompletecollections.It maybeeasyto walkawayfrom an old bill when you canhardlyrememberwhat you boughtin the first place;but your memory getsveryvivid, very fast,whenyou seesomethingnewthat thepaymentof that old bill witl bring you :ls well. There'san old mail-orderrule: Neverask for moneywithout whettingtheir appetitesall overagain.That way theylet Somebody elsewait for their money.. . perhapsforeverGetting a New Customer Recommendation How muchis it worth to you?And how muchdo you payfor eachon€that areout collectingrecommendations turnsinto a newsaletoday?Yoursalesmen direct-mail a successful haveonly two legsapiece,whereas for you, but salesmen which to make a salescall on piecemay havea million legsin all. The bestname -whether that salescallis madein personor by mail-is a recommended name. way to you easy mail-order cheap and the And, lateron in this book, we'll show get thousandsof them. Open New Accounts We'vetouchedon thisbriefly;now let'sgo into it in detail.Youhavea curwho boughtthose anda presentlist of customers rentlineof productsor services thereare productsor services. The two do not preciselymatch.Why? Because other customers-in your real, partiallyinvisible,market-who do not know you arelimitedin theamount enoughaboutyour productsto buy thembecause acrossto theentirespectrum of moneyyou canspendto getyour salesmessage you three accountsin Akron, when your prospective may have customers. So of you shouldhave30;or l0 accountsin Detroit,whenyou shouldhavea 100.The accountsyoudon't havenowarenot on your booksfor thebestofreasons.They to put on your booksat the currentpriceof convertingthem areuneconomical prospects to customers.You needa cheaperway to seekthem out, to let from aspayingbuyersof at leastoneof your products,and themidentifythemselves you of a continuingsalesrelationshipwith least a beachhead establishat to let them. Mail orderdoesthis for you in two ways. First, mail order letsyou reachvastnew numbersof prospectsat a much cheapercost.Of all thosenewprospects-whohearaboutyour products,your line, and your firm perhapsfor the first time-a certainpercentagewill buy at

WAYS MAIL ORDER WILL MAKE MONEY FOR YOU / 5

leastoneof your products.. .evenif only on a trial basis.Thus,you havea new customeron your booksat a profitablesalesfigure. But thesaleschaincertainlydoesn'tstopthere.Oncea manbuysfrom you -anything, no matterwhat-then, from that momenton he'syotl,'custgmer. He knowsyour product. He knowsyour quality.He knowsyour service.He knowsyour firm, and the reputationit hasbuilt personallywith him. He's thus readyfor the second,follow-up sale-either againby mail order or, this time' by a personalsalescall. Your salesmanhasthe nameof your purchaser,to whom he can addresshis new appeal:There'sno such thing any more, with the purchaser'sfirm, as a cold salescall. The receptionyour salesmanreceiveswill be very,verywarm indeed.And that'swhat you'relookingfor, isn't it? To convert multiafterrepeat-order into large,repeat-order your small,one-timecustomers buyers. Improved Efficiency in Your Organization I must mention one dramaticsideeffect of settingup a mail-orderoperation. An orderreceivedby mailtakesmoretimeto fulfill than onereceivedfrom He callsthat orderin, but the U.S. mail travelsprettydarnslow.So a salesman. you haveto makeup for that mail-orderdelaythrough improvedspeedinfuUilling that order in your own slzop.To succeedin mail order,you haveto be quick combinedwith accuracy,is oneof the and you haveto be accurate.Quickness, It's a learnedhabit that paysoff big in remostvaluableprinciplesof business. When of deadbeats. peatorders,rapidityof collections,andin a low percentage beforeyou know it, that system you setup a systemfor mail-orderperformance, rubs off on your salesperformanceas well. Efficiencybreedsefficiency.It all addsup to lesstime and moneyspent,and more moneybroughtin.

WaysMail Order will Mske Moneyfor You

in AreasOutsideYourPresentBusiness

Thewaysareall theonesmentionedabove-everysingleoneof them-but with a giganticdifference:You'll begettingall this extrarepeatincomenot from the accountskeepingyou alivetoday,but from dozens,and perhapsevenhundredsand thousands,of firms that you may neverevendreamexistaspotential customersof yours. Let'sput it assimplyasthis:How muchdoesit costto testa newprofit center for your companyright now?As muchashundredsof thousandsof dollars the usualway,right? What if it fails-and you know that it may very well failthenwhy losethat kind of money?Why not do it theeasyway?The inexpensive way? The related mail-order waY?

6 / MAIL.ORDER PROFITSFROM YOUR BUSINESS?WHY NOT?

Here,briefly,is how mail orderworks.YousellproductA, and you know that productB followsA as naturallyas night followsday.Your customersalthem readyusethe first product,astheymustalsousethesecond.You persuade to buy that secondproduct from you insteadof from any other firm. or setup newchanWith mail order,you don't haveto hire newsalesman nelsof distribution.You may not evenhaveto manufactureor buy the newline of productfor thefirst test.All you haveto do is designa pieceof paperthatgoes you'vealreadyidentifiedfor that secondline.Thenyou see out to thecustomers if theyrespondavidlyenoughto that paper-to that mail-orderpiece-to make exactlyasprofitableasyou want it. expansionof your business Theentiretestcancostlessthan$1,000or $2,000.And if it works,thenyou you'venevertouched couldhavea brandnewprofit center,sellingmerchandise totalinghundredsof your present retail outlets, and mail order before,in both thousands,or evenmillions,everyyear.

A Brief Surveyof AvailableMail-OrderMedis Direct Mail Let's look at the new "paper salesmen"you are going to mail out. They will cost you penniesapiece.They do not, of course,do as thorough, or ascomplete, a job, as the salesmenyou now use for an almost similar task. But, as you will soon find out, the mail piecesare unexpectedlyeffective. Here's an example of a typical mail-order piecethat your prospectmight see when he first opens his morning mail: The outer envelope.The overall carrier of your mail-order salesmessageis far more than a mere packaging device. In fact, it servesthe same attentiongetting function as the headlinesof your advertisementsor the opening thirty secondsof a well-honed salespresentation. Usedcorrectly,it can perform two essentialpre-salesfunctions: First, it can prevent the prospectivecustomer from throwing the entire mailing piecein the wastebasket,no matter how busy he may be the instant he seesit. Second,it can tickle the prospect'simagination, or presenthim with the outright promise of an opportunity-strong enough to stop whatever elsehe is doing at the crucial introductory moment, and tear open that envelopeto seeif its insidescan live up to that initial promise. The "solesmenwithin- " You've probably read enough of theseenclosures already to fill your personallibrary. They are the printed matter in the envelope that, in their turn, contain your salesmessage.Usually, there are two separate but complementary pieces.The first is called the letter and is designedto look as much as possiblelike a personal correspondencebetween you and your pros-

7 A BRIEF SURVEY OF AVAILABLE MAIL-ORDER MEDIA /

pect,eventhoughit mayrun asmuchasfour to eightpagesin length-Thesecond it doesnot havethe printedsaleselementis calledthebrochure,and deliberately personaltouch,but looksinsteadmorelike an ad that hasbeenplacedin theenvelopealongsidetheletter.Its functionis to givethe readermorespecificdetails of the productsavailablefor trying or buying. of course,a letteraloneis sent.Other times,it is the brochure Sometimes, that is the solesalespiecewithin the envelope.And, at other times,theremight be a third or a fourth enclosure,looking like a secondletter or a secondbroto certainsalesor pricepointsthat must chure.It's usedto givespecialemphasis be giventhe specialdistinctionof havingtheir own individualcontainers' As youknow,lettersusuallydon't containphotographs;brochuresdo. But this,like everythingelsein mail order,is not a fixedrule. Weshalllearnin Chapter Two how to choosebetweenthe letterand the brochure,or how to combine both for maximumsalesimpact.You'redealingherewith an art, not a science, but it is an art with marvelouslittle tricksthat, whenusedcorrectly,canskyrocket evena beginner'sfinancialsuccess. Now that your envelopehas intrigued your prospect The order-conveyer. enoughto makehim openit and readwhat'sinside,and your letterandlor brochurehasmadehim want to at leasttry (with the overwhelmingprobabilityof buying)theitemyou'reofferinghim. Next, you mustgethisorder, permanently andhismoneyfor that order,aseffortlesslyandpainlesslyfrom him aspossible' This is doneprimarilyin two ways:by paperand by phone' If he'sgoingto sendin hisorderby paper,thenyou needtwo extraelements replyenvelope in that direct-mailpackage:anorderblank or cardanda business (BRE).The BRE is a fairly standardprocedure-thoughcertainsales-increasing variationscanrun hereaswell.But thedesignandconstructionof theordercard is easilyasmuchof an art asthat of theletteror the brochure.We'll coverthisin ChapterTwo. Directmailinvolvesmuchmorethanmereletters.Let'slook at a completely differentmethodin your campaignfor greaterprofits' The direct-mail "stuffen " Such a stuffer is exactlywhat it says:a paper your salesdeviceyou stuff into someotherpackageto besentto your prospector customer,for an entirelydifferentreason.You may not know thestuffer'sexact and technicalnarne,but you'vealsoreceivedhundredsof themin your business personallives:in your monthly bills; in remindersabout your unpaid bills; in in packages orderedthroughthe mail from other companies;even,sometimes, or in the groceriesdeliveredto your back door, or in your Sundaynewspaper, your favoritemagazine(and it peskilyfalls to the floor)' andyour present Whenyou usestuffersto sellproductsto your prospective advantage you'll immediatelyfind that stuffershaveonetremendous customers, over the standarddirect-mailpackage:They cost absolutelyno postage'They on the itemwith whichtheyareenclosed,therefore,savridealongpostage-free

WHY NOT? t / MAIL.ORDER PROFITSFROM YOUR BUSTNESS?

ing almost half the cost that the standard direct-mail packageswould set )'ou back. Stuffers can be smallerand cheaper,saya little less,sell a little softer,and still make huge profits for your firm. The "super-stuffer": the moil-order cotalog. If you blow up a stuffer from one pageor two, to 24 or 48, or even 128pagesthen it becomes,by definition, a separate mail-order tool-the overall catalog that can embrace every single product in your entire line. Now, it's important to realize,at the very beginning, that a mail-order catalog is by no meansa regular retail catalog, such as the kind that goes out with your salesman.The distinction here is every clear. When your salesmantakes a standard retail catalog along with him to your prospector customer,the copy in that catalog can be brief, sketchy,descriptive,rather than self-contained.Why? Becauseyour salesmanis right there, next to the catalog, to fill in the details for that prospectand add a personalsalestouch to the information the cataloggives. With the mail-order catalog, however, there simply is no accompanying salesman.The catalog, like the direct-mail piece,is, all by itself, your complete salesman-on paper, without a personal touch alongsidethat paper. So, retail catalogsdo not qualify a businessreally to designthe mail-order variety. More detail is necessary,mgre persuasionis necessary,more visual and verbal punch are definitely necessary.But when you encloseall of the characteristicsmentioned in its pages,then you have a devicethat can accompanyeach order you ship to everyindividual and firm you serve-with the plus that exactly the same catalog may serveaSa Separatepiece.And later you may profitably mail the catalogs to the same list of prospectsand/or customersas many as two, three or evensix times a year.Why? Becausefrom the catalogyour customershavedozens of choicesthey can make. But from your direct-mail piece,they have only one or two. So that each time your catalog arrives, their personalor businesssituation will have changed.They havenew problemsto solve,new opportunitiesto seize, new desiresthat they might not have been able to realize or afford before. Therefore, I suggestthat you think of your new direct-mail operation in way. this Consider that it has two main profit-generating tools waiting to go to work for you: First, the direct-mail piece(or the newspaperand magazineadvertisementsdiscussedin Chapter Seven)which will bring in new customers,if successful,by the tensof thousands.And, second,is the greatestrepeat-saledeviceI haveever known-your mail-order catalog. It first goesout to each of thesenew customerswith their initial order. Then, if they order from it at that time, it goes right back out to them again, when you ship that secondorder. And each time you sendthat catalog (a set number of times each year, even if you don't revise it), it will continue to turn a percentageof those one-timecustomersinto repeatand-repeat-againcustomers,for years to come. Two great advantagesof mail order are: its ability to coax multiple yearly orders from establishedcustomerswith almost no risk and its astonishinglow

A BRIEF SURVEYOF AVAILABLE MAIL.ORDER MEDIA / 9

salesoverhead.It is my firm beliefthat no business-inany industry,sellingany productor service-shouldallow itself to be cheatedout of hiddenmail-order profits. The first suchhiddenprofit is from the newproductdirect-mailpiecesand mailingsthat I've describedabove.Thesereacheveryoneof the repeat-catalog your customers,at far lessexpensethan salescallswould cost. Second,thereis the ratherstrange(to non-mail-orderpeople)profits deof your "houselists." We'll go into thissource rivedfrom therentalor exchange of incomein far greaterdetailin ChapterFour.Let mesaythat everyoneof those listsis worth money-rather exceptionalprofits-whether or not you mail to thosecustomersyourself. It maysounda little bafflingto you now,but beforeyou finishthis book, I promiseit will makeperfectsense.

Other Media Theseincludethe following: (veryimportant) D Newspapers and magazines ! The telephone tr Tradepapers D Radioand television I A typeof mixedmailingcalled,in the trade,"cooperativemailings." The aboveitems are consideredmail-ordermediabecausethey bring in ordersto you through the mail or in this electronicage-by electronicextenin full detaillater.Again, they all work sion-the telephone.Eachis discussed prospects and thenthe one-timecustomtO customers together,first to convert ersinto multi-buyers. the Mail orderis growingso fastin our presenttroubledeconomybecause operawayto build a rapidrepeat-business methodis a surprisinglyinexpensive from "hidden" your present but customers, tion. And build it, not only from customersthat you previOuslyneverknewexisted,not only from your present that lineof products,but from a hugespectrumof relatedproductsand services mail ordergivesyou the opportunityto explorequicklyand inexpensively. Let's getstartedturningthoseobjectivesinto physicalrealities.

WHY NOT? TO/ MAIL.ORDERPROFITSFROM YOUR BUSINESS?

Mail-OrderProfitsfrom YourBusiness?

WhyNot?-An Interviewwith David Geller

David Celler has won the reputation as a superpowerin the mailorder industry. For more than three decades,he has bought time or spacein a variety of media and promoted hundreds of his own direct marketing projects. He is one of the industry's major factors in brokering spaceand time.

EMS: Dove, I want to explain to the average manufacturer or retailer how to go into mail order, and I'd like to osk you what you think should be the first stepfor an individual to take when selling a successful retail product by mail order? DG:

W e l l , i f h e ' s s e l l i n g a r e t a i l p r o d u c t , h e h a s a p r o b l e m w i t h m a i l o r d eI fr .t h e i t e m is readily availablein the store, why would people want to buy it through the mail? But if it's not readilyavailable,he has a good chance.For example,you'll notice that televisionads for mail-order products say, "First time offered. . . not availablein stores." I would tell the retailertwo things:One, if you're intcrested in the mail-order business,you should approach it as a preface to going retail. you can use mail order to build your advertising and salesapproach, and later you can go retail. You will havealreadycreateda national consumeracceptancc for the product becausepotentialcustomerswill have seenit in your mail-order ads. The secondthing t would tell the retaileris to make sure you've got the proper mail-order markuPs.

EMS:

What would you consider the proper markups?

DG:

If it's a cosmeticproduct,the markup shouldbc five or six to one;if merchandise, two or three to one-higher if it's a very hot product. For example, when we startedsellingthe InsectTrap, we were offering it at $19.95plus $2 postageand handling. The merchandisewas only costingus $10to $12.

EMS: I see,so the morkup wss about 100 Vo. DG:

yes, but we had an additionalcost:we werebuying the ordersfor $3 at that time. But we still made $5 to $7 an order. And then we also had a bounce-back-a packageenclosure-so we weregetting reordersfor the traps, and for the parts of them that were being used uP.

EMS: Whenyou say thqt the Insect Trap cost you SI0 to $12,does lhat include the cost in the mail-the Package and Poslage? DG:

No. That wasthe costto usof the merchandisealone.As I mentioned,we charged another $2 to cover our postageand handling costs.

/ 1I AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID GDLLER

the reader to understand' EMS: Okoy, thot's an important point for DG:Youmustalwayskeepthosecostsseparate.Amail-ordermanshouldalwaysask for Postageand handling' on all your products? EMS: So you askfor postoge and hondling DG:Nowwedo'Tenyearsago'itwasmuchsaferandbettertomakeapricelike $g.g5,andstaywiththat.Butbecauseofthefactthatthepostofficehasraised have become pretty much postageso much, and UPS rates are high' customers a couple of dollars extra' used to the fact that each order is going to cost the order? EMS: So they will pay it without decreasing DG:

off if, especiallyon credit cards' That,s right. Nevertheless,you may be better youaskforjustaplain$9.95or$l4.g5.Therearepricepoints,aSyouknow,and thesePricePointsare going uP'

EMS: llould You define "Price Point"? DG:

EMS:

,,Price point" simply meansthe customerresistancelevelabovewhich orders fall price than $9.95, becausethe cusoff . In other woris, $10.25 is a much worse is also felt as being under $15tomer feelsthat $9.95 is under $10.And $14.95 though actually the difference is infinitesimal' It's psychologicol rather than financial'

DG:Exactlyright.Apricepointisreallyaresistancepointbeyondwhich.theyaren't going to buY as much' EMS:

Now how do Youfind Price Points?

DG:

BY testing.

product which you've decided to sell by moil order? EMS: Fine. How would you testa DG:YoucanStartbytestingitwithpackageenclosures,ortestingindirectmail.Ifit worksindirectmailitwillworkinmedia,sothenyoucancomedowntobasic media.BasicmediatomethesedaysareTVGuideinalocalareaortheNational medium' you can test in the Weekly Enquirer-Or if you want a much cheaper WorldNews,whichcostsadollaralineratherthan$15'95aline' EMS: That's quite a difference' DG:

be proportionately good' If the test It's a huge difference. And the results will worksintheWeeklyWorldNews,itwillcertainlyworkinothermedia,therefore fromthatyou,llgoontotestaSectionofFamityWeeklyoraParadeSundaysupplement.Nowtheotherimportantthingisanitemthat'stimely.Forexample,if you,retestingahorticulturalitem,youhavetotestinFloridaorCaliforniainthe the country in the spring' The same winter so that you can project it in the rest of rule aPPlieswith a fishing item'

12 / MAIL-ORDER PROFITSFROM YOUR BUSINESS?WHY NOT?

EMS: It all depends on your testing at the right time. DG:

Timing is crucial. The only thing I would add is this: Somethingthat hasbecomea big businessin the U.S. is a type of firm that sellsso