HOW TO WIN IN DIRECT MAIL
Last year (1991) Americans spent almost half a Trillion
Dollars (490 Billion) on products and services sold via the mails.
This means that one out of every four dollars spent by American
consumers last year went to products sold via sales letters sent
through the mail. And this year (1992) while retail sales are
hurting due to the extended economic down-turn, mail order sales
continue to be strong.
The use of a direct mail sales letter is one of the most
powerful ways a business can almost immediately increase its sales.
A major advantage of selling through the mail is that, in most
cases, there is less than a ten day turn-around from the time a
sales letter is mailed, and the customer makes the purchase. This
means a business can raise huge sums of cash in just a few days by
sending the right sales letter to the right mailing list.
Most direct mail letters can be used also as response packs
for classified ads. After developing a response pack for a very
successful classified ad we were running, we discovered that our
'response pack' letter could be mailed by itself to selected lists
with impressive results.
Getting started with a direct mail letter project is easy and
relatively inexpensive. Taking into account printing costs,
envelopes, and letters. And if those letters are for the right
product with the right profit margin, the effort can be quite
profitable.
The key to success in direct mail is...
1. Finding the right market to sell a product to, and...
2. Finding the right product to sell to people in the market you
have selected.
Experts tell us that while the letter itself is important,
having the right product for the right market is most important.
If you have the right product, and offer it to the right market,
you can be successful with a mediocre letter. But if you have the
wrong product, or offer the right product to the wrong market, even
the best copywriter in the world can't write a sales letter that
will make the project a success.
With that in mind, we always use the following guidelines when
we begin to develop a direct mail offer.
1. Find the right market. To us that means:
A. Finding a market of people who have already developed the
habit of buying products through the mail. (I don't want
to have to teach anyone new behavior patterns.)
B. Finding people who have money. Which means they have
charge cards with plenty of credit still on them. (You
can't sell to people who don't have money.)
C. Finding people who have recently purchased through the mail
something similar to what we want to sell.
D. Finding a current mailing list for people identified in A,
B, and C above.
2. Find the right product. To us that means:
A. A product that is unique and not readily available from
other sources. (We don't want to have to compete with
Walmart.)
B. A product that has a favorable price to cost ratio. (It
must be profitable for us to sell.)
C. A product that is shippable.
D. And most important, a product that the people in our target
market want.
3. Create the right offer and deliver it correctly. Which means:
A. Developing the offer with the target market in mind.
B. Taking steps to build credibility in the offer and product.
C. Providing the customer every opportunity and reason to
purchase from us.
D. Delivering the offer in such a manner that it will get read
and opened.
And while all this may seem like a lot of work, doing it right
really can pay off big. Some of our direct mail letters return $20
for every dollar we invest. And they do that in 14 days or less!
Just one major success in direct mail is all you need to become
wealthy. And even moderate success can be quite profitable.
Just keep these guidelines in mind, research thoroughly, and
test conservatively, and you'll be ahead of 99% percent of most
would-be mail order entrepreneurs who fall flat on their face
because they are in love with a *product*. Good Luck!