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Ideas/Section-10
Did you know that you
can market mail order materials in your own area, to
your own friends and co-workers without losing any money? It's easy!
All you
have to do is find a product, mark up the price to take care of
your
commission and sell it.
One of the easiest items to sell in your
local area is printing. Call any
print shop (Minuteman, Quik Print, Pip, etc.) and ask them the price
for
printing 1,000 copies of the same original (one-side). Prices will
differ
across the nation, but I have found the medium range to be between
$60 and
$90. However, most mail order printer's prices range between $20
and $30 for
the same job! That's about a 50% difference - even going by the
lowest local
rates.
Okay - now we have an idea. Let's do our
preparation and I'll lead you
step-by-step into the marketing of this idea. Let's stick with our
example
of printing. Before you begin to advertise printing services in
your local
area, you need to locate an honest and good mail order printer.
If you don't,
you will be stuck with unsatisfied customers if the order isn't
right.
In order to locate a good printer, you
will need to read mail order
publications. Compare prices and services. Look at the quality of
their
advertisement. Is it professional looking? Does the printing look
sloppy?
Find a printer with the lowest prices but the most services. It
is more
important to have someone who is reliable, ships on time and never
lets you
down versus saving $1 per order. Three printers we recommend are
Kem's Graphics, 549 Friendship Rd, Seneca SC 29678;
JRS Printing, PO Box 2508, Calcutta OH 43920
Tom Leash, 64 W Main St, Dallastown PA 17313.
However, there are many other good ones
in mail order. To get a current Big Mail of
up-to-date information, write to George Norr, PO Box 70268, Salt
Lake City
UT 84170 or G&B Records, PO Box 10150, Terra Bella CA 93270
and request a
copy of their current publications to get you started.
Once you've narrowed your company selections
down to a few choice ones, you
probably will want to send each of them a small order. Keep records
of the
date you sent each order and how long it took to get back. I would
mail all
my orders on the same day. This way, you would automatically know
"which"
printer was the fastest in shipping orders. (This fact is very important
when dealing with local customers who want their order yesterday
or last week.)
Now, compare the quality of the printers
you have selected. Choose the best!
Remember, when you deal with local customers you will have to provide
the
same type of commercial quality they are used to receiving locally.
Even
though they will be paying less, no customer should expect "less."
Your
business will grow if you offer the same quality for less money.
After you have selected the printer you
want to use, write them a letter.
Explain that you are going to market their services locally and
would like
to obtain their "best" price. Often times, they will discount
their prices
even more just to get repeat business. This brings you in more commissions.
Now, all that's left is to make yourself
a price sheet listing YOUR prices
(marked up from the prices your printer charges you and how much
the same
item sells for locally). Pass these price sheets out at work. Place
on car
windshields. Tack on bulletin boards. Advertise in the paper. Drop
off at
small business establishments. Contact people in the paper who are
planning
a wedding or pass out flyers in your neighborhood. When you get
an order,
you keep your portion of the customer's money and send the order
to your
printer, who normally dropships to you or your customer.
This is only one idea for selling mail
order printing in your local area.
There are 1,000's of other mail order products that are superior
as well
as a lot of talented folks who provide exceptional products that
cannot be
purchased at all locally! Just choose one that interests you and
find a way
to sell it in your neighborhood.
Another way of selling locally is by contacting
Coal Publishing, 27 South
4th Ave, Highland Park NJ 08904. Start a newspaper in your area
and have
local businesses place advertisements. When you have secured advertisers,
send the ads and payment to Coal's "Small Business Keeps America
Growing"
newspaper services. Copies are professionally printed and shipped
back to
you. Have kids and teenagers help you distribute them and you're
in business.
This idea can net you as much as $1,000+ per week once you build
up the
advertisers for it.
Selling locally is the quickest and easiest
way to start a business of
your own without any money. It's better than working for McDonalds.
Just
look around - opportunities do exist everywhere!
