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Ideas/Section-3
You can only make money
with the Mail Order Magazines if you
understand exactly WHO reads them. The Mail Order Magazines are
trade papers read almost exclusively by Mail Order Dealers or by
Opportunity Seekers, who are in reality aspiring Mail Order
Dealers. They will only buy merchandise that will help them in
the operation of a Mail Order Business.
It is almost always a waste of money to
advertise merchandise
which is intended for general consumption in the Mail Order
Magazines... unless you are offering it on a wholesale or
drop-ship basis.
Below is a brief description of 22 products
or services that can
be sold successfully through the Mail Order Magazines.
1. RUBBER STAMPS - Every Mail Order Dealer
purchases at least
one name and address rubber stamp. He also purchases "stock
stamps" with slogans such as "Big Mails Wanted",
"Commission
Circulars Wanted", "Third Class Mail", "Your
Ad Solicited", etc.
Rubber stamps sell well in the Mail Order magazines because
dealers use them in the conduct of their business.
2. MAILING LISTS - Mail Order Dealers constantly
buy mailing
lists of the ever present Opportunity Seekers, New Mothers,
Book Buyers, Gift Buyers, etc. You can sell mailing lists on
plain paper or gummed labels. Naturally you can charge more for
the lists on gummed labels.
3. BIG MAILS - Anyone who regularly advertises
"Big Mails" in
the Mail Order magazines will get orders for them. Big Mails
consists of envelopes full of Mail Order Magazines, Adsheets and
circulars of every imaginable kind. The "Big Mail Order Dealer"
earns his profit by selling a variety of sizes of ad space and
subscriptions in the publications which he co-publishes. He
also makes money from the items offered on the circulars which
he includes in his big mails.
4. CIRCULAR MAILING SERVICE - Set up an
efficient, and a good
dependable mailing service so that dealers can get their
circulars into the hands of real Mail Order buyers, advertise it
regularly in the Mail Order Magazines. and you will soon have
all the circular mailing business you can possibly handle.
5. PRINTING - Every mail order dealer buys
printing. He buys
envelopes, sales letters, circulars, booklets, catalogs,
adsheets, brochures, price lists, letterheads, mail order
magazines and a thousand other things. If you do mimeographing,
letter press or offset printing, advertise your service in the
mail order magazines. It is probably the mail order magazines'
Number One All-Time Profit Maker.
6. INFORMATION FOLIOS - Mail order dealers
will always buy
information that will help them succeed in the mail order
business. Folios that deal with any practical aspect of mail
order selling can be sold through the mail order magazines. If
you have produced your own folio and are willing to drop-ship
orders for other dealers you will definitely make money.
7. DROP-SHIP AND WHOLESALE OFFERS - If
you have a large stock
of merchandise which is suitable for mail order sales, and are
willing to supply it on a drop-ship (single order at wholesale
prices) or on a wholesale basis, then you should advertise in
the Mail Order Magazines. Dealers are constantly looking for
new products to sell by mail. If you plan to sell on a
wholesale basis only, you should offer your product in very
small wholesale lots, if possible. Most Mail Order Dealers are
part-timers and do not have vast sums of money to invest in
untested merchandise.
8. SAMPLE COPIES OF MAIL ORDER MAGAZINES
- Mail order dealers
have a very insatiable appetite for new mail trade magazines,
which is why hundreds of them come into existence and then
disappear every year. If you publish or co-publish a mail order
magazine, advertise sample copies of it in other publications
and you will get requests for it.
Regard your sample copy as a "leader
item" or as a "good will
builder". It should be your way of getting your other offers
into the hands of a very many prospective mail order buyers.
You will probably sell some ads, but do not expect to sell too
many subscriptions. Except for a few of the leading
publications, very few people subscribe to mail order magazines.
9. GUMMED LABELS - Labels of any kind are
"naturals" for many
of the Mail Order Magazines. (Name and address labels, shipping
labels, addressing labels, slogan labels, etc.)
10. NAME LISTING SERVICE - Whether he admits
it or not, most
every mail order dealer is a "Big Mail Addict". If you
compile
mailing lists and work with another dealer who does, dealers
will pay to put their names on the lists. You can advertise you
name listing service in any mail order magazine and get orders
for it.
11. COMMISSION CIRCULARS - There are circular
mailers who watch
every issue of every mail order magazine, always looking for new
sources of commission circulars. There is no better way to
advertise commission circulars than by placing ads in the mail
order magazines.
12. COPY WRITING SERVICE - If you have
a natural flair for
writing ads, sales letters and circulars... and if you have a
good basic knowledge of mail order selling , you can sell your
services through many of the better mail order magazines. There
are very few good mail order copy writers at present. Here is a
very basic need... can you fill it?
13. AD DESIGN - Another service which is
greatly in demand, the
commercial artist who can create eye-catching ads and circulars
which dealers can use to sell their products. There are only a
few dealers who are now offering this service, but there is room
for a dozen or so.
14. TYPESETTING - Most mail order printers
and magazines now
require "camera-ready" copy. This had created a big demand
for
dealers who offer a quality, reasonably price typesetting
service. At present there are dealers who do mail order
typesetting that have so much business they don't even bother to
advertise..
Related to typesetting, are the "clip-art"
books which are used
by dealers who prepare their own "camera-ready" copy...
Right
now as always, you'll find clip-art books advertised in mail
order publications.
15. PEN PAL, LONELY HEARTS MAGAZINES -
For some reason, you
will find that the mail order magazines have always been good
places to sell these types of publications. It may be because
they are the only kinds of magazines, other than the mail order
magazines that are co-publishable.
Most mail order magazines will accept ads
for legitimate
matrimonial and pen pal magazines; however, very few will
accept any "adults only" ads. Too many readers object
and some
mail order dealers are minors.
16. HOBBY MAGAZINES - You can sell almost
any kind of hobby
publications through the mail order magazines. This is because
many dealers handle hobby merchandise and are always looking for
new ways to sell it. Many dealers and readers are hobbyists and
collectors themselves.
17. FORMULAS - Dealers buy formulas for
two reasons. Some
dealers reprint the formula and sell it by running ads in
national publications. ("Sure way to kill cockroaches",
etc.)
Some even manufacture the product itself and sell it by mail.
Closely related to formula selling is recipes
selling. If you
can create new recipes or have exceptional ones, you advertise
and sell recipes over and over again.
18. CATALOGS - If you can produce low cost
catalogs which
dealers can mail to their customers offering books, novelties,
gift items, baby merchandise, printed forms, etc., you would be
well advised to offer your services in the mail order magazines.
19. UNPRINTED DEALERS MERCHANDISE - If
you can supply
merchandise which the dealer can use in his mail order business,
at bargain prices, you can sell it profitably in the mail order
magazines. Examples: unprinted envelopes, typewriter ribbons,
addressing labels, stencils, scratch pads, etc. There are a few
successful dealers who even sell large, bulky items like
typewriters, mimeograph machines, file cabinets, paper cutters,
and printing presses by mail.
20. AD SPACE - Every mail order dealer
buys ad space. If you
publish or co-publish a mail order magazine, tabloid or adsheet,
you can sell ad space by advertising it in other mail order
magazines.
21. ADS TO RUN UNDER YOUR OWN NAME - Can
you supply ready-made
ad copies which other dealers can run under their own names and
fill their orders on a drop ship basis? If so, print up your
ads and sell them through the mail order magazines. If you can
supply "camera ready" ads and circulars, so much the better!
22. MAIL ORDER PLANS - Opportunity seekers
are always looking
for new mail order plans. If you have some practical legitimate
workable plans that others can use to make money by mail, print
them up and advertise them in the mail order magazines.
You will find that 99% of all the ads in the mail order
magazines fall into one of the categories listed above. If you
are selling a product or service that fits into one of these
categories, you can safely advertise it in the mail order
magazines.
