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Ideas/Section-6
There have been millions
of words written on the subject of mail
order, and millions more are sure to follow. Most books, courses
and magazine articles tell you how others have made it big in
mail order, citing several examples to encourage the newcomer,
but very few get right down to the bare bones of telling you HOW
they did it.
A lot has been said for the drop ship method
of selling mail,
which certainly does have a lot of merit..to a point. With this
method, you merely advertise what you have to sell, take orders,
deduct the amount allowed as your commission by the supplier,
forward the balance to them and they fill your order directly to
your customer. By using this selling method, you can
(theoretically) offer a million dollars worth of merchandise thru
ads, circulars, brochures and catalogs..yet never carry a single
product on your shelves.
BUT... what the experts don't tell you
is this: the high cost of
advertising, printing and postage needed to reach your potential
market will be enormous, and it will ultimately eat away any
major profits that you might otherwise enjoy.
The commission usually allowed on a drop
ship basis is about 50%
of the retail price, sometimes only 40%...and on a few occasions
only 20 to 33%. To operate profitably in mail order you will need
a minimum of 50% but 60% would be better, and if you expect to
get into high income bracket, you'll have to see about 90% profit
per sale.
How in the world can you make 90% profit
on every dollar you take
in?
By being the originator...the manufacturer,
publisher,creator or
PRIME SOURCE for whatever you are selling. These are the people
who are making the major portion of profits in mail order. You
can be on of them.
It's not as difficult as you might think.
First of all, we're not
talking about establishing a multi-million dollar manufacturing
plant employing a few hundred people. Nor are we talking about a
publishing house that prints volumes of books on huge printing
presses. You can become a mini-publisher or manufacturer on a
very small scale, yet with the capacity of turning out as much
product as you can sell.
THE FIRST STEP
Answer these questions honestly:
What would you like to sell? Who would
you like to sell it to?
Who are these people and how can you reach them? Are you sure
they will be interested in what you have to offer? Will they pay
the price you will be asking?
These are a few questions you'll have to
answer before going any
further.
They represent--
Your proposed line
The potential market and their general location
Advertising media necessary to tell your
message
The income level or lifestyle of your potential customers
NOW DEFINE YOUR PRODUCT LINE
Select something you are interested in,
something you know. Think
simple, not something complex that requires an engineering degree
to design, and stay away from the medical field. This includes
diet plans, energizers, vitamins, etc. These can really cause
problems from authorities for those who are not qualified.
Follow the KIS principle: Keep It Simple.
Turn to your own hobbies, interests and
activities. Are you handy
with a needle and thread or a whiz on a sewing machine? Are you
artistically inclined with a pen, ink, oils or watercolors? What
about embroidery? Have you studied Caligraphy? Are you a genius
at a computer? Handy in your basement workshop? Have a flair for
writing? These are all potential money makers that can be the
nucleus of a product line.
Let's turn to the workshop. Have you made
things for yourself or
for friends out of wood, ceramics, other materials? If so, you
may have a product line.
Is there something in your career or profession
that can be
transformed into a saleable product? Does your hobby or spare
time activity lend itself to a production product idea? There
must surely be something that fits your personality, your skills,
background, education or lifestyle. Only you can determine what
it is. The next step--
BE ORIGINAL
It's not enough merely to be able to make
something. It should be
something that nobody else is offering to the public. It doesn't
have to be totally unique, but it should incorporate some
characteristic to distinguish it from the competition , such as
an ordinary ashtray with a personalized monogram. Or, unique
floral arrangements made from wood shavings, painted and glazed.
Whatever it is, it should be something that you can turn out in
a
matter of seconds or just a few minutes to keep costs low. Of
course, if it is truly a work of art, this can bring a higher
price.
WHAT CAN YOU MAKE OR CREATE?
Only YOU can answer this question, but
here are a few ideas to
get your thinking.
Two teenage boys enjoyed making wind chimes
as a hobby. They made
them out of aluminum tubing in a variety of sizes to produce
different sounds. Family and friends admired their handiwork, so
they tried selling them to make a few extra dollars. they made
only about 10 or 12 a week at first, then sales began to
increase. In 1988 sales produced half a million dollars.
Remember: it began as a hobby.
A woman in Pennsylvania was interested
in wood crafts, and began
making wooden toys and crafts in her basements. This was the
beginning of a new part time career. She plans to retire from her
regular job and devote full time to her newly formed wood
crafting business where she can really make some money.
A fellow in California enjoyed making home
made wine. Everyone
enjoyed it, so he got an idea. He began bottling his special wine
and had his own private labels printed and put them on each
bottle that he produced. He now has his own little wine shop that
has made him independently wealthy.
GET THE IDEA?
What's the common denominator among these
people? Each of them
began with something they were interested in, a hobby that they
enjoyed, they turned it into a profitable business...one in which
THEY were the producer, the prime source for their own products.
Got an idea for a new product, an invention
of your own, but
don't know where to go with it? The United States Department of
Commerce Patent and Trademark Office offers these publications:
General Information Concerning Patents and Inventions; An
Informal Aid for Inventors, and Questions and Answers About
Patents. Their address: Washington, DC 20231.
Other helpful books:
HOW TO TURN YOUR IDEAS INTO DOLLARS by
Gary Null and Richard
Simonson. $4.95 from Pilot Books, 103 Copper St.,Babylon, NY
11702.
THAT'S A GREAT IDEA by Tony Husch and Linda
Foust. $9.95 from
Gravity Publishing, 6116 Mercer, Suite 233A, Oakland, CA 94611.
IDEAS INTO DOLLARS from U.S. Small Business
Administration, 1441
L Street N.W., Washington, DC 20416.
QUALITY, QUANTITY AND PRODUCTION COSTS
Keep your eyes on those three important
elements.
You'll want a quality product, something
you will be proud to
offer buyers. It must be relatively easy to make, requiring only
a matter of seconds or minutes of your time. You should be able
to produce each unit for about 10% of the retail price. A $10
retail item should cost you $1 (or less) to produce.
THINK AHEAD
Should you come up with a winner, will
you be able to turn out
enough products to meet the demand?--And still keep costs low?
Think these questions through before going to far.
Use everything at your command: Your workshop,
tools,
typewriters, computer, word processor, sewing machine...and your
imagination!
PUT IT INTO PRINT
Many mail order millionaires owe their
success to the printed
word, and have achieved great wealth by writing and
self-publishing books, manuals, reports, directories and
newsletters. If you have a flair for writing, now's the time to
make that talent or experience pay off. Put your words into print
and become a self-published author of your own material. A
helpful book on this subject is "A Million For Your Thoughts,"
available for $12 from J.S. Caverly, 216 McLean Street, Wilkes
Barre, PA 18702.
EXPAND WITH A NATIONWIDE DEALER NETWORK
Consider the wholesale field. You could
eventually have several
hundred other mail order dealers selling for you from
coast-to-coast. If you decide to take this route, you'll need a
special ad to attract dealers...plus two sets of sales
literature: one to sell the dealer...the second to sell the
consumer.
The advertising to attract the consumer will use benefit-laden
copy. The ultimate buyer wants to know what the product will do
for him: if it will make him happier, healthier, sexier,
wealthier, more popular, etc.
Prospective dealers, on the other hand,
are more interested in
PROFIT! Thus, your advertising, should stress how much money the
dealer can make when he sells your products, using percentage
figures and actual dollars per sale. Although a smart and
conscientious dealer should also be concerned with the quality of
the product he will be selling, and the benefits his customers
will receive, his main concern lies in the ease of making each
sale and the ultimate profits he can expect from each customer.
Whether you sell retail or wholesale, you
can put yourself into
the high profit class of mail order by being producer...the
manufacturer, publisher or prime source for the merchandise you
sell.
You can make money by selling merchandise
produced by others, but
being the prime source is the only SURE way to make your mail
order fortune!
