In the last 50 years, I must have seen thousands of ads, mostly 2-line classified ads in opportunity magazines, trying to sell the latest in a long list of “How to Make a Fortune with Mail Order” books or systems. . Most have been the same regurgitated 4 page nonsense priced from $5 to $20. Occasionally there has been a complete course or manual for $97 to $197. Since the advent of the Internet, these kinds of posts have become “How to Make a Fortune on the Internet,” but they’re still the same regurgitated nonsense.
Is it worth buying one? Maybe a few, but the $19.95 kind will only make money for the scammers who sell them, not the suckers who buy them. There are one or two that teach the science (or art) of direct mail and maybe one or two more that actually teach how to make money online. But these systems are often priced well above $100.00.
Some contain some gold nuggets, others, the most expensive ones, teach the technical aspects and some techniques, but I have not seen any that are complete yet. Let’s face it, direct marketing (direct mail and mail order) is a complex business that requires a lot of skills and to teach it properly would take a full-time college course or a set of manuals the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica. In practice, you learn a lot through experience and by listening to others in the business.
By the way, what is the difference between direct mail and mail order? Very little. Both come under the umbrella of Direct Response Marketing. Direct mail marketing is often started by sending a piece of mail to thousands of people; respond by mail, phone, Internet, or in person. The mail order can be advertised in the press or other media, including the mail, but the response is usually by mail (hence the mail order). So today, with all the media available, including the Internet, the more descriptive term is direct response marketing (DRM).
DRM is a business whereby the marketing message is delivered by advertising through one or more of the means, including the mail, and requests or responses are solicited by telephone, postal mail, email, the Internet, or a personal visit. Delivery is made by post, courier, download (in the case of electronic products) and any other means available.
The primary intent of DRM is to draw positive attention to the ad or mailing piece, cultivate positive interest in the offer, provide information on how to order and pay for the product, and make an urgent call to action. In other words, promote a direct response.
One of the most common pitfalls for young players in direct marketing is producing or underwriting a product and then finding someone to sell it to.
Hey! I also made that mistake. I wrote this great book on the health value of fruit and vegetable juices, with many recipes to treat many common ailments. It was a great book and I printed many ready to sell. It would be a sales success, he was sure.
Not so! People should be extremely interested in their health and should be willing to pay a measly $20 for a book that would help them stay healthy, right?
Mistaken! People, that is, a lot of people, don’t buy those kinds of books. I still have a few copies at home, but most made it to the garbage disposal on my last move.
So how can you know what people will buy?
The answer is simple! Take a look at what people are buying now. To be reasonably sure that you won’t be left with a garage full of widgets, you need to identify what people want and are currently buying. And sell more of the same or similar.
If 5,000 people a day are buying dog collars, chances are you can sell dog collars; or name tags to attach to dog collars. Chances are, people are also buying other dog-related products.
If 50,000 people a month are buying books on how to be successful in an Internet business, they are likely to buy a similar product from you.
In a nutshell, the answer to the question of what people will buy in DRM (including the Internet) is: “What they are already buying.”
If you go to the grocery store and walk down the aisles, chances are you’ll see an entire aisle dedicated to dog food and products. Another entire aisle will be devoted to cat food and supplies. People love their pets. So now you know that pet-related products are usually good sellers.
Keep going and you will come to another hallway dedicated to babies. Yes, people have babies every day, some say 120,000 babies are born in America every month. So baby related products will be a sure winner.
Every month a similar number of people die, get married, get divorced. Can you see a market there?
Do you want to make it easy for yourself and find an almost infinite source of markets for all kinds of products?
Then grab yourself a copy of SRDS, the world’s largest list of lists of people in all kinds of categories who buy all kinds of things.