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by Gary Christensen |
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Have you ever asked that question? One of my customers recently wroteand asked, "Why aren't I making any money? What am I doing wrong?" He was getting to the point of being scared to try anything new,.. afraid of being "ripped off" again. But, he wondered about my books & reports and asked, "Can you really make any money, selling printed Books & Reports by mail?" I wrote him and said that it took me awhile, too, to get a good amount of money coming in! I've designed LOTS of circulars,... I've mailed HUNDREDS of Circulars,...I've
placed ads,.. and usually I would get responses, but, very few orders, and, nothing substantial! I thought, "What if I mailed out the flyers supplied by other Sources,..?? Again, I'd get a few orders, but,
nothing like I was hoping. I had figured if I mailed 10 letters,.. I would get back one order! I wasn't greedy... but I just didn't see the 1 in 10 happening! Then, figured maybe out of 100 or so,.. I should get an
order or two. And, sometimes,.. if I followed-up quickly, and the person was just waiting for something like this, yes, I would get an order. But, I thought I should be getting MORE than one or two orders every hundred!
Maybe if I could mail to 1,000 all at once!? A Big Direct Mailing,.. but, I didn't have the $200.00 or $300.00 for postage,.. or even the $50.00 for the 1,000 names,... or the money for the printing of 1000
envelopes, 1000 flyers; 1000 order forms, 1000 return envelopes, etc. So, I continued to place more ads,... and most of my ads were good atpulling lots of responses, because lots of envelopes & stamps were coming
in. But, when I would send them my flyers; or a catalog; or something,.. I couldn't seem to "hit the nail on the head" ... I just wasn't getting very many orders comingback to me from those initial inquiries!
"What was I doing wrong?" Then I got laid off from work! thought, "Great,.. now even LESS moneywill be coming in!" But, I kept at it,., kept placing ads,.. I designed a couple new circulars,.. and
then I started sending out a PERSONAL LETTER, typed FOR JUST THAT ONE PERSON on my computer, and printed it out, and put it in with the circulars that I was mailing at that time! (I titled each "letter",.. and
saved them all in a file,.. form letters, if you will!) When I needed one, I would open it up,.. put the current date on it,., type in THAT NEW CUSTOMER'S NAME and print it out, and include it in each envelope I
mailed!) Suddenly, I started getting a LOT of orders! The response rate has nearly TRIPLED from what I was getting! Now, when I mail out 30, 1 get 10 orders back! Out of 100, 1 usually get a good 25 or 30 orders back!
(This might not happen, if I mailed a COPY of one of those letters, UNPERSONALIZED, with the circulars, to 1,000 people...) but, the way it's working right now, I'm very happy! Three days ago, I got an order for
$61.00,.. two days ago I got TWO orders of $27.00 each,.. and a $15.00 order came in last week! Not a lot, maybe but, those 4 orders total $130.00 in one week's time! And, what are these people buying? My Articles; My
Reports; a couple Books that I wrote, which I am now selling! Each one will take $5.00 or $10.00 to fill. But, I will pocket a good $80.00 profit from those 4 orders!Yes, printed Books & Reports DO SELL,.. if people
feel THEY will be helped,., and that THEY will make MORE money from the information! What was it that "changed",.. that "made the difference?" Maybe it was the Personal Letters that I started sending
along with my circulars! Have you ever requested information from an ad, and later, all you received was a catalog or an envelope full of flyers? I have! would usually look them over and then toss them out! There wasn't
any kind of personal letter, with the circulars or brochure or catalog, from the individual who sent me the information! Maybe if they had written a few lines,., inviting me to look over what was enclosed,.. maybe even
offered me a $2. discount, I might have placed an order! Usually by the time I got it, I had forgotten WHAT ad had responded to and WHY! Maybe things have changed because I started typing those Personal Letters; maybe
that's what "turned things around!" Maybe just my showing a little concern; writing a few lines to everyone who responded; letting them know would assist them, if they wanted the help! Maybe it was the new
circulars I had designed,., maybe it was the little drawing of myself that I started putting on all my letters, so people could associate with me,.. so that they could SEE who the person is sending them the mailing!
Maybe it was all those things,.. maybe it was" just my time" to start getting more orders! Maybe these few ideas (if you put them into practice) will help YOU to start getting more orders!!
About The Author:
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