MARKETING IS THE "KEY" TO MAIL ORDER SUCCESS

Do you really know what marketing is? It's the art of finding ways to sell a product or service; but developing new ways of selling a product are not easy. You have to study what other people are doing and get ideas from them. Listen to people who have actually done something to show for their own efforts. They certainly know because they have been there! Why seek marketing advice from a book that reads above your head and was only written by someone who "studied" the field? Go and talk to the people who have ACTUALLY lived it! There is a difference!

Get your mind in a direction to sell your product. Of course it helps if you created your own product or whole-heartedly believe in the product you are selling. Now, all you have to do is find the type of people that would be interested in buying your product. Find out what makes people buy a product like yours. Study how others are selling the similar product you are selling. Then _ armed with all this valuable information, work out a direct plan that you'll enjoy doing. Design methods around your likes, dislikes and personality traits. It works!

You have to work on your business EVERYDAY in order to become successful. Even if you work outside the home 8 hours a day, you have to devote some time each evening to your home business enterprise.

Most businesses who have been around awhile have seen many 100's or even 1,000's of new businesses open up and close. That's one reason why people are "skeptical" of a new business until they see for themselves that they're serious. YOU have to prove that you are serious in order to get people to order from you and become good customers. You also have to treat customers like you would your own family with respect and concern. This does not mean you are to be shallow and allow yourself to be taken advantage of. Customer service is nothing more than placing yourself in the other person's shoes and seeing the world and the situation from their viewpoint. Often - if you will just take a few minutes to listen to people, you will learn a lot and turn a complaint into a workable situation.

In marketing, it is extremely important to start watching people and their buying habits. The next time you are standing at the check out counter buying groceries _ watch people around you. Don't stare at them but open up your eyes and ears. Be in touch with your surroundings. Listen to ladies as they discuss the reason "why" they would rather buy one type of cookie over another brand name. Try and pick apart the actual reason "why" people react the way they do.

And here are some tips to help you appear professional and serious to potential customers in your mail order business:

On your word processor or computer, type a STANDARD letter about your company. It should say something like: "We would like to introduce our company to you. We are business professionals who are interested in providing our customers with the very best service available. We'll do our utmost to guarantee your satisfaction and repeat business. Enclosed are some offers for your consideration.

They have been especially selected for you and your interests. If you don't see what you're looking for _ please take the time to write and let us know what we can do for you. We'd love to hear from you today."

Now, the next time you get a BIG MAIL or other materials that you might normally throw in the trash, you could mail your offers to these people. It only costs a 32c stamp and who knows, they might send you $1 million dollars worth of business over the next few years!

Keep a list of all the mail order publishers you come across. Then, if you ever move or introduce a new product to the market, you could send them a short Press Release. This works! Publishers are always looking for news to pass along to their readers.

Give something away FREE for every order placed (depending on the amount of the order.) You might even want to give the customer a choice of the free items he/she can obtain free for every order over $10, $25, $50 and $100. And instead of 50% off, offer DOUBLE the order. (For instance, instead of 50% off an order of 250 printed circulars - say that you'll DOUBLE the order to 500 FREE.)