I NEED A PRODUCT!
You Can Promote Other Products and Be Successful, but There's No Substitute for Having a Product of Your Own.
By Paula Demers
This should be the thought of everyone in business--to have a product. Even if your primary income comes from promoting another company's product, everyone should have something of their own.
If you don't have a product and you have a computer, a great product to create is a mailing list. Mailing lists are valuable and a good way to get your other offers into the hands of potential buyers. I am not necessarily talking about becoming a large mailing list company. You can keep your list small and still make money from it. If your list is small (say no more than 3000), it's easier to keep clean. And you can start selling names when you have as few as 500.
Start off by installing a mailing list program in your computer. I use My Mail List. After you install your program, read how to use it. Learn how to make various categories. If you're already involved in business, you no doubt receive promotions in the mail from opportunity seekers. An opportunity seeker is someone looking for a way to make a few bucks from home. Many opportunity seekers will become involved with more than one opportunity. Make an opportunity seeker category and type these folk's names and addresses in that list. Make sure you put the date you added them to your database.
A way to add to your list is to place ads for your offers. They can be placed inexpensively in various tabloids and magazines. When you receive a request for more information, add them to your list. Keep track of the ones that specifically ask for more information, because if they purchase from you, they become a buyer. You should make a category for anyone who purchases from you for your own "in-house list." Keep track for your own benefit what they purchased. That way if you have a similar offer, you can mail it to them. Placing ads will also entice others to send you their offers. They can then be added to your Opportunity Seeker list.
Another way to add names to your list is from the countless chain letters we all receive in the mail. Don't add all the names on the list. Just the two most recent. The other names could be years old. Some companies send you offers and include a free mailing list with it. Those names can also be added.
It's very important to keep your list clean, so everyone on your list can be mailed to. What helps to keep my list clean is envelope printing. I have "Do Not Forward...Return to Sender" printed under my return address on my envelopes. If I mail something to a person who has dropped out of the industry or has moved, I can adjust my list accordingly. If they are no longer part of the industry, I delete them. If they've moved, I change the record to their new address.
Once you've begun your mailing list, have ads made to sell it. You can even have a circular designed to sell them. Start placing ads in the various tabloids. I even have an ad on the back of my stationery for my mailing list with some of my other offers.
Mailing lists sell well because everyone has different people mail to them or answer their ads. True, some names will be the same as other lists, but no one mails to everyone in the industry. So people are always looking for new prospects for their products and services.
You should mail to the folks on your list regularly. If your list is too large for you to do that, do it in segments. You can mail by date to the oldest ones on the list. That way you can keep your list clean by deleting and updating it. Another way to help keep your list clean is to offer your customer a stamp or 10 more names for every undeliverable name. Larger mailing list companies offer money...like 50 cents a name. But if you're not looking to be a large mailing list company, a stamp or more names will be less expensive.
You can use your sales for mailing lists to send your primary offers. Have a nice cover letter thanking them for their order and talking about your other offers. This way, people will be paying you to receive your offers. They purchase a hundred names from you for say $8. They just gave you $8 to help cover the cost of sending your offers.
If you keep your list small and clean...and it gets results, they'll order again.
Paula has been running a successful business since 1990. She is the publisher of "The Scam Bulletin." She investigates various companies and tells you exactly what you'll get for your money. For a sample copy, send $3 to:
Paula Demers P.O. Box 280 Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549
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