direct mail? I want to start selling by direct mail to suppliment my income, but I've run out of ideas as to what to sell. I've learnt that I need to sell items that are not readily available in stores to be able to expect some success. Now I don't know what steps to take to find such items? Also anybody knows which small businesses already sell by direct mail? Any suggestions will be most appreciated. Thanx.
Hi
As far as I am aware, the number of responses from direct mail is so low that small businesses don't find it cost effective.
You will need a list of peoples addresses to write to, the design work and production of the letters and brochures, plus addressing and mailing services. There are lots of companies that will supply all these services to you. You are likely to only get 1/2 to 1 % responses to the list you send out to. More and more people are registering for the MPS Mailing Preference Service which bans companies from trying to cold sell to them, so your target is limited. Unless your product (and you don't seem to have decided on one) is particularly suitable to DM then I recommend you consider whether it is your best way of earning extra income.
If you are determined then her are a few tips to increase acceptance
Top reasons which would “be likely to increase consumer interest in direct mail”
* I’m already a customer/have dealt with the company – 73.4%
* I feel its relevant to me – 72.3%
* I have heard of the brand name – 69.4%
* I am interested in/considering this type of product/service – 68.4%
* It is correctly addressed – 67.5%
* It looks like it contains a free sample – 62.9%
* It has the name of the company on the envelope – 62.6% References : http://www.dmis.co.uk/
Just sharing some of my experience. What I normally do is that I will have a few of my interested topics and then find out which one of my topics has the highest market demand. You could easily do that using some internet application such as wordtracker software.
Actually, there are a lot of online business model (e.g. selling phyiscal / digital products, using paid newsletter or website, buying and selling domain names, affiliate marketing and many more). Some of these models may not necessary need any product. You could consider some of them so that you will not be limited to only direct mail approach.
To find out more about it, you could click the attached link and receive some free step by step guide.
direct mail?
I want to start selling by direct mail to suppliment my income, but I've run out of ideas as to what to sell. I've learnt that I need to sell items that are not readily available in stores to be able to expect some success. Now I don't know what steps to take to find such items? Also anybody knows which small businesses already sell by direct mail? Any suggestions will be most appreciated. Thanx.
Hi
As far as I am aware, the number of responses from direct mail is so low that small businesses don't find it cost effective.
You will need a list of peoples addresses to write to, the design work and production of the letters and brochures, plus addressing and mailing services. There are lots of companies that will supply all these services to you. You are likely to only get 1/2 to 1 % responses to the list you send out to. More and more people are registering for the MPS Mailing Preference Service which bans companies from trying to cold sell to them, so your target is limited. Unless your product (and you don't seem to have decided on one) is particularly suitable to DM then I recommend you consider whether it is your best way of earning extra income.
If you are determined then her are a few tips to increase acceptance
Top reasons which would “be likely to increase consumer interest in direct mail”
* I’m already a customer/have dealt with the company – 73.4%
* I feel its relevant to me – 72.3%
* I have heard of the brand name – 69.4%
* I am interested in/considering this type of product/service – 68.4%
* It is correctly addressed – 67.5%
* It looks like it contains a free sample – 62.9%
* It has the name of the company on the envelope – 62.6%
References :
http://www.dmis.co.uk/
Just sharing some of my experience. What I normally do is that I will have a few of my interested topics and then find out which one of my topics has the highest market demand. You could easily do that using some internet application such as wordtracker software.
Actually, there are a lot of online business model (e.g. selling phyiscal / digital products, using paid newsletter or website, buying and selling domain names, affiliate marketing and many more). Some of these models may not necessary need any product. You could consider some of them so that you will not be limited to only direct mail approach.
To find out more about it, you could click the attached link and receive some free step by step guide.
Hope that this will be useful.
References :
http://www.income-internet-business.com
Direct mail responcerates are usually 1-2% you statistically get higher sales by going door to door
References :