home
Search the site:
search

The Illusion of Print Mail Services


If ever there was a lazy way to easy profits in mail order it has
to be the concept of letting someone else do all the work for
you.

In theory, it works like this:
 
You send a camera-ready circular or ad to someone who advertises
a print/mail service and they will print and mail it (along with
many others) to 1,000 to 25,000 names on their own list. You
simply pay a one-time charge while they do all the work. Now,
multiply this by 5, 10 or more such services and you could (still
theoretically speaking, of course) have several thousand of your
offers in the hands of prospective buyers within a few weeks.

The problem, is that it doesn't work that easily, at least not to
the point of making it profitable for the dealer who expects to
become delunged with orders. Even the very best mailers in the
business can produce only a small percentage of return for their
clients, so you would have to have a very high markup on your
offer and reach millions of people if you hope to make it
profitable. If you already have a test-proven offer that produces
about 3% return when you mail the offer by itself, you will be
lucky to get one-half of 1% when mailed by a mailer along with
hundreds of others.

Yes, some offers can produce a profit, even with such a small
percentage of return, but they are extremely few and far between.
First of all, you would most likely have to be the high markup
that is required. If the offer calls for $10 and you can produce
it for $1 reality is: That's 5 orders per thousand...50 orders per
10,000. Some offers might be able to survive on this, others
cannot. You will have to do some figuring to determine whether
it's worth trying.

On the down side of this practice, there has been quite a bit of
speculation about such print/mail services as to their honesty
and quality of their services. Many of them offer poor
printing, often smudgy or in various shades of gray instead of
crisp black and white; some of the lists they use are so
overworked, they have become virtually worthless. Even the best
mailers use primarily "Opportunity" lists, so merchandise offers
would hardly be appropriate. Another flaw in this idea that some
crooked mailers are out there who simply don't mail the quantity
they claim. It seems they print and mail only hundred or so, but
claim to mail in the thousands. This is very difficult for anyone
to prove or disapprove, so the entire idea of using a print/mail
service is precarious at best.

Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer
This article may be freely reproduced on the Internet as long as the
resource box remains intact.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
DeAnna is the publisher of the ezine, Prospecting and Presents.
Subscribers get one free ad per week.
Subscribe today by visiting http://www.pnewsletter.com
To thank the publishers/webmasters that use my article, I offer
one free solo ad.  Simply fill out the contact form on my contact
page listing the url it was used on or sending me a copy of the
ezine it was used in.  Once I confirm the location of the article,
then we can make arrangements for the solo ad.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Note to publisher/webmaster:  Feel free to remove the part about the solo
ad when you get ready to publish the article.


MORE RESOURCES:

Putting marketing on (ste)roids
Business Mirror
In conversation after conversation, CEOs, presidents and chief marketing officers tell me their companies are looking to marketing to lead their businesses ...



Marketing boss made staff pelt colleagues with custard pies
Scottish Daily Record
STUNNED staff at a marketing firm were ordered to pelt their failing colleagues with custard pies. The company are also investigating after it emerged staff ...



Nissan Wins “Best After Sales Marketing Activities” Award
Al-Bawaba
(BSTC), the exclusive dealers of Nissan in Jordan recently won the award “Best After Sales Marketing Activities” during the Mediterranean After-Sales ...

and more »


Ground Zero Hotel's Marketing Strategy Creates Controversy
FOXNews
"(Cheryl Palmer, spokeswoman for the hotel's parent company, is) marketing this as an opportunity to provide people a chance to celebrate," Ed Kowalski, ...
World Trade Hotel Advertises Ground Zero Location in New YorkHULIQ

all 22 news articles »


NStar Green needs better marketing
Boston Globe
Marketing NStar Green properly would require stressing the point that NStar's basic product as it is now produced is destroying the earth's environment. ...



Centre forms panel of state ministers to expedite agri marketing reforms
Business Standard
The committee, to be headed by Maharashtra minister for marketing and cooperation Harshwardhan Patil, would comprise ministers of agriculture and ...

and more »


Brisbane's InterMune a step closer to marketing lung treatment
San Jose Mercury News
Walter Carlson, 75, in his Mountain View home Tuesday Mar. 9, 2010. Carlson is on oxygen 24 hours a day and he has lost much of his stamina ...

and more »


BusinessBlogs (blog)

Tame Web Marketing with Social Media Management
ECommerce-Guide
You know that marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites can drive a lot of traffic to your ecommerce Web ...
Social Media Marketing Business Advantages of Facebook vs. Twitter Part 4Release-news.com (press release)
Ecommerce companies favor Facebook and Twitter for marketingEDL Consulting
Are You Committing Social Media Marketing Suicide?Drop Ship (press release) (blog)
Online PR News (press release) -Marketing magazine Australia (blog) -Jazzou (blog)
all 182 news articles »


Marketing a Noble Calling
FireEngineering.com
I asked how many in the class are pursuing careers in marketing. Lots of hands went up. Then I asked them what they want to do with such a career. ...



Social gamers accept marketing for virtual currency
CNET
53.3 percent of the total respondents reported that they would be "very likely" to complete a marketing action. 22.8 percent of the respondents reported ...
More than Half of Social Gamers Willing to Complete a Marketing Action to Earn ...PR-CANADA.net (press release)

all 2 news articles »

Google News