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Writing and publishing a successful
newsletter is perhaps the most
competitive of all the different
areas of mail order and direct
marketing.
Five years ago, there were 1500
different newsletters in this
country. Today there are well over
10,000, with new ones being started
every day. It's also interesting to
note that for every new one that's
started, some disappear just as
quickly as they are started - lack
of operating capital and marketing
know-how being the principal causes
of failure.
To be successful with a newsletter,
you have to specialize. Your best
bet will be with new information on
a subject not already covered by an
established newsletter.
Regardless of the frustrations
involved in launching your own
newsletter, never forget this truth:
There are people from all walks of
life, in all parts of this country,
many of them with no writing ability
whatsoever, who are making
incredible profits with simple two-,
four-, and six-page newsletters!
Your first step should be to
subscribe to as many different
newsletters and mail order
publications as you can afford.
Analyze and study how the others are
doing it. Attend as many workshops
and seminars on your subject as
possible. Learn from the pros. Learn
how the successful newsletter
publishers are doing it, and why
they are making money. Adapt their
success methods to your own
newsletter, but determine to
recognize where they are weak, and
to make yours better in every way.
Plan your newsletter before
launching it. Know the basic premise
for its being, your editorial
position, the layout, art work, type
styles, subscription price,
distribution methods, and every
other detail necessary to make it
look, sound and feel like the end
result you have envisioned.
Lay out your start-up needs; detail
the length of time it's going to
take to become established, and what
will be involved in becoming
established. Set a date as a mile
stone of accomplishment for each
phase of your development: A date
for breaking even, a date for
attaining a certain paid
subscription figure, and a monetary
goal for each of your first five
years in business. And all this must
be done before publishing your first
issue.
Most newsletter publishers do all
the work themselves, and are
impatient to get that first issue
into print. As a result, they
neglect to devote the proper amount
of time to market research and
distribution. Don't start your
newsletter with out first having
accomplished this task!
Market research is simply
determining who the people are who
will be interested in buying and
reading your newsletter, and the
kind of information these people
want to see in your newsletter as a
reason for continuing to buy it. You
have to determine what it is they
want from your newsletter.
Your market research must give you
unbiased answers about your
newsletter's capabilities of
fulfilling your prospective buyer's
need for information; how much he's
willing to pay for it, and an
overall profile of his status in
life. The questions of why he
needs your information, and how
he'll use it should be answered.
Make sure you have the answers to
these questions, publish your
newsletter as a vehicle of
fulfillment to these needs, and
you're on your way!
You're going to be in trouble unless
your newsletter has a real point of
difference that can be easily
perceived by your prospective buyer.
The design and graphics of your
newsletter, plus what you say and
how you say it, will help in giving
your newsletter this vital
difference.
Be sure your newsletter works with
the personality you're trying to
build for it. Make sure it reflects
the wants of your subscribers.
Include your advertising promise
within the heading, on the title
page, and in the same words your
advertising uses. And above all
else, don't skim on design or
graphics!
The name of your newsletter should
also help to set it apart from
similar news letters, and spell out
its advertising promise. A good name
reinforces your advertising. Choose
a name that defines the direction
and scope of your newsletter.
Opportunity Knocking, Money Making
Magic, Extra Income Tip Sheet, and
Mail Order Up-Date are primate
examples of this type of philosophy
- as opposed to the Johnson Report,
The Association Newsletter, or
Club-house Confidential.
Try to make your newsletter's name
memorable - one that flows
automatically. Don't pick a name
that's so vague it could apply to
almost anything. The name should
identify your newsletter and its
subject quickly and positively.
Pricing your newsletter should be
consistent with the image you're
trying to build. If you're starting
a "Me-too" newsletter, never price
it above the competition. In most
instances, the consumer associates
higher prices with quality, so if
you give your readers better quality
information in an expensive looking
package, don't hesitate to ask for a
premium price. However, if your
information is gathered from most of
the other newsletters on the
subject, you will do well to keep
your prices in line with theirs.
One of the best selling points of a
newsletter is in the degree of
audience involvement - for instance,
how much it talks about, and uses
the names of its readers.
People like to see things written
about themselves. They resort to all
kinds of things to get their names
in print, and they pay big money to
read what's been written about them.
You should understand this facet of
human nature, and decide if and how
you want to capitalize upon it -
then plan your newsletter
accordingly.
Almost as important as names in your
newsletter are pictures. The readers
will generally accept a newsletter
faster if the publisher's picture is
presented or included as a part of
the newsletter. Whether you use
pictures of the people, events,
locations or products you write
about is a policy decision; but the
use of pictures will set your
publication apart from the others
and give it an individual image,
which is precisely what
you want.
The decision as to whether to carry
paid advertising, and if so, how
much, is another policy decision
that should be made while your
newsletter is still in the planning
stages. Some purists feel that
advertising corrupts the image of
the newsletter and may
influence editorial policy. Most
people accept advertising as a part
of everyday life, and don't care one
way or the other.
Many newsletter publishers, faced
with rising production costs and
viewing advertising as a means of
offsetting those costs, welcome paid
advertising. Generally the
advertisers see the newsletter as a
vehicle to a captive audience, and
well worth the cost.
The only problem with accepting
advertising in your newsletter would
appear to be that as your
circulation grows, so will your
number of advertisers, until you'll
have to increase the size of your
newsletter to accommodate the
advertisers. At this point, the
basic premise or philosophy of the
newsletter often changes from news
and practical information to one of
an advertiser's showcase.
Promoting your newsletter, finding
prospective buyers and converting
these prospects into loyal
subscribers, will be the most
difficult task of your entire
undertaking. It takes detailed
planning, persistence and patience.
You'll need a sales letter. Check
the sales letter you receive in the
mail; analyze how these are written
and pattern yours along the same
lines. You'll find all of them - all
those worthy of being called sales
letters - following the same
formula: Attention, Interest,
Desire, and Action on the part of
the reader - AIDA.
Jump right in at the beginning and
tell the reader how he's going to
benefit from your newsletter, and
then keep emphasizing right on
through your "PS", the many and
different benefits he'll gain from
subscribing to your newsletter.
Elaborate on your listing of
benefits with examples of what you
have, or you intend to include, in
your newsletter.
Follow these examples with
endorsements or testimonials from
reviewers and satisfied subscribers.
Make the recipient of your sales
letter feel that you're offering him
the answer to all his problems on
the subject of your newsletter.
You have to make your prospect feel
that "this is the insider's secret"
to the success he wants. Present it
to him as his own personal key to
success, and then tell him how far
behind his contemporaries he is
going to be if he doesn't act upon
your offer immediately.
Always include a "PS" in your sales
letter. This should quickly restate
to the reader that he can start
enjoying the benefits of your
newsletter by acting immediately,
and very subtly suggesting that he
may not get another chance to get
the kind of "success help" you're
offering him with this sales letter.
Don't worry about the length of your
sales letter - most are four pages
or more; however, it must flow
logically and smoothly. Use short
sentences, short paragraphs,
indented paragraphs, and lost of
sub-heads for the people who will be
"scanning through"
your sales letter.
In addition to the sales letter,
your promotion package should
include a return reply order card or
coupon. This can be either a
self-addressed business reply post
card, or a separate coupon, in which
case you'll have to include a
self-addressed return reply
envelope. In every mailing piece you
send out, always include one or the
other: either a self-addressed
business reply postcard or a
self-addressed return reply envelope
for the recipient to use to send
your order form and his remittance
back to you.
Your best response will come from a
business reply postcard on which you
allow your prospect to charge the
subscription to his credit card,
request that you bill him, or send
his payment with the subscription
start order.
For make up of this subscription
order card or coupon, simply start
saving all the order cards and
coupons you receive during the next
month or so. Choose the one you like
best, modify according to your
needs, and have it typeset, pasted
up and border fit.
Next, you'll need a Subscription
Order Acknowledgment card or letter.
This is simply a short note thanking
your new subscriber for his order,
and promising to keep him up-to-date
with everything relating to the
subject of your newsletter.
An acknowledgment letter, in an
envelope, will cost more postage to
mail than a simple postcard;
however, when you send the letter
you have to opportunity to enclose
additional material. A circular
listing other items available
through you will produce additional
orders.
Thus far, you've prepared the layout
and copy for your newsletter. Go
ahead and have a hundred copies
printed, undated. You've written a
sales letter and prepared a return
reply subscription order card or
coupon; go ahead and have a hundred
of these printed, also undated, of
course. You'll need letterhead
mailing envelopes, and don't forget
the return reply envelopes if you
choose to use the coupons instead of
the business reply postcard. Go
ahead and have a thousand mailing
envelopes printed. You also need
subscription order acknowledgment
cards or notes; have a hundred of
these printed, and of course, don't
forget the imprinted reply envelopes
if you're going along with the idea
of
using a note instead of a postcard.
This w ill be a basic supply for
"testing" your materials so far.
Now you're ready for the big move -
the Advertising Campaign.
Start by placing a small classified
ad in one of your local newspapers.
You should place your ad in a
weekend or Sunday paper that will
reach as many people as possible,
and of course, do everything you can
to keep your costs as low as
possible. How ever, do not skimp on
your advertising budget. To be
successful - to make as much money
as possible with your idea - you'll
need to reach as many people as you
can afford, and as often as you can.
Over the years, we have launched
several hundred advertising
campaigns. We always ran new ads for
a minimum of three issues and kept
close tabs on the returns. So long
as the returns kept coming in, we
continued running that ad in that
publication, while
adding a new publication to test for
results. To our way of thinking,
this is the best way to go,
regardless of the product, to
successfully multiply your customer
list.
Move slowly, start with a local,
far-reaching and widely read paper,
and with the profits or returns
from that ad, go to the regional
magazines, or one of the smaller
national magazines, and continue
plowing your returns into more
advertising in different
publications. By taking your time,
and building your acceptance in this
manner, you won't lose too much if
one of your ads should prove to be a
dud. Stay with the advertising. Do
not abandon it in favor of direct
mail. We would not recommend direct
mail until you are well established
and your national classified
advertising pro gram is bringing in
a healthy profit for you.
Do not become overly ambitious and
go out on a limb with expensive
full-page advertising until you're
very well established. When you do
buy full page advertising, start
with the smaller publications, and
build from those results. Have
patience; keep close tabs on your
costs per subscriber, and build from
the profits of your advertising.
Always test the advertising medium
you want to use with a classified
ad, and if it pulls well for you, go
on to a larger display type ad.
Classified advertising is the least
expensive way to go, so long as you
use the "inquiry method." You can
easily and quickly build your
subscriber list with this type of
advertisement.
We would not recommend any attempts
to sell subscriptions, or any
product from classified ads, or even
from small display ads. There just
isn't enough space to describe the
product adequately, and seeing the
cost of your item, many possible
subscribers will
not bother to inquire for the full
story.
When you do expand your efforts into
direct mail, go straight to a
national list broker. You can find
their names and addresses in the
yellow pages section of your local
telephone directory. Show the list
broker your product and your mailing
piece, and
explain what type people you want to
reach, and allow them to help you.
Once you've decided on a list to
use, go slowly. Start with a
sampling of 5,000 names. If the
returns are favorable, go for 10,000
names, and then 15,000 and so on
through the entire list.
Never rent the entire list based
upon the returns from your first
couple of samplings. The variables
are just too many, and too
complicated, and too conducive to
your losing your shirt when you
"roll out an entire list" based upon
returns from a controlled sampling.
There are a number of other methods
for finding new subscribers, which
we'll explore for you here,
detailing the good and the bad as we
have researched them.
One method is that of contracting
with what is known as a "cash-field"
agency. These are soliciting
agencies who hire people to sell
door-to-door and via the phone,
almost always using a high pressure
sales approach. The publisher
usually makes only about 5% from
each subscription sold by one of
these agencies. That speaks for
itself.
Then, there are several major
catalog sales companies that sell
subscriptions to school libraries,
government agencies and large
corporations. These people usually
buy through these catalog sales
companies rather than direct from
the publisher. The publisher makes
about 10% on each subscription sold
for him by one of these agencies.
Co-op Mailings are generally
piggy-back mailings of your
subscription offer along with
numerous other business offers in
the same envelope. Smaller mail
order entrepreneurs do this under
the name of Big Mail Offers. Coming
into vogue now are the Postcard
Mailers. You submit your offer on a
business reply postcard; the
packager then prints and mails your
postcard in a package with 40 or 50
similar postcards via third class
mail to a mailing list that could
number 100,000 or more. You pay a
premium price for this type of
mailing - usually $1000 to $1500 per
mailing, but the returns are very
good and you keep all the incoming
money.
Another form of co-op mailing is
where you supply a charge card
company or department store with
your subscription offer as a
"statement mailing suffer." Your
offer goes out with the monthly
statements; new subscriptions are
returned to the mailer and
billed to the customer's charge
card. The publisher usually makes
about 50% on each subscription. This
is one of the most lucrative, but
expensive methods of bringing in new
customers.
Direct mail agencies such as
Publishers Clearing House can be a
very lucrative source of new
subscriptions, in that they mail out
more than 60 million pieces of mail
each year, all of which are built
around an opportunity for the
recipient to win a gigantic cash
sweepstakes. The only problem with
this type of subscription agency is
the very low percentage of the total
subscription price the publisher
receives from these subscriptions,
plus the fact that the publishers
are required to charge a lower
subscription rate than they normally
charge.
There are also several agencies that
offer Introductory, Sample Copy and
Trial Subscription offers, such as
Select Information Exchange and
Publisher Exchange. With this kind
of agency, details about your
publication are listed along with
similar publications, in full page
ads inviting the readers to send $10
or $20 for trial subscription to
those of his choice. The publishers
received no money from these
inquiries - only a list of names of
people interested in receiving trial
subscriptions. How the publisher
follows up and is able to convert
these into full term, and paying
subscribers is entirely dependent
upon his own efforts.
Most major newspapers will carry
small, lightweight brochures or
oversized reply cards as inserts in
their Sunday papers. The publisher
supplies the total number of
inserts, pays the newspaper $20 per
thousand for the number of
newspapers he wants his order form
carried in, and then retains all the
money generated. But the high costs
of printing the inserts, plus the
$20 per thousand for distribution,
make this an extremely costly method
of obtaining new subscribers.
Schools, civic groups and other fund
raising organizations work in about
the same manner as the cash-field
agencies. They supply the solicitor
and the publisher gets 25% or less
for each new subscription sold.
Attempting to sell subscriptions via
radio or TV is very expensive and
works better in generating sales at
the newsstands than new
subscriptions. PI (Per Inquiry)
sales is a very popular way of
getting radio or TV exposure and
advertising for your newsletter or
other publication, but again, the
number of sales brought in by the
broad cast media is very small when
compared with the number of times
the "invitation commercial" has to
be "aired" to elicit a response.
A new idea beginning to surface on
the cable TV scene is "Products
Shows". This is the kind of show
where the originator of the product
or his representative appears on TV
and gives a complete sales
presentation lasting from five
minutes to 15 minutes. Overall,
these programs generally run between
midnight and 2 AM, with the whole
program a series of sales
presentations for different
products. They operate on the basis
of the product owner paying a fee to
appear and show his product, and
also from an arrangement where the
product owner pays a certain
percentage from each sale generated
from this exposure.
Newsletter publishers often run
exchange publicity endorsement with
non-competing publishers. Generally,
these endorsements invite the reader
of newsletter "A" to send for a
sample copy of newsletter "B" for a
look at what somebody else is going
that
might be of especial help, etc. This
can be a very good source of new
subscriptions, and certainly the
least expensive.
Running ads in the Mail Order Ad
Sheets is not very productive,
either in terms of inquiries or
sales. About the best thing that can
be said of most of these ad sheets
(and there seems to be a million of
them with new ones cropping up
faster than you can count them) is
that your ad in several of them will
let other people in on what you're
doing. You will be able to keep
track of a lot of the people trying
to make a place for themselves in
the mail order field.
Last, but not least, is the
enlistment of your own subscribers
to send you names of people they
think might be interested in
receiving a sample copy of your
publication. Some publishers ask
their readers to pass along these
names out of loyalty, while others
offer a monetary incentive or a
special bonus for names of people
sent in who be come subscribers.
By studying and understanding the
information in this report, you
should encounter fewer serious
problems in launching your own
successful specialized newsletter
that will be the source of ongoing
monetary rewards for you. However,
there is an important point to
remember about doing business by
mail - particularly within the
confines of selling information by
mail - that is, Mail Order is ONLY
another way of doing business. You
have to learn all there is to know
about this way o f doing business,
and then keep on learning, changing,
observing and adapting to stay on
top.
The best way of learning about and
keeping up with this field of
endeavor is by buying and reading
books by the people who have
succeeded in making money via the
mails; by subscribing to several of
the better periodic journals and
aids to people in mail order, and by
joining some of the mail order trade
associations for a free exchange of
ideas, advice and help.
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