bob ross

I can see where that would cause confusion, no you don't need to show a mockup everytime, however you will be emailing over the "proof" to them before it's sent out to print. I made a huge mistake recently where I accidentally screwed up two expiration dates, making one valid a whole year and the other expired a year ago!

Mockups are crucial for pitching prospects, they have to see and feel it. A 9x12 card is so rare most people have never seen one in their life so you really need that value.

When people hear that I'm sending out big postcards in the mail they always think it's just the oversized ones that are still really small. Even if you go to a printer and ask them to print up a 9x12 sheet, that could help somewhat.

A good mockup will have advertisements on it for demonstration or ideally, a card that was already sent out and completed. I found that my pitches started closing a whole lot easier once I had a real card with UV coating on it to show them.

bob ross

In the beginning you want to sell it as casually as possible and it works well if you just go out and try to generate a bunch of "interest" in it, then once you have a bunch of live ones, you can start setting an actual deadline.

Just don't overcomplicate it and take your time to research everything you can about this system.

mysteriox

Its a great idea, but you have to know where you can put them to make profits.

timpears

Not sure I follow this. It is a great idea, no 'butts' about it.

You put them in the zip codes the merchants are located in as this is to appeal to local residents. Some merchants will pull from multiple zip codes, others not so much.

As far as putting the merchants ads on the cards, you put them on if you can sell them a spot.

Did I miss anything?:confused:

Tim Pears

Vikuna2009+

The seminar was worthwhile because now I have a direct phone number to someone to call if I have any questions. Did not really learn anything new (to me) about the program but still worth going. They were very friendly.

The interesting part was to see samples of other peoples campaigns. One restaurant did their menu (without a coupon) and still had a 6% success rate. Imagine including a coupon with that!

That's all I got for now, Eva

RFMarketing

Bob,

Have you mailed 25,000 at one time, and if so, what did you charge
in comparison to 10,000?

Great thread!

greggorio28

GREAT question....technically it should be at least double....like $995 for a 25k run? Its actually not half as bad as you think as far as printing goes...because remember the more bulk you buy the cheaper the estimate.


Ugghhhhh, I seriously cannot wait to dive into this! Its the perfect marketing strategy that will DEF yield a nice profit. As Bob has said...the first run is probably the hardest part. After that you will have a nice baseline of clients established and know how the printing and distribution works. What a brilliant idea!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

warrioradam

Bob Ross not only has the funniest name/forum avatar ever love that guys work but he also killed it with this post. I just had a mockup of a 9x11 do you think that is okay? Or is the extra inch crucial you think? I was able to fit 14 on a 9x11 one of my problems was the coupons conflicted on the front/back but I am brain storming on how to do it differently. However the nice thing is I have a super super cheap quote for 10,000 9x11's

Two Questions I have for Bob are when I go out and sell to businesses I may sell one the first day and to look at it in a worst case scenario way I don't sell any for two more days. How do I explain to businesses that because I lack the funds upfront to do a print run they are waiting on my sales ability to sell the spots? I'm confident I can sell them but I don't know how fast I will because it's a new thing to the area.

The other question is to accept payments is it as simple as setting up a DBA in my town and opening a special account at my bank?

Thanks,
Adam

bob ross

I'm not going to get into my personal pricing strategy at this point, sorry, but my 25,000 pieces just arrived yesterday and I need to get them the heck out soon.

I got your last PM's I just haven't been able to reply yet, sorry. Yes you're absolutely correct that the first run is the toughest and the second one will slightly be tough as well unless you wait until the first advertisers report their results. After that it becomes really easy.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Haha glad you like the name/avatar. 9x11 would be fine, I think coming at least somewhat close will be sufficient in pitching people the experience of a super large postcard. I wonder why your printer did that size, they could easily have done 9x12.

to answer your questions:

I can't answer the front to back issue at this point, sorry. I put a lot of time into figuring it out and I feel weird just giving it out.

To not worry so much about deadlines, just go around pitching the idea and get responses. I can't say for sure, but you may find yourself even getting more interested clients by just pitching the general idea to them for a future date. When you get 4 or 5 of them who are like "f*** yeah!" then you can start building a list of people you can count on.

Just go out and start pitching it to people and go from there, just explain that you're planning it to go out as soon as you get everyone together.

Getting paid upfront should happen regardless of whether you have the capital or not. Explain that to them casually, that they need to pay before you print 10,000 of them, they'll completely understand and if they have a problem with it, there's a chance they may not even have had plans to pay you.

Get a DBA and open a free business checking account. Get squareup if you have an iphone/android too so you can start offering credit cards.

warrioradam

Hi Everyone,

I came across thais pdf and its a great marketing research report done in the northeast about coupon users and who uses them.

ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/27132/1/35010162.pdf

I have been trying to think about neighborhood demographics and I am going to try targeting households where there are more home rentals than apartments or duplexes and then also very nice neighborhoods with newer houses and people making 65k+

thirteen

i'll not be patient to wait it..
and be so happy to see it later

Big Gee

He already did it twice, just go back through the pages.

rolltide

how long does it normally take you to sell 16ads?

RedShifted

I have a legitimate question about closing these spots.

Just to compare 2 types of strategies. I saw a guy from valpak just a few days ago trying to sell a system to my fathers boss and they guy did not explain his system, nor how anything worked. His entire sales pitch from head to toe seemed to be "if you buy our advertising we send out x amount of cards and bam you are guaranteed customers". I just found his shpeal pretty uninteresting when I saw it.

However he did close the deal.

My question is when you people go into the business's to advertise how do you approach it? Cause I'm thinking about copying my brothers strategy who sells large basement waterproofing jobs. He has a large binder filled with research about leaky basements. What other companies are doing, why their strategies are weak, what system he uses, then he shows research on that specific system that was conducted my a college.

He basically sells the job though almost as an "educator". He teaches the person about the system, why its effective, then is able to close a lot of deals.

My question is I've only had a little bit of experience in sales, selling jobs under him. But he's amazing at what he does so I think he can help me out with this. I still could use feedback from some of you gents. Would you go into these business's almost as a researcher so to speak? Yes you're trying to sell the system but is your main pitch showing the customers stats/figures and just downselling other companies/upselling yours untill you can close?

Any info on how to go about the presentation would be extremely valuable to me. I went and opened a business bank account today, am very close to launching my website. But now I'm realizing I really need to learn AS MUCH about this form of marketing as I can so I can sell it properly. I mean thats basically what you do Bob right? Any pointers would be extremely helpful here. I'm not asking for a method more just a rough sketch of how to approach the sale.

Thanks!

HvilleSEO

Just to report back on some of the emails I've been sending out.

Sent around around 100 over the past 2 days. Less than 30 have been opened, 1 response for more information. Subject line was "Direct Mail You Might Be Interested In".

Have some spare time tonight so I hope to get out another 100 but I'm going to change the subject line to something else to hopefully get a better open rate.

Also got a barter deal in the works with a printer about 30 miles away that will cut the price down to 1000ish. I found out he was doing a ppc campaingn and I offered to help. Gave home a $100 voucher which really helped with that.

timpears

I am not a sales man, but this is my thinking from what I have read. Always sell the sizzle. What does your prospect want, and what are you going to do for them. They want customers I would think. Bob said the response was 13% to 22%. So ten thousand cards should mean at least 1,300 new customers, yes, no, maybe? Who wouldn't want that as a merchant?

These cards are hard to ignore, unlike Valpak which when I got them I seldom opened. These grab your attention and almost force you to at least scan them to see if there is anything that interests you.

I am trying to figure how I can guarantee at least some modicum of success by using this service. But I am too scared to do that as it is fraught with risk of having to refund someone due to their telling me they didn't get any response. And it highly depends on the offer they go with, and not the card.

Tim Pears

timpears

I believe your subject needs changed. I would try something more along the lines of 'question about your company' and then go into how are you doing, or the bad economy and how you can get them customers for five or six cents a peace. At $495 per 10K it costs five cents per prospect. At 13% response, that means a paying customer has cost them about $0.40. If they come in at 22%, then it is a little over $0.22 each.

Who could resist buying customers for twenty two cent each, even if they only buy a hamburger, that has got to be profitable.

If I am crazy, please let me know as that was the approach I was going to take. Or, try to outsource it as I suck at sales.

Tim Pears

KaterSD

As long as you provide the service there will be no need for a refund.

KaterSD

I think your getting too technical. Just charge 16 businesses $495-$550 and your set.

Now there are some people that like to crunch the numbers, so for those businesses you can show them how much it cost etc, etc per person. Most just want clients walking in their door.

timpears

I guess I am a numbers person. I understand numbers and they are not flexible like words are. But don't you need to give them some reason why they WANT to part with that $495 or more?

My thinking was to charge $595 per 10K, plus $20 to do the ad for them. Even if they provide it, it has to be set in the flyer. But then discount the price $100 and give them the ad for free. Kind of like a coupon.

Tim Pears

KaterSD

that should would work. So when are you gonnago looking for clients?.

Vikuna2009+

The reason is more customers. Even the most beautiful shop with the most attractive merchandise display at the best prices are going to go under if they don't reach more customers. Our way is a stand-out way of advertising because the giant mailer (I wouldn't call it a postcard because that's the image they would get in their head), yes, Mr./Mrs Biz Owner;

"With our GIANT MAILER it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for your customers NOT to see all the irresistable offers on there. Un-fortunately, we are only able to fit 14-16 ads on each giant mailer (re-inforce) so as you can understand, these spots will be filled quickly and as of right now, you Mr. Biz Owner, has an opportunity to reserve your spot.. Yes, the spot might still be available tomorrow but it might not".


As far as $20 for the ad design, I personally wouldn't discount it like that. If you are going to make that a point, up it to $65. What designer would take as little as $20? But, maybe I am wrong.

willz605

I agree.....the subject is uninteresting

You need a shock and awe headline.....something that elicits a response.

I prefer direct sales...door to door.....you'll have a much better response when you meet and greet.

I did door to door for several years....don't let anyone fool you...it's hard work....but If you have a solution to their problem(s)....i.e. they need more customers....than they may be willing to give you a shot considering the cost of Valpak and any other advertising they are currently paying for.

I prefer to use the easy method to find new clients........It's so easy....

Kevin AKA Hubcap

Tim,

I can't say for sure *but* it looks like you're searching for reasons NOT to do this and IMO it has nothing to do with being a numbers person.

Let me ask you this...what are you afraid of??

Being able to understand your answer to that question goes a long way to obliterating the obstacles you're constantly placing in your path.

greggorio28

Agreed 100% Kevin. I was fired up and ready to go with this just from reading half of the thread posts! Bob has laid out the entire system for us....sans the small details that make it unique and streamlined. Do some homework and remember...he basically told us that WE can control the entire flow and pricing of this.

Step it up and begin some groundwork man...dont get hung up on details! As a graphic designer myself...I still cant believe I never thought of a system so SIMPLE....true definition of K.I.S.S

Rock on Bob....I am all over this DM campaign once I get my ducks in a row and all my marketing materials. Not only will I have a mock-up ready to show clients, but I will have business cards (proving I am a local) and the full package to come across as serious, professional, and dependable as possible. I think I'll just have the mockup done at Staples/Kinko's on their very best card stock. Not only do I wanna get paid, I wanna be the hometown hero that helped support local business & spark new sales!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

warrioradam

Hey greggorio28 you do some nice work I am sure this project will be easy for you.

As far as selling goes my plan is as simple as just going out and pitching them that they can get ad space in return for a gigantic mailing to 10k people how its so big that the eyes can't miss it and they have to see it when they open their mailbox. I don't think this will be hard to sell it's just about getting out and making the cold calls more businesses hit the better chance you'll have. I am going Friday morning until Friday evening just trying to sell the thing. We should be able to refine our sales methods by just going out and learning what works and what doesn't.

greggorio28

Thanks Adam and ditto....its as easy as you make it as far as pitching & closing goes!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

timpears

My plan is to go out after the holidays. I have to convince myself that I can talk to prospects first. I think I am gong to send them an email first though, to try and get their interest up first.

I still have not ruled out hiring a sales man or two. That is why I want to talk to my son-in-law first. He manages and sets up the marketing plan for the sales force. So I trust his judgement on this.

I was looking at this WSO http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...-call-you.html and wondered if this may not be a way to go. It is closed now so you can't get it any more, but I did download it previously but never looked at it.

Tim Pears

timpears

I am curious to know how you got that from that quote. Or was it from my collection of posts.

I am afraid of people. I get really nervous trying to talk to people, especially trying to sell them something. My biggest fear is looking stupid. And I feel stupid around people I don't know. So often I have seen things that look really exciting to me, only to find out that people look at it as dumb.

I would love nothing more than to talk myself out of this. To stay here in my little apartment away from everyone and not have to talk to anyone other than my neighbors. But this is so damn exciting that I am not sure I can do that.

I am going to try and get some leads, so they are better than cold calling. And then try to close them. If I do ok, then great. If I fall flat on my face, then so be it. I only have to do it once if it doesn't go well.

Tim Pears

KaterSD

Now that was hilarious Tim..... So what if you look stupid the first time you try and pitch someone. The second time you try and pitch someone you'll just be a lil better, then the third time a tad bit better, the fourth time your gonna be like sh!t this is easy then once you get the guy that writes you a check on the spot....thats when the addiction will begin.

timpears

I sure hope you are right. I never seem to get to that point in my past experience. I am glad you got a kick out of it though. My confidence level is pathetic in these circumstances.

There used to be a time when I couldn't stand in front of people and speak. Then I put myself in that position when I worked for Hewlett Packard. A few meetings where I had to speak and I got pretty comfortable with it. Not perfect, but ok. But I retired due to health problems a little over eight years ago and so don't have to talk in public any more. So I am pretty sure I can do it.

Tim Pears

greggorio28

Chris - got your PM but cant send PM's yet. My email is gregg AT y3kdesigns.net

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Vagabond 007

This thread frustrates me.

I have never seen so many excuses and people trying to over complicate things in my life. Bob (avatar is awesome, btw!!) already laid out the plan. I already posted twice breaking it down even more. Others have chimed in. And yet there is still posts asking all kinds of silly questions and "what if" questions.

Make up a darn mock up, come up with a price, then go out there and talk to local business owners. If you don't, nothing happens. No money for you. No extra customers for them.

Get your mock up done at a local Staples. I do this when I only need one or two mock ups for things before I order a whole bunch of them from somewhere else. It will cost you less that $5 I bet (just had a full color brochure done for $2.12, can't see it being much more than that).

Afraid to ask for all up front? Ok, REQUIRE $100 to hold the spot with the rest do when the proof comes back. Get your money BEFORE it goes to printing. If not, if someone decides they don't want to pay, then guess what, they get free advertising.

$100 from each get's you $1,600 bucks. Hey look, plenty of money for printing and shipping.

Wondering how to sell these? Are you guys forgetting that there are only 16 spots available and it's first come first served? Oh, and it's only ONE PER BUSINESS CATEGORY. It has scarcity and urgency built in.

"Get it before your competitor does."
"What, you want to think about it? Ok, but the day is young and I've still got a few hours left to go fill the rest of these spots. And once they're filled you won't be able to get a spot. Right after here I'm heading to (their competition)."

And are you ready to make prospecting MUCH EASIER? Go grab local newspapers, Val Pak, and coupon magazines and TARGET THOSE BUSINESSES!

Bring the damn magazine in and mention how you noticed they're advertising in there AND that you also noticed that 4 of their competitors are in there too. Then go into "how would you like to get in front of 10,000 local homeowners and you'll be the only one in your industry on the ad, blah blah blah."

Seriously, I have a Clipper Magazine in front of me right now. The local pizza shop owner I spoke to recently paid $425 to be in there. Half page ad. But the thing is, there are 2 other pizza places in there and a handful of other eating places.

Closet Design - 3 companies advertising
Tree Service - 3
Spa - 4
HVAC - 5
Roofing - 6
Sushi - 3
Landscaping - 3
Home Remodeling - 5

Seriously, it's that bad. Everyone is advertising right along side their competition.

For the second or third time in this thread, don't over complicate things.


Greggerio28 - Ambler?? I was just in Spring House over the weekend.

The Ultimate Sales & Marketing Mind Map (Just updated - now twice as big!) - scott_krech - "Quite possibly one of the BEST WSO's ever."

www.UltimateMindMap.com

greggorio28

Aaaaaaaamen Vagabond. And wait how did you.....did I actually mention my hometown or are you a ninja in disguise? lol

Yepp thats my hood. AMAZING place saturated with small businesses so dont even think of coming onto my turf lady! Kidding....are you from the area?? More importantly, are you considering doing this mailer campaign? Spring House is a 2 min drive from my house

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

timpears

Staples wants $8 each to print Bob's flyer. Probably not coated though. I wonder if that would be good enough?


http://www.staplescopycenter.com/ASP...qQhC2qdtcajA==

Tim Pears

Vagabond 007

I'm a ninja. And that's not me in the avatar. I'm a dude!

I'm about 25 minutes way, right down I-476. But I have friends in Spring House, hence me being there. And a client in Chalfont. So I'm familiar with your turf.

Not sure if I'm going to run with this. I think so, but right now I'm focused on mobile websites. But I'm considering changing that focus to this. Roughly the same price as a mobile site EXCEPT with this it's recurring. Well, sort of...not guaranteed that everyone will renew, but I bet most will. So I can run it month after month and only have to fill any spots where people drop out.

And I can still sell them a mobile website.

greggorio28

Very cool, and Ill admit the avatar was nice on the eyes but if thats not you...I will not use excessive smiley faces lol.

Thats great and I'm glad you are considering this as well. I plan to stake Ambler as my sacred ground because I know the area well and the population is spot-on with my estimated print quantity...and its still a big blue collar coupon-clipping borough so this should be a huge hit. Whereabouts are you from? Cmon its only fair, you know my hood now....

I know Montco very well so you dont need to give me a zip but I'm curious to know your area....anywhere near KOP? Now THAT would be a goldmine if you handled it correctly. Being a graphic designer and having access to some great local printers I consider myself so lucky to have been exposed to this....I'm laying the foundation as we speak for a Jan-Feb launch and will be talking to biz owners to fill up the first 16 slots ASAP!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

KaterSD

Who is that chick anyways?.

jrobconsult

Lots of great info and Gene is right. Bob laid out the plan and several others have added great info. Looks like I found the perfect printer just waiting for a price quote. I will put my own twist on this by adding an extra bonus plus an upsell. Also, once businesses see the results, you should be able to offer other services easily. I do have one question.

For the first postcard only, thinking about having a drawing that would result in one client getting a free ad. What do you all think?

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

greggorio28

Community drawing for a free ad spot is pretty genius....a great incentive to spark excitement! How would you do that though.....just pull whatever biz you want and tell them they won? And mix it up each month?

Either way yes this plan is golden....I will personally PayPal my man Bob Ross a nice bonus myself if I can successfully land a full 16 ad run at $400-$500 for each biz. MARK MY WORDS! I am aiming for a Jan-Feb run for my first round....lots of work to do between now and then!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

RedShifted

Ok yah this is legit! Wow Bob I just can not thank you enough for putting a genuinely excellent idea out there for those who may not have the resources you do. I mentioned that my brother is a skilled contractor/salesman and as soon as I read about this thread a few days ago had contacted him about this.

He was VERY interested. I have been waiting for my 1 day off this week to discuss the idea with him and my family and so far everything is going as I hoped.

First my dad likes the idea a lot, my mom too. We all sat down together brainstorming ideas and my brother put this idea forth.

He said he is willing to invest $1000 or even more if it takes to cover all the shipping/printing expenses for our first round. He told me he will also help me do the ground work and does not want any part of the profits or care about it initially. He wants to pay for everything, then offer this service 100% free to 8 clients at first (he saw the demo in this thread and mentioned that 16 would be way too hard to close considering what 8 look like, mentioning that he'd rather not go over 12 total per side). And we're going to explain to them that we're so confident in our service that the first round is on us. And if they are happy with the service they can use it a second time at a rate of $445 a month (for second round). Then if things go as planned we will eventually bump it up to $495 the third round.

I am SO EXCITED to get this plan into action.

Things I have done.

Have got a second bank account just for this biz.
Have downloaded an excellent template to start/launch our website.
Have already developed a business logo and ordered very nice business cards which are on their way.

What I'm doing now is collecting marketing research and saturating my brain with as many facts as I can.

In about 2 more weeks we are going to then start the heavy duty prospecting.

But this is the best part right, this is why I love my family because most of the people in it are naturally ambitious. And I've been very worried just graduating college so when I found this idea I decided this is something I'd love to do and get good at. Once again Bob you have no idea how much thanks I have and if this works as planned man I just can't imagine how this will change my life. It will motivate me to do other things and expand my skillset/offer other services to businesses.

I never realized its really just a matter of putting your ducks in a row and DOING IT.

So after we are done talking about this for like 2 hours at the dinner table my brother says "lets go prospect someone right now I just wanna get a feel for the objections people will be throwing at us". I'm like "are you serious?". He's like "yeh why not we can only gain something from it". I'm telling you my brother gets off on this **** he just loves trying to sell anything.

So we get in his pick up all dressed up with NOTHING no sample postcards, no research, no real plan of action which I admit is stupid but again it was just for the experience.

So we quickly find a new dentist office down the road that just opened 2 weeks ago. My brother is like "you ready?" I'm like "hell yeh". He tells me to just stand to the side and watch him and say I'm in training to learn the business. Now get this my brother does NOT KNOW **** about mail marketing. I haven't even showed him all the research I've been going through. Asks for the owner and I'm thinking wtf we are gonna get asked to leave. He opens the guy very smart. Tells the owner "I work for a marketing company known as XXXXXX [gives a name we decided on earlier] can I ask you if you've ever advertised through the mail before?"

Owner replies that he did the first week they opened and get this they used VALPAK! My brother starts inquiring about the experience and within seconds is finishing the owners sentences for him and building rapport. Immediately begins downselling valpak and upselling a service we haven't even finished designing yet. But get this he doesn't mention anything about the service being free initially. Tells the owner "our rates are $495 a month". Then begins further selling the service. Owner throws in about 2 objections tops. He plows right through them focusing on higher exposure rates with the 9x12's. Then after a good 20mins or so of what was really just him freestyling 100% the owner says he'd be willing to give it a shot!! He didn't even pull a single ****ing paper out think about this for a second. My brother did nothing more than sell himself and just be very energetic/positive with the owner. I was immediately thinking "this is something I can do and get good at".

We walk out with the guys business card and tell him he'll be getting a phone call in a couple more weeks when we're about to launch. I'm just in total awe about the whole event. I think my brother did this because he knew how nervous I was and he did it just to show me how easy sales is if you go in rock solid and confident about your product/service.

I've been shaking my leg ever since I got home after that. I'm realizing this may very well change my standard of living being as though I only recently graduated. But man I have been THIRSTY as hell for something. I just had a feeling about this thread when I first saw it. It seemed to simple. But it also made too much sense. As my brother dropped me off at my car he told me a little story that I'm apprehensive about telling here. Actually I won't tell the specific details. But it explained why he was so interested in the idea when I told him.

6 years ago he told me he had a boss that use to send 60,000 postcards out a month. He did waterproofing for basement foundations but also marketed for other companies sending postcards out. And his postcards were also smaller. I was like "no way why the hell didn't you tell me before?". He told me that same boss has already retired. But I don't wanna talk about the specifics. Basically the postcard business gave him the capital he needed to invest in a second business (that is actually better and I'm contemplating doing it down the road if this works out). The idea was even simpler than the postcard marketing, more effective, easier to close, and requires even less maintenance to do. Something so many people are aware of but may be apprehensive about just for the fact they don't understand how or why it works.

And now I'm really learning wow this is all about confidence man. You really just gotta have confidence in yourself I have been so worried about my future and still am but I just feel so much more optimistic after this past week and everything I've been learning. I don't even watch tv anymore I do nothing but work then come home and read read read then go to bed and do it all over again. I'm obsessed and if I succeed at this I will be indebted to Bob forever just for giving me this stepping stone in life. Knowledge really is power.

Good luck and god bless you all.

More Ideas

Hi,

I know there are a lot of 'doubts' here, and it appears people are making excuses, but I'm sort of lost when it comes to the numbers, more importantly, what's "in it" for the businesses. (Yes, I know "more customers", but surely it's more about ROI than just "more customers").

For example, a restaurant: £495 for a mailing out to 10,000 local households.
But...a restaurant can have 10,000 menus printed (with coupons if they so wished) for £150 (if they buy in bulk, 100,000 - which a lot of restaurants do), or even if they wanted to go with 10,000, they can get that for a few hundred, under £300.

Now, most restaurants I know pay a couple of young kids to deliver them and the going rate is £20 per 1,000, so for 10,000 that would be £200.

So £200 (delivery costs) plus £300 printing cost = £500.

So how could I convince that restaurant to advertise with me, for the same price, when with me they'd be sharing ad space, whereas they could easily deliver full A4-sized menus?

I'm not asking this to be negative - I'm genuinely confused as to how I could make this worthwhile for the advertiser.

I do appreciate the numbers that 10,000 postcards, 10% success rate = 1,000 customers, but my point is the restaurant could claim the same thing.

I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me something I'm "missing", which makes it a better deal to come with me (this idea) than for the restaurant to go it alone.

(I used restaurant as an example, but this is valid for other businesses, too, as the numbers are the same).

Thanks

greggorio28

Holy freakin long response Red....

lol good luck buddy, YOU now have what it takes to make this happen. Go out and get it!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Sebulba

That could make for some fun, "Free Ad next month" type of thing. It would probly be good to have something out of your control to be the determiner of who wins, so that it doesn't look like your favoring someone, if you know what I mean?

Seb

https://2021rocket.com
https://gmbliftoff.com/

greggorio28

More Ideas:

I dont know about you but I throw out restaurant menus all the time. If its not the same 2-3 places I like to eat...I normally dont even bother with the "new pizza joint" that just opened. A menu is not a call to action. This hulking piece of mail IS a call to action....it will display all the local deals and prompt a person to clip it out and come into the business to redeem.

Thats all I really have but think about how many pizza shop menus you throw away each month, or every 3 months, etc. This will become a recognized monthly mailer that eventually people will begin looking forward to scouting around for local deals when they get it each month....and its hard to miss a 9x12 piece of thick cardstock!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

RentItNow

Bob, not sure if it's answered here somewhere but are you collecting the full amount before the service is delivered so as not to get stuck holding the bag? Any issues you found with this?

jrobconsult

I would have the drawing at a public place, that any of the advertisers can be there or send a rep. Will be making a website also to promote this. You can make an entire offline business from this one idea. Thanks again Bob.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

RedShifted

Haha SORRY I was excited! Had just got home I do need to calm down a bit you are right about that.

For now on I'm telling people I approached 40 businesses and didn't close any.

RentItNow

Red, that story is great! Most people shake on the first few interactions with business owners but when you get on the same level as them, the conversation changes. You are just two people talking about a common interest (their business and the marketing of that business).

I'm usually a NO-REACTION guy meaning I do not have that big adrenaline boost most people get even when i saved a girl from a burning car with no shoes on in the rain once (not braggin just saying it scared me that I did not have any fear! Scared me more than what I did). My wife calls me a robot when it comes to that type of stress. Point is, I EVEN shake the first few interactions with business owners but man do I feel AMAZING after that. Can close almost every biz after that.

jrobconsult

That's great Red. You have a thought out plan and already have started. I am sure you will be very successful.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio