MARKETING YOUR OWN PRODUCTS AND IDEAS

MARKETING YOUR OWN PRODUCTS AND IDEAS

One of the main problems within the "inner circle" of the mail order

business is that everyone is selling everyone else's products. Pages

crammed full with commission dealerships is turning a good thing out

of hand.

It's been said over and over again, but newcomers to the industry

should realize that they need to develop their own products and

services. Commission dealerships are fine to compliment your

business if the product is relative to your main product, but everyone

should strive for developing their OWN product too. No one will ever

get rich dealing in just commission dealerships. And people who think

this way will give up over a period of time because they go broke.

Let's stop this madness and spread the word about becoming a

Prime Source.

How do you develop your own specialized product or service? It may

take a few months to get your "feet wet" in mail order to determine

your particular "nitch." However, you should already know the talents

you possess inside yourself and what your own capabilities are. There

has to be more to your business than making money!

What are your hobbies and interests? What would you like to do more

than anything else and would you do it if you were not getting paid?

For instance, I personally enjoy publishing newsletters. I get a serge of

electricity when I am working on them and wish my body would last 24-

hours a day so I could work on them all the time. This is loving what

you do.

On the other hand, this may sound really crazy to you. Perhaps you

would rather write, edit, paste-up or seal envelopes. I remember

Dorothy Christian (Shells 345) once explaining to me the "high" she

used to get when doing a mass mailing. She loved peeling off labels,

sticking them on envelopes and folding the materials to insert. She

said that every envelope she stuffed, she felt it would generate a big

customer order. This is enthusiasm!

Therefore, Dorothy could have developed a specialized or confidential

mailing service. Unlike a big mail where she would be mailing

circulars in envelopes, but a targeted-mailing for different programs

and products. (Example: A circular selling books and reports would be

marketed only to book buyers from lists Dorothy would purchase and

use for these types of mailings. She also would be careful not to put

any conflicting information in this special mailing she was preparing

for specific customers.)

You can take anything you sell and creatively turn it into your own

prime source product. A good friend of mine, Helen VanAllen loved to

prepare big mails so she created the "Design-Your-Own-Big-Mail-

Package." Customers were presented with a list of the circulars Helen

had on hand and they checked off the ones that interested them. This

is one example of how an old concept can be turned into something

new with a twist that makes it YOUR OWN product.

There are several ideas that other mail order folks used to create their

own product. You can use the same concept locally also. If you sell

vitamins, for instance, you could sell them in individual packets and

label them for each day of the week. Use the vitamins from the

company you are working with but the individual packets and labels

would be your own product. You can also charge more for this

personal touch.

You are unique! You are an individual who has special talents and

interests. Your business should be a reflection of YOU and your own

contribution to mail order. Mail order is a wonderful business, filled

with some of the best people in the world. But it's up to every one of us

to keep it that way.