Make Money With Direct Mail

Direct Mail

Let’s remove any doubts; direct mail is a profitable source of income for any business when done properly, but not done properly it will waste your time and money.

For those that say Direct Mail doesn’t work then let me tell you you’re not doing it right.
Clever businesses will take the time to write direct mail properly, after all you would give this time if you were sat with a customer wouldn’t you? I have said many times Direct Mail is like having your best salesman in print if done properly. To remove the confusion.

Direct mail is anything you send to existing or potential customers.

Let’s dispel some of the myths about Direct Mail. The favourite is

‘Direct Mail doesn’t work.’

This is usually derived by the fact that when you get direct mail at home it ends up in the bin, (which means it must be a waste of money right?) the truth is that about 80% to 90% of people do throw direct mailing in the bin, however have you considered what would happen to your business if you could get customers to read your Direct Mail?

The reason that Domino Pizzas, Viking Direct and many other big companies continually fill up your post box with direct mail is because it works. How much do you think these companies spend testing and fine tuning their direct mailings, probably thousands and thousands why because it works, better still they know what works and what doesn’t. All this said I wouldn’t want to mislead you not all direct mail works and this is why, Small to Medium size businesses don’t spend enough time thinking about the message they are trying to get into their customers minds neither do they give enough thought about what they are trying to achieve, if they gave the time and consideration to think about this then direct mail would make their profits soar.

Another myth is that the response rate of Direct Mail is a very low percentage, compared to number of mailings you send and that you need to send a thousand letters to get a single response, this is nonsense and a dangerous way to budget for your direct mail, there are all sorts of factors that will make a difference to your response rate, your product, the price and so on what really matters is not the response you get but the profit you make, which is why testing what you send is paramount. Don’t use a Direct Mail campaign without testing it on a small scale first. Why?

The beauty of Direct Mail is that it is statistically very predictable.

Your Direct Mail will fall into two categories, existing customers and potential new customers.
If you have a date base of existing customers you are sitting on a fortune, start by mailing these, think of something you can offer these customers, send them a letter and measure the response. If it works, mail them again next month and measure the results and if it works keep doing it, when you perfect this try it out on new potential customers and again measure the response each time.

REMEMBER

Test your Direct Mail campaigns for new customers on a small scale before rolling them out.

Always send a letter with any literature you send as it will increase the response rate you get

Your mail should focus on the benefits of your product or service; your customers want to read what your product will do for them not you.

Spend your time wisely

Make sure you spend the time you need getting the headline right its 90% of what people read and has to make them interested to read the rest of your letter, you repeat a successful mailing a few weeks later and expect a response rate around 50% of the original mailing you sent, and following up your letter with a phone call will also increase the response you get.
Don’t make costly mistakes on your future Direct Mail, remember write for the reader not for the writer, and take the time to think what your writing in your letter.

Taking care of what we’ve already worked for.

The success of any business is the source of wealth it gets from Existing or new customers.

Don’t neglect your source of wealth. Don’t neglect your customers.

One of the best profit areas for any business is its existing customer base, how often do you communicate with your existing customers and do you realise how important they are?

Nearly every business owner I know, concentrate their efforts on looking for new customers and forget how much it cost them in the first place to acquire their biggest asset (their existing customer data base) once you have sold to them they should not become a number, remember they are still a customer.

Most businesses are sitting on a fortune,

it’s not hidden, just forgotten.

You can get access to this fortune by answering these questions.

Do you have something to offer your existing customers that would make them want to contact you?

Is there something that you are not offering existing customers that you could be offering them?

When was the last time you sent your customers a letter, an email or contacted them by telephone?

This might be interesting, what would happen if you made twice as much contact with your existing customers this year as you made last year, just be sure if you do communicate with them with whatever you decide to offer, make sure that you monitor the response you get.

I have helped many businesses to generate thousands without spending on anything more than a first class stamp, a little bit of time and an A4 piece of paper this is not unusual, sometimes all you need is to step outside the box and look back in to see where your next customer will come from.

Here are some useful things to consider when you’re looking for your next best customer.

What results could you get by using direct mail?

Do you spend time every day thinking of an offer you could make to your existing customers?

Do you always thank your customers for their business?

Do you always measure the response you get?

There are tons of marketing ideas on how to get new customers, but remember you are sitting on a fortune if you already have an existing customer data base.

Fighting The UK Credit Crunch

When market conditions soften and the recession mongers surface, the solution is not to batten down the hatches, start by asking yourself “AM I HAPPY?’ if the answer is yes tell your face about it then the whole world will get to know.

A friend asked me last week,

“How is the credit crunch affecting you?”

“Its Not!” I said!

We all have a choice YOU, ME and everyone else can choose not to participate.

THE WHOLE WORLD needs to wake up and smell the roses, the last time I looked there were plenty of people buying plenty of products, so the great news is your products haven’t gone out of fashion, just ask yourself, how many of your products you want to sell this month?

Whatever the number you have picked I am sure it will be considerably less than the number of products your competitors will be selling in this market place in your area, ITS NOW TIME crank up the pace!! Stack the odds in your favour and focus on things that really matter, all this talk of a downturn and recession is the best time to re-ignite the passion that is needed to make your business stronger.

Develop an action plan & this time:

Pull the trigger.

Ask yourself:

What do I need to stop doing and what do I need to start doing?

What do I need to do less of and what do I need to do more of?

And Remember this, if your not out there selling your being out sold!!!

So go get em! Absolute positivity sells absolutely anything.

The bottom line is get excited again and start;

SELLING UP IN A DOWN ECONOMY