Notes

How to Create YOUR PERSONAL Mail Order Products
Pick up almost any book or report on Mailorder Selling and invariably you will discover the same advice. When you select a mailorder product, select one which:

- appeals to a large segment of the population
- is not readily available in stores
- is easy to ship by mail
- is worthwhile
- and something that lends itself to repeat orders

Most mail order writers will also tell you to try to acquire exclusive selling rights to your product. Most writers will concur that a dealer has a better potential for succeeding in the mailorder business if he's got created the product himself.

All of this is obviously good advice. The difficulty with it is that it generally does not go far enough. It does not tell you HOW to create a product that is exclusively you possess. In what follows, I'd like to show you, step-by-step, HOW to create your own mailorder product.

I would like to begin with by creating a very revolutionary statement. THE FIRST STEP ON THE ROAD TO MAIL ORDER SUCCESS ISN'T THE SELECTION OF SOMETHING! That may appear to be a very strange statement, but you can find three things you must do (if you need to be successful) before you ever decide on a product to market by mail!

FIRST, you need to ANALYZE YOURSELF. You will only flourish in selling a product, or a type of mailorder products in the event that you enjoy selling them, when you can be honestly enthusiastic about them, and if they're products you yourself would honestly want to buy.

SECOND, you must SELECT YOUR MARKET. After you have analyzed yourself, you will need to sell to people who have interests similar to your personal. Only then are you considering comfortable in your mailorder business.

THIRD, you need to thoroughly ANALYZE YOUR MARKET. Before you ever select a product, you have to know what your market is buying, what it would like to buy, if available, and what it'll buy form you, in the very near future.

After you have analyzed yourself, selected your market, and then thoroughly analyzed your market, you will have no trouble selecting or developing a product to market by mail. It will almost select you! Now, let's return back and study these three steps, one by one.

ANALYZE YOURSELF

To assist you understand yourself, sit down and, as honestly as possible, create your answers to the next questions:

1. When I go to a newstand, which kind of magazines appeal to ME?

2. What type of books do I really like to read?

3. When I daydream, what do I daydream about?

4. What do I really do with my free time? (How do I spend my evenings? What do I really do on weekends?)

5. What do I really do on my vacation?

6. What one subject interests me more than any other subject on the planet?

7. If I didn't need to work for a living, how would I spend my time?

8. If I could go back to college, what subjects would I take?

9. What kind of products do I love to purchase by mail?

After you have HONESTLY answered each one of these questions, you will see an incredible pattern emerging. Once you have finished, pay a visit to your local library. Visit the Reference Desk and ask to see the latest edition of the WRITER'S MARKET. Sit back and study the Table of Contents, which lists all the main types of magazines becoming printed. Decide which CATEGORY interests you beyond all others. It is in that mailorder market you will be most at home . . . and it is there you will be most successful

Now get back to the Reference Desk and have for two other publications. Either one offers you the information you need. They are:

- THE TYPICAL PERIODICAL DIRECTORY and
- ULTICH'S INTERNATIONAL PERIODICAL DIRECTORY

I, of course, have no idea what your interests really are, but let us, for the sake of illustration, say that you've got a compelling fascination with Astrology. With just a little search in the Standard Periodical Directory, you will discover the name and address of at the very least a dozen roughly Astrology magazines. In Ulrich's you can find even more, since it lists magazines published in foreign countries as well.

Write down the names and address of the publication. Write to all of them, on your letterhead when possible. If you don't have a letterhead, you'll still hear from most of them. Tell them you are starting a mailorder business, focusing on Astrological products, and have them for an example copy of their publications, along with their ADVERTISING RATES.

When you start receiving your sample copies, save them . . . and save the advertising rate cards. They will be invaluable to you down the road.

While you are waiting for these to arrive, visit the nearest second-and magazine store and buy several dozen old astrology magazines. (The cost? Probably a dime apiece!) Get as many different magazine titles as possible and be sure to get copies with MAIL ORDER ADS in them. Conditions that are ten or fifteen years old will be valuable to you, but also make an effort to obtain a number of the more current issues. You are now ready to start . . .

ANALYZING YOUR MARKET

Start a notebook. Pick up among the magazines which you have purchased at the second-hand magazine store. Read the first ad. . . every type of it. Read it slowly and carefully. If you have finished reading it, see when you can describe what is being sold in five words or less. If you cannot, go back and read it again. When you can, record your description under among three headings in your notebook:

- Merchandise
- Information
- Service

All mailorder offerings come under one of many three headings listed above. If the ad was for an Aquarian Necklace, it must be listed under Merchandise. If it was for a treatise on Flying Saucers, it should be listed under Information. If it had been an offer to chart your horoscope, it should be listed under Service.

After you have analyzed the initial ad, do not delay - study another ad. Continue until you have thoroughly analyzed each and every ad in the magazine, including the classifieds. If you are through, you should have three lists:

- A list of Astrological Merchandise on the market
- A list of Astrological Manuals (Information) on the market
- A list of Astrological services for sale.

As you read, watch for:

UNDEVELOPED IDEAS -- Especially in older issues, you will discover really good ideas which were, for one reason or another, never developed. Possibly the originator lost interest or didn't have the capital to develop his idea. He might have died or he may have elope with a chorus girl from Las Vegas and forgotten all about the mail order business. When you can develop the idea, you have a mail order product.

WHOLESALE SOURCES -- Watch for ads that say "Dealers Wanted" (in more current issues, of course). Here could be the perfect source of mailorder products for you.

STUDY THE ARTICLES -- They'll demonstrate what the readers want in and they will give you clues in regards to what the readers want to buy. Remember the articles are doing two things -- they are printing articles about subjects which the readers already are interested. But they may also be CREATING NEW INTERESTS in the minds of the readers. CAN YOU DEVELOP A PRODUCT THAT READERS WILL WANT AS A RESULT OF READING THOSE ARTICLES?

You may be amazed at what you would discover once you read magazines from the viewpoint of a mailorder man!

While researching this manuscript, I analyzed three completely different magazines from the viewpoint of a mailorder man. I'd like to share a few of my findings with you. Don't worry if the fields are different from those that interest you. MAILORDER PRINCIPLES ARE THE SAME FOR EACH MARKET!

The first magazine that i analyzed was ASTROLOGY - YOUR DAILY HOROSCOPE, December 1975. I would like to begin with the item Offerings.

ASTROLOGY (MERCHANDISE)

The first ad is for personalized stationary. Any mailorder man knows you can sell personalized stationary to any market. But this dealer took a commonplace product and adapted it to the Astrological market. Next to the name and address which he prints on the stationary, he prints the Astrological sun sign and he calls it ZODIAC STATIONARY.

Another ad is for another very commonplace product -- soap! You can buy soap in any grocery store. But this soap is special. It has YOUR ZODIAC SIGN imprinted inside it, and it lasts so long as the soap lasts. Here's another good exemplory case of adapting a commonplace product to the special interests and desires of your prospective customers.

Should you be now selling a product by mail and you want to increase you sales, create a list of the forms of people you want to sell it to. (For instance, doctors, waitresses, farmers, gun collectors, etc.) Then go back and ask yourself everything you could do to your product to make it appeal to each individual group. You'll be amazed at the best way to turn commonplace items into red hot mailorder sellers just by taking the time to put yourself in your customer's shoes for a while.

The next merchandise offering is for "SEASHELLS FOR VIRGOS AND SCORPIOS". Brother, this is usually a fantastic idea. Had this advertiser offered plain old seashells in an astrology magazine, his mailbox would probably have already been empty. Had he advertised "Seashells for Astrologers", he MIGHT have gotten a few orders. But he made his seashells special, exclusive, and very, very desirable, because they're limited to Virgos and Scorpios. He is catching the attention of one reader from every six and I'd bet that ad was a mailorder success! Here is a concept worth remembering. Make an effort to apply it to YOUR product!

Another merchandise offering was a "Hand Bio-Rhythm Computer". For recent years, Astrology magazines have been running article after article on the Bio-Rhythm Theory (i.e. every male and female person has emotional, intellectual and physical cycles, which may be predicted beforehand). The Astrology magazines, in place, have been creating a mailorder market because of this sort of new product. The ad promises, "it reveals your emotional, intellectual and physical state . . . EVEN BEFORE THE DAY BEGINS!" This dealer was clever enough to accomplish something concerning this new interest. If he had not studied his market, he could do not have discovered the NEED for a Bio-Rhythm computer!

ASTROLOGY (INFORMATION)

People who read Astrology magazines have become thinking about Love, Money, Success, Power, Miracles, Prayer, etc. One enterprising dealer has written six "personal guidance" manuals, and runs full page ads in Astrology magazines, selling them form $2.00 to $11.00 each! His ads have been running successfully for a long time. Back in 1960, when I first became interested in selling by mail, this dealer was running small ads in mail dealer magazines, selling mailorder manuals!

Below are a few of another information manuals which dealers have written and are selling by mail:

- The way the Maya Indians Foretold the Future - $15.00

- Powerful Words to Be Recited Daily to get rid of Your Money Worries - $4.00

- How to Spiritually Heal Your Pets - $5.00

- A Manual on Etheric Astal Projection, written "especially for the Neophyte" - $3.00

Can you create a WORTHWHILE manual because of this market? (I predict that the initial dealer who writes an excellent manual on Bio-Rhythm will make a fortune!) If you need ideas for manuals, study the subjects being offered in the Astrology magazines. Remember --the readers want in those subjects! In the issue of ASTROLOGY - YOUR INDIVIDUAL HOROSCOPE which I read, the next information articles appeared. (This is only a partial list.)

"Yearly Forecast for Additional info " "Basic Astronomy for the Astrologers" "Sybil Leek Analyzes YOUR Dreams" "Learning to make Your Dreams PAY BACK" "How Mercury Inspires Your Creativity"

A report of OLD Astrology magazines will provide you with an abundance of subjects for New Mailorder Manuals (or folios).

ASTROLOGY (SERVICE)

If there is one thing people who read Astrology magazines love, it really is this . . . They WANT TO BE ANALYZED AND COUNSELLED BY PROFESSIONALS. Are you experiencing specialized training in the art of Horoscope Reading? If so, it is possible to sell your services by mail. Below are a few of the news form ads offering such services:

- "Let an Expert Discuss YOUR DAILY LIFE!"

- "This Horoscope is approximately YOU"

- "Now . . . a serious study of YOU!"

- "Now there is a Horoscope written for the TWO OF YOU! . . .
One for you, one for your loved one! It might mean the
difference between a Happy Marriage and an agonizing Divorce!"

- "1976 - 1977 - 1978! Is one of these YOUR Year of Destiny?"
(This have been running in Astrology magazines for at the very least ten
years. Each year, the advertiser simply changes the dates!

Other services being offered in this magazine include:

- Personal Questions Answered by Psychics and Mystics
- Spiritual Readings
- Tarot Readings
- Palm Readings
- Handwriting Analysis
- Questions answered through Astro-Extra Sensory Perception

Are you trained to provide such services through the mail? Or are you interested in receiving such training? (You can find many such offers to teach you in a newstand magazine called FATE.) If you answer is Yes . . . this is where you need to begin your mailorder career.

Another magazine I analyzed was the November 1975 problem of FIELD AND STREAM. Since this magazine is targeted at two mailorder markets, hunters and fishermen, I analyzed only those ads pertaining to Hunters.

HUNTERS (MERCHANDISE)

Men who hunt for wild game spend a lot of money on their hobby. They buy top quality hunting clothes. (Who wants to go hunting in a CHEAP pair of jungle boots?) They spend big money on their guns, their hunting knives, and on top quality binoculars. There are various dozen well-established mail order companies selling this type of merchandise to hunters. If you ar planning to establish a one man mail order operation, you'd be well advised not to try to compete with these companies. Instead, search for something unique that a hunter can USE, and commence you mailorder business there.

Here are a few merchandise offerings being made by enterprising dealers:

"Deer Hunter's soap" (Bathe in soap scented with the aroma of a lady deer and you will attract a Buck. Only $1.50 per bay!) Notice how a smart dealer ADAPTED a commonplace item to a specialized market. Notice too, that he adapted it to ONLY 1 SORT OF HUNTER. HE DIDN'T OFFER IT TO BEAR HUNTERS, TO COON HUNTERS, TO QUAIL HUNTERS, OR TO GAME HUNTERS GENERALLY. He offered it to deer-hunters! If you are a deer-hunter, you would notice that ad!"

"Curtain rods for HUNTING Vans - $3.95 a pair." (Sure, you can purchase curtain rods in virtually any dime store, but not curtain rods for HUNTING VANS! Another excellent exemplory case of going for a commonplace item, adapting it to a specialized market, and creating a new mailorder product.

Also offered:

- Gun cleaning cloths (10 for a dollar)

- Brass Nameplates for HUNTING DOGS (not for just any old dog!)

- ID Tags for Your Hunting Dogs

- Handwarmers and Bodywarmers (Boy, could you use these once you get lost in the snow!)

- There was a little classified ad offering "Fish and Game Rubber Stamps." I hope this dealer got plenty of orders, but if he didn't, I suspect it was because his offer was too general. To begin with, it could have sold better having an illustrated display ad. But even better . . . let us get back to the Virgo and Scorpio concept above. How about rubber stamps for Coon Hunters? Or for Pheasant Hunters? Or rubber stamps for Taxidermists? You'll always have more orders in the event that you direct your ad to specific people.

HUNTING (INFORMATION)

Frankly, I was amazed at the number of Information Folios for sale to Hunters. Here are some examples:

"How to Build YOUR PERSONAL Gun Cabinet"

"Duck Calling Instructions" (half an hour on tape!) A lot of information, atlanta divorce attorneys field, is currently being put on cassette tape and sold by mail. If you would rather talk than write, this may be an aspect of mailorder selling that you consider.

"Chart showing Life-size Tracks of 38 Animals in the Adirondack Mountains" (Incidently not absolutely all information is written. Lots of people buy plans, diagrams, etc. To digress, recently a dealer advertised plans to build your personal flying saucer detector!)

"Developing Box Traps - $1.00"

"My Secret on Coon Trapping, after 50 years. Guaranteed, $1.00"

"Mount catch Fun and Profit - Easy instructions - $1.00"

"Tan YOUR PERSONAL Hides - Hair on or off - Complete, easy to follow instructions and Formulas - $1.00"

"Build (meat, fish, sausage) smoker! Inexpensive, protable.... easy plans, $1.00"

"Wild Game and Fish Recipes - Deer, Bear, Rabbit, Trout, Salmon and dozens more - $1.00"

Can you write an information manual for hunters? Can you tell him how exactly to shoot ducks? Or how exactly to hunt buffalo? . . . Or what to do for snake bites? . . . Or how exactly to sign up for a large Game Safari in the wilds of Africa? If you can, write a good manual (or put it on tape!) and sell it by mail!

HUNTING (SERVICE)

Unlike the readers of Astrology magazines, Game Hunters don't provide a damn about being analyzed or counselled! But when you can teach his hunting dog how to chase a bear up a tree, he then will probably pay you for the services. Can you repair his gun? Or can you stuff and mount his catches? If that's the case, you can build a mailorder business offering such services.

The final publication analyzed was the WRITER'S DIGEST of November, 1975.

WRITING (MERCHANDISE)

If you are thinking about the craft of writing (or assuming you have done well in creative writing classes) you may decide to create a mail order business catering to the needs of thousands of persons who imagine becoming professional writers. below are a few of the merchandise offerings being made to writers:

- "Copyright and Related Laws for Writers"

- "Grants and Aids to Individuals in the Arts - 1500 Sources." (What writer isn't searching for a grant?)

- "I receive checks weekly for features, fillers, news. Free details."

- "Gagwriters Guide"

- "Secret Way to Make Money Writing - $2.00"

- "EARN MONEY Writing Fillers! Up-to-Date Filler Directory."

- "International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses."

When you can produce an information manual showing writers how to write better, or how to sell their manuscripts, then write it and sell it by mail. You should have CREATED a fresh mailorder product! (To obtain ideas for subjects of interest to writers, study the articles such publications because the Writers Digest, The Writer, Saturday Review, etc.)

WRITERS -- (SERVICE)

A few of the largest mailorder business on the planet sell correspondence courses teaching people how exactly to write for a full time income. There are also twelve or more large printing companies (called "Vanity Publishers" in the trade) whose sole business is printing books for authors, whose works have been rejected by the regular publishing houses.

If you are a significant literary person, with something special for writing, you could very possibly set up a business offering your services to writers. Here are a few of the services which were on offer in the November 1975 problem of Writer's Digest:

- Literary Counseling
- Literary Criticism
- Literary Editing
- Short Story Evaluation
- Manuscript Analysis
- Article Evaluation (No Fiction)
- Ghost Writing
- Newspaper and Magazine Reference Service (Authors often need this type of service.)
- Manuscript Typing

Are you qualified to offer any of these services by mail? When you are, you have found something to sell by mail! If you are not now qualified, you will want to acquire professional training . . . and then offer your services by mail?

IN CONCLUSION

I realize that I've just touched the top of three different mail order markets. You can find hundreds of other mail order markets that you can explore! Analyze yourself and select the market that is best for you.

Study your market thoroughly . . . RATHER THAN STOP STUDYING IT. Most successful mailorder people read a large number of magazines on a monthly basis. They Know very well what their customers are considering, what they want, and what they'll buy.

Successful mailorder people are interested in the NEEDS and WANTS of these customers FIRST. They recognize that if they concentrate on those, profits will flow naturally. Those who think only of profits soon pass by the wayside.

In the beginning of this manual, I asked one to write to every magazine in your chosen field. Subscribe to as many as possible. Once you have created your first product, then start advertising in those magazines (which explains why I thought to keep their rate cards.) Never run an ad if you don't can run it in three consecutive issues. Then CONTINUE running it so long as it continues to create new customers for you personally. Slowly add new (but related) what to your line. Whenever you can, expand your organization by inserting your ads in new publications.

Remember these simple guidelines:

- DON'T COPY ANYONE ELSE! You are a unique individual. Express your own individuality in your Mail Order business.

- CREATE SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING!

- CREATE SOMETHING USEFUL AND WORTHWHILE!

- CREATE SOMETHING YOU YOURSELF WOULD LIKE TO BUY!

Copyright by DeAnna Spencer 2004

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DeAnna Spencer is really a virtual assistant that helps entrepreneurs run a successful business by providing affordable administrative help. She also publishes a blog for small enterprises. Visit this small business resource today.
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