Publishing
and distributing a mail order ad sheet can be very profitable. They are simple and easy to produce, with
most quick print shops able to handle the printing at fairly low cost. The important consideration is that you can
use them to pull in advertising dollars for yourself, as a free advertising
media for your own products, and as an exchange medium with which to get
greater exposure for your own ads.
Before
starting an ad sheet, you should plan it all out - decide on an interesting,
informative title, choose a masthead, lay out your columns for size, determine
if it is to be a simple 8 1/2 x 11 single sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet
folded in half. You'll also need to know
your production cost for the number you intend to have printed, and the postage
cost to mail them out.
Most
ad sheets start out as single sheets of paper, 8 1/2 x 11, printed on both
sides. Usually, the front side is
divided into three equal columns about 2 1/4 inches wide, with a 1/2 inch
margin from the edge of the paper on both sides and top and bottom.
Assuming
that the space occupied by your title, masthead and listing of rates for
advertisers interested in placing an ad with you is two inches deep, this
leaves you about 24 inches of advertising space to sell on the front side. Figuring a cost of $50 for 1,000 copies of
such an ad sheet, printed both sides, and a third-class bulk-rate postage of
$110, this means that your 24 inches of ad space will have to be sold at a rate
of $6.25 each in order to break even.
This means: You have to sell all
of the ad space on the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 per ad - and then expect
to make your profits from the sale of the back side of your ad sheet. Actually, it would be feasible to charge
$7.00 per inch for the space on the front side, and carry your own full page ad
on the back side. At any rate, don't box
yourself into a loss situation where you can't afford to place your own ads in your
ad sheet.
You
get ads by making up an advertising solicitation sales letter and sending it
out to as many mail order dealers as you can find. You can also run ads in other people's
publications, inviting the readers to check with you regarding placement of an
ad in your publication. And of course,
you'll be wanting to work out some exchange advertising deals (whereby another
publisher runs your ad in his publication, and you run his in exchange). From the experience of many, many publishers,
this can be one of the most effective ways of getting your ads run, at low/no
cost, and it is recognized to be successful in the field of Mail Order.
You
probably won't be able to fill up all of your available ad space with paid ads
until you are well established - but no problem - first you fill your ad space
with paid ads, and then you fill in the empty space with ads of your own. Some beginning advertisers fill a part of
their empty space with complimentary ads for other mail order operators, send
them a copy of the issue in which the complimentary ad appears, and invite them
to continue the ad on a "paid" basis from there. Many of them will appreciate the favor and
send you a check or money order to continue running the ad.
If
you undertake the publication of an ad sheet, be sure to consider the
possibilities of sending out 100 to 1,000 copies of your ad sheet to other mail
order operators to rubber stamp their names/addresses as co-publishers and mail
out for you. Thus, if you had 50 other
mail order operators sending out 100 copies each of your ad sheet, you'd be
talking about a circulation of 5,000 copies plus the number of copies you mail
out. If you can get this kind of program
going, you'll quickly build your reputation as well as your circulation, and at
the bottom line, your profits.
Some
ad sheet publishers, once they've established themselves and are putting out an
impressive publication, set up distributor networks. Generally, they run ads calling for
distributor/dealers and asking for a $5 to $10 registration fee. In reply to the registration application,
they send out a letter explaining that each distributor can buy at half price,
so many copies of each issue of the ad sheet, rubber stamp their name on each
copy, and send them out as their own. In
return, the distributors usually get 50% of the incoming advertising orders, a
half-price ad for themselves, and an opportunity to sell subscriptions.
The
bottom line relative to becoming a successful ad sheet publisher has to do with
keeping your production costs - printing and mailing - as low as possible,
while putting out a quality product that other people in the mail order
business will want to advertise in - while at the same time using it as an
advertising/selling vehicle for your own products.
Everyone
involved in mail order selling should have some sort of ad sheet - if for no
other reason than as a means to an end - an advertising vehicle for your own
products, an extra income form advertising revenues, and as an exchange media
with which to gain greater exposure for your own products in other people's
publications. Once you've got an ad
sheet, or any kind of publication set up and being seen by other mail order
operators, you'll quickly gain stature and a certain amount of prestige.
As
with any business, your ultimate success depends on your own feasibility
studies, and your "sharp-pencil" planning completed before you order
your first issue printed. Think about
it, weigh the pro's & con's, then go with your decision.
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