Wednesday, 22 June 2016
best advice ever
You can talk and rethink and plan and learn...but in the end your success depends on how many buy buttons you have online....and how many people find and click them.
Failing? You May Not Be Stupid Enough!
Most of us think being smart is better than being stupid. However, I've seen in my own life and in the posts of many members here, that sometimes we are too smart for our own good and we need to dumb things down a bit.
For example, I've seen people asking questions here that others have called stupid. Sometimes some of the "smarter" folks gang up on the so-called stupid ones and call them names such as newbie or wannabe. Yet amazingly, many of these "stupid" members go ahead and methodically build a stupid website and have it operational in a couple days. They open up a stupid FB page or group. They run a stupid ad to get traffic. They put up a stupid squeeze page. They choose a stupid theme in an hour to put on their stupid blog. They put a stupid signature to advertise their stupid site. They write a stupid little ebook in a week and publish it. They ask their stupid questions on the forum, log out, and then go to work. Then they stupidly work on things every day trying to make them better. They try new stupid stuff to see if it works better than the old stupid stuff they were working on last week. Many of them will find a way to succeed. Because they are stupid. Meanwhile, us smart folks laugh at the stupid ones. We spend 4 or 5 weeks getting the perfect theme for our blog. We are going to release our big ebook that we've been working on for 2 years as soon as we revise it for the 15th time. We spend 3 months dissecting the data on our competition before we put up a website. We dare not open our site until we have 2,000 long tail keywords to work with. We sign up for five trial autoresponder systems to get the best one. Our blog, once it is published, has 49 of the best, state of the art plugins that does everything but make a cup of coffee - we know because we've put them through their paces. We join every mailing list so we can get the scoop on all the happenings because we want to be up to date. Finally, we are a member of four forums, 10 FB groups, and attend several webinars a week to get the proper training we need. Unfortunately, many of these smart folks will never succeed because they spend all their time doing the "smart" stuff instead of the "stupid" stuff. Are YOU stupid enough? Would love to hear your comments. Mark |
How a Nobody Made 3K in Sales on The Warrior Forum
Can a newbie really sell an internet marketing product on the the Warrior Forum or in JV Zoo and earn money?
If you are a nobody (a.k.a. newbie) like me and you are selling “how to” information products, your chance of getting sales and building a buyers list is from zero to slim. You just cannot teach about getting traffic and coaching those marketing tactics because you have to establish first your credibility to a tightly knitted community which will take time to nurture. You can try PLR pdfs and videos, but it won’t cut it because the WF buyers will know you are not the author or an expert you claim to be at all.
The Warrior Forum, arguably the biggest internet marketers’ forum is populated by experienced marketers and newbies looking for gurus or mentors. So how did I do it and what you should do too?
What should you be selling first if you are a newbie and have no connections?
Marketing software is the best product to sell. First, it has a higher perceived value compared to training courses, pdfs and videos. Second, if the software is top-notch, the buyers won’t give a damn if you are a newbie or not. Remember the “what’s in it for me” is the mantra of most of the buyers. The demo of the how good the software and how it can help them in their marketing efforts are the ones doing the selling.
Look at the top 3 bestselling products to date in JV Zoo below are all software. Need I say any more? The figures speak for themselves. No contest really.
topsoftwaresale
But software development is costly and I am not sure if the is what the marketers want ?
There is another easy way. Buy reseller or agency rights. I have bought agency rights for $10 as a bonus from a developer many times over and have sold it and I am still selling it on JV Zoo with my own affiliates to boot. I have bought 200 reseller rights for less than $200 which I already have earned 15 times the purchase price and I’m still halfway to finish selling all the rights. I just recently paid another $10 for a product for the bonus of having my product emailed to thousands of subscribers. And guess what product I promoted? A reseller software product I have in JVZoo and it has done well for a $10 purchase.
Look at my sales in WSO forum below. While majority of the gurus and the veterans in the Warrior Forum are selling their wares from a ridiculously 5 dollars to 17 dollars and have to answer to so many doubters, I am selling my reseller software products for… wait for it… $47 a pop. A pricey one compared to the average sale price inside the forum. You can check my WSO sales page here to learn how I presented the product.
guestpostprofitcanvas
What are the guidelines I followed in choosing a good reseller software products ?
Only buy reseller rights from top-notch software developers with world class support. There are many of them but be careful of some the fly-by-night ones that disappears once the software has major problems.
Make sure that the software was a best seller when launched. The software I am selling had more than 3,000 plus happy buyers. Buy only software that has sold at least a thousand with no bad feedback.
Support should be handled directly by the developer himself so you will be hands off from any technical support. Your role is to make sure the buyer has no problem accessing the product. If the developer cannot do support for the life of the software, then it is a sign that it is not a good buy and may trigger refunds.
Where can I find a top-notch software I can use to build a buyers list ?
Most of these reseller softwares are on limited time only and comes as special from time to time only. However, you might qualify to receive free 4 top-notch softwares available in Profit Canvas Pro if you are serious about list building using email autoresponders.
So where will I go from here after they bought the software ?
Every buyer will be a part of your buyers list as long as you have an autoresponder integrated into JVZoo. It is a must that you own a reseller software products in JVZoo to build a buyers list. How to develop and nurture your buyers list is another topic but in general, you should continue to give then valuable content as you go through. One example is this real experience post I shared to my buyers list which can be another stream of income for them.
Why do so Many People Fail Online?
So what is the biggest stumbling block for internet marketers, both new and old? It’s a question that many people ask, and it seems there are many answers. In my honest opinion few are right!
The answers I have heard include:
Shinny Object Syndrome – this is where people jump from one idea to another believing that the next launch, the next ebook, the next software product is “the one” that will make them rich
Not having a list – certainly this is a stumbling block, as we all know “the money is in the list.” However even without a list you can potentially make money
Lack of traffic – oh yeah this one is said a lot. You see people say “but if I had more traffic I would make (more) money.” But again that is not always true, as even if you had 200 people a day visiting your site if they are not targeted or not buyers you won’t make money
“They” have all the luck – many people blame others thinking that they have more luck, they have special skills, they were born to the right family etc, etc, however again all of this is poppycock!
Lack of knowledge – kind of like the above. People will blame the fact that they don’t know everything thus they can’t possibly launch a product or service
My product is not yet perfect – oh the “don’t release it till it’s perfect” answer. Let me tell you there is no such thing as perfection! Since this is your product you will always see fault with it, you will always want to improve it. The important thing is that you launch the product when it is good enough for the market. I don’t mean you should produce half finished products, I mean you need to know when a product is ready, and not always strive for perfection
You see when a person wants to find an excuse for not putting something out there they will. However, sometimes people don’t even realise that they are undertaking self sabotage.
But let me in on what I believe is the big secret to success!
Planning and Taking Action Fast!
They say money likes speed. The quicker you are the more you make. But you know the problem a lot of people have, in my opinion, is they don’t plan. They see an internet business as being different from any other business out there! For some reason many people believe you can just start a business like that, super quick, no planning involved. And then they wonder why they don’t make money
With an offline business before you open your doors, you are planning all the way. Planning your premises, presentation of your goods, what you will sell, how you will make money out of each customer … the list goes on.
When it comes to the online world it seems most people forget about this. They don’t plan. And let me in on a secret – I have been guilty of this too.
Here’s what has happened to me:
- Decided to launch a product
- Created the product
- Created the sales page
- Made a lot of sales
Then suddenly thought, shoot I never:
- created an upsell
- darn I forgot collect email addresses and put them on my autoresponder
- oh man I never put any ads on a download page
Honestly I did not have a process in place. And it is not just me. I have seen other people who have had great launches end up being what one one might call “one hit wonders.” They have one success and then disappear. Why? No succession planning.
It’s down to the planning
The truth is that some people create a product simply for a quick fix, to get them out of a hole they are in. Imagine a shop opening up for a week, then once the initial stock was sold doing nothing as they just needed to make some quick money.
People would soon think how odd it was, that they are not following up with customers, restocking the shelves etc. But this is what so many people online do. They create a product, sell it then they kind of disappear because they have made the 3k that they needed to cover the rent or other expenses.
Those who succeed are those who plan, who take the time to think like a chess player, they think 3 or 4 products ahead. They have all of the pieces of their game lined up.
Look at the big players out there, or even the medium players. They have a well oiled process when they sell a product. Watch the next launch or promotion one of the big dogs do and learn from it.
Getting back to basics
Ok so by now you know you need to plan. However, there is planning and there is planning. This is something I found out the hard way. You need to create a plan and stick to it. Don’t use the excuse of not having time, as one hour a day used wisely is better than 7 hours a day wasted browsing Facebook!
Over the years I have refined my plan and finally decided that I was going to share it with others in the form of my FastActionPlanner series. These planners take you through the first 4 important stages of your document:
- Niche Research Planning
- Product Name Planning
- Product Creation Planning
- Sales Page Planning
Each planner prompts you to take action and guides you each step of the way. However more than that, once you have your plan and launch your product you then have a blue print to do it all over again. But this time you will able to do it quicker!
If you’re serious about building an o
Tuesday, 21 June 2016
All Post Offices Are NOT Created Equal!
Dear Friend & Subscriber,
I've been writing this newsletter since September, 1986 and I have received thousands of letters, phone calls and faxes from people expressing their appreciation for what they got from reading those letters.
But never anything like what I got from my last issue.
The response from that issue has put me back on the board. Financially, emotionally and spiritually. I could devote this entire issue to expressing how grateful I am for all the help and encouragement I have received.
But, I'm not going to do that. Not now. I'm too close to it. Truth be told, I have a hard time dealing with appreciation and compliments. It's not what I got much of when I was growing up and, because of that, it's hard for me to take it in and let myself enjoy it. Especially the degree and amount of it I've received since mailing out that last issue. I'm tempted to fill up this issue by writing about all of you who've been so supportive this last month but, I daren't do that. Not now. It's too fresh and I'm afraid I'll get too caught up in it and not be able to do my job here. So, it'll have to wait. But, I've got to say something so, here's what I can manage at the moment.
Thank you.
OK, let's see if I can give you an idea or two that'll be profitable for you. First, if you use direct mail, I'm going to suggest something you can test which might give you a surprising increase in response. You know, since direct mail was invented, trillions of sales letters have been mailed. And untold thousands of things have been tested. Mailers test price. Red reply envelopes versus blue ones. Different mailing lists. They test (usually, based on my advice) attaching a "grabber" to the first page of their sales letters. They test offers. They test first-class versus bulk rate. They test different size envelopes and different size letters. They test different copy slants. Different appeals. Including a brochure or not including a brochure.
And on and on and on. Everything you can think of. But, there's one big thing you can test I bet you never thought of. It's something, if we lived in a perfect world, shouldn't make a difference. But, guess what? According to evidence I've been collecting, I now have reason to suspect we don't live in a perfect world (hard concept to accept, isn't it?) and so, if you use direct mail... I urge you... make this test...
Test Using One Post
Office Versus Using
Another Post Office!
I haven't moved. I still live right here in Miami Beach. But, I have changed my mailing address; it's now in Ocala, Florida. (See letterhead.) Why? Because, for a long time, I've suspected I wasn't getting all my mail. Then, about a week ago, I have dinner with another guy who has been, over the years, a very big player in the newsletter business. Turns out he moved here to Miami Beach about 1-1/2 years ago and he too has decided not to send or receive mail from the Miami Beach post office. He said he put out a big mailing the last week in December so it would hit the first couple weeks in January. His results were way off. As much as 40%. A mystery. Then, in March, three months after his mailing went out, the post office delivers a big bunch of orders to him that were postmarked in January. He tried to find out "why" but nobody had an answer for him.
Let's go back in time. Years ago, in another life, I lived in Ohio. Then, I decided I wanted to have an office in Florida. I started doing business out of Fort Lauderdale and, lo and behold, the response to the major mailing I was sending out back then took a dramatic nosedive. My wife at the time, Nancy, told me the reason was obvious: People simply wouldn't respond to a Florida address like they would to an Ohio address.
Sounded silly to me. Just didn't compute.
But I did a test and it turned out she was right. Very right. The difference in response was dramatic.
Here are, I believe, some of the reasons: (1) People don't trust people who live in big towns as much as they trust people who live in smaller towns. In fact, I believe people perceive some states as being more "trustworthy" than other states. New York, California, New Jersey and Florida are, in people's minds (I think) the most "untrustworthy" states of all. And, I'd guess, New York City, Los Angeles and Miami are the most "untrustworthy" cities.
(2) Secondly, I think you get way better service from post offices in small towns than you do from post offices in big towns. It seems to me, people who work in small town P.O.'s consider your mail important, whereas in some big town post offices, every letter seems to be a "pest" to be gotten rid of in any way that's convenient. Which does not necessarily include actually delivering that pesty piece of mail.
A guy in Provo, Utah told me about a very successful fund raising letter he had mailed from up there in Mormon Country. Actually, it was the test mailing that was profitable, not the "rollout" mailing which was a complete bomb. Same letter, same offer, same mailing list. What in God's name had happened?
He found out. He flew to Chicago and discovered 600,000 pieces of his mail...
Had Been Deposited In
Dumpsters Instead Of Mailboxes!
I don't know if it's still true but, Van Nuys, California used to be considered the "black hole" of the U.S. postal system. It was sorta like "The Hotel California For Letters" where much of the mail got checked in but never got checked out.
Big city postal employees are very busy: They've got a lot of drugs to take and a lot of people to shoot. Sometimes, in Miami or New York, when someone gets hot under the collar someone else will say, "Hey Man, don't go postal on me!"
Back in the days when I was riding high in the family coat-of-arms business with Dennis Haslinger, we got to where we were mailing upwards of a million letters per week. All the printing and lettershop work was done near Chicago but, we didn't mail from there. Instead, we had it trucked-in in a semi every week. I told Dennis I wanted to do it that way because it wouldn't appear authentic for a nice lady like Nancy L. Halbert who lived in Bath, Ohio to mail her letters from Chicago.
That was true but, there was another advantage we were getting by trucking our mail to Bath... a much bigger advantage... I wasn't even thinking about back then. The post office we were using was very small and located directly across the street from the small, red house on Ira Road that was our office. We had a personal relationship with the postmaster. As you can imagine, it wasn't long until we were buying 99.9999% of all the stamps purchased from his little post office. And, believe it or not, he appreciated it. He took care of us. If we gave him 100,000 letters to mail... all of them got mailed!
Do you think that would've happened anyway if we had let that Chicago lettershop do it for us?
I don't.
And I believe that more strongly now than ever before. Think of stamps as "paper coins." What that means is, if you are a big mailer, you should have checks and balances and accountability for all your paper coins... every bit as stringent...
As Those Used To Safeguard
Metal Coins By All The
Casinos In Las Vegas!
Stamps are money. Yet, we in the direct mail business often have only minimal (if any) accountability control when it comes to our postage currency. Therefore, if you are a big mailer or ever hope to become one, I'd like to suggest you make the following test: Let's say you've got a mailing of 100,000 pieces coming up. You tell your list broker you want to do an A/B split. That means every other name will be put on a different print-out of labels or put on a different computer disk or whatever. Then, you give one set (50,000) of those names to one lettershop (the one you normally use) and, you give the other set of 50,000 names to a different lettershop. You have your usual lettershop do what they normally do: Which is, of course, get the letters all ready to go and put them in the mail for you.
You have the second lettershop do everything the first lettershop did... except... you have that lettershop deliver the mail to you. Then, you count those letters and you take them to the post office yourself. You do this on the same day the first lettershop mails the other 50,000 letters. Then, you sit back and wait for the orders. (Naturally, you have the orders "coded" some way so you know which orders came from which mailing.) OK, now... I'll bet you a dollar to a donut...
The 50,000 Letters You
Counted And Took To The
Post Office Will Dramatically
Outpull The 50,000 Letters
Your Lettershop Took To
The Post Office!
Every time.
Does this mean I think all lettershop owners are dishonest? No. Not at all. What I do believe, however, is most employees of lettershops earn only a minimum wage and, they can't help but be tempted by all those "paper coins." I also believe "security" for all forms of postal currency is either extremely lax or, in fact, pretty much non-existent.
Plus, plenty of lettershop owners are dishonest!
Did you see that movie "Casino" starring Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro? It's about a real life guy named Lefty Rosenthal who ends up running a Las Vegas casino. If you watch the movie, you get an idea how all those mob guys make sure their coins are all accounted for. And, I'll tell you what: If those guys were buying 100,000 stamps to put on letters... well... I bet all of those letters would get mailed!
Yet... yet... some of the largest mailers in the world, some of them mailing hundreds of millions of letters per year treat their "paper coins" or their "metered coins" or their "indiciaed coins"... as though... they weren't real money. The consequences can be painful. Even financially disastrous. Recently, I myself made a multi-thousand piece mailing which was very important to me. It was an oversized mailing weighing more than one ounce and the postage necessary to mail it was 55 cents. You probably already know it (oddly, I didn't) but, the post office has a 55 cents self-adhesive stamp you can buy.
So, I bought thousands of them with which to make my mailing. The mailing was prepared in my office. When it was ready to go, a couple of the temporary employees who were working on that project took the mail to the post office.
Unsupervised.
The post office returned about 14% of the envelopes to me right away because the envelopes hadn't been sealed and there was nothing in them. When the nixies started coming back, there didn't seem to be enough of them. And maybe 15% to 20% of the nixies were sealed and stamped but had no sales letter or anything else in them. Then, we found one of our trusted employees with a bunch of 55 cent stamps. When questioned, he said he had purchased them with his own money... and... who am I to say he didn't?
When that letter went out about a month ago, I thought it was maybe the best sales letter I've ever written. Guess how many orders I got back in the mail?
None! Not one! Zippo! Nada! Zilch! Zero!
Listen, the letter could be a loser. I write losers just like everybody else. (Rarely, but it does happen.) But not one? Not one order in the mail? To the best of my recollection, I've never had that happen before.
Which brings me to another little dealybop you'd better watch out for. Let's say you move and you send your post office one of those "change-of-address" forms. What happens? Just what's supposed to happen: They forward all your mail to your new address.
What's wrong with this picture? Consider this: What happens if someone else sends in a change-of-address form for you or your business? No mystery. The post office will forward your mail to the new address on the card. What? You thought they had an ANTI-FORGERY SWAT TEAM to verify your signature?
Sorry to disappoint you. Actually, it's a very common scam these days. The bad guys send in a phony change-of-address form and your mail gets forwarded to a mail drop. Then, they get your checks, your credit card numbers, all kinds of info about you... and... if you are in the mail order business... they get... your orders!
This can be financially disastrous. It can also wreck your rapport with your customers. Trust me, I know. This is getting to be very common. Happens every day. "60 Minutes" did a segment on it. However, this is one of those deals that works better in a large post office in a large city. In a small post office in a small town where everybody pretty much knows everybody else, it's much less likely to work. Also, it seems to me, postal employees in large cities are often individuals much lower on the food chain than postal employees in small towns.
I consider this business of treating your postage like it was money so serious, I'm fully aware of being... redundant... redundant... redundant... about this point. I don't care. If what I'm writing here saves just one of my subscribers from taking the kind of financial bath I've just endured, it'll make me feel like that young boy in the "Starfish Thrower." I was reminded of that story recently by one of my friends and subscribers. I may not have it exactly right but it goes something like this:
Thousands of starfish washed ashore on a beach. A young boy stands among them, bends down, picks one up and throws it back into the ocean. Then he does it again. And again. A man comes along and asks him why he is doing this. "Starfish can't live out of the ocean," the boy explains, "so when I throw one back into the sea, it gets a chance to live."
"But what's the use?" asks the man. "There are thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't even begin to help them all. What difference does it make?"
The boy picks up another starfish and tosses it into the sea. Then, he looks at the man and says...
"Made A Difference To
That One, Didn't It?"
Perhaps some of my more "sophisticated" readers will consider the message in this issue too basic to have value. After all, when you boil it down, my only advice so far in this letter has been:
A. Consider sending your mail from a different post office. Preferably a small one in a small town.
B. Treat your postage just like it was real money... because... it is!
Maybe it doesn't sound like much... but... I'll tell you what: It's "core."
Here's more on the subject of mail: Last year, for the first time ever, more messages were sent by E-mail than by regular mail. And since you can send a jillion E-mail messages practically free, you'd think this would be a bonanza for marketers, wouldn't you? Well, it appears that is not the case. At least, not now. I've got a friend who lets me watch, once-in-a-while, as he accesses his E-mail. There's almost always a bunch of unsolicited commercial messages in his mailbox. Well, since these were sent mostly without charge by the sender, why is it none (or few) of them are making money?
Imagine this: There are two guys and both of them want to be entertainers. One guy has no talent and he's lazy. Aside from a few basic sloppy chords, he never even really learns how to play his guitar. His singing voice sucks and, he considers it to be beneath him to get a voice coach.
Then he gets a big break. Someone gets him on the "Tonight Show." He's got three minutes and tens of millions of people watching him. And, for some lucky reason, it didn't cost him a cent to get this chance of a lifetime. What happens to his career?
Doodley squat. Zippo. Nothing.
The other guy, he has some talent. Plus, he works his butt off mastering his guitar. He practices his songs over and over. He starts performing before small audiences and he takes note of what they like and what they don't. He changes and hones his act until it's a "killer." Then, he gets a shot on the "Tonight Show"... and... he becomes rich and famous and hated by the likes of Gary Halbert because of all the hot, sexy women who throw themselves at him.
The moral is obvious. You gotta pay your dues. I'm sorry but, you just gotta. Anyone who thinks otherwise should think about this...
Most People Who Want To
Be In The Mail Order Business
Couldn't Make It Even If
The Postage Was Free!
E-mail proves it.
Sincerely,
Gary C. Halbert
P.S. Given my "public persona," you may not believe it... but... I have been left... literally speechless... by the reaction of my readers to the last issue of this newsletter. I've always been slightly put-off when someone talks about having a "mission" in life. Well, hokey as it may sound, I now believe my "mission" in life, and pretty much my only mission is... to keep writing The Gary Halbert Letter... to spend more and more time on it... to strive to make it better and better... to put even more of my heart and soul into it... to avoid cluttering up my life by trying to run a business (or even an office)... to become a better and better teacher... to be a teacher who teaches substance... and... who brings some smiles, some laughter and maybe a "patch-of-sunlight" into a few people's lives. From now on, that's it. That's my job, my only job, and I'm going to put everything I have into it.
By the way, I wouldn't mind getting laid once-in-awhile either.
Peace.
P.S.#2 As I told you at the onset of this newsletter, my mailing address has changed (that includes Fed Ex and UPS deliveries) but my phone and Fax numbers have remained the same. So, if you want me to actually receive the letters you send to me, don't send them to Miami Beach any more. Send them to Ocala which is a small town (population 43,000) north of Miami where (according to rumor, at least) some of the post office employees and residents... actually speak English!
So, once again, here's my new mailing address:
The Gary Halbert Letter
Suite 905-467
3101 S.W. 34th Ave.
Ocala, FL 34474
I've been writing this newsletter since September, 1986 and I have received thousands of letters, phone calls and faxes from people expressing their appreciation for what they got from reading those letters.
But never anything like what I got from my last issue.
The response from that issue has put me back on the board. Financially, emotionally and spiritually. I could devote this entire issue to expressing how grateful I am for all the help and encouragement I have received.
But, I'm not going to do that. Not now. I'm too close to it. Truth be told, I have a hard time dealing with appreciation and compliments. It's not what I got much of when I was growing up and, because of that, it's hard for me to take it in and let myself enjoy it. Especially the degree and amount of it I've received since mailing out that last issue. I'm tempted to fill up this issue by writing about all of you who've been so supportive this last month but, I daren't do that. Not now. It's too fresh and I'm afraid I'll get too caught up in it and not be able to do my job here. So, it'll have to wait. But, I've got to say something so, here's what I can manage at the moment.
Thank you.
OK, let's see if I can give you an idea or two that'll be profitable for you. First, if you use direct mail, I'm going to suggest something you can test which might give you a surprising increase in response. You know, since direct mail was invented, trillions of sales letters have been mailed. And untold thousands of things have been tested. Mailers test price. Red reply envelopes versus blue ones. Different mailing lists. They test (usually, based on my advice) attaching a "grabber" to the first page of their sales letters. They test offers. They test first-class versus bulk rate. They test different size envelopes and different size letters. They test different copy slants. Different appeals. Including a brochure or not including a brochure.
And on and on and on. Everything you can think of. But, there's one big thing you can test I bet you never thought of. It's something, if we lived in a perfect world, shouldn't make a difference. But, guess what? According to evidence I've been collecting, I now have reason to suspect we don't live in a perfect world (hard concept to accept, isn't it?) and so, if you use direct mail... I urge you... make this test...
Test Using One Post
Office Versus Using
Another Post Office!
I haven't moved. I still live right here in Miami Beach. But, I have changed my mailing address; it's now in Ocala, Florida. (See letterhead.) Why? Because, for a long time, I've suspected I wasn't getting all my mail. Then, about a week ago, I have dinner with another guy who has been, over the years, a very big player in the newsletter business. Turns out he moved here to Miami Beach about 1-1/2 years ago and he too has decided not to send or receive mail from the Miami Beach post office. He said he put out a big mailing the last week in December so it would hit the first couple weeks in January. His results were way off. As much as 40%. A mystery. Then, in March, three months after his mailing went out, the post office delivers a big bunch of orders to him that were postmarked in January. He tried to find out "why" but nobody had an answer for him.
Let's go back in time. Years ago, in another life, I lived in Ohio. Then, I decided I wanted to have an office in Florida. I started doing business out of Fort Lauderdale and, lo and behold, the response to the major mailing I was sending out back then took a dramatic nosedive. My wife at the time, Nancy, told me the reason was obvious: People simply wouldn't respond to a Florida address like they would to an Ohio address.
Sounded silly to me. Just didn't compute.
But I did a test and it turned out she was right. Very right. The difference in response was dramatic.
Here are, I believe, some of the reasons: (1) People don't trust people who live in big towns as much as they trust people who live in smaller towns. In fact, I believe people perceive some states as being more "trustworthy" than other states. New York, California, New Jersey and Florida are, in people's minds (I think) the most "untrustworthy" states of all. And, I'd guess, New York City, Los Angeles and Miami are the most "untrustworthy" cities.
(2) Secondly, I think you get way better service from post offices in small towns than you do from post offices in big towns. It seems to me, people who work in small town P.O.'s consider your mail important, whereas in some big town post offices, every letter seems to be a "pest" to be gotten rid of in any way that's convenient. Which does not necessarily include actually delivering that pesty piece of mail.
A guy in Provo, Utah told me about a very successful fund raising letter he had mailed from up there in Mormon Country. Actually, it was the test mailing that was profitable, not the "rollout" mailing which was a complete bomb. Same letter, same offer, same mailing list. What in God's name had happened?
He found out. He flew to Chicago and discovered 600,000 pieces of his mail...
Had Been Deposited In
Dumpsters Instead Of Mailboxes!
I don't know if it's still true but, Van Nuys, California used to be considered the "black hole" of the U.S. postal system. It was sorta like "The Hotel California For Letters" where much of the mail got checked in but never got checked out.
Big city postal employees are very busy: They've got a lot of drugs to take and a lot of people to shoot. Sometimes, in Miami or New York, when someone gets hot under the collar someone else will say, "Hey Man, don't go postal on me!"
Back in the days when I was riding high in the family coat-of-arms business with Dennis Haslinger, we got to where we were mailing upwards of a million letters per week. All the printing and lettershop work was done near Chicago but, we didn't mail from there. Instead, we had it trucked-in in a semi every week. I told Dennis I wanted to do it that way because it wouldn't appear authentic for a nice lady like Nancy L. Halbert who lived in Bath, Ohio to mail her letters from Chicago.
That was true but, there was another advantage we were getting by trucking our mail to Bath... a much bigger advantage... I wasn't even thinking about back then. The post office we were using was very small and located directly across the street from the small, red house on Ira Road that was our office. We had a personal relationship with the postmaster. As you can imagine, it wasn't long until we were buying 99.9999% of all the stamps purchased from his little post office. And, believe it or not, he appreciated it. He took care of us. If we gave him 100,000 letters to mail... all of them got mailed!
Do you think that would've happened anyway if we had let that Chicago lettershop do it for us?
I don't.
And I believe that more strongly now than ever before. Think of stamps as "paper coins." What that means is, if you are a big mailer, you should have checks and balances and accountability for all your paper coins... every bit as stringent...
As Those Used To Safeguard
Metal Coins By All The
Casinos In Las Vegas!
Stamps are money. Yet, we in the direct mail business often have only minimal (if any) accountability control when it comes to our postage currency. Therefore, if you are a big mailer or ever hope to become one, I'd like to suggest you make the following test: Let's say you've got a mailing of 100,000 pieces coming up. You tell your list broker you want to do an A/B split. That means every other name will be put on a different print-out of labels or put on a different computer disk or whatever. Then, you give one set (50,000) of those names to one lettershop (the one you normally use) and, you give the other set of 50,000 names to a different lettershop. You have your usual lettershop do what they normally do: Which is, of course, get the letters all ready to go and put them in the mail for you.
You have the second lettershop do everything the first lettershop did... except... you have that lettershop deliver the mail to you. Then, you count those letters and you take them to the post office yourself. You do this on the same day the first lettershop mails the other 50,000 letters. Then, you sit back and wait for the orders. (Naturally, you have the orders "coded" some way so you know which orders came from which mailing.) OK, now... I'll bet you a dollar to a donut...
The 50,000 Letters You
Counted And Took To The
Post Office Will Dramatically
Outpull The 50,000 Letters
Your Lettershop Took To
The Post Office!
Every time.
Does this mean I think all lettershop owners are dishonest? No. Not at all. What I do believe, however, is most employees of lettershops earn only a minimum wage and, they can't help but be tempted by all those "paper coins." I also believe "security" for all forms of postal currency is either extremely lax or, in fact, pretty much non-existent.
Plus, plenty of lettershop owners are dishonest!
Did you see that movie "Casino" starring Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro? It's about a real life guy named Lefty Rosenthal who ends up running a Las Vegas casino. If you watch the movie, you get an idea how all those mob guys make sure their coins are all accounted for. And, I'll tell you what: If those guys were buying 100,000 stamps to put on letters... well... I bet all of those letters would get mailed!
Yet... yet... some of the largest mailers in the world, some of them mailing hundreds of millions of letters per year treat their "paper coins" or their "metered coins" or their "indiciaed coins"... as though... they weren't real money. The consequences can be painful. Even financially disastrous. Recently, I myself made a multi-thousand piece mailing which was very important to me. It was an oversized mailing weighing more than one ounce and the postage necessary to mail it was 55 cents. You probably already know it (oddly, I didn't) but, the post office has a 55 cents self-adhesive stamp you can buy.
So, I bought thousands of them with which to make my mailing. The mailing was prepared in my office. When it was ready to go, a couple of the temporary employees who were working on that project took the mail to the post office.
Unsupervised.
The post office returned about 14% of the envelopes to me right away because the envelopes hadn't been sealed and there was nothing in them. When the nixies started coming back, there didn't seem to be enough of them. And maybe 15% to 20% of the nixies were sealed and stamped but had no sales letter or anything else in them. Then, we found one of our trusted employees with a bunch of 55 cent stamps. When questioned, he said he had purchased them with his own money... and... who am I to say he didn't?
When that letter went out about a month ago, I thought it was maybe the best sales letter I've ever written. Guess how many orders I got back in the mail?
None! Not one! Zippo! Nada! Zilch! Zero!
Listen, the letter could be a loser. I write losers just like everybody else. (Rarely, but it does happen.) But not one? Not one order in the mail? To the best of my recollection, I've never had that happen before.
Which brings me to another little dealybop you'd better watch out for. Let's say you move and you send your post office one of those "change-of-address" forms. What happens? Just what's supposed to happen: They forward all your mail to your new address.
What's wrong with this picture? Consider this: What happens if someone else sends in a change-of-address form for you or your business? No mystery. The post office will forward your mail to the new address on the card. What? You thought they had an ANTI-FORGERY SWAT TEAM to verify your signature?
Sorry to disappoint you. Actually, it's a very common scam these days. The bad guys send in a phony change-of-address form and your mail gets forwarded to a mail drop. Then, they get your checks, your credit card numbers, all kinds of info about you... and... if you are in the mail order business... they get... your orders!
This can be financially disastrous. It can also wreck your rapport with your customers. Trust me, I know. This is getting to be very common. Happens every day. "60 Minutes" did a segment on it. However, this is one of those deals that works better in a large post office in a large city. In a small post office in a small town where everybody pretty much knows everybody else, it's much less likely to work. Also, it seems to me, postal employees in large cities are often individuals much lower on the food chain than postal employees in small towns.
I consider this business of treating your postage like it was money so serious, I'm fully aware of being... redundant... redundant... redundant... about this point. I don't care. If what I'm writing here saves just one of my subscribers from taking the kind of financial bath I've just endured, it'll make me feel like that young boy in the "Starfish Thrower." I was reminded of that story recently by one of my friends and subscribers. I may not have it exactly right but it goes something like this:
Thousands of starfish washed ashore on a beach. A young boy stands among them, bends down, picks one up and throws it back into the ocean. Then he does it again. And again. A man comes along and asks him why he is doing this. "Starfish can't live out of the ocean," the boy explains, "so when I throw one back into the sea, it gets a chance to live."
"But what's the use?" asks the man. "There are thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't even begin to help them all. What difference does it make?"
The boy picks up another starfish and tosses it into the sea. Then, he looks at the man and says...
"Made A Difference To
That One, Didn't It?"
Perhaps some of my more "sophisticated" readers will consider the message in this issue too basic to have value. After all, when you boil it down, my only advice so far in this letter has been:
A. Consider sending your mail from a different post office. Preferably a small one in a small town.
B. Treat your postage just like it was real money... because... it is!
Maybe it doesn't sound like much... but... I'll tell you what: It's "core."
Here's more on the subject of mail: Last year, for the first time ever, more messages were sent by E-mail than by regular mail. And since you can send a jillion E-mail messages practically free, you'd think this would be a bonanza for marketers, wouldn't you? Well, it appears that is not the case. At least, not now. I've got a friend who lets me watch, once-in-a-while, as he accesses his E-mail. There's almost always a bunch of unsolicited commercial messages in his mailbox. Well, since these were sent mostly without charge by the sender, why is it none (or few) of them are making money?
Imagine this: There are two guys and both of them want to be entertainers. One guy has no talent and he's lazy. Aside from a few basic sloppy chords, he never even really learns how to play his guitar. His singing voice sucks and, he considers it to be beneath him to get a voice coach.
Then he gets a big break. Someone gets him on the "Tonight Show." He's got three minutes and tens of millions of people watching him. And, for some lucky reason, it didn't cost him a cent to get this chance of a lifetime. What happens to his career?
Doodley squat. Zippo. Nothing.
The other guy, he has some talent. Plus, he works his butt off mastering his guitar. He practices his songs over and over. He starts performing before small audiences and he takes note of what they like and what they don't. He changes and hones his act until it's a "killer." Then, he gets a shot on the "Tonight Show"... and... he becomes rich and famous and hated by the likes of Gary Halbert because of all the hot, sexy women who throw themselves at him.
The moral is obvious. You gotta pay your dues. I'm sorry but, you just gotta. Anyone who thinks otherwise should think about this...
Most People Who Want To
Be In The Mail Order Business
Couldn't Make It Even If
The Postage Was Free!
E-mail proves it.
Sincerely,
Gary C. Halbert
P.S. Given my "public persona," you may not believe it... but... I have been left... literally speechless... by the reaction of my readers to the last issue of this newsletter. I've always been slightly put-off when someone talks about having a "mission" in life. Well, hokey as it may sound, I now believe my "mission" in life, and pretty much my only mission is... to keep writing The Gary Halbert Letter... to spend more and more time on it... to strive to make it better and better... to put even more of my heart and soul into it... to avoid cluttering up my life by trying to run a business (or even an office)... to become a better and better teacher... to be a teacher who teaches substance... and... who brings some smiles, some laughter and maybe a "patch-of-sunlight" into a few people's lives. From now on, that's it. That's my job, my only job, and I'm going to put everything I have into it.
By the way, I wouldn't mind getting laid once-in-awhile either.
Peace.
P.S.#2 As I told you at the onset of this newsletter, my mailing address has changed (that includes Fed Ex and UPS deliveries) but my phone and Fax numbers have remained the same. So, if you want me to actually receive the letters you send to me, don't send them to Miami Beach any more. Send them to Ocala which is a small town (population 43,000) north of Miami where (according to rumor, at least) some of the post office employees and residents... actually speak English!
So, once again, here's my new mailing address:
The Gary Halbert Letter
Suite 905-467
3101 S.W. 34th Ave.
Ocala, FL 34474
Why You Must Avoid People Who Are Scared Shitless!
Well, here it is Memorial Day and Clinton has us fighting a war in a country none of us ever heard of and for reasons none of us can understand.
Damn! I wish there was some way we could get Monica back on the job!
Whatever. Anyway, let us devote this issue to you making a lot of money... and... making it fast! You know usually, when someone asks me what they should do to make a lot of money, I tell them to do something... theylove doing... and, the money will follow. I still think that's the best advice... but... right now... I think you should concentrate very hard on making a lot of money very fast... and...
You Should Do It
Any Way You Can!
Why? What's the urgency here? It's that Y2K thing. I'm telling you: Y2K is not going to be just another "bump-in-the-road." It is going to be majorly disruptive to the world economy and it's going to scare the living shit out of millions and millions of people. So, here's something you need to memorize. Let's call it Halbert Maxim #873:
It Is Hard To Get
People To Spend Money
When They Are Scared Shitless!
Picture this: A guy works for Xerox. Sales are down dramatically because Brazilians (Brazil is Xerox's second biggest market) and other big Xerox customers are spending so much time, money and energy trying to deal with their Y2K problems, they aren't buying any copy machines and Xerox's profits are in the crapper. What does Xerox do? Well, first off, they cut way back on their work force... and... our guy loses his job. He now joins the ranks of the "scared shitless."
He doesn't spend money like he used to. Maybe he was about to buy a new Ford pickup but, he now decides to wait. He wants to feel more secure about the future before he parts with any more of his fungolas than absolutely necessary.
And guess what? Since there are so many people in the same boat he's in, they also decide not to buy that Ford pickup or whatever else they were yearning for. So, now Ford ain't selling many trucks and cars and theirsales and profits go in the toilet. They also decide to cut back on their work force and thousands and thousands more people lose their jobs... and... they too join the ranks of the...
"Scared Shitless!"
They stop spending too. This puts more companies in hot water who also have to cut back on their work force, who in turn curtail their spending, which in turn causes more people to lose their jobs. The cycle accelerates and... the phenomania of being "scared shitless" spreads like wildfire!
It is going to happen. And, it's gonna happen real, real soon.
So, I ask myself, "Self, what is the very best way for my subscribers to make a lot of money really, really fast... without too much risk... without too much investment?"
Can you guess the answer? It's the same answer that was true 50 years ago. Or 30 years ago. Or 10 years ago. Or 1 month ago. This answer will still be true next month, next year... and... throughout much of the next century! What I'm talking about, of course, is...
Direct Mail
Are you serious about making huge wads of money and making it fast? If so, forget TV infomercials, forget magazine ads, forget newspapers, forget the Internet... forget everything... but... direct mail. Listen to me Fishface: What is the most essential ingredient you must have to make a ton of moola? The answer is... dum da da dum dum...
A Reachable Pool Of
People Who Are Starving
To Spend Their Money
On Some Particular Thing!
Here is the very most important thing you can do (must do) if you want to make a direct mail fortune. If you won't do what I'm about to suggest, stop reading this letter right now, go to the 'fridge and get yourself a cold one and sit your sorry fat ass back down in front of the tube and click on "Baywatch." Best you enjoy your life now because, I predict you too, will soon be among the ever growing number of the... scared shitless!
What's that? You say you don't want to be one of the scared shitless? You say you don't have a sorry fat ass and you're sick of "Baywatch"?
Alrightythen! You be my main man and here's what you do first: You whip out your credit card and dial (847) 375-5000. This will get you through to the corporate headquarters of "Standard Rate and Data Service" (SRDS)... and... when you get them on the phone, tell 'em you want to subscribe to their SRDS Mailing List Catalog. It's updated bi-monthly and it's gonna set you back nearly $500.00.
Just do it. Bite the bullet and spend the money. There's no alternative. Do it, you silly little freak.
With me? Good! Now, what you will soon receive in the mail (and you'll get a new one every other month) is a big, thick book that describes almost every mailing list on the market. It'll tell you the size of the list, the source of the list, a description of the list, how much the unit of sale was people on the list spent, what they spent it on and how long ago they spent it.
What I want you to do, as soon as you get the book, is take 10 or 20 hours out of your life and start reading those thousands of list descriptions.
You Will Be Amazed!
As you read the descriptions, do the math. Multiply the number of people on the list by the average unit of sale. Right now, I'm reading the masterfile list description of a company called "Select Information Exchange." Here is the description of that list:
"This is a file of individuals with an avid interest in financial topics and investment information. They have purchased (more than half via credit cards) newsletters and/or financial service products from SIE (Select Information Exchange) -- the nation's leading financial subscription agency for over thirty years.
"This proven file has been used by a multiplicity of different types of mailers with a 50% 'continuation' record. Included are banks, insurance firms, gold and silver coin companies, commodity trading firms, stock & discount brokerage firms, tax shelters, oil & gas, business, financial and investment advisory publications, collectibles, fundraisers, catalogers and credit card issues - and others.
"Space ads appear in a variety of media (i.e., Money Magazine, Barrons, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investors Business Daily, Financial World, Personal Investor, Better Investing). Regarding libraries, this list has the name of the acquisitions manager (the individual in charge of book purchasing)."
Let's see now. This masterfile has 2,495,000 names on it and the average unit of sale is $375.00. Lemme drag out my trusty calculator and see what that comes out to. Let's see... that's 375 x 2,495,000 which comes to uh... wait a minute... can that be right? Lemme check that again. By golly it isright! This is a list of folks who are extremely passionate about investing... and... have demonstrated that passion by spending... uh...
Over 935 Million Dollars!
And looky here! We can select them out by all sorts of ways. The men from the women. The Canadians from the Americans. The stock buyers from the options buyers from the bond buyers, the oil stock investors, the traders who buy low-priced stocks and so on. Hey, and guess what else? We can even select by what ethnic group we want. If we don't won't them all, we can say we only want the Chinese people on the list. Or the French. Or the Germans. Or Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Scottish, English, Russian, Arabic, American and slant-eyed dwarfs. (Oh wait! I'm sorry. The slant-eyed dwarfs are on a different list.)
Amongst the thousands of mailing lists you are going to be reading about are people who bought cookbooks, people who bought model cars, sewing supplies, gourmet food, etc., etc. But, what I want you to be looking for are big lists of what I call "PWM's" which stands for...
Players With Money!
Why? Simply because (if you are offering something they want) they are the easiest and most profitable people to sell to. Also, they are the least likely to be among the scared shitless when the crunch comes. Not only do you want Players With Money, you want PWM's who have what I call a "high passion index" about something.
Like golfers.
As a general rule, golfers have above average income and, a certain percentage of them will spend literally any amount of money to take strokes off their game. Hark unto me: As you know, my friend Joe Polish has something he calls the "SuperStar Audio Tape Series" where each month he interviews some clever person on some aspect of marketing. Well, one of his most recent interviews was with a guy named Jeff Paul... and... you've gotto have the tape and transcript of this interview. I think it'll set you back $14.95 or something like that and you can order it by calling (602) 858-0008. Once again, don't fight me on this. Just do it. I'm trying to save your cookies here and you're going to piss me off if you don't do as I say.
Which reminds me... I always tell women I think a man should only ask forone thing from a woman... and... if he gets that, he shouldn't ask for anything else whatsoever. When they ask me what that one thing is, I am able to explain it in one word...
Obedience!
It's odd how many women disagree with me on this. But really, that's truly all I want from a woman, all I want from the world... and now... it's all I want from you!
Back to the real world. Let me tell you about Jeff Paul. A little more than a decade ago, he was a Certified Financial Planner. He was part of a small team that offered advice and seminars on stuff like estate planning, living trusts and all sorts of other financial wisdom. The only problem he and his team had was, they couldn't get clients. So, Jeff started studying direct marketing. He put what he learned to work... and... he turned around a practice that was doing $5,000 to $10,000 a month into a practice that was doing up to... $150,000 per month. It worked so well, his partners naturally decided to abandon these crass "National Enquirer" techniques... and... they elected to go back to using the dumb-ass, stale, conventional marketing techniques they were more comfy with.
So, Jeff quit.
He decided to dump his financial planning career altogether and go full time into direct marketing. After a year and a half, he had managed to lose everything he had. He lost his house, he was $100,000 in debt on his credit cards, had no job, no income and no prospects. Jeff and his wife Peggy and their three kids ended up in his sister-in-law's basement living on a couch.
Then he made a little discovery.
As soon as he started to use this discovery, his business went from a measly $1,000 per month to $13,000. The second month he went to $26,000. The third month was $49,000. Now, he has a two million dollar a year business he runs from a 400 square foot office upstairs over his garage.
What did he discover? He discovered the only thing that matters is your market. He discovered it's the market that is the whole deal. He says, (and he's right) "You have to have people who are hungry, people who are irrational, and I mean literally irrational, that are passionate, that have money, and they're willing to spend the money. They have to have a dire sense of urgency, even desperation about something... and... they have to bereachable!"
Amen!
Then he says, "You have to find out what they want and give it to them."He says if you do this, "You don't have to fight. There's no battles. No challenges. There's no mountains and obstacles to overcome. You've made it easy, you've stacked all the deck in your favor."
Amen, again!
Jeff has sold to various markets over the years. But guess who he's selling to now?
Golfers!
Just what is he selling them? A set of golf clubs that will help them achieve a lower score. Just how much are his golf clubs?
$6,000 Per Set!
How does he sell them? With a long copy, direct mail sales letter. That's right... no pictures... no brochures... no nothing except copy.
As he points out, you couldn't do this with a rational market. Golfers are irrational. They'll play in the rain, the snow, they'll buy books, take lessons and, in general, I bet they would jump through hoops of fire if they thought it would take strokes off their game.
So, what you do first is, you get that SRDS mailing list book and read all those mailing list descriptions... and... you find yourself a moneyed group of people who are nutso enough about something to spend irrational amounts of money on whatever it is.
What next? You find or create a very expensive product for these people. Listen, since I can already hear you bitchin' about, "But gee, Gary, I don't know how to do that," I am going to figure it out for you. What you are going to sell them is information. If they want to trade commodities, you are going to provide them with very expensive info on how to profitably trade commodities. If they are horny, lonely, affluent males, you are going to offer them expensive info on how to get women. If they are golfers, you're going to sell them expensive info on how to play better golf.
Let's do golfers. What's the expensive info you are going to offer them? Simple. You're going to offer them a high-priced seminar.
But let's say you know nothing about golf. What you do is, you find yourself a personal golf pro (or maybe 5 or 6 golf pros) and you have themgive the seminar. You advertise this seminar in "Investor's Business Daily"... and... you play up the fact the seminar is so expensive. Perhaps your headline will read something like this:
Florida Pro Gives
Most Expensive Seminar In
The History Of Golf!
Maybe your lead-in headline (the smaller one above the main headline) could say:
Would You Be Willing To
Pay $15,000 To Improve
Your Golf Game?
Somewhere in the copy you inform the readers this is a once-in-a-lifetime seminar, it will never be repeated and only 15 students will be accepted. You make this a one column by seven inch ad and it will cost you about 700 smackers. You tell them in the ad to call your recorded message on an 800 number you have set up with ATG Technologies. You arrange to do this by calling ATG at (800) 775-7790 and be sure to ask for Stacy Skinner.
Your recorded message is short, only a minute or two long. It reaffirms how unique this seminar is going to be and tells them to leave their name and address so you can send them full details about the seminar.
Then, of course, you send them a long copy, well-written sales letter that entices at least 15 of them to come to your seminar. Then, you collect $15,000 from each of them and put on your seminar.
Is this how you make your money? Not at all. This is how...
You Create Your Product!
See, you video and audio tape the seminar and create a written transcript of every word on those tapes. Then you get yourself a good list of golf lunatics... and... you offer this instructional package by sending out direct mail sales letters. You offer your readers a bargain. You offer the seminar tape package at only half ($7,500) of what the live attendees had to pay.
Let's do some math. Say it cost you about $300.00 (that's very high) to put together a first-class video and audio tape package. Let's say it costs you $600.00 to mail a thousand sales letters to 1,000 golfers. OK, since you make a gross of $7,200 on every sale, that means...
You Only Have To Get
One Sale For Every 12,000
Letters You Mail!
Neat formula, huh? Actually, it's a great formula. But now, I'm gonna give you a magic secret that's going to skyrocket the profits of this formula. Look, when you hear Jeff Paul talking about the golf clubs he sells, you'll hear him telling how his golf clubs really are the best in the world.
And you know what? I bet they are.
And that's important. It's also important your golf seminar (or whatever other seminar you put on) be absolutely first-class... because you're going to sell them in a unique way. Somewhere, near the end of your sales letter, you're going to have copy that says something like this:
"Listen, I know it's hard to believe the tapes a golf seminar could be worth $7,500. So how can I convince you of this? I've thought about this a lot and this is what I've come up with. I'm only going to accept payment for these videos, audios and transcript of the seminar by check. And, I'm going to insist you post-date your check a full 30-days ahead. That way, you'll have over four weeks to watch the tapes and put those techniques to work every time you go out to play a round of golf. Then, if everything I say about these seminar tapes is not true, I will be happy to send back your uncashed check... or... you can simply stop payment on it. I've decided to do this because these tapes really are incredible and, I know you're going to love hem!"
But wait. Won't this increase your refunds? Yep, it will. It will probably triple them.
But, this technique will also triple your sales!
Let's do some more math: Let's say you are averaging about three sales for every 1,000 letters you mail and you have a refund rate of 10%. OK, you mail 10,000 letters which fetch you 30 orders. That's 30 times $7,500 or $225,000. Your mailing will cost you about $6,000 which knocks your take down to $219,000. Also, you've got to shell out $300 apiece to create and mail out 30 tapes which costs you another $9,000 which knocks your take down to $210,000. Now, let's factor in your 10% refund rate. At 10%, you are going to issue a refund on 3 of those 30 sales. That's $7,500 times 3 or $22,500 which knocks your take all the way down to $187,500.
Not bad, hey? But now let's do it with the post-dated check technique. So now, by tripling sales, you sell 90 sets of tapes instead of 30. But, as I said, your refund rate will triple also and thus your refund rate will jump to 30%. That means you'll have to issue a refund to 27 of those 90 sales. Which leaves you with a net of 63 sales. 63 times $7,500 is $472,500. Your mailout will still cost you the same $6,000 and that knocks your take down to $466,500. And, this time, you had to send out 90 sets of tapes at $300 apiece which comes to $27,000. Subtract that and all you've got left is $439,500.
Without using the post-dated technique, your profits were $187,500.
With the post-dated check technique, your profits jump up to $439,500.
That's A Profit
Increase Of 234%!
Will this technique work? Do it right and you bet your ass it will. Canyou do something like this? It depends on your mindset. If you think you can do it, it will turn out you are right. If you think you can't do it, it will also turn out you are right.
Well, there you have it. As complete and detailed of a wealth-building formula as you will ever find in any newsletter. Will you do anything with this info? I don't know. It'll take time, energy, a little money... and...balls!
You got any?
Sincerely,
Gary C. Halbert
"Master of Subtlety"
P.S. Damn it, I'm not getting enough "bitch" letters. Isn't there something about this issue that offends you? If so, please write me a detailed letter and tell me all about it.
Trust me, I promise to give your letter the attention it deserves.
P.S.#2 There's a guy in England named Stuart Goldsmith who writes an incredibly good newsletter. His political slant is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun but, some of his issues are priceless. There's one he wrote recently on goals which can transform your life. Whatever you do, call him and at least buy that one issue. His number is 011-44-1-189-461-246. His fax is 011-44-1-189-462-505. His e-mail is stuart@medina.demon.co.uk. His web page is http://www.stuartgoldsmith.com.
Peace. And, don't forget...
Be Nice To The "Scared Shitless"!
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