How to succeed in direct marketing

Here is a simple step by step time and market proven way to guarantee direct marketing success.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. You need a product or service to sell. Your product or service must be one that is not available more easily someplace else, more expensive than your competition, and it must meet an existing need.
2. The need your product or service meets must be one felt by a demographic you can define and target with your media. For example: A new and better golf ball is needed by golfers who can be reached with publications that service the sport.
3. You need a product or service to sell. Your product or service must be one that is not available more easily someplace else, more expensive than your competition, and it must meet an existing need.
4. You must construct and/or discover a reason for a consumer to buy that is both unique and compelling. For example: No other golf ball flies as straight and so will knock strokes off your score.
5. You must explain clearly and logically how your product and/or service works to provide the benefit you want to promise. For example: This golf ball uses a spaceage winding that compresses more when struck which rebounds more accurately giving you longer and straighter flight.
6. You must have an authority or "witness" to testify that what you promise is true. For example: "Joe Blow, touring pro and leading money winner has this to say about the Apex golf ball".
7. You must ask for the order in a way that both supports your promise and communicates a "buy now" urgency. For example: "If you want to knock strokes off your game and amaze your friends, you must buy now because only 100 of these miracle balls will be sold".
8. You must ask for the order again that repeats your by now reason in reverse. For example: "Supplies of the miracle ball are limited so if you want to knock strokes off your game you must by now".
9. You must make it possible to for the consumer to make an impulse buy without looking for a pencil or hunting down a stamp. For example: A phone number like 1-800-golf ball or "click here" to order.
10. You must deliver and you must do it promptly if you want your consumer to be a continuing buyer and you do want that as your media cost per sale is or should be your biggest expense so making 3 sales with the same media dollar is very much more profitable than making just one sale with that dollar.
11. Do include another offer of the same or related merchandise in the shipment of your first order. For example: "Get an additional 12 miracle balls at 50% off".

Tips & Warnings

• Your cost of product should, in most cases, not exceed 15% of your final sales price.
• Your media cost should not exceed 50% of your final sales price.
• In most cases your shipping and handling charges billed to the consumer should not exceed 10% of your final sales price.
• If you use a common carrier to deliver your merchandise you must offer a 30 day guarantee and honor it promptly. Believe me you want to avoid having any conversations with the FTC or attorney's general of the states in which uou operate.