Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/business/shbjv1.zip/CARDDEK.DOC

Text File | 1993-06-13 | 22KB | 409 lines

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****** SMALL & HOME BUSINESS JOURNAL ON-DISK -- VOL I NO I ******
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       COPYRIGHT 1993     PAT FLANAGAN PUBLISHING & DESIGN
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HOW TO GET RICH USING CARD-DECK ADVERTISING

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Like millions of business people you're probably already familiar with
card-decks. You know, those 3" x 5" post card packets that regularly arrive
with a bunch of business, health, financial or personal offers? Yes, it seems
card-decks are ubiquitous.

And like so many of the business people receiving them, you've probably
wondered if card-decks really work... and whether they can work for you.
Well, this report will help you decide.


DO CARD-DECKS REALLY WORK?

As a card-deck publisher and heavy card-deck advertiser mailing several
million cards yearly, I often meet people who have seen one of my decks or
individual cards. Some, with a dense know-it-all and glad-to-tell-you air,
offer "Yeah, I get those decks. But I throw them away without looking at
anything." And that, they seem to suggest, is that. I used to find these
people infuriating. Now I find them merely irredeemably stupid, business'
Cardinal Sin.

Personally, as a business person in good standing, I like people who are
interested in knowing how things work... where the money's to be made in any
venture. It stands to reason that if millions and millions of cards are
regularly mailed out in card-decks, a large percentage by repeat advertisers,
someone is making money. The real trick is knowing how that's done.

Therefore, let's begin at the beginning. Let me report unequivocably:
card-decks can make you rich. Can. If certain conditions apply. If you:

 - have the right product/service;
 - get the best possible price on the card;
 - develop the right message for the card;
 - follow up those who respond in the right way, and
 - derive extra income by using the names of those who respond as a
   profit-making asset.

Let's look at each of these factors in turn.


MAKING SURE YOU'VE GOT THE RIGHT PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Many more products/services than are currently marketed through card-decks
should be in them. Here are some key criteria to consider:

 - After reviewing the pertinent universe for the card-deck you're
   considering, are you offering a product/service that is of value to the
   maximum number of those receiving it?

 - Or are you offering a product/service that is sufficiently highly priced
   so that you can make money if only a relatively few people inquire about
   and ultimately buy it?

 - Or are you offering a product/service that people will buy again after
   they've bought some?

 - Or are you offering a product/service that will produce continuing revenue
   for you after the prospect purchases his first installment?

Let's look a little more closely at these categories.


 -- Value To The Maximum Number Of People Receiving The Card Deck

All card-decks are mailed to a particular universe. Just what this universe
is may be determined

  1) by reviewing the facts about the individual deck in the publication
     Standard Rate & Data (available in most public libraries) and

  2) talking to a sales rep at any deck you may be interested in.

When you've finished your research, you'll know whether the deck reaches a
sufficient number of people who might be interested in what you've got. If
you take a real close look at deck cards, you'll find that most cards are
pitched so that they appeal to the publisher's broadest audience.


 -- A Sufficiently Highly Priced Product/Service

In considering decks, here are some key numbers to keep in mind.

  1) What does the card cost?

  2) What is a reasonable number of responses to expect?

  3) What will it cost you to provide your information and otherwise work
     with and close your prospects? And

  4) what does your product/service cost?

All too often would-be advertisers focus the discussion exclusively on how to
get the largest number of responses. Instead, savvy advertisers want to know
how they can focus on just the people they want and get back just the highest
quality leads. To these knowledgeable people, it's not just generating large
numbers of leads that's important; it's getting the highest quality leads that
counts. It should be the same for you.

Thus, in one of my decks, one advertiser of a high-end financial service got
just 50 leads out of 100,000 cards mailed. Was he upset? No way! We had worked
to qualify the leads by telling prospects that his product cost a minimum of
$25,000 and that a telephone number was required for response. Net result?
While he had few leads, they were highly qualified. Out of 50 leads, he made
three sales... and made back the cost of his investment by several dozen
times. Bottom line: raw numbers is not where it's at in the card-deck game.
Dollars returned on investment is a much better gauge of productivity.


  -- A Product/Service People Will Buy Again And Again

Many firms are looking for life-time customer relationships. Often these
people sell a line of products through sales reps or a catalog or regularly
update their products. These companies use card-decks to get leads and launch
relationships. While they don't want their initial effort to lose money, they
understand that their real profit will come in a customer's second or third
order.


  -- A Product/Service That Pays You After The Initial Sale

Many MLM companies now use card-decks to generate downlines as well as sell
products. This makes sense. In my own card-deck, MLM-ers often get between
1000-2000 inquiries per issue from people interested in becoming part of their
downlines. Advertisers make part of their money back from selling the
prospects product but more by recruiting them into their downlines.

Once done, if properly coached and assisted, the new downline recruits produce
continuing revenue for the advertisers for so long as they're active in the
business. (Note: I should mention that I restrict the number of MLM companies
advertising in my deck so that recipients are not overwhelmed with the choices
and never permit two advertisers from the same MLM opportunity to appear in
any single issue of the deck. Moreover, I give each MLM advertiser first
refusal on keeping his card; therefore with some companies I actually have a
waiting list of people who want to advertise that opportunity!)


GETTING THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE ON THE CARD

Until recently, one reason why so many potential advertisers have been
discouraged from using card-decks has been the price of this specialized
medium. Card-decks have traditionally been fairly expensive with a per card
cost of 3-4 cents not uncommon; in case your math is rusty, this translates
into $3000-$4000 per 100,000 cards (a common sized deck). No wonder many
smaller entrepreneurs think twice before committing themselves; one card may
be the equivalent of a whole year's advertising budget! To be sure, there were
often ways of lowering this tariff: to get new people into their decks,
publishers offered "first time advertiser" specials as well as selling remnant
space for deep discounts. Still, the costs were very, very high.

This situation changed significantly in mid-1990 when I created my Sales &
Marketing SuccessDek. After doing research I discovered what it really cost to
produce a deck and how much I could lower the prices and still make the profit
I needed. Moreover, I found I could lower prices to the advertisers still more
if I charged them upfront (instead of offering credit) and paid all my
suppliers upfront. In short, by operating a non-credit advertising business...
An unheard of development in the industry!

As a result of this research, I was able to lower prices by 2/3's to 3/4's,
coming up with a price of $1199 for 100,000 cards. During the last year, while
other companies (including some you've probably heard of) cut the sizes of
their decks way back and/or canceled or postponed their issues, or even went
out of the deck business altogether (after all, we were in a recession and
then in a war, too), we surged ahead to take our place as one of the industry
leaders -- after being in business only 6 months! The advertisers were glad to
do business with us. And the only people who were offended were my competitors
who, in no uncertain terms, let me know how aggrieved they were. One even told
me that cutting prices like I was doing was un-American. Drily I informed him
that competition was what America was really all about. He was not amused.

I tell you all this for a reason. I'm proud, of course, of what we've achieved
in so short a time, opening the benefits of card-decks to so many smaller
advertisers. More than this, I want to make a point. Even if you only get the
same number of prospects from a low-cost deck that you can get from a
high-cost deck, you are that much better off. Why? Because you've lowered the
cost of your lead... thereby cutting your marketing expenses and allowing
yourself to buy more leads with the residue... or just set it aside as profit.
In short, there's never a reason to pay more for leads when you can pay less,
whatever anyone tells you!

Note: most recently in response to my advertisers need for additional leads
than they can get through my four issues a year, I've opened a card brokerage
arm. You can either call another card-deck company and see what their best
price is (by the way, once you've in a deck, every other deck publisher in
America will be calling you insistently, take note). I'll then call up and see
if I can get a better price for you. Or you can rely on my judgement in
getting you a rock bottom price without you having to do any work yourself. I
should mention that I am able to get these prices by charging you upfront and
offering the other companies cash on the barrel head, no credit. In this
economy, money really talks. And if you want to get the lowest possible price,
cash is the name of the game.


DEVELOPING THE RIGHT MESSAGE FOR THE CARD

There are two ways of using your card. You can sell direct from the card and
you can go for an inquiry. I run both kinds of cards... but the inquiry cards
do the best. Why? For several reasons:

  1) prospects run through decks fast. They take out the cards they're
     interested in and throw away the rest. Mostly what they want is
     information right now... they expect the advertiser to send more details
     and from these details they'll make up their minds.

  2) once you've got the name, you can send several offers, or, like I do, a
     catalog packed with dozens of possibilities. I've found it much more
     profitable to send a catalog with many items that appeal to many
     different people than try to make a sale focusing on just one item.

  3) when you've got at least 5,000 names you can rent your file for
     additional income, and you can reinvest this income in your overall
     advertising program. It takes far longer to generate 5,000 buyer names
     than a mixed file of buyers and inquiries.

  4) if your product/service costs over $100, it's unlikely prospects will
     buy from the card. They're going to need more information before
     committing themselves. You could sell 20-30 items costing $100 from a
     card... or write the kind of copy that'll generate 1000 or more inquiry
     responses.

Thus, in most cases, you're better off if you go for the inquiry. How well can
you do with an inquiry card? Well, depending on the nature of the
product/service, those using an inquiry card in my deck generally get between
1000-4000 responses. Yes, that's 4,000! Here's where the quality of the
message really counts.

One of the things that's unusual about my deck is that I work directly with
particularly new advertisers to help them develop just the right message. I
don't charge for this service, either. I want my advertisers to do the best
they can both for their own good -- and for mine. If they're happy, they'll
renew quickly. In practice, they FAX me their suggested card copy
(617-738-0885) and go over it with me by phone. I'll make my suggestions.
They'll go back to the drawing board and incorporate them and then FAX their
revised copy, which is just about right. Then they can get their art-work
done.

There's no mystery about what the copy should say. The cards that do best
lead with a major headline offering a significant benefit directly focused on
the prosect and offer free details if they respond NOW. Headlines that work
well for my advertisers include:

 - "Your own business -- NO Risk!"
 - "Earn $1000.00 Fees Daily!"
 - "Make An Extra $1,000 A Week By Using Our Phone Lines FREE!"
 - "Find Out The Seven Best Ways Your Business Can Make More Cash...Fast!"

You get the idea. The benefit should be as specific as possible (yes, specific
dollar or other tangible benefits help) and should offer free details.

In my deck we use a lot of what I call "billboard" cards. These use the entire
front side (the side the prospect first sees) for the message (this is also
where the color, which comes free to my advertisers, is used). The back side
is divided into thirds. The first third asks the prospect for a commitment
like "Yes, rush me free details on how I can turn my business cards into my
most powerful advertising tool!" and then asks them to include follow-up
information, including a phone number. Note: to qualify your prospects say,
"No response without phone number." The lookey-looks don't provide a phone. If
they don't I write a sweet note saying that without a phone number, I can't
help them. Qualified prospects give you the information you need; the rest you
needn't worry about.

The second two-thirds of the card is reserved for your address and the stamp.
Note: to increase phone response (where you can qualify prospects by phone),
add a line to your card next to the stamp box that reads "For faster service,
call (number)." If you're using an 800-number, this is one of the two places
you'll want to print it; the other, of course, goes on the main message panel.

To reiterate: your card message should be rigorously focused on the prospect,
should hit that prospect with benefit after benefit that he gets when he
responds. Hitting the benefits over and over again is crucial.

Note: should you charge for your information? The answer is yes if you want a
more qualified prospect. At present, I am running several popular cards that
provide free information or other benefits. The message portion of the card
stresses all the things the person gets in this free information packet. On
the reverse of the card, however, where they provide follow-up information, I
inform them there is a $3 charge for postage/handling. In other words, the
material itself is free... but they must pay to get it to them. A few people
have commented adversely on this way of doing business, but it hasn't bothered
the hundreds of people sending in their $3 to get the "free" information and
it shouldn't bother you either. Using this system should enable you to
generate enough responses to pay for your card. All your names are therefore
free. While you still have the costs of getting your material to the
prospects, you'll make your money sooner on the conversions.


FOLLOWING UP THE RIGHT WAY

One of the reasons many advertisers don't profit from their card-deck
experience is because they focus exclusively on the card... and not on their
own business operation and how they're going to follow up their responses.
Don't be astonished when I share some tales about the utter ineptitude with
which some advertisers handle the leads they get. For example, a copywriter
who got several hundred leads got so overwhelmed by them he just pushed them
to one side and did nothing with them. A fellow selling specialized business
software (at $3000 a pop) didn't bother to follow up any of his over 200 leads
for over two months after he got them. A financial planner didn't set up his
response system until he had over 300 responses; then finding himself falling
further and further behind every day ended up wasting over 90% of his leads.
Need I tell you just how stupid this is?

Card decks work for advertisers for many reasons. But one of those reasons
surely is the fact that the advertiser has a system in place that works. He
thinks through just what he'll do when he gets the lead long before any leads
have been generated. Thus:

 - he develops his phone script before the first lead calls and his follow-up
   mailing package/s before the first lead writes;

 - he sets up his computer fields before any leads have come in;

 - he instructs his office staff on what to say and do;

 - he allows extra time for himself to handle leads when those leads are
   coming in the heaviest (about three weeks after the deck mails, by the
   way). And so forth.

One of the most efficient, and profit-making, card-deck advertisers I know has
it all down to a system. In the thirty days before the deck mails, he and his
wife prepare enough follow-up packets for the first three weeks response. All
he has do to when the responses come in is type a mailing label and put the
prospect information in a data base. Prospects receive his mailings within 3-4
days after they've returned their cards, in other words when their interest is
highest. As for me, we call every prospect THE DAY we receive their card.

When I first launched my card-deck, I thought my job was limited to finding
the best lists and printing the best looking deck I could. Now I know better.
Not only do I help people produce the best card copy based on what I know
draws best. But I also help them set up a response process that enables them
to get in touch with their leads fastest and in the most productive way. You
see, the bumblers who are not ready for several hundred responses arriving in
a few days (when previously they may have had just a few in a similar period)
won't repeat. The ones with the best marketing process will.


DERIVING EXTRA INCOME

As in so many other things in life, new comers to card-deck advertising are
often disadvantaged vis a vis those who are more seasoned. Nowhere is this
more evident than in the matter of deriving extra income from your prospects.
Smart card-deck advertisers put their names on the market as soon as possible
and/or use them to swap with others who have similar names that they'd like to
market to. I do both.

As soon as you have a file of at least 5000 names you should look for a
qualified list broker who might be interested in renting your names for
additional revenue. While most optimistic list brokers say you'll make about
$1 a name in list rental income yearly, in practice after their fees (and
sometimes excessive claims) are factored in, you'll make 25-50 cents per name
annually. Still, it's nothing to sneeze at.

The card-deck names you get are particularly valuable in the trade. The best
decks (like mine!) use only card-deck responsive names to mail to, not
subscription lists and certainly not compiled names. Card-deck responsive
names ensure the best response. Thus, the names you get from your card in a
deck are particularly valuable. You should be able to get at least $75 per
thousand for them. Card-deck companies should be one good source of possible
rental income in addition to the many other businesses who regularly rent
names.

You can swap these names for a card in a deck (you need 25,000 names for
100,000 cards or 13,000 names for 50,000 cards); you can swap these names for
a better spot in the deck (5,000 gets you in the top 15 places in my deck).
You can also swap these names for ad space at various publications. But any
way you slice it, the names you get are valuable not just because of what you
can sell them for directly but because of their additional revenue and use
possibilities.


CONCLUSION

It disturbs me that so few people who should be in card-decks are in them. If
you've studied this report and think you might do well in card-decks but
aren't sure, call me. I'll tell you candidly and for free if you've got
something that should be advertised in a deck -- or whether you ought to avoid
them. Fair enough? With mail costs at an all-time high and the economy still
in the doldrums, if you're trying to generate prospects nationally for the
least possible cost, you'd be crazy not to at least think about decks. If you
use them properly, they will make you rich.



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*                                                                     *
* ABOUT THE AUTHOR                                                    *
*                                                                     *
* Dr. Jeffrey Lant is one of America's most well-known marketers. If  *
* you're building an MLM downline, selling a financial service, a     *
* business to business product/service, a health or travel product,   *
* if you've got business books, newsletters, videos or audio, etc.    *
* contact him for free details about his quarterly Sales & Marketing  *
* SuccessDek reaching 100,000 card-deck responsive business decision  *
* makers for the lowest prices in the entire industry.  And to        *
* create the best drawing card (or any marketing communication) use   *
* his best-selling CASH COPY: HOW TO OFFER YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES *
* SO YOUR PROSPECTS BUY THEM... NOW! ($28.95 postpaid, 480 pages).    *
* 50 Follen St., Suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or [phone].    *
*                                                                     *
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