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HOW TO SUCCEED WITH YOUR OWN MONEY-MAKING AD SHEETPublishing and distributing a mail order ad sheet can be extremely profitable. They are simple and easy to produce, with most quick-print shops able to handle the printing at a fairly low cost. More importantly you can use ad sheets to pull in advertising dollars for yourself, as a free advertising medium 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 and informative title, choose a masthead, lay out your column sizes, determine if it is to be a simple 8 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 out the finished products. Most ad sheets start out as single sheets of paper, 8 x 11, printed on both sides. Usually, the front is divided into three equal columns about 2 inches wide, with a 1 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 advertising rates for those interested in placing an ad with you is two inches deep, this leaves you about 21 inches of advertising space to sell on the front and 27 inches on the back. 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 $200, this means that your 48 inches of ad space will have to be sold at a rate of $5.20 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 $11.90 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 $15.00 per inch for space on the front side, and carry your own full page ad on the back side. Thus, if you can break even from ad sales on the front side of the sheet, you can earn profit either from sales of space on the back of the sheet, from your own offers on the back, or a combination of the two. 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 possibly find. You can also run ads in other people's publications, inviting the readers to check with your regarding placement of an ad in your publication. And of course, you'll want 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 methods of getting your ads run at low or no cost, and it is a successful practice 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're well established. No problem. First, fill your ad space with paid ads and then simply fill in the empty space with ads of your own. Some beginning advertisers fill a portion of their blank 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. 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 possibility of sending out 100 to 1,000 copies of your ad sheet to other mail operators to rubber stamp their names and addresses as co-publishers and mail out for you. Thus, if you have 50 other mail order operators sending out 100 copies of your ad sheet, you'll realize a circulation of 5,000 plus whatever number of copies you mail out. If you can get this 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 distributors and dealers, asking for a $5 to $10 registration fee. In reply to the registration application, the publisher sends 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 to becoming a successful ad sheet publisher is maintaining low production costs. Keep printing and mailing expenses as low as possible while putting out a quality product in which other people in the mail order business will want to advertise, and at the same time use the ad sheet as an advertising and selling vehicle for your own products. Almost everyone involved in mail order selling should have some sort of ad sheet, if for no other reason than as an advertising vehicle for your own products, an extra income producer from 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
the careful planning completed before you order the printing of your first issue. Consider
the benefits, weigh the pro's and con's, then go with your decision. |
