SOWPub Small Business Forums - Is this the wrong way to begin the following business idea?

I did this exact biz for 3 yrs in a row in Colorado.

I too thought that I'd get a few "non-profits" to help sell the "Money Book" (A book of 2 for 1 discount coupons we offered for $29. It's in my Midas Report)

Boy...did they give me a bunch of useless FLACK!

I then thought that a School Band (who are ALWAYS looking for money) would be great sellers. Tried it the first year and barely sold 200.

Then, I got "smart";
Put together a book of about 50 "2for1" deals...Valued at over $800...and here's how I sold it;

I printed up 2,500 in our area of 25,000 people.

I got the local Radio Station to TRADE-OUT Radio Spots for their LOGO on the Cover of my book.

Radio ads started pumping up the "interest".

I then had a highschool kid in his pickemup truck (that's what we called em in the mountains of Colorady)...stationed at each end of town with a bunch of books.

This was in "BC" times, ("BEFORE CELLPHONES") so these people would have to call the office on PAY phones to get the addresses of people who wanted to buy a book.

I had phone girls in a temp office calling from a Cross-Index Directory (a phone book with phones listed by address)....so each girl could phone right down a block...give the spiel about the Money Book having over $800 worth of FREEBIES for only $29....our "man" was in the neighborhood and could stop by in a few minutes and show her an actual book. (Easy agreement)

When the highschooler appeared and showed her an actual book....THEY BOUGHT!

We wound up selling 3,000 books at $29 ea. A NICE profitable program.

And again....forget about trying to work with Non-Profits UNLESS you have LOTS of PRIOR experience working with these groups.

The IDEA is a GREAT ONE....and it's STILL being done by BIG outfits....so, go get the "2fers" and sell the book for $20 and you can still make a nice chunkochange.

Don Alm

P.S. My "Deck Cleaning and Sealing" bix is now doing 2 to 3 jobs a day. We've added "House Washing", "Gutter Cleaning" and "Roof Washing" to the service agenda and pulling in over $2,000 a Day. Send me an email if you're interested in making some BIG..."EASY" money this summer.

> I'm starting a new business and I want to
> know whether or not people think I'm going
> about starting it backwards. Here's the
> business idea:
> I want to put together a book of freebies,
> from local businesses in my area. The
> businesses would get free advertising in
> exchange for giving something away to anyone
> who purchased my book. I'd sell the book for
> about $20 and my profits would be solely off
> the sale of the book. In terms of marketing
> the book, I'd like to work with non-profit
> organizations on a profit-split basis.
> Is it backwards for me to contact the
> non-profit organizations BEFORE getting
> businesses to agree to go in the book? My
> thinking on this approach is that if I don't
> do it this way, I could invest a bunch of
> time getting businesses to agree to go in
> the book, and then, if I can't get
> non-profit groups to agree to market my book
> on a commission basis, I will have wasted a
> whole bunch of time for nothing.
> The other side of that coin, however, is
> that I'm afraid that most non-prof. groups
> are going to want to know which businesses
> (and how many) are in the book before they
> agree to try and sell it.
> Any suggestions on how I should go about
> this new venture would be greatly
> appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Joe Cooper