Hi Mike!

> how much do you need to test? As you know,
> I'm testing various products. These tests
> are costing a ton, only about $7-$8 per
> thousand circulation in daily newspapers. I
> can blanket someplace like Altoona, PA for a
> couple hundred bucks. Sure $150-$200 might
> be a lot for some folks but for many that is
> affordable.

Yes, it seems to me that good testing is an investment....

It's taken me a while to get into that "mind set"!

I already see reading good books and taking courses as an investment -- an investment in myself and in my future!

But, in reality, testing is the same.... It's an investment too....

As long as you plan for only 1 in 7 (or 1 in 10) to be successful, or even LESS than that (to be safe), I expect you should probably do okay.... While I'm doing this kind of thing online now (also testing), I'm also planning to do newspapers too in the future, probably for Gordon Alexander's "Think and Reach Par" and "How to Play an Unknown Golf Course". (In the USA, you can get these from Richard Myers at www.thinkandreachpar.com .)

> Will I have to run multiple tests?
> Absolutely. Just like Ben Suarez has said
> you will only hit upon 1 out of 7 great
> ideas. Joe Sugarman said it was more like 1
> out of 10. The point is once you hit on one
> it will more than pay for everything else
> when you roll it out to 20-40 million
> people.

Yes, you've got to plan for that.... I wonder how many people do one failed test then give up? I bet that's the majority of people who try....

BUT, if you remember that only a small number of your tests will be successes, you should do okay, as long as you plan for it and work out your finances before-hand....

> Will I sacrifice a couple grand to see if
> one of my concepts will as Denny Hatch says
> "fog the mirror" or in other
> words-have life? As a direct marketer I say
> YES.

Yes, I agree....

> I don't know anyone that is successful in
> direct marketing that hasn't said YES also.

> Spending money on tests that probably will
> not work, as Bart Simpson says, "Sucks
> and Blows".

> Off to create some more money-losing ads...

Thanks Mike! I thought that was inspiring.... :)

It's hard to learn to swim until you jump into the water.... :)

And I think you really need to do the testing yourself.... As Gordon pointed out, TIMING is critical. Like Melvin Powers promotion, which worked one year but not the next (see my post below).... I've also heard of someone who took a very successful promotion in the USA, and duplicated it in Australia exactly, and found that it didn't work. Who knows why? There could be all kinds of reasons....

I think there's probably no short-cut to doing your own tests....

- Dien