Catalogs remain one of the top moneymakers for the direct marketing industry...even with the popularity of the Internet. Why? people still love the idea of being able to hold printed material in their hands. A good catalog is used as a reference book and can stay in a household or on a desk for literally years. And it continually rings up orders for it's owners.

I just wanted to give you some idea of catalog costs. To print a 48 page, 5.5" x8.5" full color catalog on gloss paper, it would run about $5,000 for 10,000 or .50 each. Add to that, about .25 each for catalog bulk-rate postage (the catalog needs to weigh less that 3.3 ounces) and .10 each for the name of the prospect (assuming you are buying a mailing list) and you have about .85 cents (in U.S. funds) invested per catalog. You might be thinking that is pretty expensive.

But if you have products somebody wants and a good list, you'll have a good shot at averaging more than a $1.00 in sales per catalog. I know several catalogers that are earning $10-$15 per catalog on their house list. Plus they are earning more than a $1 a catalog on their prospect lists. Remember though, cost-of-goods is not figured into the equation yet...that is why you want products where you are at least doubling your money. If you are dealing with products at a higher price point, like consumer electronics, your profit margin can be much smaller.

A black & white catalog is obviously going to cost much less. I just did a 64 page 8" x 10" catalog for a client that cost .15 each, printed black & white on newspaper type stock. It even had some spot color in. This was a 10,000 catalog printing.

A catalog is far more powerful for generating sales than the Internet...for most product catagories. Where the Internet shines though, is order processing. You combine the power of a catalog with the low cost of order processing through the Internet and you'll have a heck of a combination.

And even with the tons of catalogs out there, highly profitable niches still exist. I'm working on a cosmetics catalog for a client right now. There are many, many more. Does it take an investment? Absolutely...but cataloging is still one of the very best areas for people like you to make money and have a successful business.

Now my idea, with all the people out there that have self-help or self-improvement products or life-enhancing products, I don't know why someone doesn't do a small black & white catalog containing all those products. Heck, you could swap catalog space for a percentage of the profits. You could combine Gordon's various projects with the people that have created booklets with some others that have done other projects, and you could probably have a nice 24 to 32 page catalog. I would be more than happy to help someone get the wheels turning if they wanted the assistance.

Take care,

Mike Winicki