I KNOW he can make a booklet...but can he sell a booklet?

[GordonJ]

Homage to one of my favs...Joe Vs the Volcano

Opening scene shows Joe going to work...and actor Dan Hedaya is heard in the background talking on the phone as he repeats over and over...

I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?

Great movie opening to set the tone for Joe's adventures.

Anyhow, back to BOOKLETS.

As I begin to remember...he he...I wrote about Paulette Ensign, whom I dubbed the Booklet Baroness and her web site,

http://www.tipsbooklets.com/

So, booklets aren't anything new. And the small booklet template I've been talking about is only ONE size...I can fold a single piece of paper, no matter what size it is, into a variety of different size booklets.

The one like the 10,000 cookie or my golf one is perfect for biz cards...which can be easily scannned and dropped into it.

But a legal size can be folded to fit into a number 10 biz envelope and sent in the mail...back in the day, Richard Myers sold a booklet on best Internet web sites. Did pretty good too.

So, sure, you can make the booklet, but can you sell the booklet?

See, I practice something akin to ORIGAMI...only instead of little paper birds and such, I turn a single piece of paper into CASH...

And these are amazing little booklets that have 1001 uses and topics, but for me, only one purpose...how fast can I fold a piece of paper and through some modern day alchemy, turn it into cold hard, in my hand cash...

NOW, I've got a volcano to jump into...oh flibbertigibbet.


Gordon

[GordonJ]

vintage Don Alm...

Make a mockup.

You can use the same booklet, just replace the cover with your mock up...and many times, just go ahead and make a name branded one...when you use a template, you can simply use the find and replace features of your text editor...so Joe's Cafe can easily become Betty's Diner...and in just a couple of minutes, you have a custom made mock up...

So, prep. Drive down a business street, take pics, go home and make mock ups. Next day, walk down or drive to the businesses most likely to use coupons HINT, they already do in some other media...

postcards, valpaks, coupon clipper type of mail...

these people are already spending money...

walk in...hand owner/manager the mock up...simply say it is a special coupon booklet that brings back customers week after week...NOT a one time use coupon that costs hundreds of dollars to place...but a low cost per person for REPEAT business and a referral program to get new customers...

NOW, just as I gave a nod to Richard Dennis for his cookie...and Jimmy Krug for his booklets ideas, and Paulette Ensign the Booklet Baroness (sez I)...

I must tip the hat to Don Alm for his mock up, and Steve DiMarco for his referral idea, although I've twisted and turned (otherwise known as Phil'd) the ideas and turned it into a cash cow.

What I do very differently is...I limit how many a new customer can order...it is a low cost, no brainer, TEST and see, I'm not allowed to sell more than this...THEN if it works, next month you can order more.

Rather than a COUPON or one time use, and being in a pak, or one of a 100 or even on 10,000 postcards along with others...

This is YOUR coupon book for YOUR customers to get them to come in more often, to help refer other people to you...and it is a simple test...with a custom designed booklet...turn around time in 3 days...

HAVE the sample specials ready for them to see...restaurants, do a weekly special, or by the day...come in any Tuesday (June for example) and get a free bottomless cup of coffee with any breakfast.

Wed is free dessert night with any dinner

Saturday is a bo go offer, maybe...

With a dry cleaner, the coupons are for specific items, weekly specials, etc.

THEY can design their own offer, just guide them to what is easy for you to do and promotions you know get results.

When doing a multiple business book, use their business cards, and/or their logos and create a one time offer for them...

OK, that's about it, not much more I can tell you unless I come and do it for you, and that ain't gonna happen, fair enough?

I'm open to questions, iffin you have some...if not, I'll close this discussion and move on to beans, or back to the future as I might refer to it.

Best advertisers are those already using coupons, easy to find, just go to USPS and look in trash can near the private boxes...you'll see tons of val paks, coupon clippers and yea, even giant postcards in the trash.

Tell the biz owner this is where you found their ad...

Sweet magic words which sell my origami coupons like mad.

Gordon Jay Alexander

Gordon,

Here is what I did this morning w/o driving all over to get the data for the booklet. I went to the Dr's website and copied it piece by piece into 15 of the pages in the template and went to his office. I put my contact info on page 16.

As luck would have it, he was the only one in, hard to believe but true. I introduced myself handed him the booklet and said "this is the only 16 page business card in Reno. I went to your website and used your information to write it."

His response was immediate. "I like it and all I want to know is can I customize it w/a QR code and other ideas?"

I said no and stormed out.

Just kikking.

We have an appointment for the first week in January to help him create his new business card and to help him market his business. He is a naturopath and accupuncturist.

The beauty is he understands marketing and actaully asked if we would be willing to help him. It is as easy as you said it'd be.

Thanks a bunch. Hope your trip to SD is safe and easy.

Tom

Gordon

One thing you haven't mentioned is the price point you are using...care to share?

Cornell

Originally Posted by Cornell

Gordon

One thing you haven't mentioned is the price point you are using...care to share?

Cornell

Cornell,

I realize your question is for Gordon and I am jumping into the thread. I have only one call with this card and it is the one I mention above. I used Gordon's line of "it costs $100 for 100 cards. I want you to test it and try it before we make any commitments."

He looked me straight in the eye and said words to the effect that that was extremely fair and sounded a whole lot better than what he had been hearing from other vendors.

I live in Northern Nevada so I don't know how that line would work in Southern Florida, Jneau Alaska or Montpelier Vermont. But I would imagine it has to have a ring of absolute honesty and let's do business to it no matter where you live.

Just my 2¢...

Always [Multiple] ways of Thinking about and Applying ideas & information in Today's/Tomorrow's ever Changing World of Offline... Online Ecommerce Marketing... Advertising ideas! ...

Especially with 2012 just Around the Corner... Remember, Simply Days Away...

Happy Holidays to All! ... An ''Awesome'' [Mayan] Money making 2012 New Year(s) Loaded with Success Stories, possibilities & Never-ending Opportunities! ...

Buried Somewhere in the SowPub Archive(s) ...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/archive/index.php?f-3.html

Keep working... "Retirement" and "free-tirement"...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15229
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech...14/14intro.htm

Proof is in the Pudding! ... Started, Continually developed, Expanded through-out All the Years, into the Ongoing Future...

Applicable [within] So Many other {Specialized} areas... Industries... Marketplaces... Hobbies... Interests... Communities... Social networks... Communications... Idea(s) & Truly ''UnTapped'' Opportunities! ...

Especially! ... ''Smartly'' Presented/Presentations {Newsworthy} Images, PR & misc. Specialized Pre-Selling [using] a mix of Various methods, Techniques, ideas including GJA and Companies recent ideas, Suggestions etc. etc...

Quickly Borrow! ...

How much Does it Cost to Put my New Product in Hot Sheet?
It's $395 to Promote a Product in an Issue of HotSheet...
http://jewelersresource.com/HotSheet/FAQ.html

http://jewelersresource.com/HotSheet/Hotsheet.html
http://jewelersresource.com/HotSheet/AboutUs.html

Jeweler's Resource Launches 'Hot Sheet' E-Newsletter to Promote Jewelry...
http://www.google.com/search?q=Jewel...144 0&bih=672

Google Bot related Quickies! ...
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http://www.jewelersresource.com/public/10.cfm
http://www.google.com/search?q=www.j...1 440&bih=672

Definitely Keep An Open Mind regarding [Mayan] 2012 in case your Head is Slightly Spinning! ...

All the best

Phil

[GordonJ]

It is the best question a salesman wants to hear.

It usually means hé is sold on the idea, but, now price comes into play.

One answer, with a big smile instead of a big red rubber nose on my face is...ONLY one million bux...

putting on the elf grin...and then BEGIN to ask the critical questions...briefly they go something like...IF you run an ad in Coupon Clipper, like you did last month, you probably paid 495 (or whatever, and if you've been around sowpub as long as Cornell has, you know I KNOW what the data and rate cards of all media being sold in my area) so I can guess pretty accurately...

And then ask how many of those coupons will produce continuous business...recently pointing out how GROUPON is putting some businesses in a hole with their coupon offers, mostly from one time users...

This done rather rapidly and with intent to show a price bargain...if it is for a momma and poppa store, and depending on the nature of the biz...whether it will be a weekly or monthly type book...or yearly...

Then I simply point to the coupon book they are holding and say

What is a customer who comes in often worth to you? Would you pay 1.50 to get a customer to come in over and over and to bring you in new customers. Doesn't 1.50 seem like a low cost to acquire a customer.

I am only allowed to sell you either 100 booklets or a maximum of 250.

100 booklets will be 150 bux or 1.50 each customer you give them out to...that is enough to TEST the concept, if you have a busy restaurant, you may want to TEST 250 for only 250 dollars or one buck each...and you can put 1/2 down and pay upon approval of your copy and we print the same day of approval and usually deliver that afternoon.

NOW, this is for mom and pop type places...institutions, they like time...so , you have to get an order for at least 1000, so they can go to offset printing on glossy stock and I aim for at least 500 net profit per order...

BUT, you can charge what your area will bear.

MY program is for fast cash, quick turnaround wam bam money in my hand.

I get NO resistance at 1.50 per customer, who will produce, over time, a multiple sale...which the owner controls via the coupon itself.

WHO wouldn't pay a one time customer acquistion fee of 1.50???

Presented that way, using decent printer and paper, I print 110 booklets and give them all of them, although they paid for 100.

My personal goal is to get 3 in 90 minutes in the morning...450 for the day, with a net profit of close to 395 bux for a total of about 4 hours work...doesn't always get that, but for me, DOING 3 jobs burns up my hours of work time...start to finish...

You'll get faster as you work with the templates and figure out the best offers to put into it.

Also, as you get higher quantities, you price shop your printing, or take advantage of local printers with high quality laser printers on a heavier stock and/or brightness and have them do it...some will even cut and fold when you get into quantities...but, to me, fly low collect a few hundred bux a day while WORKING handing out coupon books...

seems to be something I can do in my old age...and help pay for the ice cream stand and hot dog stand while I teach SQ1 over lunch...

Gordon

Originally Posted by Cornell

Gordon

One thing you haven't mentioned is the price point you are using...care to share?

Cornell

[Glenn]

Happy New Year,

Fantastic topic.

You can sell Reports and Booklets from Home too.

Since one of my clients is Ken Varga's Joint Venture Projects partner
I've gotten a BIRDS EYE VIEW on WHY a billionaire would bother
with Little Booklets.

Turns out The REASON WHY Ken sold his insurance company for Billions
is because he wrote and gave away 100's of (How to Avoid Hospital
LawSuits) Reports and Booklets to the Presidents of Nursing Colleges.

The College President gave them to college Professors.

The college Professors used the Case Studies in class to teach Nurses
what to AVOID when they got a job.

KEN made the Nurses MORE VALUABLE to Hospital Employers. (Most
Nursing School Grads bought Ken's Insurance.)

==========
Ken Explained to me on the phone why he sells so many Special Reports
and booklets on his website...

He's testing ideas to his million+ ezine readers! The best selling idea
Booklets get combined into books that sell for 99.00 or 169.00 or 397.00
or 999.00

===========
Here's How I've Adapted
Ken's Strategy to Sell
The Most Popular Booklet/Report COMBINATIONS as e-Books...

I - I Turn the Munny Making Ideas that Cross my desk into Reports

II - I share these Reports as "Ezines" to my customers

III - The Most POPULAR Ezine Ideas (Big response) Get Tested

A - We Bribe Readers to VOTE on which book Headline They Like

B - Recently we've been Asking "How Much do you want to pay?"

C - Then Turn Around and Sell the COMBINED Ezines & NEW
Chapters AS BOOKS to all those who VOTED.

D - After we Sold a Bunch of Books last week (Right before Xmas)
We Added 400.00 of Added Value BRIBES (after Xmas)

Result?

A 90% Bump in sales.

***********************************
TEST YOURSELF - POP-QUIZ:

Which Ezine Subject Line Created The 90% Sales Bump?

#1 - A Deaf Woman Who is #1 in The World

#2 - 3 Flirt Bomb Bonuses & Bribe Results

#3 - 1000 Yr Old Beans In My 30 Min Recipe

#4 - How I Knocked a Man Down w/A SMILE

#5 - Hypno-Dog Triple Smile ZAPS The Audience

#6 - Girl GRABS Guy in a Painful Place

#7 - NEW New Years BRIBE 3 for the P rice of 1

Happy New Year,
Glenn Osborn

P.S. - Why is my Copywriting SO CRAZY"? Cuz We discovered People Buy
More if you can make them SMILE & LAUGH in your sales letter.

The
Link
To
The
answer & the 90%-More-Sales-BRIBE -

http://archive.enchantednlp.com/ezine.php?issueno=2241

Hi Gordon:

I was curious where you were pricing in this day and age )

In my other posting I mentioned about having 5 other advertisers in the book....this method worked really well for the trades in that the price was well above the buck a booklet (and we are going back almost 5 years ago now)...when you start talking roofers, heating contractors, plumbers, etc....2.50 was a great price for getting a qualified lead....and the kicker was that each of the 5 trades offered a special discount to the holder of the booklet that they couldn't get anywhere else....

explanation...say Pete's Plumbing is handing out his booklets...in it was an ad for Tom's Roofing which offered "customers" of Pete's plumbing a 500 discount on any full house roofing job....calls come in to take advantage of that 500 discount...qualified lead that should be a 2.50 lead ...but in reality as not everyone of Pete's Plumbing customers needs their roof done right at the time...in actuality it averaged out to 1 in 11 for most of the trades which means the lead was worth 27.50...but still considered a bargain in this area in the trades for a qualified lead....and over the course of time more leads trickled in from people who had held on to the booklet...or cheated a bit by passing the booklet to a relative or friend who was in need of the work advertised which dropped the overall per lead cost.

And likewise in Tom's Roofing booklet Pete's Plumbing might have waived the service call fee...and so on and so forth.

So back in them good ol' days it was 250 per 100 for the trades booklets.

And the other non-trades were bringing a buck a booklet.

Hmmmm.....Almost think it might be time to revisit this opportunity )

Now it might seem strange that a roofer would hand out his own booklet to a customer he had just done the roof for...after all, how often does the customer do the roof...but the kicker on these was the other 5 businesses handing out their booklets with the roofers ad in them...and what is better than the perceived appearance of a company that you just had do work for you giving a perceived recommendation to the other 5 in the booklet.

Just comments for those going down the booklet path that might think there is not a market for them in the trades.

[GordonJ]

Cornell,

Through the years we've had many a person contribute to the whole advertising, coupon and promotion discussions.

Right NOW there is a member here doing exactly as you did...and a couple of others, none of whom post, are using twists to their ad projects.

Yes, I have no doubt you can get at least twice or even multiple times greater from the booklets.

I've dealt with many a tradesman, and, uh, NO thanks.

I wanted a quick and easy, in and out, wham bam, yes or no...easy peasy sale...and one which could be fulfilled in a day or two without much effort.

Roofers, plumbers, electricians, etc. are at times hard to get hold of because they are often working...and you have to meet them at their schedule.

With 1000s of businesses available, I walk in, find the manager or owner, and if NOT there, leave my two pieces anyhow...if they get it, and see it, and want it they call me back.

Just too many businesses to make the offer to. In...OUT, with a YES or NO, no selling (in my mind), no explaining, no getting a 3rd party approval...they get it...or they don't.

The attitude, the one of playing a game I can't lose, is very different than the desperate space salesman...or times salesman...in other words, even showing a big postcard ( a hot rage right now cause some Warrior did a great campaign)....is a hard sell.

A buck fifty a customer who repeats over and over and over...no ONE time deals like a new roof or a big home remodeling project...

I'm talking donuts...and selling more of them...
Bacon and Eggs
A clean dress or pants suit
Knick knacks
apple pie

businesses which rely on repeat customers...these are my first tier...

then businesses which would be used now and then...

and when there is time...I can include the roofer into the general area booklet, like The Best of Akron Booklet...but, it has been my experience, and mine alone, I don't know what other's do...

But, if I keep it simple, affordable, make enough profit to make it worth my time and effort...then I'm a happy guy...if I were younger and had the ability to concentrate on one thing...then there would be time for roofers, plumbers etc.

ONE credit union or bank booklet every once in a while, dealing with only one person...can give you more income than having to deal with 5 people who take my TIME and energy.

Which brings me to this...

To each his own. Sure, guys like Don Alm well into his 60s or maybe 70 by now, can hit the streets and go through some shoe leather...but, that's work.

I take a stroll, a walk, a little exercise...have my business in my pocket...walk in, hand em a booklet..yes or no...back to my exercise. When I get 3, or if 90 minutes has gone by...I'm done for the day.

For some newer Sowpubbers, and younger guys and gals reading...
you and do this and many other businesses and make money all day long 1001 different ways.

I've found over the years, the lower the cost, and if it can show value, be easily understood, doesn't require much thought or time on the business, it is a much
QUICKER,
EASIER
NO COMPETITION

AND VIRTUALLY A YES...WIN/WIN DEAL...

The small potatoes approach can work to build a heaping helping of quick cash without getting to tired out...I'm tired out...or have been...now it is time to RE

Tire out...HA!

Thanks Cornell for sharing, if I were a young stud like you, I'd certainly be working harder...see you on the beach.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Cornell

Hi Gordon:

I was curious where you were pricing in this day and age )

In my other posting I mentioned about having 5 other advertisers in the book....this method worked really well for the trades in that the price was well above the buck a booklet (and we are going back almost 5 years ago now)...when you start talking roofers, heating contractors, plumbers, etc....2.50 was a great price for getting a qualified lead....and the kicker was that each of the 5 trades offered a special discount to the holder of the booklet that they couldn't get anywhere else....

explanation...say Pete's Plumbing is handing out his booklets...in it was an ad for Tom's Roofing which offered "customers" of Pete's plumbing a 500 discount on any full house roofing job....calls come in to take advantage of that 500 discount...qualified lead that should be a 2.50 lead ...but in reality as not everyone of Pete's Plumbing customers needs their roof done right at the time...in actuality it averaged out to 1 in 11 for most of the trades which means the lead was worth 27.50...but still considered a bargain in this area in the trades for a qualified lead....and over the course of time more leads trickled in from people who had held on to the booklet...or cheated a bit by passing the booklet to a relative or friend who was in need of the work advertised which dropped the overall per lead cost.

And likewise in Tom's Roofing booklet Pete's Plumbing might have waived the service call fee...and so on and so forth.

So back in them good ol' days it was 250 per 100 for the trades booklets.

And the other non-trades were bringing a buck a booklet.

Hmmmm.....Almost think it might be time to revisit this opportunity )

Now it might seem strange that a roofer would hand out his own booklet to a customer he had just done the roof for...after all, how often does the customer do the roof...but the kicker on these was the other 5 businesses handing out their booklets with the roofers ad in them...and what is better than the perceived appearance of a company that you just had do work for you giving a perceived recommendation to the other 5 in the booklet.

Just comments for those going down the booklet path that might think there is not a market for them in the trades.