MATH and the cost of time.

Read this thread the other day and what shows up in the mail yesterday - an odd sized, door hanger postcard. On one side is a local restaurant, on the other a plumber.

An odd combination, but...I know from my research that both advertise like crazy. They spend the money to get their share of the market, not content to let "whatever happens", happen.

These are the kind of businesses Gordon is referring to in this thread. They WANT to spend the money to get out ahead of their competition. They have a proven track record of doing so.

I have collected the proof.

No need to convince them that they need to market themselves to survive and thrive.

They're already doing it.

So, this thread has me thinking, what if I found just one of these types of go-getter businesses a month and set up a monthly postcard mailer for them.

If I cleared $1,000 per month from each advertiser, for virtually no work on my part, would it be worth my time?

What might my income be by the end of the year, if I found 2 businesses each month to do solo postcard mailers?

Could I sign them up like this for a while, "put 'er on autopilot" and just collect the checks each month, from a beach somewhere?

Gordon...ya gots me thinkin'!

Ron

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Sure, all kinds of ways to do it, from 20+ ads on a giant postcard to a single card.

MOST major insurance companies, offer a cooperative ad budget, each comes with its own restrictions and requirements, but agents who use this money, can afford to run their own cards, as can banks, lawyers, etc.

AND if price is easier, then how about a 99 dollar ad, where it would be a no brainer one call sale on the spot?

Advertising, for the most part is a value proposition, so costs become relevant. The lawyer who does liability cases, for injury, may have clients worth tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars...so the 4,000 it takes to land a new client is a bargain.

So, the lifetime or overall value of a customer comes into play. Knowing a doctor, dentist or professional has a higher lifetime value client than the barber shop, gives the sales person the ability to pick and choose their someone.

We discovered running around didn't suit us, and started evolving our advertising business into a SPEED business, what gives us the highest return on TIME, and it normally kills other things BECAUSE it forced us to choose the someone we wanted as clients.

OF course we are all free to do whatever, however, I simply can't see why it would take 3 weeks to sell a postcard, when it should be an easy 3 day deal, if it is done properly...and without having to send out tear sheets, hire scrapers, make a ton of phone calls, send out email...

WHEN, knowing who in your town spends the money on ads, and aren't concerned about saving two nickles, but rather want something which works, and brings them more business...and their customers are valuable to them.

It can be fun and easy, and FAST...why take 3-5 weeks and all that running around, when in that same amount of time, you could have 10 single clients doing a solo mailing, and mix in some two, three or 6 or even 18 co-op cards if you want?

No, I think the problem is, there are some crafty, shrewd and slick guys (or gals) selling PROGRAMS and back-ends. NOT a problem for me and others, but the problem is reflected in how much "support" and hand holding these people need, when selling advertising is one of the simplest things you could do. Don Alm created all kinds of successful ad projects and very few of them took all that time and slop.

Just saying, or venting...but no worries, I let my "students" know very clearly if they want to do something different or join a cult or a group...that's ok with me, just delete my number from your phone.

Gordon