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  #1  
Old December 26, 2011, 02:17 PM
GordonJ's Avatar
GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Default Spilling the BEANS...

HA...you may think I have a one track mind of late...

beans, beans the more I eat...the more I toot...my recipes.

BUT, this post is NOT about beans, or recipes or cookies...

not exactly.

See, a couple of years back Richard Dennis showed me a little booklet, about cookies of all things...

And this 16 page booklet is made from ONE piece of paper...

Well, I got excited. And got the template. Played with it, perfected it

AND put it to good use. But, I've never mentioned what I did. I hinted at it, told a couple of people how I tested the Selling Balloons with a coupon book attached to the balloon as a gift...

And a few of you tried it yourself...

What I left out...is how I used the one piece of paper 16 page booklet template to make my coupon books.

It has been a total secret...until NOW.

See, I've tested several ways of doing it.

One, ala Jimmy Krug, was to offer the booklet to banks and credit unions...they are the sponsor and the booklet is about how to get a loan and what services the banks offer...thanks Jimmy. Didn't come up with any of these on my own...

I simply PHILed them, ala Phil, who likes to twist me into knots and turn me upside down...thanks Phil

And borrowed from Don Alm, Marty Buckley and the late Pete Egler as Pete twisted my HOTSHEETS into his own hotsheet...

Besides banks, credit unions, I've tested pizza shops, dry cleaners, restaurants, etc. ...

And put together booklets for them exclusively to use...for example the Green Chimney Restaurant has a 16 page booklet they give away to their customers and it contains a DEAL OF THE MONTH, plus the menu and some info about the owner...

A dry cleaners had a deal of the month, Mar. Bring in anything green and get 1/2 off...or a two for one deal for a dress, suit, etc.

Also, tested the coupon aspect...actually had a church sponsor, they got 1/2 the ad revenue...so for 140 dollars, a local car dealership had a coupon in the church sponsored coupon booklet...

Tested with local band as a fund raiser too.

I knew when I saw the 10,000 cookie booklet it could be PHILed...hope you don't mind Phil...whenever I Phil something, I twist and turn it and look for other ways to profit from it.

NOW, if you hate selling, then you hire someone, lots of people out of work...to sell the spaces...

The BEST distribution method, FREE, is to give each advertiser a 100 or 250 of them to pass out to their own customers...NO mailing, no delivery except to the businesses themselves. A busy pizza shop may want 1000 to start...

And the neat thing, an inexpensive (less than 500 dollars) duplex laser printer works great...and if you get an order for 1000, lots of places locally and/or online can get them back to you in 5 days or less.

It is ONE piece of paper, printed on both sides, cut and folded and one staple will do.

Yes, it is an advertising vehicle...for one business like Joe's Dry Cleaner or a coupon book, with 14 business card sized ads...which can be their business card even.

You can have them as a fund raiser for bands, teams, scouts, church youth groups...whatever you can think of.

They are quick and easy to make, one mock-up is all you need to get businesses to buy ads or to order 1000 booklets for their own use.

ONE piece of paper. !6 page booklet, and heck you could even hire a neighborhood kid to assemble them for you.

So big THANKS to Richard Dennis and to all the advertising sales people who visit sowpub over the years...

NOW, I've spilled MOST of the beans on how I've used the One Piece of Paper 16 page booklet....

It is a great cash cow...another FLY LOW and COLLECT DOUGH type of business. COUPONS are still hot.

Advertising with results remains a staple.

Entrep...no, in honor of Don...ENTROOPURNERship is alive and well in USA....

I love the HOTSHEET turned into a small booklet that fits in your pocket...in fact, one of booklets is THINK AND REACH PAR...a gift for golfers...I work with sporting goods stores to have them given out as a free gift when people buy golf stuff...and they have a coupon in them for the store giving them away.

OF course, like with any program, results vary by your effort, but if you can't convert this booklet into a 5 grand a month income stream...please don't talk to me ever again, OK?

Gordon Alexander

PS. Questions??? http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45286943/golftarp2.pdf Here is one of my golf booklets.

Last edited by GordonJ : December 26, 2011 at 03:38 PM.
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  #2  
Old December 26, 2011, 06:00 PM
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GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Default Samples....

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45286943/booksamples.jpg

Just some samples for you to put your thinking cap on.

The big difference is this is fast and easy money without selling.

Hand them a custom made mock up, offer weekly or monthly specials...smart guys do a weekly special times 14, so they reorder in a couple of months or order more and you simply adjust the specials...

Not revealing all the details, but, if you already call upon businesses, this is a low cost, no brainer for a store to test out how a coupon really can bring in business...NO Groupon type negative fallout...this develops repeat customers, not one off freebieites...

Gordon

PS the original $10,000 Cookie is show too.
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  #3  
Old December 27, 2011, 06:52 AM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is online now
Onwards and upwards!
 
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Posts: 3,357
Default These are absolutely fantastic ideas...

Quote:
Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45286943/booksamples.jpg

Just some samples for you to put your thinking cap on.

The big difference is this is fast and easy money without selling.

Hand them a custom made mock up, offer weekly or monthly specials...smart guys do a weekly special times 14, so they reorder in a couple of months or order more and you simply adjust the specials...
Hi Gordon,

These are absolutely brilliant ideas... I can see how these could be quite profitable for local businesses (in multiple different ways, as you point out)...

First, is the template available?

I find this idea fascinating... There's a local restaurant I want to help out (hence my interest in "restaurant marketing" at the moment), this idea could be a great one for them...!

Best wishes,

Dien
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  #4  
Old December 27, 2011, 09:18 AM
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GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Location: West Palm Beach, FL
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Default I think the template is posted here, somewhere.

I believe Richard Dennis shared the template with the forum a couple of years ago. If you can't find it, I'll send you one.

Dien, consider this...

3 guys walk into your restaurant.

The first is trying to sell advertising space in one of those monthly Coupon Clipper type books. Trys to sell multiple entries, small coupon costs over 500 dollars

The second guy is trying to sell a space on a giant postcard be one of many for only 495 dollars...

The third guy is ME, I hand the owner/manager a little booklet...has a picture of his place on the cover...it is HIS coupon book...not one of dozens of ads in a coupon clipper type which gets mostly thrown away...

NOT one of a dozen on a giant postcard, most recipents have no interest in his business

OR, a custom designer booklet full of HIS special offers, meal of the week, buy one get one, free dessert day, birthday specials...and an incentive in the way of referrals...to allow HIS cutomers to bring him new customers and get something for doing it...

So, MY sales pitch is to hand them the coupon book, with their NAME, logo and examples of possible coupons...they give out to THEIR customers with incentives for the customer to come back again and again and they can order in very small quantities to test it...no ongoing expense like a contract in a coupon clipper...

NO hit or miss postcard mailings, a simple, affordable way to get repeat customers and NEW customers and turn them into repeat customers.

TRY it, I'll help you with the mock up and coupons...you will just hand the coupon book to the person, they GET it, they order or they don't...no selling and no competition...

because this booklet is ALL about them...and they

don't share the space with anyone else.

Gordon

And it can be repeated monthly

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dien Rice View Post
Hi Gordon,

These are absolutely brilliant ideas... I can see how these could be quite profitable for local businesses (in multiple different ways, as you point out)...

First, is the template available?

I find this idea fascinating... There's a local restaurant I want to help out (hence my interest in "restaurant marketing" at the moment), this idea could be a great one for them...!

Best wishes,

Dien
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  #5  
Old December 27, 2011, 11:50 AM
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MMacGillivray MMacGillivray is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Helensburgh, Argyll
Posts: 243
Default Re: Spilling the BEANS... here's the post

Hi, Gordon - I think this is the post you're meaning

http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showpost...9&postcount=15

http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/pr...l_package.html - is where the tutorial's at

Retirement - now there's a concept

Have a great New Year.

Best
Margaret

ps - http://creativetechs.com/iq/discover_pocketmod.html shows a different way of putting together a booklet.

Last edited by MMacGillivray : December 27, 2011 at 12:05 PM. Reason: additional info
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  #6  
Old December 26, 2011, 07:55 PM
GordonJ's Avatar
GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Default WHY spill the beans NOW???

If it has been such a secret, why spill the beans NOW Gordon?

Good question.

Short answer...Retirement...collecting Social Security...moving on to Next.

Most SowPubbers KNOW I've had a few detours these past few years...

Pre Existing Medical Condition resulted in a loss of insurance and costly expenses...then the Heart Attack...deaths of loved ones...disappointments in business partnerships....

Seems like I've been as Job of bible fame...I'm still here...

PLANS (did gods laugh when I made them???)

My RETIREMENT plan has always been to land in San Diego and buy an RV to travel up and down the coast and places East in the Summer...

As I get nearer to that, like NEXT month Social Security starts and a modest retirement/investment fund kicks in...since I have liquidated the rest of things...I am not encumbered with things...places...etc.

I would like to have an absentee HOT DOG BUSINESS, with a recipe I've perfected using 90% beef and 10% veal, NO salt, NO preservatives, NO nitrates, nitrites no hog, sheep, or vermin added (you'd be surprised) along with a small ICE CREAM stand with speciality ice creams...

NOT the Garlic and fish flavored as we've heard about...

But as good an ice cream as one can make, without sugar and cow milk...it's a challenge, but I've got the secret NOW.

Anyhow, my ONLY biz pursuit is going to do these small booklets...and that is why I'm not revealing everthing about them...but, I know I can work 90 minutes a day and make a couple of hundred dollars in cash...which along with the rest of retirement...affords me my pleasures, as they are while living in a
van
down
by
the
ocean...

So, to the RETIREMENT end, I've sold all of my Intellectual Property, my chattel has been sold, my important papers locked away with my kids in possession...

NOW, it is less work, more fun...

But, I find cold calling, and selling and walking into a momma and poppa biz with a little booklet...hand it to them and tell them to contact me if interested...FUN...old salesmen never die, they just can't overcome the final objection...ha.

My testing shows it will be at least 300 bux a day for doing nothing more than handing them a booklet...NO sales pitch required...

So to answer the email...as to why now? Another one of those got to get my kids back from their evil mother? pitches...NO, the ex and I get along fine, she's a great mother, lucky to have had children with her...

Another FIRE sale? NOPE, only thing on fire is my desire to retire.

One more of those too good to be true money makers? They ALL are too good to be true if you DON'T ACT on the information, IMHO.

Nope, just TIME to reveal some of things I've held for myself...in hopes that a few of you trusted and long time friends of the forum can take advantage NOW, before I get busy oogling the beach beauties of S. Cal.

HEY, maybe I can get a reality TV show...DOM Explores....no not Dominic...the Dirty Old Man...HA!

This booklet thing isn't a big secret...but once I saw the template, I had to test it out...best product I've sold, or developed, which I could take all the credit but without Richard Dennis and Jimmy Krug...I would have never even thought of it...

Gordon Jay Alexander...Mr. Retirement in Feb, 2012

Last edited by GordonJ : December 26, 2011 at 08:30 PM.
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  #7  
Old December 27, 2011, 01:14 PM
sandalwood
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Spilling the BEANS...

This is some fantastic schtuff, aka resources, one can add to one's arsenal. A big thank you to everyone who gave up the urls for this idea. As always, Gordon has been Johnny on the spot when it comes to answering questions.

I don't have any links or resources to add to the discussion but a thank you never hurts any discussion I've ever been in. BTW, talking about spilling the beans, mine arrived yesterday and I began looking up what cooks around the globe are doing with the anasazi beans.

Haven't seen one recipe using them w/sweet potatoes and I love me some sweet taters. I'll experiment and let everybody know how it turns out.

Tom
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  #8  
Old December 27, 2011, 05:30 PM
Cornell
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Spilling the BEANS...

Contemplation of twists and turns.....

I used a similar template a few years ago to introduce a web site locally....I reserved 5 pages for ads to complimentary web sites. Booklets were giveaways and done in 1000 batches.

Company 1 had primary content to his/her website with other 5 ads included.

Company 2 (one of ads in company 1's booklet) had their info primary on their handouts with 5 ads (1 of which was company 1)

Company 3 (one of ads in Company 1 and 2) had their info primary on their handouts with 5 ads (2 of which were company 1 & 2)

And so on for all 6 companies (primary for the handout booklet and 5 ads)

Result...Each person that participated had 1000 pieces of direct primary advertising to the people they handed out to, plus free ancillary advertising to 5000 others by way of the handouts from the other 5 companies.

Same possibility could be used for local business advertising booklets as discussed in this thread to facilitate sales.

Don't post much anymore but always in the background lurking )
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  #9  
Old December 27, 2011, 05:38 PM
Cornell
 
Posts: n/a
Default online link to how to do

http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/pr...l_package.html
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  #10  
Old December 27, 2011, 05:52 PM
Cornell
 
Posts: n/a
Default oops...just realized Margaret had posted the online link...sorry (DNO)

oops...just realized Margaret had posted the online link...sorry
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