Yes, you can make big money in mail order. But, you can only make money with the mail order magazines if you understand who reads them. The mail-order magazines are trade papers read almost exclusively by mail order dealers and “opportunity seekers” aspiring mail order dealers.
Mail order enthusiasts generally will only buy merchandise that will help them operate a mail-order business. It is almost always a waste of money to spend on advertising merchandise generally intended just for consumption by the general public in a mail-order publication unless you are offering it on a wholesale or drop-ship basis.
Below is a brief description of twenty-two products or services that have been sold successfully through mail order magazines. Take a look and see what products have brought riches to others.
1. RUBBER STAMPS – Almost every mail order dealer purchases a rubber stamp with at least one name and address. They also purchase stamps with slogans such as “Big Mails Wanted,” “Commission Circulars Wanted,” “First Class Mail,” “Your Ad Solicited,” “Information You Requested Enclosed.” Rubber and self-inking stamps sell well in the mail order magazines because dealers use them to conduct their business.
2. MAILING LISTS – Mail order dealers constantly rent mailing lists of opportunity seekers, book buyers, multi-level enthusiasts, and the like. These new prospect names are necessary to generate new business. You can rent mailing lists on plain paper or self-stick labels. If you can develop and market a good list, you can earn quite a tidy sum.
3. BIG MAILS – Anyone who regularly advertises in the mail order magazines offering “Big Mails” will get orders for them. Big mails consist of envelopes full of mail-order tabloids, ad-sheets, and circulars of every imaginable kind. The “Big Mail” order dealer earns his profit by selling ad space and subscriptions in his publications or co-publishes. He also makes money from the items offered on the circulars, which he includes in his big mails.
4. CIRCULAR MAILING SERVICE – Set up an efficient, dependable circular mailing service so that dealers can get their circulars into the hands of genuine mail order buyers. If you advertise it regularly in the magazines, you will soon have all the circular mailing business you can handle!
5. PRINTING – Every mail order dealer buys printing. He accepts circulars, envelopes, sales letters, booklets, catalogs, ad sheets, brochures, price lists, letterheads, mail order magazines, and a thousand other things. If you do letterpress or offset printing, advertise your service in the mail order magazines! This type of advertising is probably the mail-order magazine’s number one all-time profit-maker!
6. INFORMATION FOLIOS – Mail order dealers will always buy the information that they think will help them succeed in the mail order business. Folios that deal with any practical aspect of direct selling can sell through mail order magazines. You will make money if you have produced your folio and are willing to drop-ship orders for other dealers!
7. DROP-SHIP AND WHOLESALE OFFERS – If you have a large stock of merchandise suitable for mail-order sales and are willing to supply it on a drop-ship basis (single orders at wholesale prices) or a wholesale basis, then you should consider advertising it in the mail order magazines. Dealers are constantly looking for new products to sell by mail. If you plan to sell on a wholesale basis only, offer your product in tiny wholesale lots. Most mail order dealers are part-time workers and do not have large sums of money to invest in untested merchandise.
8. SAMPLE COPIES OF MAIL ORDER MAGAZINES – Mail order dealers have an insatiable appetite for new mail trade magazines. This “hunger” is why hundreds of them come into existence and then disappear every year. If you publish or co-publish a mail-order magazine, advertise by offering sample copies of it in other publications. You will get requests for it.
Regard your sample copy as a “leader item” or as a “goodwill builder.” It should be your way of getting your other offers into the hands of prospective buyers. You will probably sell some ads, but do not expect to sell too many subscriptions. Except for a few of the leading publications, very few people subscribe to mail order magazines. Most serve as loss-leaders for other items.
9. SHIPPING LABELS – Labels of any kind are perfect sale items for mail-order magazines. These could include already-printed name and address labels, blank shipping labels, address labels, and even slogan labels.
10. NAME LISTING SERVICE
11. COMMISSION CIRCULARS – Circular mailers watch every issue of every mail order magazine, looking for new sources of commission circulars. There is no better way to advertise commission circulars than by placing ads in the mail-order magazines.
12. COPY-WRITING SERVICE – If you have a natural flair for writing ads, circulars, or sales letters and if you have a basic knowledge of mail order selling you can market your services for better mail order magazines. There is an excellent need for mail-order copywriters. With a bit of skill and know-how, you can fill this basic need.
13. AD DESIGN – Another significant demand service is for the commercial artist who can create eye-catching ads and circulars that dealers can use to sell their products. The daily addition of new products to the market can ensure the able advertising designer is a constant source of new business. Suppose you have a good eye for layout and design. In that case, you could create a profitable home business designing ads on your personal computer and printing them with a laser printer. The widespread availability of inexpensive electronic clip art and digitized photographs can provide you all the skills you need to make top-of-the-line advertising in every shape and size.
14. TYPESETTING – Most mail-order printers and magazines now require a camera-ready copy which has created a significant demand for dealers who can offer typesetting services. Although the advent of desktop publishing has made the task more manageable and less expensive, there is still a great need for this service. A few strategically placed ads in the more prominent mail-order magazines could bring you all the work you will need to begin your full-time operation from home.
15. PEN PAL & SINGLES’ MAGAZINES. For some reason, mail-order magazines have always been good places to sell this class of publications. It may be because many of these magazines are co-published in the same way as are numerous mail-order tabloids. Most mail-order magazines will accept ads for a legitimate pen pal, matrimonial, and singles’ magazines. However, only a tiny number will receive “adults only” ads. Too many readers object to such advertising, and some mail-order dealers are minors.
16. HOBBY MAGAZINES – You can sell almost any hobby publication through an advertisement in a large circulation mail-order magazine because many dealers handle hobby merchandise and are always looking for new products and advertising markets. Many mail-order dealers and readers are hobbyists and collectors themselves. Suppose you can publish a successful hobby newsletter or magazine. In that case, the mail-order trade magazines may provide a lucrative source of new subscribers.
17. FORMULAS & RECIPES– Mail order dealers buy formulas for two reasons. First, some dealers reprint the procedure and sell it by running ads in prominent, national publications. Some even manufacture the product itself and sell it by mail. Closely related to formula selling is the marketing of recipes. If you can create new recipes that dealers could sell to their customers, advertise your services in mail order magazines. Or, if you publish a recipe book or booklet, this may be the advertising showcase you need to become a success.
18. CATALOGS – If you can produce low-cost catalogs which dealers can mail to their customers offering books, novelties, gift items, baby merchandise, printed forms, etc., you would be well-advised to provide your services in the mail order magazines.
19. UN-IMPRINTED BUSINESS MERCHANDISE – If you can supply merchandise at bargain prices that the dealer can use in his mail-order business, you can sell it profitably in the trade journals. For example, blank envelopes, computer printer ribbons or toner, shipping labels, stencils, scratch pads, etc. A few successful dealers even sell large, bulky items like computers, typewriters, computer printers, file cabinets, paper cutters, and printing presses by mail.
20. AD SPACE – Every mail order dealer buys ad space. Suppose you publish or co-publish a mail-order magazine. In that case, you can sell ad space by advertising it in other mail-order magazines.
21. ADS TO RUN UNDER YOUR NAME – Can you supply ready-made ad copies which other dealers can run under their name and fill their orders on a drop-ship basis? If so, print up your ads and sell them through the mail order magazines. If you can supply camera-ready ads and circulars, so much the better!
22. MAIL ORDER PLANS – Opportunity seekers always look for new mail-order ideas and business plans. Suppose you have some actual, legitimate, workable plans that others can use to make money by mail, publish them and advertise them in the mail order magazines.
You will discover that almost all the ads in the mail order magazines fall into one of the categories listed above. Suppose you are selling a viable product or service that fits into one of these categories. In that case, you can advertise it in the mail order magazines and expect readers to respond to your offer. The opportunity exists to turn your ideas into reality. Do it today!