Postcard WSO (Let's Mastermind!)

[Cory Friedman]

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the postcard WSO's that
have been around lately.

But, who wants to RISK $1000 (mailing 1000 postcards) before we know that we have
everything 'lined-up' for the needed (2%) response rate to make it profitable?

I say we build a mastermind and learn from each others successes
and mistakes.

Obviously, the conversion rate is the X factor in this method.

There's how many people first visit our URL, then the how
many of them take the action (CPA Lead/Sale etc)

These '2 levels' of responses are what makes this all a bit blurry
and hurts peoples confidence in the method.

I am juss dying to mail out 1000 postcards (undoubtedly like
dozens of others) but I want to feel a bit more confident that
everything is 'lined-up' for high response.

I don't so much mind losing $1000, as long as I can find out
(with the collaborative help of others) how to make it 'work'.

If you want to mastermind on Skpye or whatever, PM me.

Best,
Cory Friedman

[digitalproductreporter]

what is the postcard method?

you send out 1000 postcards for $1 each and hope you earn more than $1000 back?

[mike.leembruggen]

which service do you use to send postcards? and how are you getting your targeted customers addresses?

[Cory Friedman]

Hey guys, forgive me if I assumed most people knew/saw the WSO.

Basically, when it's all said and done 1000 postcards in the mail will
cost you at least $800. And most list brokers require a 5000 name list
rental.

There is at least 1 WSO on this method at the moment, but nobody has quoted an specific succcess.

[George Wright]

Not interested in getting into a Mastermind Group, and I know this probably can't be applied to IM, but, When I was a carpet cleaner I mailed out 300 simple postcards and that mailing kept me busy for 20 years. There were many repeat customers and a lot of word of mouth as a result of that one and only mailing.

George Wright

[mr2monster]

I'm just doing some quick number crunching in my head here but.....

1000 postcards getting a 2% response (in my experience it's closer to .5% response average) and converting every single one of those (100%) into a CPA lead with a payout of $36 each doesn't even make your money back if your mailing cost you $1000...


1000 X .02 (2%) = 20 leads
20 (@ 100% conversion) X $36 = $720

If you're spending $1000 on post cards, you're losing money. Granted, you should only be spending about $.40 per post card, not $1.00. But you're also probably not going to see a 2% response, and definitely not a 100% conversion on those respondents.


Direct mail is HARD to make work for items that have low margins.... remember that before you blow your $1000 on post cards..


My experience comes from about 5 years working with an ad agency doing direct mail for real estate professionals. Take that for what it is.


If you're going to do direct mail, you need to either have a high margin product, or have a high lifetime value of your customer. Which means you need to be building your list... not just directing them to a CPA offer.

[mr2monster]

Originally Posted by George Wright

Not interested in getting into a Mastermind Group, and I know this probably can't be applied to IM, but, When I was a carpet cleaner I mailed out 300 simple postcards and that mailing kept me busy for 20 years. There were many repeat customers and a lot of word of mouth as a result of that one and only mailing.

George Wright

This is how companies with smaller margins get away with direct mailing post cards.

So, again... DO NOT just send someone to a CPA offer and expect to actually make money in direct mail. It won't work. You need residual and back end revenue to make direct mail work.


I'm also willing to bet that George did this back when mail boxes weren't COMPLETELY inundated with post cards.

[Andyhenry]

I haven't seen any recent wso but I have done postcard mailings and I've found them a lot less profitable than other forms of marketing and I don't do them anymore.

If you want to form a group - why don't you speak to whoever is selling the information so you're communicating with people who know what you're talking about.

There are so many WSOs here every day now that most people won't have seen a particular one.

There have been quite a few products sold about postcard mailing systems, some of them were done by people that read it somewhere else and then just sold a wso because they thought people would think it sounded like a good idea.

Make sure you're following someone who's actually been successful with it because I know people that have done it and lost money - so it's not as easy to make it work as some people might have you believe.

[duffmarketing]

I'm about to start a test mailing of a duplicatable program that sells for $100. The program is mailed as a printed report/book, with CD that has postcard designs and e-copy of the PLR report. It's a very simple program. I'm starting by just printing 1000 cards myself and buying a list of opportunity buyers... total cost of my first mailing will be around $500. I can break even with a 1/2% response so we'll see. I have a friend who is thinking about sharing the risk with me... if he bails I may be looking for others to share the risk and in face might have a couple more people in mind. With several tests, each being a risk, at some point the goal is to find a list and a postcard design that consistently pulls 1% or more response... then it's rollout time baby! At that point, with enough proof of a consistent return from a list that has a large universe, it should be very easy to get funding for full blown rollout I would think, no?

[thobbs31]

Do people even still read these things? I know when they come to my house they go straight to the trash. I'd guess this is the biggest waste ever in advertising dollars. I'm sure it used to be profitable, but I just don't see it now. Maybe I'm wrong.

Tom

[Alan Petersen]

There is an entire section to the forum dedicated to forming mastermind groups, events, and local meetups. Try there.

Local Meetings, Mastermind Groups, And Forum Events

[duffmarketing]

Originally Posted by thobbs31

Do people even still read these things? I know when they come to my house they go straight to the trash. I'd guess this is the biggest waste ever in advertising dollars. I'm sure it used to be profitable, but I just don't see it now. Maybe I'm wrong.

Tom

You are right. You are right that most people do not read these things. In fact, on a good mailing, 980 people out of 1000 will do as you, and just toss the thing in the trash. But the other 20 will buy (if response is 2%). But you are probably also right that direct mail/postcard advertising is something that was only good in the past, not today. Nothing to see here. Moving right along now.