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Cooperative marketing with other local businesses

by Sean DeSilva
10 replies
A while back on this forum there was a great idea to do a large postcard coupon mailer across 10 different businesses. I was thinking of doing something similar, except more to subsidize my own costs and own the market (if I make an upfront ROI on the mailer I won't complain though)..

Between a large coupon postcard and a niche newsletter (say Denver Home Trades) what do you guys think would see more engagement and response? The benefit and downside I see with the postcard coupon is the discounting. The newsletter, if it works as I envision, would help all the related businesses be seen as the default area option. But whether that leads to an actual response is something I have yet to see.

Any feedback from the local JV mailers is appreciated!
#businesses #cooperative #local #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Sean DeSilva View Post

    A while back on this forum there was a great idea to do a large postcard coupon mailer across 10 different businesses. I was thinking of doing something similar, except more to subsidize my own costs and own the market (if I make an upfront ROI on the mailer I won't complain though)..

    Between a large coupon postcard and a niche newsletter (say Denver Home Trades) what do you guys think would see more engagement and response? The benefit and downside I see with the postcard coupon is the discounting. The newsletter, if it works as I envision, would help all the related businesses be seen as the default area option. But whether that leads to an actual response is something I have yet to see.

    Any feedback from the local JV mailers is appreciated!
    I believe you are talking about The Bob Ross 9x12 Mailer System. If you search the forum you will find lots of info on this product. Bob Ross (Jake) is a stand-up guy and his stuff is high-quality.

    I am not an affiliate.

    Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
      Originally Posted by BigFrank View Post

      I believe you are talking about The Bob Ross 9x12 Mailer System. If you search the forum you will find lots of info on this product. Bob Ross (Jake) is a stand-up guy and his stuff is high-quality.

      I am not an affiliate.

      Frank
      You have good timing. received this email (on his list) for a new offer.
      bob ross, brucenewmedia, and a guy named edwards (in video)

      Sales Page here: lead gen giant
      Free content (including article on JV coop advertising) here :
      High Response Local Marketing - High Response Marketing.com

      try to go through bob ross for his benefit.
      I don't receive anything by the way.

      Good Luck,

      kirby
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      • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
        Banned
        Originally Posted by kirbymarketingconcierge View Post

        You have good timing. received this email (on his list) for a new offer.
        bob ross, brucenewmedia, and a guy named edwards (in video)

        Sales Page here: lead gen giant
        Free content (including article on JV coop advertising) here :
        High Response Local Marketing - High Response Marketing.com

        try to go through bob ross for his benefit.
        I don't receive anything by the way.

        Good Luck,

        kirby
        No - that's got nothing to do with Bob Ross, unless he's just an affiliate. I received that today, also. Wasn't very impressed. The flood of this stuff on a daily basis has become unbearable. Most of it is rehashed, recycled and refried.

        9x12 is a very dedicated system that requires serious effort but actually allows you to build a very nice business using it alone and if you add the ability to do all kinds of commercial printing, which you can get from Jake's printing company at great prices, you can stop being mesmerized by shiny objects on a continuous basis. lol

        Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
    good you chimed in.
    yeah, marketing stuff is mostly a ReMix
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  • Profile picture of the author eccj
    If you just want to do a shared mailer to subsidized your cost then the M3 system by Bob Ross is a good place to start.

    9x12 is waaaaayyy to big of a project to just get free advertising.

    An M3 gives you more space and shouldn't take more than a few hours of work if you are mailing to consumers. Maybe a couple days if you are mailing to businesses.

    What is your business?
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean DeSilva
    Thanks for the comments, will have to check out the M3 system. My business is local house cleaning by the way.
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      The problem with the newsletter approach is content. You'll need content the recipients find interesting again and again. And, of course, you need to convince them to read it the first time...

      How do you get them to subscribe, ask for it?

      You're doing the selling two times...

      I know a guy who does this... and well..

      By that I mean, he's a printer... he has one such letter he sends to business owners.... Other business owners provide him content for free. Some buy ad space in his newsletter.

      You don't sign up to get it... He just sends it...

      He's happy... gets some people to advertise for a fee and gets one or two new clients every time he send it out.

      But it's well targeted and the content he gets is a great match...

      You'd have to do the same if you sent it to private people... Except, how do you know what interests all of them (or enough)? With business owners, some things interest all business owners (or most).

      Originally Posted by Sean DeSilva View Post

      Thanks for the comments, will have to check out the M3 system. My business is local house cleaing by the way.
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by Sean DeSilva View Post

      Thanks for the comments, will have to check out the M3 system. My business is local house cleaing by the way.
      For Spring Specials, an EDDM coop card can't be beat. These one off mailings of 5 to 10 thousand mailboxes give you instant saturation. You might get the same thing with a flyer delivery service, and save some dough.

      Any size door to door (eddm) works as long as you cover expenses, to have it done for you plan on 33 to 35 cents a box, or 5,000 for 1650, get 10 businesses to share it equally for 165 each.

      Now combine your one off SPECIAL card with a drip/branding campaign.

      You could offer a flyer/card to pizza shops and dry cleaners, because they deliver direct to homes, they "host" the card, pay nothing and you get the advertisers to pay for it. Many shops deliver 300 to 500 a week. So 5, 000 flyers might take 10 weeks to be delivered and since many customers are repeat, they see your ad more often.

      You could do a special offer, or a tie in with another business.

      Realtors might make a good host for you, offer to do a postcard for them, to give out at open houses, and on the back put 6 good offers, related to getting a home ready to sell or one that just did. Yard guys, painters, etc.

      You could do a local restaurant placemat, with little tear off ads, the restaurant gets free mats, you have to get enough ads to pay for it, same with MUGS in restaurants.

      You could create coops for trade shows, like the home and garden show...te one in Cleveland starts tomorrow and will attract tens of thousands of visitors, if you create a coop card with other vendors, the attendees leave with valuable savings.

      Wedding shows are big this time of the year, a great gift would be 3 months of house cleaning or something like that, and you might coop with other providers, cause after the wedding, the real life begins and maybe they are combining households and need your services.

      You could do a daily specials menu board at a restaurant, and get other advertisers to be on the board.

      So, you have a lot of options when it comes to cooperative advertising.

      DISTRIBUTION is the key, with eddm and flyer delivery you know your prospects receive your offer, other ways could be iffy, depending on how they (cards/flyers) are being distributed.

      I would think a house cleaning service goes year around, with some specials a few times a year, spring cleaning, holidays, etc.

      Coop is very affordable, there are no rules and all kinds of variations on a theme. Don't believe that 5% bs that some gurus sling, you don't know how or what kind of a response you will get on coop, but you will know you have leveraged your ad dollars....

      so make them as effective as you can.

      I offer nothing to buy, but have experience in all of the above mentioned coop methods, if you were a client, in North East Ohio, you would HAVE to be at the Big Home and Garden show this week, I know many small businesses live off this one event for the year. Sure there are events in your area too.

      GordonJ
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    • Profile picture of the author eccj
      Originally Posted by Sean DeSilva View Post

      Thanks for the comments, will have to check out the M3 system. My business is local house cleaing by the way.
      You should be able to do an EDDM pretty easy then.

      Talk to the people that you already do business with and you can get a card filled in no time.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShayB
    If you're looking to just get free advertising through a mailer, the 9 x 12 is probably not the way to go. Huge project, as has been mentioned.

    However, you might go with a much smaller postcard, and share it with 3 other businesses. I've done that before and it's good if you have businesses that could work well on a postcard.

    You could go to a local networking meeting and find a few people to go in with you, perhaps.
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