I Created a New Marketing Medium for Local Businesses

15 replies
Well, "create" might be a stretch, although I have yet to see anyone else do this.

It's an actual print magazine. It's designed to sell the clients services in a non salesy way. I figure with everyone selling online marketing this would be a welcome change.

Would you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Thanks for any feedback.

https://joom.ag/r7rW

It's best viewed on a computer so you can flip through the pages.
#businesses #created #local #marketing #medium
  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

    Well, "create" might be a stretch, although I have yet to see anyone else do this.

    It's an actual print magazine. It's designed to sell the clients services in a non salesy way. I figure with everyone selling online marketing this would be a welcome change.

    Would you take a look at it and tell me what you think? I have yet to show it to potential customers. Thanks for any feedback.

    https://joom.ag/r7rW

    It's best viewed on a computer so you can flip through the pages.
    How and where will it get seen? Looks like a high print cost, is it?

    GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author aaallday2010
    $7900 for 10000 magazines

    $9900 for 20000 magazines

    We can also mail using EDDM for .18 each.

    I figure they mail half and keep half to hand out to current customers and potential ones as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

      $7900 for 10000 magazines

      $9900 for 20000 magazines

      We can also mail using EDDM for .18 each.

      I figure they mail half and keep half to hand out to current customers and potential ones as well.
      And what would be the breakeven point?

      Over 9700 to mail them all, 8800 to mail half, and then they pass them out, for how long? If they just sit in the office, how many months will it take to hand out 5,000?

      Your lay out and look is nice, some interesting articles, but if I were competing against you, I could send out 20,000 giant postcards for about 1/3, have an online edition, and still get the information effect.

      You might want to do some serious research and investigation and get a few under your belt. Can I assume the 7900 is the print cost or is that with Profit built in?

      If it is untested, your first couple of sales may take awhile to get.

      Good luck.

      GordonJ
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post

        And what would be the breakeven point?

        Over 9700 to mail them all, 8800 to mail half, and then they pass them out, for how long? If they just sit in the office, how many months will it take to hand out 5,000?

        Your lay out and look is nice, some interesting articles, but if I were competing against you, I could send out 20,000 giant postcards for about 1/3, have an online edition, and still get the information effect.

        You might want to do some serious research and investigation and get a few under your belt. Can I assume the 7900 is the print cost or is that with Profit built in?

        If it is untested, your first couple of sales may take awhile to get.

        Good luck.

        GordonJ
        Nobody is going to mail 5,000 and break even if you use EDDM.

        I've seen personalized magazines before. Price out 500. It doesn't matter if it's a few dollars each. These are used to pass out to clients and are used in pitch packages to show Authority.

        Almost nobody could ever use 10,000. 9,000 would gather dust in a garage. These aren't sent to cold lists, they are used to add credibility to an offer. Too expensive for EDDM, and not targeted. Lists of customers...or solid prospects that have already shown interest are the people who get these.
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        • Profile picture of the author aaallday2010
          Thanks Claude,

          You make good sense.

          But you dont feel that if you saturate a market with these types of magazines it would get good results?

          Here's how Ive been looking at it:

          It's something different people dont get everyday and probably would not only get read, but retain it's shelf life for a long time compared to postcards or brochures... potentially being seen by many other people.

          The client could mail 20,000 magazines using EDDM and flood their immediate area for about $14000. Obviously this would be more geared towards those with high profit margin businesses.

          Having their own magazine would allow them to promote several services rather than one and make them the authority in the area.

          But I could be looking at this all wrong.

          I do see your point about EDDM not being targeted. Works for pizza but Ive never tried this before. Thanks for the feedback.
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

            Thanks Claude,

            You make good sense.

            But you dont feel that if you saturate a market with these types of magazines it would get good results?
            Please don't take this the wrong way, but feelings have no place in direct mail. Everything in direct mail is math.

            Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

            Here's how Ive been looking at it:

            It's something different people dont get everyday and probably would not only get read, but retain it's shelf life for a long time compared to postcards or brochures... potentially being seen by many other people.

            The client could mail 20,000 magazines using EDDM and flood their immediate area for about $14000. Obviously this would be more geared towards those with high profit margin businesses.

            Having their own magazine would allow them to promote several services rather than one and make them the authority in the area.

            But I could be looking at this all wrong.

            I do see your point about EDDM not being targeted. Works for pizza but Ive never tried this before. Thanks for the feedback.
            EDDM works for Pizza because everyone eats pizza. And the pizza vendor is paying $500 for a 20,000 mailing...not $14,000. It's not a select audience. In fact, the best results with EDDM mailers would be pizza coupons. But if it cost $14,000 to mail 20,000 magazines devoted to pizza (and other foods)....it would be impossible to sell enough people pizza to pay for the magazine.

            Here is an example from my own marketing. I sell vacuum cleaners in my retail store. I use direct mail, and direct mail coupon magazines.

            Here are a few things to know;
            Everyone has a vacuum cleaner. It isn't selective. Eventually, everyone will buy what I sell. Maybe not from me, but they will buy.

            I ran full page ads in a coupon magazine The Money Saver. I pay about $500 to mail to 25,000 homes in my local area. In a great month, I used to average one vacuum sale from each thousand magazines mailed. ...25 a month. In a typical month now, I'll average 4 sales from the magazine. Now, truthfully, that's about a $1,000 profit from a $500 cost, so I'll take it. But I only spent $500, not $14,000.

            And I know how to advertise so it pays. I even wrote a book about it, and give seminars on local advertising. I've spent years learning what works in direct mail.....and mostly by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising...and testing the results. Math. So my results are better than average.

            The sample you showed was for a cosmetic surgeon. Certainly a high profit business. But $14,000? For 20,000 mailings to complete strangers? How many will invest in cosmetic surgery this year...out of 20,000? One? Two? Out of 20,000 mailed by EDDM...how many pieces are actually looked at before thrown away? How many are actually read like a real magazine? I promise you the answer is less than 100.

            How many offers are on each page of the magazine? Is it tailored to the specific business? The specific town? Do the merchants write the content? Or is it generic content?

            I mean no disrespect, but I can tell certain things by your first post;
            1) You have never done this at all.
            2) You haven't studied direct mail advertising.
            3) This idea just "seems" like a winner...without anyone who has done it telling you of their experience.

            And you are making two major mistakes that all new marketers make when thinking of marketing;
            1) You think people will actually read what you produce. Complete strangers, who don't care about you or your business at all...who have shown no interest in your business...who have not asked for information at all....who are not qualified in any way......

            2) You think that real offers don't work as well as general information. It's the opposite, by a huge margin. Everyone here that has ever successfully marketed by direct mail will tell you that. Clear, concise , well crafted sales letters...with a strong offer...and a strong call to action... will work where "brand building" ads will not.

            Let's say it's the cosmetic surgery example. Who will even look at the magazine for more than a second? People thinking of cosmetic surgery in the near future. And that's less than 1% of the population. And now you are expecting them to read your magazine and make the leap that...because they got a magazine with generic information in it...they will choose the person that mailed it...or the one with their name on the front...even though they didn't write the content. And there are no offers. It's impossible to buy without an offer.

            You are almost guaranteeing that the person spending the $14,000 is getting nothing back.

            The way to sell this idea is by seeing merchants with large customer bases, that get direct mail regularly from that merchant. Then maybe...maybe...a mailing to existing customers will get some result. But enough profit to pay $14,000 for 20,000 generic magazines mailed? I can't really think of an industry (maybe boats, or time shares) where you could even make this sale.

            Anyone that has $14,000 for a direct mail offer is going to compare your offer to every other way to advertise by direct mail.....
            And...you're a rank beginner. Do you know how to sell advertising for $14,000 a pop?
            Do you even know anybody that does this, that could teach you?

            This reminds me of a friend...years ago...that got the idea to mass mail catalogs that he had printed to a cold list of residents. The catalog had hundreds of items in it. Something for everyone. He even rented an oversized PO Box for the anticipated deluge of orders.

            If I remember correctly, he spent $25,000 on one mailing...to 25,000 random homes.
            Can you guess his results? I did. Not one sale. Why? Because none of these people sent for the catalog.

            One possible way to sell this is to position it as something other than marketing. Take out the profit motive altogether. Sell these "magazines" as brand building "feel good" pieces to give out in doctor's waiting rooms, or leave on the counter at a merchant's store.

            It may appeal to their vanity and feeling of self importance in their town.

            There may be a reason that direct mail marketers don't mail these things out in mass to every resident in the area. Maybe they know something you don't.

            On the other hand, if someone writes you a check for $14,000...and you gave them no promises of results...print those things up ad deliver them.
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            One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

            What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?
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            • Profile picture of the author aaallday2010
              Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

              Please don't take this the wrong way, but feelings have no place in direct mail. Everything in direct mail is math.



              EDDM works for Pizza because everyone eats pizza. And the pizza vendor is paying $500 for a 20,000 mailing...not $14,000. It's not a select audience. In fact, the best results with EDDM mailers would be pizza coupons. But if it cost $14,000 to mail 20,000 magazines devoted to pizza (and other foods)....it would be impossible to sell enough people pizza to pay for the magazine.

              Here is an example from my own marketing. I sell vacuum cleaners in my retail store. I use direct mail, and direct mail coupon magazines.

              Here are a few things to know;
              Everyone has a vacuum cleaner. It isn't selective. Eventually, everyone will buy what I sell. Maybe not from me, but they will buy.

              I ran full page ads in a coupon magazine The Money Saver. I pay about $500 to mail to 25,000 homes in my local area. In a great month, I used to average one vacuum sale from each thousand magazines mailed. ...25 a month. In a typical month now, I'll average 4 sales from the magazine. Now, truthfully, that's about a $1,000 profit from a $500 cost, so I'll take it. But I only spent $500, not $14,000.

              And I know how to advertise so it pays. I even wrote a book about it, and give seminars on local advertising. I've spent years learning what works in direct mail.....and mostly by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising...and testing the results. Math. So my results are better than average.

              The sample you showed was for a cosmetic surgeon. Certainly a high profit business. But $14,000? For 20,000 mailings to complete strangers? How many will invest in cosmetic surgery this year...out of 20,000? One? Two? Out of 20,000 mailed by EDDM...how many pieces are actually looked at before thrown away? How many are actually read like a real magazine? I promise you the answer is less than 100.

              How many offers are on each page of the magazine? Is it tailored to the specific business? The specific town? Do the merchants write the content? Or is it generic content?

              I mean no disrespect, but I can tell certain things by your first post;
              1) You have never done this at all.
              2) You haven't studied direct mail advertising.
              3) This idea just "seems" like a winner...without anyone who has done it telling you of their experience.

              And you are making two major mistakes that all new marketers make when thinking of marketing;
              1) You think people will actually read what you produce. Complete strangers, who don't care about you or your business at all...who have shown no interest in your business...who have not asked for information at all....who are not qualified in any way......

              2) You think that real offers don't work as well as general information. It's the opposite, by a huge margin. Everyone here that has ever successfully marketed by direct mail will tell you that. Clear, concise , well crafted sales letters...with a strong offer...and a strong call to action... will work where "brand building" ads will not.

              Let's say it's the cosmetic surgery example. Who will even look at the magazine for more than a second? People thinking of cosmetic surgery in the near future. And that's less than 1% of the population. And now you are expecting them to read your magazine and make the leap that...because they got a magazine with generic information in it...they will choose the person that mailed it...or the one with their name on the front...even though they didn't write the content. And there are no offers. It's impossible to buy without an offer.

              You are almost guaranteeing that the person spending the $14,000 is getting nothing back.

              The way to sell this idea is by seeing merchants with large customer bases, that get direct mail regularly from that merchant. Then maybe...maybe...a mailing to existing customers will get some result. But enough profit to pay $14,000 for 20,000 generic magazines mailed? I can't really think of an industry (maybe boats, or time shares) where you could even make this sale.

              Anyone that has $14,000 for a direct mail offer is going to compare your offer to every other way to advertise by direct mail.....
              And...you're a rank beginner. Do you know how to sell advertising for $14,000 a pop?
              Do you even know anybody that does this, that could teach you?

              This reminds me of a friend...years ago...that got the idea to mass mail catalogs that he had printed to a cold list of residents. The catalog had hundreds of items in it. Something for everyone. He even rented an oversized PO Box for the anticipated deluge of orders.

              If I remember correctly, he spent $25,000 on one mailing...to 25,000 random homes.
              Can you guess his results? I did. Not one sale. Why? Because none of these people sent for the catalog.

              One possible way to sell this is to position it as something other than marketing. Take out the profit motive altogether. Sell these "magazines" as brand building "feel good" pieces to give out in doctor's waiting rooms, or leave on the counter at a merchant's store.

              It may appeal to their vanity and feeling of self importance in their town.

              There may be a reason that direct mail marketers don't mail these things out in mass to every resident in the area. Maybe they know something you don't.

              On the other hand, if someone writes you a check for $14,000...and you gave them no promises of results...print those things up ad deliver them.
              Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response. Hey I just noticed you're right up the street from me neighbor!

              Im not a total newbie. I did two Bob Ross's 9X12 postcards so I have some experience. Also sell printing and design services for local business like brochures, biz cards and takeout menus.

              The whole mailing with EDDM was just a thought. I really just wanted to create something new and interesting businesses could give to potential and current customers rather than an outdated business card.

              Ive decided to do away with mailing the magazines and simply sell them as is. I can start at 1000 magazines and go up in 500 increments.

              Now, just got to send a few samples to potential clients and wait for the money to start rolling in. LOL!

              Wish me luck... Im going in boys.
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              • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
                Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

                Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response. Hey I just noticed you're right up the street from me neighbor!

                Im not a total newbie. I did two Bob Ross's 9X12 postcards so I have some experience. Also sell printing and design services for local business like brochures, biz cards and takeout menus.

                The whole mailing with EDDM was just a thought. I really just wanted to create something new and interesting businesses could give to potential and current customers rather than an outdated business card.

                Ive decided to do away with mailing the magazines and simply sell them as is. I can start at 1000 magazines and go up in 500 increments.

                Now, just got to send a few samples to potential clients and wait for the money to start rolling in. LOL!

                Wish me luck... Im going in boys.
                Your answer shows class. You take criticism well. I'm glad you have a little experience. It will make this easier. I think starting with 1,000 magazines is a sound idea.

                So...are these magazines already written? Are they specific to each industry? How does this work?
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              • Profile picture of the author DABK
                I know a guy who works for a printer. He found himself 2 postal routes that have nothing but businesses in them. 6 times a year, he prints a magazine (invites business owners and other 'experts' to write articles for him with full bio). He sells ads on his magazine (60 for a half page, 90 a full page, if I remember correctly).

                The magazine exists so he gets printing clients. He loves it that it usually pays for itself and often makes him extra money.

                Originally Posted by aaallday2010 View Post

                Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response. Hey I just noticed you're right up the street from me neighbor!

                Im not a total newbie. I did two Bob Ross's 9X12 postcards so I have some experience. Also sell printing and design services for local business like brochures, biz cards and takeout menus.

                The whole mailing with EDDM was just a thought. I really just wanted to create something new and interesting businesses could give to potential and current customers rather than an outdated business card.

                Ive decided to do away with mailing the magazines and simply sell them as is. I can start at 1000 magazines and go up in 500 increments.

                Now, just got to send a few samples to potential clients and wait for the money to start rolling in. LOL!

                Wish me luck... Im going in boys.
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  • Profile picture of the author aaallday2010
    Those are the customers costs. Profit on the first one is about $5500 and $6000 on 20000.

    I hear you, but postcards are over done....get thrown away too fast. Magazines have a different appeal and left around alot longer. Plus you can educate your potential clients with a magazine.

    Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author SARubin
    It could work very well. But it's not cheap to do, and it's not an entirely new concept. (Although you are adding a slightly different twist than I've seen, by doing it for other clients than yourself.)

    Rodale publishing has been doing something similar for many years (even though they're selling their own books) But they've been using similar style magazines (magalogs and such), very effectively for a long time.

    So yes, it can work. But keep in mind... Rodale spent millions of dollars every year to mail out their promotional "magazines"

    So I'd recommend testing small, before rolling out big. Then measure your cost against your return.

    It seems like your biggest challenge might be getting clients on board. They'll likely want to see solid projected returns for their investment.

    I do hope it works for you. I'm still a big fan of offline marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author aaallday2010
    "So...are these magazines already written? Are they specific to each industry? How does this work?"

    I just have this one so far. The idea is to only change the color scheme, magazine title, some photos and various quotes that are in the articles. The overall style will remain the same.

    Im looking to target just a couple of industries (medical, real estate agents and maybe home improvement companies). Have one magazine for each profession that can be customized for each client.

    I think the magazines could make for a great first impression. I mean, how many companies have their own magazine?

    But yeah, that's the idea. I just hope the client sees the value in this.

    The easy part was creating the magazine... now I have to sit down and think of a plan to promote this new service.

    I was thinking of contacting some of these businesses that do medical websites for doctors and networking with them. Afterall, they have all the contact info and will probably get their phone calls answered. Ill cut them a nice commission. There's enough profit to do that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    "One possible way to sell this is to position it as something other than marketing. Take out the profit motive altogether. Sell these "magazines" as brand building "feel good" pieces to give out in doctor's waiting rooms, or leave on the counter at a merchant's store.

    It may appeal to their vanity and feeling of self importance in their tow"

    Yup 100%... I have several clients selling big ticket. Their 'pride' pieces (front page of magazine or other big features" are proudly displayed like trophies in a showcase in their offices, many framed.

    They all have 3 things in common. They cost a fortune, made them no profit they can point to and the buyer is more proud of them and flaunts them more than any other 'marketing" piece that they do...
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Peter Lessard View Post


      Yup 100%... I have several clients selling big ticket. Their 'pride' pieces (front page of magazine or other big features" are proudly displayed like trophies in a showcase in their offices, many framed.

      They all have 3 things in common. They cost a fortune, made them no profit they can point to and the buyer is more proud of them and flaunts them more than any other 'marketing" piece that they do...
      I hear there is a real market for Fake Time Magazine covers with the client's photo on it.

      The market is sleezy billionaires with low self esteem.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    I actually met with a super high profile print mag guy over the weekend. Relative of mine. Fascinating guy who has no doubt made millions online. He has been in the game for 30 plus years and seamlessly worked into the online niche nearly 2 decades ago, but print works.
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