bob ross

I am INCREDIBLY happy to see how you guys are taking action and putting this into place the right way.

I want to reply to all of you but I am exhausted right now and I have to get up somewhat early.

thanks all of you for posting your results with this and encouraging others to get off their butts and move with it like I have.

ps: glad you guys like the avatar

greggorio28

Bob - youve planted many happy trees on here my friend

Hell Ive been glued to this forum for 48 hours straight and my wife keeps yelling at me to get off the dang computer!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Vikuna2009+

Highly doubt that is really you do....,;o;, Eva

Vagabond 007

I'm in Broomall, 15 minutes from KOP. This whole area (yours and mine) is perfect for this type of thing...it's a nice, congested area.

It's Adriana Lima. She is a Victoria's Secret model.

Seriously, it's awesome! I was cracking up when I first saw it because I always got a laugh watching that guy.

"Let's go ahead and create a new layer in photoshop. It's your file, do what you want with it. Let's put in some pretty blues and reds, it's your world."

Haha, people who aren't familiar with him will think I'm nuts!

greggorio28

Right on 007....montco/delco/chester is congested and PACKED with small businesses & local shops looking to drum up more business! Ugghhh...I have anxiety just imagining what this could lead to with multiple campaigns overlapping....this could be the motherload if executed properly. Hell I could finally quit my 9-5 union job!

And I used to love freakin Bob Ross and his happy trees and mountains lol. I still am amazed at how he painted PERFECT pine trees with like 5 brush strokes. Dude was a legend

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

cbuckley00

For the 9X12 postcards how do you price those size changes. Each sized ads in each section as well as the back have different sizes? In otherwords if the front of the post card has 8 ads available and some ads are small, medium and large, how do you do your pricing? Thanks in advance.

SirThomas

They can have 10,000 menus delivered to 10,000 homes for £200? Also, you're talking about some menus on thin paper... That's totally different ballgame.

More Ideas

No, 10,000 menus delivered is £200 + printing costs (which can be as low as £150 per 10,000 if bought in bulk).

I don't think I can compete on price, therefore, it's a case of "Why should they use me instead of doing their own thing...?"

greggorio28

I just gave you two very key points as to why this would generate WAY more business than handing out menus on page 5. Read up

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Centurian

Great idea Bob.

This does work. Done similar promo ventures.

dtaylor

Bob,
How much lead time would you recommend for targeting events or holidays. For example, do I have enough time to get a Superbowl issue sold, proofed, printed and mailed in the next 6 weeks?

Thanks,
DTaylor

Vikuna2009+

[TE=dtaylor;5198330]Bob,
How much lead time would you recommend for targeting events or holidays. For example, do I have enough time to get a Superbowl issue sold, proofed, printed and mailed in the next 6 weeks?

Thanks,
DTaylor[/QUOTE]

1. A week to play around and make a sample and let the idea grow in your mind for clarity.
2. A week to sell the ads.
3. A week to print it.
Still 3 weeks left... Sounds doable to me, lol.

P.s. I am stage 1., Eva

jrobconsult

Isn't the super bowl in 8 weeks? You have more time than you think

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

dtaylor

My thoughts were that Christmas always throws schedules off plus the mailers would have to go out at least a week before the Superbowl, 2 might be better.

DTaylor

Vikuna2009+

Now THAT is an excellent idea, come to think of it, lol. Thank you, Eva Btw, I am not a Super Bowl person (being Swedish), what kind of deals would be most attractive for that?

And then we got Valentine's Day coming up!

dtaylor

Hoagies, BEER, liquor, munchies, other food items (BBQ etc.) TVs, sports paraphernalia etc. I am not a sports fan either but I have been to a few SuperBowl parties and they seem to spare no expense.

DTaylor

SirThomas

How are they going to have 10,000 pieces delivered for £200? I am not asking about printing costs... Who is going to deliver 10,000 pieces for £200? Post Office?

secoff

Amen Brother!

Some of these postings just make me crazy.

I recently relocated from Southern California to Houston and I was looking for the right opportunity to kick my business into high-gear. I found it! Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - that I've come across in the Warrior Forum the past several months has the potential immediacy and impact of Bob's idea.

I've spent way too much money - several hundred $$$ - on WSO's the last few months looking for just the right key to landing clients and expanding my business. While I've gotten a lot of "good" information, there hasn't been anything that's been as cut and dry and complete as what has been presented by Bob and a few others here on this thread. It's laid it all out.

"WSOs? We don't need no stinkin' WSOs!!!"

Everything you need is here. Do what I've done: Go through the thread in its entirety and paste all of Bob's pertinent posts into a word processing document. Add all of the good ideas and helpful comments from those posters who are excited about the concept and have real contributions to make. Review it. Arrange it all into a sequence that you can follow. Follow the plan.

That's it. You'll have invested a little of your time, learned the entire process (on paper) and given yourself something better than a $97 WSO or even a $2,000 "business in a box" from one of the high-priced gurus.

And in case you didn't realize it - as Vagabond just pointed out - the freakin' project funds itself!

Look, either you get it or you don't. It will be the same for business owners. But coupons and direct mail are something more of them understand better than websites, seo, PPC, etc. I may have to spend time "relating" to them, but I won't have to spend a lot of time explaining.

It's not rocket science, you just have to do it. Do something. I don't know everything, I won't know everything. I won't even be good at it at first. I'll learn. I'm sure I'll have to say (more times than I want), "That's a really good question. Let me get back to you with an answer on that." That's not fatal.

Don't make excuses. Stop searching for reasons why it won't work! It will. You may have to make adjustments; that's okay and to be expected.

Folks, the bottom line is: You're only going to learn it intimately by doing it. You're only going to get better at it by doing it. You're only going to make money by doing it.

I've spent the last two days going through all the information on this thread and identifying my local market. After this post, I'll be working on my mock up. I'm using real businesses who are advertising in my area for the mock up. (Not that I have to, but I think it will give me an edge when I approach them and others in the area.) By tomorrow, I should be finished with that and I'll take the file to Fedex Office/Staples/Office Depot and have them print a few copies. Then I'll spend a couple of hours identifying the potential objections from business owners that I can think of.

After that, I'll begin contacting.

By this time next week, I'll have checks in my hand.

If you're going to do it, then do it. Step out on the limb, take a leap of faith. Or don't. Just don't be surprised if in the months ahead, you find one of my GIANT cards in the mail in your neighborhood!

Thank you Bob and everyone else who's contributing to this thread!!!!

God Bless Us, Everyone!

rideotm

Don't look now, but Bob just put out his WSO for this....

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

rideotm

I grabbed it, will add a review later

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

Vikuna2009+

Just bought, didn't even read the sales copy, go grab it "bob ross fans", lol.

greggorio28

Didnt read either....I'm in for the primo package!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

rideotm

I got it all too...already have 8 very interested clients...he already gave us the cake, now the icing

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

Vikuna2009+

Still havent read it and rushed to purchase too soon. There's a basic package for $10.05 (and only 1 left) and the whole thing which right now is $37 (going to $97). I got the basic package which was the first "pay" button that I saw. Kind of wanted the $37 but I am going to stick with what I bought. I was going to do this anyway. Anyway, best of luck. From this point forward, I am going into serious action mode and will use what I've learned to make this happen, Eva

dv8

What a shocker.

Hopefully this isn't another issue like what happened with the whole AP drama.

greggorio28

Details?

This is extremely cut and dry....just missing a few holes which hopefully will be explained in the WSO. I just poured my afternoon cup of coffee and about to fire it up

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Vikuna2009+

I gave up and asked for a refund. Silly to settle for basics when you can have it all for $37. Looking forward to dive into it, Eva

Vikuna2009+

Highly doubt it and for $37??? Who would want to rip you for that (well, I guess some will...).

jrobconsult

I bought the premium package and just one of the tips is going to make me a lot more than $37. I just had a quick read and want to go back thru and email him some questions. I am ready to get this started.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

bob ross

There's a lot of different ways to do it and of course you can put different sizes on the back if you want.

I went through a lot of pricing strategies before I found the right one, but the best advice I can give you is that you should price what you feel comfortable to you. Keep in mind some businesses will pay more than others for the same spot.


Targeting events and holidays is a great idea. targeting specific neighborhoods is as well!

You certainly can get it ready by then but get on your butt and go do it. If you want to really give yourself some comfort, just work on a valentines day one and hit up places like jewelers, chocolatiers, florists, etc...

A Swede!? I named my parrot "Lennart" after my fav swedish card magician. valentines day is a perfect time for a "themed" card. Put hearts all over the design and stuff!

If you can find a locally owned electronics store that would be killer for them to do a TV sale or something. Could probably blow best buy's deals out of the water and reach people much more efficiently.

C'mon stop that, couldn't be further from the truth.

Thanks a lot, yes the printing info is pretty much invaluable. Since you bought the premium package (and anyone else of course) check out what you can get business cards printed for with it. Feel free to PM me too if you want to know an even cheaper place for those.
----------


Everyone keep your results posted and let's hear about the deals you've closed!

StevePB

I haven't been able to access smp.usps.gov at all for the past 2 days. is anyone else experiencing issues accessing it?

EDIT: nvmd, they moved it.

jrod014

Just got the premium package. I've been lurking here and I have to say I'm excited to dive in the WSO.

Thanks for all the great info so far!

dv8

Long story.

But it started out of this thread.

Cliff notes are that this member (ap) posted a bunch of good info. Gave a lot a way but held off on some stuff. People loved it. Claimed he wouldn't do a wso. He built up lots of desire. People were practically begging for a wso. He did one (surprise). Sold it at $247 (or maybe it was $297). Offered the world in the wso.

(Any of this sound familiar?)

Sold hundreds of them, no lie. I estimate that he made about $50,000. Offered very little content once you bought the wso. The jist of the wso was weekly webinars. Which if I remember correctly he only ever did a few of them, no where near what the wso claimed he would do.

Then he disappeared for good. No one got a refund.

I really do hope you're legit. You seem like you are, but so do most scammers.

But seriously I am not trying to be mean, it's just part of this thread is giving me flashbacks to ap. Same kind of theme...claiming a bunch of money to be made, offering enough to get people excited, but not revealing a key point or two, claiming you aren't going to do a wso, then low and behold, a wso.

Vagadude007 posted early on that you should either spill the beans or do a wso. And I agree with him, no shame in getting paid for all of the work you did. I don't blame anyone for wanting to be compensated for that. Just sends up red flags when people claim all of this great stuff, while leaving out a key point, and then say how they aren't selling anything. I've seen it time and time again here on this forum.

Again, I really hope you are legit. And your avatar is funny, I like you just for that. Just saying that part of this thread seemed suspicious.

I'll leave it at this and won't post about it anymore. I don't don't want to rain on anyones (you and everyone who is reading this thread) parade and clog up the thread if I'm wrong...which I really hope I am.

jrobconsult

The info I got will save me countless hours plus just the info on selecting the right areas to send is worth it. There is plenty more to list and look forward to seeing the webinars and getting my questions answered. I was hoping Bob was going to do a WSO because even will all the info, there were plenty of missing holes.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

timpears

Sh!*. My wife told me I can't spend any money on IM this month as she wants to buy a few Christmas gifts for family. Being on disability doesn't give me much money to spend each month but this month I can't spend any. This is killing me as I want this so bad. I think I can do it with the information I already have, but you never know what you don't know.

Boy this sucks, but I think this will get me off of the disability when I put it into action after the holidays. I don't want to try to sell people when they are side tracked with other things holiday wise.

I get a raise next year on my disability pay check, so I could have afforded this better next year. My timing always seems to be off a little. Oh well, life goes on.

Tim Pears

warrioradam

How's the WSO guys? I can't afford it right now (being a students tougher than it looks when you have no help from the rents) So I will be trying to do this without it. Bob if you want to throw me a xmas copy that would cool jk

But seriously I think you all should get out there and do it at least give it you're best shot and if it doesn't work then maybe you can refine it or say it was something else but at least you know you went out there and tried.

My report today:

I woke up showered got dressed up and went out. It was really my first round of B2B sales before....I have done residential door to door but it's really different imo.

I grabbed my mock-ups and went prospecting the first place I tried was a record store that was more hipster he didn't really do any advertising other than a magazine publication, and social media. I don't think his business was very busy. I ended up not closing the sale.

I was out for 3 hours 12-3 in between class and talked to 10 owners/decison makers out of the 25-30 places I stopped at. It was very challenging and I didn't sell a single ad spot. Overall the responses I got were mixed I did my layout and price point differently from Bob's I have 14 total ad spots front and back and my price point is 375 for the smaller ad and 475 for the bigger ad. Some of my problems I think I did wrong today was A. I didn't qualify as well as I should I more pitched them than used question based selling and B. I didn't build the value you in it starting out. I should have explained hey this thing doesn't fit in a mail box well so the person has to see it. It's an exclusive ad spot that only you're type of business will be allowed on. It's thick and weather proof and it doesn't get "lost in the pages"

Some successes I did have were finding out 2 or so businesses were going to be changing new owners so that will be a fresh face and a chance to re-prospect and they might be more open to this form of advertising. Some owners wanted to trade ad space for items but because this is my first round I don't have the capital to do it. I got offered a 1 year with a cart membership from a golf course but A. I don't golf and B. I need the capital to print this. I am a broke college student haha.

My plan for tomorrow is get up and go out and try to call on some businesses. Objections I heard when I was out A. direct mail doesn't work B. I use Val-Pak C. It's not in my budget D. Stop back at this time.

Questions I was asked:
What demographics is this reaching
What neighborhoods and why that neighborhood.

I didn't really have good answers for them and I don't know how to obtain demographical reports on neighborhoods.


Anyways I got out tried for three hours that were free in my schedule and tomorrow I will be going out the whole day. at least for 7 hours. If I don't sell something tomorrow it will be discouraging but I am not going to stop until I prospect my whole town. 60k is the population. I have a part time job on the weekends and myabe will think about prospecting through email.

Thanks for the info you did give Bob for the people who bought his WSO I hope you get out and do this becuase there is litterally nothing like it in the mail.

timpears

I was kind of bummed out and my wife asked me what was up. So I told her about the WSO on the thread I had told her about.

She said get it.

So I did.

I am so excited. I can't read it right now as I have to go to dialysis as soon as my driver gets here.

Tim Pears

RedShifted

As far as the "right" areas to send I would aim for middle-upper class areas closet to where the majority of business's are. Thats just what I'm thinking of doing.

I would also think that once you sell your first job you should try to hit business's as close to that first point as possible. If you find yourself driving miles 5-10 miles away I'm thinking when you send them out you'll be risking losing people just due to distance. Although you may be able to actually aim between them too so maybe it does not matter if you have tight geographic circles.

warrioradam

According to some marketing research I looked at last night there are two types of coupon users people who are on a budget and people who are doing it as a hobby. So upper middle class is great to start but I am going to target renters/lower valued homes.

HvilleSEO

Haha that made me laugh. I'm about to start going through the wso too.

Just remember you have to TAKE ACTION! I plan to hit the streets Saturday.

Vikuna2009+

Well, I kind of have re-couperated from the "frenzy", sort of and just went back to this thread. Some more of you have posted your thoughts and what you have been up to and I am glad that you are taking action.

Whatever it is that you have run into, it is all handled in the wso and for that, I am grateful. As someone else said, this will save me countless of hours and delibertaing between "shold I try this, should I try that". It is all laid out for you. Enough plugging, I am so much more confident now that I will be able to make this work. Thanks, bob

bob ross

I can't wait to hear what you think, thanks.

Yeah keep the demographic stuff a secret! Thanks for the kind words, seriously though. I'm glad to help any way I can.



too bad you can't read it while on the machine hah. You and your wife have a great xmas, tim and thanks for investing in the premium WSO. I really would love to see you get this going for you.

Send your mailings to whoever you think the businesses will want them to go. Think like the business owner.

Target who you think the business owners want them targeted to as well as high coupon using households. I made some mistakes in the beginning in this area and did a lot of research and testing to figure it out, just research research research and follow the facts.

I read your longer post and I'm glad your not bummed out after a couple hours of not closing a deal. Sometimes business owners can be complete idiots and will think the greatest thing in the world is stupid.

I've been to a few places myself where I was EXTREMELY frustrated at not being able to sell the owners and then you find out they are out of business in a month.

Here's a tip Adam, don't talk about it being "direct mail".


Think about all the possible objections they could give you, write them down and then come up with ways you can overcome them. I had a tough time being in residential home sales then crossing over to b2b when I started selling these.

I was REALLY frustrated because I wasn't comfortable and I wasn't closing deals right away. Just keep at it and you're going to find that you land 2 or 3 in a day and before you know it, 7 days goes by and you have 3/4 the card filled. Just plan your attack as thoroughly as you can. Great job getting out there and physically prospecting though!

greggorio28

To those on the fence whether the WSO is legit or worth it....I'll personally go on record by saying he has filled in EVERY single missing hole that makes this system 100% complete from start to finish. He put lots of time into this and even went as far as to add personal tips on the pitch (which for non-sales guys like me this was invaluable and extremely common sense after reading it twice). LOTS of content.....and extremely well organized. Its a complex and detailed guide to an otherwise VERY simple direct mail campaign!

Best $37 investment Im ever going to make. Already working on details!

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Karen

This is so true. About 12 years ago I developed a website for a small business owner and discovered places where we could list a free product drawing, so I convinced her to let me promote a free product drawing, and that resulted in a lot of signups for her email list.

Things were going great, getting more and more signups, then I talked her into doing a split test with her next special offer. I wanted to test two ways of presenting basically the same offer: it was something like 15% off any of her products over $35, or $5 off any purchase of at least $35. I just split her list into two equal parts and mailed one of the offers to each half.

The result was that twice as many orders came in from the list that got the straight dollars off offer.

We had indisputable facts about the two parts of the mailing, and the next special offer we sent out, she insisted on the percent off model. I was so frustrated with that.

Another example with the same business was that I was looking at the access logs for her site and found that one category of product was searched for more than all the other categories put together. I told her the stats and suggested she expand her offerings in the most searched product category. I think she said she was too busy to bother with that.

As competition on the Internet increased, her sales decreased. I don't think her quitting the business would have been necessary if she had paid attention to the facts I had discovered. I was really disappointed in the whole thing. She could have really had a winner, but she just didn't pay attention.

I think it's really important to be able to break things down to the nitty gritty, carefully selected details that should get the attention of the business owners. If we can't get through their fog of misconceptions, I guess we just have to say "Next!" and move on.

Bob, you did a really good job in your WSO Extended Version of presenting what's important to say to the business owners, and the order in which to present the details. If anyone is on the fence about whether to get Bob's course, I highly recommend it.

Thanks, Bob!

Karen

---<--<-@ Local Florist in Little Falls, NY @->-->---

More Ideas

Delivery boys, door-to-door. The going rate is £15-20 per 1,000, so 10,000 would be £150-200..and yes, I'm aware of the pitfalls this method, but I'm talking about what the restaurants already pay.

dtaylor

I don't know Bob, never met him or read any of his postings before that I can recall.

I do know this: this is actionable material whether you buy the WSO or not. Go to the Post Office and go over the mailing program he describes. They will tell you that, yes, you really can mail these out for 14.2 cents.

Check out the online printing companies and you will find that the price he is paying for printing is realistic.

Next, gather as many advertising materials in your local area as you can. Identify ads the same size and with approximately the same distribution and call for pricing. They will gladly give it to you.

I know this: I have paid $525 for a 4" x 4" ad in a monthly magazine that had free distribution. I have paid $400 for 3" double column ads in newspapers. As an advertiser I know that his prices are in line, in fact, they are a bargain.

I have done a fair amount of cold postcard mailing. I know they work and the ones I was sending out were just cheesy things I printed out on my black and white laser printer on colored card stock. They still work.

If you have an example of this postcard and show it to businesses and explain to them that it MUST be handled by each homeowner, even if they throw it away, they can be shown the value of the proposition.

I have not detected any BS or hype in any of Bob's postings, and I have looked and checked out his statements.

Don't buy the WSO, just do the business if this is what you want to do. Get a graphic designer to do a mockup for you for a few bucks (probably under $50)

Have it printed on nice stock at Kinkos. Approach some businesses with it.

This is good stuff.

DTaylor

greggorio28

The best part of this campaign is that you can negotiate ad space as much as you want (within reason of course). This means a 10k mailer campaign can range from $4k-7k residual monthly net income! If you can successfully run another campaign in a neighboring town and continue to run them seamlessly - you are talking NICE 6 figure income.

A lowly-paid designer like myself who has worked hard all my life and climbed the ranks to hit $45k a year is about to re-write my entire financial future with this!

Eventually Hire a small team of part-timers to handle your sales, printing, distribution and begin to outsource to more towns and you are taking this in a whole other direction....like mini franchising! 100% possible....all comes down to successful branding and a steady flow of advertisers as long as they get a decent return

Professional graphic designer and entrepreneurial Jedi Knight in training...check out my portfolio

Vikuna2009+

I am so happy for you Tim! This is probably the best Christmas present you could get and I am sure that with the help of your family and friends, you will make this work for you.

Now, be extra nice to your wifee and relieve her of some of her chores, lol. Don't forget, you also have bob to ask for help in emails.

All the best to you, Eva

jrobconsult

Let me give you a few words of advice about dealing with small business owners and direct mail. I have been dealing with small business owners since 2003 doing promotional sales and going out of business sales.

Generally, the better the business is doing , more likely the owner will follow your program 100%. The stores that are doing bad financially are the most likely want to fight following a proven program. You can't convince every business owner how this will help their business, just go to the next one and get them to be a part of your direct mail campaign.

As for the power of direct mail, I have seen the power of it firsthand many times. In my last Going out of Business Sale, the store would do $1500-$2,000 daily. We did have signs, but the shopping center was small and off the main road. On the first day, we did over $31,000 with most items only 13% off and 9500 black and white 4 x6 postcards was the only advertising. In the first 4 days, the store was able to sell over half of their inventory with this discount. Needless to say, the sale was very successful and direct mail played a large part. So business owners who say direct mail does not work are wrong. This has been repeated sale after sale for me.

This direct marketing approach is a winner as long as you get the right advertisers with the right ads. I don't know of an easier way to impress a small business owner. The key is to take action and don't worry about mistakes. Most likely, the business owner will not realize you messed up. After the first one, I am sure all of us who are going to do this will be much wiser and much more confident. Good luck to all.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

warrioradam

If anyone wants to break down carrier routes by this you can melissadata.com you can break it down by avg income