oogyboogawa

I don't think there's anything shady about saying, "This type of campaign, when run in other areas, has seen X Results."

To be honest, it doesn't matter too much if that campaign in a different area was run by you or someone else as long as it's an accurate number.

greggorio28

I wouldnt deviate too much from Bob's system. It obviously has been tweeked to perfection in his case and yielded great results. I played with about 10% of his layout & numbers and am happy and very comfy with my system. Saturation print marketing is not about scaling back on expenses and hitting 10% of the market.....go you and get it!

And if you do this right......you will pay ZERO out of pocket to make this happen people.....ZERO!

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

timpears

Unless they ask, don't go there. I was planning on saying (if it comes up) that I was visiting my friend in NY and he...... Then you can use any of the examples that Bob has shared with us. He was getting 13% to 22% response, but that was spread out over 16 merchants. But I would think that any merchant would love to get 100 to 150 new customers over the course of a month, for $500 to $600. They should be able to clear that on the first purchase, and if they treat them right, they should come back.

You can't sell everyone. Don't worry about the ones that are not willing to pay a reasonable price. They are not worth your time. There are plenty that will be willing to risk the small investment, especially if you discount it the first time. Just tell them that this is my price, but if you are willing to commit today I can let you have it for (name your price). Be confident and proud.

I have always found that if you take control, most people will let you have it. You can lead them where ever you want them to do, with in reason. Just lead them to your close by telling that how this will help them. You can't guarantee them anything as it will depend on the coupon offer you get the merchant to offer.

Never sell yourself cheap though. You are offering a valuable service, anyone that is not willing to pay for it, isn't worth your time. Follow Bob's system as close as you can, and don't try to reinvent it. He has developed it and it works.

Tim Pears

KaterSD

my advice would be to not do it all for free. Why reinvent the wheel. Unless you wanna try and do it for free because you dont think you can sell a spot for 500 bucks.

If i was you i would follow the wso down to a T, and if you dont have it then follow whats in this thread. Say it was a cost of $3k divide that by 16 and thats your bare minimum you can offer it in order to recoup your cost. Instead of throwing money at giving these people free advertising invest it into the business.

Hire someone to do the ads. get a logo made, Get some business cards, buy a domain, get a polo shirt with your logo. Then hit the streets.

Professor G

Bob - what a unique concept and thanks for your detailed insights. Looks like you really inspired a few people!

Professor G

A few of the last comments indicated giving a discount for first time so they can show actual percentages. My reaction is to avoid this and instead rethink how you are approaching it yourself.

If you believe in your offering and the opportunity and have enough excitement, it will work. It all comes down to your confidence. Remember you have the ultimate scarcity factor working for you and you don't need to sell everyone as was pointed out already. Just need 16. How many businesses are in your area? Way more than 16 most likely.

I also believe it is fair to reference "similar offers" and also that it depends on their offer as well. Nothing can be guaranteed and they are certainly getting exposure as well.

rideotm

Stay away from free. it is just not the starting point or perception you want to have. If you can't get an owner to have some skin in the plan, walk away but first ask him if he knows the owner's name of a competitor's like biz you have on your hit list. Get the last word. Fear of loss is a huge motivator.

I made a list of 20 different local businesses types and have 3-4 businesses in each. To date, I have hit 12 of the businesses on my "warm" list and so far, have 4 deposits and 4 that I feel very good about. These are people that will gladly give a testimonial too. I received my samples from Bob yesterday and those on the fence will all see it Monday.

After my warm list is a group of businesses already advertising. I have a half full filing box of mailers, door hangers, etc I have been colecting for several months. These owners don't need to be educated on just what the value is here. From this list, if necessary, is plain old cold calling.

By the way, one of my warm list hits was a dickhead like Adam encountered. I pounded him with fear of loss and questioned is business acumen. Screw him, I never much liked him anyway! I may turn him down if he calls....or, maybe not.

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

jrobconsult

I like your approach. it is better to fill all of your spots with paying customers and if needed to fill the last few spots, give a big discount or free. Picking your customers is the way to go also. It is better to pass on an idiot than go thru the headaches. You will never make them happy and you will be miserable.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

jrobconsult

Bob has a great system, just put your stamp on it and he has done the hard part for us. The only hard part left is finding paying clients for the first mailer and using competitors against each other correctly will force one of them to bite.

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

jrobconsult

I can't wait to get mine. How do you plan to present them to a business owner, since they are from a different area?

San Antonio Estate Liquidators
Estate Sales San Antonio

rideotm

The people i have seen so far are all friends so i didn't have to rely on any tactics. I printed out a copy of Bob's posting on the thread and showed them that one and told them that I have a full size and coated sample coming soon. They were cool. Really, we talked more about the saturation potential and ways to create the best conversions.

If I were asked, I would tell them that this is a current mailing being done by a friend and business associate of mine in New York. I consider Bob my frienfd and I bought his WSO so there is a business association.

I wouldn't worry about what may arise. Go in with confidence and a posttive attitude. I have been in sales a long time and have I screwed up and blown many a presentation? Sure, and I will again. BFD...If there are negatives, try to find the roots and take care of it. If you get Richard Cranium, like I did yesterday, laugh and walk away. After all, he is the one losing.

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

BlogDiva

Hey Everybody!
A few of you have contacted me about designing the Jumbo postcard for you. I promised to do a mock up so you can see my abilities.
So attached, is what I have created.
I look forward to the feedback.

ADukes81

This looks awesome! I am going to print this out on a 9 x 12 as a sample.

How to Build a Sales Funnel for FREE

BlogDiva

Thanks Adam!

Vikuna2009+

And once you get the real deal going, maybe hire her, lol.

On another note, just realize that the isignias (the mailing label and the stamp) is NOT up to code for what this program requires, a minor but crucial detail. Nothing to do with design capabilities, just need to make a minor adjustment, that's all.

Great work, Blogdiva, Eva

BlogDiva

Hey Eva,
This was NOW WAY designed for mailing...this was strictly to show my abilities
I look forward to working with you!

BlogDiva

Thanks Eva!
Adam has already used my services and I appreciative of him doing business with me

bsvoboda

BlogDiva,

This is fantastic!

Just so I understand, we can purchase a UV coated version of this from you for the price stated in your IM? Normally I'd want to use some local examples, perhaps of existing offline clients, but this seems a whole lot easier - for both of us.

Cheers,

Brenda

BlogDiva

Thank so much Brenda!

When you receive the file it will be a 300 DPI High res file suite for commercial printing with a UV Coat, you just have to make sure you chose that option with your printer when ordering.
The price I quoted to you will cover the full design front and back and ready for print.

bsvoboda

RedShifted:

Don't, don't, don't give it away!! I've been doing B2B consulting and sales for over 20 years, and believe me when I say most of these people will never become customers. Or if they do you'll work like a dog to satisfy them.

Even since starting my current offline biz with a partner 2 years ago this still proves to be the case. Every website or marketing gig I did for his "inner circle" (about 6-8 gigs total) has led to zero referrals, broken friendships, and and way too much money chasing. Why? Because, as timspears stated, we were training them to expect cheap or free.

I once got paid over $33K for what amounted to 10 hours of actual work. Why? Because I had absolute confidence that I could deliver what they wanted. AND, it was the kind of business who is used to paying for services.

Somehow we've convinced ourselves that people/businesses don't have money to spend. But trust me, if you present it right they'll shift funds around if they have to.

Sorry for the mini-rant. I'm trying to collect on a $200 keyword research gig (worth $500) and am really PO'd today.

cheers,

Brenda

rideotm

Very nice, Syvella...I will be in touch

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

MarlboroMonkey

That looks about perfect greg. Very nice.

SentientAds.com - The Evolution of Display Ads

greggorio28

Sorry - used an old version that I since made edits to....this one is recent:

Here's what I came up with, decided to share my pricing guide and mockup since I'm not in jeopardy of anyone stealing the name OR using the layout to saturate my local area. Created with Photoshop and InDesign. Happy to answer any questions....

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

greggorio28

Thanks Monkey....
FYI The sample ads were a combination of pulled & doctored Google images and my own ad designs...all for fake businesses of course. For mockup purposes I dont think this really matters at all. And FYI, I didnt do it here but you MUST squeeze in the name of the business in the clippable coupon area....how else will the business know its a legit coupon if you dont include the info??

Also, I am willing to cut a one-time 20% discount to all advertisers for the first run...to secure my customer base and fill the first card. After that, its business as usual and Im pretty sure they wont mind assuming they get at least a 5% ROI or better. However, I plan to recoup that money by charging a one-time set up fee (to create the ad) for $75 each.

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

RedShifted

Wow thanks a lot greg thats awesome!

I got very bad news today I was laid off from my job so this is changing up my entire game plan.
I have all the time in the world now to focus on getting this biz up and running and now I also NEED to get it up and running fast.

I very well could be starting my prospecting in a matter of days and my website will be up by tommorow. Last thing I need to do is get my logo on a shirt and get it delivered asap.

If I had not found this idea in the position I'm in right now I would be A LOT more depressed thats for sure so once again thanks to Bob. I'm actually not that stressed at all I'm trying to focus 100% on making this work and god do I hope things go as planned. I'm also bringing on 2 other people for the prospecting 1 who is a sales beast (my bro) then another who I just think will be great at closing.

I have a question though about how to accept credit cards. Will it be enough to just get a paypal business account or should I be going about this in a different way? Thanks fellas.

timpears

Your like my wife. You worry too much. Bob got this thing all figured out. Did you get his WSO? if not, get it. Follow it. Cash your checks.

I have been thinking of surveying prospects after reading a post in this thread that suggested this. Maybe tell them we are trying to help in our own little way to improve the economy and in a test run in NY State, we are seeing 13% to 22% response rate. Would you be interested in expanding your customer base like that?

What are they going to respond, no? I don't think so. If they ask about cost, then I am going to tell them probably ten cents or less per customer. But I can save you some money on that today as we are discounting it for the first five clients that sign up.

Tim Pears

timpears

I think it would be better if the background was not the same color as the coupons. So they stood out. If you saw Bob's, his background was a bland color. Red is a little bright, and for me I have a hard time reading it.

It looks pretty good other than that. At least for me.

Tim Pears

timpears

So I am hearing myself telling prospects; so in order for you to see how well this will work for you, I am willing to give you a 20% discount on your first order if you can make a decision today. And my graphics designer charges $75 to set the ad, but I can include that for you for free this time and I will cover that cost.

I am such a nice guy.

Tim Pears

KaterSD

First, expect things not to go as planned. Just part of the process, things will always go wrong.

Second, you can use sqaure if you have a smartphone in order to be able to take credit cards. Then once you get things going find a better solution.

Karen

Hi Red,

Look into getting a Square accout. I believe they still offer the little gadget to plug into an iphone or android phone for free, that you swipe the card through. They charge a flat 2.75% fee, no monthly fees. The money goes automatically into your bank account.

Their site is http://squareup.com

Hope this helps,
Karen

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

timpears

Sorry to hear that, but it is perfect timing. I am a firm believer that everything happens for the best. I remember when I got the word that my employment was coming to an end. I was scared as jobs were not easy to find in 2003, and I have serious chronic medical problems and need insurance. But my doctor put me on permanent disability prior to my end of work day and so I continue to have the insurance from my previous employer. Then two years into being permanently disabled I became eligible for Medicare anyway. I still get a small disability pay out from that employer under our disability benefit, plus I get Social Security.

But with this program of Bob's, I can give all that crap up and start working again. Because I can do this with my wife, where as I can't be trusted not to pass out at a job. I was doing that frequently while I was working and they would have to call the medical team to look at me.

As weird as all that is, it happened for the best. And this is a gift for you. I don't know what you did, but I bet you can make more money doing this. I live in a fairly small county of around 250 to 300 thousand people. There are about fifteen zip codes that all have close to or just over 10K addresses in them. And that is without going across the river to Portland Oregon. There is enough business in my area that I could set up a full blown business with employees if I wanted to. I don't think I really want to do that, but there is the potential to do that and then sell out for a huge profit.

So that is the potential that you have. So don't think of it as merry Christmas, your fired. Think of it as a golden opportunity.

Tim Pears

timpears

I keep thinking about how I never read the offline forum until the day I read this thread near the beginning of it. Why was that? Why did I start reading the same day this was posted? I was supposed to do this I think. Funny how things seem to work out for the best.

I can't wait till I can tell the disability people, thanks for all your help, but I don't need you any more.

Tim Pears

BarbaraP

Hey Blog Diva,
Great mock-up!
Be sure to check postal regs on mandatory space for addressee and bar code. USPS nit-picky about that. See usps.com requirements.

Could use mock-up as a sample and write a BIG "SOLD" with a Sharpie every time you pick up a check -- shows others what's gone already --- create sense of urgency.

You could also write "Reserved" on one block for your first prospect to see & sell it at a nice price to your last prospect.

For you guys that want to sell "marketing services" be sure to protect yourself from getting pegged as an ad sales rep. This is a "test a marketing tactic to go with your mobile marketing campaigns ... or email marketing ... or new websites."

If the prospect has an email list (or cell # list), segment by zip code, send email/text to look for the postcard or bring the email coupon in. (or make same offer "mention this email or text" to all)

Use this tactic to sell other things and showcase your other capabilities/services. Starts a positioning conversation for you about leveraging marketing methods.

Cheers!

warrioradam

Here is an idea... on the spot where the postage information goes does it have to be on both sides of the mailer or just one? If it's just one I plan on selling that postage spot as a "value priced" spot at around $225 or so

Vikuna2009+

Now there, sell away, where on earth did you get it into your mind that you would have to "stamp" it twice, lol. Another thought is to use that space for yourself to market your biz, worth more to me that way, Eva

oogyboogawa

Those look really nice - I've started thinking more seriously about this and was breaking down the page last night on a little sketch pad that I use to process stuff sometimes. It's interesting how similar our the layout I came up with and the one you posted are. I ended up using yours as an extra reference while I was transferring the design from paper/my brain into the computer.

Thanks for putting your work up there as a reference, it was helpful. I still have a couple of tweaks to make, but once I'm done, I may put mine up here too in case anyone else could use some more references...

oogyboogawa

I'm using mine to place a note to potential advertisers that may want to get in on the next mailing. And you can see above that Greg used that section on his to split the difference between a couple of ad slots that he expanded 1/2" each.

secoff

Awesome job, greggorio! Thank you for sharing!

My next task was to slightly revise Bob's pricing as well, but your numbers are right in line with what I had in mind so thank you again for laying yours out. I'll probably stick pretty close to what you have and save myself some more time.

Also, I took a look at your portfolio (very nice work, btw!) and would love to have you redesign my logo once I've got this thing off and running. I'll shoot you an email later if you're interested.

I've been leaning towards filling my mock up with actual local businesses I'm interested in pitching to help them visualize what it would look like and also to strike a little fear into the competition if they expressed no interest. Problem is, that's a lot of work for a non-designer like myself. After seeing your mockup and that of BlogDiva, I'm wondering if it's really worth the effort... Would you be willing to sell your ad mockups since we're using the same sizes? (Mostly anyway - I still have the 3.5x1 in my layout.)

-Xavier

BlogDiva

Thanks Tim! Yeah, changing the background color is no problem at all

BlogDiva

Thanks Barbara! Once I have an actual order for the design work, I will make sure everything is in place

greggorio28

Thank you secoff and oogy - my goal was to help those in these beginning stages. I put about 6 hours so far into the logo, layout, and determining the ad sizes and prices and I am VERY happy with it.....glad you all like it!

If you are all paying a designer for the mockup and layout, expect they will hit you with at least 3-5 hours to get it all together with ad samples. In essence this requires two design needs: creating ad samples and completing the entire layout including logo. This is your bread and butter of the entire system...make this mockup look dynamite!

I had the 2 mockups printed (the actual mailer and the size/pricing guide posted above) at Staples on their heaviest 11x17 stock. They laminated it which added thickness and REALLY brought out the colors. Best I could do to get a fast mockup and I'm very happy with the results...a cheap $30 investment for sure.

I would be willing to sell high-res versions of both the pricing guide and the mockup, sans my logo of course. Email me: gregg AT y3kdesigns.net

Thanks,
Gregg

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

secoff

Gregg,

Look for my email...

-Xavier

greggorio28

Anyone have luck searching for custom embroidered polo shirts?? This is a real nightmare. I want to order 2 shirts, upload my own damn logo file and see a nice preview of it....and I see nothing out there!

ahhhhhhhh

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

greggorio28

zazzle.com wants $91 for two XL polos with logo embroidered, including shipping. Not too bad I guess but Id like to find better! Anyone?

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

Vikuna2009+

Maybe you just stumbled on another opportunity, lol. As far as I know, you actually have to go to a place, possibly even bringing in your own shirt. Please post if you come across something, Eva

Vikuna2009+

I found this;

Custom Screen Printing and Embroidery

Should work for anyone, pick color, design etc.

greggorio28

Thanks Eva, settled on zazzle after finding a $5 promo coupon.

$85 for 2 custom black polos embroidered with my logo & shipped.....not too bad I guess. Hey, all part of the extra start-up cost to be successful right? Did I have to buy them? No. Do I think it will improve my rapport and credibility? Absolutely.

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

Vikuna2009+

An affordable alternative for anyone a little bit more thrifty would be to go to an awards place where they also make name tags. Comes in all colors, just get one with a magnet and you can now use it on any garment and no damage done. Runs $10-$15 bucks. I got a handful of those when I was practising real estate. I felt the color of mine had to match what I was wearing, go figure!

oogyboogawa

I haven't actually gotten pricing on them with uploaded logos, but the first two places I would check if you haven't already are VistaPrint and 4imprint.

yamphy

This is golden" "But you're not concerned with the 9,000 people who throw it out, you're concerned with the 1000 people that save it and clip the coupons and use them!" If more people would think like this, it sure would prevent so much hesitation and procrastination. Sometimes we analyze ourselves "out" of something potentially good.