How To Use Direct Mail Endorsements To Drum Up More Business Than You Can Handle

How To Use Direct Mail Endorsements To Drum Up
More Business Than You Can Handle!

Continuation of the article: "Marlon's easy way to make an extra
$1,000 to $20,000 via online marketing this month and every month
-- in only a few extra hours, even if you're lazy and stupid!"

The principle is simple. You write a hard-hitting sales letter (or lead generation letter) about your product, idea or service. Then you locate businesses who sell to your target market, i.e. the people or companies you've identified who are most likely to purchase from you.

You ask the owners to send the sales gem to their customer list along with a cover letter typed on their company stationary. The letter introduces you, tells the benefits of your products or services, and urges the readers to peruse the enclosed sales letter.

In exchange for this endorsement, the host business receives a percentage of gross sales or the net profits. How much?

A good starting point might be 9% of gross sales or 25% of net profits. That said, I've had friends do exceedingly well splitting the profits 50/50 on a high margin product.

If you have the opportunity, it's a nice touch to first let the business owners sample your stuff. That way the cover letter can tout the amazing results they obtained firsthand (nothing beats personal testimonials)... and explain why they're bothering to endorse you.

Usually the reasoning goes something like this, "After experiencing these results, I realized I would be doing you a distinct and profound disservice if I didn't share my discovery with you and negotiate a special offer on your behalf."

See the logic? Instead of being perceived as a letter hawking a new widget, you frame it as performing a valuable service for the customers.

It's important that your customers see you as extending a special offer not available to regular purchasers. You reinforce this idea by juicing up the offer with extra value such as: additional bonuses, an extended guarantee, a special price or other additional benefits the average buyer doesn't receive.

The reason you make this endorsement in a cover letter rather than in the primary sales letter is you can save money by printing the main sales letter in bulk -- and printing custom cover letters as needed. Then, you mail the whole kit in the company's envelopes, so your information will leap out like a neon sign in the mailbox! Why go to all this trouble? Because of... The Little Understood Fact That Makes Endorsed Mailings 200%-600% more Profitable

The response you receive on an endorsed mailing often dwarfs the response to lists you "rent" from commercial mailing list brokers by a factor of 2 to 6 times.

How much money you pocket from your mailings depends on the quality of the relationship between the endorsing business and their customers. If the customers buy a staple item and tend not to repeat, the endorsement won't carry near the weight as one to customers who spend a substantial amount of money frequently.

Because of this, you'll want to test your letter to 4 or 5 lists in small quantities before you invest significant money in your mailings.

What's a good test quantity? It depends on your budget and the size of the lists. Big mail-order companies send out 100,000 pieces sometimes to test complex variations of letters, offers and lists.

I recommend you follow a timeless marketing maxim: Never gamble more on a mailing than you can afford to lose.

If the total list is only 5,000, then mail 500 or 1,000. If it's 1,000 then mail 100 or so.

In the latter case, your test won't be scientific, but if several lists receive no responses (or only one) while others get 3, 4, or more, that tells you something.

The point is: Test the waters before you jump in with both feet. Use your common sense and you'll do fine.

Here's How You Can Locate Businesses To Do Endorsed Mailings For You

OK, you're sold on the idea of doing joint venture mailings. How do you get started? Ask this question: What else do your customers buy and who else do they buy it from? Look through the trade publications, newsletters and magazines they read. Talk to your customers and find out who they buy from that they really respect and trust.

Keep your eyes and ears open for businesses with the same target market as yours and a non-competitive product. While you can do joint ventures with direct competitors by selling to the prospects they couldn't convert, your first time or two out, keep it simple by doing deals with non-competitors.

Your ideal endorser sells products or services in the same price range as yours to virtually identical customers on a long term repeat basis. Naturally, if you can't find the ideal host, you'll have to go with the closest thing you can find.

By the way, let's see what you're learning so far. What's the number one best method of approaching a potential host? If you answered "direct introduction from someone the potential host knows and respects," give yourself a pat on the back and 10 brownie points. You're a fast learner!

If your missed the answer (or were clue-less!), keep reading... you'll catch on in a jiffy.

Three Intriguing Twists You Can Use To Extract Extra Chunks of Cash From Small Lists

What if you sell to a specialized market and the lists you have access to on an endorsed basis are small? What then?

Here are several twists on the theme we're developing:

Twist One: Mail a sequence of letters, not just one. Send follow up letters several weeks apart until they're no longer profitable. You don't have to write completely new letters for this. You can just use a different headline and begin by referring to the prior letter(s).

Here's one proven technique: Stamp in red at the top of the first page "second notice," "third notice," and so on. Perhaps the first letter escaped attention, but the second or third notice makes the prospect wake up and dive in.

Twist two: Follow up your mailings with phone calls. You'll usually find a number of people who say, "I'm glad you called. I've been meaning to call (send in money, or whatever)"

Twist Three: Instead of going for a big sale, ask for a small trial commitment or a request for additional information.

When you have a limited number of prospects to work with from the beginning, every one is worth gold, so you want to skim as many off the top as possible. You do this is by asking for an easy, low-threat action.

Here are examples for different businesses:

Dentist: Come in, meet the dentist and receive a free plaque-elimination kit, a new handy flossing tool and a free report called, "How To Have A Gorgeous Smile On A Shoestring Budget."

Massage Therapist: Call for a free report, "The Seven Myths About Massage...And The Little-Known Relaxation Tool You Can Use At Home." Plus, drop by any of 5 locations and receive a free neck massage."

Moving Service: Free moving supplies when you call for a price quote.

Roofing Contractor: Free automobile windshield sunshade with roofing estimate.

Advertising Salesperson: Free Idea Kit.

New Super Duper Gizmo: Free demonstration.

If the lists you have access to are limited in size, these tips will put a lot of extra cash in your bank account. Now let's look at a way to blend this principle with marketing on the web:

Of course, endorsed mailings aren't the only way to cash in on this principle. Here's another...

Add New Punch To The Personal Introduction

If you've ever had any sales training whatsoever, you've had it drilled into your head to ask everyone, "who do you know that might benefit from this product?"

It's the traditional technique for obtaining referrals.

The glitch with asking the "who do you know" question is people often feel uncomfortable making referrals to their friends or business associates.

As a result, you often find that customers go blank and can't think of anyone to refer you to, or can only come up with a few names.

That means we're back to running ads or doing something else to drum up more leads. Not the worst thing in the world, but let's see if we can come up with something better.

Alternative number one: The free newsletter

Publish a newsletter quarterly, every other month or even monthly. Keep it simple. Front and back of one or two 8 ½" x 11" sheets is fine.

Fill it with interesting, problem-solving articles and show readers how to get the end results and benefits they want. Do NOT make the newsletter an extended advertisement for your products and services.

Instead, with each issue mail a sales letter or flyer on a different color paper from the newsletter about a special offer for subscribers only on one of your products or services.

Tell new customers about the free newsletter and ask if they know anyone you should put on the mailing list. Get names, addresses and phone numbers. Mail a sample issue to each person with a cover letter (or a brief note on a yellow sticky) signed by the referring person. Next, call and ask if they'd like to continue receiving it.

Your sales letters will generate inbound calls before you know it. And, after mailing 2 or 3 issues, you can further pursue business by following up with phone calls.

What's more, because your newsletters enhance your credibility by showcasing you or your company's expertise, you'll find you turn a higher percentage of leads to sales.

Can you see the genius of this method? Your customers will feel ten times more comfortable helping their friends and business associates get on the mailing list for a valuable, helpful, informative newsletter than they will just giving you referrals directly. The end result is you get many times the referrals with less effort.

The only disadvantage of this approach is that, if you're publishing your newsletter quarterly or every other month, it takes awhile to turn your efforts into money.

So if you're in a hurry for business, let's look at ...

Alternative number two: The Gift Sample

This technique is so slick, I probably should charge you extra money just to tell you about it. But no my faithful subscribers, I won't do that to you. Just because you had the guts to read my newsletter and expand your thinking, I'm giving you this one no-holds-barred. Here it is:

Have your customers give a sample or trial of your product or service as a gift to their friends or business associates.

For example:

-Piano teacher: Piano lessons -Massage therapist: Back massage -Financial planner: Book, service, or evaluation -Psychologist: One or two sessions -Golf course: Three month memberships -Newsletter: Three or six month subscription -The Subtle But Extremely Important -Secret That Makes The Gift Method Work

If you go around giving away free stuff, people probably won't value what they're receiving. "If it's free, it can't be that good," the logic goes. At best, they're suspicious of the free goods or services, and they're waiting to find out what the catch is.

So do NOT offer your products or services for free. Instead, let your customers give your goodies to their friends or business associates.

They should say something like this: "We were so impressed by this product (or service) we decided to purchase an introductory session, membership (or trial whatever) and gift it to you."

This makes the sponsor look like a very generous and caring person. And it prevents the recipient from going through the mental de-valuation that occurs with some free offers.

In other words, it's a sophisticated way of giving away free services or products without lowering their value.

For integrity sake, you may want to have the customers pay you a token fee for a block of gift certificates, so they can legitimately say they purchased the widget.

Alternative number three: The Vendor/Supplier Angle

This is beautiful. I touched on it last issue. But it's so important, I want to re-emphasize it again. As an illustration, let me give an example for people who sell web site design.

Here's the point: Once you sell a business your widget

–- whether it's a web site, a phone system, a training seminar, insurance or anything else in the world -- you have the most powerful marketing channel in the world available to you ... a natural economic chain to vendors and suppliers and customers.

So, in the case of web site designers, once they sell a web site to one business, all they have to do is ask for an introduction to their vendors, suppliers and customers. Then, each of those businesses has its own network of vendors, suppliers and customers. The chain never stops.

As you can see, you don't have to have a zillion contacts to make this method work. All you need are several businesses that will give you an entree to their network, and you can be set for a long, long time.

So what are you waiting for? Get started today!

Alternative number four: Referral generation tools

There's a really neat book you need to buy. It's called How to Generate Word of Mouth Advertising: 101 Easy and Inexpensive Ways To Promote Your Business by Godfrey Harris with Gregrey Harris.

This books shows you how to generate referrals using a wide assortment of clever ideas such as: Overseas Christmas cards, matchbooks turned into scratch-books, double postcards, phone cards, two-fer offers, surprise rebates, double message cards, lottery tickets, client give-aways, screen savers, customer award program, voucher certificates, passports for services, and much more.

The Greatest Marketing Secret On The Internet

The basic principle I just described can be used on the Internet as well as off. It's a principle more than a method. For example, you can offer a sample gift just as easily (in fact, it's easier) through email as you can through direct mail.

The concept is to use endorsements to build your business. Everyone knows that the best leads or prospects come from referrals. But let's say someone with an ezine list of 5,000 subscribers endorses your product to their entire list. Isn't that the equivalent of getting 5,000 referrals?

Of course it is. Now, you might be wondering what leverage you have to get someone to endorse your product to their list. The answer is to sign up for an associates tracking system where you can track sales and pay commissions. Check out: http://www.marketingtips.com/assoctrac/

Whether you market online or off, you need to leverage all your efforts as much as possible. By tapping into the relationship other people have with their customers, you're able to do this.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like easy street. Arranging joint ventures can be time consuming. People are not always eager to allow you to access their customer list. I don't want to gloss over these issues.

List owners are worried about making their customers unhappy. You have to prove you have a terrific product and that you'll indeed deliver it to every buyer.

That's one of the nice things about delivering digital products. It happens instantly so there are no concerns about shipping. The other concern people have is about getting paid. How do they know you're going to pay them.

It's incumbent on you to develop a relationship, present yourself in a professional manner, provide references and do whatever is necessary to establish trust.

The best thing I can tell you is this: If you're persistent and determined, if you present yourself professionally, if you're determined to create win/win deals, if you're sensitive to the needs of others as well as yourself, if you're willing to think outside the box, you can make these joint ventures happen.

The best books in the world about networking are written by Thomas Stanley. If you're a serious student and really want to learn some turbo-charged techniques of getting endorsed by power players, read Networking With The Affluent and Marketing To The Affluent by Thomas Stanley.

Finally, my easy way to make an extra $1,000 to $20,000 via online marketing this month and every month -- in only a few extra hours, even if you're lazy and stupid

Here is a simple little method you can use anytime you need money.

For example, this week I've made $6350.00 with it so far. I'll show you in this article exactly how I made that money.

Last month I made $13,000 in 2 week using it. It's so simple, it's almost laughable, as most of my marketing methods are.

Here is my fast cash promotion method. It's only two steps.

Step One: Compile an "opt-in" list

Step Two: Email my offer to your opt-in list

If you don't already have an opt-in list, then obviously this won't be a fast cash method for you. First you have to compile your opt-in list. I teach my students a number of simple, easy methods for doing this.

By the way, if you aren't familiar with the term, "opt-in" list, it refers to a mailing list that people specifically and deliberately subscribe to.

In other words, they give you permission to send them emails. Sending unsolicited emails is a gigantic "no-no." Now, if you do already have a list of people who have specifically given you permission to email them, then you need a product to endorse.

Here are a few things to look for:

1. A 30% to 50% profit margin. 2. At least a $30 pay out (and preferably more). 3. A proven email sales letter you can use. 4. A reputable company that you know will deliver the products you sell.

To help my associates make money, I pay out a 60% commission on The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy. That is $40.20 per sale.

The key to making sales to your list is the endorsement letter. You must preface the sales letter with reasons why you're endorsing that particular product. The folks on your list trust you, and will listen to your opinion about the product.

You don't have to write anything fancy. Just include a note that explains why the product you're endorsing deserves their attention and how it will benefit them.

For example: Here is the email that has made me over 6 grand this week. I sent it to my customer list. I prefer shorter emails but this one needed more explanation.

"Dear <first name>

I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine who has helped me make a small fortune.

His name is Jonathan Mizel. And he has a legitimate genius IQ.

He works with companies such as these on Internet marketing projects.

* Intel * MyPoints * OnHealth * Microsoft * MotherNature.com

These companies are raking in huge bucks (and I do mean huge) using a method called "per transaction" marketing.

And Jonathan is smack dab in the middle of this ultra-hot method.

He can show you how companies are growing from scratch to zillions in sales in remarkably short periods of time using "per transaction" marketing.

It's the only method I know that allows you to ramp up from small volume to large volume almost overnight --without spending one freakin' dime on advertising!

That means your potential profits have almost no limit and the money you risk to get that payoff is quite small if you already have products and a web site.

You don't have to be Microsoft to use his methods. They work for small, medium and large companies alike.

Not that you'll become the next Microsoft or an overnight millionaire. But Jonathan does use his methods with people and companies in those categories.

To my knowledge, Jonathan is the only person explaining the magic of "per transaction" marketing in a format where you can actually apply it to your business tomorrow morning.

It's something that Jonathan found out by working "hands on" with the big corporations. This IS what the serious Internet marketing companies are doing because you can scale up from small to giant volume in a flash.

Ezine ads and other methods are great for getting started. But how are you ever going to get the VOLUME that hauls in big bucks --without spending a fortune on advertising?

That's what Jonathan shows you...

One last thing: You may not be able to tell it from the sound of his sales letter, but his product is NOTHING like mine.

He covers totally different types of information than yours truly. While per transaction marketing is not new, Jonathan's insights and insider info on how companies are exploding with this method is hot and new.

That's why I felt a duty and an obligation to introduce you to my good friend and one of the most astonishing marketers I know who has been publishing his newsletter since before the World Wide Web even existed.

Now how do I send out an email like that and automate my follow up?

I suggest you use Postmaster Software

OR Postmaster Online (Web based version). Format your email letter in a text editor such as text pad and place a hard return at or before 65 characters on a line. This prevents your email from wrapping and looking like garbage when it arrives in your customer's email box.

When you do your mailing, expect .5% of the list to buy. However, the true answer is that you'll know your response rate a week after you email your sales letter. The bulk of your responses will come in within 72 hours.

Follow this simple two-step formula and you can create money out of thin air anytime you need it.

Canned Letters You Can Use

I have some pre-written letters you can use to sell The Amazing Formula. You can obtain these by sending an email to mailto:amazingletters@getresponse.com

To learn more and order the "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy," click here. For additional ideas on how to promote The Amazing Formula just go to: http://www.getyourprofits.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marlon Sanders is the author of The Amazing Formula That Sells Like Crazy and creator of Push Button Sales Letters and the complete Cash Like Clockwork Money-making System. If you appreciate his blunt, no b.s. approach to Online marketing, check out his numerous products and popular 60% profit reseller program (with no smoke and mirrors) at: http://www.getmoreprofits.com. It's one of the top-ranked associate programs on the Internet.

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