Business Mail Order Sitemap

Introduction - Mail order is an American innovation—soliciting, receiving, and shipping orders mainly by mail; strictly speaking, it is a way of doing business rather than a business in itself. Despite the rapid advance of transportation and the shortening of the time between city and farm, mail order has continued to grow in popularity since its inception in the early 1870's.

01. Pick An Idea - If experience teaches anything, it is that most newcomers break into mail order with specialties or novelty items; this, however, does not pre­clude beginning with staples. It should be pointed out that once established, the "staple" mail order firm has a better chance for survival than the "specialty" firm. Too often, phenomenal results are obtained with a specialty for a year or even two, and then the orders begin dropping off, the advertising cost per sale goes up, and suddenly the head of the firm is looking for a new item or a new business or his old job.

02. Your Item - Once an idea or item has been decided upon, locating a supplier should be no prob­lem. The classified telephone directory is a wonderfully helpful source book. So too are the statewide industrial directories which many states publish, listing the major manufacturing establishments and their products. These compilations and others published by private companies are available at most public libraries.

03. Figure Costs - A common question asked by newcomers to mail order is, "What should my mark-up be if I'm to succeed?'* The most frequent answer heard is "At least 2-to-l, or better still 3-to-l, and for real safety 4-to-l." In dollars and cents, this means that a pipe nor­mally retailing for $2.00 should cost a maximum of $1.00, but to be really sure of succeeding, not more than 50¢.

04. Begin Operating - There is nothing mysterious about the formalities of starting a business. If it is your intention to use your own name without the "company" attached (i.e. John Small) then you are in business the day you print the first letterhead or place the first advertise­ment. Registration papers are required by most states if the business is to be conducted under an assumed or trade name, such as the ABC Mail Order Co. or Jim Small Prod­ucts Co. Usually these registration papers are obtained for a very small fee at the local County Office or City Hall.

05. Get Orders - The formalities of inaugurating the business are over now; the die is cast. The item to be sold has been selected and provision for a supply, when the orders begin coming, has been made. Now a decision must be reached: where and how to test?

Let us review first the sources of mail order. Most mail order business comes from advertising via publica­tions (magazines, newspapers, almanacs); direct mail (cir­culars, catalogues, etc.); radio, television and miscellane­ous media (match books, car cards, etc.).

06. Direct Mail - The most fascinating phase of mail order, and sometimes the quickest and easiest way for a beginner to start, is selling directly by mail. A con­stant assault of direct mail advertising, offering everything from diaper services to grave plots and tombstones is di­rected at every American. This unceasing activity proves that direct mail pays, and the beginner is foregoing a lucra­tive medium if he persists in ignoring it.

07. Radio + TV - A mail order item may be tested on radio with almost no planning on the part of the beginner. Most of the smaller stations are eager to cooper­ate with the advertiser and will prepare the script or spot announcements, receive and forward the mail for the reg­ular rate. Time can also be purchased on the cooperative programs (i.e. disc jockeys, radio personalities, etc.).

08. Mail Order Ad - The function of all commercial advertising is to sell. Mail order copy, unlike in­stitutional, leaves little doubt in the mind of the reader as to when it wants the sale made.

Order Now!
Send Coupon Today!
Act Now!

These are the familiar calls to action of every mail order ad.

To get this instant response, mail order people in­corporate in their copy certain basic appeals, such as van­ity, sex (love, romance), self-improvement, health, profit. There are, of course, many other appeals—as religion, se­curity, fear, or convenience—but an examination of most of the specialty mail order ads discloses that all use at least one or more of the basic appeals.

09. Shipping - Once the orders begin coming, it is important that they be filled and shipped with­out delay. A good policy is to get the order on the way to the customer within 24 to 48 hours. Delay in shipping brings complaints, cancellations, and in the case of C.O.D.'s, a rise in the refusal rate. Some refusals are unavoidable, and in calculating original costs, this was considered; how­ever, an unreasonable delay in shipping doubles or triples the refusal rate.

10. Keep Mail Order - No legitimate business today can run smoothly without records. The increasing number of reports required by various governmental bod­ies makes records almost mandatory. In the case of mail order, there are certain special records, not required by official agencies, that should be kept; these are records of the pull from individual media (advertising tally sheets) and customer lists.

11. Predict Orders - “Newcomer” Adams’ first column insertion has been pulling about 20 days when the salesman for the publication calls for a repeat order in the next closing issue, deadline for which is the next day.

"Sorry, Bill, the ad doesn't look good. I need 150 or­ders but the tally sheet shows only 50. I just don't know how many more will come in."

"But you're missing the biggest issue of the year," says Bill. "The publisher promises a 30% circulation bonus without a rate increase. By the way, that 50-order figure doesn't sound bad.

12. Customer Steady - If he has been pleased with the first offering, the customer may re-order without further solicitation; however, experience has shown that with few exceptions, he is unlikely to do so unless nudged with follow-up mailings. The simplest and cheapest way is to enclose a re-order blank with each shipped order. This is very effective with cosmetics, medications, and certain staples. Most merchandise requires special, attractive fol­low-up mailings which offer a reduced price or savings in the purchase of larger quantities.

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