Return To Main Index
<<<Previous Page | Next Page>>>
Page1 |Page2 |Page3 |Page4 |Page5 |Page6 |Page7 |Page8 |Page9 |
onal skills to a test. It's
important to keep the inquiries and orders straight, so you're sure
to send out the proper materials for each request. You might invest
in a pre-inked stamp that marks the inquiry or order " received,"
and another stamp to mark the date it came in and the date it was
responded to.
ANALYZING RESULTS
Are your ads pulling? Is one magazine better than another? How many
inquiries are you getting? How many convert into sales? How much
money are you making?
An easy way to analyze results is to keep accurate records of the
responses. You can then determine whether you want to keep renewing
your classifieds, or if you need to change your sales letter.
To make a record sheet, you can use accountants' columned paper or
use a ruler to make your own. You should have a separate page for
each ad you placed, or for each key.
The top of the sheet should have the following information: the
name of the publication; the issue number or date; the date the
issue was placed on sale; the address key; the size and cost of the
ad; which ad you used; the price of the product; and the p rofit.
The columns of the record sheet should be divided into two
categories - inquiries from the classified ads, and orders placed
from the sales literature mailed in response to the inquiries.
Along the left side, number consecutively in a vertical column.
These numbers indicate the number of dates that you received answers
to your ad or orders from the sales literature.
The headings under inquiries are: date received, number received,
and running total.
The headings under orders should be: number of orders received,
running total, cash sales, and running total for cash sales.
In order to decide if your classified ad has been a worthwhile
investment, you can determine the cost per inquiry by dividing the
number of inquiries into the total cost per ad. Compare three months
worth of ads, and compare the average results to the ad s run in
another magazine. Which has provided the best response?
But inquiries are not what you're after. Sales and profit are more
important. How many orders are you getting?
You can find out the cost of advertising per order by first adding
the cost of the sales literature to the cost of the ad. Then divide
the total number of orders into that sum.
To figure out how much pure profit you have, simply take the
running total for cash sales, subtract the cost of your product per
order and the cost of mailing and handling; subtract the cost of
sending the sales literature per order and the cost of the a d.
Even if you break even the first few months of running the
business, YOU'RE ON YOUR WAY. The treasure of selling information is
not to be grabbed at first. It is built up, steadily, little by
little until it brings in a tidy income.
GOING TO PRESS
The test ads worked, and you get more orders in than you ever
imagined. What do you do? Maybe you only had some material
photocopied to see if it would be in demand, or you only prepared a
few dozen cassettes for trial. Now you mass produce.
Don't be too hasty, however. Carefully calculate the amount of
returns and the possible demand.
When you have a successful item, it is time to go to typesetting
and printing. Local typesetters can advise you about the style and
size of the type for your printed matter. Discuss it thoroug
<<<Previous Page | Next Page>>>
Page1 |Page2 |Page3 |Page4 |Page5 |Page6 |Page7 |Page8 |Page9 |
|
|