|
| Postcard Marketing Done Right |
|
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
For the recipient: You don't have to open a post card! You see it right away, the bright picture is not hidden from view by an envelope. The message leaps right out and you can't ignore it or throw it in the trash unopened (the fate of many bulk mail pieces). For the marketer: Save money. You can mail a post card 1st class for less than the cheapest letter rate. No stuffing required. Postcards win out on all counts. Check out the following case study. Here is what one successful postcard marketer had to say: "The immediate result was many times more than we had expected and we even had to reduce the number of postcards going out each week because we had more calls than we could handle. We've always heard that a 1-2% response is considered very good for a mailing but we are getting at least triple that amount! To give you some idea, the first week's mailing went out to our oldest customer account, most of whom hadn't done business with us for over a year. The first week after the post cards went out we got a 3% response on those accounts. And 6 weeks later we are still getting calls from those accounts. "I also know that it takes time for the response to build and just this past week, the 6th or 7th week since we started mailing the post cards, we increased from the 23 calls in per hour average we saw at the beginning of this month to 45 calls per hour in at the end of the month. "That's almost 900 calls in per week more than just 4 weeks ago. "We're already planning our next post card mailing and are quite certain that this was one of the best investments in promotion to our existing customers we have ever made." Ron Nedd at Kevis Rejuvenation Programs, Inc., Beverly Hills, California Now that is postcard marketing done right! Postcards - Picture Perfect Promotion There is a simple but almost mystical law which governs promotion and marketing and their relationship to the amount of business generated: business will come in to the degree that you get your message out, promote, let people know you are there, advertise, write to people, call people, e-mail people and generally communicate to existing or potential clients. It isn't a fact that registers easily and it almost takes faith to follow this dictum until you have seen it work over and over in all sorts of different businesses and organizations (as I have). This law transcends market conditions, the activities of your competition, acts of terrorism, time of year, the alignment of Mars with Jupiter and all the million and one explanations we frequently fall back on when business is slow. All these conditions may be present but there is still a way to rise above them: just promote more heavily and frequently and business will start to pick up again. It never fails. It's almost a natural instinct when times get a little tight or business is slow to cut down on expenditure. You hear people talking about tightening their belts. Too often the first expenditure companies seek to cut is their marketing and advertising dollar, and that is a serious error, a guarantee of contraction. You have to step up the promotion, not cut back. The trick is to find ways to get the maximum results with the minimum expenditure, but never to cut back and promote less. That's suicide. Here's one way to increase promotion while keeping costs down. You don't have to open a postcard! We have found more and more brokers are turning to high quality, four-color postcards as the best form of direct mail. It's time to pass on the information for those who haven't yet discovered this cost-effective way of getting the word out and the business in. This is especially timely advice as the national anthrax scare whether you give credence to it or not has resulted in a certain caution when it comes to opening envelopes from unknown sources. One great advantage of the postcard is that it doesn't have to be opened there is nothing hidden about it and nothing to be scared of. Quite aside from the anthrax angle, the fact that a postcard doesn't need to be opened has another advantage: it has a chance to get its message across before it is dropped into the garbage can as "junk mail." An envelope can be tossed in the trash without even being opened, allowing the hard-hitting promotional material inside no chance at all to get its message across. The chances are fairly high that if you have a brightly colored image on the front of your postcard it will attract enough attention to get an initial glance. If your headline is a good one and invites further interest, then your postcard will be read and you will have succeeded in delivering your message. If the reader is even vaguely interested in what you are trying to sell, you may well get a visit or a call. Cost-effective! Even though it is imperative to promote more than ever when the economy is sticky or business is slow, that doesn't mean you can't cut costs in the process. Many brokers are convinced that a full-color postcard with the right message on it, mailed out to previous clients (for re-financing for example) or to prospective borrowers gets the most bang for the advertising buck of any form of promotion, even when they also advertise in print, on the radio and TV, sky-writing, you name it. You can mail out a postcard up to 4 1/4 inches by 6 inches for between 17.5’ and 19.5’ first class pre-sorted. This is cheaper than the lowest letter rate which is 19’ - 24’ and that's for standard, bulk rate, not first class. If you find the right company you can get 5,000 high quality, full-color, laminated postcards printed for under $400. Warren Financial Corporation of Dunedin, Florida, is an example of a company who rely entirely on postcards (and referrals) for new business. "The strange thing about postcards is that I'll have people who will call me 6 or 8 months after I mailed them out and say, 'I got one of your postcards and kept it.'," says Jim Warren, the company's owner. He buys 6,000 postcards at a time and sends out 400 every month to highly targeted mailing lists. He leaves the back of the cards blank so that he can get a different message printed on them when he's ready to send them. This allows for rate changes and other time-sensitive messages to be printed on at the time the postcards are going to be mailed. He used to use very basic, black and white postcards run off by his local printer but has now gone to full-color, 4 1/4" x 6" cards (the largest size you can send at the lowest mail rate) which has improved his response rate. "I have a rifle rather than a shotgun approach to marketing," he says. "For what I do the four-color postcards are perfect." A case in point Sun Pacific Mortgage of Santa Rosa, California have been in business for 14 years, specializing in giving loans to people who have been turned down elsewhere. Owner Forest Tardibuono came across some management technology in 1997 and since then their income has increased by 900% and is still on the rise. One of the principles that Forest learned and really put into practice was the fact that if you want more business or new business, you have to promote. "We're one big marketing machine," he says. "We promote heavily and it's then an easy job for the loan reps to pick up the loans. The sale is easy." The company spends 14% of its gross on promotion. With an annual income of close to $2 million, that's a sizable budget for promotion. But it is also a major factor in their continued growth. Sun Pacific order 50-60,000 postcards at a time with a selection of several different images on the cards. They have an arrangement with local title companies whereby these provide Sun Pacific with mailing lists already printed in mailing label form at no cost as an incentive for the mortgage company to use them for title work. They provide these labels as often as needed and targeted as narrowly and specifically as required. For example, Forest will ask for homeowners of a specific zip code (one that has proven profitable in the past) and will limit the search to specific categories to make sure that the mailing hits home. Getting the mailing labels free of a charge represents a considerable saving. Then Sun Pacific will send out mailings of a couple of thousand postcards once or twice a month to current or past clients, and another 3-4,000 to prospective borrowers every week, handling all the mailing in house. They use large (4 1/4" by 6") full-color, laminated postcards which look very attractive. "We went to postcards a few years ago because I got sick of doing the bulk mailings using envelopes," Forest admits. Folding letters and sealing envelopes is pretty labor intensive. Postcards cost less and the mail costs are lower. Forest attributes a full 20% of his business to the postcard mailings which account for the majority of their spending on print advertising/promotion for the year. "Because of the magic formula that business comes in in proportion to the postcards and other forms of promotion that go out, we get results from all quarters," he says. Outsourcing: The above example includes networking with title companies and handling large mailings in house but this is something to work up to if you want to go that route. Few mortgage brokers have an in-house marketing department and it can be time-consuming and overwhelming to take on all of these aspects of getting postcards mailed out using existing personnel who are already busy dealing with loans and paperwork. A good postcard company can handle the entire mailing and save you money in the process. They make their money from printing postcards, not from consulting, selling mailing lists, mailing and so on. So they can give you better deals on these other services where needed. Having the postcard company do the mailing from you has an additional benefit of saving on shipping. Printed matter is quite heavy and shipping 10,000 postcards across country is not that cheap. If it is mailed from the postcard company direct these shipping charges are avoided. Sharp Mortgages Inc. of Jacksonville started using postcards in 2001, having used every other form of advertising and promotion. They sent out two initial mailings of 10,000 postcards each and have ordered another 50,000 so it must be working. "We let the postcard company handle the mailing," says Bill Sharp Snr. who handles their advertising. "With all the other things we have to do, we find that it's easier to let them handle the mailing than to tie up our time in here." Don't be put off by the thought of all the extra work involved for your already too busy personnel. In the long run it might save you a lot of money to pay a little extra for the postcard company to take the entire process off your hands from design and print through to mailing. How to get going with postcards. So, assuming postcards are the way to go, where do you start? A. Find a postcard company to help you. This company must: 1. SPECIALIZE IN POSTCARDS, not just do postcards among other printing jobs. You will get better service and a better product. It will cost much less because they are printing your postcard along with many other customers' postcards and can "gang print" them which means they print many different postcards on one large sheet of card and it's only one press run. 2. Have some MARKETING KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. They should be able to advise you on mailing lists, design, quantities and so on. The better ones offer a full range of services from advice through design, assistance with photography, printing and mailing. 3. Postcards they produce should be UV COATED (laminated), FULL COLOR, 4 1/4" x 6" so you get the biggest size card you can for the lowest mail rate and they really look good. The UV coating is essential for a very high gloss finish that really makes the postcard stand out and attract attention. 4. Above all you need to know that you are going to get RESULTS. Percentage of response is not the real measure of success as this varies from industry to industry and area to area. What you want to determine is return on investment. If you spend $2,500 all inclusive to send out a 10,000 postcard mailing and get 200 calls as a result, and convert even 10 of those into mortgage purchases, then the mailing was a terrific investment. So you need to look at the big picture and check for results in terms of return on investment. When choosing a postcard company to handle your mailing, it's a good idea to get some names and phone numbers of their customers and call them up to get some first hand information on how good the company is: do they deliver good service and value for money? Once you have found the right provider (it doesn't have to be local the better ones work on a national basis and do business with companies all over the USA) get their advice on producing the postcard. They will help you with all the steps. B. Decide whether you want them to handle the mailing for you (see section above on outsourcing). C. Decide whether you are going to mail to your existing customers or to mailing lists of potential customers or both. Procurement of mailing lists an important point. Sending out postcards to 10,000 random homeowners by zip code is not going to get the same response as sending 10,000 postcards to qualified homeowners of the type that you specialize in (conventional, subprime, refinances, etc.). You can buy mailing lists that are quite specific. Your biggest expense is going to be postage. It's worth spending a little extra money to make sure your message gets to qualified potential mortgage purchasers in the category that you want to deal with. The postcard company should be able to help you with the choice and purchase of mailing lists. D. Decide on the content of the card. Again, a good postcard company will have experience with this and can offer valuable advice. They've probably worked with other mortgage brokers and know what works and what doesn't. E. Get the card produced. They will send you proofs. Get any needed corrections made so that you are happy with them. F. Get them mailed out. G. Sit back and make the most of the response. H. Plan your next mailing and repeat the steps. After you've done a few mailings you will get a better idea of what works and you can refine your campaign. This is a proven, tried and tested, workable approach to increasing sales through direct mail using color postcards. Network Marketing Training- MLM Success Secrets to SCORCHING MLM Leadership by Doug Firebaugh As far as your Network Marketing business, Let me ask you some questions: 1) What is going to be the driving force in your business in the future? 2) What is going to be the catalyst for taking your business to the next level and beyond? 3) What is going to ignite a success inferno in your business and stoke it every week? 4) What is going to create a downline wildfire of growth in your business? 5) What is going to direct, navigate and guide you through the challenges that lie ahead this year? These are tough questions and it may take a little time to ponder them. To save time, perhaps I can offer some assistance here -- the answer should be just one word, and one word only for all five questions. That word is going to be the defining factor in your ultimate success or lack of it. The answer is the kerosene that fuels a fire storm of success in your downline and your life if you let it. It is written on the walls of the successful distributors' hearts, branded in their minds, and reflected in their eyes. It is the catalyst for higher performance in anything, and can create more success in your business than you ever imagined. I know what I am talking about because it drove my Networking business for over ten years and those of all the successful people I know. It attracts success and wealth like a magnet on steroids, and contains all the secrets of creating wealth in this business. Anything that has been written about this business points to this enormous power in some way. It worked so well in the organization I was honored to be a part of that, and I've devoted my professional life, through PassionFire International, to taking the message to the industry worldwide. What is this answer, this message, I'm alluding to? Leadership -- true, pure, unbridled leadership -- the most powerful force in Network Marketing success. We have a saying at PassionFire: "Passion is the Secret Weapon to Success, and Leadership is the Secret Weapon to Network Marketing." When passion ignites, it can melt anything that gets in its way passionate leadership is like an electric power station with focused, contained power that can explode anything it touches. That's the power that will create new millennium millionaires in this industry. Truly, no amount of instruction, training, or teaching will ever equal the explosive success power of passionate leadership! I know a lot of well-educated, well-intentioned folks who know the mechanics of this business -- all the right words, phrases and answers that sound great -- but are barely getting by. They have incredible potential, but lack the leadership focus and heart that their downline is starving for in their success journey. Do you realize your people are looking for MLM leadership? There is nothing sadder in this industry than when an organization that explodes with momentum eventually outgrows the distributor due to lack of leadership, and falls apart, piece by piece, day by day. This happens all the time! But it doesn't have to. In this new millennium, we can change that. To that end, I've changed my understanding of what MLM stands for -- for me, from now on it stands for: Moving Leadership Momentum! For Moving your business, create Momentum with Leadership! All leaders know how important momentum is in this business -- especially for the new distributor! With passionate leadership, you can create that momentum in your group. The first step is understanding what leadership means in Network Marketing. Defining Network Marketing Leadership Leadership is a set of skills, strategies, attitudes, and beliefs that we engage consistently, daily, and fervently for everyone's benefit. To define it specifically for our industry: Leadership in Network Marketing is boldly taking on the responsibilities and commitments of creating an empowering environment and a path to success that people willingly follow. Go back and read that one more time and notice how it makes you feel. Are you that kind of leader? Are you doing that for others? Let's take a closer look at that definition... . The first power word in the definition above is bold. Leaders in this business are willing to step up to the bat, see what has not been seen, think what has not been thought, say what has not been said, and do what has not been done. That is a vivid, technicolor "word picture" of Network Marketing leaders. They are bold in their thinking, their vision, their words, and their actions. At PassionFire we teach that BOLD stands for Bringing On Leadership Destiny! Boldness creates a destiny of success while timidity is like a cancer in this business. Leaders get out on the edge and stay there, empowering others to join them. Are there people who think you can't succeed? Do what you have not done before, think like you have never thought before, and accomplish what you `ve only dreamed before -- it takes bold leadership to show them what's possible in Network Marketing. Next, note the word responsibility. Leaders understand the weight of responsibility, and do not shirk from it. They know that someone has to take action to make anything happen, and they accept that task willingly. They know what they are responsible for as well as what they are not. For example, leaders know that ultimately they are not responsible for their distributors' success. They are responsible for educating them to do this business, preparing them for the challenges that might arise, and supporting them along the way, but each distributor must engage and embrace their own success. It's not unlike being a personal fitness trainer. The trainer can teach her clients how to lift weights, why to lift and when to lift, but they must do the lifting and the grunting. If she lifts the weights for them, she'll get the benefits, not them. They'll lose interest and say, "Weight lifting doesn't work!" -- sound familiar? Leaders strive to build permanent downlines always. They are willing to dig the pond, fill it with water, stock it with fish and teach you to fish, but the new distributor must cast the line. The third power word in this definition of leadership is commitment. Commitment is the cement in the foundation of any successful organization. Committed leaders are magnetic, attracting people to them effortlessly. Why? Because leaders know that commitment is less something said or done than felt. It empowers anyone who comes in contact with them because they can feel it. We all know people in this industry who are sought after and respected, and almost without fail it is because of their unshakable commitment to success, to their people, and to Network Marketing. You will be forced in this business to do things you don't feel like doing at the time they need doing or with whom they are to be done, but know that it's your commitment in those times that will determine whether you are followed as a leader or eventually ignored. Next, consider the word create. If I had to choose only one word to define leadership, this would be it. Put simply, leaders are creators -- they create something where there was nothing before. They crystallize the future into a tapestry woven with the threads of dreams, belief, and action. Leaders create magnetic direction, powerful influence, hope, possibility, and environments for growth. Leaders have the extraordinary ability to see the invisible -- the art of vision. They take a thought, and by sharing it with others and asking their help, bring it into existence. They create compelling visions that people can believe in -- in Network Marketing, it's often that most important of beliefs which can change our lives for the better. The MLM Word CHANGE. I see change as a sister word of create. Leaders are change agents -- they create positive change in people's lives. They know that change must occur to increase or expand anything. Change creates new directions and perspectives which are what Network Marketing is all about. Are you starting to see that Network Marketing and leadership are blended so tightly, it's tough to tell them apart sometimes? Leaders don't just accept change, they embrace it for themselves and make it part of their message. The power of their approach is in the choice to embrace rather than accept. The next vital part of this definition is the concept of an empowering environment. In the same way that our environment on earth determines what grows, what thrives, what lives, and what does none of these, so does the environment you create within your organization affect its growth, stagnation, mediocrity, or decline. It must encourage and foster hope and possibilities, not hype and impossibilities. It must empower people to maximize their strengths. What creates your leadership environment? Your words, your moods, your actions, your consistency, your expectations, your caring, your beliefs, and your attitudes. Is your environment full of sunshine or dark clouds? Is it full of belief or doubt? Maximum empowerment brings maximum growth. Near the end of the definition is the term path to success. Leaders provide their people with a clear, engaging, step-by-step path to achievement of their goals. In fact, it's better to think of it not just as a path to success, but also as a part of success. By helping people develop a success awareness -- a mindset of focus and power and possibility from the start -- you give them a chance to succeed at every stage in the process. You do this by sharing tools and trainings with them and saturating the environment of your organization with expectancy and anticipation! Be out in front -- say "Come on! You can do it, and I'll show you the way. Few people take the time to celebrate small successes, the unintimidating actions or the seemingly insignificant tasks, but this is one of the most important things you can do for the growth of your organization. It is amazing how recognition and celebration of small victories produce opportunities for celebrating incredible victories. The final noteworthy phrase above is willingly follow. Do your distributors trust your judgement implicitly? Is it worthy of their trust? Do they follow your lead and promote it to their organizations? New millennium leadership demands and will not settle for anything less than trust between upline and downline. One of the greatest secrets of leadership is that people will be drawn to someone who cares and has the strength to empower that emotion. People are compelled to follow strength, and I am not just talking about power, but presence with power -- and there is a difference. Lots of managers have power, and use it, but don't have presence. A strong presence is felt, not spoken, and people pick up on it immediately and follow. It works like a magnet in this business. A leader in this business is someone who is going places and taking excited people with her. You see, people have one question they'll never ask but are always seeking the answer for: Is this person strong enough to help me achieve what I want in life? This is what I call the "unspoken determinant," and if they assess that the answer is yes, get out your flute, because the Pied Piper has arrived on the scene! Strength in leadership comes from not being sold on the business, but sold out to it! You no longer are in the business, the business is in you! This creates a magnetic presence and personal credibility that people feel compelled to follow. Together, these elements will create a leadership that can drive any business to the heights of success. It all starts with one word -- decision. Decision is your catalyst for the leadership you've just learned about, the fuse that ignites and creates that power within I call SuccessFire. Decision is the flame that ignites all success in leadership. Another PassionFire proverb is "Choice determines Direction Decision determines Destiny." There is only limited power in the word choice, because it is a selection that can be changed. Decision is a mindset, a "heart set" that is steadfast. Let me ask you a new millennium million-dollar question: Have you made a choice to try this business, or a decision to become successful in it? I urge you to lead yourself and your group into the new millennium ignited by the flame of decision -- decide to let the kerosene of leadership explode your business into an inferno! MLM Leadership Quest. This brings us to a vital aspect of your personal leadership quest. You must learn to lead you first, before you can lead others. The path to leadership success is built first with bricks of personal leadership, then with group leadership. How can people follow anyone who doesn't display and practice leadership in his own life? You can empower others to boldness, commitment, discipline, and presence only if you display these attributes in your own being. This is why I mentioned earlier how organizations can outgrow distributors -- it happens! Personal leadership comes from personal growth. If you have made a decision to become the best, and are doing the things necessary to engage success beyond your comfort level, you are displaying and building personal leadership. You don't have to be perfect to be a leader, because ongoing transformation is part of leadership. Work this business through the eyes of a leader, not just a distributor. There is huge difference! You'll find that the path to success becomes much more easily traveled through the eyes of leadership. I encourage you to engage in ongoing mlm leadership development for six months -- face to face with a mentor, on a conference call, or in dedicated personal study of the wealth of resources available for the asking. I testify to the impact of this from experience -- you'll cut your attrition in half and your whole organization will feel the dramatic shift in your MLM and Network Marketing. Blessings...doug PassionFire intl (c) 2005/ all rights reserved http://www.passionfire.com http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_8.html |
|
||||