A Little Guidance

[jonnnyd23]

I was considering sending out a 20,000 9x12 EDDM mailing for my first card. I figured it might cut down on the cost of print therefore give the prospects more value for their money, and me a little more profits. I'm still getting things together before I go out prospecting. I know the first card will be difficult to get prospects to place ads and they might not want to invest all that much at first, so maybe a 10,000 mailing might be more viable for the first mailing.

What do you guys think? :D

-Jonathan

[localmobileads-ssg]

Jon, welcome aboard mate, and to be honest, mailing out 20K at once, is something that will lower your profit margin, as you would have to price structure each ad higher, opposed to a 10K mailer, by being selective of who is featured on your card, does make the response rate a bit better, for example, food places are great, and also something th average family seeks to save on within the household,

What you choose to do, is of course up to you, me personally i would not do a 20K mailer one shot, i am actually looking into doing selective areas, 2500, 5000, and 10000 mailers, whereas the ads not only are cheaper to the business owner, but can target each business advertising to a closer radius ( as most seek, and believe would bring in more responses )

However you choose, bear in mind the trek it takes also to fulfill a 20K mailer, and fill that card, to go to print :)

good luck and god speed :)

Steve

[jonnnyd23]

Jon, welcome aboard mate, and to be honest, mailing out 20K at once, is something that will lower your profit margin, as you would have to price structure each ad higher, opposed to a 10K mailer, by being selective of who is featured on your card, does make the response rate a bit better, for example, food places are great, and also something th average family seeks to save on within the household,

What you choose to do, is of course up to you, me personally i would not do a 20K mailer one shot, i am actually looking into doing selective areas, 2500, 5000, and 10000 mailers, whereas the ads not only are cheaper to the business owner, but can target each business advertising to a closer radius ( as most seek, and believe would bring in more responses )

However you choose, bear in mind the trek it takes also to fulfill a 20K mailer, and fill that card, to go to print :)

good luck and god speed :)

Steve

You have some good points. I will probably do the 10,000. I think it's gonna take maybe a month to get the card filled . I would like to do a mailing every month but I just don't know if I will have enough time. How did you start off and how many do you do a month?

[localmobileads-ssg]

Jon, welcome aboard mate, and to be honest, mailing out 20K at once, is something that will lower your profit margin, as you would have to price structure each ad higher, opposed to a 10K mailer, by being selective of who is featured on your card, does make the response rate a bit better, for example, food places are great, and also something the average family seeks to save on within the household,

What you choose to do, is of course up to you, me personally i would not do a 20K mailer one shot, i am actually looking into doing selective areas, 2500, 5000, and 10000 mailers, whereas the ads not only are cheaper to the business owner, but can target each business advertising to a closer radius ( as most seek, and believe would bring in more responses )

However you choose, bear in mind the trek it takes also to fulfill a 20K mailer, and fill that card, to go to print :)

good luck and god speed :)

Steve

You have some good points. I will probably do the 10,000. I think it's gonna take maybe a month to get the card filled . I would like to do a mailing every month but I just don't know if I will have enough time. How did you start off and how many do you do a month?

Well, my first card it took me 5 weeks, but i did it cold, cold walkins only, exclusively lol, no emails, no phones calls, no pre-warms, etc, i have learned alot along the way since then, that structuring yourself properly, of who you are looking to go after, of what categories, will allow you an easier time of filling that first card, so time frame is all unique to each of us, as i am doing this full time, this is my new livelihood now, and hereon focus to have 10 cards up and running by June 2012, my advice is read all within the WSO, everything you need is there, and also study all posts here within the forum to guide you onto the road of doing this as fast as possible, also i encourage you to start a new thread under Personal Updates found here: viewforum.php?f=24 (http://www.bobrossoffline.com/viewforum.php?f=24)

And also i posted a new topic in a new thread of a new strategy i am using as we speak, found here: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1233 (http://www.bobrossoffline.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1233)

Good luck mate, and keep us posted ok :)

[jonnnyd23]

Can't access the links, it says I don't have authorization to view the threads.

[localmobileads-ssg]

Can't access the links, it says I don't have authorization to view the threads.


If you paid up, message Bob/Jake, send him your paypal transaction number and ask him to add you to the forum ;)

[Pierre!]

Hello Jonnnyd23,

I did my first one from March 1st to TODAY! {whew}... in very much the same way as localmobileads did, except I did do some emailing to warm them up - which made no difference. Calling and following up on the email DID work really well... so you might consider adding that to your routine.

Took me 1.5 days to *properly* process 10K cards, with my wife's help. It was 17ea 30lbs boxes in the living room for the past 2 days - expect 34 boxes for a 20K run! And trust me, you will need the space to process them all!!!

So it would add a few days into the mix to process the cards.

The really BIG deal is to get the First One Out! I had several people who would not pay the balance due until they saw the cards in their hands... and had one guy stonewall me till I dropped him. He agreed to take the space, then would not return a call. So I just put in a filler ad.

The clients do like to see where you are intending to send the card, and why. Income levels help to motivate them - if the targeted population has some $$$, the offer may entice them to come visit.

Build your strategy, get the BobRoss pitch down, print up some material you can use to keep yourself on track while talking to them, make SURE you get the mock up cards... and go to town, and don't back down.

Feels really really good to get the first one done!

Your turn now... :D

To YOUR Success,
Patrick

[Mister Natural]

Jon, welcome aboard mate, and to be honest, mailing out 20K at once, is something that will lower your profit margin, as you would have to price structure each ad higher

ValPak in business for 40 years charges 3.5 cents per household per 10,000 sent, which equals $350 for 10,000.
Then,,,, ValPak has them sign on for a "minimum" of two months and up to 12 months.
Which means, one way or another ValPak is getting $700 from the very beginning.

Where as we have the ability to severley undercut those guys with offers of 3 cents which saves the owner $100 and nets you $600,
and 2.5 cents saving the owner $200 netting you $500 per ad space.

If you stick with the traditional design of 16 ads multiplied times $500 for each, that's $8000 minus expenses of printing, shipping, and postage.
A little over $5000 subtracted from $8000 leaves you a profit of $3000.

Squeeze in 2 or 4 more ads and increase your profit by $1000 to $2000.

Valpak envelopes contain your future customers, I make charts for visual aids should anybody ask questions.
People have to see something for faster comprehension. I've made a couple of charts to help explain things "when they ask".
I just don't wave a bunch of artwork around.

Anyway this method is intended to remedy all the hesitations when a bizz owner is trying to suggest that ValPak is a better deal.
Because we own our own business we can undercut the valpak prices, save the owners money, and guarantee 100% exposure, with ZERO
competition and better results than Valpak.

Better results for less money is very difficult to argue with.
I feel another chart coming on. :D

[Vikuna]

If you showed your charts here, I would be willing to design a couple for all of us, with the guidance of yours,

Eva

[rose]

@ Mister Natural. I'm just starting to get my stuff together here. It would be greatly helpful if you can share your visual aids to add to the stuff I will be showing to local business owners in addition to the mock up. Thank you! - Rose

[jonnnyd23]

Thanks guys, you helped me out alot. @misternatural I'm a little curious as to know why it costs you 5k for design, print , and shipping of 10K postcards. From what I researched it should cost no more than 3k.

[PvPGuy]

ValPak in business for 40 years charges 3.5 cents per household per 10,000 sent...we have the ability to severley undercut those guys



Don't undercut. No reason to. I do not know accurate numbers for ValPak specifically, but according to the EPA, 44% of direct mail is discarded without being read or opened. Makes sense, I never open Valpak because I don't need my patio's concrete relaid, and most of the inserts they have (at least in every location I've lived) are mostly contractors. People just don't need these services that often. Useless coupons = trash heap. So I can totally accept the high discard/un-open rate. But here is why I say don't undercut....

If ValPak costs $350 per 10,000 and 44% aren't even opened, then:

$350/(10,000 *[1 - .44]) = $.0625 per house. In other words, you're already cheaper if you are charging $.05 per house. And your "open/read" rate will be >95%.

Another way to look at it:

w/Valpak you spend $350 to get sent to 10,000 addresses, but only 5600 get opened. Most contractors I know who use Valpak expect between .004 and .008% (< 1%). Let's do the math and look at cost per lead.

10,000 * [1 - .44]) = 5600
5600 * .008 = ~44 leads
$350/44 = $7.95 per lead
(remember, this ***umes .008%, which is the higher end of response)

Now if we can ***ume a 95% read rate on our postcards, then let's compare:
10,000 * [1 - .05]) = 9500
9500 * .008 = ~76 leads
$350/76 = $4.60 per lead

If I've done my math correctly, that presents a 42% savings per lead captured compared to valpak.
This also ***umes that the postcard does not achieve a higher response rate than valpak, which according to Jake's WSO claims, it *should*. Keep in mind, each increase of .001% response adds an increase of ~9-10 leads.

Moral of the story? Be confident, we have the power (of Grayskull/Bob Ross)

-PvP

[jonnnyd23]

Anyone have any experience selling ads to previous val-pak advertisers? Just curious to know what kind of difference to expect. I spoke with a a pizza place owner and he got locked in for 6 months and pays $250 a month and gets a great response.

[Diana]

w/Valpak you spend $350 to get sent to 10,000 addresses, but only 5600 get opened. Most contractors I know who use Valpak expect between .004 and .008% (< 1%). Let's do the math and look at cost per lead.

10,000 * [1 - .44]) = 5600
5600 * .008 = ~44 leads
$350/44 = $7.95 per lead
(remember, this ***umes .008%, which is the higher end of response)

Now if we can ***ume a 95% read rate on our postcards, then let's compare:
10,000 * [1 - .05]) = 9500
9500 * .008 = ~76 leads
$350/76 = $4.60 per lead


The problem is converting that math into a few words that immediately make sense to a prospective client - stating that benefit so that they SEE it without having to actually do the math in front of 'em!

At least for me, that's an issue.

[ayman01]

The problem is converting that math into a few words that immediately make sense to a prospective client - stating that benefit so that they SEE it without having to actually do the math in front of 'em!

At least for me, that's an issue.

One way to say it so they can visualize it:

Valpak charges $350 per 10,000 homes. Its a documented fact that only roughly half will get opened. And maybe only half of the people who open it actually see your ad because its wedged in between hundreds of other different ads. So in reality, only about 3500 homes will actually see you ad for $350. So you really paid 10 cents for each person to see your ad.

With my postcard, you can be assured that almost 10,000 homes will see your ad for only 4.5 cents each. There's no comparison.