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Advertising Ad Sheets Equals Big Profits
Publishing and distributing a mail order ad sheet can be very
profitable. They are simple and easy to produce, with most quick print shops able to
handle the printing at fairly low cost. The important consideration is that you can use
them to pull in advertising dollars for yourself, as a free advertising media for your own
products, and as an exchange medium with which to get greater exposure for your own ads.
Before starting an ad sheet, you should plan it all out - decide on an
interesting, informative title, choose a masthead, lay out your columns for size,
determine if it is to be a simple 8 1/2 x 11 single sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet
folded in half. You'll also need to know your production cost for the number you intend to
have printed, and the postage cost to mail them out.
Most ad sheets start out as single sheets of paper, 8 1/2 x 11, printed
on both sides. Usually, the front side is divided into three equal columns about 2 1/4
inches wide, with a 1/2 inch margin from the edge of the paper on both sides and top and
bottom.
Assuming that the space occupied by your title, masthead and listing of
rates for advertisers interested in placing an ad with you is two inches deep, this leaves
you about 24 inches of advertising space to sell on the front side. Figuring a cost of $50
for 1,000 copies of such an ad sheet, printed both sides, and a third-class bulk-rate
postage of $110, this means that your 24 inches of ad space will have to be sold at a rate
of $6.25 each in order to break even. This means: You have to sell all of the ad space on
the front of your ad sheet at $6.25 per ad - and then expect to make your profits from the
sale of the back side of your ad sheet. Actually, it would be feasible to charge $7.00 per
inch for the space on the front side, and carry your own full page ad on the back side. At
any rate, don't box yourself into a loss situation where you can't afford to place your
own ads in your ad sheet.
You get ads by making up an advertising solicitation sales letter and
sending it out to as many mail order dealers as you can find. You can also run ads in
other people's publications, inviting the readers to check with you regarding placement of
an ad in your publication. And of course, you'll be wanting to work out some exchange
advertising deals (whereby another publisher runs your ad in his publication, and you run
his in exchange). From the experience of many, many publishers, this can be one of the
most effective ways of getting your ads run, at low/no cost, and it is recognized to be
successful in the field of Mail Order.
You probably won't be able to fill up all of your available ad space
with paid ads until you are well established - but no problem - first you fill your ad
space with paid ads, and then you fill in the empty space with ads of your own. Some
beginning advertisers fill a part of their empty space with complimentary ads for other
mail order operators, send them a copy of the issue in which the complimentary ad appears,
and invite them to continue the ad on a "paid" basis from there. Many of them
will appreciate the favor and send you a check or money order to continue running the ad.
If you undertake the publication of an ad sheet, be sure to consider
the possibilities of sending out 100 to 1,000 copies of your ad sheet to other mail order
operators to rubber stamp their names/addresses as co-publishers and mail out for you.
Thus, if you had 50 other mail order operators sending out 100 copies each of your ad
sheet, you'd be talking about a circulation of 5,000 copies plus the number of copies you
mail out. If you can get this kind of program going, you'll quickly build your reputation
as well as your circulation, and at the bottom line, your profits.
Some ad sheet publishers, once they've established themselves and are
putting out an impressive publication, set up distributor networks. Generally, they run
ads calling for distributor/dealers and asking for a $5 to $10 registration fee. In reply
to the registration application, they send out a letter explaining that each distributor
can buy at half price, so many copies of each issue of the ad sheet, rubber stamp their
name on each copy, and send them out as their own. In return, the distributors usually get
50% of the incoming advertising orders, a half-price ad for themselves, and an opportunity
to sell subscriptions.
The bottom line relative to becoming a successful ad sheet publisher
has to do with keeping your production costs - printing and mailing - as low as possible,
while putting out a quality product that other people in the mail order business will want
to advertise in - while at the same time using it as an advertising/selling vehicle for
your own products.
Everyone involved in mail order selling should have some sort of ad
sheet - if for no other reason than as a means to an end - an advertising vehicle for your
own products, an extra income form advertising revenues, and as an exchange media with
which to gain greater exposure for your own products in other people's publications. Once
you've got an ad sheet, or any kind of publication set up and being seen by other mail
order operators, you'll quickly gain stature and a certain amount of prestige.
As with any business, your ultimate success depends on your own
feasibility studies, and your "sharp-pencil" planning completed before you order
your first issue printed. Think about it, weigh the pro's & con's, then go with your
decision.
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