How to Have Your Offline Direct Marketing Pay For Itself

What happens when most people think about doing traditional direct mail the first thing that comes to their mind is "Geez, it's going to cost too much."

I mean, pay for printing and postage. Talk about sticker shock.  Then when you compare it to the cost of email (which cost nothing) you can see why most people gravitate toward the Internet.  Don't let that deter you.  It's a mistake that could be costing you thousands.  Remember the reasons you're in business is to make money.  If you spend $1.00 for something and it brings back $2.50 you're making money.  It shouldn't matter if it's online or offline.  The question you need to ask yourself is how much are you paying for your leads.

You also have to consider your competition as well.  There's a lot less competition offline then there is online.  You can milk a market offline with a lot less competition and no one really has to know.  For instance, in my email box I get a ton of emails from different opportunities online.  Tons.  (I'm on a lot of email lists).  It's very competitive -- particularly in the make money online market.  Whereas in someone's mailbox you have a lot less competition.  What you want to do is blend both offline marketing with online marketing.  That's a blog entry for another day.

What you want to implement is a "Self Financing" direct mail campaign.  In other words, a direct marketing campaign that pays for itself and breaks you even on the front.  Remember, marketing is about generating qualified leads for as little money as possible.  It's no different online as it is offline.

The best way to do this offline is to charge for your information, but with a 21 day or 30 day limited risk trial offer.  Ask your customers to initially pay say $7.95 or $9.95 for your information, with the condition that if after 21 days if they don't return it their will be a one-time charge of $47 for the information .   

This has to be clearly spelled out in your literature.   If not you could get in trouble.   If you say 21 days, don't charge them the one time cost until at least 28 days.  Give yourself some leeway here.  Also offer at least a 30-day money-back guarantee.  I go into a lot more detail about this in my course.

I've tested asking for the full amount in advance versus the trial offer and the trial literally crushes asking for full payment in advance versus offering a trial.

If your marketing pays for itself then each lead you received . . . well didn't cost you anything.  Free marketing and cost free leads.  

The good news is with the right list and offer with a trial offer you can actually make good money on the front end.  I have.  There have been times I've turned three and four times cost just on the front end.  This does not even take into consideration what I was able to earn on the backend!