The Big Money Secrets to Selling Books by Mail

Selling books by mail is one of the "ideal" spare-time business ventures that can be operated from your home, and with minimal investment, can make you very rich!

However, there's a lot you must know about this kind of business; a lot to learn, a lot to understand, and a lot of common sense required.

The first thing you need to know is where to get book - the kind of books - that sell best via mail order. Selecting your source of supply, deciding which type of books you want to sell, and arranging a working relationship with these suppliers is your first step. Be sure that you know which supplier has which books, the quantity discount prices, and the drop-ship requirements. It's best to set up a file on or for each of your suppliers; keep a copy of each of their latest catalogs, and some sort of record of all dealings you have with them.

Once you're organized with a source of supply, getting started is pretty easy. One way might be to acquire a series of money making reports that run two or three pages in length such as this one - that sell for a couple of dollars each. Then, you run a classified ad in some of the national mail order publications reaching extra-income opportunity seekers.

Such an ad might read: FREE REPORT! $50,000 profit each year! Spare time home-operated business. Details SASE. (your name & address).

Your secret to success in selling books by mail will lie in what you put into all those self-addressed and stamped envelopes you receive in response to your ad.

Of course, the first thing you have to put in those envelopes is the "free report" you promised in your ad. We have a number of reports describing a plan that can make $50,000 a year for an energetic and determined extra-income opportunity seeker, and have used all of them quite successfully in accordance with the plan we're describing to you here.

Now then, in addition to the "free report", as promised in your ad - and in order to sell books - you have to include what is known as your "follow-up" package...

Actually, it's quite simple and should be almost automatic. You'll need a full page circular advertising one of the books you're selling. To see, and understand this ingredient, collect the advertising sheets you receive from all the book clubs, relative to their "featured selection" circulars. Remember here that the more original and different from the "other" advertisers you can maker your circulars, the more books you'll end up selling. Still, you may not want to undertake the work or have the extra finances to hire to have "featured selection" advertising circulars made up for you. In that case simply take one of the full page circulars advertising a particular book, sent out to you by one of your suppliers.

Following the successful methods used by all the Book of the Month Clubs, in addition to your full page circular advertising a specific book - a featured selection - you should include a sheet of other titles - alternate selections - for your customers to consider ordering.

We've found through many years of experience, that the best-order-producing list of other availabilities to choose from, is one of our lists of money making reports. The psychology behind this is explained thusly: If your customer buys the "featured selection", he may not really want to spend "another big chunk of money" right then, on another book - but you would like for him to spend more, so you offer him a number of "inexpensive" reports that he can choose from - and in the end, he'll probably spend more on the featured selection and several reports than he would have if he had purchased two books. Then too, how might not want the featured selection or he may already have it - in that case, you offer him the list of reports related to his interests - non of which will break his budget - and you've still made money/gotten an order from him. These are very important things to consider and to think about every time you send out a mail order offer.

Generally, you do not need to include either a separate order form or a self-addressed envelope with your order-solicitation package. However, we would advise you to have your featured selection circular, and your alternate selection list printed on colored paper - say your featured selection circular printed on white paper with red or blue ink, and your alternate selection printed on yellow or canary colored paper with black ink. This tends to give your mailing piece a bit of class, and at the same time tends to stimulate the prospects into buying more than just ordinary white paper with black ink. Give it some thought, try it, check your results and then decide from there.

We've just explained the "nitty gritty" of how to get organized, set yourself up in the book-selling by mail business, and how to operate it profitably. But, unless you have everything pre-planned, your fledgling business may die before you've even scratched the surface of your potential profit picture.

It's necessary that you have a different "featured" selection circular and list of alternate selections to send out, each time you send something out to your prospects or customers. Thus, before you begin, it will pay you to elect about 18 different books to call featured selections or say, "Best Buy Of The Month". Make sure you have a full page circular for each of these books - have a supply of each of them printed and in stock - then either number them or arrange them in the order you want to use them. You should have the same kind of supply, and arrangement for your lists or alternate selections.

With books, it will be necessary to always be on the lookout for new books you can use as featured selections in your customer follow-up program. A supply of 18 will get you started, but as your business grows, you'll find some of your customers ordering every book you offer, and thus, in order to keep them buying from you, you'll have to keep offering new selections to them.

With your lists of alternative selections, this is not so important. Actually, you could start out with about a hundred or so reports, and from this list, make up an alternative selection list of about 25 titles for each list. After you've gone through 100 of these reports - 4 different alternative selection lists - you could go back and mix the selections from each list - 6 from list one, 6 from list two and so on...

It's important that you get your customer's order on its way just as quickly after receiving it as possible. When you're having a supplier dropship for you, the best thing is to accumulate all your orders - filling in your dropship order from each day's mail - and then on Saturday of each week, writing your check to each supplier, enclosing the dropship order forms, sealing it and getting it in the mail. At the same time, you should send out your order acknowledgment notes, and follow-up packages on the same day you receive them. It may sound a little complicated, but it really isn't - and if you'll plan your business in detail before you place your first ad, have your follow-up materials printed in advance, and work this plan as we've explained it herein, you should have no trouble at all. Best of luck, and let us hear from you!


Related Articles

Dictionary of Mail Order Terms

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: A short note acknowledging receipt of an order. Used especially when a check is sent as payment, and shipment will be delayed until the check clears.

How to Set Up Your Own Mail Order Distributorship for General Merchandise and Books

When you have developed, or found, mail-order products over which you have exclusive ownership or control, you may want to consider selling through agents, wholesalers or dealers.

How to Select Mail Order Products that Sell

Almost anything that people want or need is today being successfully sold by mail. In fact, some propositions could not be handled in any other way. The problem is to figure out the product or service and then find and develop a market.

Commission Circulars: How to Make $5,000 for Every Page You Copy

Everyone that starts out learning the mail order business is normally introduced to Commission Circulars very early in the game. You have probably seen ads claiming "how you can make money - sometimes as much as $5,000 - for every page you copy".

The Secret Mail Order Product that Can Make You Rich

Everyday more and more people are jumping on the "mail order" bandwagon - starting their own, or getting involved in some kind of mail order selling endeavor - and hoping to get rich.

The Mail-Five-Letters-a-Day Plan

The purpose of this report is to outline a simple, step-by-step program that will enable you to start making "sales by mail" immediately!

What It Takes to Make Your Fortune in Mail Order

You can make a million dollars or more in mail order, but it's going to require a complete understanding of the business as well as a little bit of know-how on your part.

How to Start Your Own Mail Order Publication

If you are an old hand at mail order, or a newcomer to the business, sooner or later you are going to want to try your lick at having your own publication.

How to Capitalize on the Hidden Profits in Junk Mail

Don't just glance at your junk mail and throw it away! Save it - it can put extra money in your pockets! As a matter of fact, you can make some "easy" extra money with all your incoming mail...

How to Start and Operate Your Own Profitable Mail Order Business at Home

How much money do you want to make? Do you need a steady second income? Do you want to have your own business, be your own boss, and make your own decisions?