As Julian Simon said in the fourth edition of his classic book, How To Start And Operate A Mail Order Business, "In truth, operating without a catalogue of offerings is likely to be impossible for most mail-order ventures." So if you're serious about making money in mail order (direct marketing), a catalogue is the way to go. Many other types of businesses can profit from direct marketing techniques by developing a catalogue, as well. (The basic principles apply online as well.)
Don't be intimidated by the thought of developing your own catalogue. It doesn't have to be an expensive and elaborate four-colour production like those put out by the giant catalogue companies. Yours can start out as a small flyer or 'mini-catalogue', offering just a few related products that you include in outgoing orders, and grow from there.
Let me share a real-life example of this with you. Some time ago I suggested to the owners of a printing company that they implement a package insert program. I designed an 8 1/2 X 11" flyer (in effect, a mini-catalogue) that lists other printed forms, specialty items and services they offer, which is enclosed in outgoing package shipments and invoice mailings.
Just by letting new and existing customers know of other offers, this simple, low-cost idea has resulted in increased sales. Many types of businesses (not just those involved in mail order) can do the same. Here are some reasons a catalogue is a key to greater profits in a wide variety of businesses:
--You Get More Profit From Your Valuable Customers
Acquiring a customer is a valuable investment of time, effort and expense. Too many marketers toss this investment out the window by selling one thing to a customer, one time, and forgetting about that customer forever. Instead of such "hit-and-run" marketing, smart marketers aim to turn as many customers as possible into repeat buyers.
This makes a lot of sense because the best customer is a satisfied one that has previously bought from you, (people prefer to do business with those they know and trust), and additional sales to previous customers are often easier to make and more profitable than initial sale.
One way repeat business can be developed is by selling products and services that naturally lend themselves to repeat business, i.e., those that customers will eventually need or want to buy more of. Some examples are typesetting, printing, food, and office supplies.
Another way to develop repeat business is to diversify by building a related line of products and services. A selection of offers means greater variety. In turn, greater variety means:
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More prospects will become buyers, because prospects are more likely to find something they want;
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Buyers will tend to spend more per order, and
More buyers are likely to become repeat customers.
For best results, no matter how many different products or services in your line, all should be related to one another. In other words, the most successful catalogues have a theme. Every offer in them is connected to, and reinforces, all of the others. If the line is a disconnected mixture of unrelated offers, confusion will be created as to the theme or purpose of the catalogue, and sales will suffer.
It's pretty obvious why all products/services you sell should relate to one another. For example, someone who buys a book on auto repair from you is much more likely to buy other offers related to the automotive field, than an unrelated product, such as a set of golf clubs. All buyers of the auto repair books have expressed interest in the automotive field, but you don't know if any are interested in golf. A small percentage may have an interest in the sport, but probably not enough to make such offers profitable.
--Each Additional Offer Reduces Your Per-Item Marketing Expenses
Many of your marketing costs are the same whether you promote one offer, or several. For example, you can mail one 8 1/2 X 11" flyer advertising a single product in a #10 envelope for the price of a first class stamp. But for the very same first class postage expense, you can mail an envelope containing a small catalogue weighing up to a total of one ounce (the equivalent of five sheets of 8 1/2 X 11" paper, 20 lb. bond) offering dozens, even hundreds of products.
In this example, the costs of the postage, the envelope, and of name acquisition remain unchanged. The only difference in cost is in the enclosed printed matter, since it obviously costs more to print marketing materials offering several items, than for just one. For only a modest increase in cost, you can market many more offers, with each additional one sharing the marketing expenses with all the others. I don't know about you, but it certainly appeals to me to be able to so dramatically slash my marketing costs!
A good catalogue is much more than just a tool for selling products and services. You can also use one to:
Sell Ad Space In Your Catalogue
Calculate how much it costs to produce your catalogue, and from that determine how much a given amount of space is worth. Then mark-up the value to allow for profit (50% or so is not unreasonable), and let others know it's for sale, your guidelines concerning the ads you will accept, and the preferred format (camera-ready).
Barter For Things You Want Or Need
Consider others that may want to reach the same markets as you, and what they have that you're willing to trade space in your catalogue for, such as products, services, ads, mailing lists, and so on. Then make them an offer that can be mutually profitable.
