| HOW TO MAKE œ100,000 IN 100
DAYS SELLING COMPUTER DISKS or How to turn 89p into œ49 time & time again. METHOD No. 1. SELLING DISK(S) & TITLE LIST. You can make a simple package that contains one copy of the disk or disks together with a printed list of report titles. You can put the disk and printed list into a padded envelope and mail it to the person who placed the order. Your cost will be between 89p to œ1.50 per disk if supplied by us (or 50p per disk if you have your own computer system), plus padded enevlope (25p), plus stamp (25p), plus cost of copying lists of contents (20p - 30p). You can sell the disk(s) from, say, œ19 to œ49 (i.e turning 89p into œ49). METHOD No. 2. SELLING DISK(S) & PRINTED TEXTS. You can sell copies of the disk(s) together with the printed texts of all the reports, manuals and guides. Format and print if you have a computer system with printer, then have each page reduced to fit two pages on an A4 sheet, and printed on both sides of the paper. This is only realistic if you are selling a disk with, say, 80 reports. The multi-disk 550 titles would end up as a publishing epic. METHOD No. 3. SELLING THE REPORTS ONLY. Some of you might want to sell the reports on a "per piece" basis in which case, using a computer and printer, you can print out any of the reports as the orders arrive. To sell these reports, you would send out a list of all the report titles, a sales letter plus an order form. If you sold one copy of each title in the "550 Titles" range, you would make at least œ1500 in profit. FULFILLING THE ORDERS. When you receive an order, you must send the disk(s) that the customer has ordered. The standard fulfillment package consists of the computer disk(s), standard padded envelope plus a list of titles. You can modify your package any way you choose. You can include sales materials for other products you market, or include an order form offering other computer disks you can supply. Have the mailing envelope and the inserts made ready in advance. Your inserts may be printed on plain paper or card stock as this may offer more protection for the disk(s) inside the envelope. Make sure you assemble your packages in advance for easy processing of orders when they arrive in large quantities. Put the computer disk(s), printed title list, further offers etc inside the envelope and seal. If you are offering more than one computer disk, you could always use coloured envelopes or very small self stick, coloured circular stickers to denote which envelopes contain which computer disk(s) you are offering. When an order arrives, send the customer the computer disk(s) that he has ordered. Write the name and address on the outside of the envelope and mail. Maintain a file where you can keep your customer's order form as your database copy. In the future, if you have new titles or completely new products to offer, you can send your offer to your customers in this database. METHOD No. 4. GIVING AWAY FREE DISK(S). Giving away your disk(s) but charging for postage and packing, plus cost of the disk(s) and copying - i.e. the information on the disk(s) is free. Put together a gift certificate offering free money-making software, how many titles and pages involved and have them printed A6 size (4 up on a A4 sheet). If you have these certificates printed in volume you could pay 2p or less each. To distribute these certificates, have them made available to the general public by placing them at schools, libraries, supermarkets, video store and other retail establishments and public venues with good foot traffic. Using direct mail you could have your offer printed on a postcard and sent via use of a mailing list to potential customers, but this could be expensive if the disk(s) are the only products you are selling. Alternatively you could advertise on the Internet, using ads on Bulletin Boards (BBS's); on the Internet (WWW) or automated E-Mail where your 100 word advert can be electronicly "mailed" and read by 30 million plus people who use the Internet, for about œ20 per month. Firms offering this service can be found in magazines under "Business Services". Another method to help offset the cost of gift certificates is to find a company sponsor, in exchange for having their company name printed on the gift certificate. To the public, it is the generousity of the company sponsor that makes the computer disk(s) available to them. One of the fastest ways to solicit sponsorship is to split the cost between two or more companies. 100,000 certificates would cost you around «p each (œ500): with four sponsors this would cost each company œ125. If only 2% of your 100,000 certificates turn into orders, say, at œ10 each you would have œ20,000 without spending any of your own money. As ever, the more certificates printed, the higher the return. If you had this system running in five different areas, you would achieve your œ100,000 in just over 3 months (100 days). Another popular advertising option for whatever system you might wish to use is placing classified ads in magazines and newspapers, whether they are local, regional or national in circulation. They are easy to get started and relatively inexpensive. Mention the benifits from owning the computer disk(s): for those wanting to copy and sell on the information both as disk(s) and printed reports, and in itself the value of the business information contained on the disk(s) The most important thing in any venture is getting down to "doing it", to give things a try. This is where so many people get stranded. They stare at an opportunity and find fault in it. You've got to give it a try. As the above examples show, you can start with a few inexpensive clssified adverts in magazines or newpapers (even the Internet). On the other hand, the more adverts, gift certificates etc you bring to the attention of the general public, the greater the rewards. See the range of computer disks available from the publisher to realise just what potential awaits you. |
|||||
| Home
Based Business Ideas |
