Do You Want to Know How To Write And Sell Information By Mail Order?
How To Write And Sell Information By Mail Order
Mail Order operators who specialize in selling bits of
education are in a socially desirable enterprise, and a
well managed one can produce very profitable and satisfying
results.
"How To Write And Sell Information By Mail Order"
Selling instruction and information by mail embraces a large
field. At one extreme is the correspondence school which
aims to bring a university campus to the door, and at the
other extreme is the small operator who for a few pounds or dollars
will send information about something you like to know or will
reveal a "secret" or formula of some kind. In between these
two extremes are many possibilities.
Those individuals who
are conscious of mail-buying opportunities, and who seek
training at home and in space time will discover many pieces
of useful information to be had at small cost. Mail-order
operators who specialize in selling bits of education are
in a socially desirable enterprise, and a well managed one
can produce very profitable and satisfying results.
Little wonder then that for the small operator,writing and selling of
"information" is attractive. One authority states: "At
least 80 percent of all the beginners start their career
in mail order by offering a plan, formula, or information
publication. Of these, at least 75 percent lose money in
their first venture. Some quit then and there because their
visions of fast, easy money are shattered. Others realize
their mistakes, profit by their experience and go on to a
successful, profitable mail order business.
SELL YOUR SPECIALTY
If you have imagination and vision, mail order enterprise
provides a chance to sell your knowledge. Many people possess
information for which others would willingly pay a fair price.
If you have a special field in which you have reason to believe
others would be interested, write up an instruction sheet or
folio about it.
This often pays. Even if you do not have the essential
background information, by self-training you can become somewhat
of an expert. Exhaust the literature on a subject in public
libraries and elsewhere, write up the material in the most
attractive form, get it out as a leaflet or treatise, and
market it by mail. The right kind of manuscript very often
makes money if followed through.
Do you know something or can
you make something a little better than most people? Write it
up. For simple instruction booklets of all kinds, written for
the layman, there is usually a ready market. There is a demand
for reliable information, and this is particularly true for "know-
how" courses in brief portfolio form. And this can be a repeat
order proposition, for the buyer of one folio is often a
prospect for similar courses or booklets.
HOW TO GET STARTED
An excellent way to get started in selling information is to push
what you yourself have written. By having several hundred or
several thousand copies made, you can, at a small cost, try out
the plan. With the right mail selling methods, you may profit,
just as many are doing. In this field the buyer usually gets
good value in obtaining something which required days, weeks,
or even months to prepare, and there is a long gross profit on
each sale.
There are many spare-time operators making money year after year
in "how -to " courses. The classified columns and display
advertising sections of the craft magazines are replete with
such offerings.
TYPICAL AVENUES OF APPROACH
Of the hundreds of reliable self-help topics being offered by
mail, the following are illustrative.
1. FORMULAS alone are difficult to sell. Value lies not
entirely in the formula, recipe, kink, or knack of getting some
results, but also in the plan and the person pushing that process
or formula. Well presented with instructions for using, formulas
single or in group sets in treatise form are being successfully
sold by mail. Many of them can be built around simple household
preparations. In selling a plan, a formula, and the like, work
out a set-up of your own and merchandise it in a way to build a
satisfied clientele.
2. HELP TO THE HANDYMAN strikes a chord for those who are
interested in making money or saving it. Since handymen are made
and not just born with particular skills, those who like to tinker
and find out how to do things for themselves are usually on the
lookout for down-to-the-earth useful information. If you are a
handyman, what have you learned "the hard way?" do you know
something for which others might be glad to pay a reasonable
price? For example, anyone familiar with work in various trades,
radio, electrical, carpenter, painting, and miscellaneous
mechanical jobs - has a fund of information which might well be
worked up into an inexpensive photo-offset printed treatise or
series of them, including drawings and diagrams. Some mail-
order operators have done this to advantage.
3. WRITING FOR PROFIT has an appeal. Although the field has
been well worked in the high-class high-cost strata, there is
still room for inexpensive sets of writing instruction and
advisory service. A large proportion of the adult population
has the urge to write. These would-be authors range all the way
from those merely seeking the "pride of authorship," to those
who have the desire of some day spending full time in writing,
and earning a living at it. And many of these people are
already successful in some line of work. They are eager for
assistance in writing. Helpful guidance such as can be offered
in folios could find a ready market.
4. APPLICATION OF CHEMISTRY offers a wide choice for those
who are qualified in one or more branches of this science. Any
one who has specialized in any phase of chemistry might well be
able to write and contribute acceptable leaflets and booklets on the
subject, which could be of value to others. Think of the
possibilities in acquainting people with the myriad uses of
common chemical substances, for example, in the field of cements
and glues, caulking compounds, liquid coating solutions, and
solvents. Not only is there opportunity in selling information
in this field, but also in merchandising useful preparations of
your own.
5. HOBBIES range all the way from playthings to highly technical
pastimes. Many people have hobbies which follow definite patterns.
Have you a hobby, as stamp collecting, for example? Mail-order
affords a profitable avenue to pass these pleasures on to others,
and often persons who have hobbies do not hesitate to pay well for
additional knowledge. Hobbies can become part-time income sources,
and finally full-time occupations.
6. Health AND EXERCISE is a subject in which a large percentage
of the population is interested. A person well qualified to write
about physical training, camping, swimming, or fishing, for example,
is in a good position to sell his knowledge by mail. But warning
is necessary regarding health information or goods: Be sure that
the propositions applies to prevention and not curative effects.
Another caution is to beware of making false claims, for the health
field can be dangerous ground.
7. OTHER SUBJECTS in the information-selling field abound, such
as making money in a particular line of work, increasing knowledge
for pleasure or profit, how to gain prestige by being able to
speak in public, how to play a musical instrument, how to learn
speed typing and shorthand at home, and so on.
Information, instruction, or education by mail can be started with
a minimum capital, with little mailing costs. Further, it is an
easy way to get started, and is one of the most profitable areas of
mail order selling. A manual costing a few pennies in quantity to
publish often sells for much more. The buyer is not purchasing
just so much paper and printing, but presumably years of a writer's
skill and experience.
Return from How To Write And Sell Information to Wealth
Return to Open-Mind-Publishing Home Page