The Ultimate Swipe File

Let’s face it, busting through the clutter and just getting your marketing piece opened, let alone read, is tougher than ever... But when you learn the secrets to 3D Mail, your marketing results will explode and that’s why we’ve created the 3D Mail Insider’s Circle and you can experience it for FREE for 2 months!

Here’s What You Get

• Each month you get a brand new 3D Mail piece. The new item will include a dozen different headlines that you can tweak and use in your own business. One month the new idea may be tied to an upcoming current event (presidential election, Memorial Day, Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, etc) and the next month it may be something more general.
  
  
• When the 3D item is tied to an upcoming current event you’ll get it 3 months before the event so you have time to get the item and implement the campaign. Don’t miss our new 3D Mail product for the exclusive use of 3D Mail Insiders next month. I’ll give you a hint, “its Goolish. It’s sure to get attention and it only costs you 15¢.”
  
  
• 10% off the new 3D Mail item that is highlighted in monthly mailing. For three months, you’ll get 10% of the new 3D mail product that we highlight each month. This discount alone would pay for your membership.
  
  
• Exclusive use of the new 3D Mail item for 6 months. Only 3D Mail Insiders can buy the new featured 3D Mail item during the first 6 months that we stock it. That means when the new item is tied to an upcoming current event you’ll have to wait for at least a year before you have access to the item.
  
  
• 5% off any 3D Mail item for as long as you’re a member. This discount may not be combined with the 10% discount above. Again, this discount alone might pay for your membership.
  
  
• Access to our members only site where you can:

• Download the MS Word document for creating your letter for your new 3D Mail Product.
• Access to print quality images that we may suggest you use with your letter.
• Access to print quality images or teaser copy we may suggest for your envelope.

Monthly 3D Mail Insider’s Circle Newsletter

Twice weekly 3d Mail Insider’s Circle Marketing Tip that includes actual examples of successful 3D Mail Campaigns. We’ll also include campaigns that bombed and we’ll tell you why they bombed so you don’t make the same mistakes. Frankly if you read our Definitive Guide and pay attention you would never make these mistakes, but again, sometimes you’re just too close
to your business.

Right now you can get all of this for free for two months. You only need to pay $6.67 to cover the postage. Or, if you want you can get all of the above plus these two bonuses for only $67.00.

One sample of each of our 30 different 3D Mail items that you can use to explode your sales and profits.

The Evolution of a $10,000,000.00 3D Mail Campaign. This 30 page report shows the 16 year evolution of the 3D Mail Campaign featured in Dan Kennedy’s Magnetic Marketing. the reality is that this campaign has actually produced well over $20,000,000.00 in sales, but I figured most people wouldn’t believe that.

To order, print out this PDF and fax back TODAY to 253-398-1551or call me at 888-250-1834 and tell me you want join the 3D Mail Insider’s Circle.

Why do Premiums out Perform Discounts and Rebates?

We're going to start a new series of tips on premiums. We briefly went over them last week, and based on the responses I got, you guys want more! So we'll start with a quote from my marketing mentor, Dan Kennedy:

“Too many marketers deal with premiums almost as an afterthought. This is a huge mistake. I know for a fact that premiums can and do drive sales, and that a change of premium, with no other changes, can dramatically alter the results of a promotion. For this reason, just as much careful thought should be given to the premium as to the main offer.”
– Dan Kennedy, Power Points #34

Research has shown that a direct mail letter with a premium offer can out pull a sales letter alone by as much as 300%! Before we get too far into why they work so well, some of you may be thinking, “What is a premium?”

A premium is anything of value your prospect/client/patient receives for taking some action that you want. Often, the best premiums are not even tied to whatever it is that you’re offering! It’s often an unrelated item for the personal use of the buyer and not even for their business (if you’re selling B2B). The key is that is has perceived high value. It may not cost a lot, but it should look like it cost a lot.

When offering premiums, a picture is worth a thousand words. Always include a picture of the item, as this is much more effective than simply describing the item.

There’s a reason why for years Sports Illustrated gave away a sneaker phone. There’s a reason they now give away your choice of any of the 32 professional football team shirts. Why? Because Sports Illustrated knows that premiums work! They’ve be doing it for decades now.

The Estee Lauder Company set the standard with their “Gift-With-Purchase” strategy that is now rampant in the cosmetics industry, and others. The allure of ‘something for nothing’ has always enticed consumers. Doesn’t it make sense to appeal to this very basic, controlling emotion?

Stay tuned for later in the week when we discuss why premium offers improve direct mail response. Have a great week.

Looking for ways to increase your response rates, or reduce returns? How about you offer a free gift! We have many premiums (free gifts) in a wide variety of price ranges.

From inexpensive kitchen shears that cost $1.04 each, to elegant table top clocks for as little as $31.29 each.

We’ve recently added dozen’s of new premiums to our product line, and are adding more every week. Don’t see something that sparks your interest? Reply to this email and tell me what you want, and I’ll find it! We can source 1,000’s of different premium items.

If you have a product or service with a large transaction size, or you know you have a very large long-term value in a new client, go with something a littler nicer, and sometimes a little more expensive.

If you have a smaller transaction size, consider using one of the more inexpensive options. Free gifts are always a good way to increase your response and your ROI.

You Need a Strong, Clear, Call to Action

We’re going to put a bow on our discussion on irresistible offers today. Below you’ll find the final 2 tips for crafting your offers. To review where we’ve been, visit my blog posts below.

We’ll start with the call to action. I think this is best summed up from an article I wrote a while back in my newsletter, in Marketing Lessons Learned from Kona. Kona is my 1 year old Gold Retriever. Here’s the article.

I’m very proud to announce that in March Kona passed, with flying colors, the American Kennel Club S.T.A.R. Program! This is awarded to puppies less than 1 year of age who demonstrate social, training, activity, and responsible behavior. I’m so proud of my pup! We’ve already started basic agility training!

This got me thinking about all the things we need to do when we’re training Kona. I’ve boiled it down to 5 items that we MUST do each and every time we’re training Kona in a new skill. Here’s the list:

1. Tell her WHAT to do.
2. Tell her HOW to do it.
3. Tell her WHEN to do it.
4. Give her INCENTIVE to do it.
5. They must be clearly understood and concise.

These are the exact steps you must follow when crating your call to action. For example, let’s say we’re driving our prospect to visit a website from a sales letter we sent.

You’ve got to tell them WHAT to do (go to the website www.3dmailresults.com). You’ve got to tell them HOW to do it (take 5 minutes at your home PC and log on). You’ve got to tell them WHEN to do it (Right now, don’t delay!). You’ve got to give them INCENTIVE to act (You’ll get my free “Definitive Guide to Using 3D Mail.”) And they must be clearly understood and concise. Remember, confused people do nothing!

When I think about it, training Kona is simply a series of offers, done diligently and with care and consistency, until the lesson is learned and it becomes habitual behavior. Wouldn’t it be nice to have client habitually call you and pay you for your products and services??

Finally, its always a good idea to mention and emphasize your guarantee in your offer. In fact, your guarantee should be part of all your marketing. We’re going to do an entire series on guarantees soon, so we’ll leave it at that this week.

Stay tuned for next week as we’ll open and entire new discussion on a new direct response marketing strategy. Have a great weekend!

No Deadline, No Offer

We finished off the last post with “reason why” marketing in your offers. To recap, see the blog post below. Now we’re on to number 6 in our series of 7 tip for crafting an offer. This may be the most important of the 7 tips you’ll get, so pay close attention.

For an offer to really be irresistible, you MUST have a reason for immediate action. In direct response marketing, we call them deadlines.

If you don’t have a deadline, you don’t really have an offer. Most importantly, you don’t want to hide your offer. You can to make it big and clear. A headline is not something to hide from the client, hoping they don’t see it. It’s the complete opposite. You want them to know the deadline, make it big and clear to create urgency and an immediately response, NOW, not later.

Here’s an insider’s tip most don’t know. Multiple deadlines, especially if you’re deadline is not for a few weeks, can work very well with an additional bonus for a fast response. Here’s an example:

This offer expires on June 30, 2009. But if you respond by June 10th, you’ll get ________________________.

And fill in the blank with your incredible bonus gift, Free report, additional savings etc.

Having a reason why for the deadline is also key. Its can tie right back to the reason why you’re making the offer in the first place. If we use our vendor example from last week (see it here), we can easily say our vendor has only allowed us this offer until a certain date. This may not be the best reason, but it’s a BELIEVEABLE reason, which is all we’re really concerned with.

Here are just a few ways to create deadlines in your marketing:

• Within “X” Number of Days
• By “X”-Date
• By Date stamped in RED in the letter.
• Limited to the first “X” number
• There’s a Waiting List! You can’t even get it right now!

www.3DMailResults.com

You Need a Reason

We ended last week with a spirited talk on using premiums and discounts in your marketing. For a review, see my blog below. I also asked your help in a survey. Again, see my blog below, I’m giving away some cool gifts just for doing it.

Now, on to the meat-n-potatoes portion of todays tip. We’re going to talk about number five in our series of seven tips for crafting a compelling offer.

When you present an offer to clients, you must have a logical reason for the offer. Notice I didn’t say a great reason, or even a good reason, certainly nothing earth shattering, but a reason nonetheless.

Here’s why: People are naturally skeptical and suspicious. They’ve been told their entire life that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. I think we’ll all agree that there is some truth to that.

Here are a couple specific examples. First, our vendors in both 3D Mail and American Retail Supply (our ’main’ business) will often extend special pricing to us, that we can pass on to you. We’ll then say our vendors are helping us make this happen. Remember, good is certainly good enough!

Glazer-Kennedy runs a yearly “Scratch and Dent” sale. They discount the items that have been slightly damaged during production or shipping.

Recently, at 3D Mail, we ran a sale on the trash can and bank bag (see below) because we found a new supplier.

You can have an ‘Anniversary Sale,’ or a ‘New to the Neighborhood Sale.’ Truly, any logical reason will give you a bump in response. Stay tuned for next week, we’ll discuss the power of deadlines in your offers.

Discount, Premiums, or Both?

Earlier in the week we talked about your clients favorite radio station, W.I.I.F.M., or “What’s in it for Me?” Today we’ll talk about the third of the 7 tips for crafting a compelling offer. To review, see my previous blog posts below.

The question is often asked of me, “Travis, should I use a discount or a premium.” A premium is something you give your client as a free gift for taking the action you want. It can include placing an order, accepting a cross-sell or up-sell or even just opting into your marketing and your prospect giving you their contact information.

I say the only real way to know for sure is to test your offers and see which one wins. However, if time is of the essence, I can make a pretty good argument for premiums over discounts.

My mentor, Dan Kennedy, has said many times that, ”Premiums can, and do drive sales, and that a change of premium, with no other changes, can dramatically alter the results of a promotion.” The primary reason of offering a premium is to give ’fence-sitters’ a push over into immediately buying
action.

Good premiums can be of practical value to your clients, for example, a free report on 3D Mail. However, sometimes ‘vanity items’ or things that people just want to have can drive sales, and can often out-perform the practical item.

Don’t think people care about a free gift? Are you clients just too sophisticated for such ploys? Estee Lauder Cosmetics is generally credited with creating the “gift-with-purchase” strategy we now see often with cosmetic sales today. Some of the richest, most sophisticated women in the world flock to such offers at malls and retail outlets daily.

Finally, multiple premiums often out-perform single premiums. How you present them is also vitally important. “Choose any 3 of these 5,” is just one way. I personally love this because its moves the prospect from a “yes/no,” buying decision to, “Which do I want?” A subtle, yet very powerful sales technique.

As you may know, we offer some premiums on our website. However, we’re really looking to increase both they quality and quantity of what we offer. That’s where I need you’re help, and I’m willing to bribe you to do it.

I’ve got a quick survey I’d like you to complete on some of the new premiums we’d love to have available. If you complete the survey, I’ll send you my free report, “Why Premiums Out-Perform Rebates & Discounts,” plus I’ll send you your choice of one of the free gifts pictured below:



Here’s the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SFUdVirTmpBy7g3_2bnkrYXg_3d_3d

All you need to do is complete the short, 4-minute survey by Friday, May 29th and I’ll send you the report and free gift of your choice!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SFUdVirTmpBy7g3_2bnkrYXg_3d_3d

Don't Confuse Your Clients

Last week we talked about your clients favorite radio station, W.I.I.F.M., or “What’s in it for Me?” Today we’ll talk about the second of the 7 tips for crafting a compelling offer. To review, see my previous blog post below.

First and foremost your offer must be clear. Confused people do nothing, and nothing is the last thing you want from prospect or client.

In general, “half off,” is better than 50% off. Further, “two for one,” in general, is better than “half off.”

I say in general because it all depends on your target audience. The words and phrases you use will get better or worse response based on your chosen target audience. Review segmenting your lists here at my blog.

Second, you must get in the habit of offering only one thing with each piece of marketing. Here’s an online example. In most cases, you want to collect your clients contact information right when they first visit your site. Everything should be concentrated on that one goal. You wouldn’t want to sell them your widget, try to get their contact information, and have them come by and visit your shop all at the same time!

Here’s on off-line example. If you’re running lead generation advertising for your dental practice, you want the only offer to be to call or visit a website for more information. You’re not selling them on the dental work itself, just a call to action to get more information. It would be foolish to try and sell a root canal in that situation, wouldn’t it?

Finally, the offer must be a good (perceived) value. Going back to our dentist example, to validate our offer, we may want to put a value on the information we are providing, thus giving our information a high perceived value.

Be wary of using percentage off for your offers. As a society, we’ve become increasing skeptical of these offers. We have ingrained in our minds that they’ve simply over-inflated the original value of the product or service, and then cut down to the “real” price with the percentage off. However, this can work when there is a widely known “published” price of an item.

Later in the week we’ll talk about the value of offering discounts, premiums (free gifts) or both. See you then.

www.3DMailResults.com