3D Mail Success in Real Estate

It seems a real estate agent out there, who's also a coach in the niche, found out about our products and used them with some great success. See a video by Jay Kinder right here. I guess I'll need to get him on the phone and work out something with his members!

Related or Unrelated Premiums?

Most people think their premium needs to be something they sell. This is a myth that needs to be addressed and debunked right now. In almost all instances, a premium unrelated to your product will outperform a premium that IS related to your business.

Here are a couple examples. For years in my main business I have sent out a free Big Key Calculator to responders to my mailing. I sell to independent retailers and I don’t sell calculators! Yes, they could use it in their store (or home, or wherever), but it is in no way related to what I want to offer them.

For years, Sports Illustrated gave away sneaker phones. This is in no way related to what Sports Illustrated offers, a weekly sports-news magazine. They simply matched the premium with their target demographic. They didn’t offer two month’s free of the magazine, or a free report about sports. IT’S A CHEAP, BARELY SERVICEABLE PHONE! It’s not a product they sell!

Have you ever received an offer from Omaha Steaks? They almost always offer a premium with a purchase, and it’s an unrelated product. I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want a free report on how a cow goes
from the pasture to my plate. However, a free meat thermometer might be just the ticket to make sure my steak is nice and rare!

You should know enough about your target niche to offer an appropriate premium. Some will obviously work better than others. If you’re selling a high end, high priced luxury car, a $25.00 gift card to Wal-Mart probably isn’t the right premium. However, a leather briefcase with a perceived value of $125.00 (your actually cost is probably less than the $25.00 you’d spend at Wal-Mart) could probably do the trick!

www.3dmailresults.com

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.

Tune into Your Clients Favorite Radio Station, WIIFM

We’ve been discussing the elements of crafting an irresistible offer for your clients. So far we’ve discussed what an irresistible offer is and how they must match your prospects or clients interests in terms of Geographic’s, demographics and psycho-graphics. To review, see my last blog entry here. Today we’ll start on the first of 8 tips for crafting your offer.

The biggest factor in crafting an offer is to set your radio dial to your clients favorite station, W.I.I.F.M. or “What’s In It For Me?”

It’s vitally important to remember that your clients are NOT interested in what you are selling. However, they ARE interested in the results of what you’re selling and what it does for them at a personal and emotional level.

You must ask yourself, are you selling the camera?

Or are you selling the memory?













(Yes, that’s really Venice. A picture my wife took from a gondola in the Grand Canal in July, 2007. It doesn’t even look real, does it!?!)

The easiest way to turn what you’re selling into what your clients want is to take your features and turn them into benefits. So if I’m selling my camera, I’m not selling the fact there’s 23 different settings for day, night, low-light, objects in motion, a car setting, train setting etc.

I’m selling that when you finally get to take that dream vacation to one of the world’s most beautiful cities, you can rest assured that you’re pictures will be so stunningly beautiful, that every time you look at them you’ll be transported back right to where that photo was taken, every time you look at it.

www.3dmailresults.com

Segment your List to Match your Offer

We are picking up our discussion on offers after a brief hiatus. To review where we’ve been, see my blog post from last week.

When you’re crafting an offer, you MUST take your target audience into consideration, but their demographics and their psychographics. We’ll start with the basic on demographics,

Demographics are characteristic that make-up your target audience. In Business-to-Consumer markets they include (but not limited to):
• Age
• Gender
• Occupation
• Income
• Martial status
• Children
• Rent/own home

And many others not listed here. You must consider each of the common characteristics of your market when crafting an irresistible offer.

For example, if you’re selling adjustable beds, and you’re offering a free video with testimonials, demonstrations etc your main demographic is more than likely people over a certain age. You’d probably want to offer the option of a DVD or VHS. Whether you drive them to a website is also a consideration. Driving them to a phone call may be a better option. Careful consideration must be given towards biases that exist in any list.

In business-to-business some common demographics include:
• Industry or SIC codes
• Job title
• Annual sales
• Number of employees
• Public or private
• And others

Whether working in the B2B or B2C environment careful consideration must be taken in examining the demographics of your list. Next week we’ll start with the first of 8 tips you can use to craft your next irresistible offer. See you then.

www.3dmailresults.com

The Hyper-Responsive List

Last week I left you off with how you can create your own hyper-responsive list with prospects drooling over what you've got to offer. This may seem too simply, but its drastically over-looked and under used by almost all marketers.

ITS YOUR OWN IN-HOUSE LIST!

Yes, that's right. Almost everybody misses the boat when using your own list. People who have previously raised their hands, ID'ed themselves as wanting what you sell, and even parting with their hard-earned dollars at some point.

I want to encourage you to use your own customer list, more often and more effectively. Most business people “miss the boat” by failing to maintain frequent contact with their customers. For one thing, it’s important to remember that someone who has purchased from you once, and been satisfied, is then predisposed to purchase from you again.

Second, you do have competition to be concerned about, so there is a need to stay on the top of your customer’s consciousness - after all, out of sight; out of mind. Third, frequently communicating with customers is an appreciated form of “extra mile service.”

Here are a few ideas for communicating with customers:

For Almost Any Business:

• A News-And-Idea Letter
• Seasonal Greetings
• Thank You Letters

For Retailers:

• New Product Letters
• Preferred Customer Sale Fliers

For Service Professionals:

• Reminder Notices of Service Dates
• Informative Booklets/Reports

The grand Pooh-Bah of staying in touch for any business is a monthly newsletter. I know, I know, you don't have time for it. Well, you either need to make time, or find someone that will do it for you.

I use Jim Palmer out of Philadelphia for a couple of my newsletters. For information on Done-For-You Newsletter program follow this link.

It’s been my experience that most businesses’ repeat sales can be doubled simply by making additional, more frequent contact and offers to established customers!

www.3DMailResults.com

Test And Grow Rich

I'm going to start a topic now for about 2 weeks that is CRITICAL to any successful marketing campaign, but is of utmost importance when it comes to 3D mail.

“Testing” is an ugly topic. Why? Because testing variables in advertising direct mail, phone scripts and sales presentations requires discipline, diligence and patience. To get it right, you can only test one variable at a time. This means that if you change a headline, you can’t change anything else. Plus you have to make sure all other variables remain the same, like the mailing day or a war breaking out that has everybody watching CNN day and night or the current economic crisis, or a hurricane hitting, or a... you get the idea.

Frankly, most business people will just not go through the “detailitis” required to test - which is why it’s a very good idea to model proven promotions. And in some cases where you’re only going to use something once or twice or you’re dealing with a very small number, it’s just not worth testing; instead, you take your best shot. But let’s assume you’re working on something you intend to use over and over and over again in some significant quantity, so that it’s worth real effort to fine-tune it.

Later in the week I'll discuss the different ways you can test your next 3D mailing. Until then.

www.3DMailResults.com

How To Increase The 3 R’s Of Good Salesmanship

Last week I started a discussion on increasing the 3 R's of sales; Retention, Referrals and repeat sales. I'm going to wrap it up below, plus 4 ways to implement them into your markeitng campaigns.

You cannot match all this competition blow for blow, dollar for dollar. The secret is to do things to stay on top of your customers’ consciousness. Being remembered and well-thought of is half the battle!

You’ve probably heard this adage: out of sight, out of mind. If you’re out of the customer’s mind at the moment he needs something you sell or at the moment a competing salesperson contacts him, you’ll lose out on repeat business from that customer.

Another old adage also applies. It is: what you take for granted, you lose. If your customer feels ignored or neglected and thinks your only interest is the dollars your earn from his orders, you’re likely to lose him to someone else.

Your objective, then, is to mount a planned campaign to let the customer know that you care about him, value the relationship and are eager to be of service.

Here are a few ideas for your campaign:
1. Organize your customers on a mailing list. Send mailings to those on the list at least six times a year. This contact program might include a Christmas card, mailings about new products and services, news about special offers and thank you notes for orders you have gotten. You can use letters, flyers, and postcards. The important thing is that the customer is periodically reminded that you are ready to be of service, and that you are eager to keep him posted on special opportunities.

2. In most businesses, you’ll sell more and increase your value to the customer by teaching proper, most effective usage of what you sell. Some salespeople collect new product use ideas and tips from their customers, put them together in tip-sheets and occasionally mail these out to all their customers. This kind of information can even form the basis for a newsletter that can be sent to customers several times a year.

3. Advertising specialties such as pens, calendars, scratch pads and items useful to your customers, imprinted with your name and identification information, frequently remind your customers to do business with you. Choose items appropriate for your customers and your business. Visual reminders are a good investment.

4. Develop special opportunities to contact clients. One salesman, for example, keeps a ticker file of his clients and their wedding anniversary dates. He calls each one a week a ahead of time to remind them of their anniversary. Special strategies like this can create tremendous goodwill and loyalty.

The salesperson who survives on the basis of one sale at a time is constantly in search of the next new customer. He cheats himself with his shortsightedness. Because of his lack of planning, he is constantly under pressure and stress.

Choose, instead, to build a reliable customer base that will provide you with repeat business and referrals. Like other professionals, your success depends on the relationships you establish and the reputation you build for yourself. If you do your job properly, you can build a business that will be rewarding...one that will provide a secure financial future for you and your family.

www.3dmailresults.com

How To Increase The 3 R’s Of Good Salesmanship

We're going to touch on the 3 R's of salesmanship here: Retention, referrals and repeat sales. Below is the start of my discussion. I'll pick it up early next week so be sure to come back and check it out.

Getting a new customer is a very small part of selling. One-shot sales, however, don’t help you to build a predictable, secure and growing business. It takes more than glib talk, a big smile, shined shoes and a few glowing promises to build customer loyalty and repeat business.

The key to a consistent income in selling is the development of clientele. The salesperson who carefully develops positive relationships with his customers builds a strong foundation for his future. When enough customers are firmly established, you can expect repeat business and an assured income that provides a firm foundation for your livelihood. That’s what professionals call a “customer base”.

The salesperson can go back to these customers with new products or services with the knowledge that they will get a favorable reception. It’s also likely that the positive attitudes that have been established will make it easier to get referrals.

The building of relationships with customers is the key to keeping them, getting repeat business from them, and acquiring referrals. It can be the difference between worrying about your next meal and having a reliable income base.

Why don’t salespeople make it a priority to build strong relationships with their clients? One reason is simple laziness. It takes time and effort. Consequently, many salespeople ignore this part of their job.

Another reason is competition. This competition takes many forms. It’s not only other salespeople selling similar products. It’s an enormous amount of competition from innumerable sources for your customer’s interest, attention and dollars.

www.3dmailresults.com

3 More Ways to Use 3D Mail

For the past couple weeks we've been counting down just 8 of the unique ways that 3D mail can be used in your marketing. Here are the final three.

Stimulate referrals
Remember when we talked about 3D mail having sticking power? Meaning that people who receive unique 3D mail usually show others the cool mailing they received. Before you know it, you’re getting leads and sales from people you never even sent the mailing to!

Another great way to stimulate referrals with 3D mailing is to your current clients. One that I really like is a small boomerang inside an envelope with the headline, “Most of Our Business Comes Back to Us From Great Customers like You.” You may want to consider offering a premium (free gift) for those clients who do refer new clients.

Get more business with current clients
There is one big problem all businesses face when trying to get more business from existing clients. Even though they (ought to) know you and trust you, it’s very hard to get their attention and get them to act, even though they’ve ordered from you in the past.

You need to use 3D mail that demands attention. It must cut the clutter and get though to the client. A bank bag, message-in-a-bottle, or small item stuffed in an envelope all invoke curiosity that will get your client’s attention. It gets them involved and interacting with the mailing. This gives you a much better opportunity to sell to them again.

Find qualified prospects at a trade show
Trade show attendees are often bombarded with pre and post show advertising. It comes from the show organizers themselves, your company, and your competitors. It can get downright overwhelming for some prospects.

This is a time when you have to be out-of-the-box, unique and be willing to stand out from the crowd. A simple, standard size postcard probably won’t cut it. Be daring and stand out.

For pre-show advertising, be creative. Use 3D mail to cut the clutter and give them a reason to stop by your booth, like a free gift or show specials. If you’re doing either, try to tie the promotion in with your 3D grabber.

For instance, if you’re doing a drawing for a free trip, try sending a small toy airplane with the headline, “We’ll send you anywhere in North America just for stopping by and saying ‘Hi.”

The puzzle piece mailer and treasure chest key discussed above is another great way to drive traffic to your booth for pre-show advertising.

For post-show advertising, it’s just as important to stand out. Again, you may want to tie in your promotion from the show. But most importantly, you want to remind that they had stopped by your booth, and now it’s time to get the sale.

We've wrapped up our segment on 8 ways to use 3D mail in your marketing. Starting next week we'll review some tips you can use today for your next 3D mailing.

See you then!

www.3DMailResults.com

Doesn't 3D Mail Cost More?

Sure, 3D Mail will normally cost more than a mailing that is not 3D, but not all of the time. But are you really interested in what the mailing costs or what your return on the mailing is verses the cost? If I need to convince you of that, you really should be interested in the results rather than just the cost (Your Return on Investment), you might as well go do something else right now.

In almost every instance, the results from 3D Mail are a better Return on Investment than the same mailing without the 3D item.

In addition, we highly recommend that you send laser targeted, clutter busting mailings, multiple times, rather than sending out more pieces of untargeted, non-3D mail. In this case, less truly is more

If you’re on a marketing budget (and who besides Nike, McDonald’s and Microsoft aren’t on a marketing budget), we’ve never seen a case in which multiple 3D mails to a smaller list hasn’t outperformed one boring, same-as-everybody-else mailing to a large list.

Later in the week we'll discuss how 3D mail can actually work like a premium (free gift) to boost your response, and more importantly, you're Return on Investment.

www.3Dmailresults.com

3D Mail Has Sticking Power

Let’s face it, most days; nothing different, nothing worth talking about happens either at work or at home. So a mailing that is different, innovative, and maybe a little humorous ends up being talked about. 3D Mail has sticking power. People show it to their spouse, neighbor, friend or coworker. And... Shhhhhh……………………….. Don’t Tell Anyone this Secret…Two or Three or Four is Lots Better Than One!

Those of us who produce conferences, boot camps, seminars, and conventions have a secret we don’t tell you.

Shhhhhhhhhh…. Sales go up when more people from one organization hear about your offer. That’s why when you get invited to a conference or seminar there is always a discount for the second person.

It happens all the time. When two people see an offer, one may decide to not to take advantage of it. But the other person sees the possibilities. So they start talking about all of the things they and you could do…. SALE!!!

The same thing happens with 3D Mail. The recipient shows it to their coworker, or spouse, or friend just to show them how cute it is and the other person starts talking about the actual offer and your sales increase.

Another Reason That Two or Three or Four is Lots Better Than One

But what if the recipient shows it to another person and they don’t talk about and brainstorm ideas. You know it’s not too bad to send out one mailing and have 2, 3 or 4 people read it.

Next post we'll discuss the idea that 3D Mail always costs more (it doesn't) and why cost is the last thing you should be looking at when starting your 3D Mail campaign.

www.3DMailResults.com

3D Mail in Business to Business Marketing

Why Does 3D Mail Work So Well In Business-to-Business Campaigns?

Again, direct mail professionals really don’t care why something works; we just want to know if it does. And, 3D Mail works incredibly well in Business-to-Business environments. With that said, 3D Mail works great in Business-to-Business campaigns because people are people and buyers are buyers.

Businesses don’t buy anything! People in businesses buy things! And, as we said, people like to be entertained. People like to be singled out. 3D Mail is different. It stands out and it creates curiosity. 3D Mail Simply Needs To Be Opened and Read.

It Cuts Through the Clutter

Because people are overwhelmed with amount of advertising and marketing they see today, it is absolutely imperative that you cut through the clutter and boredom and give your prospects or clients something interesting and out of the ordinary.

People are so overwhelmed, that they often spend 3.5 seconds or less with information they’ve requested! If you can’t keep your message in front of your prospect, you’re done. If you think that’s bad, some studies show that business recipients throw out 48% of their unsolicited mail without opening it!

Any message that isn’t opened can never be acted on! When an envelope shows up with something inside - 3D - your client or prospect MUST open it. They simply have to know what’s inside.

The huge majority of direct mail ends up in the “B” or “C” pile (see this post on A-Pile Mail) and then the trash. It lacks the power and ability to break though the clutter. It doesn’t offer a strong incentive to act, and it doesn’t have staying power. Your mailing must have an impact!

If a Stack Doesn’t Stack, It Can’t Be a Stack

Whether at home or at the office, we all get a stack of mail every day. One sure fire way to cut through the clutter is to make sure your mailing piece ends up on the top of the stack.

If your mailing is in a regular envelope it can end up anywhere in the stack. But what if your mailing piece is in a box? Or, what if your mail piece is in a mini-trash can? Or what if your mailing is in a real Vinyl Bank Bag? Or what if you mail a plastic ‘Message in a Bottle.’ Or what if you mailing is in an envelope with a bag of shredded money inside so if it gets put anywhere other than on the top of the stack the stack will fall over?

3D Mail has to be on the top of the stack or the stack will fall over! Neither the mail man, nor the mail room, nor the receptionist can stack a stack that doesn’t stack.

In my next post I'll explain to you how 3D mail can actually increase referrals and increase your average transaction size!

www.3DMailResults.com

It's Survey Time!

People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence.
- Jack Canfield

With that said, we want to know what you think. I've just posted our first 3D Mail Results Survey. And of course, I'll bribe you for your time. The survey will take about 3 minutes, and at the end you'll get your choice of five (5) different $10 gift certificates. They're good, too. You'll want them, your spouse will want them, somebody will want them, guaranteed.

Click Here to take survey and I'll make it worth your time.

3D Mail Results

Wild, Wild West

We're trying to get out the word to y'all that we can source just about anything you can think of to use in your 3D mail campaigns. Here's a great example of that.

I've been working with a client on his Wild West Themed boot camp he's putting on in June. If you've visited our website or thumbed through the guide yet, you'll see there's nothing that strictly relates to cowboys, or the wild west.

However, within a few hours, we were able to find about 12 different 3D mail items and 'knick-knacks' for him to give away at his boot camp such as sheriff badges, cowboy hat key chains, small 'cowboy and Indian' themed figurines, cowboy rubber duck (somebody can use this headline: "Get Your Ducks in a Row When You...")

I'll be sure to post some examples of these once we finalize the ones we're going to use for his 3D mail pieces, 'knick-knack' give-aways and bag stuffers.

As you can see, you're really only limited by your imagination with these.

Stupid easy, ethical S&D

I wanted to bring a great job of ethical S&D'ing from a client of ours. I spoke with Scott Seifferlein at the Super Conference about the now famous x-ray letter. Within a couple of hours once we returned from the Super Conference, he had done an excellent job of S&D'ing my original letter. We had his own x-ray letter created, printed and mailed off in just a few short days.

Here you can see my original letter. Here's Scott's letter. Along with his customized X-Ray. See how easy this is!

Here's some more information on the X-Ray letter you saw at the Super Conference.

Now, had I not given permission to Scott to use my letter, this may have been borderline unethical S&D. However, since I was working with Scott and he was getting the x-ray material through us, I of course gave him permission to do this.

If you're using our 3D mail products (or any 3D mail for that matter), put us on your list. We'd love to see what you're doing. And, if we like it and use it either on this blog or on our site, we'll give you a $50.00 credit towards your next 3D mail purchase with us (YES, I will shamelessly bribe you!).

For a great conversation on ethical S&D, read this months Outrageous Advertising article by Bill Glazer in the Dan Kennedy No B.S. Marketing Newsletter.

Don't have the newsletter?? Well, you should. It to, is Stupid Easy. Here's a free gift from Dan and Bill.