Advertising With Circulars Resale Rights Ebook

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DISTRIBUTE 81/2 X 11″ CIRCULARS

Co-op Mailing (short for co-operative) means that two or more businesses share in the cost and distribution of a direct mail campaign. It’s kind of like having you and another non-competing business split the cost of printing, assembling and mailing an advertising flyer to a shared (same) market base.

Co-op dealing is very beneficial (and usually safe) for everyone involved. One example of co-op dealing in mail order is to send your 8 1/2×11 camera- ready circular to a co-op printer and they’ll print your ad on one side, their ad on the back side and ship them back to you for a low cost of around $10 per 1,000. You get your printing almost free and the other dealer gets his or her flyers mailed on the back of yours free.

But what do you do with them when they are mailed back to you? If you’re new to mail order it’s doubtful you have a mailing list to distribute them to. Plus, postage costs alone would run you about $290.00 first-class. At this rate it would have been cheaper to send the camera-ready to a tabloid or adsheet publisher rather than by a co-op. But don’t despair.

Simply have the printer ship your copies to a co-op circular mailer instead of sending them to you. A couple good circular mailers we recommend are BMG Services, PO Box 429, Johnson KS 67855 (your cost is only 1c for 8 1/2×11 preprinted circular) or Thorn Gifts, 1807 Stillwater #5, St Paul MN 55119 (your cost is only 5c for each 8 1/2×11 pre-printed circular.) Why the difference in price? BMG mails by bulk rate and Thorn mails by first-class. Either method is effective and sure beats paying 29c each.

In addition, you benefit from the mailing list of the circular mailer. If this particular mailer sells a mailing list, having them do a 1,000 or 5,000 “test” mailing for you would be a way to test their names. You should get a few responses from a mailing of this size but it all depends on “what” you are offering and the “price” you are offering it for. It’s very difficult to sell any item for more than $50 on a 8 1/2×11″ circular. For items costing more than $50, you need to use the two-step approach. In other words, use the 8 1/2×11″ circular to generate inquiries and follow-up with the complete sales materials that constitute the higher price the customer may decide to pay.

Another idea is that you could contact a dealer with products and services not conflicting with your own and ask them to co-op mail for you. In this deal, you would pay for the 2-sided printing (with the mailer’s ad on back of yours) and he/she would mail them for you free of charge. It works!