My Best Pulling Ad

How you can use it to increase your inquiries

What's a "Best Puller"? The old adage about "What pulls for me doesn't necessarily pull for you" might be partially true BUT I believe that my ad, plus the many possible variations of it can adapt to your situation, WILL bring your inquiries in greater quantity plus a better quality than what other ads pull. For me, It's the best puller I've ever had for an inner circle type mailorder operation. I still use this ad to PULL me inquiries ... in fact, I use it often to test the pulling power of a publication... if this ad doesn't pull, I know it either didn't get out OR was mailed to the wrong type of prospects.

My best ad doesn't concern "Big Mails" or "Fantastic Sales Opportunities" or "MLM" for that matter. In fact it doesn't mention sales or money.

My best ad is:

"Free Mailing List. Yours for a LSASE."

followed with my name and address. This ad has always pulled for me in a well circulated mailorder type of publication. I've used variations of the ad. One was to offer "2 Free Mailing Lists" instead of the one... it actually pulls not as good. Another was to offer it Free for the asking without any comment about the LSASE ...it pulls about the same as the one asking for a Stamp or LSASE . Other variations have been used such as offering the Free Mailing List along with an Opportunity Mail, etc. As long as the ad started with the words "free Mailing List" and followed a conservative approach ... the ad has pulled OK.

What Should I Send To People That Inquire? What I usually send is a single page listing of current mailorder customers, neatly typed, and photo-copied or printed so that all the names are in easy to use form. You see the "secret" of a Big Mails Wanted listing is to have a number of names in standard form and "Easy To Use." By this, I mean that all of your customer has to do is cut them out and paste or tape on envelopes to mail. Depending on typeface used, you should be able to get 30 to 50 names on your list.

If you don't have a list of current names to fill a page, write: Pete Skeberdis, Box 27, Fremont, MI 49412 sending a LSASE and asking for their Free Mailing List. This is one you can use and reprint your hearts content.

In addition to your Free Mailing List, you should send your other literature. About 4 1/2 pages of standard weight paper can be mailed in a #10 (Long Sized) envelope and still be mailed for the one ounce rate. It's a waste of postage not to fill the envelopes with literature while making sure NOT to send postage due (a turnoff to most prospective customers). Sending only one offer in an envelope might be the way to go with a detailed MLM prospectus, if only from keeping your prospect from being confused BUT, it's a waste otherwise. Maybe you MIGHT get some extra interest with one page but usually not worth the extra postage cost. I look at it as 4 1/2 Salespeople are better than one!

Now that you have more inquiries, what do you mean about "better quality" inquiries?

OK, your Best customers for mailorder type offers will be the ones (people NEW to mailorder). They are the active ones that seem to be buying things from everywhere. The established dealers have seen it all before and, while interested in NEW things, are not interested in the very same offers that have been mailed to them 100's of times before. If any interest was there, it was purchased long ago.

Well, The Free Mailing List has appeal to those that are New to mailorder and haven't had the time to build up their own "In House" mailing list as yet. Most of the people responding to this type of ad should be fairly recent mailorder people.. And, as noted earlier, these are the people that BUY! Also, anyone responding to such an offer should be added to YOUR mailing list. Once the ice is broken, and you have treated the prospective customer fairly, they should be prospects for your offers. Some say that a sale is made only after 3 contacts (Mailings)... others say as many as five contacts to make a sale. In any case, these prospects now KNOW WHO YOU ARE and it's now up to you to make the eventual sales.

Many dealers fail to follow up properly. They let their prospects slip between their fingers and go to other dealers to buy their products form. If they don't know that you sell a [product or service they can't and won't order from you. So very many dealers NEVER follow up on their inquiries. Their loss can be your gain.

While we're at it, I'll tell you the "secret" of mailorder. The only things that mailorder dealers will really buy are items to resell or things will not make it. What are the items? It should be fairly easy to sit down and figure out... if not, there are some good reports out there by other dealers that list them in great detail. A good investment, if you need the extra help.

Again, so many ones seem to think that all they have to do is to place a poorly worded 1" ad in one mailorder publication and then the whole mailorder world will send them thousands of dollars for anything that they might care to offer. Well, my friend, it just isn't so. Money IS to be made in mailorder, but through the fast buck rip-off type of operation. In my business, it's the repeat business of satisfied customers that keeps me going. Without repeat business, I would be out of business.

My personal guess is that 99% of those out there in mailorder and have NEVER made a nickel in mailorder after expenses and never will. Mailorder is a business and should be conducted in a businesslike way.. Those that fail to follow a simple business principles won't make it. Enough of my "lecture trip"... Let's go out there and get those inquiries and then follow them up with sales literature until they're ready to buy the products and services we sell.