Do you enjoy reading the small mail order dealer magazines? Do you enjoy ordering and and receiving Big Mails? Do you enjoy working with new mail order dealers and opportunity seekers? If your answer is "Yes" to all of these questions, then consider just how profitable and pleasurable it could be for you to start a Big Mail service.

In the pages that follow you will find out how to set up a Big Mail Service. This report will show you how to advertise your service and how to use the Big Mails that you receive in your own mail each day to your personal advantage. You'll discover the proper use of commission circulars -- how to get a lot of them free, and how to
keep track of their success. This report will also discuss co-publishing and circular mailing. You'll learn how to get people to pay you cash to mail their circulars for them! You'll also learn a simple trick that will get you a lot of free advertising, as well as how
to get a free mailing list that will create a fantastic new customer database for you. Ifyou are willing to put in a little work on the road to success, Big Mails can help you to achieve your dreams.

One word of caution, however. Big Mail selling looks and sounds easy -- It is not! Selling Big Mails is a lot of work -- hard work. And it is not a way to get rich quick! Nothing ever is. You will probably not make any money at all for at least a few months. In fact, in the beginning you will have to invest more than you take in. If you are willing to invest a little of your money and a lot of your time then you can gain valuable experience selling Big Mails, and this will help you to build a base for your future success. You will gain experience that you can get nowhere else in the whole world. If you are alert, creative, and ambitious you can eventually turn your mail order business into a very lucrative enterprise.

GETTING STARTED

Sit down with the latest issue of any of the mail order tabloids, newspapers, or magazines you regularly receive and order at least twelve Big Mails. After that, get into the habit of ordering at least one Big Mail every day! Devote a portion of each day studying them. And I do mean study! Feed your mind and your imagination with all
kinds of ideas. The mail order business is built upon creative and imaginative concepts. The more you feed your imagination, the more it will do for you!

Set up a personal notebook. You can set your personal notebook up any way you like, but most have found that a loose-leaf notebook into which they can scotch-tape the ads, circulars, etc. works best. Many a successful dealer have divided their notebooks into four sections:

* Commission Circular Sources
* Sources of Low-cost Printing
* Prospective Mailing Customers
* New ideas

Read and re-read every circular and mail order magazine that you can get your hands on. Save any ideas that appeal to you! Also, save the circulars that other dealers have been paid to mail. (You'll understand why later on.) Start ordering small supplies of commission circulars that look attractive to you. Never try to sell anything
merely because it pays a big commission. When you are satisfied that you really want to start selling Big Mails, there are two very practical tasks to accomplish. (1) Order a rubber stamp embossed with your name and address. Be sure it is small enough to use on commission circulars. (2) Open a personal checking account. Open it in your
own name. When you begin advertising, use your own name. If you do, there will be no problem when you go to the bank to deposit checks that your customers will send you.

Next, place an ad in at least six mail order magazines or ad-sheets. In the beginning you will have to use publications that will typeset your copy for you, since you do not yet have camera ready ads. Your ad should read something like this:

BIG MAIL - $1.00 Commission circulars
mailed free. Mega-Mail, Box 1000, Anytown, USA

A simple ad like this will pull better than one with too many words. You probably already know which magazines or ad-sheets in which you want to advertise. That's fine! But it is also suggested that you start off by advertising in at least one or two well-known publications. They appear regularly every month, on time, and almost everyone interested in mail order reads them! (A list of mail order publishers [#3709]
is available from the dealer who sold you this report.)

A number of these publications are co-publishable, and as such the publishers of each will send you fifty to one hundred copies to include in your Big Mails. Your name will appear on your copies as the co-publisher. You will keep around 50% as your commission on any ads or subscriptions you sell. If you are faithful in mailing your copies, you can often make enough profit to pay for all of your ads! In this way, your
advertising actually cost you nothing.

Each and every advertiser in a co-publishable periodical is also mailing copies of the material to his customers or mailing list, and every last copy mailed has your ad in it. Also, the printer is mailing a copy to every person on his subscription list. Thus, usually within ten days after your ad appears in print you will start receiving letters with dollar bills in them asking for your Big Mail. Some advertisers, for one reason or another, are quite slow in mailing their copies, but this can work to your advantage. You will often get orders two or three months after your ad appears!

COMMISSION CIRCULARS

Long before you start receiving orders for your Big Mail, you should have acquired a starting supply of commission circulars. You will want to include them in every one of your Big Mails. Commission circulars are usually 8 1/2" X 11" circulars offering such things as:

Rubber Stamps Name
Address Labels
Folios Multi-Level Programs
Magazine Samples Mailing Lists
Imprinted Envelopes Printed Stationary
Business Directories Catalog Samples
Drop-ship Samples Printed Circulars
Recipes Books
Mail Order Plans Magazine Subscriptions
Name Listing Services Pen Pal Clubs

Wholesale firms supply commission circulars to mail order dealers, usually at cost. The dealer stamps his name in the blank space after "Order From" and mails the circular to prospective customers. When he receives orders (and he will if he mails them regularly), he keeps his commission, usually about 50%. He then sends the balance, shipping labels, and proper postage to the wholesaler who drop-ships the order directly to the customer under the dealer's label.

Commission circulars can be profitable for you as a Big Mail Dealer if you are very careful to select only those circulars which appeal to mail order beginners. You will soon learn that gift items and general merchandise rarely appeal to people who are ordering Big Mails unless you offer them on a wholesale basis. Items such as boots,
radios, compact disc and and cassette players, hunting knives, automobile stereo systems, gold necklaces, and the like are nice and can be sold by mail, but not to mail order beginners!

If you work at it, you can make a lot of extra money by including good commission circulars in your mailings. Test a few hundred copies of each commission circular. If it evokes no interest or response, discontinue it. If it produces an order or two, however, then include one in every piece of mail you send. When you have found a circular
that pulls orders well, have them imprinted with your name and address on the order blank. This is easy enough, and most distributors will be happy to send you a camera ready copy from which your local quick printer can make a new master circular bearing your return address. Because they appear more professional, printed circulars will pull
much better than stamped ones.

Don't mail poorly printed circulars. They will only detract from the overall appeal of your entire mailing, creating a negative first impression. You will also find that full-page circulars pull better than half-page circulars. Remember to have your circulars printed both front and back. Not only does this give you twice the advertising in the same amount of space, but it will not add to the total cost of the print job.

Once your ad offering free commission circular mailings appears, you will start receiving free commission circulars from dealers throughout the country. Test every circular that is given to you. Push the winners and discontinue the duds. Eventually you will develop a list of real money-makers to include in your Big Mails.

Most of the suppliers of commission circulars are honest people. They offer items of real worth. Occasionally, however, you will find circulars that you should not mail. They can and will get you in trouble.

o Adult Offers (pornography). Even if you do not object to this, some of your customers will. Also, some of your customers may be minors.

o Stuff and Address Envelopes at Home Offers. Most of these offers are illegal. People have been convicted in court for selling them and the plans are worthless.

o Chain Letters - These may also be illegal. Beware of any circular that says you will receive a fantastic amount of money within sixty days if you will mail a dollar and "follow instructions, etc."

FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

As a Big Mail; dealer, you will be selling many things. In order to fill each order promptly and accurately, it is suggested that you begin another loose-leaf notebook. Divide it into three sections:

Commission Circular Information
Co-Publishing Information
Advertising Schedule

Commission Circular Information -- Every time you receive a new supply of commission circulars, sit down and examine them. Sometimes you will receive two or three varieties in one envelope. Tape one sample of each circular in your notebook. Underneath the sample write:

* Name and Address of the Drop-shipper
* Amount to forward to the Drop-shipper
* How to obtain additional circulars or camera-ready copies.

Co-Publishing Information -- Most publishers of mail order magazines will send you a Fact Sheet. If they do, simply tape the sheet in your notebook. If not, record these facts yourself:

* Name and address of the printer
* Percentage to forward on new advertising, subscriptions, etc.

Advertising Schedule -- To keep your ads running continuously, you will have to keep track of closing dates (last date on which a publisher will accept advertising for his next issue) of every publication in which you advertise. Use this simple method for maintaining an accurate list:

Take a page of common notebook paper. At the top of the page write the name of the month. Next, number down the page from one to thirty-one, using one line for each day of the month. If the closing date for a particular publication is the 15th of the month, you will want to mail your ad on the 5th to make sure it arrives in time. So, next to number 5 write down an abbreviate form of the publication title such as M Pub. Do the same for every publication in which you advertise. If you will check this sheet religiously every day you will never forget a closing date. Before you mail your ad each month, turn to the page for the following month and make a notation of that month's
closing date. If you will use this system, or your own variation, you will remember every deadline, whether you are advertising in five magazines or five hundred!

CIRCULAR MAILING

Once your Big Mail ads are appearing regularly, you will begin to receive orders for the products. As soon as you are averaging five a day, you can advertise yourself as a Circular Mailer. It's easy to get started. Each time you renew your Big Mail Ad, send in another ad like the one below. Remember, as a co-publisher your ads cost you half the advertised price!

FANTASTIC MAILINGS
Your Full Page Circulars Mailed
250 - $ 4.00
500 - $ 8.00
1000 - $12.00
Your Name and Address

These prices are given only as examples. Postal rates and other costs change and you should check the ads of currently running Circular Mailers and charge equal rates. Cut rate prices will not get you more orders.

A circular mailing ad will almost always pay for itself immediately. However, while, many dealers have tried to run combination Big Mail and Circular Mailing ads, they do not work half as well as two separate ads. As soon as you receive a circular mailing order, send your customer a sample mailing. Be sure it is neat and includes the latest issues of several mail order magazines. Then include one of his circulars
in every Big Mail package you send out until you have mailed all of his pieces. If you do not received any more circulars to mail within a short period of time, send him a friendly thank-you note and let him know that you have finished mailing his circulars. Tell him you hope he receives some orders from your mailing. Include some new circulars from new advertisers and a new magazine. If he has any more circulars to mail he will very likely send them to you! Remember, circular mailing depends on repeat customers. Never exaggerate your mailing capacity, either in personal letters or in ads. If you do your best to get orders for your customers, they will continue coming back for more!

HOW TO GET FREE ADS [related book]

There are many mail order magazine and ad sheet editors who will print your ads free if you will mail 100 to 200 copies of their publication. Here is a very effective way to get them to run your ads:

Have the following ad typeset at your local quick printer or by computer
with a laser printer. If you can have the headline set with reverse
type, all the better.

PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS

If you will print any of these ads in your publication, I will mail
100 copies for you FREE! 200 free with co-publishing rights! All
of these ads are camera-ready for your convenience.

Then, use rubber-cement to paste copies of all your different ads on the sheet. If your ads have been printed on colored poster paper, bleach them before you paste them up. Pour a little liquid bleach over them, until the color disappears. Rinse them in water, and dry them on a piece of flat cardboard.

Once your circular is pasted up (camera-ready) take it to your local printer and have 500 to 1000 copies printed on white paper. Enclose one of these circulars in every mailing. You'll be amazed at the results!

WHERE TO GET GOOD MAILING LISTS FREE! [related book]

If you advertise regularly you will get a lot of response to your ads. However, if you will do a little specialized direct mailing you can double your business almost immediately. Here's how. Imagine that you have just received from the printer your mailing copies of one of the magazines you regularly include in your Big Mails - call it Mail Order Bonanza. As you look at your shelf, you discover that you still have ten copies of last month's issue left to mail. Sit down and make up ten specialized mailings. In each mailing, enclosed:

One copy of last month's Mail Order Bonanza
One copy of each circular you have been paid to mail
One copy of your new circular offering free mailing for free advertising

To whom do you you mail them? Compile your mailing list from the Big Mails you have been ordering every day! Mail them to:

* CIRCULAR MAILING PROSPECTS -- Each time you receive a Big Mail, examine all the circulars. Who has paid the dealer to mail circulars for them? If they have paid him, they will also pay you if you will take time to send them a sample mailing. These are the people who are hot prospects for your services. Don't pass up the opportunity to add them to your list of clients.

* NEW AD-SHEETS AND MAIL ORDER MAGAZINES -- Whenever you see the announcement of a new publication, send a sample mailing and be sure to enclose your Free Mailing for Free Advertising circular. You'll get numerous free ads if you work at it!

* NEW MAIL ORDER ADVERTISERS -- Save the names of new advertisers in the mail order magazines or ad-sheets. You'll be amazed at how responsive they will be to your mailings! Every time you receive new mailing copies, send out the remaining copies of last month's issues to the categories listed above. Your mail order business
will grow faster than you ever dreamed it could. You'll be surprised at the new business you will be able to generate using this method.

WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?

No one can answer this question but you! You alone have the answer. If you are ambitious, willing to use your imagination, and willing to experiment with new ideas, then the sky is the limit! Don't let anyone tell you that Big Mail Selling and Circular Mailing is only for beginners. There are successful mail order dealers who have been
selling Big Mails and mailing circulars for twenty-five years! If you really love it, don't ever give it up!

The direction your mail order business takes is entirely up to you. Keep your ads running and expand your business by constantly adding new publications to your advertising list. Keep your eyes and your ears open. Saturate yourself with fresh, new, and imaginative ideas. Mail order is an exciting business. Hopefully you'll love it all
the more ten years from now as your success grows. Mail Order can be far more than just a money-making business, it can become a satisfying way of life. Best wishes for success!