Paul Galloway
Paul Galloway is one of the most influential software developers on the Internet and an Internet marketing technology consultant. He is the author of the Synergyx affiliate management system, which was hailed by e-marketing guru Dr. Ralph Wilson as the best of the breed. His short primer here on Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) will open you up to one of the most important marketing re- sources on the planet. He has also written two books, Selling on the Weband Online Business Resources (both published by Made E-Z Products in 2001), and cites his proudest business accomplishment being the “integration of aMember, Synergyx, TAFPro, and Lyris into a comprehensive membership, subscription, and partner system strike”—any software programmers out there will know that this is no small feat!
You can contact Paul at his web site at www.PaulGalloway.com.
S
tandard Rate and Data Service (SRDS; www.SRDS.com) publications are “must use” resources for the direct re- sponse marketer; they are the source for advertising media data, and all the professional advertising agencies subscribe to their service. A subscription to one of their publications can be several hundred dollars (depending on which publication you subscribe to), but they can also be found at most large public libraries. You may also be able to get an acquaintance in an advertising firm to give you their old copy when they get their new one (new issues come out several times a year). The SRDS publications of most interest are:Consumer Magazines Advertising Source contains listings for more than 3,000 consumer magazines and card decks, includ- ing over 300 international magazines.
Business Publications Advertising Source has listings for more than 8,500 business publications, including over 1,200 interna- tional publications.
For each magazine or publication listed in the above two resources, you are given the following information:
Publisher’s Editorial Profile Classified Mail
Personnel Order/Specialty Rates
Representatives/Branch Offices Split-Run
Commission and Cash Discount Special Issue Rates and Data General Rate Policy Geographic and/or
Black/White Rates Demographic Editions
Color Rates Contract and Copy Regulations
Covers General Requirements
Inserts Issue and Closing Dates
Bleed Special Services
Special Position Circulation
Direct Marketing List Source, the bible of mailing lists, is im- mense, containing over 19,000 listings in 212 categories—in- cluding co-ops and package insert programs! I highly recommend that you go to your library and just spend a few hours going through the pages of this fantastic resource. It’s an excellent idea generator for your own marketing.
See how many lists there are related to your product/ser- vice. Perhaps you can adapt your product for national sales and distribution through the mail! You’ll be surprised by the number of ideas you get just by going through this gem—plan on investing a minimum of two hours just looking through the various listings.
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For each list, you are given the following information:
Personnel Description
List Source Commission, Credit Policy Method of Addressing Delivery Schedule
Restrictions Fields of Specialization Selections Available Fees and Deposits Mail Services Test Arrangement
Letter Shop Services Quantity and Rental Rates
The SRDS also has a publication titled Newspapers Advertis- ing Source, which contains more than 3,200 listings of newspa- pers. Each listing includes the following information:
Newspaper buying reference material.
Market data by census region and by state, including population, households, effective buying income (EBI), and retail sales.
Standard advertising unit (SAU) definitions.
Newspaper representatives section, including newspaper groups and rep firms.
National newspaper listings.
Daily newspapers by state.
National newspaper classified rates and data.
Daily newspaper classified rates and data by state.
International newspapers.
Newspaper comics and newspaper-distributed magazines.
Weeklies and specialized newspapers.
College and university newspapers.
Black newspapers.
When you are ready to take SRDS to the next level, I highly recommend you read Gary Halbert’s Boron Letters (available at his web site, listed earlier in this chapter) where he outlines some extremely useful methods for extracting money from these lists.
Mad Scientists Using The Great Formula
Former NASA Scientist Flies a Second Glass to the Moon
Harry “Hank” Johnson
Harry “Hank” Johnson is a former NASA scientist and the winner of the 1998 Body for Life Challenge, beating over 220,000 entrants to become crowned the Grand Champion. In 1999, Harry began selling the fitness program that he used to win the contest. He has since de- veloped his own protein powder, Hank’s Finest, and started selling Bastille Beauty Products in December 2004. Harry has helped hun- dreds of people get into the best shape of their lives and, because of his expertise in health and fitness, was invited to write a monthly column for Muscle Mediamagazine in which he answers people’s fitness and health-related questions. He is proud to know that he can “make a great living selling my information and products and, at the same time, help others improve their lives.”
Harry enjoys surfing, flying (pilot), exercising, and traveling. He lives with his wife of six years and son, Christian, who is now 17 months.
If you would like to learn more about Harry’s work, visit his web site at www.healthfitnesschannel.com.
I
n 1998 I won the EAS Body for Life Challenge. I was 38 years old. After I won, many people contacted me asking for help on how they, too, could change their bodies. After the umpteenth time that someone asked me to help them get in shape, I realized I had found a Thirsty Crowd.So, I wrote down everything I knew about getting into great shape. It took me two years to gather it together, and an- other seven years to refine it to where it is today.
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I knew right away, even before I began selling it, that I needed to find something else to package it with. I couldn’t sell customers my program again because once they learned how to get in shape I couldn’t resell them that information.
Sure, I could offer personal consulting (and this may be a very viable option for you), but I was still working for NASA and my schedule would not allow it.
So I started thinking. I thought back to when I was first getting in shape and asked myself, “When I was out of shape and overweight, what would have made it easier for me to get in shape?” So I thought about what I needed to do to help me get in shape. I knew that eating healthy, regularly spaced meals throughout the day was important. And I knew that I didn’t have a lot of time to be cooking five or six meals per day. I knew that I wouldn’t want to carry around this food wherever I went. And I knew that I would crave something sweet a couple of times a day. Then it hit me! I was already re- placing some of my meals with a meal-replacement powder, but I didn’t like its taste. I would create one that was great- tasting! Eureka!
So now I had the initial offer of my fitness program, and I followed it up with a Second Glass consisting of a protein powder that could be blended to make an inexpensive, great- tasting, convenient, and good-for-you meal replacement shake. And it took me only 8 years and 198 different tries.
Actually, I could have come up with this Second Glass a lot sooner, but I would have violated one of the underlying principles of The Irresistible Offer—to have a High ROI Offer. I could have slapped together a protein powder without regard to taste or composition of ingredients. But doing so would have been very shortsighted. And, by making sure I had a great product first, I fulfilled another underlying principle of The Irresistible Offer. Because I created a product that met or even exceeded the expectations of my customers (taste), I was able to make it a no-brainer for word-of-mouth advertising to happen almost automatically.
Mad Scientists Using The Great Formula
The important lesson for you to learn is that you need to spend the time to make a quality product if you want more than just a quick buck. When you do, you can create a truly impactful and truthful touchstone. Then, when your product truly does meet or exceed your customers’ expectations, everything else will almost automatically fall into place. You’ll have repeat business from existing customers, and they’ll spread the good word about your product like evangelists.
Create the great steak first, and then you can sizzle it to your heart’s content.
Here’s exactly how I did it:
First, I spent the time creating the great “steak.” Then, since I knew that all I needed to do was get people to try my product and they’d be hooked, I offered to send them a free sample.
Think about how powerful this can be for exploding your sales (especially if your product lives up to your claims).
Your offer tells customers why your product is compelling (in my case my offer promoted my protein powder as the best- tasting protein powder in the world), and they don’t have to risk even one penny in order to try it and see whether your claim is, in fact, true.
Remember that people are extremely skeptical about sales claims today. They’re always asking themselves, “What’s the catch?” So I made it as easy as possible for them to receive my sample so there couldn’t possibly be any catch to it. I told them they could receive a free sample simply by filling out a form at my web site with their name and address, or call an 800 number recording and leave their name and address there. Notice that I subtly made them aware that there would be no human involvement in this transaction whatsoever. This overcame their skeptical barriers because they realized they wouldn’t have to speak with anyone and potentially be sub- jected to a sales pitch.
Since I started offering this free sample, 67 percent of the people who visit my web site ask for a free sample. And 27
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percent of those who receive a free sample then make a pur- chase. I offer those who do buy it a reduced price if they agree to receive it on a monthly basis. This has created an almost self-perpetuating increase in sales for me.
Concentrate on creating a good first impression with your product, and even if you don’t have a way of selling them that product again (like my program), you can probably come up with another related product (like my protein powder), and your current customers will be much more likely to buy this Second Glass from you because you overdelivered on your First Glass to them.
Mad Scientists Using The Great Formula