Wednesday, May 9, 2012

12 Reasons to Market With Postcards

If your marketing activity doesn't include postcards, you're overlooking a highly effective and very low-cost sales tool. Here are 12 of the many reasons postcards should be part of your marketing program...

1. Postcards Work for Any Business

Postcards can produce all kinds of sales activity for all types of businesses. For example, they can produce web site traffic for online marketers, floor traffic for retail stores, sales leads for direct marketers ...and just about any other type of sales activity a business wants.

2. Designing Postcards is Simple and Uncomplicated

Designing an effective postcard is not complicated. It can be as simple as printing your best small ad on a 4 x 6 card and sending it to a list of potential prospects. Postcards usually work best when the message is brief and the postcard looks at first glance like a message from friend.

3. Printing Postcards is Easy and Inexpensive

You can print postcards with your own computer for about 1 or 2 cents each ...or have them printed professionally for about 4 to 8 cents each.

4. There's a Special Low Postage Rate for Postcards

You can send any quantity of postcards by First Class Mail in the US for only 23 cents each. The only requirement is that your postcards must be at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but no larger than 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

5. Postcards Nearly Always Get Read

Because postcards are delivered "ready to read", almost everybody will read it - even people who usually throw out other types of direct mail without opening it.

6. Postcards Produce Fast Results

Because postcards are simple and easy to use - they produce results fast. You can mail postcards within a few days of deciding to use them ...and you'll start getting sales activity 2 or 3 days later

7. Postcards are effective for Generating Web site Traffic

One of the most effective postcard formats simply lists a few benefits of a product or service on the card and tells the reader to where they can get more information. This makes them ideal for generating traffic to a web site.

8. Postcard Multiply Themselves

Postcards are like small billboards - and they are easy to handle. They often get saved by recipients or passed on to others ...providing additional exposure of your advertising message.

9. Markets Can Be Precisely Targeted With Postcards

You can accurately target your best markets by sending postcards only to mailing lists of prospects likely to be interested in what you're offering ...and who also have a history of acting on offers that interest them.

10. Postcard Marketing Results Are Easy To Measure

Postcards normally generate over 90 percent of their total response within 7 to 10 days. This enables you to quickly and accurately evaluate the results of a postcard campaign.

11. Postcards Put You in Control of Your Sales Activity

You can quickly boost (or reduce) your sales activity anytime you want by simply regulating the number of postcards you mail and how often you mail them.

12. Postcards Conceal Your Marketing from Competitors

Most advertising uses mass media where your competitors hear or see what you are doing - and copy it. Postcard marketing is personal. Only you and your prospects are aware of what you are doing.

Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modern marketing. They're highly effective, very low-cost, simple to use ...and they work for any business. You're overlooking a profitable marketing tool if don't use them.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Creating Product Price Based On Production Expenses

Knowing just about all expenses related to production an item can help you figure out how in order to cost an item successfully. Therefore let us review all of them.

1. Prototype: Prior to production or even generating your own item, you'll need the prototype and/or exactly what these people phone CAD (computer-aided style) or even mechanised sketches in order to publish towards the manufacturing plant. In case your item is rather easy, a person might be able to produce a prototype by yourself, however in the event that this entails architectural, it is best to make use of a item custom or even item creator. The greater comprehensive you're together with your demonstration, the simpler the procedure will end up whenever operating the actual manufacturing plant, particularly if it is abroad.

2. Moulding or even Tooling Price: In case your item entails what is known as the mildew, you'll have to spend individual molding or even tooling price. Following a item was created, the mildew is made of steel as well as precision-machined to create the actual options that come with the required component. Then your materials is actually pressured to the mildew hole exactly where this cools as well as hardens towards the settings from the hole. This particular production procedure is called shot moulding. Based on your own item, it might require several moulds and may price as much as 1000s of dollars.

3. Item Device Price: The system price is actually such a factory/manufacturer will give you for you with regard to generating your own item.

In case your item features a container or even product packaging, you'll have to give you the art work towards the manufacturing plant. The majority of industrial facilities includes product packaging price whenever quoting the system price. Unless of course it is a customized pass away collection, the actual manufacturing plant will frequently provide you with the pass away collection depending on your own preferred standards. The pass away collection is really a theme that the image custom uses to produce the actual art work for the container. Remember that you might have to pay for extra product packaging costs to some product packaging professional or even image custom (when they can handle making pass away outlines) if you want a far more customized pass away collection, after which obviously the price with regard to personalisation (trademarks as well as logo design remedies) as well as creating as well as generating the actual product packaging art work.

4. Transport (FOB Consolidator) Price: The majority of estimates will even consist of transport price (FOB consolidator), that is the price to move your own products in the manufacturing plant for your consolidator or even shipping forwarder. However with regard to this short article, I am such as this particular like a individual collection product.

5. Examination or even QC (High quality Manage): This particular price can also be generally included in the system price. High quality manage stresses screening associated with items to discover flaws after which a choice must designed to permit or even refuse item discharge. Examination or even QC is generally carried out through a real estate agent or even impartial merchant. Ensure that the actual manufacturing plant tools these types of methods as well as fulfills your own requirements.

6. Screening & Conformity: Screening is really a individual price that you should expect you'll incur. The majority of item groups possess particular needs enforced through the Customer Item Security Fee (CPSC), a completely independent company associated with American federal government which adjusts the actual purchase as well as produce associated with customer items. To discover exactly what guidelines can be applied for your item, go to their own web site from.
Producers associated with kid's items, for example, should approve that every item conforms along with just about all relevant kid's item security guidelines having a created certification which implies that the merchandise handed just about all check outcomes from the necessary 3rd party screening in a CPSC recognized lab. Which means you should spend a 3rd party screening lab for each accreditation.

7. Responsibility prices & Additional costs: Based on your own product, you might have to cover responsibility. To discover in case your item offers responsibility and it is particular price, searching the actual Ough. Utes. Traditions & Edge Safety web site, (www.cbp.gov). The actual Ough. Utes. Worldwide Industry Fee includes a contract price data source which will ensure you get a good approx . concept of the job price for any specific item. You may also obtain assistance through phoning the nearby interface from the agent along with who a person function. Additionally, brand new businesses along with very first deliveries tend to be looked over as well as enforced the charge. Arbitrary home inspections will also be created like a protecting calculate through the homeland protection that the producer needs to spend.

8. Broker agent Charge: This can be a individual charge that you need to spend for your agent with regard to dealing with delivery of the products. The majority of agent costs includes household transport, that is delivery in the interface exactly where your own products had been fallen away for your last location for example your personal stockroom or even a 3rd party stockroom.

9. Warehousing/Third Celebration Stockroom: Without having your personal stockroom, you'll have to shop your own delivery someplace, therefore the majority of companies purchase a 3rd party stockroom in order to shop, deliver or even satisfy client purchases. 3rd party expenses may accumulate. They'll ask you for storage space charge for every pallet, as well as, they'll ask you for what is known as a good "in as well as out" cost, the industry charge these people enforce each time these people contact your own products. There's also miscellaneous costs for example marking costs, therefore be sure you know about almost all their costs whenever you use all of them.

Ideally thus giving a person a concept associated with what kinds of expenses tend to be related to production an item. Following, I'll supply info as well as good examples how you can cost an item as well as determine margins.

Knowing margins is crucial since it is actually exactly what hard disks the actual prices procedure whenever getting items to promote the retail business.