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 3x6" or 81/2x11" circulars offering such things as: Rubber Stamps Name-address Labels Folios Magazine Samples Mailing Lists Envelopes Printed Stationary Business Directories Catalogue Samples Drop-ship Samples Printed Circulars Formulas Books Mail Order Plans Magazine Subscriptions Name Listing Services Pen Pal Clubs, etc, etc.

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

Commission circulars can be profitable for you, as a Big Mail Dealer, if you are very careful to select only those circulars which appear 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 are offering them on wholesale basis. (Safari boots, transistor radios, hunting knives, automatic can-openers, $15.95 necklaces are nice, and they 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 mails. Test a few hundred copies of each commission circular. If it evokes no interest, discontinue it. But if it produces and order or two,then include one in every piece of mail you send. When you have found a circular that "pulls,"try to have them printed with your name and address on them. (printed circulars will often pull FIVE times better than stamped ones.)

Don't mail poorly printed circulars. They tend to make your entire mailing look sloppy> You will also find that 6x9" and 8 1/2x11" circulars pull better than 3x6", although some 3x6's pull surprisingly well.

Once your ad appears ( starting COMMISSION CIRCULARS MAILED FREE) you will start receiving commission circulars. Test every circular that is given to you. Push the winners, discontinue the duds. You will eventually 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. But occasionally you will find circulars that you should not mail. They will get you in TROUBLE! * Adult Offers (pornography). Even if you do not object to this, some of the customers will...and some of your customers may be minors.

* "Stuff and Address Envelopes at Home..Send a $1.00 for your Starting Kit," These offers are illegal. People have been convicted in court for selling them. Beside, the plans are worthless.

* Chain letters--These are also illegal. Beware of any circular that says you will receive $20,000 in sixty days if you will mail a dollar and "follow the instructions, etc."

There is one more thing I would caution you about. There are about 40-50 standard folios that have been around the Mail Order Business for the last twenty years. They are EXCELLENT folios, well written, well printed, and the advice in them is absolutely valid. But it is a waste of time trying to sell them to mail order beginners. Most of them already know where to get them at wholesale prices! If you receive FREE commission circulars offering these folios, by all means, mail them. You may get an order or two. But if you are going to buy expensive circulars, be sure you are offering something NEW something which EVERY mail order dealer has not already seen at least one hundred times!