Postcard Marketing--How To Successfully Combine Traditional Marketing With Internet Marketing

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a list of leads that I had purchased and I got to work on the phones. Have you ever done that? You talk to people that are happy to hear from you, right? Yea…..don’t we all wish.

Time after time, “How’d you get my name?” “I’m not interested!” “I told the last 3 people to take me off your list!”…and so on and so forth.

Yikes. Here I was trying to do one of the most innocent and noble things a man can do, provide for his family. To do this I chose an avenue that would allow me to help others have the same freedom I sought. I didn’t call people cold. I was calling people who asked for the information. In time, if you persist, you learn to brush those ones off. Nevertheless, when you reach out to genuinely try to help someone and they lash out at you, it hurts.

Most new people in the industry will not survive that rejection very long. But that’s the way we do it right? There isn’t a better way, is there?

I used to think that, and then someone told me about postcards. I heard that they generate a HUGE response...…20-30%. People calling YOU. I had to try it. Sure enough, it worked. A couple days after I mailed the post cards, call after call after call after call would come in. People calling me. I was hooked. Never again would I HAVE to call a list of leads and get people screaming at me for calling them.

So just what is it about postcard marketing that is so powerful? Well, I’d say it’s a combination of having prospects hunt YOU down and having prospects then get introduced to your business via duplicatable online systems. The moment you realize you have married these two together, you will lie down at night feeling you like have just found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

How would that make you feel? How would you sleep at night if you KNEW that multiple people would be calling you every day hungry to learn about your business? Would you sleep at all? I sure didn’t when this first happened to me.

Okay, just what do you need to conduct a successful postcard campaign? Also, is there an advantage to using postcards with internet marketing as opposed to doing straight internet marketing?

I’ll answer the second question first. The advantage to using postcards is that it can jump start your internet marketing campaign. The beauty of internet marketing is that it is highly effective (if done properly) and most of it is FREE. Free works well with most people because most new distributors are broke when they enter the industry. However, an internet campaign takes time to get ramped up. The greatest advantage to adding postcards to your marketing is that it will accelerate the process for a low advertising cost.

Okay, what do you need? Well, it probably goes without saying that you need postcards. Buy the postcards directly from the post office. You can even get them on their website if you want to order online. Go to www.usps.com and look under “stationary.” They cost $0.28 each and the stamp is already applied.

You will need a mailing list. There are multiple sources for the list. You can buy OLD leads from numerous lead vendors for as little as $0.03 each. They will normally be several weeks to several months old. Yet, they will work surprisingly well.

You can also buy general demographic mailing lists. Look for people ages 25-35, married, home owners, earning $40K to $75K per year. Buying a list of this nature will give you a more targeted mailing, but it will also cost more. Personally, I have always used the cheaper old leads.

Okay, that’s all for your offline tools. For your online tools you will need a website with a FULL video presentation, a squeeze page (also called a lead capture page), and an email campaign. These are the tools you will use to present you business to those who call you.

Now that we have all the tools, just what do we need to do? Well, first step is to write your postcards. Take you mailing list and address the front side with the prospects name and address ONLY. Do NOT…EVER….NEVER…EVER put your return address on the postcard. If the address is fake or non-deliverable, let the post office throw it away. The return address will reduce the curiosity factor and people may also judge you based on stupid things like the name of your street. Bottom line is your response rate will drop if you use a return address so don’t do it.

On the reverse side, HAND WRITE the following message:

(Prospect’s Name),

Would love to talk to you
about a part-time management
position with my company.

(your FIRST name)
(your phone number)

That’s all. Write them like that and place them in the mail. I recommend you send 200 per week. If you receive a 20% response (very normal for postcards), 200 will provide you with 40 new prospects each week calling you. Do you think you can get a sign-up with 40 people calling week after week?

Now, what do you do when these people call? First, understand that most have no idea what this postcard is about. They simply came home, got the mail, and found this really unusual postcard that was hand written. Simply to satisfy curiosity, they had to call. That’s okay. To handle the situation, you need to start asking questions. Because they are calling YOU, you are automatically postured to be able to interview them. Here are questions I always ask:

1. “What made you respond to the postcard and what might you be looking for?”
2. “What is your current profession?”
3. “Do you consider yourself teachable?”
4. “Do you have any leadership experience in or out of the work place?”

If you find no problems based on their answers, tell them you would like to go to step 2 and email them a SHORT video (regardless of how long it is—short is a relative term) that will give an overview of the company and compensation system. If they give you a hard time, or want more info over the phone, say, “It’s all on the video, what’s your email address?” If they still object, they are not the person you are looking for, move on.

The email should be a link to your squeeze page. Therefore, in order to see the video, they must opt-in which will not only tell you they were there, but will also allow you to stay in email contact until they tell you otherwise. You should not call anyone back unless they opt-in.

When you call back, they SHOULD have heard the full story through a 3rd party, dublicatible system. Simply verify that they have watched the video and ask if they are open for more information. If they says yes, schedule an appointment to 3-way them into your corporate overview conference call. Make sure you tell them that they will get all their questions answered then.

After the conference call ask, “What questions do you need answered before we get you started?” If they have questions, answer them. If they do not, help them get enrolled. Congratulations. You have just combined traditional marketing with internet marketing successfully and in a very dublicatable way.

I have personally sponsored multiple people following this method. I know it works. I also understand that some of you may be in a company that lacks some of the pieces I mentioned above. I tried to approach this as generic as possible, but each exact approach will probably need to be tweaked slightly for each company. The principles will still apply. If you need any help, feel free to contact me through my website at href="http://www.FloridaHomeBasedInternetBusiness.com">www.FloridaHomeBasedInternetBusiness.com.

To learn more about postcard or internet marketing, or to find out how you can own a home based internet business, visit www.FloridaHomeBasedInternetBusiness.com