Everyone in any business, especially mail order, needs printing. But being
a printer takes huge, expensive printing presses, long hours and messy work,
right? WRONG! YOU can make money without the mess and expense by being a
PRINTING BROKER.

A printing broker is, basically, an order taker for one or more commercial
printers. You take orders for anything from business cards to circulars to
large printing orders, take your agreed upon commission, then pass on the
order to the printer.

The printer does the job and ships the order back
to you or your customer, depending on your arrangements. Because the printer
won’t insert any of his or her literature in with the job, YOU will get the
return orders and commissions. You can even insert some of your circulars
for your other products and services with the job, saving your mailing costs.

Here’s what you need to do… Prepare a letter explaining your desire to
become a broker and mail it to all the printers in your area. The smaller
printers seem to be the most likely to work with you on this. Set up a time
to meet with any printers who are interested.

During this meeting, explain exactly what you will be doing (selling printing jobs by mail through advertisements in mail order publications). You won’t have to explain much
because almost all printers are familiar with brokering. Usually, you
should be able to get a 20% - 30% commission agreement, though it may depend
upon the competition in your area between printers.

You should be able to find printers interested in working with you, even those who already have other brokers. Printing is a very competitive business and printers always
want more work.

So, you should have no trouble setting up connections. One
good printer is all you need, however, being set up with more than one may
be an advantage (one may be cheaper for business cards than the other, who
may be cheaper at single sheet printing).

Try to get a price list of YOUR costs drawn up by each printer. This will
help you if someone needs a price quote on a job. Also, you can check the
mail order publications and see what other printers are charging. If you
can undercut them and still keep a good margin (which you should be able to
do, easily), you can make good money in this business.

Another good idea… Instead of a commission, you may want to set up a
“work account” with the printer, and get your printing done for free!
Printers hate to have “down time,” where their presses aren’t printing
anything.

Work out an arrangement where you will have flyers, circulars,
ad sheets, etc, ready to be printed whenever the printer has down time.
Turn over the full amount of orders you receive, instead of taking your
commission, and get your printing done free during this down time! Most
printers will be more than happy to take this arrangement, and you can get
great benefits from it!

Be sure your printer will be able to deliver QUALITY products ON TIME.
These are the two biggest considerations to keep in mind when selecting a
printer or printers to work with. Get samples of their previous work.
Talk to them about the importance of being timely with the orders you bring
in. Most printers will be understanding of your concerns.
>

Have you ever seen an ad in a publication that was just text? Just a big
block of words. I’m sure you have, and wasn’t it boring? If you’re
scanning quickly through ad sheets, your eye won’t stop at a block of grey
text. It’ll skip right over. To make your ad interesting and eye-catching
use ready-made graphics called CLIP ART.

Clip-Arts are ready-to-use pictures, borders, headlines and other little
pieces of art, printed in groups on a page, that you can clip out and use
in your ads and publications. Clip art can be found at office supply stores,
and from mail order dealers. Here’s how you can get into the business of
selling clip art.

First, you need a source of clip art. If you, or a friend, are artistically
inclined, draw your own. Don’t worry about having to draw it small enough,
you can reduce whatever you’ve drawn with a photocopier. It’s a good idea
to make your art relatively free of small details, since they’ll get lost
when you photocopy the picture. Draw items that would be useful in mail
order ads (business related pictures, money, mail, etc.). Then, reduce
them and assemble them on one page. You now have a product you can sell!

Another source of clip art is other dealers. Many dealers sell copyright-
free clip art packages that you can resell, either for 100% profit or for
a commission. The only drawback is it will be the same clip art that others
are selling. That’s OK, though, if you make sure to advertise it in places
where other dealers aren’t.

Finally, if you own a computer, you have a wealth of clip art at your
fingertips. Many graphics and sign-making software packages allow you to
create your own graphics. These can be printed out and used as clip arts.
A laser printer will produce the best, professional quality clip art you’ll
ever see.>

Rubber stamps are one of the necessities of a mail order business. You need
to have at least a rubber stamp with your name and address on it, not only
for envelopes, but also for commission circulars and ad sheets that you co-
publish. Other rubber stamps you may want to have on hand are ones that say,
in large block letters, things like “SPECIAL!!!,” “ORDER NOW!,” etc. If you
read ad sheet and mail order publications, you may see dealers selling rubber
stamps. How are they doing this?

There are three ways to sell rubber stamps. The first, and easiest, is to
act as a broker for a rubber stamp producer. This is similar to being a
printing broker, outlined in an earlier report in this series. Contact a
stamp maker in your area, and outline your plans for selling rubber stamps
by mail. Explain that this will add business for him that he wouldn’t
otherwise get. The stamp maker should offer a commission to you (or free
stamps) for taking orders. Then, advertise your stamp-making business in
ad sheets and other publications that mail-order dealers regularly read.
When you receive an order, take your commission off the top and forward the
rest with the order to the stamp maker.

The second way is to produce the stamps yourself. This is something you
can set up in your basement or a spare room. Spread the word around the
printers in your area that you are looking for used rubber stamp making
equipment. If you can, find someone who is currently in the business who
is thinking of getting out. Learn the process from them, and you can
probably get good terms on the equipment.

The third way can be done if you have a computer and laser printer, or
access to one. There is a company called Grantham’s Polly Stamp (418
Central Avenue, East Grand Forks, MN 56721 218-773-0331) that sells a
machine called the Polly-Stamp. This machine makes rubber stamps from
your laser printed artwork. Anything you can print on your laser printer
can be made into a stamp in 20 minutes. It uses a light sensitive rubber
-like liquid resin and is very easy to use. As of this time (July 1994),
a new unit costs $1095, but you can get a good refurbished unit for under
$500.

Rubber stamps are a vital tool for mail order dealers. If you offer this
service, you will greatly expand your customer base. Be sure to send your
latest and best offers with the customer’s stamp, and you’ll get even more
orders.
>

Suppose you’re new to mail order, and you want to put your ads into the many
ad sheets, tabloids and publications you’re seeing in your mail box everyday.
The only problem is, you don’t HAVE any ads! Here’s where a typesetting
service comes into play.

Typesetting IS NOT as difficult as the name suggests. It’s just another
name for typing text based on a given layout or format. If you have a
computer, you can produce professional quality typesetting easily and
quickly. But you need a computer to offer a typesetting business.

Put ads in ad sheets and other publications for your typesetting service.
Observe what other typesetters are charging and be competitive. You should
probably expect to get $1 - $3 per inch. This doesn’t sound like much, but
the work is easy, and you will be doing other things besides just
typesetting, as you will see later in this report.

Typesetting should be offered as an “add-on” service, best in connection
with your own ad sheet. Your customers will be providing the ad copy, so
all you have to do is arrange it. Usually, around 35 words will fit into a
one-inch ad, leaving room for a border and a piece of clip art.

Here’s sample wording for an ad: “PROFESSIONAL TYPESETTING - Get your ad
typeset and mailed to 1000 hungry buyers! $5/inch (35 words max.), $1 each
additional inch. You get 15 camera-ready proofs FREE! Send payment & 2
first class stamps to: (Your name and address).” What you will be doing
here is typesetting the ad, inserting it into one of your adsheets, and
sending the customer 10 extra copies of their ad, along with as many of your
other offers as you can for 2 stamps. You may be giving the typesetting for
free, based on your ad sheet rates, but it’s worth it, as this is a great
way to get new ads, as well as new customers.

So, here’s how to typeset a one-inch ad. First, don’t worry about trying to
fit everything into one inch! That’s right. Make it twice the size it will
be when printed. This gives you more room to work with, plus it will be a
better quality when reduced to one inch on a photocopier (that’s the trick!).

For a one-inch ad, make a 2 inch tall by 4 1/4 inch wide border on a piece of
white paper with your rub-on borders. Next, make a light guideline with the
blue pencil for the headline. Use rubdown letters of the appropriate size to
make the headlines, being careful to follow the guideline to keep everything
straight. Then, load the paper into your typewriter and neatly type the copy
into the remaining space.

If your typewriter will do extra-bold words, use them to highlight important
words in the ad, as well as the name and address. When you type the ad, leave
a bit of space on one side for an appropriate piece of clip art. Cut the
clip art from the book, and using either rubber cement, “spray-mount” glue or
clear, non-shiny tape, attach it to the ad. Use liquid paper to cover any
specks or smears on the ad. Then, reduce it 50% on a photocopier.
You’ve just typeset an ad!

You should always offer extra copies of the ad to your customers. So, make
five copies of the ad, cut them out, and place them straight face down on
the copier glass. Make two copies of that, cut out the ads from the copies,
and you have fifteen copies to send your customer, plus the original to put
in your own adsheet.

You must also have a laser printer and a good graphics program or word
processor. Use your graphics program to do the layout steps above. You
can add clip-art in the computer, or manually, after printing the ad. You
won’t have to worry about reducing the ad on a photocopier, as you can do
that within your graphics program. Plus, printing extra copies is a snap.
Most graphics programs will let you “copy and stamp,” which means making a
copy of what you have made (your ad), and stamping it elsewhere on the
screen. Hence, you can make your fifteen copies all on one page and print
them once, quickly and easily. And, your typesetting will look super-
professional!

Remember how I asked for two first class stamps in my sample ad? That gives
you plenty of “envelope space” for your other offers and ad sheets. You
should be sure to include a copy of the ad sheet your customer’s ad appears
in, so they can be assured you delivered on your promises.

Offering typesetting will get customers who are new to mail order, as well
as seasoned professionals who don’t want to bother with doing their own ads.
It will also expand the number of people who get your ad sheets and offers.>

Of course you do _ right? Check again! More often than not I have watched
people join a program, receive a camera-ready circular and are expected to
know what to do with it. While the originator of the program knows exactly
what to do, most of your customers do not. What may seem like common sense
to you is not as understandable to others who purchase it.

Every program you sell should come with an instruction sheet. Just like any
product you purchase will come with an instruction sheet. It just makes
good business sense to include an instruction sheet or booklet with anything
you sell.

Guess what? This sheet or booklet can be used to YOUR advantage.
By explaining step-by-step how the program works, what it’s goals are, the
benefits of working it and what steps to take in order to work it properly,
you can offer different options to your customer to help them. If you supply
camera-ready circulars, you could offer to print copies, supply pre-printed
envelopes and mailing list names for an additional price. This is called
“back-end” sales.

And if you don’t provide these items, you can find a wide range of mail order
dealers that can. Hook up with a good supplier who will reduce their prices
slightly so you can make a profit and send orders directly to them from your
“back-end” sales. This little bit of extra money is what helps your program
become more financially solid.

One problem that so many programs fail is because they are not managed and
structured properly. Remember the old saying: “A 3-legged stool is not
easily broken?” It’s true. The more “branches” you have in a program that
generates some cash flow the better. DON’T get this confused with
nickel-and-diming people to death. Just give them the product they pay
for and offer them extra products they can purchase that compliments what
they already have.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you are the Prime Source of
any program is to promote the program your dealers are also promoting.
Instead of it bringing in more money it has the opposite effect _ it
destroys the program!

Let’s say that Melanie joins Jeff’s program. Jeff is the Prime Source and
provides Melanie with a camera-ready circular with her name on it. Melanie
begins printing and mailing the circular in her own mailings but one day
she spots Jeff advertising his own circular in a tabloid. What does Melanie
do? She STOPS mailing her circular. Why? Because Jeff looks like a greedy
dealer who is after all the profit. Jeff is only giving Melanie 50% when
people respond to her circular and Jeff gets 100% if people respond to his
circular. Also _ Melanie does not want to be in competition with Jeff and
drops out of the program. It’s not fair to Melanie.

And what happens to Jeff’s potential income when all his dealers see the
circulars with his name on them? You got it _ they all drop out. Now what
happens to Jeff’s income? Right again _ it drops considerably!

Instead, Jeff should pick out a few of his dealers who are trying their
best to make money with his program and offer to mail pre-printed circulars
for them free of charge. Remember that Jeff is making money from every sale
generated by his dealers, so by promoting his own product he is still making
money. Besides _ if he helps his dealers make a few dollars, what will his
dealers do? That’s right _ they’ll keep participating in Jeff’s program and
most of them will re-invest the commission money they make into printing
and mailing more of them.

Also, when they begin to make a little money, they will tell everybody they
know what a wonderful program Jeff has. And guess what? Jeff will get more
dealers promoting his program _ which means more money for Jeff in the long
run. Jeff’s a success because he made his dealers a success.

And finally _ Jeff’s reputation will be escalated because all his dealers
will know he’s an honest guy to do business with. Guess what? Jeff’s business
income increases! Not just because of the program but because people are
interested in other things Jeff sells.

It’s only good business sense to help your dealers by providing them with
tips and information to work your program. Sure, there will always be people
who buy into your program and not work them _ but you’ll lose a lot more
money if you step on their toes and become their competition! Be wise!

>

Here’s a common dilema: You receive a letter enclosed with a copy of your
ad that specifically states “…for more information, send $1.” However,
they DON’T enclose the $1.

One respondent was brave enough to include a cover letter that stated he
was enclosing $1 for more information, but conveniently “forgot” to put it
in the envelope. Is this really an unintentional mistake? Did the person
really forget to send the money? Probably not. Why do I make that assumption?
Because the frequency of them are too numerous to count. If it was just
“human error” the same tactics wouldn’t be used by 90% of them. (I did have
one clever gal though purposely seal and re-open part of the envelope to make
it appear like the money had dropped out. It was obvious the envelope had not
got caught in machinery because I used to work for the post office and know
how the mail is processed.)

Unfortunately the poor mail order dealer who is trying to run an honest
business will go ahead, take the financial loss and fill this order. They
rest on the “hope” that this person will place a large order in the near
future once they receive their information; which will make up for the $1
he/she conveniently forgot to enclose in the beginning.

But thereis a way to combat this problem. Here’s what you do: Instead of
filling the order for more information, write a short letter on your business
stationary.

Thank the customer for inquiring about your product and graciously inform
him or her that the letter was received without proper payment. but send the
information anyway. Do not sacrifice 29 Cents for an 18% conversion. In the
long run, after you’ve written and mailed the letter, it is better that you
send the free ($1) information anyway.

Also, enclose 1 or 2 ads in with your letter. This way, it only costs you
29c to respond to their request and you don’t lose money on someone who is
only after a “free ride.”

Believe it or not, there are actually some people who just enjoy receiving
mail. They never place an order or spend any money. They just enjoy receiving
mail. And some people actually spend time just to see what they can get
“free.” They envision mail order companies as huge enterprises and have a
vengeance to rip them off because they are jealous and have nothing to
account for in their own personal lives. I know this sounds harsh _ but
there are people like this.

And on the rare occasion when a customer writes back and claims to have
answered your ad and sent $1 for information already, you simply reply:
“I’m sorry. In checking our records we find that you did, in fact, make an
inquiry on (date). Unfortunately, you did not enclose the $1 payment as
stated in our ad. We understand mistakes like this can happen since most of
us lead hectic daily lives and we apologize for any misunderstandings.”
Then _ leave it go at that. The customer will get the message. You aren’t
being cruel and calling them a liar. In fact, you are being rather innocent
in the entire matter. The only difference is _ YOU are in control of the
situation.

Somewhere there’s this unwritten law that says you have to send NEW customers
tons of circulars the first time they write you for more information. Not so.
Customers who are worth the time and investment you make will supply you with
repeat orders and you don’t have to send them boxes of stuff. Instead, send
just a few offers at a time. This way, it will take many mailings to get
copies of all the circulars you promote and it will appear to the customer
that you are adding and growing in your business.

Think about it! And for those of you who make it a habit not to send people
the requested first-class stamps and postage money to offset the cost to send
you the information you are requesting _ watch out! Most of us are people
just like you are. We work hard and cannot afford being nickel-and-dimed to
death either!
>

Pre-approved cards are the result of one bank who now has you as a customer,
and sells your name to another bank or a series of banks so they can offer
you their credit cards. Here’s how it usually works:

Many smaller banks want to be credit card issuers but, because of limited
facilities for credit card processing, it is sometimes difficult for a
smaller bank to cash in on the credit card boom. What’s been developed is
an interconnect system where large banks will process credit card
applications and issue the credit cards for the little banks.

For example, let’s say that Mini Savings & Loan wants to get in on the
Plastic Pursuit. However, Mini does not have the facility or the staff to
process credit card applications and issue credit cards. What Mini has to
do is contract the service with Maxi Bank.

Since Maxi has several banks that they provide this service to, Mini Savings
& Loan is just a welcome addition to their roster of client banks for whom
they process and issue credit cards.

When you apply for a credit card at Mini Savings & Loan, your application
is actually forwarded to Maxim Bank who runs a credit check and, granting
you have good credit, issues you your choice of VISA or MasterCard with
Mini Savings & Loan’s name on it.

However, since Maxi is the issuing bank and since it has your credit on
their file, they can very well send you an application for their own credit
card. They can also sell your name to their other client-banks who can offer
you their credit cards on a pre-approved basis.

Another source that sells your name is the credit bureau. Because they can
program their computers to search for names of existing credit card holders
with clean and healthy files, they can provide issuing banks with a premium
mailing list of people to whom the banks can send pre-approved credit card
applications.

>

So often we forget that our customers are our boss. I think I discovered
one significant reason why most of us fall into this “rut.” The day we
began our business we were as happy as could be. The customer was king!
We didn’t have many orders so we bent over backwards to make sure that all
our customers were happy. Some of us might have even went overboard and
“went into the hole” just because we were so overjoyed that we had received
a customer order!

But, later on, we became much more busy. We were putting in long hours,
neglecting family and social life and realizing that being in business does
have it’s gloomy side. While we tried our best to give each customer personal
attention, some customers couldn’t be pleased if we hung our self with a new
rope! Therefore, new policies had to be established. Prices had to increase
for you to invest into business growth. And somewhere in-between all this we
lost the zeal for customer satisfaction. Instead of the customer being “king”
he/she was now a “pawn.”

What originally began as a eager desire to please your customers has now
turned into a daily struggle. But who could blame you? You can remember
spending $100 and 30 hours of time trying to help a beginner get started in
mail order. However, after that beginner learned all your trade secrets they
left owing you money and never giving you the time of day again. This made
you cautious. Then how about the customer that pretended they were going to
send you a $500 order, wasted an hour or so of your time (and long-distance
phone charges) just to get them quotes before they sent in their money.
Then _ after all the toil and added expenses, you never heard from the
customer again. How irritating! At least, you thought, they could have sent
you a “Thank You Note” for all the trouble they put you though.

But 20 minutes later, you get another phone call from a customer wanting to
put you through the same thing. Only this time _ the guy is serious. Do you
give this guy the same treatment you gave to the first customer? As a human
being _ you normally can’t because you are ruled by emotion. It takes someone
with a lot of self-confidence in their own character to treat each customer
like a big business!

Just treat every customer you talk to the same way you would treat someone
from a big business _ who was getting ready to send you a $10,000 order!
Unfortunately, some business owners allow owning a business to go to their
heads. After they start becoming successful, the owner will think he/she is
“king” and makes all the rules. He/she feels that their reputation speaks
for itself and customer’s are eager just to do business with them.

This normally happens because income increases and you don’t “need”
certain customers who you feel have been a thorn in your side. But although
it is perfectly fine to do this _ if you dispel a customer solely based on
the “amount” and “quantity” of orders he or she sends you _ that’s a big
mistake. Those small guys and gals might just grow up and become BIGGER
businesses than you someday! Wouldn’t you rather have them on your side?
Wouldn’t you rather be in a position to work with them _ perhaps on a
multi-million-dollar contract together? One never knows what the future
holds so try to BE NICE _ even if you have to grin and bear it!

That’s why it’s even more important to stop and think again. Are you
guilty of having a business ownership ego? If you allow it to go too far
you could lose your business entirely. Egos are a very tricky thing to deal
with. A hurt ego’s downside is normally jealousy, deceit and even criminal
activity. Rage does nothing but tear you up emotionally inside and always
erupts in bad behavior and lost relationships. Never, ever, go into a rage
over the phone. If other people are screaming at you _ you will either calm
them down by remaining calm yourself or show them up for being emotionally
unstable. Rage is truly the result of an unstable personality trait. It’s
really NOT normal. So get with the program and be calm (and nice.)

Everyone is in business to make money _ however, making it at someone else’s
expense is suicide! Perhaps some of you reading this are laughing inside
yourself. You know I speak the truth! If you are the least bit intelligent
you can easily see that making a fast buck through the expense of other
people is a way to live a very short life. If you can only see the moment
and not the future in your life _ you belong back in grade school, perhaps
kindergarten! It’s true that “Humility Demonstrates Superiority”.
>

The gift basket industry has exploded over the past few years and
continues to be a consistent money maker for those involved in it. In many
ways, it’s the ideal business. You can run it from the home. It’s an
extremely inexpensive business to start (you only need supplies and a
marketing budget). The product is in demand (who doesn’t like getting
an artistic basket with fresh fruit, candies, or cheeses?). Competition
isn’t much of a problem (you can easily set yourself off from the rest by
producing specialized types of baskets). It’s a dynamic business that is
changing and developing with the times.

One of the newest developments is the CANDY FLOWER BASKET. This is
a new type of gift basket that will definitely set you apart from your
competition. It’s very artistic and creative, and pretty, too! The Candy
Flower Basket is easy to make, and will turn heads wherever it is given.

Here’s what you need for a Candy Flower Basket: You’ll need a
basket, of course, preferably around the size of a medium to large flower
pot (remember, we’ll have “flowers” here). Next, a large piece of flower
arranging or art styrofoam, large enough to fit in the bottom of the basket,
filling it well and reaching up to around 3 inches below the lip of the
basket. Also, plenty of stiff, green wire used in flower arranging; green
flower tape; 2 1/2″ green wood sticks, pointed on one end, blunt on the
other; thin wire; a good supply of different wrapped hard candies,
preferably with colorful wrappers (yellow, orange, red, pink, and other
“flower” colors are best); and, finally, a LOT of bright, colorful
cellophane sheets (green and red, especially). Many of these supplies
can be found at craft stores or flower arranging supply stores.

First, we’ll make our candy flowers. Cut the stiff green wire into
1 foot lengths. Make around 15 for a decent size basket. Now, sort your
candies by wrapper color. You’ll need 5 or 6 candies per wire. Take one
of the candies and hold one twisted end of the wrapper against the end of
the wire. Now, wrap the green floral tape tightly around the wrapper and
wire a few times. Don’t tear the tape; once the candy is firmly attached
to the wire, continue the tape down the wire and wrap another candy around
1 to 1 1/2 inches below the first, depending on how many candies you’ll put
on the wire. Continue this down the wire. When you’ve wrapped 5 or 6 of
the same candies on the top half of the wire, trail your tape off another
inch or two on the wire. You’ve just made your first candy flower! Set that
one aside and start on the next one. Try to have at least 4 different types
of candies, so all the flowers won’t be the same color.

Next, wrap the styrofoam in green cellophane and put it into the
bottom of the basket. Take your colored cellophane sheets and cut around
fifty 6″ x 10″ rectangles. Don’t worry about making them perfectly sized.
Take one of the rectangles and loosely fold it in half the short way (to
make a 6″ x 5″ rectangle) and then in half the long way (to make a 3″ x 5″
rectangle). Don’t crease the folds, and again, don’t worry about being
perfect _ it’ll look better if it’s not. Insert this rectangle into one
of the open spaces closed point down (the point that would be the center
of the rectangle, if it was unfolded.

Do this with 20 to 25 of the rectangles, until the open spaces are filled, though not tightly. Fluff the open corners of the rectangles out. Now, insert your flowers into the
styrofoam. Space them out evenly, and put around four inches of the wire
down into the foam, so it’s secure. Here’s a tip _ slightly curve the wire
and insert it at a slight angle, so the flowers sit realistically. Real
flower bouquets don’t stand straight up. Finally, take one of the remaining
cellophane rectangles, and fold it in the same way as you did with the “fill-
in” rectangles. Now, take one of the short green sticks and a six inch
length of the thin copper wire. Wrap the wire three or four times around
the blunt end of the stick, around 1/8″ from the end. Put around 1/2″ of
the closed corner of the rectangle against the blunt end of the stick, and
wrap the remaining wire tightly around it. Insert this in the styrofoam,
in between the flowers. Do this with the remaining rectangles, cutting
more if necessary to completely hide the styrofoam and fill out the basket.
When done, fluff the open corners out. You now have a Candy Flower Basket!
The best thing about this is the fact that it looks BETTER after the candy
is removed! Put a note in with your basket suggesting that people unwrap
only the unattached end of the wrapper to remove a candy. The candies look
like buds while they’re wrapped; they look like blooming flowers with the
candy removed! Try it with one of your flowers and you’ll see!

Take into account the cost of your supplies and your time when
pricing your Candy Flower Basket. These can be a bit time-consuming, but
you can always make a large stock of flowers and fill-in “greenery” ahead
of time while watching TV. Or, get some friends involved. Baskets like
this can easily be sold for $25 to $40, depending on the size of the basket,
with only a few dollars worth of supplies. Their uniqueness will definitely
be an important selling point. Make a few baskets of different sizes up,
for sales examples.

Candy Flower Baskets can be a great addition to your line, if you
already produce gift baskets, or they can be a fantastic way to start out
in this profitable business. And don’t think it’s just for women; there
are many men who are producing great gift baskets out there. Anyone,
young or old, can produce these baskets and make massive profits…and have
a lot of fun in the process!

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For a lot of people, publishing a book may look like it costs lots of money.
For example, on a short-run press, this book costs around $2.10 to print.

For the uninitiated, self-publishing is one of the easiest ways to make money
in the world. Of course, it requires some talent, but they are easy to learn.
Take a look:
1. Choose a subject to write about. Select something you enjoy or want to
know more about yourself. As just an example, we’ll use “Household Hints”

2. Now, to collect the information to put in my book about “household hints”
I would go visit my mother, talk to my aunts and cousins, call friends on
the phone, and in general _ ask everybody I came into contact with to
give me their favorite “household hint.” After a few months I’d have a
lot of stuff.

3. At this point I would start categorizing all this information. I’d put
all the stuff about “kitchen tips” in a separate file from “home remedies”.
Each separate file would be a new chapter in my book.

4. Then I’d begin typing out my book on a computer or typewriter. If I were
to type the book myself, I would simply number each tip as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
with a heading for each tip.

5. Okay. Now the book is ready to print. You’ve read everything and there
are no misspelled words or obvious grammar mistakes. You are ready to
see the final result of your labors. How much will it cost? Let’s assume
that my “household hints” book is going to measure 5″ wide by 8″ tall
(like a sheet of 8 1/2×11″ paper folded in half.) There are 2 pages on
each side or 4 pages front and back. These are the best size for mail
order unless you write a 100-page novel.

My “Household Hints” book would be a total of 24 pages. That means
it will take both sides of 6 sheets of 8 1/2×11″ paper to print each
one of my books. That includes the cover and everything.

Based on standard mail order prices, you could have 250 of these books
printed for $109 or about 44c each. 1,000 would run even less _ $200 or
about 20c each. That’s cheap! Even if I sell each one for just $3,
I’ll make over $500 profit.

Another method of saving money with printing of booklets is to have
the mail order printer print them at the same price you would pay for
8 1/2×11″, 2-sided printing (around $25 per 1,000) without having them
collated, folded and stapled. This way, your cost would only be a total
of $150 per 1,000 or 15c per booklet.

This method is great if you want to do some of the work yourself.
Your only expense would be a saddle stitcher from an office supply
store. This is a long-armed stapler and the cost is around $45.
Of course you would not want to make this investment if you were only
going to be publishing one book per year _ but if you plan to go into
heavy production, it would be worth your while. I personally don’t care
to do this myself because I’m saving tons of money. I’ll get paid in the
long run for my time.

6. Now, the only thing left to do to make my book a success is to sell them
and make some money back. One idea would be to call all the people who
gave me the information for the book. I’d put a price tag of $5 on the
cover and offer it to my friends and co-workers at a discount of
$3 or $2. Everyone whose name or contribution is in a published book
will want a copy for a keepsake _ at least.

It’s not that hard to create your own money-maker. There’s no hidden secret
to it. You don’t have to pay $29.95 for the same information. We’re GIVING
it to you free of charge.

Every single human being has a book inside of them! Everybody knows
something that other people don’t and everybody has interests that other
people don’t have the time to learn about. There is a subject that interests
you that would interest others. Guaranteed!

So, get busy. Pick a subject, gather the information and type it up! You’ll
be a hero before you know it. Neighbors will begin to label you as a
notorious writer. You’ll be able to hold your head high, and you’ll be
able to start putting “,Writer” at the end of your name on your business
letters. Won’t that be something?

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