How To Start Your Own Mail Order Publication
If you are an old hand at mail order, or a newcomer to the business, sooner or later you are going to want to try your lick at having your own publication.
There are some pro's and con's to running your own publication.
The good points - - -
Prestige - You are the Editor and Publisher
You can get free advertising for your products.
You can earn profits on the publication.
You can get a name in the mail order field.
You can write articles and editorial opinions.
Some of the con's - - -
You have to be careful in selecting a format. Too many people send all their money trying to start a publication and don't plan far enough ahead to keep it going.
It takes time - doing layouts, collecting material to use, pasting up ads. You will learn more about tricks of the trade in this report.
So, if the scale of interest tips toward your desire to give it a try, be prepared to put some time and dollars into getting it off the ground.
Your best format, and the cheapest, is to use 8 1/2 x 11 standard letter size sheet. Fold it in half, making a folder of 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 size. You now have what is termed as a 4-pager publication. An 8-pager would be using a second sheet, folded to the 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 size and placed inside of the first sheet.
Then after you have your publication launched, you will make things easier by having some layout sheets printed in non-reproducing blue ink. The layout sheets are divided into two columns per page, and column inches. There are sixteen 1-inch spaces per page (eight per column). This is the starting point in determining the cost and selling price per column inch for ads.
Take a layout to your local quickie printer, and get a price for 1,000 copies of your 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, printed two sides.
For an example, let's assume your printer wants $20.00 for 1,000.
On a four page publication, you reserve the front page for your masthead (name of the publication) and three pages for advertising.
You have 16 one-inch spaces per page times three pages, so you have 48 spaces available to sell. If you sell each space at $5.00 net to you, you will generate 48 x $5.00 or $240.00 in revenue for one sheet folded into a four page
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