Selling information is one of the most established and most powerful businesses in our information based society. With the continuing growth of the computer revolution, selling information in electronic form offers you outstanding profit opportunities. You can provide people with valuable information and Earn Yourself 1000's of Dollars in the process. The objective of this material is to provide you with a collection of carefully selected money-making information tips that can help you start and succeed in your business, whatever it may be. Information in electronic form has quickly become one of the hottest selling products of the nineties and will be that way well into the 21st century. Recent figures indicate that over a billion dollars worth of books are sold by mail every year. The easiest way to profit from this expanding market is to provide customer with valuable information they can put to immediate use. Many publishers are pulling in a fortune by selling useful publications right out of their own homes. People get involved in this business for many different reasons. There are few businesses left that have the above benefits. Selling information, either in printed form or in electronic form, allows you to start on a shoestring and quickly reinvest your earnings. Some information marketers have been known to start with less than $100 and have quickly gone on to build million dollar businesses. If you buy information from wholesalers and resell it, you can make a profit from the same information material over and over. If you write and print your own informative publication, profit margins will even be better. While a publication may only cost a couple of dollars to professionally produce, it can contain thousands of dollars worth of information. It is usually NOT the size or length of a publication customers are interested in, it is the valuable information contained inside that they will gladly pay for. Likewise, the manner by which you package and deliver the information to your customers will determine your profit margins and how big you can build your business. One of the best features of owning your own information-by-mail business is that it is fun and easy to start and operate. You probably already own much of what you will need to begin operations. Whether you live in an apartment or house, you will need to set aside some space that you can designate as your office. While there is no reason why you can't start from your kitchen table, you should try to dedicate some space where you can set up a desk and chair that you can operate your business from. Your mailing address can be either a P.O. Box or a street address. It is recommended that you use a street address for your business. Studies have shown that customers are more likely to order from an information-by-mail business with a street address than from one with a P.O. Box. Customers feel more confident about sending their hard earned money to someone they feel is at a relatively permanent address. This is probably because of the few "fly by night" con artists that have historically used P.O. Boxes as their storefronts. If you must use a P.O. Box it is recommended that you at least list a phone number in your advertisements. If you work out of an apartment, using the word "suite" before your apartment number will make it sound more professional. Veteran information marketers know that information on just about every conceivable subject can be successfully marketed, specially if sold in electronic form. Look at most direct-response magazines and you will probably find companies offering valuable information on numerous topics. The most profitable by far is How-To information, particularly those on How-To Make Money! These types of information products provide information based on people's natural wants, desires and needs. One type of information product is specialized knowledge of a particular subject. This knowledge may be obtained through personal experience or detailed research of a certain subject. The most practica strategy is to write about something that you have personal experience with. It may be a hobby, job, sport, vacation, recipe, or whatever you are knowledgeable about. If you want to provide information about a particular field you have little or no personal experience in, you will need to do some research. When doing research, look for information in magazine and newspaper articles and books on your chosen subject. Read as much information as you can until it begins to sound repetitive. This is a good indication that you have read all that there is to know about that subject. Take excellent notes and organize them accordingly. The second type of information that can be successfully sold through the mail are self-improvement products. These products help by providing timely and valuable information on a variety of subjects. Marketers have found the subject of financial wealth and physical health to be the most sought after topics in the mail order industry. Everyone has an interest in excellent health and wants to learn how to increase his/her financial status. Practically any national publication with classified advertisements will have offers selling information on these subjects. This type of information is best provided by those who have professional experience in the respective fields. However, if you do enough research, you will be able to write your own informative publication. Many of the most successful financial topics sold by mail relate to starting one's own business. Global competition has caused many major companies to downsize their work force. This has resulted in many unemployed individuals in search of new ways to earn a living. By providing information on how to start one's own business, you can help these people get their lives back in gear and make a profit in the process. One particularly popular health related topic is how to lose weight and stay physically and mentally fit. With health costs going through the roof with no end in sight, many health minded individuals are in search of ways to become healthier. By becoming healthier, expensive visits to your doctors can be avoided. By providing accurate and timely information on how the health minded individual can improve their lives, you can earn a healthy profit. Once you have obtained an information product that you can sell, you are ready to tell the world about it. No matter how valuable your information is, you will not make a penny from it unless you tell the people who want your information how they can get it. This is the most critical and most often misunderstood step in running your information marketing business. Information sellers have tried to reach their target markets with many different techniques. No matter what technique is used, information sellers all try to cost effectively reach those people most likely to buy their publications. Some of the most popular ways are listed below: - Advertising your products on the Internet and World Wide Web. - Selling through magazine or newspaper advertisements. - Getting free publicity from magazines and newspapers. - Selling through book distributors, dealers and resellers. - Selling through radio and television advertisements. - Selling over the phone through telemarketing. - Selling through book stores or libraries. - Selling through direct mail packages. - Selling through computer bulletin board systems (BBS's) The above techniques have consistently shown cost effective results. Dollar for dollar the best methods for selling your publication are by advertising in magazines, sending direct mail packages, getting free publicity, and using On-Line services. The subject of direct mail cannot be ignored when discussing how to make a profit in mail order. A properly designed and implemented direct mail campaign can often outperform a classified advertising approach. The main advantage of direct mail is that it is less expensive than classified advertising to generate qualified leads. Whether you do a two-step, combination, or telemarketing approach to generate inquiries for your publication, it is important to remember that your only objective is to obtain a name and address of a potential customer. The time, cost, and effort in placing the advertisements and possibly setting up an 800 number are often questioned when the only objective is to get a name and address to put on your direct mail package. This is why many publishers rent mailing lists of prospective customers to lower their costs and spend less time and effort in getting orders. In its simplest form, direct mail involves mailing the direct mail packages, explained in the two-step advertising approach, to a mailing list of names and addresses of prospective customers. Many mailing list brokers are willing to rent you names and addresses of prospective customers, usually grouped by their field of interest. These lists are usually rented for one time use. Most brokers will put a few secret names and addresses in their list that actually end up at one of the broker's addresses. By doing this they can check to see if you have used the list more than one time. Mailing list rates usually run between $40 to $75 per 1000 names. The names and addresses usually are on peel and stick labels that you attach to your direct mail envelopes. Some mailing list companies may offer their names on computer disk for those who have a computer. Hand addressing is more personal and has been proven to increase the chance of having your mail opened. Since the main cost in direct mail is the postage, many direct mailers obtain a third class bulk rate permit from their local post office that will allow them to save significantly on their postage costs. This permit currently costs $75. If you get a bulk rate permit, make sure to buy the lists that are sorted by consecutive zip code. This will help you organize your mailing to comply with the bulk rate mailing requirements. Usually, the more specific the mailing list, the better the response rate will be. Let's say you want to sell a directory of golf courses in the United States. A mailing list containing names and addresses of golfers over the age of 55, who make over $100,000 a year, travel, or are retired, will be a better list to send your direct mail piece to than a generic list of sports enthusiasts. The more specific the mailing list the more it will cost. It is also important to specify that the lists have names and addresses less than 90 days old. This will insure fresh prospects who have not seen many other book offers. It is even better if you can get a list less than 30 days old. The day on which your direct mail offer arrives is important. You do not want your mailing to arrive during the weekend or at the end of the month. People usually plan activities during the weekend and may not have time to read your entire direct mail package. At the end of the month, people usually have to pay bills and thus may not have enough money for your offer. One other time of the year to avoid are the holidays. If possible, try to have your mailing arrive Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Let's take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of a direct mail and classified advertising campaign. Particular attention should be paid to the cost, time, and effort required to obtain the inquiries. This is because once the inquiries are obtained, the cost to mail your direct mail packages is the same. The only exception to this is if you have obtained a third class bulk rate permit to reduce your postage costs. Since mailers are currently required to mail no less than 200 pieces at one time or 50 pounds to qualify for bulk rates, those who use mailing lists can easily qualify. If you are using classified advertisements to generate your names and addresses, you will need to receive 200 inquiries every few days to successfully utilize a third class bulk rate permit. This is only possible in a major classified advertising campaign. Selling information can be an exciting and rewarding business. Follow these helpful hints and you could be on your way to a successful mail-order career!Start Your Own Information Marketing Business!