Author : Helen Hecker

Publishers know they can save a lot of money joining others in joint or cooperative mailings Co-op mailing is not a new concept or idea, but finding other publishers who want to mail to the same lists isn’t easy

A free service is helping publishers sell more books through cooperative mailings with other publishers Publishers submit listing information, as to what kind of mailing they want to do, the nature of the books or items they want to promote, and contact information DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, software and other items work easily here too The information is published each month free in a newsletter for entrepreneurs and publishers - ‘Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline ‘ We aren’t involved in helping with any arrangements you decide on We only help you find others who are interested in joining with you by publishing the information in the newsletter, free

You arrange with others and send out your fliers in co-op mailings to, for example, public libraries, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, children’s bookstores, hospitals, hospital gift shops, elementary schools, high schools, college libraries, college newspapers, colleges & universities, various departments in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, to medical libraries, military libraries, museums, and Christian and religion-related lists, etc

You arrange with others and send out your press releases to daily newspapers, editors, travel columnists, health columnists, medical columnists, weekly newspapers, major magazine and trade publications in the genre field of the book - business, health, medical, disability, travel publications, etc I’ve mailed several of my own press releases, successfully, in one business-size envelope third class ( bulk mail) for many years, promoting several of our books, videos, DVDs, titles and services and reaping a ton of orders for us in return We’ve had thousands of write-ups -articles, items and features in many publications over the years I think the envelopes are opened in the mail room and the editors never see the envelopes that press releases come in Also they’ll never know if it arrived by priority mail, first class or third class (bulk) mail

For many years I ran a sideline fee-shared cooperative mailing service to help our publishing company branch and other publishers, promote titles and sell more books through press releases to the print media (newspapers and magazines, for example) and news releases to the broadcast media (radio station talk shows, TV shows, Oprah, Today show, Good Morning America, etc ) Also we sent fliers to libraries, schools, hospitals, hospital gift shops, newspapers, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, etc

The costs to do a co-op mailing are established by you and your co-op partners, for the amount necessary to do the mailing, then divided up and paid for well in advance of the mailing This would include the cost of buying and printing #10 business-size envelopes, the cost of renting the labels, postage cost determined by the weight of the piece and other factors, and cost for the mailing house to do the mail out All fliers are shipped directly to the mailing house with instructions on the box as to which mailing it’s for The lead person gives them instructions so they know the boxes are coming

We’ve always had good results from cooperative mailings and many others have reported they have too Publishers need to know what markets their genres fit into No two books or products are exactly alike So one can’t compare the outcome for titles of books in mailings others have done, to their own titles and potential outcome

Doing co-op mailings is a good way for book publishers, self publishers, (entrepreneurs and other types of business owners too) to distribute their press releases and fliers, and to save a lot of time and money And this free cooperative mailing service is a good way for you to find other publishers with the same marketing goals

Helen Hecker helps book & self publishers, heads Twin Peaks Press, a PR, offline-online marketing, mailing list, consulting, publishing co. Do AP press releases. Publish books, ebooks. Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline for biz owners. Free co-op mailing service. Since 1982.
http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com

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The Success System That Never Fails

Author : Helen Hecker

Many self publishers, book publishers, entrepreneurs, and home-based and small business owners are in the dark about mailing list rentals — how to order targeted, direct mailing lists - say for a direct marketing campaign, what to look for, and what to beware of And they often make a few expensive mistakes The following tips and trade secrets will help you avoid some of these mistakes and help you make better decisions when you seek out quality mailing list services

First of all, generally, you rent, not buy mailing lists They remain in the ownership of the mailing list company and are usually not for sale

Many business owners rent lists but don’t use them right away, which is a mistake Most lists change considerably in 30 days or less Some lists, like mailing lists of public libraries, prisons, hospitals, hospital gift shops, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, daily newspapers, TV stations and radio stations will have very few changes They are fairly stationary so not as likely to move Bookstore lists, new age bookstores lists, organization lists, specialty lists, MLM lists and business mailing lists may have a high rate of return To avoid a lot of returns, rent the selected lists just prior to making your mailing

Be careful about renting any mailing list that goes to individuals: consumer mailing lists, seniors mailing lists, residential mailing lists, homeowners mailing lists and opportunity seekers mailing lists, for example With 20% of the population moving every year you may get significant returns

But do expect some returns As often as we mail using lists, we always get returns (called ‘nixies’ in the trade) from the post office People move, forwarding orders expire, people expire, post office boxes close, and businesses close their doors

Mailing list management and upkeep is expensive It takes a lot of time and labor for companies to compile, add to, clean and mail to their lists and other necessary maintenance They also use expensive mailing list software programs which can have costly bugs of their own

To help you plan ahead, before you order your mailing lists, ask when you can expect the order to arrive This can vary considerably from company to company Some companies can take up to two weeks or more

Mailing lists can usually be ordered in at least three formats - peel and stick (pressure-sensitive) labels or Cheshire (18 pound, spreadsheet-size computer paper–less common these days) or on a floppy disk (used less often these days) or CD You order peel and stick labels if they’re going to be affixed to your mailing piece by hand Or if you know how to import the lists you can order them on CD If your mailing house is going to do your mailing they’ll probably prefer the floppy disk or CD - check with them on this before you order

Mailing houses used to require the Cheshire format instead of peel and stick labels before the advent of computer technology and CD ROM They have machines that cut the printed Cheshire sheets into labels and glue them to the envelopes When ordering lists on CD, specify the format you want to use for conversion, usually ASCII comma-delimited You must know how to import it when you get the disk though The mailing lists will always be for one-time use only even if they’re on a CD or disk And some mailing list companies offer instant downloads of lists

Also if a mailing house is going to do your mailing, they may want the labels to be merged if there is more than one list, or bar-coded, which will save considerably on postage If you can’t answer their technical questions, have your mailing house call your mailing list rental company to work out the final details

Consider the cost to mail out your mailing piece You might want to test a small number on the list first if you have an expensive or heavy package

When you do mailings First Class, you’ll get returns from the post office at no additional charge If you mail Third Class (bulk mail), you won’t get returns They will be tossed out at the post office, UNLESS you’ve printed ‘Return Service Requested’ on the envelope Then each return (nixie) will cost additional postage (based on first class), or ‘Change Service Requested’ (cost based on piece regardless of weight ) Make sure to check current costs with the post office because they change their rates AND rules periodically

Always send any nixies back to your mailing list company, even if there aren’t enough for a credit, which is almost always offered This is a good practice especially if you plan to mail again to the same list soon They usually have a time limit as to when they can accept the nixies for credit because the lists you rented will become outdated fairly soon

When you contract to rent a list, some mailing list companies may require a sample mailing piece This is so the company can determine if you’re mailing a competitive or objectionable piece

The business of mailing list rentals is based on the honor system to a degree, but this honor system also has a built-in alarm: owners protect their data by planting decoy names (seeds) in the mailing lists they rent If a renter contracts to use a list on a one-time basis and uses it a second time, the decoy will receive the unauthorized mailing and report the misuse to the list owner The decoys are often friends or relatives of the staff of the companies Also, many mailing list companies employ companies that specialize in tracking or monitoring mailings to detect any misuse Since decoys are different for each list order, the renter who abuses a contract is easy to trace

Mailing lists are protected by copyright and trade secret law Any violation of a list agreement is strictly upheld by the courts Once a list rental contract has been broken, the list owner has legal recourse to sue for compensatory and punitive damages Punitive damages could amount to as much as three times the value of the list and more

All list owners have good reason to be so protective of their data List rental is a multibillion-dollar business There are literally thousands of lists available for rental in the United States alone

If all else fails, you can enlist the help of a mail list broker Brokers usually collect their fees from the mailing list company Check this out first

In any case caveat emptor! In any case you can reap rewards handsomely from sending out fliers, press releases, press kits, review copies of books and other materials via the direct mailing lists you choose

These tips and trade secrets should help self publishers, book publishers, entrepreneurs, home based or work-at-home and small business owners make better decisions when working with mailing lists, mailing list rentals and mailing list companies

Helen Hecker helps book & self publishers, heads Twin Peaks Press, a PR, offline-online marketing, mailing list, consulting, publishing co. Do AP press releases. Publish books, ebooks. ‘Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline’ for biz owners. Free co-op mailing service. Since 1982.
http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com

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Petals - Journey Into Self-discovery

Author : Adam Khoo

An issue that most budding authors will face is that of finding a publisher to publish their book So what is the way to go if you can’t find a publisher?

The answer to this question is simple, “If you can’t find a publisher, self-publish ”

In fact, there are stories of authors who first started only to discover that they couldn’t get a publisher at all and they had no money to self-publish

Truth be told, the first publisher that I engaged, they did not do a good job of marketing that was up to my expectation

I used to think that you need to have a very good publisher to distribute and market your book It’s really not true, especially in today’s world when you can do it yourself

Here’s some advice Even if you get the best publisher in the world, you have to take responsibility; you have to promote the book yourself! The publisher has got a hundred other of their own books, so they are have to divide their time among hundreds of books Thus only you can add the extra marketing value to your book And that’s what I did

Here are some cost effective solutions that one can find take

We know that right now, because of the internet you can publish your book through an e-book which costs you almost zero and will still enable you to reach a worldwide audience

What some of them have done is to publish their book as an e-book which almost costs nothing and when it became popular as an e-book, they made even more money After which they published the original e-book into a hard cover book So it can be done the other way as well

Here’s the example website that offers a Print On Demand service It’s called “alibris com” What they do is list your book there Anyone who wants to order it can go to the above website, download the form, place an order and they will print the book

The key advantages of this service are that you do need to keep stock and your customers also pay for the printing, which will save you a lot of money

In fact nowadays with the rise in technology, it is so easy to do a print on demand For those of you who are interested in finding a good publisher, an online publisher at that and make it available to the rest of the world this is a great solution

So next time you find yourself without a publisher, don’t fret and remember to use the solutions shared in this article

Adam Khoo is an entrepreneur, best-selling author and a self-made millionaire by the age of 26. Discover his million dollar secrets and claim your FREE bonus CD ‘6 Ways To Achieve Anything In Life’ at Paving The Way To The Top.

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The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts

Author : Victor Epand

Selling a book successfully requires a lot of effort and hard work Many authors fail to realize this And this is the reason why approximately 95% of them never get to sell more than 2,000 copies As an author, try not to leave any stone unturned for the promotion of your book

There are several strategies that can be considered for making this task easy Always remember, that it is you who will have to stand up and let the world know about your book You will have to choose the best marketing strategies and work hard, in order to achieve good sales To turn your book into a best seller, consider the following strategies:

There are several websites on the Internet that you can join for getting your book world wide media attention Get a book trailer done and post it on your website for the readers to see You can also get the book listed on sites like Amazon com/advantage and get the image of its cover printed on the flip side of your business card, so that more people get to know about it Get it converted into an e-book to reach more customers through the Internet

One unique promotion idea would be customizing your car’s license plate frame with the web address listed on it If your book is placed face out in the bookstore window display, more people would be able to see it while passing by It helps to offer a ‘buy two books get one free’ promotional strategy Meet people and talk to them about your book

If someone is willing to sell your books and make profit, sell them books in volume at half the price Think of selling 10,000 books at a time and not just one This will motivate you to achieve more You can also take help from your friends and ask them to sell your books at their point of purchase display

You can also include a display of your book cover in your email auto-signature It can be great if you carry a copy of your book in your bag, no matter where you go, because you never know whom you might come across Your books can be sold to seminar companies, as they would be more than willing to give it away for attracting more attendees Try establishing a partnership with an entrepreneur, so that he can also give away your books as part of his company’s marketing efforts Make sure that your book reaches all the target stores Whenever you attend a conference, leave a copy at the registration table

These are a few promotional strategies that can be implemented for achieving good sales However, you should think of as many unique strategies as you can

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about books. When shopping for books, we recommend you shop only at the best bookstores for used books, autographed books, and vedic books.

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