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*COUPONING HOW TO RUN AN EASY AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS SELLING SPECIAL COUPONS. and *Look in your mailbox. What do you see almost every day? Coupons. Look in *your newspaper. What do you see EVERY day? Coupons. It seems like coupons *multiply like rabbits. Why? Prices are rising, unlike a majority of *people's incomes. and *Coupons only make good financial sense. But what if you discovered that *someone's making money from coupons? They are, and so can you, by selling *a special type of coupon. * *Manufacturers use coupons primarily to attract new customers. The money *savings entice people to try products they might otherwise not have. The *same can be true of local businesses in your area. Sure, they put coupons *in their newspaper ads. But you can give them the opportunity to get their *coupons into the hands of the exact customers they need, and at a far better *price than the local newspaper. You can produce a Local Business Coupon *Book easily, inexpensively, and profitably, if you follow the steps outlined *here. and *The first step in running a successful coupon publishing business is to *find the businesses that will advertise with you. Any business that relies *on local advertising is a good prospect. Here is a short list of businesses *you should consider: Theaters; Hair Salons; Fast Food Restaurants; Record *and CD Stores; Dry Cleaners; Supermarkets; Car Washes; Muffler Shops; Ice *Cream and Frozen Yogurt Shops. Basically, any store that could reasonably *use a coupon to draw in new customers is a prospect. You may want to *specialize in one area, such as fast food restaurants. Or, cover the whole *gamut. Look through your phone book for businesses you might not have *thought of. and *When you approach these businesses, target a group within a five mile *radius. It will be more time-efficient for you, and you can use the area *grouping in your sales pitch. Stress the fact that around 80 percent of *their business will come from that five mile radius. Tell them that you *plan to distribute the coupon book within that radius, so it will draw the *best results. and *To be really profitable, you should get at least 15 - 25 businesses in the *book. The more, the better. How much to charge? That depends on how many *books you will be distributing, and what your costs are. One coupon book *producer charged $100 for a coupon going to 1,000 people in an eight mile *radius. His total cost was $300, and he sold 11 businesses coupons. This *gave him an $800 profit in one week! and *The second step is to create the coupons. If you have a computer, the job *of designing the coupons can be quite easy with some of the word processor/ *graphics packages available. If not, talk to your printer. He or she will *more than likely have some ready-made templates for coupons. You can just *fill in the blanks. * *Be sure to put YOUR business name on the coupon (in small print, so it *doesn't distract). Subconsciously, people will remember your business name *and associate it with saving money. In any case, you will need to put the *advertising business' name, address, phone, logo (if any, many businesses *will have them ready made for you to use), the amount of the discount, any *conditions they may have, and an expiration date. Your printer can help you *with the layout, if you are inexperienced, or you can find easy to use *layout boards at an office supply or art store. and *Assembling the coupon books can be done in a number of ways. The easiest, *and recommended, way to start is by simply stapling them together. Only *one staple will be necessary, on the left side of the stack of coupons. *Make a cover coupon with your business name and the name you've chosen for *the coupon book. Put that on top of the stack before you staple. Other *methods are perforating/padding, and perforating/perfect binding. Your *printer should be able to provide pricing information on these and other *binding methods. and *The third step is distributing. You have already identified the radius *within which you will distribute your coupon books. There are two methods *of delivery you can use. You can either deliver them by car or foot, or *you can bulk mail them. * *Bulk mailing is infinitely easier and more efficient, but requires a bit of *paperwork and registration fees. If you are delivering in one zip code *area, you can use either five digit presort mailing, or carrier route *presort mailing. * *You should check with your postmaster regarding rules and fees. As soon as *you have mailed the coupons, deliver a copy of the coupon book to each *business that has advertised in it, so they know that customers will now *be bringing them in. and *The fourth and final step is follow up. You need to know how your coupon *books are doing. Ask the businesses that advertise in your book to write *the amount purchased by the coupon-bearing customer on the back of the *coupon, and to hold them for you. * *Stop by at least once a week and pick up the redeemed coupons. Besides *giving you purchase totals that you can refer to in future sales to new *customers, this also gives you a chance to talk to the businesses about *purchasing coupons in new books. You can show them right then and there *the results they have gotten, and they should be enthusiastic about signing *back on. and *It is important to maintain a good relationship with the businesses who *advertise with you. Show them that you are committed to helping them *increase their business. If you care, so will they. This is a fun *business that can be started part-time, and can easily move to full-time. *Remember the man who cleared $800 his first week in this business. He was *just starting out, and you can do that, too! and and and and |
