HOW TO START AND OPERATE YOUR OWN VIDEO TAPING SERVICE

 This is a fabulously profitable business that ' s still opener.
 And for sure, if you want a business that takes no gala
 training, expensive office set - up or large investment - - yet is
 capable of fair halfway immediate profits - - this is it!

 Now is the nonpareil time to get coeval with your own Video Taping
 Service. Purchasing and learning how to operate, as well as
 maintain the necessary equipment, and the operating procedures
 have been so simplified that halfway anyone with the ability to
 read, can study a video instruction manual for a couple of hours
 and like now produce professional quality, highly marketable
 video tapes. Without a waver, video cd technology has go after
 Super 8 home movies as the most - belonging memory - saving system.

 One and two - person video aping services around the country are
 reporting gross earnings of $50, 000 to $100, 000 per year. One
 operation we looked into, reported an income figure of $80, 000
 during the preceeding 12 - month duration. They were accepting taping
 jobs from all residence and keeping 4 - hired teams overloaded.

 Marketing imagination, chemistry, and attention to detail are
 the keys to success in operating this business. Ideas and petition
 for a new things or events to record and preserve for later
 playback / glance, are coming in faster than one can list. Then,
 there are so many things to keep forever and minor details to take
 care of, that the only way to operate successfully is with a
 series of checklists.. for the person selling the service as well
 as the man or woman on the cd camera.

 But don ' t let mentioning of details to educe, petrify you off.
 On the contrary, you ' ll find video equipment easy and inexpensive
 to practice on, especially when compared to attaining a
 comparable degree of expertise with film. You can use the same
 record over and over again, and this is certainly a business where
 the period " practice leads to genuineness, " applies without
 qualifications or reservations.

 To start a video taping service, You ' ll need a video " porta - pack "
 scanner, and at least a half dozen tapes. Check around in your
 area. Start by " recital up " on all the available equipment used
 for video taping. A trip to your public library and few hours
 browsing thru the periodicals on video equipment should give you
 greater interest and a basic indoctrination. Next, check out the
 suppliers listed in the craven pages of your telephone directory.
 A few phone calls to those places listed, plus a few in - person
 visits, should supply you with enough catalogs and " idea
 material " to keep you radically industrious for a interval or more. These
 elementary learning steps are necessary as the foundation of your
 business.

 You should be able to buy a good quality video porta - pak scanner
 for about $850, with blank tapes for $20 or less. When you buy,
 always dicker with the dealer - - explaining to him that you ' re in
 the development of establishing a video taping service, and if he
 will include a supply of tapes with the watchdog, or at least
 give you an especially good price on them, you ' ll probably buy
 all your tapes from him. It may not be your regular way of buying
 things, but when you ' re starting a business, every dollar counts,
 so always shop around for the best prices.

 Once you have your video monitor, take it home and start
 practicing with it. Think of yourself as being on a afafir for a
 homeowner or an insurance company, beguiling a photographic
 inventory of the house and / or the inhabitant ' s sovereignty.
 Practice by making a disc record of your own household
 furnishings. Make a vinyl, then play it back and critique your
 work. Then do it again, and again, until you have a video you can
 use in sales presentations to homeowners and insurance companies.
 Video video recordings of this humanitarian are becoming extremely popular
 with homeowners and insurance companies alike.

 Then, look thru your weekend newspaper and make a note of the
 girls announcing marital dates. Open your telephone directory and
 call these girls on the phone. Ask them if they ' d mind if you
 came to their nuptial and make a video disc of it, without any
 obligation to them of course.

 So you go to the connubial, introduce yourself and practice making
 a video disc of the nuptial go. Take the record home and
 critique it. Keep this up until you have a disc you ' re
 moderately majestic of, and then call the bride. Ask to come over
 and let her see the record. Point out to her that you ' re just getting
 existent in the business, and you simply want her comments and
 suggestions. Chances are, when wench sees the recording, chick ' ll want to
 buy it.

 While you ' re in this learning incident of your new business, talk
 an apartment building and arrange with the manager to make a
 video vinyl of her view the apartment to you as a a implied
 occupier. Contact, a couple of property management and real estate
 firms, and do the same concept with condominiums and houses for
 sale.

 You might want to listen in on the police radio frequency, and
 make tapes of auto accidents, particularly those involving
 injuries. Another idea might be the taping of golfers practicing
 at the local driving ranges. Other ideas include any softhearted of
 sports practice audience, birthday parties, definite anniversaries,
 baptisms, bar mitsvah ' s, publicity stories, sales presentations,
 and " fireside chats " by company presidents or general managers.

 These are just a few idea suggestions you might want to pursue.
 You may find a certain big of video tapping assignment
 especially enjoyable and want to specialize in that area. Or you
 may want to consent the door open for any thoughtful of assignment and
 hilt each as the opportunity presents itself.

 Whatever you decide, there are a few " sure success " points to
 keep in mind as you begin to sell your services. Go back, the
 idea of having a video cassette system in one ' s home, is gaining
 in homage every day. There area already some two - million
 videocassette recorders in American Homes, with an estimated
 100, 000 being really into to new customers every month. Further
 estimates indicate that by 1990, at least one half of all U. S.
 households will own either a videocassette watchdog or a
 videodisc performer. All this means your market is growing and is
 expected to continue growing thru the end of this decade.

 Virtually everyone would like to see himself as a star in home
 movie. Thus, when you show him a video tape of himself in the
 starring role, he ' ll either buy the tape on the spot or want you
 to make a similar tape for him. Regardless of false modesty,
 everyone likes to show pictures of himself, and explain to his
 friends the different highlights of his or her life. With this
 understanding about your prospect in mind when you make a sales
 presentation, your closing rate should be quite close to 100
 percent.

 The best way to sell your services is to run a regular ad in your
 area newspaper. Such an ad might be similar to this one:

 VIDEO TAPPING SERVICES
 Whatever your idea or assignment, we can
 handle it for you! No job too large or
 too small! We ' re experts at taping weddings,
 anniversaries, birthdays parties and other
 special occasions. Commercial assignments
 also welcomed. Your satisfaction is guaranteed,
 so give us a call - - - 123 - 4567, right now!


 When you receive calls in response to this ad, your objective
 will be two - fold: Find out what kind of taping job they have in
 mind, and set up an appointment to show them an example of the
 kinds of tapes you can produce for them. Show them an example of
 your work. Once you ' ve met with them, and shown them a
 demonstration tape, you should have the sale in your pocket.


 Never meet with a prospect in a selling situation without some
 sort of demonstration tape to show him. Try to match the tape you
 show them, as closely to their wants and needs as possible.
 Wedding tapes you have made for prospective wedding clients, and
 shots of golf practice or instruction to golfing prospects.

 Besides an ad in the newspaper, and the yellow pages of your
 telephone directory, make copies of the ad and get it up on the
 bulletin boards in your market area. Send news and publicity
 releases to all the media in your area, definitely whenever
 you ' ve got an unusual or special kind of assignment.

 Have some impressive business cards printed, and hand them out to
 whomever, and as often as you can. The slogan on your business
 card might read: Have Video Tape Recorder, Available for ANY kind
 of assignment - - You name it and I ' ll tape it...

 Radio and / or television advertising will probably be more
 expensive than the resulting job assignments will sustain, so be
 very cautious when considering this type of advertising. However,
 it will very definitely be advantageous for you to pursue guest
 interviews on just about any kind of broadcast talk show. Talk
 show appearances and free write - ups about your business in your
 local newspapers are promotional angles to reach for at every
 opportunity. Always be on the lookout for promotional ideas and
 gimmicks that will result in area - wide publicity for your
 services.

 The bottom line is simply this: Don ' t be adverse to creating a
 story or set of circumstances if it results in a talk show
 appearance or newspaper write - up for you.

 How much should you charge for your services? Basically, the
 going rate in most large metropolitan area is about $50 per hour
 you spend on the assignment. Thus, you ' re going to have to learn
 to estimate pretty accurately just how long each job is going to
 take you to produce a quality recording. It ' s always a good idea
 to check out what other video taping services in your area, or in
 a comparably sized city in your neighboring states are charging.
 Newsletters and trade publications serving businesses of this
 type are available, however we don ' t know of any that have
 attained national prominence as of the date of this report. Check
 with your equipment supplier on any that he might know of...

 Success with a business of this kind does not require an office
 set - up or any special education or training. You can start it on
 a part - time basis from your home, and parlay it into a full - time,
 very high profit profession. The prestige this business will
 afford you is similar to that of a doctor.

 Starting with a young couple ' s wedding, if you follow up on each
 sale properly, you ' ll probably end up making tapes for the
 birthdays of each of their children, school graduations,
 anniversaries, more birthdays, family histories, last wills &
 testaments, and into a whole new cycle with each generation.

 You will need imagination, an affinity for people and selling
 moxie. Imagination is important because in many instances, you ' ll
 have to suggest an idea for your taping services. Although just
 about everybody would like to have a taped record of some event
 or part of their life to pass along to future generations of
 their family, most will not be able to decide what to tape until
 you suggest something to them. You ' ll also find that almost no
 one is aware of even half your capabilities until you make
 suggestions.

 Taking pictures of people requires an ability to get along well
 with people - - get them to relax, and immediately feel comfortable
 in your presence. You ' ve got to be persuasive while exercising a
 great deal of tact and diplomacy. Make friends easily and
 quickly. Be aware of, and understanding of wants, desires and
 ambitions.

 Actually, selling and getting along with people, are almost
 synonymous. Life is and on - going program of selling yourself to
 achieve your own wants and ambitions. Read a few good books on
 the art of selling, such as: HOW TO SELL YOURSELF by Steve
 Girard; and HOW TO SELL ANYTHING TO ANYBODY by Tom Hopkins.
 remember, selling is really just a matter of recognizing
 someone ' s needs and then satisfying those needs with a product or
 service.

 Your customer will automatically accept it as fact, that you have
 the professional knowledge and equipment to fulfill their needs.
 All you have to do is reassure them, listen to their reasons for
 these needs, and in closing the sale, become a good friend to
 them.

 And that ' s it - - the plan can enable you to get started with your
 own Video Taping Service. By following our suggestions, and with
 a bit of energy as well as persistence, you should be able to
 begin with very little start - up investment and quickly begin to
 realize the fruits of your own profitable business.

 If you have any questions, or run into special problems feel free
 to call me or drop me a line. Having laid it all out for you, the
 rest is up to you - - - Your future is in your own hands...

HOW TO MAKE IT BIG WITH A USED BOOK STORE

Operating a used book store is a lot like owning a recycling
 center - not too glamourous until you take a look at the publician ' s
 bank account.

 This is an example " absentee - hotelier " type of business, or a small
 investment type business for someone to start while gate down
 a regular, full time job. The type of person " best - profitable " to
 running a successful used book store, is a man or woman who loves
 to read, has cool books over the years and enjoys
 associating with people of consonant interests.

 Start - up risks average high, with the average time expression needed
 to become firmly established, about 3 years. After that " becoming
 established " stage however, you should be able to enjoy clout
 of a business without extreme market fluctuations, plus an income
 close to $50, 000 per year or more.

 Ideally, a used book store will need a market family of at
 least 50, 000 persons to platform it. Try to locate your store in a
 " high traffic " area, as near as possible to a college or
 university campus. Something to bear in mind is the shopping
 habits of the average used book buyer: First, he is a browser. He
 notices your shop, drops in and begins looking around to see what
 philanthropic of books you have available. If he spots something that
 really interests him, he ' ll probably buy then and there. If not,
 and provided you ' ve made him stroke in clover this first time in
 your store, he ' ll be back - dropping in to browse whenever he ' s in
 the area.

 Shopping Malls are an select locations for book stores.
 Locations near other, or " new " books stores are also very good -
 if the buyer doesn ' t find what he wants in the " other " book
 stores, he ' ll check your store. Grocery store shopping centers
 are oftentimes fortuneless locations for book stores of any considerate.

 It ' s important that there be a lot of casual strollers in your
 setting area, and that you revivify these people to drop in,
 and browse around.

 If you want the entire front of your store to be a show
 window... take pains to arrange your window display in an
 unstopped fashion, pageant the kinds of books you
 have... However, a window display is not really necessary... more
 important is a window for the passers - by to see into your
 store... At any degree, if you do go with a window display, keep it
 low - never more than 36 inches high flying start a lot of room for the
 people passing to see in youe store, and notice the people
 browsing thru your books. We know of one successful operator who
 had members of his family, connections and friends, purposely
 " browsing " thru his store, just to project that affectionate of carved figure for
 the store.

 Once you have your store locality selected, stain the entire
 interior in a rayless, broiling color, such as mahogany. Stick a
 lighter shade of indoor / outdoor carpet throughout. The lighting
 should be indirect, and reasonably subdued to give the store a warmish
 perception.

 Locate your checkout obverse counterpart to one of the side
 walls... You don ' t want it blocking or guarding the easy entry or
 exit from your store. You want your customers to endure opulent
 just visiting your store. in other words, do gadget you can
 to spur the browser, because it ' s proven time and time winnings
 that the browsers are the book buyers. Allow the people to come
 and do oftentimes as they please; to pick up swing thru the books
 that interest them; to read them and " fall in enjoyment " with them.
 These will be your real book buyers.

 Your book shelves should run along each side wall, and across the
 back of the store. Don ' t build them more than six feet high.
 Factor these shelves into sections about four feet wide, and
 at the top of each section, place a sign
 indicating the general subject matter of the books to be start up
 in that section.

 Paper the walls of your store, from the top of your book shelves
 to the ceiling with posters - - colorful and descriptive junket
 posters, broadway show billboards, operate posters and full color
 dust jackets from books that are perennially popular.

 The next apparatus is to build or buy half shelves, tables and
 revolving racks for other or more books. The half shelves - - about
 4 feet wide by 4 feet high and akin to book cases in your
 home - - should be located at right angles to your wall shelves, and
 in the rear of your store. The tables should be about 3 feet wide
 by 4 feet long, and about 30 inches high. These also should be
 located at right angles to your wall shelves, but closer to the
 front of your store. A revolving wire form, to clasp currently
 popular or specially featured books, and located at the front of
 your store, will be a momentous extra merchandising effort that ' ll
 really pay off in sales of your books.


 In locating your half shelves and tables down the middle of your
 store, stagger them - - one 3 feet from the wall shelves, the next
 one 6 feet out, then 4 feet and so on. This will allow people to
 be " seen " in your store; cut down on the appearance of a formal
 or military layout, and project a more casual tactility for
 browsing and this is precisely what you want. This amicable of
 arrangement will cost you some space, but it will be worth it
 with another traffic.

 Another merchandising idea that works very well is a couple of
 revolving wire racks on wheels... These you push outside and
 position near the entrance to your store. You can characteristic popular
 paperbacks, and a few oversize hard cover books with golden,
 flashy colors in these racks.

 Your store hours should match those of your neigbors... In fact,
 you cold " jump off to a quick start, " by opening a half hour
 earlier than your neighbors. Use his opening half hour to take
 care of paperwork, and get yourself organized for the day. When
 the early shoppers see you ' re open early, they ' ll begin coming
 into your store to " browse and snuff time " while they wait for the
 other stores to open.

 If you cannot be there to " open the store, " then hire part time
 help. The best arrangement is house wives or college students in
 4 hour shifts at the minimum dinero.

 First off, write out a list of duties you want each clerk to
 perform while he ' s on shift. In addition to captivating care of sales
 transactions, you might want him to do some stocking, dusting,
 cleaning, sorting and prcing.. Regardless, you ' ll have fewer
 problems and enjoy prominent profits if you formally write these
 " shift duties " out, and post them as business requirements, and
 tell them when you visit for hired help.

 Look for, and try to hire only book lovers who are personable,
 outgoing, and have some sort of business aptitude. You the train
 these people in all phases of your operation, with the knowing in
 mind that they will run the store in your absence, and eventually
 be your store executive. the best way to find such people is by
 talking with your customers, observing which might be willing to
 work for you, and which of them might best fulfill your needs.

 You ' ll need a outside sign for your store - preferably one that
 hangs right angles to the flow of traffic in front of your store.

 Many successful used book stores utilize hand - carved wooden
 symbols, while others display painted symbols with calligraphic
 lettering. By all means, spend the extra hundred dollars or so to
 have spotlights installed on your store front, focusing on your
 store symbols. Backlit resourceful symbols just don ' t create the
 moneyed spitting image necessary for the success of a good used book
 store

 Newspaper and / or broadcast advertising will be much more
 expensive than it ' s worth. Your best stake is to create a
 well-off sensibility and open supplication for browsers, price your
 stock fairly, scrape together on personal service, and let
 word - of - ingress advertising and time do the rest.


 Even so, you should run an ad in the unprincipled pages. feasibly and ad
 in the college paper, and from time to time, personal sales ads in
 your local shopping papers. Inexpensive flyers inviting people in
 to exchange books, or to just browse, can be printed at your
 local quick print shop and handed out or placed under the
 windshields of cars in the larger shopping center parking lots.
 Advertising, and special sales during holiday periods such as
 Christmas, Gigantic ' s Day and Father ' s Day are much quite
 effective in bringing new customers into your store.

 Most used book store entrepreneurs use their own book collections
 as start - up inventory base. In addition, talk to as many
 neighbors, friends and relatives as possible for the donation of
 books. Then start making the rounds of all the garage sales and
 flea markets. You should have at least 10, 000 books in stock when
 you open for business - and that ' s a lot of books. Search for
 books to sell - those you can buy for 25 cents or less - - in all
 thrift shops, Goodwill stores and Salvation Army outlets. Church
 bazaars and estate sales also sometimes provide you with almost
 " complete " libraries.

 You might place a small ad in your newspaper announcing that
 you ' re looking for good used books to buy. Generally, you
 evaluate a book according to the price you think you can get it
 for in your store. Then you subtract two thirds of that total,
 and offer that as your " buying " price. Always separate the books
 you feel certain you can sell from those you aren ' t sure about.

 It ' s going to take awhile for you to become proficient as a book
 buyer, but with practice and some experience, you ' ll quickly
 develop the " intuition " you need to realize a profit on every
 book you buy. Always flip thru the pages of each individual book,
 and be sure of its condition before you quote a price. In many
 instances you ' ll also find that out of a box of 25 books, you ' re
 only interested in buying 10... The seller will generally be
 wanting to get rid of his books, now... And for a couple of
 dollars more than your " bid price " on the 10 books you want,
 he ' ll let you have all 25 of them.. This is like a windfall to you
 because you can always use the " unwanted " books as leader items
 or extras to generate traffic during two - for - one sales; all books
 on a certain table for just a nickel each; or your choice of free
 books for everyone coming in to browse on certain days..


 You should carry hardcover as well as paperback books. Pay no
 more than 25 % of new price for a mint condition hardcover book,
 and buy only those you are certain can be sold in your store. pay
 no more than 10 % of the new price for a mint condition used
 paperback, and steer clear of the hard - core sexually oriented
 books.

 Visit the libraries and book stores in your area. Observe what
 people are interested in reading and what they ' re checking out or
 buying. Stock your store with these kinds of books.
 
 below is a listing of the kinds or types of books you should
 consider stocking in your used books store:

 BUSINESS BOOKS: These should include books on leadership, career
 advancement, time management and people management.

 HOW - TO BOOKS: These should include all the self - help and
 self - improvement manuals you can find - - mail order, auto repair,
 carpentry, metalwork, home building, gardening, and business
 start - up.

 COOK BOOKS: You ' ll probably be surprised at how many people buy
 books relating to the culinary arts. A well stocked cookbook
 section will mean definite profits for you. Forget about books on
 dieting, home economics, and etiquette - - these just don ' t do well
 in used book stores.

 SPECIAL INTEREST BOOKS: Watch and listen to the people of your
 area... Be on the lookout for people into World War, history,
 aviation, sports perfection, movies and just plain old book
 collectors...

 PAPERBACKS: Women ' s romance, science fiction, mysteries, and
 historical novels are all good movers - - currently enjoying an
 upsurge in popularity and sales. These will be the " best movers "
 in your inventory, so develop good sources of supply, and price
 them for fast sales.

 Building and maintaining your inventory, while continuing to
 rapidly turn that inventory over, can be handled in a number of
 different ways. It ' s not a good idea for you to exchange two or
 three of your customer ' s books for one of yours. There ' s always a
 variance in price, plus you may not want the type of books your
 customer is offering to trade.

 The most feasible plan seems to be to give the customer a " credit
 chit " for each book you buy from him. Simply
 have a supply of business cards promoting your store, printed at
 your local quick print shop. On the back of the card, have them
 print something along these lines:

 " The bearer of this card is entitled to _______________ cents
 credit on 50 % of the listed price of any book at Ye Olden Book
 Store / s / Your Signature. "


 Then when someone brings in a couple of books to sell, you pay
 him in credit chits, marking in the amount and signing your name
 on the card. An easier way might be to have your signature
 printed on the cards when you order them - - you or your clerk would
 simply fill in the credit amount, and emboss the card with a
 notary - type embosser.

 Usually, you allow 20 to 25 cents for mint condition paperbacks,
 and about one quarter of your selling price for hardbacks. Always
 make sure the customer understands that regardless of how many
 ' credit chits " he has, the credit chits can only pay for half the
 purchase price. This of course, is to protect your cash - flow
 problems, and your income of " hard money. "

 Many used book stores add to their income potential by adding
 tape cassette lending libraries. These are a real money makers
 with a kind of service tat lends out " books on tape " and special
 learning programs where portions of the rental fee applies to the
 purchase of the original tape cassette.

 A great many used book stores add to their income by running mail
 order book selling operations in addition to the retail business.
 This is a natural, either for a retail operator wanting to expand
 his market or a mail order operator wanting to increase his
 income.

 TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE START - UP COSTS....



 1, 000 TO 1, 500 SQUARE FOOT STORE

 RENT ( 1st and Last month ' s ).......... $1, 000 to $2, 000

 UTILITY & PHONE DEPOSITS............. $50 TO 300

 INSURANCE ( 1st Quarter Payment )....... $100 TO 200

 LICENSES & PERMITS................... $50 to 250

 INVENTORY............................ $2, 500 to 5, 000

 SHELVING & REMODELING................ $2, 000 TO 5, 000

 MISC ( Decorating, checkout counter
 cash register, supplies........ $1, 000 to 1, 500

 LEGAL & ACCOUNTING................... $600 TO 1, 200

 ADVERTISING & SIGNS................... $1, 000 TO 3, 500
 __________________

 TOTAL................................ $8, 250 TO 18, 950


 OPERATING CAPITAL.................... $5, OOO TO 12, 000

 Entrepreneur should have enough operating capital in reserve to
 not only keep the store operating for the first year, without
 counting on anticipated profit, but also enough for unseen
 emergencies without having to count upon income from the store to
 see him through.



 TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE MONTHLY OPERATING COSTS...

 PAYROLL............................. $1, 500 to $2, 500

 OWNER / OPERATOR SALARY............... $1, 000 to $2, 000

 RENT / LEASE.......................... $ 600 to $1, 000

 ADVERTISING........................ $ 500 to $ 1, 000

 DEPRECIATION........................ $ 100 to 150

 UTILITIES & PHONE................... $ 150 to 300

 PRINTING & STATIONERY................ $ 100 to 200

 SHIPPING COSTS...................... $ 100 to 150

 INSURANCE........................... $ 50 to 100

 MAINTENANCE......................... $ 50 to 100

 MISCELLANEOUS....................... & 100 to 150
 ____________________

 TOTAL............................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650

 OPERATING COSTS..................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650

 ANTICIPATED SALES................... $5, 000 TO 8, 500

 NET PROFIT BEFORE TAXES............. $ 800 TO 850

 PRO FORMA ANNUAL INCOME ( B / T )....... $9, 600 to 3, 000


 A word of caution: Though you must project an open, COMFORTABLE
 invitation to browsers and would - be book buyers, you MUST also
 inconspicuously guard against shoplifters and outright thieves.
 The best is to place mirrors strategically throughout the store
 so you can see your customers from the checkout desk at all
 times. Your smaller and more expensive books should be kept up
 front SO that you can see them and what your customers are doing
 with them, without seeming to be guarding them. There are a
 number of theft prevention gadgets and devices available, but
 even more important is alert hired help that can keep an eye on
 the customers without making them feel they ' re being watched.

 The risks of starting a used book store are high for the dreamer
 unaware that it ' s just another retail business and should be
 handled as such. Well organized and intelligently - operated used
 book stores are very stable, and they provide a very comfortable
 income for the owner - operator willing to persist thru the
 start - up period.

 This can be the kind of business you ' ve always dreamed of owning,
 but you ' ll have to have the patience to let it grow and the
 perseverance to see it thru to its ultimate success. With these
 thoughts in mind, I say reach for the sky and may the angels of
 paradise always be smiling upon you with endless good fortune!

INSIDER ' S SECRETS TO YOUR OWN MILLION DOLLAR MULTI - LEVEL EMPIRE BY MAIL AND OTHERWISE

 There seems to be any number of appealing Multi - Level Marketing
 programs available these days. Our researchers haven ' t analyzed
 them all, but based upon the appeal of those for the
 participants - - most of them look as though they could put money in
 your pockets. However, don ' t ever delude yourself into thinking
 that multi - level marketing won ' t cost you anything nor require
 much of your time, or work on your part. Indeed, successful
 selling, and most assuredly, multi - level marketing, will require
 an investment - - decication - - and a lot of hard work!

 However, before you " sign - up " for any MLM deal or begin one of
 your own, it ' s work to pay you to do a infant bit of market
 research relative to the sales imaginable of the total deal. for
 instances, if you can sell to a " waiting market " you ' ll make
 money. But if the people you attempt to recruit as duplicates of
 yourself endure that they ' re racket to have a hard time selling it
 to someone else, then you haven ' t got much of a winning MLM
 program; regardless of how much money you claim they can make, if
 only they ' ll get out there and sell!

 This specifically applies to MLM programs that offer " limited
 appeal " products such as gourmet recipes, health foods, household
 " knick - knacks ", books on sewing or magazine subscriptions.
 Beware also of deals that require you to purchase an inventory or
 maintain a certain sales level. Look for the " bad parts " of an
 offer, and then hash over these against the ease with which you ' ll be
 able to make a sale. At the bottom line, if you have a hard time
 selling it, then the people you recruit to sell it for you will
 find it even harder to sell, and that ' ll be the nib of your " big
 money " muti - level program.

 There are various reports, manuals, books and other
 publications that " supposedly " tell you how to attain long green in
 mail order, party plan selling, and even conduct - corner sales. the
 occurrence is, all of these " how - to " publications try to instruct you
 how to put a mailing piece well-adjusted, how often to send for you
 offers out, and even the force of " regulation & quality "
 within your offer, but very few if any come right out and help
 you get your offer to your most likely customers. As you know,
 unless an interested buyer sees your offer, you ' re not liveliness to
 make any money.

 What I ' m saying is that most people strike around, waste time,
 spend hundreds of dollars, and never make any money simply
 because they don ' t know how to get their offers to the
 people - - without it costing them an arm and a leg...

 Here ' s how it ' s done: Regardless of what your offer entails, put
 well-balanced the most lively and mass - appeal " one - page " advertising
 circular you can come up with. As I ' ve so often stated in the
 foregone, the best - selling and most - productive circular is one that
 " tells the reader you have a solution to his many money
 problems. " In other words, with your circular, promise him a way
 to make himself well-to-do, and he ' ll not only be interested, he ' ll jump
 on your program.

 Next, make it as easy as possible for the people who see your
 offer to respond. That is, addition to an order coupon at the
 bottom of the advertising circulars describing your offer, give
 him the chance to get involved in your program for least possible
 cost.

 If you ' ve put in sync a " winning offer " most people seeing it
 will want to know more about it, but if you charge them $5 for
 registration or enrollment fees, you ' ll lose about half of those
 " enthusiasm in, " because they ' re overwrought of being oppressive off. But if
 you charge them $2 or less, halfway all of the people seeing your
 offer will " take a chance, " just to find out what cordial of deal it
 is you ' re offering.

 In summary, you must have a one - page advertising circular that
 really appeals to most of the people CHANCE TO SOLVE ALL YOUR
 MONEY PROBLEMS! It must include a coupon the reader clips off and
 sends in to you for enrollment or registration in your program.
 It has to be priced at $2 or less to " get everbody " to at least
 check it out. And, it must be complete on one page to grip your
 printing costs in line.

 Assuming you ' re with us, and organized consequently far, take this
 advertising circular you ' ve made up in original form, to a quick
 printer in your area. Ask him to print up $10, 000 of these
 one - page advertising circulars for you. This will cost you
 approximately $200.

 If you don ' t have the money, you can either work an arrangement
 with the printer to pay him in 30 days, or include him in as a
 " silent partner " in your program. Ask him to read over your
 offer, explain how you intend to get it to the people, and about
 how much money you expect to gross from it. Then, simply offer to
 split the proceeds if he ' ll take your printing costs for you.

 While the circulars are being printed, and the ink is drying,
 line up your initial array efforts. The first substance is to
 contact the Young person Scout and Brownie organizations in your area.
 Arrange with the leaders of these groups to pay them $10 per
 thousands if they ' ll station people at the exits to all the
 shopping centers in your area and pass out one of your circulars
 to everyone as they concession the shopping center. Simply tell them
 that you ' ve got 10, 000 of these circulars to hand out, and that
 you ' ll pay them the $100 for handing them out, on the first of
 the month.

 The best compassionate of places to handout your circulars are those that
 quality discount stores, recycled garments stores, and inventory
 lowering sales. Next on your list of places to hand out
 circulars should be Flea Markets, Swap and Shop events, and even
 garage sales. Anywhere there ' s a lot of people congregating or
 coming & haste, is a good place to hand out your advertising
 circulars - - all in your own home locality and without postage costs.

 Now comes the good part... While your " hired helpers " are handing
 circulars out for you at strategic locations throughout the area,
 you should be calling in person on every shopkeeper and store
 owner or manager in the area.

 Show them each copy of your circular. Explain your program to
 them, and offer to cut them in on the profits if they ' ll help you
 hand them out by dropping one in with the purchases of each of
 their customers. The stores won ' t want to become involved in
 extra bookkeeping nor the handling of money for you, so you ' ll
 have to devise a method of knowing where your orders come from - - a
 code for each of the stores handing out circulars for you.

 This is very simple. Just assign a different " department number "
 to each store, and when you have the circulars printed for each
 store, insert the department code in the address the reader is
 supposed to send his order to...

 Generally speaking, you should offer to supply the circulars
 without cost to the distributors, including the " special coding "
 for each store. Thus the need for a good working relationship
 with the printer in your area. The amount of commissions per
 order received that you allow to each store should range between
 15 to 30 percent, but of course, always try to finalize each deal
 for the least amount.

 Be sure to keep records of al your in coming orders. It would be
 wise to have a separate record book for each distributor. Thus,
 you can review the number of orders received from each
 distributor ' s customers with him when you pay him his commission
 at the end of the month. At the same time, you should jot the
 name, address and phone number of each person sending in an
 order, onto a 3x5 index card. Arrange thee cards in alphabetical
 ad zip code order, ad store them in an old shoebox. When you have
 10, 15, or 25 thousand of them, you ' ll be able to sell them at $1
 per name to any number of mailing list brokers.

 Another thing you ' ll want to do, each envelope you receive - - clip
 the stamp off and save these in still another shoebox - - stamp
 collectors will pay you $10 to $25 for each shoebox full of
 stamps you can collect. After you ' ve clipped the stamps off,
 place these envelopes with your customer ' s return address in
 still another storage box. When you have several boxes full of
 these envelopes from people who have spent money with you, there
 are any number of " list buyers " who ' ll pay you for them.

 Once you ' ve got your town saturated with circular distributors - -
 be sure to leave a stack in all the barber shops and beauty
 salons, as well as at the counter in cafe restaurants, bowling
 centers, theaters, and the " lodges " of all the fraternal as well
 as labor unions in the area - - your next move is simply to
 duplicate these efforts in a neighboring town or city.

 Basically, we ' re talking about multi - level marketing and total
 advertising - recruiting efforts on your part. Your main thrust
 should be to " pull in " as many people as possible - - show them the
 program, and if they want it, let them get in on it - - if not,
 forget about them and move on to the next prospect... This is
 called " prospecting, " and it ' s going to cost you money and time,
 regardless of what you ' re trying to sell.

 So you put together an " invitation type announcement " which is
 your initial 42 advertising circular and you get it to as many
 people as possible. They pay you a " cover charge " of $2 to find
 out what your program is all about. And before you get all upset
 and throw this report in the waste basket, think about this:
 Let ' s suppose there are 42, 000 people in your town - - 30, 000
 adults, and 18, 000 separate families. If each of these 18, 00
 families were to send you $2, how much money would you have?
 436, 000 right? Now then, tell me whether or not you ' d like to
 have an extra $36, 000.

 The people send you $2 for a " look see " at your program for
 solving their money problems. You send them back your multi - level
 program brochure which describes how they can duplicate what
 you ' re doing and make a bundle of money for themselves, and the
 cost of the supplies for them to get started. At the same time,
 you send out another one - page advertising circular that offers
 business success reports. Just another for instance, let ' s say
 that 30 % of the people receiving your MLM Brochure enroll and
 send for a start - up kit or supplies. You ' ve expanded your MLM
 distributorship and made money, right? And now, let ' s suppose
 that of all the people who ' ve sent $2 to find out what your
 program is all about, a total of 40 % spend $5 with you for one of
 your business success reports - - $36, 000 gross income for initial
 expenses of $600 - - then, let ' s say your MLM brochures cost you
 $100 per thousand for total expenses thus far of $2, 400 - - plus
 another $600 for your business success reports circulars - - with
 another $11, 250 as your commission from these reports, for a
 total gross income thus far of $47, 250 - - then, 3rd class postage
 and envelope costs of $2, 550... Subtract your expenses from your
 gross income of $47, 250 and you should end up taking $41, 700 to
 your bank, catching up on all your bills, or spending on a long
 overdue vacation to Acapulco or Hawaii...

 That ' s it! That ' s how easy and simple it is and it actually
 works! Once you ' ve covered your entire state in this manner,
 simply start renting mailing lists of people listed as
 Opportunity Seekers, and shotgun your basic page, $2 offer to all
 of them. By following these instructions and working according to
 this plan, you should easily take in more than a million dollars
 within the next twelve months.

 We ' ve been using the attached " $2 circular{ for some time now,
 and it ' s proven to be a fantastic winner for us from the
 start... We had 10, 000 printed at a cost to us of $200 - - paid a
 couple of cub scout troups $100 to hand them out for us; and from
 the initial 10, 000 circulars we handed out, we received 2, 341 $2
 inquires=$4, 682... And, another 353 orders for the MLM Manual
 offered on the same circular=$7, 060 - Total income form our
 initial $300 investment was $11, 742...

 Since that time, we ' ve expanded our market, and we ' re now putting
 out 10, 000 of these circulars each and every week.

 You can do it too! All it takes is that first circular and then,
 distribution. If you ' d like to make some of this " big money "
 we ' ve been talking about - - feel free to duplicate our circular
 with your name / address on it, and get it out to the people in
 your area.

HOW TO START A ROOMMATE FINDING SERVICE

 The average income for the owners of this old softie of business in
 California is $65, 000 a year. Best of all, here ' s a business that
 you can start with an absolute minimum investment. Practically
 anyone who lives in a whistle stop anywhere in the country can expect to
 do just about as well, and with a bit of imagination, mixed with
 some business " hardihood, " you should be able to do even better!

 Income and market potentials for a service such as this are perfectly
 fantastic! rent increases that have far outpaced legal tender increases
 have brought about a tremendous need for a method to gratify
 the cost of housing. Also, many apartment complexes are being
 converted into expensive condominiums. These two factors have
 created a problem of gantic proportions for millions of people
 who are concerned about keeping a roof over their masses.

 You can make big money solving that problem with your own
 Roommate Finding Service. We ' re process to tell you how.

 Many of the nation ' s leading economists are predicting this lenient
 of conscious arrangement to be the " money - saving answer " for the
 apartment dwellers for the rest of this century. Others are
 predicting the roommate finding service to become as popular as
 the employment agency by 1990.

 This is an ideal absentee landlord business. Most of those operating
 on the West Coast have a woman doing the managing - - sometimes as
 just the manager, and sometimes as the lessor - boss. This
 apparently has something to do with the nature of the business,
 and how most people seem to naturally stock a woman to fid the
 right roommate for them.

 As to the price structure, I suggest something companion to the
 successful employment agencies. Charge everyone a $25
 registration cost to start the ball rolling toward finding them a
 suitable roommate. You take a Polaroid snapshot of each
 registrant, have them fill out an appropriate application card
 which will indicate the beneficent of roommate they ' d be happy with,
 and start searching through your files for people with coincidental
 likes and dislikes.

 To get prompt, you ' ll want a bank reference; a legal reference,
 a telephone, a business name, letterhead paper, envelopes, and
 business cards; and office supplies such as 3x5 brochure cards;
 typewriter; file cabinet; and printed questionaire - application
 form. You ' ll also need a constraint disclaimer, which can be
 combined with the applicant ' s agreement - to - pay contract. Once
 you ' ve raise a roommate for your prospective client, you should
 have it spelled out in your agreement that each of the " matched
 roommates " will pay you 15 % to 20 % of the first month ' s rent. You
 should charge a bit extra for particular requirements, and
 perhaps somewhat less for older persons, or foe persons with
 handicaps.

 The approval or disapproval is left up to the parties involved.
 You simply look through your registration card file, pull five or
 six apparently suitable roommates, call each of them on the phone
 and arrange separate meetings for them with your client. Your
 client reports back to you, and tells you his or her decision,
 and you call the person chosen and finalize the deal.

 Good advertising will play a most important part getting this
 business off the ground. Make a good circular or " flyer "
 detailing your roommate finding services, and listing your phone
 number. Get these flyers on as many bulletin boards in your area
 as possible. Get them in grocery stores, barber shops, community
 colleges, beauty salons, bowling alleys; the list of places to "
 billboard " your flyers is endless. Another idea is to set up
 " take one " boxes in as many retail places of business as you can.
 Don ' t overlook the value of placing your flyers on
 windshields - - - particularly around apartment complexes, and in the
 parking lots of colleges in your area. You might even pay the
 downtown parking lots attendants to slip one under the windshield
 wiper of each car he parks on Monday. If you do a good job with
 the make - up of your flyer, and use your imagination in getting
 them into the hands of your prospective clients, you ' ll have no
 trouble moving your business into the black quickly.

 Even so, you ' ll need to run regular ads in your area newspapers.
 The best headings to run your ads under is the Personals Column.
 Your ad might read:

 NEED A ROOMMATE? We ' ll find the ideal roommate for you!
 Everything handled on a strictly confidential basis. For details,
 call Jan, Mary, or Carol, 123 - 4567.

 Within only a couple of months, you should be well enough
 established, and with a income large enough to afford an office
 location. When you establish your office, do some publicizing of
 your business with press releases to all the media in your area,
 and plan some fanfare that will bring attention to your services.
 Tacking up on your office walls the enthusiastic testimonials of
 people you ' ve have matched with roommates is a very good idea.
 Later on, you might want to input all your client information on
 computer, and take video pictures of each client for showing to
 prospective roommates. In the final analysis, once you have your
 business underway, your future success will be limited only by
 your imagination.

PARTY PLAN SALES A veritable Gold Mine For Wealth Builders

 Believe it! You can easily make $50, 000 in the next six months or less! After that, you can practically be guaranteed at least that much, but probably much more, every year for the rest of your impulse, without really working.

 The way to accumulate this all heart of wealth is with your own business of selling merchandise via The Party Plan. few other businesses can so easily give you this charitable of wealth as swiftly, and keep your income growing.

 A recent evaluation, circulated among hundreds of successful direct sales merchandisers across the country asked this question: " If you were to start over today, qualified what you know now, and could swarm the one method of merchandising that would make you really well-off in the shortest title of time, which would you select? " Of those questionnaires requited, 94 % stated they would go with The Party Plan Method.

 The sharp party plan operators ( and the richest ) simply retention motivational sales meetings for their sub - distributors about once a month. During these meetings, they are teaching their sub - distributors how to recruit new hosts and hostesses, or perpetuate and wife host and hostess teams.

 A host or hostess can be any person who is agreeable to haul a sales party at his or her house. Midpoint always, this person is rewarded for having the party with a percentage of the total business or a agreed upon exclusive merchandise bequest.

 These people invite friends, neighbors and kinsfolk to the party. Your sub - distributor doesn ' t have to do much more than make contact with the people willing to hold parties, supply the merchandise, and sometimes offer to help or be there to make sure portion goes smoothly.

 Here ' s the old softie of money you can realize with this business: Say you have ten sub - distributors, and each one arranges only five parties a month, and each party does $200 in gross business. That ' s a total of $10, 000 per month in total hole. And from that total locale, you make only 30 %. Figure it out for yourself. This would give you a personal income of $3, 000 for thirty days in which you did no more than purchase one or two motivational sales meetings!

 Besides each party is at least guaranteed to give your sub - distributor at least two more hostesses for booked parties, and those booked parties will heel still more hostesses. this chain is endless, and will build as fast as you can keep up with it.

 Bunch up an evening for your party - - any evening excepting Friday through the weekend. Generally 7: 30 is the most convenient time for the greatest number of people. If it ' s harrowing for whatever reason to clench a party in your home, arrange with a sidekick to purchase the first couple of parties.

 Make up a list of 30 to 40 people you can invite to the party. They can be friends, neighbors, kinsfolk or people you know from work, even acquaintances with whom you do business such as the check - out clerk where you buy your fodder or people you proper at the bus stop on your way to work.

 After formally inviting these people, you then call to treasure them of the party at least a couple of days before the date of the party. This is important, because of the original 40 people you invite, at least 15 will not show because it slipped their minds, last minute event that pains change in plans, and those that really weren ' t interested in the first place.

 On the day of the party, get your merchandise display set up early. The party should be guilty in the largest room in the home - - - usually the breathing room - - with the merchandise display the center of attraction.

 The merchandise should be set out on a sturdy pabulum esoteric with a good white or refulgent colored essence, and the merchandise should be arranged by group or type - - - the jewelry items well-adjusted; perfumes bat oils and colognes calm, fine well-adjusted, and so on.


 Try to put a bit of imagination and showmanship into your merchandise display. This will have the spin-off of making your merchandise look much more invaluable than it really is. Those that do put a flair into their merchandise displays find that it increases their sales by as much as 25 percent over an ordinary parade.

 For instances, a high intensity resplendent focused on the display will engender the jewelry to sparkle, the stainless steel to gleam, and the brassware to stream like estimable heirlooms.

 Another idea would be to tack a piece of velvet onto a 4 by 6 stub piece of plywood and use it to display rings, earrings, necklaces and watches.

 In jewelry sales, another idea is to extirpate a take after on a wall near the merchandise display. If you or your hostess has room, you might want to set up a card cooking, occult with an expensive looking piece of material, place a relish slop type resonate on this meat, with a chair available for your guests to sit at the subsistence while they try on the various items. The guests then make their selections after determining how each item looks on them.
 
 regardless of what you do to make it easier for your guests to select and buy, a hand reproduce is an absolute must whenever you ' re fanfare jewelry. It would be tactful to have several hand mirrors available - - - two for your merchandise display nutrition, and an extra one on the ' admiration " cheer.

 Besides your merchandise display, be sure also you ' re organized with your refreshments. These usually consist of coffee, kegger, soft drinks, cookies, or other " bit ' items. The host or hostess usually makes arrangements in advance for one of the guests to abetment with the persuasive of refreshments.

 Be sure you have nametags for your guests, and a couple of felt tip marking pens. And don ' t ice the order forms. these should be standard two - piece self - portrait forms - - - one copy for your customers and the other for your files. The best idea is to buy the order forms. All these items are commonly available in stationery stores. Rubber stamp your name and address on each copy of each order form, at least a couple days in advance of the party.

 Still another item to retain is your merchandise catalogs. Be sure you have a good supply on hand, rubber stamped with your name and address. Later on, when you ' re established and the money is rolling in, you can have your name and address imprinted on your catalogs.

 If you don ' t have a merchandise catalog, scan making one of your own. A estimable and easy - to - follow - manual " HOW TO PREPARE YOUR OWN CATALOG " ( book #1203 ) is currently available. Another manual that will be of select interest to you is the " CLOSEOUT MERCHANDISE MONEY MAKING MANUAL " ( book # 1668 ). Both these manuals are available from the dealer who supplied this report.

 While we ' re on the idea of catalogs, we ' d like to point out that a lot of Party Plan Merchandisers are also dealers for the extra - income book catalog, " Unique Books ". They fondle that partly everyone is interested in extra income ideas, and the Unique Books catalog has a wide selection of reports and manuals describing supplemental income opportunities. Start one of the book catalogs with guests at the party results in an on game flow of book orders for months afterward.


 Back to the Party Plan. about half hour before your guests are due to begin arriving, turn on all the lights in the room where the party is to be duty-bound. This will give the room a phosphorescent, warmish excitability conductive to a party kind of atmosphere. And by all means, be sure to turn off all the radios, stereo and TV sets. Eliminate any and all noises from other rooms in your home that might distract the attention of your guests.
 
 Every party should be planned, and follow a prescribed format agenda. This is because without a plan, it ' ll just be a gathering of people wasting time at your home instead of theirs. you must have a plan to know what to do next in order to achieve the desired results. Having a " pattern " is also the easiest way to teach others to duplicate your success, and idea of following a successful formula is a proven method of making the most sales in the least time.

 Phase one is the greeting and get - acquainted time slot - - about thirty minutes. The hostess greets the guests as they arrive, prints a name tag for each, introduce them around, gives them a catalog, points out the refreshments, and leads them into conversation with the other guests.

 The second phase is the " game - playing " portion of your party. This phase is used to relax everybody and get them involved in the party. It should last about 15 to 20 minutes.


 Next comes the merchandise presentation by the hostess, who shows and describes each item on display. If you have a jewelry available, ask different guests to try on particular items and show the others what these articles look like in use. the length of time spent on this phase of the party will depend in large on how much merchandise you have on display, but generally, you shouldn ' t spend more than about 20 minutes showing and describing your merchandise. Then give your guests about 10 to 15 minutes to personally inspect and try on the items that have aroused their interest.

 You should mingle and converse with the guests during this time period in order to answer specific questions or explain the possible uses of an item, where it might look good in the buyer ' s home, and any interesting tidbits relating to where an item came from, how it was made, or the satisfaction of an earlier buyer.

 When you seem to have answered all the questions, and everyone appears to have made their selections, start writing orders. Don ' t hesitate to ask for orders. Writing orders should take about 15 minutes, and then you should let the party begin winding down.

 During this time, mingle with your guests and anyone showing a spark of interest should be approached with an offer to serve as a future host or hostess. As each guest starts to leave, thank them for coming and walk with them to the door.

 The total length of your party shouldn ' t be much more than two hours. Time and time again, it ' s been proven that you can do everything necessary, and make the most sales in this period of time. You lose effectiveness and make fewer sales with appreciably more or less time.

 There are a couple of proven ways to recruit new hosts or hostesses from the people attending your party. First of all, watch the guests as they are looking over the merchandise, examine, admire and wish for something they don ' t quite have enough extra money to buy. When you ' ve determined that a particular guest wants a specific item but can ' t quite fit it into the budget, simply take her aside to a secluded corner of the room, and explain privately that you ' re willing to give her the item she has been looking at and wanting, if she will agree to invite her friends and relatives to a party in her home.

 This approach works almost every time, and your only expense is the wholesale price of the item you give her as a free give.

 The second sure - fire approach is to offer a cash incentive. You do this by offering to allow 5 % to 10 % of the total sales volume resulting from the party staged for you by this type of recruit. Ther ' s a plus factor for you on this one, because you ' ll be getting the enthusiastic participation of the host or hostess on the selling side. Once you ' ve explained to them how your program works, they ' ll generally do everything they can to make the party a huge success, and thereby increase their pay for the evening.

 When you give a gift to the hostess for having the party, the presentation should be a special ceremony staged with all the " Show Biz " flair you can muster, at the end of your merchandise showing. However, when your gift is a cash award, carry your presentation over to the next party and make it a big production of it as well. Don ' t forget to invite the " guest of honor " to your next scheduled party for the big presentation.

 During these presentations many of the other guests will be favorably impressed, and as a consequence will ask for details.

 Actually, your recruiting efforts should begin when you start taking orders. Every person you talk with should be offered the opportunity to hold a party of his or her own. Then just before the party begins breaking up, ask you guest as a group if any of them would be interested in holding a similar party in his or her home. You ask those who voice an interest to stay for a few minutes in order to work out the details.

 You should have an Appointment Book for this scheduling. Simply ask what date would be favorable for them, mark that date in the book, along with the name and address and telephone number. Then assure each that you ' ll call in the next day or two to work out the details.

 Many party plan merchandisers also use a letter. They write a letter extolling the fun and excitement of the parties, explaining briefly the opportunities to receive free gifts of their choice or big commission checks. Then they invite the letter recipients to call for complete details on how they can stage a party. These letters are usually printed in volume, and then slipped inside the covers of the catalog these merchandisers give to each person attending the parties. Sometimes these letters are handed to each guest as the party breaks up.

 Some party plan merchandisers also run small classified ads in the area newspapers. This advertising plays up to the opportunities available to make regular commission checks ( extra income ) simply by holding parties in their home. people interested are invited to phone for more details. response to this kind of ad is generally very good, with the conversion rate better than sixty percent!

 Most people tend to feel party plan merchandising is exclusive to women, but don ' t you believe it! It ' s true that women generally establish themselves more rapidly than men with this kind of sales operation, but over the long haul there are just as many men operating successful party plan sales operations as there are women.

 Men are usually not as adept in establishing social " chit - chat " relationships as women. Therefore, the man who wants in on the vast potential of party plan merchandising should consider working with a women.


 A husband and wife partnership is an ideal working arrangement. An acquaintance, girlfriend or relative will often work out just as successfully. The basic requirement is simply that the " couple " must function as a team, with the individual talents of one complementing those of the other.

 Probably one of the greatest secrets of success with this kind of sales operation is that in order to make the sales, and talk about $400 parties, you must have the widest selection of merchandise possible.

 Many beginners, not understanding that offering the potential buyers a wide and varied selection of items to choose from is what builds your profits in a hurry, base their entire merchandising plan around a selection that ' s of special interest or particularly appealing to themselves It ' s all right to include the items that you especially like, but don ' t base your entire merchandise line on the things you like you ' re selling to others not yourself!


 Most successful party plan merchandisers advise that you should display at least forty different items, and more if you have the supplier contacts or the buying expertise. The actual decisions on which products to carry and display at your parties should be based upon these four factors: 1 ) The kinds of gift items, personal decor articles and general merchandise the people in your area are buying; 2 ) The style or fads currently in vogue in your area; 3 ) Contacts with enough suppliers who can furnish you with the kind of merchandise your potential buyers want; 4 ) Your ability to shop among the various suppliers, and verify that you are getting the very best merchandise value obtainable.

 Still another point to consider before buying merchandise to display and sell; Do the prices you ' re having to pay for your products wholesale allow you enough room for a reasonable profit when compared to your time and expense?

 Do some market research relative to your ambitions; get answers to the questions we ' ve set forth for you, and when you ' re satisfied that you understand the workings of Party Plan Merchandising, grab the opportunity and run with it!

GARAGE SALE PROMOTING: FOR QUICK, EASY MONEY

 Pick halfway any site or property in the country, drive through any
 middle class quarter or residential area on the weekend, and
 you ' re sure to spot at least a half dozen garage sales.
 What ' s being affected at these garage sales? The accumulated " filth "
 people no longer use or want beguiling up space in or around their
 homes. Are they making any money with these garage sales? You ' d
 better believe they ' re making money! It ' s not at all uncommon to
 make $600 with a weekend garage sale. It is hard to put on a
 profitable garage sale? Well, yes and no. It really does take
 some of your time, and also requires an awareness of a few
 merchandising tactics. But the problem in running a successful
 garage sale are small in comparison to the profits.

 Who are the buyers, and how do you get them to come to your
 garage sale? Your customers are ball game to be " everybody, " and you
 get them over to your garage with a infant bit of advertising and
 promotion.

 Let ' s look at the background: Everybody accumulates the gentle of
 garage sale items that other people are searching for, and are
 willing to buy. These items radius from no longer wanted or
 outgrown items of costume, to furniture, kit, knick - knacks,
 books, pictures and toys. Many garage sale items are objects of
 merchandise purchased on impulse, and successive settle to be not what
 the buyer wanted. He discovered too late that he really didn ' t
 have a use for it, or he no longer has a need for it. Many items
 endow at garage sales are gifts that have been disposed to the
 seller, but are the wrong size or incorrect choice for the
 receipt.

 The problem wit most people is that they haven ' t the time to
 accumulate up all the items " just taking up space " in and around
 their homes and staging a garage sale to get rid of them. Many
 people don ' t know how to stage a garage sale, and many other
 people caress that putting on a garage sale is just too much bother
 and work.

 This is where you enter the picture. Your enterprise will be an
 evolvement garage sale of items donated and uncaring from these
 people who lack the inclination to put on a garage sales of their
 own.


 Step one is education: Spend a few weeks visiting all the garage
 sales, swap meets and flea markets in your area. Find out what ' s
 being offered for sale, what people are buying, and how the
 merchandise is being enticed. often an item is tagged with a
 price, but the seller is open to partly any impartial offer from
 the customer. Another article you want to make a mental not of is
 the way the merchandise is displayed and how the customers are
 allowed to browse.

 You start your own garage sale by cleaning out your basement,
 attic, closets and garage. Speak to your family and friends;
 tell them what you ' re spirit to do and ask them for donations of
 no longer used or unwanted items. It ' s here that you ' ll get your
 first experience in negotiating, and basically, an agreement for
 you to display and sell other people ' s merchandise for a
 percentage of the sale price. You ' ll find people explaining that
 they really don ' t have a use for a specific item or thy really
 don ' t want to keep storing it, but because of expressive
 reasons, " just detestation to give it away. "

 Once you ' ve had a inconsiderable experience with this type of seller, you
 will be able to advertise in the newspaper that you buy garage
 sale items, or take them on consignment for a percentage of the
 final sales price.

 It ' s best that your wife grip the garage sale itself - - - greets
 abeyant customers, " shows them around, " and often engages
 them in conversation. If it ' s a woman staging the garage sale,
 then arrangements should be made to have another woman " mind the
 store " while mademoiselle ' s out digging up more items for sale.

 The advertising angle is really quite simple, and shouldn ' t cost
 very much either. You should run an ad in your area shopper ' s
 newspaper for about three days in advance of, and up through the
 day of your sale. Once you ' re operating on a full - time, every
 day of the instant schedule, you ' ll want to change your ad schedule
 and the style of your advertising. But in getting in process, go
 with small classified ads simply announcing your garage sale,
 emphasizing that you ' ve got something of interest to
 everyone - - individual form A to Z. To get ideas on how to write
 your ad, check your newspaper for a span or so; cut out all the
 garage sale ads you can find; cement them up on a piece of paper.
 Then, with a bit of critical analysis, you ' ll be able to
 determine how to write a good ad of your own by determining the
 good and bad in the ads you ' ve nonchalant. Something to revoke:
 The better and better you sale, the improved and better your
 " getting ad hoc " ads should be. And the secret to standout
 garage sale profits is in having the widest or largest selection
 of merchandise.

 You should have made an old - fashioned " sandwich board " sign to
 display in front of your house when your garage sale is open for
 business. This will pull in your neighbors, if you haven ' t
 already informed them, and trail the people driving by.
 Sandwich boards are sometimes set out at explanation traffic
 intersections nor far from the site of the garage sale, to
 frame attention and point the way. ( Check local ordinances to
 see if this is permitted in your area. )


 Another " sign idea " practiced by a few sharp operators is the old
 " Burma Shave " roadside pointers. Here, you simply take a few
 pieces of cardboard and tack onto the power poles a about 200
 yards intervals on a thoroughfare leading to your garage sale.
 You ' ll create a lot of traffic for yourself! Simply call the
 public library and check out a book on limericks, adapt the ones
 you find humorous, and start making notation. Once word here Though:
 Be sure to check your local ordinances before you start nailing
 symbols to power poles.

 By all means, search out and use all the free bulletin boards in
 your area. It ' s better, and usually much more profitable, to take
 the time to make up and attention grabbing circular you can post
 on these bulletin boards than just using a written 3 by 5 card
 announcement.

 To do this, pick up some " transfer lettering, " go thru your
 newspapers and old magazines for interesting illustrations,
 graphics and pictures, then with a little bit of imagination,
 makeup an 81 / 2 by 11 poster type announcement of your sale. When
 you ' ve got it pasted up, take it to any quick print shop ad have
 them print up 50 to 100 copies for you. The cost should not come
 to more than six or seven dollars.

 If you make this " circular / poster " up with versatility and
 long - time usage in mid, you can use it over and over again,
 simply by pasting a new date. In case you were puzzled when we
 talk about " pasting " this is simply pasting another piece of
 paper on to the overall page. Say you have a circular with a date
 of Wednesday March 1st, and you want it to read Thursday, July
 16th. Rather than do the whole thing over, simply write out the
 new date with your transfer letters on a separate sheet of paper,
 cut it out to fit in the space occupied by the old date, and
 paste the new date over the old date. A good paste to use for
 this purpose is rubber cement. That ' s all there is to it; the
 printer does the rest.

 Now let ' s talk about the ' insider secrets " of drawing people into
 your sale, and merchandising " gimmicks ' that will result in the
 maximum sales and profit for you. First,
 call attention to your sale. Don ' t be shy, bashful, or
 self - conscious about letting everybody for miles about know that
 you ' re having a garage sale. Some sharp operators do the next
 best thing to having the Goodyear blimp overhead: They rent
 miniature blimps, send them up above the housetops, and tether
 them there on their sale days. Of course this giant balloon or
 miniature blimp has some sort of sign on the side of it, inviting
 people to the garage sale! this is one of the strongest available
 advertising ideas for pulling " traffic ' to a sale of any kind.
 For more details, write to Pie - In - The - Sky Company, PO Box 5267,
 San Mateo, CA 94402.

 You have to give your sale some flair. Put some posts up across
 the front of the property and run some twisted cree paper between
 them. Even better than crepe paper, run some brightly colored
 ribbons. Invest in some colorful pennants and fly them from
 temporary flag poles. And don ' t forget the balloons!

 Make your garage sale a fun kind of event with clusters of
 balloons anchored to your display tables and racks. Be sure to
 " float " them well above the heads of your customers as they are
 browsing through your merchandise displays.


 Cover your display tables with colorful cloths. Don ' t hesitate to
 use bright colors with busy patterns. Regardless of what you
 sell, effective display is still predominately essential!


 You cannot " dump " items haphazardly on a table, sit down and
 expect to realize great profits. The people doing the most
 business - - - making the most sales - - are the ones with interesting
 displays, action and color.

 Try to have as wide a selection of colors as possible in your
 clothing racks, and mix them for a rainbow effect. Make sure that
 your jewelry items shine and sparkle. Arrange them in and with
 jewelry boxes, jewelry ladders and other items sold for the
 purpose of showing off jewelry while keeping it neatly organized.
 We know of one lady who regularly arranges jewelry items in a
 battery operated lazy susan. Seeing this jewelry slowly turning
 on the lazy susan never fails to draw attention.

 Think about it, and then study the methods of display used by
 " rack jobbers " in the stores in your area. These are the wire
 racks that usually hold card packaged items. This kind of display
 rack would lend itself beautifully for anchoring a cluster of
 balloons. Keep these things in mind, and build your individual
 displays as part of the whole; make it pleasing to the eye as
 well as convenient for your customers to browse through and
 select the items that appeal to them.

 Look for some kind of interesting and unusual item to call
 attention to your sale - - something you can set up or park in front
 of your house during your sale. Some of the displays we ' ve seen
 along these lines include a horse - drawn surrey, a restored Model
 T, and old farm plow. But anything of an unusual and interesting
 nature will do the trick for you. One couple we know put up a
 display using a manikin dressed in an old time farm bonnet, long
 dress and apron. The display depicted a farm woman of old,
 washing clothes with a scrub board and two steel wash tubs. You
 have to believe this drew crowds and made people talk!

 Wherever your imagination takes you, you have to be different and
 distinctive, or you ' ll get lost in the hundreds of garage sales
 going on all around you. If you ' ll take the time to employ a bit
 of imagination and set your sales up with the kind of flair we ' ve
 been talking about, you ' ll not just draw the crowds, you ' ll end
 up being the one holding the most profits.

 It ' s almost a compulsion of many women to go shopping, to search
 for the interesting and sometimes rare and valuable items. This
 fact will keep you as busy as you ' ll ever want to be - - staging and
 holding garage sales. The market is so vast, and the appetite so
 varied, that anything from a brass bedstead to a used dairy of
 somebody ' s long - forgotten grandmother will sell, and sell fast at
 garage sales. Put it all together, use a little imagination, and
 you ' ll easily make all the money you want!

A CHECKLIST OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER BEFORE YOU BUY A FRANCHISE

Franchise businesses such as Wendy ' s, McDonald ' s and Wage - In - The - Box are booming. The people setting up franchise ideas and businesses know a good phenomenon, and are really promoting this idea. Franchises for just about every embryonic congenial of business are being struck in ever ripening numbers.

 Some franchises are very good. They treat both the franchisor and the franchisee very well. Others are very one - sided. Still others are midpoint total rip - offs that trap one into paying ten to fifty times the actual rate of the business idea, equipment, or whatever it is they are trying to get you to buy.

 Before putting any money into a franchise, you should examine figure completely. We ' ve prepared a list of questions you should be asking, and should get great answers to before investing.

 1. Has your attorney studied the franchise contract, discussed it completely with you, and do you both approve it without reservations?

 2. Does the franchise require you to take any steps which are either illegal or even border on illegal, or are otherwise questionable or unwise in your state, county or station?

 3. Does the franchise give you an exclusive territory for the hank of the franchise term, or can the franchisor sell a second franchise in your territory?

 4. is the franchisor connected in any way with any other franchise company mobilization complementary products or services?

 5. If you answered yes to the above questions, what is your protection against the second franchising company?

 6. Under what situation can you confine the franchise contract, and at what cost to you?

 If you sell your franchise, will you be compensated for your goodwill or will it be lost to you?


 8. How many years has the firm been offering you the franchise been in operation?


 9. Does the company offering you this franchise have a reputation for honesty and fair dealing among its franchisees?


 10. Has the franchisor shown any certified figures indicating exact net profits of one or more of its members, and have you personally checked the figures with these people?


 11. Will the franchisor assist you with: a ) A management training program; b ) An employee training program; c ) A public relations and advertising program; d ) Capital; e ) Credit; f ) Merchandising ideas?


 12. If needed, will the franchisor assist you in finding a suitable location?

 13. Is the franchising firm adequately financed so that it can carry out its sated plans?

 14. Does the franchisor have experienced management, trained in depth?

 15. Exactly what can the franchisor do for you that you cannot do for yourself?
 
 16. Has the franchisor investigated you carefully enough to assure itself that you can successfully operate a profit to both of you?

 17. Does your state have a law regulating the sale franchises, and has the franchisor complied with that law to your satisfaction?

 18. How much equity capital will you need to purchase the franchise and operate it until your income equals your expenses?

 If you can get the answers to each of these questions, and those answers satisfy you, then you ' re probably thinking about buying a pretty good franchise deal. However, if you ' re in doubt about any of these points, be sure to check it out and know the answers for certain before you invest or sign anything.

 Buying a franchise can give you a measure of security, and in some cases, sure - fire profits. Business surveys show that fewer than 20 percent of all franchised businesses fail. This is in comparison to a 60 to 80 percent failure rate for ALL new businesses started in this country each year.

 Information regarding specific franchising ideas can be found in the franchising directories, which are generally available at the local library. Often there will be a notice posted in franchise outlets themselves.

 If you can afford the entry into this business, statistics are on your side. You are now armed with some CAUTION and STOP and GO signs!