I have a costume shop and need to know a good place to advertise?

[Doran P]

You need to talk directly to the people most likely to buy from you.

The vehicle to accomplish that is direct mail.

To get a better response, you must include these elements:

1. A drop dead professional design and layout....if at first glance it looks home-made and cheezy, it will be assumed that any message you have in the card, has the same level of cheezy value.

2. A headline that solves the problem in one sentence, or that invlokes curiosity. Basically, your ideal customer should recognize immediately that you are speaking directly to him and his needs.

an example of a weak headline....recently I saw a post card from a mortgage company. the post card was featuring their new hot tips phone numbers. They had numbers for several different topics "14 tips to prepare your house for sale" ..etc. Their headline "Knowledge is Power" played nicely on their mailers knowledge theme. however, the headline gives the immediate impression that the post card is about education, not mortgages. Many potential mortgage buyers will have been lost at the headline, and the card sailing into the round file before their next heart beat.

3. A "worthwhile" offer. ...not to be confused with an "offer". Your purpose here is to to get them to contact you....and its really really important, because none of the other steps in the business relationship will ever happen till this first one does. ...so don't be conservative here.

if you ever have questions or ideas you'd like bounce around, feel free to contact me.

doran@doranpeck.com

good luck to you