Georganne Fiumara - How to Start a Home-based Mail Order Business

Georganne Fiumara is a home business expert and consultant and the founder of Mothers Home Business Network and their popular website, HomeWorkingMom.com. Womans World Magazine has chosen Georganne as one of Americas Ultimate Experts on earning money at home.

More than 100 of her articles on home business topics have appeared in national publications such as Family Circle, Womans Day, New Business Opportunities, Income Opportunities, and American Baby, and she contributes to numerous websites. She is also the author of Never Be Unemployed Again and How to Start a Home-Based Business to Become a Work-At-Home Mom (Globe Pequot Press).

Writing a book is never a singular pursuit.

This one would not have been written if not for:

Jan Melnik, thanks for the recommendation...

Mike Urban, Elizabeth Taylor, and Katie Benoit at Globe Pequot Press...

And, of course, the fans of HomeWorkingMom.com: I appreciate the way youve shared your hearts and your businesses with me throughout the years...

And my family, for always supporting my work at home.

Active customer: Any mail order buyer who has ordered within the last twelve months.

Address correction requested: An instruction a mailer puts on an outgoing letter asking the postal service to supply the new address if an addressee has moved. The mailing piece is returned with the new address indicated. There is no fee for first-class mail. ACR can be used to update a mailing list.

Add-on service: Consumers can contact the Direct Marketing Association to request being added to particular mailing lists.

Additions: New names that have been added to a mailing list.

Advertising rate card: Printed information that details advertising cost, ad sizes, and production details for potential advertisers.

Agency discount: The discount or commission that an advertising agency receives for placing an ad.

Airtime: The amount of time available for a television or radio ad.

Assigned mailing dates: Dates specified for mailing to a rented list.

Audience: The number of people who will have the opportunity to see a specific promotion or advertisement.

Augmentation: Adding information to one mailing list from another mailing list.

Back-end marketing: Selling a product or service to someone who is already your customer.

Bar code: A series of vertical bars that represent numbers of a delivery point and a zip code. Bar codes help speed mail, because they can be read by high-speed machinery. Mailers receive discounts if their mail is bar coded.

Bill enclosure: Promotional piece that is added to the envelope when a bill is sent out.

Bingo card: A promotional reply card that is inserted in a publication.

Brochure: A pamphlet that is designed and produced with the purpose of promoting a product or service.

Body copy: The main portion of the written text in press releases or advertisements.

Bounce-back: An offer put inside the package of a fulfilled order. It encourages the buyer to make another purchase.

Bulk mail: Third-class mail. The mailer presorts a minimum of 200 pieces of identical mail and receives a discounted postage rate. Bulk mail takes approximately two weeks to be delivered. A yearly fee is charged in addition to postage.

Bullet: A bold dot used for emphasis. Usually placed in front of important features or sentences.

Business-reply card (or envelope): A card or envelope provided to prospective customers enabling them to mail information requests or orders without having to pay postage. The mail order company must pay the postage plus additional fees upon receipt.

Call to action: Encouraging the audience to react appropriately to a marketing effort.

Card deck: Advertisements from a variety of businesses that are printed on small cards, packaged together, and mailed to magazine subscribers or other consumers with common interests or needs.

Classified advertisement: Small-space advertising that is placed in columns in designated areas of publications.

Clip art: Photos and drawings that can be purchased by the public for use in advertising.

COD: Cash on delivery. A buyer pays for an ordered product plus an additional charge when delivery is received.

Cold list: A list of prospects that has not been mailed to or tested.

Collate: To assemble pages or other elements of a mailing in the correct sequence.

Communications software: A program that allows a computer and modem to give you access to a bulletin board or an online service.

Compiled list: A mailing list comprising names taken from telephone directories, other directories, and public records. The compiler owns the list and can rent it for one-time use or lease it for unlimited use.

Conversion rate: The percentage of direct mail recipients who become buyers.

Copy: Words or text written for publication, broadcast, or production.

Co-op mailing: Two or more offers from individual advertisers that share the cost of a mailing.

CPM: Cost per thousand. Used when pricing advertising.

CPO: Cost per order. A mathematical formula that divides the total cost of a mailing or advertisement by the total resulting orders received.

Creative: The creative aspects of a catalog or advertisement including the design, copywriting, and photos or illustrations.

Database: A computerized compilation of related information designed for ease of use and retrieval.

Database marketing: The analysis of customer data used to target specific market segments.

Data card: A card that specifies the details of a mailing list such as cost per thousand and demographics.

DBA (doing business as): A registered business name that is different from that of the business owner (e.g., John Smith DBA Home Direct Marketing).

Decision maker: The person at an address who has the ability to authorize an order.

Decoy (or seed) names: Names added to a rented mailing list by the owner to help ascertain if the list is being used more times than agreed upon.

Deliverability: The percentage of a rented list that can be delivered by third-class mail.

Demographics: The age, income, location, education, family size, and so on that are shared by a group of people who are on a list or in a target market.

Direct mail: Promotional material sent through the mail to a targeted list of potential customers.

Direct marketing: Includes direct mail and most other media. It is marketing that seeks an immediate response (a request for information, an order, and so on) that can be tested and tracked. Also called direct-response marketing.

Discretionary income: Income 30 percent greater than the local cost of living plus taxes that is available to spend on luxuries or other nonessential purchases. Direct marketers often choose households with high discretionary income, because they can afford to make purchases.