MAKING MONEY WITH YOUR PC AND A FAX/MODEM Introduction One of the most exciting technological breakthroughs of recent years has been the advent of affordable Fax/modem hardware. Once only obtainable by large companies, now practically anyone can acquire and operate virtually his/her own fax communication system. But, can an individual make money from the system? The answer is most definitely yes. Most everyone knows of the money-making potential of tele- marketing--we've all received those phone calls, usually during dinner--or some other most inopportune moment. However, whereas the use of basic tele-marketing has perhaps been over-exploited, the use of fax-marketing has been under- exploited. This document deals with this concept (fax-marketing and fax- communicating). This concept can be applied both as a primary function of advertising or communicating with customers for an individual company and as a secondary function as an entire business service provided to various client companies/individuals/organizations. The United States has undergone a massive upheaval for the past 3 recessional years. There have been more foreclosures than any other time in American history. Businesses have been wiped out, men and women have lost their homes and businesses. The one factor which makes a business or non-profit organization successful is its ability to communicate, advertise and strategize fast and inexpensively. The traditional advertising methods available today are costly and usually never produce tangible results for the small organization. The American Public has needed a fax-marketing/communicating system in order to become competitive again. Advertising is a fact of life for the Small Business Entrepreneur. Non- Profit Organizations need to communicate with local, regional and national corporations. HomeBased Workers, a growing number in the United States, need an advertising and communicating method which is fast and affordable. As you know, advertising smartly has never been easy. Usually the advertising done by most small businesses in the United States has been done by chance. There has been a need for a new way of advertising which is fast and affordable. A new way, a non-traditional way of doing business is now possible. The need for forward-thinking advertising methods requires the high tech approach of doing business. Although doing business with computers, telephones and fax machines has been and continues to be an everyday occurrence, the limits have not been pushed far enough, especially in the area of fax- advertising. The proper use of sophisticated modems and software will allow you to transmit your message fast and for less money than you ever thought possible. Using this concept is a new approach to marketing that will have to be learned and studied. The usage of this marketing approach is going to mean a re-thinking of the message being sent, the quickness of the message, the flexibility of the approach and the power of the personal computer. How to Apply the Concept of Fax~MarketingTM Now that you have an idea of the basic concept, it's time to think about using this concept to market your products and/or services. You are going to have to re-think your approach to marketing (getting your message out). The following sections are going to address three distinct groups. Although each group is distinct, there are some similarities in the way the Fax~MarketingTM concept can be used by all three groups. Small Business Entrepreneurs As a Small Business Entrepreneur, you need to market smartly and maintain the marketing effort under your direct control. In order to be competitive in the marketplace, use Fax~An~AdTM Software to communicate often, without restrictions and for pennies per qualified contact. Fax~An~AdTM Software is your software of the nineties. If you are going to revamp your approach (ie. buy smarter, produce faster, distribute more efficiently, communicate and advertise for less) then you must remove traditional methods. You must work smarter, not just harder. Remember: "Everyone Reads A Fax"TM. Non-Profit Organizations As a Director of a Non-Profit Organization, you need to efficiently and inexpensively promote events, solicit donations, and thank companies for their support after an event has taken place. Promoting events, soliciting donations and thanking your corporate supporters can now be done using Fax~An~AdTM Software. You can virtually communicate with other businesses and every non-profit organization each week of the year. This is not far fetched. Just imagine every school in the United States with the Fax~An~AdTM Software Program. As an example just imagine athletic boosters clubs needing to communicate quickly, effectively and on a regular basis with the corporate/business community. There is not one Local Based Community Organization that could not benefit from this concept. HomeBased Workers All HomeBased Workers in the United States such as the Shut-In Workers, Craft Producers and General Business Services who have all found success in working from their homes need the Fax~An~AdTM Software because it is effective, inexpensive and under their direct control. As a HomeBased Worker you have chosen the home as a work place because of personal circumstances and possibly limited financial resources to compete in the market place. Often the most difficult aspect of your homebased business is the marketing of the product and/or service. The Fax~An~AdTM Software significantly increases your chances for marketing your products and services. The marketing you can do is now automated, inexpensive and can afford you with more time to produce products and/or service clients. The Fax~An~AdTM Marketing Concept Using The Fax~An~AdTM Marketing Concept (Fax~MarketingTM) is a new approach to marketing that will have to be learned and studied by the three target markets. The usage of the marketing approach is going to mean a re-thinking of the message that is being sent, the quickness of the message, the flexibility of the approach and the power of the personal computer. One of our approaches to marketing the Fax~An~AdTM Software Marketing Program is to ask questions of potential customers, provide them general background statements on the problems and then provide them with the Fax~An~AdTM Software Solutions. This approach will provide real solutions to real problems. Ask yourself the following questions: 1. Ever feel like getting rid of that worthless salesman, who gives away the farm to make one lousy sale and then still wants his full commission? Problem: There's no salesman in the world who will work as hard as the owner of the business or a manager who really cares about the bottom line. If you're the owner or the involved manager, then you have to care. The goal of your business is to grow, excel and capture as much of the market as is possible. Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you can market your products and/or services with confidence. You'll be able to market your products and/or services without giving up the farm. You will be able to make the offers that make sense to your target audience and to your bottom line. You won't have to worry about the salesman giving away the profit. Your offers are now in your direct control. If the customer wants the offer, you'll confirm that fact on the phone and then follow through with the order. 2. Ever wonder why your salesman or organizational representative spends more time calling than making sales? Problem: Marketing to qualified clients is an art. It takes time to call thousands of customers. Most sales people can't continue the up beat talk on the phone hour after hour. By the time they've telephoned for several hours or made dozens of in-person calls, they're tired and usually don't sound enthusiastic. Ever get a telemarketing call from someone selling at the end of the day? Most of the time you know they're not interested in what they're selling. Now, you know what we mean. Although making calls in an office is not exciting, it's been proven that staying in the office can be a retreat for many sales people, who really don't like to make in-person calls and face the customer. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, the quality of your message is never going to waiver. Your message will sound as good at the end of the day as it does early in the morning. What's even better is that your sales representative can't market in the middle of the night or most weekends, BUT your Fax~An~AdTM Software Program can market all day, all night and every weekend. The qualified leads, generated by the Fax~An~AdTM Software Program will allow the salesperson to concentrate on finalizing the orders and servicing the customer properly. 3. Ever feel like telling the ad agency where to go? Problem: Most advertising agencies must sell quantity in order to survive. The typical ad agency is not going to spend the time with the typical Small Business Entrepreneur. The dollars from the small guy just aren't there. The Ad agency needs to get in, make the pitch and walk out with a check. Ad Agencies also know that the small guy needs to advertise, and that gives the ad agency an edge. Oh, by the way when we say ad agency, we're not meaning just the typical ad agency, this is our general term for Yellow Pages, Newspapers, Direct Mail Companies, Coupon Sellers, Directory Sellers, TV and Radio. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you don't have to be dependent on the ad agency. First of all you can market when you're ready and not be pressured by meeting some ad agency deadline. You can change the ad message as often as you like and not be charged for any change. If an ad doesn't pull, change it, don't wait. You'll be able to market on your terms. 4. Ever feel like advertising your products and services everyweek or everyday, without going to an Ad Agency, Newspaper, or Direct Mail Company? Problem: Advertising products and services needs to be done often, with variety and at a price that is affordable to Small Business Entrepreneurs. Most of advertising is not just marketing a product or service, but equally important is name recognition. It's been said by the pros in advertising and confirmed by many successful businesses, that to make a sale and retain a customer, that as many as seven contacts must be made with the customer. How many times does your salesperson call the same customer? How many times do you advertise in the newspaper, and know that your ad is being read by the same potential customer? Do you advertise everyday or at least everyweek? The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you'll be able to advertise your products and/or services as often as you like. It is suggested that you advertise at least once a week, with strong messages, emphasizing quality, price and service. Keep up with your competition. Become aggressive in what you sell and the quality you can offer. Make your offer with confidence and remember that you're in control of your business. Send out your message often. 5. Ever want to send your HOT message when an idea, promotion or event is HOT, and not wait for the next issue of whatever? Problem: How many times have you had a great idea and not acted on it, because of timing. Either you didn't meet the deadline because you weren't ready with the idea or more probably, you didn't have the money to place the ad. So much of making sales is timing. There are also situations where the ad agency can't take your ad because they're already booked for the time slot you want (TV and Radio). Or, the ad agency can't take your ad because there might be a clause stating that while a business is advertising, an identical business can't advertise at the same time. By the time you can get your ad in, the event is cold and your message even colder. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you can send your message often and certainly when you've got a hot event in your community. The easy setup of the software allows you to send out the message quickly. Assuming that you have already set up your fax numbers, all you have to do is type up your message and send it out. You'll be able to send out your messages at a moments notice. One of the most fantastic features of the Fax Software Program is that you can send out your message at night or weekends, and your customers receive it in the morning, when they're fresh and more willing to consider an offer. 6. Ever want to make better use of your PC, which can easily work days, nights, weekends, 24 hours/day WITHOUT asking for a raise, call in sick or make sales projections it can't keep? Problem: The computer has usually been used for word processing of text, developing spreadsheets, and some, but limited communications using a fax modem. Although the computer, fax modems and fax machines have revolutionized the way businesses and non-profit organizations communicate with each other, it has not been until the development and the timely introduction of the Fax~An~AdTM Software, that the business communities can truly benefit from off-the-shelf computers, modems and fax machines. The majority of the computers in businesses are used during the day, and are idle at night and most weekends. Your salesperson doesn't usually make sales calls at night or weekends, generally calls in sick from time to time, and is often found making sales projections they can't meet. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, your PC can be put to better use at night and weekends. Although, you can use your PC for normal wordprocessing and spreadsheet development, you'll be able to use your PC as a primary method of marketing. If you're lucky enough to have several PCs, then you'll be able to do the normal type of wordprocessing, etc. and have the other PC do the marketing during the daytime hours, as well as nighttime hours and weekends. Once you've learned how to setup the PC and our software, you'll be able to turn on the program and market anytime you wish. You'll be able to use that PC at night and weekends. One of the fantastic features of the software program is that it will work for many hours unattended. Turn the computer on, setup the software and go to bed, or go fishing on the weekend. The PC will never ask for a raise, call in sick, get tired or make projections it can't keep. 7. Ever wonder why you keep paying for ads that don't pull? Ever add up the cost of advertising for one year using the Yellow Pages (what a monopoly), newspapers (most papers get thrown out), coupons (what a joke), direct mail (80% never gets read) or mailing lists (recycled names)? Problem: The answer is that you have kept paying for ads that don't pull because you have been led to believe that if you don't advertise, you'll die on the vine. Part of this answer is true. A business that doesn't advertise has no business. However, although part of the answer is to advertise, there is a better way to advertise. So much of the money that is spent on ads just does not pay off. The Yellow Pages has a real monopoly, because the Yellow Pages Ad people have programmed the Small Business Entrepreneur to spend more and more each year. Their sales approach is quite good, they tell the little guy that the competition is buying a bigger ad, or a colored ad. The newspaper in the community is the normal method for placing an ad. The newspapers tell us that it's the cheapest method of advertising your product or service, because of the large numbers it supposedly reaches. Not entirely true. The marketers of coupons have programmed the little guy into marketing through the use of coupons that appear in every mail box in the community. The coupon distributors have the same problem that the mailing list distributors have, that is the coupons are almost automatically thrown in the trash. It has been studied and verified that 80% of the direct mailing that is done with stick on labels is thrown out without ever being read or even opened. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you will be able to advertise to businesses often, fast and not have to pay each time you send a message. We're not suggesting to you that you completely do away with the traditional forms of advertising, but we are suggesting that you carefully analyze where your dollars are going and analyze the returns. Using our software, your primary cost of advertising is the cost of the package. Your other costs will be the electricity you use to run your computer, the cost of an extra phone line if you wish to have the PC market 24 hours/day, and the time it takes you to type a message and setup the PC and software to start dialing. The fantastic feature of our software package is that once you've purchased the software you can use it over and over and over again, without paying each time you advertise. It has been estimated that to run a computer 24 hours/day for one month costs approximately $5.00. The cost of a separate phone line (which by the way is not a requirement, just a convenience) is approximately $35.00 for installation and approximately $7.50 per month for basic service. Where else could you advertise to thousands of potential customers every day, every week, every month for approximately $15.00 per month? 8. Ever wonder why you're not getting anywhere with your business and yet you're working harder than ever before? Problem: Most Small Business Entrepreneurs work very hard. They open up their shops, offices, or service centers early and go home late. Their families work hard also at the family business. The approach of working hard is commendable, but that leaves very little time for marketing, analyzing where the sales are coming from, learning which kind of ads are pulling in new clients and basically tracking the sales made to an advertisement sent. "There just aren't enough hours in a day to do all the things I have to get done". How many of you have said these very words? Probably most of you. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you'll be able not only to market to your hearts content, but you'll also be able to track the confirmed fax transmissions made, the day, the hour and yes even the minute the message was transmitted. Learn to work smarter not harder with our Fax~An~AdTM Software which dials, sends messages and records published and unpublished Fax Numbers automatically. If for some reason the fax number was busy, the program can be setup to redial the number and try the transmission again. Being able to track your transmission information, you'll be able to do your own analysis of which ads are pulling the clients in. The obvious analysis and immediate feedback is when the client calls your office or comes by to purchase the product or service you've just advertised. Then you know for sure that your ads are pulling and that you've got a winning format. If your ad doesn't seem to be pulling in new customers, then you need to re-evaluate the offer that you're making. 9. Ever want to thank your customers on a regular basis? Problem: You want to thank your customers, especially your "regular" customers. They're your bread and butter. You just don't have the time to personally thank every customer, because you may not always be there to deal with the customers or you just don't have the time because you're making sure that everything gets made, done or delivered. The Fax~An~AdTM Solution: With Fax~An~AdTM on your sales team, you can thank your customers on a regular basis. You can even set up a policy to get every new customer's fax number, if by chance you didn't pull them in with your fax marketing program. You'll have to remember to train your staff to get fax numbers when they take orders. Once you have all the fax numbers in your computer, you can put together several letters to send out on a regular basis. Your customers will appreciate your thoughtfulness and remember you and your company the next time they are ready to reorder. You'll also be able to give your regular customers a preview of the up coming sales. The preview information which will speed up their orders and will also help you prepare your staff, inventory and service program. How it basically works The system automatically creates a dialing list based upon responses you provide to the program for a block of phone numbers. The system then automatically dials the numbers and when a connection is made with a fax machine, a message (which you previously created as your ad--or send a nul page so as just to find the numbers) is sent out to the fax machine. The system then proceeds to record in a log: the time the message was transmitted, the name of the message(s) sent, and the fax number--the program then continues the process until the list is completed. The program also strips out the numbers which are not fax numbers and updates a master log file with the new valid fax numbers. Once the system has located all the faxes in an area automatically and has updated the master fax log, it (the computer) is now ready to re-send new ads to confirmed fax machines in your local area. The computer can now send advertisements to thousands of known and UNKNOWN customers, everyday, at night and on weekends--and this basic process can be done over and over again. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the above discussion has presented concepts and applications of using your PC and a fax/modem to make money, perhaps now you even see others. Whether you purchase our system or use one of your own, seize upon the opportunity! What do you need? The recommended system hardware requirements applicable when using the Fax~An~AdTM System are as follows: 1. IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible computer. 2. Minimum of 640K RAM. 3. MS DOS (PC DOS) 3.0 or later. 4. Color (CGA, EGA, VGA) adapter and monitor preferred. 5. A hard disk (with approximately 1.5 Meg available) and one floppy disk drive. 6. Printer (optional) 7. A telephone line with a modular jack (a dedicated line is recommended). 8. A word-processing or page-layout software package. 9. A Class 2 Fax-Modem with Quick Link II software (version 2.1.1 or later). ************************************************************************* Latest version maintained on SBG Online! BBS (904) 757-7878 Jacksonville, FL RIME node #5561 28800vfc PCBoard 15.2 *************************************************************************