Lett Direct Inc.

If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. —John D. Rockefeller Building wealth by starting a catalog is the stuff of legends. The reality, as you know, is much different. Having inadequate financing from the start is a blueprint for failure. Yet, having adequate financing and deep pockets doesn’t guarantee your success either. Sure, cataloging is fun and exciting, and it can be rewarding. My intent is not to scare readers away from the prospect of starting a catalog from scratch. Rather, I want to make you

One of the aspects of cataloging that I’ve found useful is that everything you do from a circulation and marketing standpoint can be tracked to a specific source, or key, code. When a marketer runs an image ad (non-direct-response) in a general interest magazine, for example, it’s difficult to know the effect the ad has on sales. But when you, as a cataloger, run a direct response ad or mail a catalog, most of the orders can be traced to a source, so your marketing and circulation efforts can be measured. This month, I’ll offer examples of the common list results you

By Stephen R. Lett You must prospect for new buyers to grow your business. But prospecting can be expensive. Most catalogers prospect at an incremental loss*. Even so, acquiring new buyers is important to the health of your business. This month, I'll explore ways to prospect cost effectively for new buyers. Why It's Important There's a certain attrition rate associated with a typical catalog housefile. People die, others move, and some become dissatisfied. It's important to add new buyers to your housefile to maintain a certain level of revenue and/or to grow your business. Rule of thumb: The percent increase

Strategy by Stephen Lett Good circulation planning and merchandising are the keys to success for a catalog company. Knowing how many books to circulate can be determined by calculating a catalog break-even point. But determining the number of pages your catalogs should include can be more difficult and somewhat more arbitrary. This month, I'll look at basic criteria that can help determine the best page counts for your catalogs. I'll also review the economics of adding pages to a book. Pages increase response, and the economics generally are favorable, provided there's enough good merchandise available to support additional square inches of

Good circulation planning and merchandising are the keys to success for a catalog company. Knowing how many books to circulate can be determined by calculating a catalog break-even point. But determining the number of pages your catalogs should include can be more difficult and somewhat more arbitrary. This month, I’ll look at basic criteria that can help determine the best page counts for your catalogs. I’ll also review the economics of adding pages to a book. Pages increase response, and the economics generally are favorable, provided there’s enough good merchandise available to support additional square inches of selling space. The decision to

Trying to maximize profit contribution can conflict with trying to grow your business. In other words, do you want profit or growth? Of course, you want both. Unfortunately, one of these goals comes at the expense of the other. Maintaining a balance of mailings to your customer file (where the profits come from) versus mailing to prospects is critical to your bottom line. How do you evaluate contribution from mailings to the housefile and catalogs you circulate to prospects? This month, I’ll discuss the incremental break-even point compared to a fully absorbed break-even point as they relate to contribution to profit

Because it’s expensive to prospect for new buyers, it’s important to prospect as cost efficiently as possible. Prospecting is critical to the long-term success of any catalog business. How much prospecting you do depends on how fast you want to grow your customer file. Too much prospecting will negatively impact your bottom line. But too little isn’t good either. The goal is to maintain a balance between mailings to your housefile and to prospects. Every housefile has a certain attrition rate. Prospect so you’re at least replacing the customers who’ve decided not to buy. This month, I’ll review basic, proven ways

A catalog company’s most valuable asset (other than people, of course) is its housefile. Obviously, a start-up cataloger has difficulty generating a profit during the first few years of operation. It has to start building the business without the benefit of having a mature housefile. It can take several years for a housefile to reach the critical mass required to help convert red ink to black on the income statement. And it generally requires very deep pockets to fund operations during the start-up phase. This makes it even more important to properly design and maintain a housefile. A housefile is an extremely valuable

16 Tips On How to Find the Right Match By Stephen R. Lett The relationship you have with your printer can be crucial to your success. After all, your printer may be your largest unsecured vendor. Today's printers do more than just put ink on paper. They ink-jet addresses and efficiently distribute catalogs through the mail stream across the country, often for the lowest possible costs. When choosing a printer, price certainly is important. No cataloger should pay a large premium for the privilege of dealing with a particular printing company. Other factors, such as service, lead times and technology, should

The relationship you have with your printer can be crucial to your success. After all, your printer may be your largest unsecured vendor. Today’s printers do more than just put ink on paper. They ink-jet addresses and efficiently distribute catalogs through the mail stream across the country, often for the lowest possible costs. When choosing a printer, price certainly is important. No cataloger should pay a large premium for the privilege of dealing with a particular printing company. Other factors, such as service, lead times and technology, should be considered. Following are suggestions to think about the next time you get