Bruce,
Consider investing the time and money in your website. By the time you're done with a decent brochure (software, images, design time, 3rd party designer?, printing/copying and the mailing costs [non-bulk @ min 33 cents] you'll be in it pretty deep. If you get a run of 500 done, besides the production costs, you're looking at $165 dollars in mailing fees to distribute them by mail request.
Then, if you do it yourself ...
Decent software alone will run several $100 and the learning curve is large. My company has every title worth buying and they're all high dollar, trust me.
Here's the argument for focusing on the site, besides the hard costs and overnight obsolescence of the printed information ... these are some things the print media can never do for you:
1. Major advantage ...
It can never physically transact the sale on the product or order. (You're not really wanting to distribute mail, right? You're looking for orders. Agree?) A brochure requires that the viewer make additional actions to re-contact you. Each additional action your method requires someone to perform, the lower the chance that they'll get around to it. If you set the site up correctly, you can collect the payment right on the spot.
2. Then there's the argument for the cost of the exposure ...
Let's say you drop $500 in the production and distribution of the mailer. Once it's distributed, it may have a long shelf life, but chances are it's targeted toward a single recipient (the requesting party). Out of the 500 recipients, how many are non-buyers? If you use a general direct mail average, you'll do well with a +/- 5% response. Out of that group, maybe 10% (extremely generous) will purchase within an acceptable time frame. That's $500 to generate 2.5 buyers. That's very low yield ...
Now, take the same $500 invested in a more powerful site design, one that's geared toward promoting yourself as a business and designed to collect the data you need to build a real customer base. (A real customer base is one you can contact on a moments notice with whatever information you want to distribute at the time)
Within a given number of days after launch, you can generate as many as 500 "self-qualified" visitors a day to the site ... day after day, year after year. I can prove it, so there's no argument against it! The only problem is, most people can't do it. So, it's likely you'll hear some disbelieving commentary from the gallery about that. Of course, you know one of my sites, so you see what I mean here ...
3. Now here's where it fits the knife maker directly ...
Your work changes and improves with each piece you produce. Some work deserves high detail imagery to fully project it's value. Also, isn't it nice to be able to drop your most recent work into the site and have it sold immediately. I mean, what maker wants orders when they can sell everything they can produce as soon as it's posted to their site. Most makers only do orders because it's required to keep the wheels moving. Given the choice to sit back and create what you want to produce, as opposed to having clients dictate what they want has distinct advantages. Where do you think the artist's best work is done? On a piece that emanates from his mind or from someone else's? Where do you think the least amount of grief and pressure lies? I talk to the top makers in this business every day. They all say the same thing ...
Now to use all of the effort to overcome your original question ...
- You get a request to send info ... Give them the web address and they can see it while the iron's hot! That day!
- You still need info to throw out at the shows ... so, hand out a 13 cent floppy with your homepage on it. When they click a link on the disk, it'll open your site. People can wait to get home to see what's on it ...
For the really good show and magazine prospects, give them the whole site on a cd you made in your basement for 19 cents ... all of it "live" with your newsletter sign-up form, order forms and e-mail links ready to do business.
This is where the world is today. If the person doesn't have a computer and internet connection by now, skip them and focus on the 100 million people in this world that do! You're time is limited in terms of marketing yourself ... do something that isn't going to become instantly obsolete and something you can continue to mine for the duration of your involvement. All this is about is information distribution. Look at where you are coming to get it. Use the power of this thing to give it right back ... It'll pay big, so hang in there!
Alex Whetsell
Atlanta Virtual
http://www.atlantavirtual.com http://www.customknifedirectory.com http://www.texasknife.com
alexwhetsell@atlantavirtual.com
[This message has been edited by VirtualEdge (edited 11-21-2000).]
