Page 235 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

Suit Company, it is doubtful if it would have been so successful. Generally
speaking, it is better to use an easily-remembered family name than a
corporate name. People are funny about names. They like to do business with
other individuals like themselves. They want to feel that if they are not
satisfied with their purchase that they can write to the proprietor of the
business and raise the dickens. It is less satisfactory to bawl out a corporation.
Similarly there is a widespread notion that people with Anglo-Saxon names
are more trustworthy than people with foreign names. It is only a feeling, of
course, but when you are asking a man to send you his money solely on your
guarantee of satisfaction, you cannot afford to disregard even such trifling
details as public whims.

Importance of Repeat Orders

The backbone of a successful mail-order business is its list of regular
customers. While it is possible to buy lists of people who buy by mail, and
there are numerous directories from which names may be selected, it is a
mistake to think that a profitable business can be built up entirely from such
names. True, some business can be obtained in that way, but usually the cost
of getting the business will absorb all the profit. With a good mailing list, the
bulk of which consists of names of people who have expressed an interest in
what you are selling, either by answering your advertisements or by having
placed previous orders, selling costs can be controlled.

The following table, showing costs of sales by mail to the consumer, is taken
from Wadsworth’s Mail-Order Handbook:*
Auto Tires, 3 ½ per cent Auto Supplies, 6 per cent Bicycles, 8 per cent
Books, 20 per cent
Fashions, 10 per cent Furniture, 8 per cent Gas Engines, 9 per cent Groceries,
5 per cent Hardware, 8 per cent
Jewelry, 12 per cent
Lighting Fixtures, 10 per cent Men’s Clothing, 8 per cent Pianos, 8 per cent
Redicut Houses, 3 per cent Shoes, 5 per cent
Underwear, 6 per cent

It will be noted that most of the above items represent products for which a