Why helping small businesses is the BEST opportunity there is.

[GordonJ]

OK, gonna be long winded today (this week).

Over the last few months, as I have made known here, I have been testing my lottery newsletter idea, which looks like 90% of NO GO. Mainly due to, get ready for it...

the slop and mess of it all (translates into too much people contact). I may, if anything, go to smaller "lottery clubs" type thing...time will tell.

But also during this time, as I was gathering ammunition to compare it with other money making ideas, I had to do a RE dive into Business Opportunity, which is kind of our forte here anyhow. Both Dien and I have been researching and reporting on Biz-Op for decades.

Now, on the other side of the Covid crisis, we see what is going on.

I have been carefully tracking franchises, especially home based and low cost ones. McDonald's is out of most people's reach...albeit, an almost guaranteed winner.

What is a franchise winner? It is one that lives up to the financial promises made to the franchisee. Do they make the money they are supposed to be making when they bought into the thing?

Today, I call it the Great Boomer CashOut...boomers, now the youngest of them, are calling it quits in business and some of these have been operating profitably for decades and decades.

Great opportunity to buy the cow that gives the milk. Many boomers will carry some of the financing, because, it is to their tax benefit to do so.

Anyhow, I have carefully watched and tracked the new franchises, the new low cost business opportunities and I can state this with a certain CONFIDENCE, and my statement is:

The problem will all Biz-Op is

The problem with ALL BIZ OP is...

The PROBLEM WITH ALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IS: finding customers.

The reason franchises still sell so well is due to their having worked out the MARKETING PLAN of getting customers. That is really what the true benefit of a franchise is...the marketing how to.

A quick peek at the top mentioned ones as found at sites with lists of the best low cost business opportunity/ or franchises/or distributorships.

My searches were for low cost, UNDER 10k and here is what I've found:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/21/10-l...0-or-less.html AT CNBC the only one under ten is Dream Vacations, for a home base travel agency.

https://www.upflip.com/blog/low-cost...-Opportunities we see Cruise Planners and Dream Vacations again.

https://franchisebusinessreview.com/...y=min-cash-asc

You will see the travel guys again, and this: the N2 company, a throw back to publishing and ad sales.

And on and on and on it goes.

Which led me to this post.

Friend of the forum Steve DiMarco has been in the print game for 40 years, I don't know of anyone who has DONE more programs than Steve has. His menu boards are still working, and the many co-op mailings he has done would fill a library.

Now his latest thing is the pinnacle of his print business. And we had great discussions about this long ago, but this beats all.

See, let me start with CUSTOMERS. The one thing all business needs. A franchise has a marketing plan that hopefully brings in your customers, but as many a home base franchisee will tell you, it is often feast or famine.

There are over 73,000 pizza shops in USA today. And about 750,000 take out restaurants too. THOSE are Steve's customer.

Easy to find. Easy to locate. So, what does he sell them? NOTHING, he gives them more business, by giving his coupon flyer to them, at zero cost to them and he then has up to six advertisers who pay between 250 and 399 to have their BUSINESS CARD put on the flyer. Now here is his secret.

The flyer stays in the house for a year. So the advertisers easily see the benefit of having their ads on the flyer. Perfect for plumbers, home improvement, auto, insurance, services of all kinds. Distributing business cards is hard, who doesn't have at least half a box laying around in some office drawer?

Now the reason I find this to be brilliant is; he doesn't have to look for customers, he gives a value away. And the selling of ads part, well, see for yourself what other options do any of them have at that low cost? He can get you on the fridge for a year, at about the cost of a one month very low budget ad campaign goes.

This is why I think HELPING BUSINESSES get more business is the ultimate Biz Op. Unlimited demand, unlimited supply.

And for every yAhoo who comes into the shop selling SEO, or Google placement, or sms, or anything digital, can't compete with a card in a drawer or on the fridge that offers a year of coupons, not by shotgun as in EDDM, where most cards get tossed out...but these were given to CUSTOMERS who bought, and will more than likely come back, especially if they use the special coupons.

Help business get more business and you will have, maybe, found the most evergreen profitable business of all time.

Gordon

[Millard Grubb]

Gordon,

You've hit the nail on the head here. Some of the most successful promotions I ever heard of were helping business owners.

Do you remember the school promotions where large refrigerator magnets had a bunch of local businesses displayed?

A famous internet marketer is now selling a program to use PRINTERS to get more local business clients. One of my friends is a printer and has so much business, he cannot handle getting any more.

Setting something up that doesn't cost the business anything can be a goldmine.

Just being helpful will do wonders.

Case in point: I was eating at a local restaurant when I mentioned to the owner a way to save money on his buffet. He was so pleased that from that time on, I never had to pay for a meal for myself and my wife. He insisted that I eat free.

If a person is just friendly and helpful, a business owner will often say thanks with services or goods. It is worth trying.

[GordonJ]

Feels so 1997. Give, then get.

Your observation helped the business, he responded in kind. WE, the many old timers of SowPub (a pitch to the streamers for a new sitcom?): Old Timey SowPubbers. Sitting around an Internet Cafe talking business, sort of a KING OF THE HILL meets MAD MEN (Mad as in the magazine, not the TV show, I mean, "What? Me worry?).

Everyday, we see, How can I get, how do I profit from, what's in it for me? And seldom do we see those that do what you did, or what Glenn does routinely, give your knowledge, skills, and ideas away FIRST.

The ultimate biz casting of bread upon your waters.

The thing I love about Steve's latest success is; the simplicity of it. Of all the ways to bring in more business is to get your customers to COME BACK in, again and again, month after month after month.

And to be able to do that at ZERO cost to you? Well, I'm sure Ol SteveO can eat as much free pizza as he wants.

And where can a plumber get a year of hanging around a house, for such a low cost; on his own Plumber Paul couldn't send out a few hundred flyers or have them distributed for the low cost, and most of those door flyers, EDDM, and Postcards get trashed right away. With his program, they get into a house and become a brand recognition when a plumbing thing comes up.

PRICELESS (well not really, but definitely VALUABLE.

The PROBLEM of Steve's PROGRAM is; one still has to find the advertisers which is a daunting task to so many young people today, it requires social skills of talking to other people, which is so tough for so many today.

Anyhow, one thing I am sure of; Business will always need customers. And a customer in the hand is worth 10 in the bush, and to give them a WIN every month, via what amounts to a customer loyalty program, is good for all.

Give, then get, and WIN, WIN, WIN for all. So 1997, eh?

Thanks Millard.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Millard Grubb

Gordon,

You've hit the nail on the head here. Some of the most successful promotions I ever heard of were helping business owners.

Do you remember the school promotions where large refrigerator magnets had a bunch of local businesses displayed?

A famous internet marketer is now selling a program to use PRINTERS to get more local business clients. One of my friends is a printer and has so much business, he cannot handle getting any more.

Setting something up that doesn't cost the business anything can be a goldmine.

Just being helpful will do wonders.

Case in point: I was eating at a local restaurant when I mentioned to the owner a way to save money on his buffet. He was so pleased that from that time on, I never had to pay for a meal for myself and my wife. He insisted that I eat free.

If a person is just friendly and helpful, a business owner will often say thanks with services or goods. It is worth trying.

[unpinkpanther]

Thanks for sharing, Gordon

Tried searching on Google. Seems there are several Steve DiMarcos out there. In wildly different career paths.

Wanted to have an idea of what his coupon flyer looks like. Pls can you help share a picture of any of his flyers?

Also how often do the advertisers pay to have their cards featured? Annually? Monthly? Weekly?

Apart from covering the obvious cost of printing, how does he go about pricing? Any target profit margin range? (So you can avoid either undercharging or pricing yourself out of the market)

Expecting your response, Sir. Thank you

Originally Posted by GordonJ

OK, gonna be long winded today (this week).

Over the last few months, as I have made known here, I have been testing my lottery newsletter idea, which looks like 90% of NO GO. Mainly due to, get ready for it...

the slop and mess of it all (translates into too much people contact). I may, if anything, go to smaller "lottery clubs" type thing...time will tell.

But also during this time, as I was gathering ammunition to compare it with other money making ideas, I had to do a RE dive into Business Opportunity, which is kind of our forte here anyhow. Both Dien and I have been researching and reporting on Biz-Op for decades.

Now, on the other side of the Covid crisis, we see what is going on.

I have been carefully tracking franchises, especially home based and low cost ones. McDonald's is out of most people's reach...albeit, an almost guaranteed winner.

What is a franchise winner? It is one that lives up to the financial promises made to the franchisee. Do they make the money they are supposed to be making when they bought into the thing?

Today, I call it the Great Boomer CashOut...boomers, now the youngest of them, are calling it quits in business and some of these have been operating profitably for decades and decades.

Great opportunity to buy the cow that gives the milk. Many boomers will carry some of the financing, because, it is to their tax benefit to do so.

Anyhow, I have carefully watched and tracked the new franchises, the new low cost business opportunities and I can state this with a certain CONFIDENCE, and my statement is:

The problem will all Biz-Op is

The problem with ALL BIZ OP is...

The PROBLEM WITH ALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IS: finding customers.

The reason franchises still sell so well is due to their having worked out the MARKETING PLAN of getting customers. That is really what the true benefit of a franchise is...the marketing how to.

A quick peek at the top mentioned ones as found at sites with lists of the best low cost business opportunity/ or franchises/or distributorships.

My searches were for low cost, UNDER 10k and here is what I've found:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/21/10-l...0-or-less.html AT CNBC the only one under ten is Dream Vacations, for a home base travel agency.

https://www.upflip.com/blog/low-cost...-Opportunities we see Cruise Planners and Dream Vacations again.

https://franchisebusinessreview.com/...y=min-cash-asc

You will see the travel guys again, and this: the N2 company, a throw back to publishing and ad sales.

And on and on and on it goes.

Which led me to this post.

Friend of the forum Steve DiMarco has been in the print game for 40 years, I don't know of anyone who has DONE more programs than Steve has. His menu boards are still working, and the many co-op mailings he has done would fill a library.

Now his latest thing is the pinnacle of his print business. And we had great discussions about this long ago, but this beats all.

See, let me start with CUSTOMERS. The one thing all business needs. A franchise has a marketing plan that hopefully brings in your customers, but as many a home base franchisee will tell you, it is often feast or famine.

There are over 73,000 pizza shops in USA today. And about 750,000 take out restaurants too. THOSE are Steve's customer.

Easy to find. Easy to locate. So, what does he sell them? NOTHING, he gives them more business, by giving his coupon flyer to them, at zero cost to them and he then has up to six advertisers who pay between 250 and 399 to have their BUSINESS CARD put on the flyer. Now here is his secret.

The flyer stays in the house for a year. So the advertisers easily see the benefit of having their ads on the flyer. Perfect for plumbers, home improvement, auto, insurance, services of all kinds. Distributing business cards is hard, who doesn't have at least half a box laying around in some office drawer?

Now the reason I find this to be brilliant is; he doesn't have to look for customers, he gives a value away. And the selling of ads part, well, see for yourself what other options do any of them have at that low cost? He can get you on the fridge for a year, at about the cost of a one month very low budget ad campaign goes.

This is why I think HELPING BUSINESSES get more business is the ultimate Biz Op. Unlimited demand, unlimited supply.

And for every yAhoo who comes into the shop selling SEO, or Google placement, or sms, or anything digital, can't compete with a card in a drawer or on the fridge that offers a year of coupons, not by shotgun as in EDDM, where most cards get tossed out...but these were given to CUSTOMERS who bought, and will more than likely come back, especially if they use the special coupons.

Help business get more business and you will have, maybe, found the most evergreen profitable business of all time.

Gordon

[GordonJ]

https://www.angelfire.com/biz/gjbiz/pizzasteveop.pdf

Best new money making project I've seen in quite awhile.

I still get email from vendors trying to get Gordon or Gordon J. Alexander, and even Gordon Jay, has too many of us.

One thing, with all the AI babble going on, I find it much harder to find historical information today, that 10 years ago, for many things, Google and AI suck.

Gordon THE JAY

Originally Posted by unpinkpanther

Thanks for sharing, Gordon

Tried searching on Google. Seems there are several Steve DiMarcos out there. In wildly different career paths.

Wanted to have an idea of what his coupon flyer looks like. Pls can you help share a picture of any of his flyers?

Also how often do the advertisers pay to have their cards featured? Annually? Monthly? Weekly?

Apart from covering the obvious cost of printing, how does he go about pricing? Any target profit margin range? (So you can avoid either undercharging or pricing yourself out of the market)

Expecting your response, Sir. Thank you

[unpinkpanther]

Thanks so much for the share, Gordon.

Looks like a profitable business-in-a-box to me

Before you posted this, had already contacted a printer to have an idea of cost of printing 1000 flyers.

That should give me an idea of how much to mark up to price the ads & logistics

Next step: Resist the almost knee-jerk temptation to add slop and mess while adapting this program to my area...

Originally Posted by GordonJ

https://www.angelfire.com/biz/gjbiz/pizzasteveop.pdf

Best new money making project I've seen in quite awhile.

I still get email from vendors trying to get Gordon or Gordon J. Alexander, and even Gordon Jay, has too many of us.

One thing, with all the AI babble going on, I find it much harder to find historical information today, that 10 years ago, for many things, Google and AI suck.

Gordon THE JAY

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by unpinkpanther

Thanks so much for the share, Gordon.

Looks like a profitable business-in-a-box to me

Before you posted this, had already contacted a printer to have an idea of cost of printing 1000 flyers.

That should give me an idea of how much to mark up to price the ads & logistics

Next step: Resist the almost knee-jerk temptation to add slop and mess while adapting this program to my area...

Don't forget design costs, most slop and mess is running around to get proof approved and taking money, let me know if you need any help

Gordon