Dear

       Dear Mini Halberts,

       We Are In The Mail!!!

       Well, the ad was placed, is more accurate, but since I am using what grandpa taught me about direct mail. it still applies.  When all the mail was on its way he would say, “well Bondodog, we are in the mail.” We would then speculate on what the response might be.

       We are now on alert to jump on solving any problems that arise. They are supposed to approve it and let us know when it will run, but it rarely goes smoothly like that. The reality is it could get approved because of Nancy and run tomorrow.

       The AD rate we have is for what they call remnant space and that means when they are laying out the paper and they have the space to fill, they will throw it in there. This means it is not stated in the deal that it will break on Tuesday (best day) on page one.

       The savings rate is so great, it is well worth sacrificing the ability to pick prime time and position for the AD to run.  Also, since I am running a quarter- page, the AD should get noticed no matter what.

       The AD could break tomorrow or three weeks from now and we may not know until it is in newsstands. So we must operate as though it will break tomorrow.

       By the way, the best day of the week for your mail to be delivered or for an ad to break is generally Tuesday.  The best position in any space is closer to the front and higher up. This is true in E-marketing too.

       The reasoning is that by Tuesday the prospect has got over the Monday blues and is no longer in a foul mood. Since it is not Wednesday, the prospect is not tired from a long work week. On Thursday the prospect is starting to think about the weekend and work to catch up on what needs to be done. Come Friday our prospect has no thoughts other than the weekend and will put off anything they can to get out of the office.

       But on Tuesday the prospect is not tired. The prospect is in work and decision mode. The prospect is not distracted so it is the best time to approach them.

       There are some exceptions. I am sure ads for nightclubs do better on Thursday and Friday. Most people don’t look for new homes on Tuesday etc.

       The great part about print is when the prospect picks up and reads the paper, you know the prospect is in the mood to think about the subject such as investing.

       While I wait for it to break, I will be testing the workings of everything and seed the list again, proofing the material and writing more.

       On a different note, today I spoke with yet another good friend who has some great info and may contribute like Eytan.  His name is Xavier and he is in that photo of me and the guys at my wedding to your mom.

       He has always been a serious salesman and would make a great contributor. He worked as a stock broker and in commercial real estate and is gearing up to make money off of the economic climate. I offered him the same opportunity that I did Eytan.

       While he is a great salesman and knows his stuff in that area, I can’t rely on him doing it. You will often find people with great skills, but are hard to pin down or rely on. They could be drinkers or manic depressive, or just have a short attention span. You can NEVER rely on them, but you can accept their terms.

      He may do it or he may not. I accept that and will publish his info if he does the work, but for now I go about my life not thinking about it.

       Don’t dismiss people with great minds just because they can be difficult or they are unreliable. If it is someone difficult, I hire someone to deal with it. If it is someone unreliable, I only ask them for things they can do right then and there or I’ll only ask them for things that I don’t need.

       Take Scott, he is VERY busy and since I am not lining his pockets, I couldn’t RELY on him to polish my ad so I moved on regardless of if he came through or not.

       I am really happy that he did come through because the AD is much more powerful. He is a great asset.

       Remember that the only person in your organization that should be irreplaceable is YOU. But also remember that people are who they are and everyone has value.

       Peace,

       Pop