A few years ago at the catalog conference, I got to listen to that year’s keynoter, Richard Thalheimer from The Sharper Image, discuss how he started out. Like so many other entrepreneurs in our industry, he started with one product advertised in a magazine. From there, he built his business.
I loved listening to his classic fairy-tale beginning. He started out with a great product that was unusual in nature and not readily available anywhere else.
Fast forward a few years and The Sharper Image team developed the Ionic Breeze air purifier. The Sharper Image managers found they had a winning product
Richard Thalheimer
You have a slew of choices when trying to reach prospects without paying postage, including direct response space advertising, broadcast and other channels. By Denny Hatch It is imperative to determine the lifetime value of customers by source. Robert Hackett, RRD Direct’s vice president of sales, provides the following formula: Lifetime value is a function of frequency of purchase, multiplied by the gross margin, multiplied by the duration of brand loyalty. What can you afford to pay for a new customer? To make that determination, Gary Hennerberg of the Hennerberg Group suggests you take the following steps: --Research customer lifetime value.
You have a slew of choices when trying to reach prospects without paying postage, including direct response space advertising, broadcast and other channels. By Denny Hatch It is imperative to determine the lifetime value of customers by source. Robert Hackett, RRD Direct's vice president of sales, provides the following formula: Lifetime value is a function of frequency of purchase, multiplied by the gross margin, multiplied by the duration of brand loyalty. What can you afford to pay for a new customer? To make that determination, Gary Hennerberg of the Hennerberg Group suggests you take the following steps: --Research customer lifetime value. --Calculate
By Denny Hatch Periodically I get phone calls from fledgling entrepreneurs who have great products and want to get into direct mail. "What else have you got?" is always my first question. "Wha ... what do you mean?" "What other products?" "This is my only product." I say, "In the words of consultant Susan McIntyre: 'The key to long-term profitability is to build a large house list of repeat buyers.' That's true for any direct marketing business—catalog or otherwise." "But don't you want to hear about my product?" "What does it sell for?" "Uh, $20, maybe." "Test it in space," I tell