Successful Catalog Marketing

Offers practical information for operating a successful mail-order catalog business and discusses selecting merchandise that sells, organizing and designing a catalog, and developing a strong customer service program

Turnkey Creative Advice--from an Industry Expert! Here is everything you need to create irresistible catalogs--in one comprehensive volume. Amply illustrated with examples from today's best catalogs, "How to Create Successful Catalogs" lets you see how top consumer and business-to-business catalogs handle cover shots . . . order forms . . . company letters . . . and headlines. You'll learn how to . . . Keep your catalog under budget and on schedule by organizing tasks and preventing expensive mistakes Fill your catalog with "sales appeal" that draws in new customers--and keeps them Create copy that makes your customers want to buy--and accurately and appealingly describes your products Take advantage of cost-effective new techniques that are transforming the way catalog art is produced and printed Communicate easily with printers and production personnel with the comprehensive glossary of industry terms With catalog expert Maxwell Sroge as your guide, you'll produce appealing and successful catalogs your customers will order from again and again!

"Jack's in-depth knowledge of the catalog market and his exceptional talent for articulating a precise set of how-tos for seemingly every aspect of this complex business are unrivaled. . . . A masterful volume of a highly complex and challenging topic, written by one of the best catalog consultants around." -- Laura Beaudry, Editorial Director Catalog Age "Creating a Profitable Catalog is a comprehensive guide to modern-day cataloging. It includes up-to-the-minute information on concept and creative development, design and production, merchandising, circulation planning, database marketing, operations, and financial management. All of these topics are analyzed in intricate and careful detail as author Jack Schmid guides the reader through every step of building a successful catalog--either in print or on-line. This is a must-have for any aspiring cataloger's library and a welcome addition to the bookshelves of catalog industry veterans. Praise for Creating a Profitable Catalog by Jack Schmid "Jack Schmid is one of this country's best catalog marketers, and he has packed this book full of detailed, practical know-how on each and every aspect of cataloging. This book is important to anyone already working in our industry, but it is indispensable for someone just getting into the business." -- Bill Spaide, Partner Spaide, Kuipers & Company "I consider Jack Schmid to be the number one catalog strategist of our time. His magnificent new book, Creating a Profitable Catalog, is a treasure chest that starts with the year 2000 and goes beyond." -- Bob Stone, Chairman Emeritus Stone & Adler Author of the bestselling Successful Direct Marketing Methods

Now--America's #1 marketer and consultant puts together the firstcomplete guide to catalog sales! Starting & Building YourCatalog Sales Business Some of America's best known and mostsuccessful businesses, such as Sears, Spiegel, L.L. Bean, andLands' End, are "catalog companies," earning a major percentage oftheir profits through catalog sales. If you're a business owner orentrepreneur, now you can do the same with the help of this book.Written by bestselling author Herman Holtz, Starting and BuildingYour Catalog Sales Business is a complete guide to catalog salesthat explains how to get started in and manage a catalog businessprofitably. Packed with anecdotes, worksheets, and examples drawnfrom successful catalog sales businesses, it explains: * The basics of direct-mail selling and catalog sales * The secrets to creating catalog copy that really sells * The essential elements in the catalog mailing--including how tocreate a strong sales letter and a user-friendly order form * How to choose and use the right mailing lists * Managing the two essentials of the catalog business: sales volumeand pricing

Includes the latest tools and techniques needed for success in today's digital; multi-channel marketplace; this guide offers professionals a comprehensive roadmap for direct marketing success across today's multiple marketing channels. --

For the first time in about a decade, there's a significant improvement in Catalog Marketing Strategy! Four trends shaped Catalog Marketing Strategy in the past twenty years ... the explosion of RFM techniques, statistical modeling of customer response, cannibalization testing, and the "matchback" of online orders to the catalog that caused the order to happen. Since the matchback was created a decade ago, improvements in Catalog Marketing Strategy stalled as interest shifted to online marketing tactics. In "Hillstrom's Catalog Marketing PhD", Kevin Hillstrom walks the reader through a new methodology for deciding which customers will yield the most profit from catalog mailings. By incorporating elements of RFM, statistical modeling, cannibalization testing, Digital Profiles (a modern approach to customer segmentation), and measurement of the "Organic Percentage", Mr. Hillstrom clearly demonstrates how to optimize multi-channel customer profitability. The booklet provides the reader with a PhD-level course in Catalog Marketing Strategy, arming the reader with the tools and techniques necessary to manage a successful catalog marketing program in the internet era. Chief Executive Officers, Chief Marketing Officers, and Analytics Experts will appreciate this no-nonsense approach to increasing company profitability. For the first time, analytics secrets that cost many clients hundreds of thousands of dollars are being shared with the marketing public. This is a must-read for the modern catalog marketing business leader.