Building Your Business by Mail
William G. Clifford's 1914 book argues that most advertising money is spent on "impossible prospects", so a business should mail its selling talk to a chosen list of live names and count every return.
What it is
William G. Clifford's 1914 book argues that most advertising money is spent on "impossible prospects", so a business should mail its selling talk to a chosen list of live names and count every return. Part I opens with The Logic of Direct Advertising, which treats advertising as salesmanship in print, then applies the idea trade by trade: manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, banks, insurers, public service companies, churches, laundries, stockbrokers, publishers and dairies, each told through cases from named towns with costs and results. A chapter covers the house-organ. Part III turns inquiry handling into numbered Steps and Principles modelled on a salesman's call: reply the same day, answer the actual question, keep following up. Part IV shows how each trade compiles lists, including a case where 886 of 1,000 names were dead. Part V argues that customers are the best prospects, since the first sale often runs at a loss.
Why read it now
Read it for the operating rules of direct response, and most of them hold. Its core sum, that every sale carries the cost of reaching the people who never buy, is the logic behind audience targeting and cost per acquisition today. The inquiry rules stand up: reply the day the inquiry arrives, answer what was asked, and vary the reply by type of inquirer. A 2011 Harvard Business Review study of how fast firms answer web leads found the same speed effect. The list-cleaning case, 90 cents of every dollar lost on dead names, maps straight onto CRM decay and email deliverability. What has dated: the claim that "psychology proves" five impressions fix an idea has no support as a fixed number. The book also mentions the Addressograph addressing machine about 100 times, so read the machinery chapters as product promotion. Its case against general media fits narrow markets only, as the book itself concedes. Use: take Part III's Steps and Principles as the checklist for a WhatsApp or web-form lead flow, with a same-day reply rule and replies written in advance for each inquiry type.
Passages worth keeping
It is simply salesmanship expressed through the printed word.
الإعلان عند المؤلف ليس سحرًا ولا لغزًا، بل هو عمل البائع نفسه منقولًا إلى الورق، فتنطبق عليه قواعد البيع الشخصي.
They also do not realize that each sale made has to bear the cost of appealing to thousands of non-buyers.
كل بيعة تتحمل تكلفة مخاطبة آلاف لن يشتروا، لذلك ترتفع تكلفة البيع كلما اتسع الجمهور الذي لا يهتم بالمنتج.
PRINCIPLE 1. A series of letters, written from different angles, should be prepared in advance to fit all types of inquiry.
جهّز مسبقًا مجموعة رسائل بزوايا مختلفة، حتى يصل إلى كل سائل رد يناسب نوع استفساره بدل رسالة واحدة للجميع.
for every dollar you have spent on this list, you have wantonly wasted 90 cents.
القائمة التي لا تُحدَّث تحوّل معظم ميزانية البريد إلى هدر، لأن أغلب أسمائها انتقلت أو اشترت من منافس أو لم تعد موجودة.
YOUR customers are your best prospects. Follow them up persistently.
من اشترى منك مرة هو أقرب مشترٍ لك، فتابعه باستمرار قبل أن تنفق على من لم يشترِ بعد.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
Read the original archive.org
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