How To Start A Mailing Business

How To Start A Mailing Business - Background Info:

A mailing business operated at home offers a great opportunity to generate revenue. This "pay per lick" mailing business really doesn't need licks anymore though.

A mailing business has gotten quite sophisticated and uses computer equipment and self sealing envelopes or automated envelope sealing machines among other items to get the job done.

But if you want to start a mailing business, it's a great business for someone who does not want a business which requires staff.

You may think of a mailing business as simply one which stuffs envelopes and applies postage.

You can certainly start a mailing business which only provides this service, but you will be limiting your opportunity.
That's because large companies have large jobs which can have thousands of items needing the services of a mailing business. That's too many "licks" for anyone to hand manually in their mailing business.

When you are thinking about starting a mailing business, you should consider all of the service possibilities.

Then you can decide what you can afford to begin with and what you can add later to your mailing business.

Envelope stuffing

Mailing list development and maintenance

List brokering

Flyer stapling

A mailing business is easy to start once you have the equipment.

Once you have purchased the equipment for your mailing business, you will need to learn all about postal rates. You can use the internet to keep track of postal regulations and to stay in contact with your mailing business customers. Mailing lists you generate or the ones you get from your mailing business customers can be emailed.

It will be important to make sure you have plenty of space to operate your mailing business. When you have a large job to do, it will require a lot of space for the sorting of the flyers and envelopes.

You will also have to establish your per piece rates for your mailing business. You will need different per entry rates for the mailing list and the envelopes. If you plan on picking up and delivering the fliers and envelopes, the mailing business rates need to cover the cost of gas and vehicle maintenance.

Many companies need mailing services for direct mailers in order to assist them with increasing their company's visibility. These services offer advertisers a way to save money and reach thousands of prospective customers. Here's how to fill a niche and start a profitable enterprise.

A mailing list business is easy to begin. It's also easy to market a mailing business. You will be providing a valuable service to businesses at a reasonable cost. You can save them the cost of hiring additional employees to do the work you are doing right out of your home.

How To Start A Mailing Business - Tasks And Skills Needed:

Business Specific Tasks:

If you are planning to do all the business tasks or hiring or subcontracting tasks, here's a list of tasks that need to be attended to when it comes to the business side of running a mailing business:

Bookkeeping

Recordkeeping

Customer service

General office

Advertising/marketing

Industry Specific Tasks:

Same as above if you plan to do everything yourself or get help, here are some of the tasks necessary to operate a mailing business:

Packaging

Shipping

Mailing

Direct Mail

Customer service

How To Start A Mailing Business - Approximate Daily Hours Needed:

General Hours of Operation: - When your business is open - Standard business hours 9-5, including Saturdays, part-day.

Hours Needed to Prepare - Before Opening and After Hours Activities - Order and maintain equipment, packing materials, make sure all shipments and mailings are prepared for sending out the next business day.

Number of Employees Needed To Run A Mailing Business:

Minimum Number of Employees -During the Start Up Phase: You can start this business yourself on a full-time basis.

Number of Employees - Once Your Business is Up and Running Successfully:

Website maintenance

Record/Bookkeeping

General office

Customer Service

Packers

Pickup/Drop off shipments

Envelope stuffing

Addressing; direct mail lists

Skill Requirements for This Business:

Knowledge of shipping laws locally and abroad

Know shipping procedures per country, including customs laws

Know how to package items properly for safe shipping

Know how to package and ship perishable items

Licenses:

You will need a standard business license, tax i. d. and permits required by local governments.

Mailing Business Start up Cost:

Bare essential: - The average startup cost is approximately $2,000.

Minimal exposure - There are several ways to advertise for free but the most effective ways to find customers is through your own mailings about your service, joining network groups, and distributing flyers to local businesses.

Necessary Equipment to Run this Business:

Necessary Start-Up Equipment & Supplies:

Computer

Printer

Cell phone

Website

Software for generating mailing lists

Software for addressing envelopes

Bar coding software

Scanner

Copier

Postage meter

Envelope sealer (for all size envelopes if don't require self sealing envelopes)

Tape of all kinds

Shipping containers of all sizes (tubes, boxes, etc.)

Packing material

Supplementary Equipment: - Equipment or helpful products that you can acquire to once your business is off and running:

Mail Station

Integrated shipping/pc system

Pickup and delivery vehicles

Filing cabinet(s)

Toll-free number

Monthly Expenses To Consider:

Wages
Phone/cell phone
Internet access
Permits
Advertising/Marketing
Electricity
Office supplies
Bookkeeping software
Vehicle expenses
Postage for postage meter
Packaging supplies

Special Requirements and Considerations For This Business:

Find out all you can about the trends in the industry. Know your competition, in particular, their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you identify your competitive advantage. In other words, this will help you figure out what you can give your customers that they're not getting from the other businesses. And keep from emulating the competition's strategy. Instead, make the most of your own advantage points.
One of the most important things you need to pay close attention to when running a mailing business is the accuracy of the postage applied and the mailing list addresses. If your customer provides the mailing addresses to your mailing business, you are not responsible for returned mail. But if you create and sell the mailing lists then your mailing business will be held responsible for mail returns.
Direct Mail represents both a highly profitable home business opportunity and a highly effective marketing strategy. In fact it is probably THE most effective form of promotion available today and a sideline to your mailing business to consider.
Direct Mail is used by small home based businesses and large multinational corporations alike. The reason for its success and popularity is it allows anyone to target their prospects with pin point accuracy and through analysis of small test campaigns, can accurately predict the response rate to larger campaigns.
No other form of advertising or promotion comes close to direct marketing in terms of effectiveness. This is why many of the largest mail order concerns, spend huge advertising budgets on direct mail. However one of the benefits of this amazing marketing system is that it does not require a large capital investment - in fact a direct mail promotion can be run for only a few hundred dollars, which is why it is a particularly attractive home business opportunity.

Pros And Cons of Opening A Mailing Business:

The Pros of Running a Mailing Business:

Can be very lucrative, depending on your area

Easily expandable

Can be combined with another type of small business (such as a candy store or gift-wrapping service)

The Cons of Running a Mailing Business:

Highly competitive

Costs can be high to get started

May require testing prior to obtaining specific licensing

Type of Customers You Need to Attract:

There are plenty of opportunities for finding customers for your mailing business. Though people like to talk about all the waste of paper that goes into what is called junk mail, the fact is that direct advertising is a boon for a mailing business. Companies will continue to mail advertisements, flyers and sale notices by the millions which means plenty of opportunity for your mailing business.

To find customers for your mailing business you can approach all size businesses. Even the local coffee probably sends out flyers or newsletters each month. As people have gotten more and more disgusted with telemarketing, companies have increased the use of direct mail and that once again means more need for mailing business services. If you are able to land a few large customers, your revenue results will be even larger.

The best way to start is to approach local businesses and talk with them about their current shipping uses and practices, so that you may convince them to switch to your service.

Mailing Business Resources:

Courses:

Vision Alliance

Equipment and Supplies:

MailStation2 by Pitney Bowes

Mailing Supplies

Franchises:

ValPak

Money Mailer

Software:

True Ship

Harvey Soft

Freight+

Stamps.com

Other:

Starting a Mail Services and Package Shipping Business

Starting a Shipping and Packing Service Store

Businesses To Related to a Mailing Business:

Gift-wrapping service
Shipping company
Moving company
Courier service

MailBoxes