1. How does Local Coupon Marketing™ help me start my own coupon business?
We give you the sales tools that you would need to start your own local coupon business. Click here for our most recent press release! In order to begin your coupon business, one of the first sales tools that you will need is what's called a "Coupon Template." With your secure one-time online payment of only $79 we provide you a 4-page coupon template that is personalized to your local market and includes both your business name and contact information. Click here to view an example! You can then use this template to show potential advertisers and to pre-sell monthly advertising space. Along with your customized template you will get over $200 in bonus items. These bonus include the following: A 10-page coupon cold calling script (for prospecting your publication both in-person and on the telephone), a customizable direct mail sales letter that you can you send to local businesses in your area to promote your coupon business, a customizable coupon advertising contract that is a binding contract agreement between you and your advertiser and finally, an advertising rate and spec sheet (used as a reference to sell coupon advertising space). Click here to learn more about each bonus item!
2. At what point do I email you my business name, contact information and what other information do you need from me?
After you submit your secure one-time online payment you will be asked to click on a button that will immediately direct you to a special landing page. On this page you will be asked to email us your local region and both your business and contact information. Furthermore, you can choose from three different scenic backgrounds. And these backgrounds include the following themes: City life, beach and water or a small town.
3. Your three photos are great, but they really don't fit the background of the city that I'm planning on launching a coupon business in?
If one of these three pictures do not work for your business then you may submit via email a high-resolution photo. We do request however, that you send us two photo options that include any one of the following criteria: Photos must have been taken by you personally, are royalty-free photos (meaning that you have paid a one-time fee in exchange for the right to use a photograph and there are many stock photo services that provide theses type of images) and finally, all photos submitted are those in which you have been granted permission by the photographer. Keep in mind that all of our photos are royalty-free.
4. What is the size of 4-page coupon template?
Your customized coupon template is 8.5x11 (Letter-size) and when opened it's 11x17.
5. How many coupons can I pre-sell to local businesses using my template?
In order not to crowd your template, we recommend that no more than 30 coupons (we include sample ads in your coupon template) are displayed for the entire 4-page template.
6. How far in advance should I pre-sell coupon advertising space?
To maximize your profit margins, we recommend that you pre-sell advertising space from three to six months (you need to give yourself enough time to sell out your advertising space, time to collect ad copy from your customers, time to create the advertisement and of course, time to send your completed coupon template to the printer for distribution) . From an advertising and marketing perspective, your advertisers will achieve the greatest advertising effectiveness when they commit to longer advertising terms. Advertising is about repetition and that is what must be conveyed to your prospects and customers.
7. What is this Coupon Advertising Rates and Spec Sheet that I receive and do I give a copy to prospects?
We provide you with a sheet of suggested advertising rates and specification sizes. This sheet is designed for your reference only and not to give out to prospects. You can however, duplicate this rate and spec sheet with alternate pricing information in your proposals. Learn more!
8. How do I promote my new business?
There is no right way to promote your new business and it's really about what works well for you. For some, networking events work well. For others, it's combination of networking and door-to-door cold calling (visiting local businesses in person with your coupon template that bears your company name). And for others, they prefer just promoting their new business online. Diversification is the key here and trial and error will be your best friend. For prospecting purposes, it's important to keep in mind that we do include a 10-page "Word for Word Coupon Cold Call Script," a customizable "Direct Mail Sales Letter", a customizable "Coupon Advertising Contract" and finally, a suggested Advertising Rates and Spec Sheet with your secure online purchase. Learn more!
9. How successful can I be and how much money can I make?
Your success is dependent on one factor and one factor only and that factor is you! You're the boss. You make the decisions. The question is not how much money can you make, but rather, how much money do you want to make? Your success will not happen over night, success happens over a period of time. In regards to your success, you need to ask yourself, "How much do you really want it?"
10. Once I get a local business owner who is interested then what?
How you collect your payment from the business owner is really up to you. However, you can either invoice them for the entire advertising term or request 50% of the money upfront and then the rest of your money in 15 to 30 days. Your pricing will be dependent on how long they want to advertise, whether or not they create the ad or you have an ad created for them. With your online purchase, you will also receive a "Coupon Advertising Contract" and this customizable contract details the agreement between you and the business owner, where your publication will be distributed, the length of the contract, the ad size and rates, create of the ad and issuance of payment. Learn more about this contract!
11. When reading over your program it mentioned that I can select either your recommended graphic design partner or choose my own, can you expand on this?
Sure, we partner with an affordable graphic design firm called ASA Design Studio www.asadesignstudio.com and they specialize in coupon ad design. They are very reliable and can work with you in the design of your coupon ads. You do not have to use our design partner and you're more than welcome to choose your own graphic designer or graphic design firm.
12. How much do graphic design services cost for my coupon business?
The cost of graphic design services are dependent upon the number of coupons you need designed as well as the frequency. You may choose any design firm for your business, however, if you do decide to use our strategic partner, ASA Design Studio, and have interested business owners you can always email them for a FREE design quote. Their rates to design these ads that are included in this template usually run anywhere from $89 to $249.
13. If I decide to use ASA Design Studio will they design ads for me from scratch and how long does it take?
Yes. They will design the coupon advertisement from scratch and will use high-resolution royalty-free (meaning you do not have to worry about any type of copyright issues) photos for each created ad. The only requirement however, is that the business owner provide you with the type of wording (or text copy) they would like to use in the advertisement. The average turnaround time for completed coupon advertisements is anywhere from three to five business days depending on the size of the advertisement.
14. I understand that my coupon template includes samples of coupons from various industries, how much would it cost to have a template created with sample coupons in just one industry (i.e the pet industry or home improvement)?
To get something a bit more customized then you would need to contact ASA Design Studio for a FREE QUOTE. The price is anywhere from $325 to $650.
15. How do I print up mass quantities of these templates to show potential advertisers?
Your customized coupon template is emailed to you in a printable high-resolution PDF format (for more information on this format see the answer to question #15). Once received, you can either use your printer to print copies or your best bet is to take a flash card or memory stick (with your PDF coupon file stored on it) to your local printer and then have them print up mass quantities of your coupon templates. You can also try to do a search online for an affordable printer. An online printer will most likely have you email them a template file (the one we emailed you) and they will then print up the number of coupon template quantities per your request.
16. How many samples should I print up to show to potential advertisers?
That's really depends on both your budget and your sales and marketing strategy. You may want to start out with 50 to 100 samples. You can use our direct sales letter and include your custom template sample and then follow up in person (or by telephone).
17. How often should my coupon saver be published? If a business owner asks me how long each edition is for how do I respond?
That's a good question. We recommend that you publish a new coupon saver every three to six months. You want to be able to give yourself enough time so you can properly pre-sell advertising space. In the future, once you get a system down then you can create a shorter time line for future editions to be published. Furthermore, when you do get to a comfort level in your business when you have decided on a time line as to how often your coupon saver is published and you start to experience success then you may want to consider creating a new coupon saver for other surrounding areas from your office.
18. Ok, so I have a business owner who is interested then we sign a contract for let's say three months and they give me a deposit, how much money can be made?
How much money you can make is dependent on your markup of the advertisement. So for example, let's say your business owner (the advertiser) is interested in the smallest possible coupon advertisement for your publication and the cost to create the coupon ad is $89 (see the answer to question #11 that details the approximate costs to create the ads in this template) then you could charge the business owner $250 for a three to six month contract (or which ever designated time period your publication is for).
19. How do I get names of business owners in my area?
We recommend that you focus on a three to five mile radius from the businesses you are targeting. While this may take some time and require patience, you may want to drive around certain areas and write down names of local businesses and then look up these business owners online. Do a search online and locate the website of your "Secretary of State." Every state in the United States has one and allows you to search records to locate business owners in your state. For more information on locating business owners read this article entitled: "Locate Business Owners In One Minute Or Less!"
20. What do I do if a business owner asks me about distribution or how many people view it?
As a suggestion, we strongly encourage you to create what's called a "Distribution List." This list contains the list of locations as to where your coupon savers are distributed. For example, your list can include grocery stores, libraries, religious organizations, homes, hospitals, doctors offices, colleges, spas, health clubs and salons. Also, you can estimate the traffic (either per day or each month) as well and put that estimated number next to each location. Remember, business owners are most interested in the number people who may see their advertisement. For your convenience, the "Coupon Advertising Contract" that you receive as one of your special bonus items includes a section where you can list all your distribution points. Learn more!
21. What types of businesses should I go after?
Try to locate another competing coupon saver outside the area that you plan on targeting and see who advertisers with them. We recommend that you only allow one or two advertisers in the same industry. So for example, I would position it this way with businesses owners and let them know that you only allow a limited number of industries per publication (i.e. one or two pizza places, one or two sub subs, one or two salons or one or two a/c companies).
22. If I have a logo of my coupon business may I email it to you for insertion on the front page?
Yes and we can usually do this for you at no charge if the logo that you email to us is a high-resolution file. We recommend that you contact us prior to your online purchase to see if this is something we can insert for you at no additional charge.
23. Can we email or call you if we have questions?
Absolutely! We are 100% customer-service centric and we would be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have about how we can help you start your own local coupon business. Feel free to email us at info@startacouponbusiness.com or call us at 561-200-7792.
24. What happens if I receive my customized coupon template and notice a mistake?
Email us, write a brief note and let us know what the mistake is and we'll correct it for you at no charge.
25. Let's say in 6 months I decide to change the name of my publication? Is there a fee to change it?
Yes, there is an additional fee and it's $30. Email us, we'll send you an invoice and once we receive payment we'll change the name to your new requested company name. Any revisions in your contact information will be included with this additional fee as well.
26. How long will my coupon template take and how are these templates and other bonus items downloaded?
Your custom coupon template will be finished in 10 business days and will be emailed to you in a print quality high-resolution PDF File. To view this type of file, you will need a software program called Adobe Acrobat Reader. A majority of computers already have this software
program installed; If you do not have this FREE software program then
please visit www.adobe.com
and then click on the yellow button called "Download Adobe Reader" to
download the most current version of this FREE software program. And finally, your coupon script and direct mail sales letter will be emailed to you in Microsoft Word format.
27. What is this 10-page Coupon Cold Calling Script that I receive as a bonus and who created this script?
We have a strategic partnership with a company called Mr. Cold Call, Inc. www.mrcoldcall.com and we worked with them to create a very customized cold calling script that you can use when speaking with prospects. This script includes opening lines, engaging questions, objection handling, closing questions and voicemail messages. This comprehensive script includes over 100 script combinations.
28. What is this Direct Mail Sales Letter that I receive as a bonus and again, who created this sales letter?
Our strategic partner Mr. Cold Call Inc. www.mrcoldcall.com has created a sales letter that can be customized to your region, company and contact information and can be used when sending and attracting new coupon advertisers.
29. How do I get a mailing list?
There are all sorts of ways to buy mailing lists. Just do a search online and you will have a wide selection of choices. You may first want to check with your local chambers or your local county mapping office. In every county there is a mapping division and many times if you ask they sell local address within certain requested zip codes. Your other option, is to get your local phone book and create your own list!
30. Can I insert a copy of my custom template along with my direct mail sales letter?
Yes, you can print up a copy of your template and then insert this template with your letter. In fact, we recommend that you do this.
31. What's the best way to set up my business? I know there are different types of business entities such as a sole proprietorship, a business corporation, a limited liability company or general partnership so which business entity is the right one for me?
We recommend that you do an internet search on either of the following: "How to set up a business" or "business start-up checklist." The IRS has a section on their website for starting a business - Click here to view this website! Also, the Small Business Administration has a lot of useful tools for business owners - Click here on how to write a business plan and Click here on how to start a business step-by-step! And finally, SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide, has a section on their website detailing the various types of business entities and this section will give you some insights on how you may want to structure your business. Click here to view a list of definitions for each type of business entity!
32. How do I go about choosing a name for my coupon publication?
You need to find areas that are not currently being served by other coupon savers. Once you have found a city or county then come up with a catchy or memorable name for your publication. Develop a name that automatically connects with the area that you're targeting so that people engage your publication. Furthermore, this name must also be magnetizing to advertisers so that they can quickly identify the markets that you serve. Also, it is very important that you make sure that your business name is not being used by another competing publication. Do a search on the internet to see if anyone has this name taken, check with your state's Division of Corporations (use an internet search to find your state's website and usually these sites have a free search feature) and finally, you may even want to do a federal search to make sure that your chosen name is not a trademarked. Once you have verified that your name is available then register your name with your state's Division of Corporations."
33. Which credit and debit cards to you accept and is my payment secure?
We
accept all major credit and debit cards including American Express,
Discover, MasterCard and Visa via our secure servers through
Paypal.com. Paypal is owned and operated by Ebay and has quickly become
a global leader in secure online payment solutions with over
164,000,000 account members worldwide.
