Internet and Mail Order Business Opportunities 1

Internet and Mail Order Riches: Are They for Real?

For years, mail order has been touted as the easy road to riches—the ideal way for anyone with little money and little time to start a business that will stuff their mailboxes with dollars and build incredible wealth. More recently, Internet e-commerce businesses have been promoted in the same way. Put up a web page, place a few free classified ads, and watch the orders—and the money—roll in. Or, so some of the overzealous Internet marketers out there would have you believe.

Industry research could easily lead you to the same conclusion, if you didn't know what went into building an online business. Forrester Research estimates that online retail alone, will reach nearly $230 billion and account for 10% of total US retail sales by 2008.

And then there are all those stories about young entrepreneurs who turn their ideas and technical skills into multimillion-dollar Internet businesses before they reach their thirtieth birthday.

But are mail order and Internet businesses really as easy to start as some advertisements, articles, and books imply? Can the average person really make much money with a shoestring operation? Or do you need a rich uncle and a lot of luck to make your fortune in mail order or off the Internet? Read on to discover the "amazing truth."

What is mail order?

Mail order, as the term is being used in this book, is selling or delivering merchandise through the mail. For very small businesses on tight budgets, that usually means selling through small advertisements in print publications, selling over the Internet, or selling through a catalog mailed to people who have previously bought from a company. Mail order may be your only way of selling products, or it could be an additional sales outlet for products you sell some other way.

What kind of products are suitable for mail order?

Almost anything can be sold by mail. Consumers and businesses buy everything from books, gifts, software and personal items to furniture, computers, expensive collectibles, and stereo systems through the mail.

What you need to consider isn't so much the kind of things that could be sold by mail but rather the products that would be practical for you to sell as a small business. The cost of ads, catalogs, a web site, business stationery, postage, and packaging material can add up quickly. Thus, it is often best for small businesses to focus on products that:

• are targeted at a well-defined market
• do not break easily
• can be sold for a markup that will cover all costs and allow for some profit
• have a big enough market to make the effort worthwhile
• have a market you can afford to reach
• can be adequately described or depicted without using full-color photographs
     

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