Classical Typing Services

Suppose you are new to mail order, and you want to put your ads into the many ad sheets, tabloids and publications you are seeing in your mailbox everyday. The only problem is, you don't HAVE any ads! Here is where a typesetting service comes into play.

Typesetting IS NOT as difficult as the name suggests. It is just another name for typing text based on a given layout or format. If you have a computer, you can produce professional quality typesetting easily and quickly. However, you need a computer to offer a typesetting business.

Put ads in ad sheets and other publications for your typesetting service. Observe what other typesetters are charging and be competitive. You should probably expect to get $1 - $3 per inch. This does not sound like much, but the work is easy, and you will be doing other things besides just typesetting, as you will see later in this report.

Typesetting should be offered as an "add-on" service, best in connection with your own ad sheet. Your customers will be providing the ad copy, so all you have to do is arrange it. Usually, around 35 words will fit into a one-inch ad, leaving room for a border and a piece of clip art.

Here is sample wording for an ad: "PROFESSIONAL TYPESETTING - Get your ad typeset and mailed to 1000 hungry buyers! $5/inch (35 words max.), $1 each additional inch. You get 15 camera-ready proofs FREE! Send payment & 2 first class stamps to: (Your name and address)."

What you will be doing here is typesetting the ad, inserting it into one of your adsheets, and sending the customer 10 extra copies of their ad, along with as many of your other offers as you can for 2 stamps. You may be giving the typesetting free, based on your ad sheet rates, but it is worth it, as this is a great way to get new ads, as well as new customers.

So, here's how to typeset a one-inch ad. First, do not worry about trying to fit everything into one inch! That is right. Make it twice the size it will be when printed. This gives you more room to work with, plus it will be a better quality when reduced to one inch on a photocopier (that's the trick!).

For a one-inch ad, make a 2-inch tall by 4 1/4 inch wide border on a piece of white paper with your rub-on borders. Next, make a light guideline with the blue pencil for the headline.

Use rubdown letters of the appropriate size to make the headlines, being careful to follow the guideline to keep everything straight. Then, load the paper into your typewriter and neatly type the copy into the remaining space.

Using Ads in Your Classical Typing Service!

If your typewriter will do extra-bold words, use them to highlight important words in the ad, as well as the name and address. When you type the ad, leave a bit of space on one side for an appropriate piece of clip art. Cut the clip art from the book, and using either rubber cement, "spray-mount" glue or clear, non-shiny tape, attach it to the ad.

Use liquid paper to cover any specks or smears on the ad. Then, reduce it 50% on a photocopier. You've just typeset an ad!

You should always offer extra copies of the ad to your customers. So, make five copies of the ad, cut them out, and place them straight face down on the copier glass. Make two copies of that, cut out the ads from the copies, and you have fifteen copies to send your customer, plus the original to put in your own adsheet.

You must also have a laser printer and a good graphics program or word processor. Use your graphics program to do the layout steps above. You can add clip-art in the computer, or manually, after printing the ad.

You won't have to worry about reducing the ad on a photocopier, as you can do that within your graphics program. In addition, printing extra copies is a snap. Most graphics programs will let you "copy and stamp," which means making a copy of what you have made (your ad), and stamping it elsewhere on the screen. Hence, you can make your fifteen copies all on one page and print them once, quickly and easily. And, your typesetting will look super-professional!

Every day , in every part of the country, there are stories about how both men and women are successfully marketing a typing service.

Most of these people have no great ability. Many of them may have just wanted to do something with their hands, or their leisure time, while others had enough imagination to recognize they were developing a business that would become a paying proposition.

You are probably asking if you can use your own talents, large or small, to build up an impressive bank account but still remain at home and care for your family? The answer, or course, is a resounding "YES!"

People that have succeeded in building a typing service at home know that it is a unique and stimulating experience. And for those who manage to survive and prosper the first precarious year have done so because they made sound plans based on finding out what people need, and then supplied it at a price they would pay.

How much money you make in a business of your own can go beyond your greatest expectations. Business histories have proven that it is perfectly possible to launch a tiny business in a kitchen, basement, or back yard, and eventually count sales by the millions.

But there are other rewards that appeal to some people even more. The advantages of building a business for yourself at home can outweigh what the most glamorous outside job has to offer.

The first great advantage is that you can operate your typing service enterprise on a shoestring from the smallest room in your home. Or if you are more ambitious and have come up with something the world seems to want and need, you can then expand your product or services on a huge scale. Since your initial overhead will be a minor factor, you will have plenty of time to decide whether you want to pursue your line of work on a part-time or full-time basis.

Personal factors that make one person a total success while another is a complete failure, is often easy to analyze. You will require most of the qualities listed below in practically any home-based business:

* Interest in people and the ability to speak and get along with them.

* The ability to express yourself plainly, pleasantly, and with sincere belief
in your service.

* Willingness to work long hours, especially in the first year.

* Enough knowledge of arithmetic to figure costs, selling prices, interest,
rates, and taxes.

* Dependability, even if there is a family crisis.

* An understanding of what customers' wants and needs are.

* An ability to analyze present and future trends in your business.

If you want to really attract customers from all walks of business life, you must have imagination, and you must have common sense. Neither is as abundant as you might imagine.

Imagination means writing inexpensive classified ads that return tens of thousands of dollars in return. It means carving out a niche in the marketplace, and creating a business identity that is exclusively yours. It means looking ahead with total confidence, and seeing yourself as the owner of a multi-million dollar business.

Common sense is something altogether different. It means realizing that nobody, except in their dreams, gets rich overnight. It also means that if you have tested something out West and it sold like wildfire, chances are it will move just as well in the East, South, and North.

Common sense will also tell you that once you decide to take the plunge, you will probably lie awake on some nights and wonder if you have bought too many office supplies, or if you will make enough profit to justify the new typewriters and computer system that seemed so necessary just a few days before.

Common sense will also tell you that there are bound to be some mistakes, and that customers can sometimes be fickle, unpredictable, and demanding. In fact, there may be days when you wish you were doing something else.

Most people who start their own home-based business don't fail because they didn't come up with great business ideas. They fail because they just don't know how to execute and market the product of service they have to offer.

There's really no excuse for this to happen. To begin with, you should check to make certain your idea is sound. You shouldn't launch a business or service without paying special attention to at least one, or more likely several of the following laws that have evolved through business experience:

Important Business Rules to Remember!

* Make or do something different or better than the market now offers.

* Find a way to distribute the produce or provide the service faster
and at less cost.

* Produce something timely to meet a want or need.

* Give People something they want that is either too difficult or too
expensive to get elsewhere.

* Package it more attractively, more reliably, or both.

* Sell and provide only quality items or services and avoid poor
workmanship at all costs.

* Always give good service even if it demands hard work and long hours.

* Always do small-scale testing so you can make your mistakes i n miniature.

* Use intelligence and tact when dealing with customers or supply sources.

* Study your field until you have a basic understanding of it; then try to
find new and better ways of doing it.

The question you should ask yourself as you prepare to start your business is not "How much money can I raise?" but, "Can I survive discouragement, or do I only want to be independent as long as there is something to lean on when the going gets tough?"

If you are honest with yourself, you will know ahead of time just how far you may go with your business plans. The true test may come as you look at a bank statement and the deposits are down.

If you come through your personal tests you will gain meaningful strength from it. Without some discouraging hours to make you stubbornly surge forward, competition can overwhelm you. Your persistence will actually eliminate competition. Also, when you have stared failure in the face and driven it away, you can feel confident you will be able to conquer it over and over again.

Lack of money is a poor argument for failure to try to succeed. There are always individuals or local lending institutions who will risk a small amount on a person who has a reputation for being industrious, provided you have a salable idea. After all, many big businesses were founded on little more than courage and fortitude.

But realistically, it may take more than courage, credit, and perseverance to keep a new business afloat. The first thing you will no doubt learn about financing, is that the less you need capital and backing, the less trouble you will have in getting it, and at a lower interest rate.

Many people in business think it's a good idea to be short on capital; after all, then there is no alternative except to make the most of what you have and to minimize your mistakes.

They also say that then you can afford to test a number of your ideas with little risk; that it helps keep your mind flexible and forces you to watch and see if an offer will continue with its appeal after the novelty wears off.

The point here is that people's needs and desires change with the times, and you can't continue to manufacture horse buggies for transportation when people have turned to cars.

Your banker can be your best friend, whether you take in hundreds or thousands of dollars each week. By arranging an appointment with him to explain your plans he can give you helpful advice on how to raise capital yourself, or even provide you with a loan if you are a good credit risk.

You should, of course, have intentions of opening a business checking account with the bank (separate from any personal account you may have). When the money starts flowing in continue to keep your banker advised of your progress.

Give your banker regular profit & loss statements so you can build up business credibility. Then chances are money will be readily available when you need money for expansion. Banks lend money on character assets as readily as on those that can be turned into cash.