You can help these people ease their loneliness, and make a very good income for yourself as well by developing a Correspondence Club. If you enjoy people and have a creative business imagination, this is definitely for you.

The first step is to find out what the other correspondence clubs are doing. Your purpose will be to design your own format and to look for methods of improving upon what others are doing. Check out the tabloids on sale at your supermarket, and write a letter of inquiry to as many of the correspondence clubs that are advertising as you can afford. Simply state that you're thinking of joining a correspondence club, but don't want to be taken advantage of by some shady operator. Request a sample copy or their latest club bulletin or newsletter and a listing of everything the club does for its members. It isn't an absolute necessity, but it wouldn't hurt to include a loose First Class postage stamp with your letter of inquiry.

Most of the established clubs will respond quickly, seeking to enroll you in their program. At the very least your's will be another address they can sell to mailing lists brokers. Don't use business letterhead or a business name. Simply inquire as would an ordinary interested person.

Once you have your game plan organized - what you will offer your members, the fees you'll charge, and the related services or items you want to offer as sources of added income - your next move will be to begin advertising. Start small and go slowly. This will allow you to handle your ever-increasing number of members while still maintaining firm control over the time required to keep up with the business. Your first advertisements should be in the n="nickel sheet" or classified section of your local newspapers. An advertisement such as the following, inserted once a week for a month, shouldn't cost you more than $40 while filling your mail box with inquiries from interested persons.

Young woman, just divorced, wants to meet eligible men through correspondence. Tell me about yourself. Send letter and SASE to: Sandy, Box 0000, Anytown USA.

At the same time this ad is running to attract men to inquiry about corresponding with young ladies, place an additional ad such as the following in five or six of the national mail order ad sheets or tabloids:

Young, somewhat shy, degreed professional, looking to meet Ms. Right through correspondence. Will answer all letters. Bill, Box 0000, Anytown, USA.

Vary the ads, by all means. Study the ads the other clubs are running and adapt their methods to your own needs.

Before you begin, you should prepare your own bulletin that you can send off in reply to all of your inquiries along with an invitation to pay for a membership in your club. Use the sample bulletins and newsletters you received from the other correspondence clubs as a guide in the development of your own - what type of articles to include, what books to sell, etc. Another important benefit of all the newsletters for which you wrote will be the gathering of a list of names and addresses of both men and women seeking correspondence. Some groups include names and addresses with their bulletins - others do not. Either way, they all sell names to each other, so combine a selection of those names and addresses with your own list until you become well established and possess a large mailing list of your own.

Remember, you should not begin advertising until you have your membership application and your first club bulletin or newsletter prepared. Then, just as soon you receive each inquiry, send out your answer. The faster your service, the more credibility you'll impart impart to your prospects. Also, always watch what the older, more established correspondence clubs are doing. You'll want to duplicate their methods, but with more flair and better service for your members.

The world is full of people wither too shy to find a companion nearby, or looking for an interesting person from a different background with whom they can strike up a relationship, safely and with little fear of rejection. You can tap into this fantastic market with a minimal investment of time and capital. The decision is yours. Go for it!


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