When someone mentions business planning we have been conditioned to think about writing a business plan. There are hundreds of books and articles, tons of software, an army of consultants, and a multitude government programs to help you write a business plan. There are virtually no resources to help you set up what today’s business environment really demands – a continuous, ongoing planning system.

A commonly accepted theory is that for a business to survive and prosper it must be flexible and nimble. It must be able to turn on a dime as conditions warrant. Having a written five-year plan is not part of this picture. In fact, trying to follow a long-term plan during rampant change is not logical. It is applying linear thinking to a non-linear situation. It just doesn’t work.

Having a formal, written business plan is so accepted as being crucial to success that there haven’t been many studies or surveys to test this premise. If business plans were such a wonderful thing, there would be a significant and conclusive difference between businesses that have them and those that don’t. Interviews of 100 founders of companies on 1989s “INC 500” list of fastest growing private companies in U.S. found only 28 percent had “full-blown” business plans. The 1993 AT&T Small Business Study found that 59 percent of small businesses that grew over previous two years used a formal business plan. A 1994 survey of country’s fastest growing companies found 23 percent lacked a business plan. “The Relationship between Written Business Plans and Failure of Small Businesses in U.S.,” by Dr. Stephen Perry, surveyed 152 failed and 152 non-failed small businesses in 1997. He found that 64 percent of non-failed firms had no written business plan. He also found that non-failed firms had more extensive written plans than failed firms, 23 percent compared to 9 percent, respectively.

Last week I received a very nice thank you gift from a friend of mine, Eric Ruth, who is arguably number one marketing coach to personal fitness trainer industry.

Eric, asked if he could interview me about a specific topic and I agreed.

After it was done, Eric sent me a bunch of filet mignon steaks from Omaha Steaks (Thanks Eric).

But steaks are not what this article is about.

It's what was inside Omaha Steaks box that I want to talk to you about.

You see, two things came with steaks. One was a Omaha Steaks cookbook.

The cookbook not only contained recipes but also a bunch of bounceback special offers.

Each of these offers were specifically designed to get you to call Omaha Steaks up and order more steaks.

And Here Was Second Thing that Was In Omaha Steaks Box...

The second thing was a blue envelope that said, "Don't Miss Out - Special Offers from Americas Favorite Companies."

Here's what they looked like:

http://url123.com/5p2zq

The contents of blue envelope included what is known in marketing industry as, "package insert."

_____________________

Package Inserts 101 _____________________

Package inserts are basically advertisements that get inserted into packages that are being sent out from various vendors.

For instance, in this case, Omaha Steaks sends thousands of boxes to its customers. It sells space in its boxes to other companies who want to advertise to Omaha Steaks customers. This is called a "Package Insert Program" or PIP for short.

There are thousands of PIP program offered by many companies. Here are just a sampling of type of companies that provide PIP programs:

Amazon

American Stationary

Divers Direct

Crafts Enthusiasts

Global Industrial Equipment

Kingfisher Maps

Mantis Gardening Tools

Pitney Bowes

Speed Gear

Toyfare

Vitamin World

Zoysia Grass Plugs

If profile of your target customer matches profile of customers that these companies sell to then you might consider a PIP advertising program with them.

The going rate for package inserts averages around $60 per thousand packages. What this means is that you pay $60 and your insert will be sent out with 1,000 packages.

This relatively cheap when you consider that renting a list for a solo mailing might cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per thousand names.

On other hand, response rates for inserts are much lower than direct mail. An acceptable response rate used for PIP programs are typically measured in tenths of a percent vs. 2-5 percent return of solo direct mailings.

The number of inserts in a package can vary from four to eight. Generally, only non-competitive pieces are included together in one package.

Here's a photo of inserts that came in Omaha Steaks package I received.

http://url123.com/5krn7

As you can see, there are only three inserts from these companies:

1. Hawthorne Village (model trains)

2. Discover (credit cards)

3. Select Comfort (beds)

Here's Why You Should Consider Using a PIP Advertising Program in Your Marketing Mix

1. You get power of direct mail at about 20% of what you'd normally pay for a direct mail campaign.

2. You can target specific niche markets and consumer segments.

3. You can target people by way that they buy (i.e. mail order buyers, phone order buyers, television order buyer etc.).

4. You get category exclusivity in mailing (i.e. no competing offers to worry about).

5. Your offer gets an implied endorsement from company mailing package.

I'm not saying that you should base your entire marketing program on insert media. What I'm saying is that using inserts can be a good compliment to how you're already advertising your product or service.

With shrinking list market, package inserts are a good alternative way to prospect for qualified leads. It's hard for companies, I think, to rule it out. ______________________________________________________

Here's a Few Tips to Get Most Out of PIP Programs ______________________________________________________

Tip # 1

Be very careful of how you pick a PIP program. It's much like picking a mailing list. You have to pick a PIP program that is reaching people who are good prospects for your product or service.