The Ink Jet Cartridge Book The Ink Jet Guide For Entrepreneurs Sample Chapters: Ink Jet Primer - Introduction - Industry Overview - Industry Outlook - Ground Floor Opportunities - Profit Margins - The Office Products Recycling Industry - Industry Trade Shows and Associations 12 Step Startup Guide - Research Your Market - Perfect Your Methods - Select Goods and Services to Offer - Create Your Business Identity - Identify Target Markets - Build Core Customer Base Sales & Marketing - Identifying Niche Markets - Office and Desk Space Rental Service - Aligning with Service Companies - Getting Referrals Growing Your Business - Ink Jet Cartridge Processing Machines - Cartridge Retrieval Systems - Adding Printer Service to Your Business - Adding Dot Matrix Services - Selling New and Used Printers

Part Four: Growing Your Business Chapter Four: Cartridge Retrieval Systems This marketing concept is founded on sound sales principles but seems to have had limited success by those who have implemented it. The jury is still out on whether it can become a viable way to reach the mass market consumer. The basic concept is simple: provide a prepaid mailer into which a consumer can insert one or more empty cartridges. This is then mailed back to you, along with payment. You then ship back remanufactured cartridges, along with another prepaid mailer so the process can begin again. This system was developed in response to the quandary of how to reach home users, SOHO workers, and any other end user that qualifies as a small purchase buyer. Delivery routes, such as those in commercial locations, are just not practical to reach this market. You will see some prepaid mailer products in the office superstores. In this application, the consumer purchases the empty mailer from the retailer. He then inserts the cartridge and mails it off. This has met with very little enthusiasm because at the point when the consumer is out shopping, cartridge purchases are usually made because they have run their cartridge dry, and need a replacement now, not in 7-10 working days. In addition, at a cost of $17.00-$29.00, these products in the stores simply do not offer enough of a cost savings to be attractive. As you can see, there are simply too many costs to market this product through retailers. The other option is to get the mailers directly into the hands of the consumers. This is the only way the product can be offered for the price that consumers would be willing to pay for the inconvenience. And therein lies the quandary. How can this distribution technique be performed successfully? One option is to compile a list of known ink jet users and execute a direct mail promotion. This is risky, however, and can be quite costly. I have heard of a company in England who tried inserting a mailer into a popular magazine, but have not heard any results yet. There can be no doubt that it was a costly and risky venture.