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The Koolatron Story: How We Turned An Idea Into $19,000,000 in Sales in 6 Years ... With The Amazing Power of Mail Order Advertising

by K.L.H. Reed; co-published with Lighthouse Softbooks, Victoria, BC

142 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #00-0266; ISBN 1-55212-673-0; US$23.95, C$34.95, EUR22.80, £15.80

This book tells of the growth of KIL from startup in a garage to a 40,000 square foot plant over a 6 year period. It explains how the company used mail order advertising to propel the company's annual sales from $0 to $8,500,000 during those years.

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about the book      about the author      Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book Whether you're an entrepreneur, a business owner/manager, a marketing executive or an educator in the field of marketing or business statistics you will find valuable material in this book to help you profit from mail order advertising. This book tells the story of the growth of Koolatron Industries Limited (KIL) from startup in a garage to a 40,000-square foot plant over a six-year period. Written by the founder and former president of the company, it gives you a bird's eye view of what mail order advertising did to propel the company's annual sales from $0 to $8,500,000 in 6 years ... to a total of $19,000,000. It takes you step-by-step, month-by-month from the initial product development process and the first test ads through the explosion in mail order sales. Learn the impact of such rapid growth on production and financing. Find out what caused the founders to lose ownership of their highly successful products so you won't risk losing ownership of yours. (Although the founders lost control of Koolatron™ products, Koolatrons are still being sold worldwide via mail order and through retailers, in huge volumes). You'll learn what works and what doesn't in mail order from the founder's analysis of KIL's mail order ad results. The book includes a month-by-month chronicle of the results of the 1,526 mail order advertisements placed over a six-year period at a cost of $4,440,660. Also included are financial statements for KIL and samples of the company's ad results reports, advertisements and brochures. The business story in this book provides an invaluable opportunity to entrepreneurial readers to learn from the real-life adventures of a company which grew almost 15,000% in sales in 5 years, using the power of mail order advertising. Read it and in addition to many valuable insights you'll discover: How mail order sales allowed KIL to grow to over $7,000,000 in sales with minimal financing How KIL's mail order ads produced $3,000,000 in annual trade sales as a free bonus How the $4,440,660 KIL spent on mail order ads was, for all intents and purposes, "free" How to prevent your huge mail order ad budget from wrecking your profit/loss statement How KIL sold more Koolatrons by mail order in its off-season than in-season How choosing the wrong investors could cost you your business How to test your new ads against control ads to determine which is your most profitable ad How a 2 word banner doubled the response to an entire month's ad campaign Why you must decide early on whether you are in the mail order business or just using it The characteristics of a successful mail order product and a successful mail order ad The effect of factors like ad size, magazine, season, layout, color and price on your profits How finding the ultimate blockbuster ad for your product could double or triple your profits The Internet adds a powerful new ingredient to the mail order marketing mix, namely the ability to provide your customers with an unlimited amount of sales information at minimal cost. Mail order advertising, that pays for itself, is an ideal tool for directing your customers to your web site. There, the comprehensive information you provide can help you close the sale. The Internet has the potential to greatly reduce your selling cost per order and increase your profitability, if it is used properly in conjunction with mail order advertising. Mail order advertising is still essential to creating awareness of your product and its web site. The information in this book and its companion book, Koolatron Reports and Ad Layouts, can help you develop a winning direct response (mail order) advertising campaign, as the first step toward a dramatic increase in your sales. Also available: Koolatron Industries Limited: Ad Results Reports and Ad Layouts

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About the Author Kingstone L. H. Reed, nickname "Bey", started his business career in the 1960's in his family's general insurance business. He was the Financial Vice-President and co-founder of a high-tech business in 1968 and became the President and co-founder of Koolatron Industries Limited (KIL) with his wife and a partner in 1975. He and his partners survived some major setbacks in the early years and ultimately sold the controlling interest in KIL to a group of Venture Capitalists in 1981. Mr. Reed is currently the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Trafford Publishing, the co-publisher of this book.

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Table of Contents

PART I - THE KOOLATRON INDUSTRIES LIMITED STORY

Introduction
   What This Book Is About
   Koolatron Ad Results Reports & Ad Layouts
   Koolatron Ad Results Program For Microsoft Windows
   Who is This Book Written For
   What You Can Learn From This Book
   Direct Marketing Vs. Mail Order Advertising
   The Reasons For This Book
   How The Book Is Organized
   Contents Of The Ad Results Report & Ad Layouts Companion Book
   The Ad Results Analyst Computer Program/Data Disk and Manual

The Beginning
   The Unifridge
   The Product Design Fiasco
   The Do-It-Yourself Solution
   The Smelly Bear Story
   The First Frost-Pak Ad
   Koolatron Industries Inc.
   The Advertising Deal

Ramping Up
   Sales Leap From $30,000 to $200,000 A Month in 10 Months
   Accounting Chaos
   Producton Chaos
   Financing Chaos
   Trade Sales Vs. Mail Order

The Blast Off
   From $200,000 to $600,000 a Month in 2 Years
   The Australian Promoter
   The Hong Kong Promoter
   The Gas Crisis
   Our Fourth Partner
   The Off-Season Savings Miracle
   A Tiger By The Tail

The Crunch
   The Interest Rate Squeeze
   The Big Push
   The Last Ditch Funding
   The Big Loss

The Sellout
   The Re-Financing Proposal
   The Offers
   The Worst Business Decision of My Life
   The Lunacy Begins
   The Big Squeeze
   The Executive Committee
   The European Distributor Prospect
   The One and Only Plant Visit
   The Christmas Cabal
   The Transition to Trade Sales
   The January 1982 Meeting
   The Great Sellout
   The Hatchet Job
   The Chairman's Return
   The First Sale
   The FIRA Fizzle
   The Second Sale
   The Cataclysmic Return to Profitability
   The Fruitless Search For A White Knight
   The ODC Procrastinates
   The ODC Acts
   The Inheritors

The Lessons Learned
   The Lessons Learned
   The Dangers of Your Own Production
   The Problems of Financing
   The Right and Wrong Kind of Investor
   The Right Kind of Product

The Epilogue

PART II - THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL MAIL ORDER

The All Important Offer
   The Right and Wrong Kind of Offer

Tips For The Neophyte

Getting Started
   How To Learn What Works In Mail Order Advertising
   Mail Order Advertising vs. Direct Mail
   Testing Your Ads or Mailings
   Tracking Your Orders and Ad/Mailing Results

PART III - KOOLATRON'S ADVERTISING RESULTS

Our Ad Results Reporting System
   Overview
   Ad Keys
   Ad Versions
   Quick Reference Lists
   Reports Explained
   US$ In The Results Reports

Month by Month Objectives and Results
   How We Measured Success
   Objectives Of Our Advertising Results Reporting System
   Ad Results Month By Month, Jul y1976 to July 1981.

PART IV - ANALYSIS OF KOOLATRON'S AD RESULTS

What Worked and What Didn't
   Response-Affecting Factors
   Results by Publication or Mailing List
   The Most Profitable Publications
   The Most Profitable Ad Series
   The Most Profitable Ad Size
   Inquiry Ads Versus Order Coupon Ads
   The Most Profitable Offers
   The Effect of Season
   The Effect of Position
   The Effect of Color
   The Effect of Pricing
   The Effect of Left Versus Right Page
   The Most Profitable Target Audience
   The Split Run Test Results

PART V - OPERATING YOUR OWN MAIL ORDER BUSINESS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX A - SAMPLE REPORTS
APPENDIX B - SAMPLE ADS
APPENDIX C - FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
APPENDIX D - BROCHURE SAMPLES

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Catalogue Information

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