Re: Ah Dien, you've discovered the SECRET...and you told!
 

Gordon wrote -

Dien really is right. The key really is to get started. Even though I've known this for years, it seems I have to keep relearning the lesson. My most relearning occurred with, (as Gordon calls it - it doesn't have an official title yet), the "Executive Resume" project. I detailed that in a previous post. Anyway, as I said in the other post, I spent about 12-16 writing about something I knew and had done myself and voila! I had an "instant product." Now I'm just working on the back-end software product and the web site. The hardest part of the product development is done. I've overcome the inertia and started the project.

> There are a couple of "instant
> product" courses being sold. In these
> courses you are instructed to call up an
> EXPERT and conduct an interview.

> Then you have a product.

> Everyone here can make an INSTANT product
> using that "interview the expert"
> technique.

And this works quite well. I've done it myself. And of course, as you pointed out in your post, that's essentially what the "Then and Now" products will be. "Instant products."

> Anyhow, Rick went through the PROCESS and
> even though the seminar wasn't able to be
> done, he learned a lot from doing it.

If going through the process is equivalent to putting out non-refundable deposits and then not having the event so that you essentially lose your money, then yes. I went through the process. *g* I learned several points from this. I'd like to share them here if I might.

1. I have some seminar tapes from a Dave Bancroft seminar. On 3 of those tapes the speaker, (Mark Goncalves), talks about putting on seminars and how much money can be made, etc. Well, I got the idea that I knew how to promote a seminar after watching those tapes and presenting at a few trade shows for a particular niche market into which I sell some software that I wrote with another gentleman. Well... the lessons learned about *that* by LBDY were priceless. (I won't repeat the commercial. *g*) Let's just say you don't know what it's like until you try it.

2. Using a couple of letters from the Bill Myers "Unfair Advantage" letters series, I created a pretty good sales letter. (I might still have it on my web site if anyone wants to see it.) The speakers that had agreed to speak were a pretty well known group. I even had our own Mr. Alexander leading off the hit parade. *g* Well, these folks are all good marketers in their own right so I let everyone take a crack at commenting on the letter. It took 3 weeks to get all the comments resolved and get a letter touched up that satisfied everyone. Three weeks! Creating a seminar sales letter by committee is *not* the way to go.

3. Because of the letter by committee experience and because I really started later than I should have, we didn't begin promoting it soon enough. We had sales but we didn't have enough sales to make our break even number and I determined going in that if we didn't make the break even number, I would cancel it. That way, my losses would be minimal. I think only lost about $500 on the deal and the videographer has agreed to transfer the down payment to another project. So I really only lost $300 or so.

4. Since I had never promoted a seminar before, I couldn't guarantee the speakers any numbers to which they could sell back-of-room products. In the seminar business, the usual course is to pay each speaker a fee and guarantee a certain dollar amount in back-of-room sales. Well, I could do neither since this my first seminar. So I suggested that we split the gate and that each speaker would receive a free copy of the master videos, (to market as they chose), along with some other goodies. Well, you can imagine what this would have done to *my* profits. The pie was going to have to be split into too many pieces.

> Early next year, he and I will be doing a
> series of small WORKSHOPS and 1/2 and one
> day seminars across Northeast Ohio. He's
> learned from the process of DOING IT last
> year what to expect.

Yup. And the beauty of this is that are two of us to please in this case, Gordon and Rick. No sales letter by committee. No splitting the pie into tiny pieces. No hotel ballroom. None of that.

> So, Rick and I will be doing NEW things,
> talking about wireless and video and CONTENT
> PROVIDER opportunities...as well as new
> Internet and Off-Line Strategies...as well
> as SOFTWARE (Rick gets to handle that one).

I'm really looking forward to this because of all the new stuff that's coming out.

> it is all done for you because I'll teach
> Rick to "share the wealth"...or as
> Dien may say...

And I look forward to soaking up the knowledge as I LBDY.

> PS. Thanks Dien for DOING sowpub, and doing
> it well.

I agree. SowPub is a great place to hang out.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

As long as you DO something, it is always
 

a good learning experience.... :)

> Dien really is right. The key really is to
> get started. Even though I've known this for
> years, it seems I have to keep relearning
> the lesson.

Rick, I'm a bit like that too....

There are things I learn, then I don't use them for a while, then I "rediscover" them.... :)

Sometimes, I feel this might be because I tend to like "experimenting" with this and that so much.... For example, I am really "experimenting" right now. I'm using a "don't look at the screen" technique (or the "turn off the screen" technique) while I write....

This is a good technique to be able to write the way you speak, I think. I tend to edit a lot AS I write if I look at the screen, but doing that can stop the creative juices.... Not looking at the screen, or turning off the screen (if you can touch-type), can be a way to STOP yourself from editing as you write, and it lets the creative juices flow more freely -- the way they do when you are talking....

Other times I use different writing techniques.... :)

> My most relearning occurred
> with, (as Gordon calls it - it doesn't have
> an official title yet), the "Executive
> Resume" project. I detailed that in a
> previous post. Anyway, as I said in the
> other post, I spent about 12-16 writing
> about something I knew and had done myself
> and voila! I had an "instant
> product." Now I'm just working on the
> back-end software product and the web site.
> The hardest part of the product development
> is done. I've overcome the inertia and
> started the project.

Rick, that sounds like a great product.... :)

So far, I've only created one "instant" product, though I haven't put it up for sale.... Probably some of my posts here at Sowpub could in fact be products (eg. small "booklet" type products) in their own right, or even more so if I strung some of the posts I've written together as chapters and organized them a bit.....

Particularly those posts where I've written about physics or the other sciences and related this scientific knowledge to concepts and principles in business....

Rick, Thanks also for sharing what you learned by getting started on organizing those seminars....

I know that not all my current ventures may work out, but it doesn't matter, because I know that I'll learn a lot by doing them.... :)

> Yup. And the beauty of this is that are two
> of us to please in this case, Gordon and
> Rick. No sales letter by committee. No
> splitting the pie into tiny pieces. No hotel
> ballroom. None of that.

Yes, I think doing almost ANYTHING by committee is a disaster! It can take three months to do a job that should only take 10 minutes.

I personally really enjoy joint venturing with others, but there's a limit.... I wouldn't want to joint venture with too many others simultaneously if I could help it, because then there are probably too many decision-makers....

I recently co-authored a physics research paper (currently submitted for publication) with 4 other co-authors..... The process of writing the paper was quite drawn out, I think partly because there were so many co-authors....

(In case anyone's interested in the topic of that research paper, it's about something called Bell's Inequality, which is about nonlocality in the universe -- how distant particles can be "connected" in their behavior to each other in a very strange way. This manifests itself as part of quantum theory.... It's a strange and interesting area.... I hope to write more about it here some time, if I can do it in a simple way....)

> I'm really looking forward to this because
> of all the new stuff that's coming out.

It sounds very exciting Rick!

I think one of my greatest pleasures is joint venturing with people who I like to talk to and hang out with.... Working with people you like is one of the nicest pleasures in life.... :)

(Well.... with your clothes on.)

Dien Rice

Re: As long as you DO something, it is always
 

Dien wrote -

> So far, I've only created one
> "instant" product, though I
> haven't put it up for sale.... Probably some
> of my posts here at Sowpub could in fact be
> products (eg. small "booklet" type
> products) in their own right, or even more
> so if I strung some of the posts I've
> written together as chapters and organized
> them a bit.....

> Particularly those posts where I've written
> about physics or the other sciences and
> related this scientific knowledge to
> concepts and principles in business....

Absolutely! If someone can write about learning business principles from Genghis Khan, you can certainly write about learning business principles from science!

> Rick, Thanks also for sharing what you
> learned by getting started on organizing
> those seminars....

It was a good experience although I wasn't so sure of that at the time. *g*

> I personally really enjoy joint venturing
> with others, but there's a limit.... I
> wouldn't want to joint venture with too many
> others simultaneously if I could help it,
> because then there are probably too many
> decision-makers....

And that was one of the issues. There were seven of us involved. It was just too many for letter preparation, etc.

> I recently co-authored a physics research
> paper (currently submitted for publication)
> with 4 other co-authors..... The process of
> writing the paper was quite drawn out, I
> think partly because there were so many
> co-authors....

Same concept.

> (In case anyone's interested in the topic of
> that research paper, it's about something
> called Bell's Inequality, which is about
> nonlocality in the universe -- how distant
> particles can be "connected" in
> their behavior to each other in a very
> strange way. This manifests itself as part
> of quantum theory.... It's a strange and
> interesting area.... I hope to write more
> about it here some time, if I can do it in a
> simple way....)

Absolutely fascinating! I'm fascinated by your scientific endeavors. I'll be the first to admit that I don't totally understand them but I'm fascinated nonetheless. I'm also fascinated by the ever expanding correlation between the physical and metaphysical worlds.

> It sounds very exciting Rick!

> I think one of my greatest pleasures is
> joint venturing with people who I like to
> talk to and hang out with.... Working with
> people you like is one of the nicest
> pleasures in life.... :)

Thanks. Same here.

> (Well.... with your clothes on.)

Let's don't even... Ooooohhhhh!!! I see what you mean! *VBG* (Just kidding. I understood what you meant.)

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"