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"