Another way to make money

Originally Posted by Don Alm

This reminds me of one of my "Hot Flashes"

My wifee had a retail Antique Shoppe and one day she got a flyer from the local Community College announcing an upcoming all day seminar on

"How To Find What Your Business is Worth"!

I called and registered for the class. The clerk who answered told me the seminar would be held in a classroom off the main lunchroom and that I should call a day before the class to make sure of the location.

I called a day before and she told me the response was HUGE and that the seminar would be held in the Main Lunchroom.

When I got there I found some biz owners I knew and asked WHY they were there. They all responded with; "I'd just like to know...for my own information!"

The course was very informative and I got one of my "HOT Flashes". Why don't I take some of this info, couple it with a software program and sell it to BiZ Owners.

Well.....I put together a Report and found a Programmer who created a Floppy Disk for me. All a biz owner has to do is enter numbers from their Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement....click a couple buttons and Whala.....a Number comes up that represents the "Worth" of a bizness.

I named this program "Biz-Worth" and proceeded to sell it by sending out postcards (see photo) and I also put up a Sales Page on a website.

The response was awesome. I charged $95 for the Floppy & Report.

I also ran ads in biz mags where I got prospects to Phone my voice-mail ("FREE Recorded Message Reveals How To Find What Your Business is Worth, in the Privacy of Your Office. Phone 555-1212 24hrs!"

Now.....pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the following. I got people to call my Voice mail and leave their Name AND Address to receive the Info HOWEVER... instead of just sending a Sales Letter.....I also INCLUDED THE FLOPPY!

And at the end of the Sales Letter I mentioned that.....they don't have to Wait for the Software to be sent to them.....or Wonder IF they'll receive it.... THEY ALREADY HAVE IT! It's IN the enclosed CD but it's Locked. To unlock it they just need to phone my Order Service and the clerk will provide them with a CODE to UnLock the Floppy.

What I was appealing to was the awesome power of "Curiosity"! They ALREADY had the program....all they had to do was UnLock it!

Sales went thru the Roof!

Anyways.....maybe you can use this with a project where you get prospects to ask for More Info and.....when you send the info....also include an "Encrypted" CD!

Don Alm

Don,

I remember your biz valuation package from several posts you wrote about it. The program I mentioned doesn't do that.

The main goal is to re-orient the way a person looks at their business. Once they do that, they are better able to get positive results on, say, their taxes, real, property and income. The program isn't limited to taxes. I just use that as an example.

Truth is they can jump start their retirement, get business loans they probably wouldn't get anywhere else and get services they wouldn't get any place else.

You said you know hotel owners in your sphere of influence. I would bet we could put money in their pocket. It's amazing on what their accountants don't know when it comes to cost seg. Take their wiring for example. They don't know they have different types of wiring that can be depreciated faster than what they are now doing.

Almost none of them know how to properly depreciate their flooring. And, I can guarantee not one of them knows how to get tax free retirement dollars simply by making a change to their present retirement system. I know this from experience and not some pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking.

If you still have your biz valuation package and it is up to date, I'd be happy to present it to the owners for their perusal. If they decide to use it, you'll have an income stream that should make you very happy.

Of course, you don't have to give it to anyone. I'm simply making an offer without the authority to approve it for inclusion in our program portfolio.

Nothing happens unless we make it happen. It amazes how little business people know about making their assets pay them instead of the other way around.

Good luck with your biz valuation program.

Tom

Originally Posted by Don Alm

Well.....I put together a Report and found a Programmer who created a Floppy Disk for me. All a biz owner has to do is enter numbers from their Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement....click a couple buttons and Whala.....a Number comes up that represents the "Worth" of a bizness.

I named this program "Biz-Worth" and proceeded to sell it by sending out postcards (see photo) and I also put up a Sales Page on a website.

The response was awesome. I charged $95 for the Floppy & Report.

I also ran ads in biz mags where I got prospects to Phone my voice-mail ("FREE Recorded Message Reveals How To Find What Your Business is Worth, in the Privacy of Your Office. Phone 555-1212 24hrs!"

Now.....pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the following. I got people to call my Voice mail and leave their Name AND Address to receive the Info HOWEVER... instead of just sending a Sales Letter.....I also INCLUDED THE FLOPPY!

And at the end of the Sales Letter I mentioned that.....they don't have to Wait for the Software to be sent to them.....or Wonder IF they'll receive it.... THEY ALREADY HAVE IT! It's IN the enclosed CD but it's Locked. To unlock it they just need to phone my Order Service and the clerk will provide them with a CODE to UnLock the Floppy.

What I was appealing to was the awesome power of "Curiosity"! They ALREADY had the program....all they had to do was UnLock it!

Sales went thru the Roof!

Anyways.....maybe you can use this with a project where you get prospects to ask for More Info and.....when you send the info....also include an "Encrypted" CD!

Don Alm

Ah...this is the info Joe Polish wanted when i was listening to some old Gary Halbert tapes...

Wonder if this could be done today...

Hey Don, do ya still have that software?

Ya....still have the software program. Software doesn't deteriorate. However, I paid a programmer $2,500 for the program. Send me an email as to what you'd pay for the software AND the Flyers, PostCards and Website I used to sell it.

I sold 3200 of these puppies in 6 mos....sold the program to a "Marketing Firm" who proceeded to sell it for the next 2 yrs and.....when the owner passed away.....the Firm disbanded. And, now that I'm thinking about it.....I have a 24yr old grandson who might be interested in promoting this......or....heck, maybe I will take it up again. All it takes to get started is to set up a Voice Mail.....Print some PostCards and Buy some Stamps.

donalm@charter.net

Don Alm

Hey Don.

Just done a G search for:

''How To Find What Your Business is Worth''

1st ad at the top of the page:

valuemybusiness.co.uk

Did/put in a fictitious company/with figures ...and YEAH it spat out the Business Worth for FREE!

Check here:
http://www.valuemybusiness.co.uk/val...tor/j5a3ah3m3r

Yeah your puppy worked years ago, but i have my doubts if if would work now...so i'll pass on ya offer.

BUT, there is CERTAINLY something in ya strategy...

Keep em coming...Cheers, from the limey over the pond

Originally Posted by OddBall

Hey Don.

Just done a G search for:

''How To Find What Your Business is Worth''

1st ad at the top of the page:

valuemybusiness.co.uk

Did/put in a fictitious company/with figures ...and YEAH it spat out the Business Worth for FREE!

Check here:
http://www.valuemybusiness.co.uk/val...tor/j5a3ah3m3r

Yeah your puppy worked years ago, but i have my doubts if if would work now...so i'll pass on ya offer.

BUT, there is CERTAINLY something in ya strategy...

Keep em coming...Cheers, from the limey over the pond

I used your search phrase to see what I would come with. One of the sites it produced had this to say:

There are several ways to calculate the value of a business:

•Asset Valuations: Calculates the value of all of the assets of a business and arrives at the appropriate price.
•Liquidation Value: Determines the value of the company's assets if it were forced to sell all of them in a short period of time (usually less than 12 months).
•Income Capitalization: Future income is calculated based upon historical data and a variety of assumptions.
•Income Multiple: The net income (profit/owner's benefit/seller's cash flow) of a business is subject to a certain multiple to arrive at a selling price.
•Rules Of Thumb: The selling price of other "like" businesses is used as a multiple of cash flow or a percentage of revenue.

Since I don't know what parameters Don used in his biz val program, I can't speculate as to whether his program is or isn't out of date. I would bet not since he seems to be the meticulous type who would have thought it through.

There were other sites listed on the search page but most of them had a book to sell. So did the site from which I took the above excerpt but I liked the excerpt so I quoted it.

By the way, this is one service we provide as well. We would use the Principal for this valuation. Costs vary depending on what you want. But you already knew costs would vary, right?

"Yeah.....MY thingee is "Old Hat"! "There's a freebie in the UK that provides the "SAME"? info my program does!!!!!"

Yup.....if YOU say it's so....it IS! It's what YOU believe! (I'll never forget all the "naysayers" when I told friends and family that "I" was gonna start a "BurglarAlarm" biz! Only ONE person wished me well and told me to "Go Fer It!" And.....within 2 years I had 17 employees and the LARGEST .....Alarm Biz on the North Shore of Chgo.)

However....for those extremely BUSY.....20 Millyun or so Small Business Owners who DON'T have the TIME to go traipsing thru Google "in the UK".....if they were to receive a PostCard in the Mail tomorrow morn.....telling them they can find out.......What Their Biz Is Worth.....in 30 Min.....in the Privacy of their Office!"......I think a pretty good percentage would take a minute to dial the "Recorded Message" to get some more info!

THEN.....when they leave their Mailing Info.....I GOT EM!

So....."Skepto" all you want..... most of my stuff has been "Skeptomized" ever since I've been getting Marketing Ideas AND......DOING THEM!

I'm setting my grandson up to start on this......18yrs after I did.....and I'll bet ya HE.....can get 1,000 biz owners to pop $97 for THIS!

Don Alm......DOER from waay baack

Originally Posted by Don Alm

Ya....still have the software program. Software doesn't deteriorate. However, I paid a programmer $2,500 for the program. Send me an email as to what you'd pay for the software AND the Flyers, PostCards and Website I used to sell it.

I sold 3200 of these puppies in 6 mos....sold the program to a "Marketing Firm" who proceeded to sell it for the next 2 yrs and.....when the owner passed away.....the Firm disbanded. And, now that I'm thinking about it.....I have a 24yr old grandson who might be interested in promoting this......or....heck, maybe I will take it up again. All it takes to get started is to set up a Voice Mail.....Print some PostCards and Buy some Stamps.

donalm@charter.net

Don Alm

Good discussion on the business valuation topic.

With the amount of baby boomers who own small businesses
the opportunity in this area, might be better than ever.

At some point, they have to be thinking seriously about getting out.

When I went to the seminar on "How To Find Out What Your Business Is Worth!"......I asked some of the people WHY they were there.....were they planning on selling their biz and........EVERY ONE stated they "Just Wanted To Get An Idea of What Their Biz was Worth.....FOR THEIR OWN KNOWLEDGE!"

NONE of these biz owners had any intention of selling their biz!

Discovering THIS Fact is what told me my Market would be Huge!

So.....the "Target Market" here is .....EVERY SMALL BIZ OWNER!!

Don Alm

Originally Posted by Don Alm

"Yeah.....MY thingee is "Old Hat"! "There's a freebie in the UK that provides the "SAME"? info my program does!!!!!"

Yup.....if YOU say it's so....it IS! It's what YOU believe! (I'll never forget all the "naysayers" when I told friends and family that "I" was gonna start a "BurglarAlarm" biz! Only ONE person wished me well and told me to "Go Fer It!" And.....within 2 years I had 17 employees and the LARGEST .....Alarm Biz on the North Shore of Chgo.)

However....for those extremely BUSY.....20 Millyun or so Small Business Owners who DON'T have the TIME to go traipsing thru Google "in the UK".....if they were to receive a PostCard in the Mail tomorrow morn.....telling them they can find out.......What Their Biz Is Worth.....in 30 Min.....in the Privacy of their Office!"......I think a pretty good percentage would take a minute to dial the "Recorded Message" to get some more info!

THEN.....when they leave their Mailing Info.....I GOT EM!

So....."Skepto" all you want..... most of my stuff has been "Skeptomized" ever since I've been getting Marketing Ideas AND......DOING THEM!

I'm setting my grandson up to start on this......18yrs after I did.....and I'll bet ya HE.....can get 1,000 biz owners to pop $97 for THIS!

Don Alm......DOER from waay baack

Guys, I'm NOT saying this will not work, and of course there are other variables valuing a biz...

BUT...it just shows what YOU can get for bugger all by doing a G search, additionally a lot of biz owners i see are Internet savvy, (late 40's early 50's) they have google's page open on their computer, when i sit with them at their desk. It took me 3 minutes to fill that online form out!

Also the Don Alm biz i heard on the old Gary Halbet tapes was circa 1997...Internet was in its infancy back then...

I can see this working sending it to the older type biz owner generation...

Don, why not re-test this again with a seminar on "How To Find Out What Your Business Is Worth!"

For myself I'm looking for the low hanging fruit, IE: I want to solve their problems, fill their needs/pain points, AND getting more customers/clients PROFITS is at the TOP of their list!

Great forum, with like minded souls here