How to turn $10,000 into a LOT more.... in 2 1/2 days!

Hi Michael!

> What an incrediblly interesting
> tale/show/whatever.

I agree, it was a great show! :)

> As I've stated previously, I'm big on things
> that can be duplicated. Oh sure, everything
> has something to teach us, but the ability
> to duplicate something means it can be done
> instantly.

> After reading this tale a few thoughts
> popped into my mind...

> 1: How on earth did they manage to buy a
> mobile phone that was already fully charged?

Well, I know Pamela Noon bought one of those phones which uses those prepaid cards. She had to wait around 6 hours to get connected. I'm not sure about the type of phones the other two got.

As for charging a phone, I don't think it takes long to charge up a phone nowadays.... I'm not sure exactly how long mine takes to charge up, but it's not very long....

Most likely Cameron and "Crazy Ron" bought top-of-the-line phones with pretty fast charge times -- I expect they could have charged them in the store right after purchase. At least charged them enough to be useful....

> 2: Did any of them take a Yellow Pages with
> them while they made all their phone calls.
> If not, did they call Directory Assistance?

I assumed they called directory assistance -- I didn't see any Yellow Pages around....

> 3: If the answer to number two is No and No,
> then it means to me that the numbers they
> called were known by heart. And while the
> people were not friends, family or former
> clients, they were known.

Yes, well that's a good question. They didn't say they couldn't call former *suppliers* before....

Also, if they knew who they were going to call, it would be pretty easy to find the phone numbers through directory assistance. Even if they didn't know, I assume you might be able to get an operator to give you a random name from the right section in the Yellow Pages.

> I mean, lets face it, no one would agree to
> sponser their products on a proposed TV show
> at such short notice unless they knew the
> person producing the show.

I don't know if that's necessarily true.... Remember, she hired a production company, and they could check with the production company to see if it was legit.

Also, I don't think the rules prohibited her from saying who she was, just that she was not allowed to have had them as clients before.

> No one would agree to spend $500 on a dinner
> with guest speaker and one day's notice if
> they were being called by a total stranger.

Okay, this part does sound suspicious to me -- BUT maybe it's okay too. Remember, he had a celebrity speaker and also the promise of an auction with some rare sports memorabilia. If they only had to pay at the dinner or afterwards, then they would know what they were getting before they had to pay....

It's possible that there was some "cheating" here but I don't think that's easy to check!

> And to get through to the owner of a
> nightclub, get on the radio with no notice
> and hire all the Indy girls during the Indy
> is not something most people can duplicate.

Well, I would say of the three, "Crazy Ron's" approach would be the hardest to duplicate. That's because he's apparently already to some extent a "known" figure in his locality (probably from his ads), and he used that to his advantage (which was within the rules). It was an advantage the other two didn't have.

> However, just because what they did cannot
> be dupicated precisely, the seeds of some
> very profitable ventures were presented. And
> what they did shows the tremendous value of
> establishing contacts.

I would say the approach of Pamela Noon and Cameron Fisher were the most reproducible. Certainly for his business luncheon, it's clear that Cameron used no business contacts at all, since he hired telemarketers to cold-call business people to sell tickets for the luncheon.

Selling $60 tickets through cold-calling with a celebrity "real life adventure" speaker as the main attraction seems plausible to me.

> 4: Did they have any advanced notice of what
> the challenge was to be?

That I don't know.

> 5: Did the real estate guy have his
> secretary do stuff?

No, I don't think so. I believe he hired and contracted everything out afresh.

> I like the real estate guy's methods best.
> Gave him the most free time while others did
> what he wouldn't have been able to do
> personally.

That I agree with! He was the smartest, in my opinion. He had the *least* work to do, and made the most money too! It's the power of outsourcing the work!

> And he sold stuff without having to buy it
> first.

> Now I know you'll think this is odd, but
> I've NEVER seen Crazy Ron to the best of my
> knowledge. The most odd guy I've seen on the
> box was some darker skinned guy (middle east
> coloured skin) selling computers and he
> threw a scooter over his head (not that
> *I'd* call these modern scooters, scooters.
> Nothing like what I grew up with). Is that
> Crazy Ron? If it is, I'd never buy anything
> from him. Makes me think "cheap and
> bodgy."

Heheh, sounds like it could be him. However, as far as I know he sells mobile phones -- though he certainly may have expanded into computers....

I don't think he has any stores here in Sydney, or as far as I know in Melbourne.... So I'm not much of an expert on him, apart from what I saw on the show....

By the way, I found the beginning of "Crazy Ron's" web site.... It's at www.crazyrons.com.au .

I personally really liked "Crazy Ron." His enthusiasm was infectious!

And remember, the guy is only 23! And a millionaire as well.... He seems to be doing something right....

> Anyway. I enjoyed the tale and agree it's
> one of the best darn post series anywhere.

Thanks Michael!

> Part of it reminded me of
> "Badges".

Do you mean the pens reminded you of that?

Anyway, it gave me *lots* of ideas....

Here's what I think the *smart* approach is now.... It's to duplicate Cameron Fisher.

Be the one organizing things. Then hire others to do the work. Plan things out well (he was the only one who seemed to plan things out on paper first), to ensure you make a profit.

Then, you have others doing the work, yet you reap the benefits of a successful plan.... :)

In the show, the only thing Cameron Fisher did (that I saw), apart from organizing things, was to call people to try to get 25 people to come to his dinner (he did that himself), and he also conducted the actual auction.

(I wouldn't count betting on the horses as work!)

Everything else he outsourced -- caterers for the dinner, telemarketers to sell tickets to the luncheon, celebrity speakers, and I think he even managed to get someone else to organize the items for auction!

If you're looking to make, say, $25,000, paying a small team of people $20 per hour each to do a lot of the work for you isn't very much....

To me, that was one of the most important lessons.... But I think to make sure you make a profit, you have to plan things well beforehand.... :)

Dien Rice