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  #1  
Old December 7, 2017, 01:47 PM
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GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Default $$$$$$$$$$$ DISTILLED

95% of all money making efforts, boiled down and distilled to =

PROSPECTS, who are they, where are they, how to reach them, what to say to them, what are they supposed to do.

PROMOTION, the Intersection where a prospect meets the idea of the product, it could be the first of a few intersections...but it is the WHERE your prospects are at the time you want to intersect with them.

CUSTOMERS. You will get X % of prospects to become customers, then what?

That's pretty much it. Let's look at some examples. Gary Dahl and the Pet Rock. A short run fad which made Gary millions. By design.

Who were his prospects? You and me? NOPE, he knew better. Between April of 1975 and June, Dahl perfected his idea, his sample product, his suppliers and created the box, the manual. His PROMOTION was to be at the San Francisco GIFT SHOW in Aug. He had a planned and co-ordinated approach to his marketing. He targeted up scale retailers, sent out scores of press releases once he got a couple of orders...and when Neiman-Marcus picked it up and NEWSWEEK ran a story, the frenzy began.

Between Oct. of 1975 and Feb. or 1976, about a million and a half were sold, a run of less than a year from CONCEPT TO COMPLETION.

Dahl KNEW his real prospect, it wasn't you and me the guy looking for a gag gift, it was the BUYER from the retailers, that was his customer.

There is a lot to be gleaned from the Pet Rock story, but from a $$$$$ making point of view, even short term money making projects follow the PROSPECT-INTERSECTION-PROMOTION "formula".

Yet what do we see every day? Pick a place, it doesn't matter, but you will find:

I just finished my product, now what?
I started a blog, now what?
I have spent a year developing my course, now what?

The BIG what of it all translates to; how do I get customers.

Well, instead of being the after thought for so many would be Entrepreneurs, I have long advocated you START WITH that.

WHO is your customer, why would they want/need your thingy, where will you find them, what will you say/do/show so they become a customer.

When Dahl was writing his booklet and designing the Pet Rock in the early months of 75, he had a very CLEAR VISION of who his customers were, those stores which would buy THOUSANDS at a time.

We can do a lot of these type of case studies, but let's make it about YOU, OK?

In 2018, WHO will you be targeting and HOW do you plan to turn your prospect into a customer?

OR, you can do what 90% do, go ahead, create/acquire YOUR product and come back and ask; NOW WHAT?

Gordon

Last edited by GordonJ : December 7, 2017 at 01:59 PM.
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  #2  
Old December 8, 2017, 08:13 PM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is online now
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Default Cost of getting customers... and the story behind the Pet Rock...

Quote:
Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post
I just finished my product, now what?
I started a blog, now what?
I have spent a year developing my course, now what?

The BIG what of it all translates to; how do I get customers.

Well, instead of being the after thought for so many would be Entrepreneurs, I have long advocated you START WITH that.

WHO is your customer, why would they want/need your thingy, where will you find them, what will you say/do/show so they become a customer.
Hi Gordon,

Another important factor (of course) is the cost of getting that customer...

If you have a $25 report you're selling, but it costs you $30 to get each customer, then of course you're losing money...

(If you have a second product to sell them, or sell some consulting as a follow-up, then you might have a profitable business...)

For me, this is what it often boils down to. I know who the customer is, but how much is it going to cost to get him or her?

As you know, I've dealt in the area of business ideas... It can be a very expensive area to be in if you advertise directly on Google Adwords, for example. Why? Because you're directly competing with businesses like franchises... They have a $25,000, or $100,000, or $250,000 "product"... So they can afford to spend a lot more on advertising!

Of course, there are other ways, too... But they're more work...

Quote:
When Dahl was writing his booklet and designing the Pet Rock in the early months of 75, he had a very CLEAR VISION of who his customers were, those stores which would buy THOUSANDS at a time.
I found a great article on the Pet Rock...

Here's a great report of an interview with Gary Dahl...

"Pet Rock mastermind doesn't want to talk about it. Much"
http://cjonline.com/stories/121299/bus_petrock.shtml

What I like about that interview is it doesn't just show the rosy side, but it shows many of the problems too... And it also talks about all the work behind the scenes.

He didn't just come up with an idea for a pet rock. He wrote a funny manual (a big selling point, I think without this, it would have failed)! He put a lot of work into the packaging, making it look like it was a real pet, with air holes, and a bed of straw in the box...!

He then took it to a gift show in San Francisco (in 1975). Gary Dahl was an advertising man, so he knew how to do press releases. He sent press releases to every major media outlet. A couple of months later, Newsweek picked up the story, and Neiman Marcus ordered 500 Pet Rocks! The story spread like crazy, and everyone was talking about it.

I read elsewhere that at one stage, he was selling 10,000 pet rocks a day! This was in the run-up to Christmas. Eventually, the fad died. It only lasted 4 months...! But he sold 1.3 million pet rocks, at just under $4 each!

So... He didn't just think of the idea of a pet rock, and that was it. The packaging, the funny manual, the presentation at a major gift show, and flooding the media with his press releases... That was all an important part of it too...

Another funny thing in the article is he mentions how people would bring him their "ingenious" new ideas... Like a pet stick. Or pet poop. Or pet gravel. Funny thing is, none of those ideas took his fancy...

Gary Dahl passed away a couple of years ago (I only just realized this now). From that article, it sounds like the Pet Rock brought him both happiness and also some pain too... Well worth a read...

Best wishes,

Dien

P.S. Here's where you can find the original Pet Rock training manual...! Quite funny... (PDF)

http://csinvesting.org/wp-content/up...-Gary-Dahl.pdf
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Old December 9, 2017, 09:49 AM
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GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Default Scott McCoskery and the fidget spinner.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dien Rice View Post
Hi Gordon,

Another important factor (of course) is the cost of getting that customer...

If you have a $25 report you're selling, but it costs you $30 to get each customer, then of course you're losing money...

(If you have a second product to sell them, or sell some consulting as a follow-up, then you might have a profitable business...)

For me, this is what it often boils down to. I know who the customer is, but how much is it going to cost to get him or her?

As you know, I've dealt in the area of business ideas... It can be a very expensive area to be in if you advertise directly on Google Adwords, for example. Why? Because you're directly competing with businesses like franchises... They have a $25,000, or $100,000, or $250,000 "product"... So they can afford to spend a lot more on advertising!

Of course, there are other ways, too... But they're more work...


I found a great article on the Pet Rock...

Here's a great report of an interview with Gary Dahl...

"Pet Rock mastermind doesn't want to talk about it. Much"
http://cjonline.com/stories/121299/bus_petrock.shtml

What I like about that interview is it doesn't just show the rosy side, but it shows many of the problems too... And it also talks about all the work behind the scenes.

He didn't just come up with an idea for a pet rock. He wrote a funny manual (a big selling point, I think without this, it would have failed)! He put a lot of work into the packaging, making it look like it was a real pet, with air holes, and a bed of straw in the box...!

He then took it to a gift show in San Francisco (in 1975). Gary Dahl was an advertising man, so he knew how to do press releases. He sent press releases to every major media outlet. A couple of months later, Newsweek picked up the story, and Neiman Marcus ordered 500 Pet Rocks! The story spread like crazy, and everyone was talking about it.

I read elsewhere that at one stage, he was selling 10,000 pet rocks a day! This was in the run-up to Christmas. Eventually, the fad died. It only lasted 4 months...! But he sold 1.3 million pet rocks, at just under $4 each!

So... He didn't just think of the idea of a pet rock, and that was it. The packaging, the funny manual, the presentation at a major gift show, and flooding the media with his press releases... That was all an important part of it too...

Another funny thing in the article is he mentions how people would bring him their "ingenious" new ideas... Like a pet stick. Or pet poop. Or pet gravel. Funny thing is, none of those ideas took his fancy...

Gary Dahl passed away a couple of years ago (I only just realized this now). From that article, it sounds like the Pet Rock brought him both happiness and also some pain too... Well worth a read...

Best wishes,

Dien

P.S. Here's where you can find the original Pet Rock training manual...! Quite funny... (PDF)

http://csinvesting.org/wp-content/up...-Gary-Dahl.pdf

A good case study in modern FADS, the fidget spinner. Scott McCoskery probably won't do as well as Gary Dahl did, he let the knock offs run rampant before he built a wall of protection. As any inventor knows, your patent is only good for DEFENSE, and at a very high cost.

Gary Dahl was the offense, scoring quick and fast, as I believe FADS must do. The jury is still out on the fidget spinner, but let's keep an eye on it.

If you are going to do a FAD, and I am, then you must spend the time behind the scenes getting it perfected and then strike quickly BEFORE anyone has time to catch it and steal it. Lots of PREP time goes into a a quick fad.

But some serious coin can come out of it. Hopefully?!!

Gordon
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