Archive for February, 2011
Dogs and “Invisible Fence”
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011You’ve probably seen dogs appearing free to roam—and probably feeling less confined, perpetually fooled—by the surprisingly effective ‘invisible fence.’ In my Renegade Millionaire System, I talk about the problem of building up your knowledge and skills to a ‘10’ but being stuck in a ‘size 4’ opportunity. Truth is, quite a few mature, successful info-marketers arrive at just that place. If they/we applied our knowledge and skills to much bigger sized opportunities, they/we might just be billionaires instead of millionaires. But, among other things, it almost certainly means leaving the business of selling business information to businesspeople behind in favor of a much bigger, broader, consumer interest: sex, romance, relationships, gambling, food, etc. There is a mutual fund that’s done quite well in recent years investing only in “sin businesses”—casinos, tobacco, alcohol, etc. Imagine how “dangerous” the experienced info-marketer with our kind of know-how investing his time only in such categories. There may be ethical considerations—everybody draws their line, usually a moveable line, about what they will and won’t do to make money in a different place. But if we simply make the broadest delineation and compare the ‘entertainment’ and ‘information’ business, we will find 90% of the super-sized opportunities on the entertainment side of the line. One video game may produce $300-million, while the astute marketer of information to a niche or niches might require 10 to 25 years to hit that number with all his products, seminars, coaching, etc., combined. While Trump has taken some obvious, easy pickings from The Apprentice, by licensing himself to get-rich training events and products and grabbing big fee speaking gigs, you might notice he has not made serious investment here. The money made from licensing his name to one real estate project for points certainly eclipses all the money made or maybe even to be made with real effort selling his business advice to small investors and entrepreneurs; as the money from licensing himself to clothing manufacturers and Macy’s probably does. Trump knows small potatoes when sees them.
The Professor of Harsh Reality’s Dirty Little Secrets of E-Commerce
Wednesday, February 16th, 201112% of the total number of e-commerce websites are in the Adult-Entertainment industry, encompassing 4.2 million sites, fed by a mind-boggling 68 million search engine queries per day … roughly 25% of all search activity. No other category can claim comparable concentration and dominance. And the 12% number is of sites; the percentage of actual commerce, higher. A payment processing company created just to be ‘the PayPal of adult sites’ went from zero to $73-million in revenues its first 6 months. You then have to look at eBay, Amazon and the giant community sites like Facebook, MySpace, etc. As you strip out these big chunks of online commerce, you arrive at the arena in which most readers of this Letter as well as most consumer goods and services marketers play in—and you realize just how small it really is. There, you might have to further subtract the big national chains’ bricks/clicks combos; the Wal-Marts and Barnes & Nobles of the world. The e-commerce arena gets even smaller. This reality should not be ignored. Thinking about it leads down two important paths. First, away from the Internet, to the space that is still much, much bigger, where much more commerce is done, where many more businesses prosper: print media and direct mail. If you do a bit of research and compare the numbers of successful direct marketers as well as the revenues generated, you will find “online” a teeny-tiny player vs. “offline.” And that may affect your decisions about weighting of your investments of time, energy and money. Second, to the true online opportunities and sensible uses, which I would prioritize as follows:
“Your Name on Everyone’s Lips—Even those who say it tastes like crap.”
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN INDUSTRY LEADER? Being recognized as a leader—whether controversial or not—in a niche is an advantage worth creating. I’ve personally done it for myself three times for profit: once, with the National Speakers Association/professional speakers niche, at the time, in the late 70s through 90s, about 7,000; with chiropractors, at the time, in the early 80s through the 90s, about 40,000; and with the infomercial industry. Since then I’ve helped countless people launch and develop successful niche info-businesses, although few have taken their status in their niches to the point that I did in my three. Of those I’ve worked with or work with now, the ones I’d crown this way are: Joe Polish, Greg Stanley, Craig Proctor, Dr. Tom Orent. A number of others, close but no cigar. Here are a few of the keys to this door …
The Big Lesson of the Month: How to Get Rich
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011Making money in information marketing is one thing. Establishing a real business with a solid foundation that will stand the test of time and endure for decades, make you wealthy through owning it, and be saleable when the time for exit comes is an animal of different color and stripe. A large number of people accomplish the former; only a few accomplish the latter. And, most look at the wrong examples, if interested in achieving the latter. Specific to equity and sale, mail-order catalog companies are routinely valued and sold and acquired at significant earnings multiples. Info-marketing businesses absent this as major component are rarely sold or acquired. There’s a big lesson there. There are a few key, prime assets an information-marketing business owner needs to develop, to have a real business—they are…