ANSWERS from a best selling author.

[GordonJ]

You're welcome Dien.

We had an extensive interview session, over 2 hours, Raymond is an interestng guy. He is turning his 65 acre retreat into "project piddle" central. He just bought a DeLorean for a summer project, is thinking of putting up windmills, has a gas well and may go off the grid with a gas generator...all because he has the TIME and the MONEY to go with it.

Dien, wouldn't you like to snag a million bux or so from your BOOK? I know I would, Raymond got me fired up over the possibilites. OH, and he's also into movie making, I think I can get a part in his first "zombie" movie...isn't that a requirement for new independent film makers?

One part of the interview that I've never heard anyone talk about was how he dealt (poorly at first) with sudden "wealth". His first royalty check was in the high 4 figures, and then for months it was in the high 5 figures and when you're hauling down that kind of money, things can get a little crazy.

He quit a "secure" job that was paying around 30,000 and he made that much in one of the "bad" months with his book.

I'm going to be talking to Raymond again next week, and also Green Tree Press owner Pete Zesinger, so again, if you or if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to ask.

As an aside, I got to go into the "basement archives" and pulled out ads from the 70's and 80's that were classics. Ernest P. "Bud" Weckesser was a genius at writing ads. If you want, I might be able to post a few and tell what his notes said about the ad.

Anyhow, it was an excellent trip to Erie and I'm excited to go back up and snoop around this amazingly successful publisher.

Now I've got to get busy on my BOOK. How about you?

Gordon Jay Alexander

Gordon,

Not sure about anyone else, but I would love to see "Bud's" ads. As well as his notes. I think that would be extremely educational and fun.


Thanks for the great interview.

Fishman

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Fishman

Gordon,

Not sure about anyone else, but I would love to see "Bud's" ads. As well as his notes. I think that would be extremely educational and fun.


Thanks for the great interview.

Fishman

Fishman,

The problem is TIME and VOLUME. There are hundreds of ads, with, perhaps, thousands of variables, thousands of TESTS. Dr. Weckesser was a prolific writer.

He was known to dash out several headlines quickly and then perfected them with testing.

My thinking it is this: it probably would be best to focus on the ads that sold the most products, the control ads, the tests which improved the response...otherwise, what good would it be to have hundreds of ads if we didn't know what they did...right?

I'll be back up in Erie next week and I'll begin to put together the ads in perhaps a chronological sequence and also in a "how they did" manner, starting with the very best sellng ads and going from there.

For me, it is truly LOST treasure. I've found an old Harvey Brody ad that was offering the lists of Joe Karbo and Gene Schwartz for rental. Harvey had one of the very first computer managed list services and his clients were a who's who of direct response marketing.

Just one note. As excited as I am about finding great history (because I believe I can learn from it)...Pete is excited about the TOMORROW of GTP, with his two new divisions coming "online" soon. GTP is very much a NOW company and a TOMORROW company...

I'm the guy who's getting the thrill from this buried treasure....and the insights into Dr. Weckesser's THINKING, well, that's just going to help ME become a better persuader too. I believe it important to learn from success, and for 35 years and counting, Green Tree Press has been and will continue to be successful.

If you have any suggestions on how to ORGANIZE this gold, I'm all ears, OK?

Gordon Jay Alexander

Gordon,

Thank you and Raymond Steinbacher for the reply to my questions.

I'm wondering now about two things for info-publishing? Would the recession survival market be a good one to enter for selling info? And the Macintosh market seems ready to explode. I'm a 12 year mac user and see that Internet Marketers just whizzing by the Mac market -- missing an opportunbity for some real serious bread. How do I know? I saw the days BEFORE PDF files IM guys were only putting out .exe files. And for software many are still doing this today. I'm wondering... The Mac IM Market could be big Big, BIG! See what you can find out when you have time.

Best Wishes and thanks for listening!

donsonic

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by donsonic

Gordon,

Thank you and Raymond Steinbacher for the reply to my questions.

I'm wondering now about two things for info-publishing? Would the recession survival market be a good one to enter for selling info? And the Macintosh market seems ready to explode. I'm a 12 year mac user and see that Internet Marketers just whizzing by the Mac market -- missing an opportunbity for some real serious bread. How do I know? I saw the days BEFORE PDF files IM guys were only putting out .exe files. And for software many are still doing this today. I'm wondering... The Mac IM Market could be big Big, BIG! See what you can find out when you have time.

Best Wishes and thanks for listening!

donsonic

Right NOW, the Biz-Op field is booming. It is getting to an all time peak. Check out the "money making" magazines at your bookstore, and you'll see they have more pages of ads than at any time in the last 10 years.

There IS a huge market for work that can help people save money, make money, or better their living situations. Home GARDENING is booming, and that plays into your "survival" or "independence markets.

I'm not sure what you mean by Macintosh Market? PDF has become the default for reports, books and many communications. You'd have to elaborate on what Mac users are missing or why a person should buy a mac for their new computer. So, if you'd care to explain a little bit more about what a "mac IM market" is exactly, then we can figure it out.

Gordon Jay Alexander

Gordon,

Thanks for your prompt and brutally honest reply. I do appreciate you taking your time to assist in helping a dedicated fellow infopreneur .

1. For what you say, looks like the Biz opp is pretty HOT at this time! What would you suggest as the best way to reach this market? Offline ads in Income Opportunites, Money Making Opportunities, Home Business Opportunities magazines, as well as online websites like Entrepreneur etc?
Interested in marketing a series of reports to help people "Beat Recession."
Looking for cost effective and targeted ways to reach qualified buyers.

2. For the Macintosh market I see there is a huge potential for selling "How To Make Money With Your Mac" types of products. I am quite an expert in using this platform for producing ebooks, videos and websites etc. And have been quietly monitoring the PC based "Make Money Online" market over the past 10 years. And can honestly say the PC Make Money Online market is very dynamic, responsive and profitable. The Mac market has never had an influx of these type of offerings. Yet, from what products I have purcahsed and reviewed, the quality of the PC stuff is not quite up to the standards that we would expect. Yet, the PC based market stuff sells by the boatloads. I can see both a quality upgrade AND an opportunity to sell at a premium due to Mac's higher overall costs. But the benefits result in higher quality output.

Some folks may be to differ what I say about the Mac experience. But it is definitely going to grow by leaps and bounds. Just trying to get an advance foothold before PC competitors figure out the explosive potential. I'm saying this to say that, NO ONE is marketing to this exclusive audience with this type Biz Opp content. I feel it would go like gangbusters and have a key Mac hardware vendor interested in a few JV ideas.

Let me know if we should continue here or PM.

Best wishes for you and yours,

donsonic

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by donsonic

Gordon,

Thanks for your prompt and brutally honest reply. I do appreciate you taking your time to assist in helping a dedicated fellow infopreneur .

1. For what you say, looks like the Biz opp is pretty HOT at this time! What would you suggest as the best way to reach this market? Offline ads in Income Opportunites, Money Making Opportunities, Home Business Opportunities magazines, as well as online websites like Entrepreneur etc?
Interested in marketing a series of reports to help people "Beat Recession."
Looking for cost effective and targeted ways to reach qualified buyers.

2. For the Macintosh market I see there is a huge potential for selling "How To Make Money With Your Mac" types of products. I am quite an expert in using this platform for producing ebooks, videos and websites etc. And have been quietly monitoring the PC based "Make Money Online" market over the past 10 years. And can honestly say the PC Make Money Online market is very dynamic, responsive and profitable. The Mac market has never had an influx of these type of offerings. Yet, from what products I have purcahsed and reviewed, the quality of the PC stuff is not quite up to the standards that we would expect. Yet, the PC based market stuff sells by the boatloads. I can see both a quality upgrade AND an opportunity to sell at a premium due to Mac's higher overall costs. But the benefits result in higher quality output.

Some folks may be to differ what I say about the Mac experience. But it is definitely going to grow by leaps and bounds. Just trying to get an advance foothold before PC competitors figure out the explosive potential. I'm saying this to say that, NO ONE is marketing to this exclusive audience with this type Biz Opp content. I feel it would go like gangbusters and have a key Mac hardware vendor interested in a few JV ideas.

Let me know if we should continue here or PM.

Best wishes for you and yours,

donsonic

donsonic,

The fastest way to reach the Biz-Op market is space ads in newspapers. Use ROP (run of press, Stand-By) and place an ad and within a day of publication you'll have answers; either customers or a flop. It is the fastest...HOWEVER, you have to have a lot of work done prior to placing the ad...including the ad itself and the back office part of being able to either receive phone orders, fax orders or mail orders and all that comes with that...processing credit cards, customer service, and fulfillment. FASTEST way AFTER...

you have all the ducks lined up at considerable expense.

DIRECT MAIL...probably the most cost effective...IF you have everything in place...including the product finished, a mail piece ready, a good LIST and that is the most important thing...this is at least a $10,000 route...and maybe as much as 6 months time.

MAGAZINE ads have about a 60 day period between the time you place them and they run...you need to have an ad ready to go, then place your order, WAIT until it runs and be set up to receive orders.

All of the above we are actively doing (I'm working on several Biz-Ops) and it can be a slow and frustrating experience.

The INTERNET gives you the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to go. The problem is getting target traffic to your offer. You could JV, if you want, or begin to develop a list (the standard double opt-in way via a FREE report or something) and get organic traffic or buy traffic. The problem is it is an overcrowded market, with guys with deeper pockets spending a lot more money on the traffic. Still, the Internet is a good way to get started.

There are several people here at SowPub that provide some "models" to follow. Dien Rice has the SeedZine and his own Hidden Business Ideas to look at. Michael Ross has the hotsheetcity.com model, a good plact to place a special report or hotsheet on you subject. Skip Rosell has an excellent "small specialty report" site at www.makemoneyalert.com

I'd suggest you

A) Create a promotion for the first report you are going to offer B) Write the report based on the promotion. C) Set up a web site and start selling it

For the MAC thing. Why not use the above A-B-C and write your promotion, How to Make Money Online with Your Mac or whatever. Write the report based on your promotion C) Start selling it, start with a change of your sig file on all the forums you attend, including any mac based ones, and see what kind of feedback you get.

The marketing method is going to be whatever you choose and can afford. You have to balance speed with costs, lists with traffic generation and consider all the back office costs involved. I'd just go ahead and use the guerrilla techniques, get it up and then keep working on it and perfect as you grow.

gjabiz

Hello Gordon, I'm new to the SOWPub forum but I'd like to retweet, hashmark or ditto (whatever the protocol de jour) Fishman's comments on the ads...

Take your time, just please do share them.

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by writeonbro

Hello Gordon, I'm new to the SOWPub forum but I'd like to retweet, hashmark or ditto (whatever the protocol de jour) Fishman's comments on the ads...

Take your time, just please do share them.

I'm in Erie, PA. I'm looking at hundreds of ads over the last 35 years. Pete Zesinger, the owner of Green Tree Press, Inc. and I are going to figure out a "rating" system that very clearly tells you if the ad was the control, what elements were tested, all the different headlines tested...it is going to take awhile to get everything ready...however, it will be worth it.

Also, Pete is about to launch a summer long campaign to find new writers. His new divisions are the Global Digital Divison and the new Green Tree Press ON DEMAND Divison, so he is seeking content and is getting a flood of great ideas to choose from.

I may have something later today regarding this, and SowPub will be the first to know about it.

Gordon Jay Alexander

Gordon,

Sincere thanks & gratitude for the many years of experience in your reply!

What you have laid out is is a comprehensive marketing plan in a nutshell! As you recommended, I'm going to create the free report to get inquires. After your expert reconnaissance, the plan for both markets is to: 1. Start with the Internet, as it's very affordable. 2. When funding starts to roll in, test classifieds and space ads in print media. 3. When sales & receipts are steady and growing, upgrade to the direct mail route. We already have a good sales letter and am working on the written content as we speak. Like you said, all we need now is a proper" MODEL TO FOLLOW!" From your input and what I have learned here at the forum, it looks like we could have a good winner on our hands!

From your replies, here is what I have learned: 1. You are recommending to go slow and steady with lots of testing, planning and oversight to optimize the marketing dollars for targeting best qualified buyers and prospects. 2. There are several ways to reach the markets we are targeting. Start with
whatever you can afford and go from there. 3. Use guerilla marketing techniques and be conscious of timing, competition and budget.

Please reply and let me know if I have comprehended your marketing strategy and operations plan. I'm 55, and know that... you are my elder. I truly respect you for holding out a much needed hand. Again, I thank you for investing in me and SOWING the seeds of tiding and goodwill on earth for many generations to come.

With Utmost Respect,

donsonic