Case Study: Jim Warner
"this story is real. The name Jim Warner is a pseudonym adopted to satisfy a confidentiality agreement. This testimonial demonstrates the power of a one time 2 hour consultation with Jay Abraham a legendary marketing consultant. I'm sure you can learn alot just by reading Mr.Warners' story"
Case Study: Jim Warner
HOW I MADE OVER $1,000,000 AS THE DIRECT RESULT OF
ONE PERSONAL CONSULTATION WITH JAY ABRAHAM.
Thirty years ago, long before there was an Internet, I had
a very profitable encounter with Jay Abraham. Jay was
already a successful marketing guy. I had seen a few
dozen of his very long ads in classified ”business
opportunity" sections. He was offering to assist people
in marketing their products on a contingent fee or joint
venture basis.
His ”trademark" ads were very unique. I had never seen
such long classified ads. Some of them went on for half
a page of small print. Yet they were original and
interesting as hell. They were mostly success stories of
his clients and actual marketing tips. When I met Jay he
said that "contrary to popular belief, people will read
long adverts or mail pieces--if they are interested in the
subject.” Well, proof of the pudding--I was one of them.
When I responded by mail, I got a heavy package of
promotions he had written for other people. The only
promotion cited that I still remember well was for H
oward Ruff. Jay had made his newsletter, Ruff Times into
a multi-million dollar operation--using Jay's unique
marketing and promo techniques. I was also impressed by
a campaign he did for a seller of unique executive toys.
In those days I had written a longish pamphlet about how
to make money in foreclosure & abandoned properties. This
was something I had done profitably and was actually
making a good living at back then. I spent a lot of time
trying to get commercial publishers to buy, publish and
market my pamphlet.
After sending copies of the manuscript to a dozen
publishers, I had no luck with any of them. Those who
bothered to comment said things like ”It's been done
before."
I called Jay on the phone. I told him about my product.
He could spare a couple of hours for me---if I would come
to see him that weekend at his home. I figured there was
nothing to lose, but travel time. I got in my car and drove
down to his pile of bricks. It was a nice place on a hill
overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Pacific Palisades
California.
We got right down to business.
Jay shared with me many ideas and concepts I had never
heard of before. The first thing was that I should forget
about begging publishers to print and sell my book. Self
publishers {he said} make a lot more money. All I had to
do is go to a printer and for around a buck a copy, have
my own book printed with a nice glossy paperback cover.
Then I could promote it as an exclusive "Special Report,"
and keep all the money--not just a 6% royalty. Simple as
that idea was, self publishing never occurred to me.
"But how would I sell it if a big publisher wasn't pushing
it to bookstores?" I asked. Jay said that "maybe only 3%
of the population ever went into bookstores. But over half
read classified ads." So the best way to distribute my
"special report" would be mainly through classified ads,
and later with public relations.
"Public relations," he explained, was simply getting your
product mentioned in newspapers and on radio stations. With
luck and some experience in giving good interviews, you
could get on quite a few talk shows. Start with small local
stations in smaller towns. What do you talk about?
Local opportunities in foreclosures, of course. Maybe 9
out of 10 stations would refuse an unknown, but enough
would accept to keep you busy. Small non-music stations
had to keep fairly interesting chatter going. For them
getting interesting guests at off-peak hours was not easy.
How to make money is always a hot topic.
"If you do well on some shows," said Jay, "the host will
write you a testimonial, and you use that to pyramid and
get on more shows." As it turned out, there were always
lots of slots for authors on "call in shows" especially
Sunday mornings from about 3AM to 7AM. I didn't have to
pay the stations. They always gave me a few free plugs for
my books (and later my seminars).
Although you might assume nobody was listening, I guess a
lot of people working night shifts were tuned in. Also
plenty of car and truck radios are tuned to chat shows
during these odd hours. On every show I always got a few
dozen orders. The radio price was $20. But I am getting
ahead of the story.
Back to my first interview with Jay.
He told me the story of how Joe Karbo became a
multi-millionaire with a short pamphlet called
"The Lazy Mans Way to Riches." Karbo's pitch was "I will
send you the book and not cash your check for 30 days. If
you don't think the book is worth the price, then return
it & I will return your check."
I took that idea later and ran with it. Offering a refund
that way increased my sales dramatically. There were
virtually no refunds requested. I asked Jay about
the book and got a surprise when he said "You can give it
away free and still make money on the back end. Your book
can be something like a calling card."
I had never heard of "back ends." Then Jay explained that
if you have a good "front end" --a book or any product where
people can get to know you and trust you -- all you have to
do is develop and offer the reader a "back end deal." The
right offer will reap far more profits than you could ever
get just from book sales. We explored back end ideas. Jay
and I decided readers could alert me to good foreclosure
deals.
They would go into partnership with me on first deals that
they felt too inexperienced to handle alone. This kind of
joint venture could be quite profitable. The client could
put up all the money while I put up the expertise. Further,
the fact that readers could partner with me "the guy who
wrote the book," would be a further incentive to buy the
book. He cautioned that not all ideas would work, and you
just had to keep tweaking, trying and testing new products
and offers all the time.
Finally he told me about the "bounce-back." This was
putting some kind of offer or discount coupon in the book.
Buyers could be given "ten days" to respond a wonderful
offer of some other product, service, seminar or whatever.
Of course the deal had to be a good one for the buyer, and
offer the usual money back guaranty.
Jay suggested I could also promote and sell consulting
services in the book, and also in ads for the book. In the
course of radio interviews I could offer my readers a
seminar on my subject at $500 for a weekend. I could sell
transcripts and tapes of the seminars. He kept repeating:
"Never hesitate to always offer a full, no questions asked,
iron clad, money back guaranty."
Jay suggested that I could even supply the product first
and offer to let the customer pay only if he was happy.
That suggestion I found too far out. A money back guaranty
I felt as in "I won't cash your check or process your
credit card..." was enough of a risk. I was at first
afraid that after taking my seminar (which was little more
than what was in my book), everybody would want a refund.
But Jay explained it doesn't work that way. Customers who
read the book will want a "kick start." They seek
inspiration & words from the author-guru himself; Readers
also want to ask questions, and make contacts-- meet others
in the business. Share notes.
I took a lot of notes, and learned more about marketing in a
couple of hours with Jay than I did in the rest of my life.
One of the other really good tips was not to hold back on
your best information. Whether it was an advertisement, a
free preview seminar, or in an 'on air' interview, always
put your best material out there. Just like in the movie
trailers or previews. They use the best scenes as teasers.
The audience never objects that they saw it already. Why?
Because in the context of other material it has new meaning.
What came next was implementation. As all Jay's clients say,
it was not easy, but I placed classified adverts, and
created buzz and excitement as I gave away plenty of books
as free prizes at preview seminars. At the previews, I
sold many more books at discount prices. The books had
become my calling card to get repeat or “back-end” business.
I also started a newsletter. Within the books as Jay
suggested I placed a coupon for $250 off the price of a
$500 seminar, plus a free set of tapes and transcripts
"which alone sell for $500," and a free newsletter
subscription worth $200 a year. A $1,250 value for $250!
“And you can bring a friend along for the same price!”
It was his concept of establishing a perceived value in the
prospect's mind and then offering an irresistible deal based
upon that value. When I had enough expressions of interest
from my book coupon, I started giving live seminars. Book
buyers who could not attend were given an irresistible deal
on the tapes and transcripts.
Soon, from the radio shows, I had far more calls than I
could handle personally and so I hired staffers to sell
and take down credit card numbers. Just as Jay predicted,
after I had sold around $100,000 worth of product and tapes,
a few joint venture deals rolled in. They were infinitely
more profitable than the books and tapes.
The seminar tickets however, were something else. I got a
real high and felt like I was in show business. I could
make over 10 thousand dollars net profit from a one day
seminar. But the new contacts and joint ventures were even
more profitable. Now that I was a "name", people came to me
for my expertise, and they trusted me with their secrets.
The bottom line is that Jay is for real. His techniques do
work. He is easy to work with. An ethical and fair guy;
he deserves any fee or percentage you negotiate. I
personally retired at a very young age only three years
after our conference.
Since then I came out of retirement a few times briefly,
when I had good ideas for a new products or services. I
used Jay's techniques over and over again, and added some
new wrinkles too. If I told you how much profit I made*,
you wouldn't believe me.
Jim Warner
This new program from Jay Abraham can change your life.
Do you find The MarketingXcellence blog useful? Add this feed to your My Yahoo page or the
News Reader of your choice to receive our posts as soon as we make them
http://MarketingXcellence.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Please spread the word about the MarketingXcellence blog. Feel free to send this post to a friend.
Case Study: Jim Warner
HOW I MADE OVER $1,000,000 AS THE DIRECT RESULT OF
ONE PERSONAL CONSULTATION WITH JAY ABRAHAM.
Thirty years ago, long before there was an Internet, I had
a very profitable encounter with Jay Abraham. Jay was
already a successful marketing guy. I had seen a few
dozen of his very long ads in classified ”business
opportunity" sections. He was offering to assist people
in marketing their products on a contingent fee or joint
venture basis.
His ”trademark" ads were very unique. I had never seen
such long classified ads. Some of them went on for half
a page of small print. Yet they were original and
interesting as hell. They were mostly success stories of
his clients and actual marketing tips. When I met Jay he
said that "contrary to popular belief, people will read
long adverts or mail pieces--if they are interested in the
subject.” Well, proof of the pudding--I was one of them.
When I responded by mail, I got a heavy package of
promotions he had written for other people. The only
promotion cited that I still remember well was for H
oward Ruff. Jay had made his newsletter, Ruff Times into
a multi-million dollar operation--using Jay's unique
marketing and promo techniques. I was also impressed by
a campaign he did for a seller of unique executive toys.
In those days I had written a longish pamphlet about how
to make money in foreclosure & abandoned properties. This
was something I had done profitably and was actually
making a good living at back then. I spent a lot of time
trying to get commercial publishers to buy, publish and
market my pamphlet.
After sending copies of the manuscript to a dozen
publishers, I had no luck with any of them. Those who
bothered to comment said things like ”It's been done
before."
I called Jay on the phone. I told him about my product.
He could spare a couple of hours for me---if I would come
to see him that weekend at his home. I figured there was
nothing to lose, but travel time. I got in my car and drove
down to his pile of bricks. It was a nice place on a hill
overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Pacific Palisades
California.
We got right down to business.
Jay shared with me many ideas and concepts I had never
heard of before. The first thing was that I should forget
about begging publishers to print and sell my book. Self
publishers {he said} make a lot more money. All I had to
do is go to a printer and for around a buck a copy, have
my own book printed with a nice glossy paperback cover.
Then I could promote it as an exclusive "Special Report,"
and keep all the money--not just a 6% royalty. Simple as
that idea was, self publishing never occurred to me.
"But how would I sell it if a big publisher wasn't pushing
it to bookstores?" I asked. Jay said that "maybe only 3%
of the population ever went into bookstores. But over half
read classified ads." So the best way to distribute my
"special report" would be mainly through classified ads,
and later with public relations.
"Public relations," he explained, was simply getting your
product mentioned in newspapers and on radio stations. With
luck and some experience in giving good interviews, you
could get on quite a few talk shows. Start with small local
stations in smaller towns. What do you talk about?
Local opportunities in foreclosures, of course. Maybe 9
out of 10 stations would refuse an unknown, but enough
would accept to keep you busy. Small non-music stations
had to keep fairly interesting chatter going. For them
getting interesting guests at off-peak hours was not easy.
How to make money is always a hot topic.
"If you do well on some shows," said Jay, "the host will
write you a testimonial, and you use that to pyramid and
get on more shows." As it turned out, there were always
lots of slots for authors on "call in shows" especially
Sunday mornings from about 3AM to 7AM. I didn't have to
pay the stations. They always gave me a few free plugs for
my books (and later my seminars).
Although you might assume nobody was listening, I guess a
lot of people working night shifts were tuned in. Also
plenty of car and truck radios are tuned to chat shows
during these odd hours. On every show I always got a few
dozen orders. The radio price was $20. But I am getting
ahead of the story.
Back to my first interview with Jay.
He told me the story of how Joe Karbo became a
multi-millionaire with a short pamphlet called
"The Lazy Mans Way to Riches." Karbo's pitch was "I will
send you the book and not cash your check for 30 days. If
you don't think the book is worth the price, then return
it & I will return your check."
I took that idea later and ran with it. Offering a refund
that way increased my sales dramatically. There were
virtually no refunds requested. I asked Jay about
the book and got a surprise when he said "You can give it
away free and still make money on the back end. Your book
can be something like a calling card."
I had never heard of "back ends." Then Jay explained that
if you have a good "front end" --a book or any product where
people can get to know you and trust you -- all you have to
do is develop and offer the reader a "back end deal." The
right offer will reap far more profits than you could ever
get just from book sales. We explored back end ideas. Jay
and I decided readers could alert me to good foreclosure
deals.
They would go into partnership with me on first deals that
they felt too inexperienced to handle alone. This kind of
joint venture could be quite profitable. The client could
put up all the money while I put up the expertise. Further,
the fact that readers could partner with me "the guy who
wrote the book," would be a further incentive to buy the
book. He cautioned that not all ideas would work, and you
just had to keep tweaking, trying and testing new products
and offers all the time.
Finally he told me about the "bounce-back." This was
putting some kind of offer or discount coupon in the book.
Buyers could be given "ten days" to respond a wonderful
offer of some other product, service, seminar or whatever.
Of course the deal had to be a good one for the buyer, and
offer the usual money back guaranty.
Jay suggested I could also promote and sell consulting
services in the book, and also in ads for the book. In the
course of radio interviews I could offer my readers a
seminar on my subject at $500 for a weekend. I could sell
transcripts and tapes of the seminars. He kept repeating:
"Never hesitate to always offer a full, no questions asked,
iron clad, money back guaranty."
Jay suggested that I could even supply the product first
and offer to let the customer pay only if he was happy.
That suggestion I found too far out. A money back guaranty
I felt as in "I won't cash your check or process your
credit card..." was enough of a risk. I was at first
afraid that after taking my seminar (which was little more
than what was in my book), everybody would want a refund.
But Jay explained it doesn't work that way. Customers who
read the book will want a "kick start." They seek
inspiration & words from the author-guru himself; Readers
also want to ask questions, and make contacts-- meet others
in the business. Share notes.
I took a lot of notes, and learned more about marketing in a
couple of hours with Jay than I did in the rest of my life.
One of the other really good tips was not to hold back on
your best information. Whether it was an advertisement, a
free preview seminar, or in an 'on air' interview, always
put your best material out there. Just like in the movie
trailers or previews. They use the best scenes as teasers.
The audience never objects that they saw it already. Why?
Because in the context of other material it has new meaning.
What came next was implementation. As all Jay's clients say,
it was not easy, but I placed classified adverts, and
created buzz and excitement as I gave away plenty of books
as free prizes at preview seminars. At the previews, I
sold many more books at discount prices. The books had
become my calling card to get repeat or “back-end” business.
I also started a newsletter. Within the books as Jay
suggested I placed a coupon for $250 off the price of a
$500 seminar, plus a free set of tapes and transcripts
"which alone sell for $500," and a free newsletter
subscription worth $200 a year. A $1,250 value for $250!
“And you can bring a friend along for the same price!”
It was his concept of establishing a perceived value in the
prospect's mind and then offering an irresistible deal based
upon that value. When I had enough expressions of interest
from my book coupon, I started giving live seminars. Book
buyers who could not attend were given an irresistible deal
on the tapes and transcripts.
Soon, from the radio shows, I had far more calls than I
could handle personally and so I hired staffers to sell
and take down credit card numbers. Just as Jay predicted,
after I had sold around $100,000 worth of product and tapes,
a few joint venture deals rolled in. They were infinitely
more profitable than the books and tapes.
The seminar tickets however, were something else. I got a
real high and felt like I was in show business. I could
make over 10 thousand dollars net profit from a one day
seminar. But the new contacts and joint ventures were even
more profitable. Now that I was a "name", people came to me
for my expertise, and they trusted me with their secrets.
The bottom line is that Jay is for real. His techniques do
work. He is easy to work with. An ethical and fair guy;
he deserves any fee or percentage you negotiate. I
personally retired at a very young age only three years
after our conference.
Since then I came out of retirement a few times briefly,
when I had good ideas for a new products or services. I
used Jay's techniques over and over again, and added some
new wrinkles too. If I told you how much profit I made*,
you wouldn't believe me.
Jim Warner
This new program from Jay Abraham can change your life.
Do you find The MarketingXcellence blog useful? Add this feed to your My Yahoo page or the
News Reader of your choice to receive our posts as soon as we make them
http://MarketingXcellence.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Please spread the word about the MarketingXcellence blog. Feel free to send this post to a friend.
posted by Randall Madon at Saturday, August 06, 2005
<< Home