Allen and I make nearly all of our boldest decisions from our guts, on the spur of locked-eye-contact moments. That’s not to say the decisions don’t have months (or years) of information brewing behind them that ultimately spur us to the “sudden” life-changing blurt (like deciding to have a baby, for instance), but the final aggressive decision happens in a frenetic, ultra-confident jiffy.
It’s in this way we came to a 9:00am coaching session with best-selling author and Info-Marketing power player Michael Port, creator of the “Book Yourself Solid” lead generation and small biz marketing system, and co-founder of both the “Product Factory” (”The #1 Product Creation, Marketing and Sales Resource on the Internet”) and “Traffic School” (the “Ultimate Website Traffic and Conversion System”).
As of last month, Michael hadn’t yet crossed our radar (although now that we see who he is and who he’s been running with, that seems impossible). But into my inbox came a promo email from Audacious Audio’s Rob Shultz, an up-and-coming info-preneur who we know, like, and trust very much. Rob’s email was a bulletin about this guy named Michael who was trying to get his new book to the #1 slot on Amazon in a one-day buying blitz.
I kept reading.
Turns out Michael was so focused on this goal that he offered a bonus that looked well worth the investment. Whoever bought his book on Friday, May 5th, got a bunch of free stuff from his friends and peers. But whoever bought 25 of his books that day ALSO got two 45-minute consultations with this “Leader of the Think Big Revolution,” PLUS three months of our own advertisements in his 30,000+ subscriber newsletter. Twenty-five books, two consults, and targeted advertising space for under $400? Now THAT sounded like a deal!
We bought ‘em. And that purchase got us past the “Red Velvet Rope” to speak with the big guy himself.
What did we learn?
- We’re all over the place. (Surprise, surprise.)
- There’s a need for Product Creators, and if we really do know how to produce quality content, we can help the gurus who can’t get around to it themselves.
- We need some clarity and to focus on serving our very specific target market (not necessarily “entrepreneurs” but maybe “info-preneurs” or “solo-preneurs” instead) with a very specific “investable opportunity” and value-loaded message.
- We have to breathe more. Really. That’s a tip that keeps coming back to us. Maybe we should try it.
One of the ways Michael re-phrased what we were saying to him is that it sounds like we are — and we’re striving to help — “Real People, Doing Real Business in the Real World.”
Of course, lots of other things came up, like the suggestion that “accurate and boring” is better than “vague and cutesy,” and that it’s best to really hone in on “what’s closest to the money” so we can be smart about partnering with pros who’ve already mastered the Internet game with all its quirks and sinkholes.
But the overall impression we’re left with is this: Michael’s a genuinely nice guy. Smart, real, open, direct, and encouraging. He’s asked us to send him whatever we’re working on and he’ll give us his feedback, and we plan to have a bunch more to show to him by the time of our next meeting on June 22nd. We’ll keep you posted!
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