I screwed up a \u201cperfect storm\u201d opportunity in the 90s.<\/p>\n
One that could have made enough money to retire on my own private island.<\/p>\n
In 3 years or less.<\/p>\n
And sadly for me, that\u2019s not<\/em> an exaggeration.<\/p>\n Interestingly enough, I see almost all marketers making that same mistake these days. Even many of the experienced ones who should know better.<\/p>\n But lucky, lucky you. I\u2019m gonna reveal everything to you today.<\/p>\n Under one condition:<\/p>\n Since I screwed up my<\/em> \u201cprivate island\u201d opportunity… when you\u2019re so rich that China owes YOU money… please… don\u2019t forget me, OK?<\/p>\n Send me a \u201cMagnum red\u201d Ferrari. Or a Larry Carlton signature Gibson 335 guitar. Or at the very least, hire me to write some copy for you. OK? Promise?<\/p>\n Goodie, goodie gumdrops. Allow me to pro-ceeeeeeed<\/em>.<\/strong> (\u201cProceed\u201d spoken with my best Adam Sandler as Billy Madison voice.)<\/p>\n Oh, one last thang:<\/p>\n I really mean it, ya know. If you listen to me, this could make you soooooooo<\/em> darn flush with cashola… you can buy your own private island, hire Oprah as your personal chef… and Trump as your gardener.<\/p>\n OK, now that <\/em>(in my poor attempt at humor) actually is<\/em> an exaggeration. (Not the part about your own island. The part about Oprah and Trump. Because in a few months, weeks or possibly even days, both will be embedded in their own heavily fortified bug-out compounds, therefore not available.)<\/p>\n Anyhoo… here\u2019s the big mistake:<\/p>\n In the mid 90s I ran some test ads in newspapers offering a nutritional supplement. One that the timing was perfect<\/em> for. (Mostly because it jibed with the popularity of a bestselling book by a doctor that everybody was hearing about at the time.)<\/p>\n When all the numbers came in, it looked to me as a failure. I canceled all the ads and never rolled it out.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because the numbers revealed that when I spent $1 on media buys… I got back $1 in sales.<\/p>\n In other words… to use marketer speak… the ads were at \u201cbreak-even.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, in my eyes at that time, that meant they were a failure.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because I was also running ads in all the bodybuilding magazines at that time. And in the worst<\/em> performing magazines my ads were bringing in 3-to-1 return on investment on ad spend. And in the best<\/em> performing magazines, 6-to-1 return on investment on ad spend.<\/p>\n And since I was still a rookie back then, I thought that was normal.<\/p>\n That is not<\/em> normal. It was highly unlikely and super-duper difficult to get results like that with a front-end campaign in those days. Nowadays, virtually impossible. In ALL media. Online and offline.<\/p>\n Which is why I thought my newspaper ads at a 1-to-1 ROI were a failure.<\/p>\n Something else to consider:<\/p>\n Bodybuilding is a subculture. A niche. Much, much, much<\/em> smaller than the health market, which is a mass market. Which means that your pool of potential customers is substantially larger than the bodybuilding market.<\/p>\n It also means that it was highly unlikely and super-duper difficult to get better than a 1-to-1 ROI with a front-end campaign in those days. Nowadays, virtually impossible. In ALL media. Online and offline.<\/p>\n Having said all that, let me try to simplify this:<\/p>\n My \u201cfailed\u201d ads were actually this:<\/p>\n A marketing asset that could have brought me thousands and possibly millions of customers at zero<\/em> cost to me.<\/p>\n And that means this:<\/p>\n Since the health market (again, a mass market) is sooooooooo<\/em> darn huge… I could have gotten crazy amounts of customers in a very short period of time… for free.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Dan, since you were only breaking even, you still wouldn\u2019t have made any money.\u201d<\/p>\n [Shaking head]<\/p>\n Tsk, tsk, tsk.<\/p>\n My dear, dear, clueless rookie.<\/p>\n Drum roll, please…<\/em><\/p>\n THAT was the mistake!<\/p>\n The one that cost me a life of wealth and ease living on my own private island… with my own private jet.<\/p>\n And yacht.<\/p>\n And since I was still a heathen back then, a plethora of endless carnal pleasures that might have killed me and\/or cemented a special place for me in hell.<\/p>\n You still<\/em> don\u2019t get it?<\/p>\n My goodness, greenhorn. This is direct response 101 here! You should know this.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t make your money on the front-end. And even though it\u2019s almost impossible to do it nowadays… even if you could<\/em>, only a \u201cbovine, clod pated, citified moron\u201d would.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because it slows the growth of your business to a snail\u2019s pace and it steals ALL of your profits.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because a smart marketer knows this:<\/p>\n Sit up straight, turn off your mind-numbing, IQ-lowering heroin (your smart phone), take a big deep breath and pay attention as if your life depended on it. (Because in many cases, it does.)<\/p>\n Do a little \u201clectio divina\u201d on those two points I just shared. And keep<\/em> doing that until it sinks into deep into your crusty, calcified and concrete-thick cranium.<\/p>\n Because what I just shared with you is understood by very, very, virtually infinitesimal<\/em> few marketers.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the master key to you getting as moneyed as you choose to be.<\/p>\n And yes, it IS that simple.<\/p>\n Listen, even the best of the best marketers in the world… with the deepest pockets in the world… yes, even those<\/em> folks can\u2019t make money on the front end these days.<\/p>\n In ANY media.<\/p>\n In fact, most of those marketers lose<\/em> money on the front-end. And they\u2019re thrilled about it.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Again, rookie… \u201clectio divina\u201d those two points above.<\/p>\n Listen, this is knowledge that I\u2019ve sweated blood and invested decades to learn. And has literally<\/em> cost me millions of dollars.<\/p>\n Millions of my own dollars I\u2019ve invested… and millions lost because I was a stupid rookie who didn\u2019t understand it.<\/p>\n And you just got it free. (Which is probably another<\/em> big mistake on my part. Because nobody values stuff given away free.)<\/p>\n [pregnant pause for effect]<\/em><\/p>\n I have just given you the keys to the kingdom. Use it and prosper.<\/p>\n All the best, P.S.\u00a0 Speaking of getting new customers for free…<\/p>\n In only a few days I\u2019m releasing a brilliant, tried and true plan to get thousands of customers for free using what I call the \u201csocial media synergy system.\u201d<\/p>\n And when I say \u201cfree\u201d I don\u2019t mean like in my previous example where you run paid ads and get customers at break-even.<\/p>\n\n
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\nDoberman Dan<\/p>\n