Thursday, July 15, 2010

My Launch Story -- Product Launch Formula Worksheet

Who is your prospect? Pretend your prospect is sitting across from you right now... define him or her in great detail. How old are they? What gender? What are their interests or passions? What do they like and dislike? Where do they live? Are they married? Have kids?

Paying customer is parents of a Jewish child age 7-12. The average age of Jewish Bostonian mothers at first childbirth would be
approximately 28.5 years old. Assume 4 years between children, and two children in total. Expected maternal age at Bar Mitzvah in Boston would be age 43 and at Bat Mitzvah would be age 42. This demographic has a 30% to 34% divorce rate.
So, 3/10 will be single parents relative to that child, but 2/3 of those will have remarried. Given one Jewish parent, there is
a 53% that the other parent (or step spouse) will be Jewish.

Our ideal target is already affiliated with a Conservative or a Reform synagogue, although some will affiliate for the Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah.

While the Mother carries the "Jewishness," it is often the father who passes on the Jewish learning to the next generation.

Our core target audience is Jewish Married (to original spouse) Couples in Boston. Approximately 35% (70% are still married to original spouse, 50% of spouses are Jewish) of Jewish Boston kids fit that criteria. We will later expand to reach a broader segment of the Jewish community.

What does your avatar REALLY want? What are their inner core desires?

* Continuity: Deep down, they want to have Jewish grandchildren.
* Social status: Want their children to have high social status and to belong; themselves want social status.
* Connection: With tradition and other people.

What are their major HOT points?

* Juggling expenses with social status
* Respect gained by their child in synagogue

* Will their children be sought after marital partners?
* Will their children marry a Jewish spouse?
* WIll their children be happy and not get divorced?
* Will their children have children?
* Will those children be Jewish and have a Bar Mitzvah or a Bat Mitzvah?

What are their top fears and frustrations- what keeps them up at night?
What makes them mad? What do they worry about?

* Having Jewish grandchildren raised in a stable home
* Range from closeness to Judaism and comfort with Judaism, to general fear of unknown and not knowing whom to trust

What are their top wants and desires? What’s the outcome that they really want in whatever area of their lives that we’re involved in? What are they really after? What is the end goal they think they want?

* Many think they want a big party
* Many want social status for themselves and their child

What does your product do or give your prospect that he or she doesn’t know about?

* Increases their child's knowledge
* Enables child to gain status in their community through knowledge
* Be noticed by other Jewish kids
* More likely to build commitment to Judaism and to marry a Jewish spouse
* More likely to raise kids as Jews

How did you find or create your product/solution?

* Early employee at Oracle Corporation
* Sabbatical (5 years) studying Bible in Israel
* Experienced Entrepreneur
* Built contacts with leaders in Israeli and American Jewry, particularly in Bible field

Seeking to help Bar Mitzvah children learn to read Torah and Haftorah (Prophets) to increase long-term Jewish retention.

List-Building 'Bribe' -- What Your Child Should Have (Reform)

Welcome to PLJ, a leading provider of Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah software for Reform Jews in the United States.

We believe that Judaism embodies values of pluralism and accessibility, while drawing upon centuries of tradition and wisdom.

What are the top five Jewish Items that you should own?

* A kiddish cup -- a designated cup used for making the blessing over wine to sanctify the Sabbath or Holiday.
* Candle sticks (preferably portable) -- special candle holders for placing Sabbath candles to be lit before Sunset on Friday.
* Talit -- a ritual prayer shawl worn when leading prayers in synagogue, many communities it is worn in prayer by adults
* Mezuza -- on the doorpost of your bedroom, and preferably, the main doorway into the house where you live.
* Tefillin -- special leather boxes and straps containing the inscription of the prayer of God's one-ness

What are the five top Jewish books you should own?
* Prayer Book (Siddur). Crib notes for communing with God, mixed with popular philosophy and poetry.
* Jewish Bible (Tanach) -- A Hebrew/English collection of the foundational stories and laws that formed the Jewish people
* Chumash (Five Books of Moses) -- Hebrew/English collection of Torah portions with the corresponding prophetic readings
* The Book of Our Heritage -- Teaches about the Jewish holidays and seasons, the meaning, the stories, and laws.
* Studies in the Weekly Portion, Nehama Leibowitz

Other really excellent Jewish books:
* The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning, Maurice Lamm.
* Practical Medical Halachah, Fred Rosner & Moshe Tendler
* The Challenge of Wealth: A Jewish Perspective on Earning and Spending Money, Meir Tamari.
* Machzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
* A Different Night (Passover Haggadah). Lots of questions, fewer answers, for people who like to talk.
* The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel. A philosophical and spiritual look at sacred time and Shabbat.

Product Launch Formula Sequence Example

In every classic launch, it is necessary to have four free pieces of content which are a mixture of a bribe and a sales message.

Our market niche is Bar Mitzvah training software for children in the ages 7 to 12, delivered over the internet using the software as a service model.

The chairman of our board, a veteran Bar Mitzvah tutor, and a member of Oracle's original technical team of ten people who wrote Oracle 1.0, suggested that the "bribe" be a book report evaluating what books are worthwhile for the kids to read.

In prelaunch content, it is useful to mix up a variety of free goodies. So, for example, the first piece of content ('bribe') can be a PDF report (which we email to their in-box as part of a double-opt-in process. I might save the user a step by allowing the PDF download itself to be the opt-in step. We will ask for their email address. The next screen we will ask their organizational affiliation, providing different reports for Reform than for Conservative.

Another alternative for a first piece of content ('bribe') is a Bar Mitzvah date calculator. The child enters the date of their planned Bar Mitzvah (or Bat Mitzvah). On the next screen, I ask for their name. I will explain that I will give them a "goodie" related to their name. I email them the listing of what the Torah and Haftorah readings are for that day, or use a click through where they download it from my site. Later, I email them click-through a match of their name if it appears in the bible, with an explanation of the religious significance, and some good traits that character had. Later, I provide a wiki for them to manage the assignment of aliyot blessings and torah readings, and haftorah. This increases their engagement, and builds my list by having them enter contact information for each of the participants. I would email a tikkun-version of the torah reading to each of the participants approximately 60 days prior to the reading. I would email the blessings to those assigned, about 30 days in advance.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

"One Who Prayers for Another is Answered First" -- RT @ Don Crowther on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Blogs



Youtube has two thirds as many unique visitors as google.



Facebook has as many visits as google.





Don suggests tweeting 200 URLs over a 45 day period sending traffic to other people's links to build a reputation for expertise. He suggests drawing the content from the 500 top blogs in any particular niche.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Mastermind Group of Napoleon Hill applied to Product Launch Formula of Jeff Walker

When launching a new business or a new product, it is essential to have a team of diverse "star" players. A broad range of research has shown that startups with a talented cohesive diverse team of 5-6 core management team members has a substantially higher chance of success than smaller teams, yet larger teams gain little in terms of viability.

Harvard Business School has experimented with ways of increasing the productivity of its MBA students. A few years ago it mandated that each student be part of an administration-formed cross-section study group. (At HBS a section has approximately 90 people. Many classes take place by section. So, a cross section group enables each group member to speak up in class without their team members being present.) The HBS class has people with several types of work experience backgrounds such as finance industry, consulting, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. More than a third of the HBS class are women. Approximately a third come from outside of the United States.

So, for example, a seven member study group (typical size at HBS) would comprise:
* At least two women
* At least two non-U.S. citizens
* An average of 1.5 U.S. ethnic minorities

* At least one consultant
* At least two engineering backgrounds (maybe one as an Entrepreneur)
* One venture capitalist
* One to two Financial Services people
* 1 Healthcare/Biotech, Consumer Products, Non-Profit, or Military

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This is by way of analogy, we need to compose a set of reasonable Mastermind groups. Many people study the product launch formula as a way to scale a then solo business. The building of a diverse cohesive Mastermind group will substantially increase the effectiveness of such launches, as well as create a community around the product launch formula enhancing its stickiness.

As I lack statistics on the breakdown of the product launch formula community, I will use the HBS statistics as a proxy when possible.

Here are my brainstorms on who should be in each six person group:
* Two women
* Four men

* Two with engineering or software backgrounds
* Two with MBA background
* Two with internet marketing experience or SEO

- One SEO expert
- One Internet Marketing
- Two Software specialists with diverse backgrounds
- Two consultants

* Balance those who have already achieved substantial success with the product launch formula, and those who have yet to experience revenues through the product launch formula.

* Balance, people with significant business success but lacking the drive and motivation to methodically apply the product launch formula, with those who possess the dedication and burning desire to apply the formula yet may lack that level of business success.

I welcome your comments with both more accurate group statistics, and suggestions for composition of a mastermind group.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Eben Pagan Endorses Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula Saying it Brought Results for Eben Pagan

While sitting on Eben's list, I had been reading about many products with interesting stories (e.g. 'a great story from a friend'), that he thought the people were smart (e.g. 'smartest "networker"'), or people he paid lots of money (e.g. 'I've paid John as much as $1,250 for ONE HOUR').

However, the following email was the first time that Eben Pagan actually described how this is a product that significantly and measurably contributes to his success.

The "double guarantee" that Eben Pagan provides continues his appreciation of the attention economy where the customer expends time in evaluating an offering, and wants to have some guarantee that the time invested will be worthwhile even if the offering is not selected.

He also makes "Jeff's no-hassle 30-day money-back guarantee" feel more friendly. As though he was saying, try it, if you like it, wonderful; if not, we will still be friends. Maybe we can work together on something else; let's keep in touch.

Below, I have included Eben Pagan's actual email because I found it so persuasive.
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The REAL story behind 3 of my product launches....

A lot of people ask me about what's possible when doing
an online product launch - so I thought I'd share an
interesting story about 3 of my product launches.

When I started my first online "information marketing"
business, I had never heard of a product launch... which
basically means that I didn't what you think of as a
"product launch."

Instead, I launched with "pay per click" marketing, then
affiliate marketing, etc. to build the business.

The result? It took me three YEARS to do a total of about
$2.1 Million in sales. Three years.

Not bad, really.

>>>LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN...

Then, a few years ago, when I decided to go into my
second niche, I used an "online product launch" model.

The result? I did about $2.7 Million in sales in a few
MONTHS. More sales, and ten times as fast.

>>>AND THEN AGAIN...

Fast forward to today. Last month, I did my latest online
product launch.

The result? Over $3 Million in sales in a few DAYS.

Again, more sales, and about ten TIMES as fast.

So what's the "moral" of the story?

The moral is that selling things online, and building a
business online has CHANGED. It's not the sames as it
was a few years ago.

And the new way to sell stuff online - especially when it
comes to information product, coaching and training is
the "Product Launch Formula."

So, you've obviously seen all of the talk going on about
Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula 3.0 launch. You
heard that there are now hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of product launches happening online - and big
success happening in every type of niche (including my
personal favorite: HORSE BALLET - really).

And you probably saw that I'm offering the best bonus
package we've ever done... worth $9,000... if you decide
to invest in Jeff's training... including:

>A ticket to any live event with me this year - valued at
$5,000

>A ticket to my live "GURU Traffic School" program -
valued at $2,500

>My "Print Persuasion Masterclass" advanced
copywriting and persuasion program - valued at $500

>My "Modern Marketing Masterclass" training - valued
at $1,000

Well how about this:

I'm so confident that you are going to love Jeff's training,
that I'm going to offer you my OWN guarantee on top of
Jeff's no-hassle 30-day money-back guarantee.

>>>MY DOUBLE GUARANTEE:

Invest in Jeff's Product Launch Formula training course,
and if you're not satisfied - and you ask for a refund, you
can KEEP all of the bonuses that I've listed above. All $9,000
worth of them.

All you have to do is TRY Jeff's course - and I think you'll
see that it's the most powerful innovation in online marketing
since the invention of email and search engines.

The only condition is that you must use my affiliate link
below to register (so I can send you your bonuses).

...

Remember: Jeff's course comes with a no-hassle money-
back guarantee. And I'm going to DOUBLE his guarantee by
allowing you to keep ALL of the bonuses you get from me,
even if you decide that Jeff's course isn't for you.

I've spoken live at all 3 of Jeff Walker's Product Launch
events - and I've done it for free. I believe in Jeff's Formula,
and I know that it can work for you, too.

>>>IMPORTANT: Jeff's registration closes down tomorrow -
Thursday - at Midnight Pacific.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

On Eben Pagan's Guru Mastermind Get Altitude List

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010, I joined Eben Pagan's Guru Mastermind Get Altitude List.

Eben Pagan's Guru Mastermind list is a pitch-fest with a subtle understanding of the attention economy.

I'll include my comments reflecting how I evaluated each affiliate offer. About 70% of Eben Pagan's emails that I received remained unopened until I wrote this post today.

What follows is intended for the Product Launch manager to better understand that challenges of Joint-Venture and internal launches by seeing a sample perspective of how someone evaluated a variety of offers over the course of several months.

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The JV launches that occurred while I was on the list, included:

* FRANK KERN teaches "List Building" -- Interesting skill, not the core challenge in my business, can not tell if he is "real"

* HARVEY MACKAY "Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You" -- off topic, next

* John Carlton "Why COPYWRITING is so critical to business success..." -- How much you pay him is your business not mine, not clear why that skill is not learnable from one of several books on the topic, not clear that it is my core challenge in business

* Man "buys his own freedom"... salesautomator -- not clear from copy if Eben actually knows this guy or believes in him

* The smartest "networker" around... -- not clear what results he can deliver, not core challenge in my business

* Mike Filsaime, Viral Marketing software download -- I'll download open source software, still sitting on my computer, not sure what I'm able to do with it, will revisit if someone happens to explain it to me and it seems worthwhile

* "The secret psychology of PERSONALITY TYPES" -- Interesting. Target audience is probably human resource managers

* John Reese, '"Outsourcing" your work for $2 an HOUR?' -- Not relevant to my business doing what I do, difficult to manage

* "The REAL story behind 3 of my product launches...." -- This was the copy that showed concrete results from applying the endorsed product.

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People would ask Jeff Walker, how do people feel after such a pitch fest?

I felt that the trade off in time invested relative to value gained, assuming that I did not invest in any of the programs, was still reasonable from my point of view. If the topic was not interesting, I didn't open the mail. If the video was not compelling, I would abort and move on. If the video was interesting, I would listen and the speaker would gain respect in my eyes.

Probably three separate meetings, i.e. encounters with free video content, over the course of a week, evenly spaced, seem to build a feeling of connection, if there is a basic compatibility and attraction at the beginning.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Get Altitude -- One Line That Changed My Life

In Eben Pagen's Get Altitude program he told the participants to mentor someone who was not fortunate enough to be able to afford to attend his seminar.

Thus, a very good person chose to share Get Altitude with me.