When one of my clients, Max
Hitchins, released his latest e-book "365 Marketing Ideas
For The Hospitality, Tourism & Travel Industries",
he sold in excess of $4,000 worth of e-books within 24 hours.
So would you like to know how he did it?
Yes, I thought so!
I'll explain Max's success process in a minute.
But first, I'd like you to play along with me and do this
little puzzle ...
Suppose you and I are each going to open
a new restaurant in the same street. We're going to be competitors,
and we are desperate to outdo one another.
The night before opening night, the Hospitality
Genie appears to you and offers to grant you one wish. But
this is a very special wish. The Genie says, "I know
that you and Gihan are both going to open your restaurant
tomorrow night. I'm going to give you ONE ADVANTAGE that Gihan
isn't going to have in his restaurant. You can choose what
that is. But choose quickly, because I'm going to visit him
in five minutes to make him the same offer."
Hmmm ... What will you choose? Would you
like the best chef in town? The spectacular ocean views from
every window? A glowing report from a world-famous food critic?
Nationwide exposure on a reality TV show?
OK, did you make a choice? Well, here's what
I choose for MY restaurant: A crowd of hungry people.
Simple, huh? Everything else - and I mean
EVERYTHING - is secondary. I'm willing to bet you that if
you chose something else, my restaurant would do better than
yours.
The most important criterion for success
is a crowd of qualified customers who are eager to buy from
you.
OK, let's get back to Max's e-book ...
Some years ago, Max had a printed book with the same title.
When the print run ended, he decided to re-write it in e-book
format. But he didn't just wake up and make that decision
some day, just because he had run out of print copies.
No, he had a much better idea.
You see, when he asked people to subscribe
to his weekly e-zine he also offered them the chance to enter
a monthly competition, and he asked them which of his products
they would like to win as a prize.
What we discovered over a period of months
was that almost everybody was asking for the "365 Marketing
Ideas" book.
At first he thought it was just because it
was the first one in the list, so we moved it around ... and
the results were the same.
Talk about a crowd of hungry people!
That's why Max put so much time into producing the e-book,
and gave that priority over all his other products.
And sure enough, the proof of the pudding
was when he finally released it for sale last week, and sales
shot through the roof.
How can you apply this same principle in YOUR business?
Easy. All you have to do is to ask your customers what they
want. And give them an incentive for replying, like an entry
in a competition, or a free e-book, or a gift voucher, or
whatever works for you.
About the Author: Gihan
Perera is the author of "The Seven Fatal Mistakes That
Most Web Site Owners Make - And How To Avoid Them" and
"Spin: Turn One Idea Into Hundreds of Information Products".
Visit www.gihanperera.com
and get your complimentary copies now.
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