The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Update - Timothy Ferriss [77]
He chose the most popular products available for resale from the largest manufacturers of sound libraries and arranged a wholesale purchase and drop-ship agreement with them. Many of these libraries cost well above $300 (up to $7,500), and this is precisely why he needs to answer more customer-service questions than someone with a lower-priced product of $50–200.
3. Micro-Testing
He auctioned the products on eBay to test demand (and the highest possible pricing) before purchasing inventory. He ordered product only when people placed orders from him, and product shipped immediately from the manufacturers’ warehouses. Based on this demand confirmed on eBay, Doug created a Yahoo Store with these products and began testing Google Adwords and other PPC search engines.
4. Rollout and Automation
Following this testing, and upon generating sufficient cash flow, Doug began experimenting with print advertising in trade magazines. Simultaneously, he streamlined and outsourced operations to reduce his time requirements from two hours per day to two hours per week.
COMFORT CHALLENGE
Rejecting First Offers and Walking Away (3 Days)
Before performing this exercise, if possible, read the bonus chapter “How to Get $700,000 of Advertising for $10,000” on our companion site, and then set aside two hours on a consecutive Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
On Saturday and Sunday, go to a farmers’ market or other outdoor event where goods are sold. If this isn’t possible, go to small independent retailers (not chains or mass retail).
Set a budget of $100 for your negotiating tuition and look for items to purchase that total at least $150. Your job is to get the sellers down to a total of $100 or less for the lot. It is better to practice on many cheap items rather than a few big items. Be sure to reply to their first offer with, “What type of discount can you offer?” to let them negotiate against themselves. Negotiate near closing time, choose your objective price, bracket, and make a firm offer with cash in hand for that amount.48 Practice walking away if your objective price isn’t met. On Monday, call two magazines (expect the first to be awkward) and use the script on the companion site to negotiate, minus the last firm offer. Get them as low as possible and then call them back later to indicate that your proposal was refused by upper management or otherwise vetoed.
This is the negotiating equivalent of paper trading.49 Get used to refusing offers and countering in person and—most importantly—on the phone.
TOOLS AND TRICKS
Sample Muse Test Page
The PX Method (www.pxmethod.com)
This sales template was used to determine the viability of a speed-reading product, which tested successfully. Notice how testimonials, credibility indicators, and risk-reversal guarantees are used, as well as how the pricing is put on a separate page so it can be isolated as a testing variable. Use this as a reference—it is a simple and effective model that can be copied. Please do not input your credit card information, as it is just a mock-up for teaching purposes.
Fast and Simple Website Creation for Non-Techies (and Techies)
Weebly (www.weebly.com)
Weebly, which the BBC labeled “a must,” allowed me to create www.timothyferriss.com in less than two hours and have it appear on the front page of Google for “timothy ferriss” searches within 48 hours. It is, like WordPress.com below, designed to be very SEO-friendly (search-engine optimization) without any knowledge or action on your part. No HTML or Internet expertise is required.
WordPress.com (www.wordpress.com)
I used WordPress.com to set up www.litliberation.org from a coffee shop in Bratislava, Slovakia, when a U.S.-based designer flaked out and left me scrambling. It took me less than three hours to learn how to use it and build the site. The site, an experimental educational fundraiser, ended up raising 200%+ more than Stephen Colbert in the same period of time. I also use their free open-sourced version of WordPress (www.wordpress.org, which requires separate hosting) to manage everything