The Maverick Marketer Blog

When I was a kid at Christmas time I’d run out in my pajamas to the mailbox and look for holiday cards, gifts and candy from friends and relatives… and of course, toy catalogs.

Now I get up most days and check my e-mailbox (In my PJ’s)… let me see, what’s in there today.

Ah, a Nigerian lawyer dude wants me to send him my bank account info because he’ll give me $20 million if I help him. Nah, I’ll pass. (Someone should print out all the phony banking scam emails and track down the dillweeds sending them and make them eat every page… with hot sauce). Delete.

Oh, and here’s many emails from folks I don’t know who’re convinced I need their ‘Weenie Miracle Gro’ pills to enlarge a certain part of my anatomy. Isn’t that sweet… I just replied to one of them and asked if you can take that stuff they sell just for ‘recreational use’… Hmm…. somehow I doubt I’ll hear back. Delete.

Yikes…. here’s an email from someone on Myspace who wants me to join a ’spanking’ singles club… I guess that’s for if you’re on Santa’s Naughty list. Didn’t they see the ‘married’ part of my profile? Delete.

Ok… now I’m getting down to the good stuff…

Sweet… I got a few announcements from my trusted marketing buddies. In fact, I just bought a couple cool things… Christmas shopping for ME. Hey… I know what I want

And there’s Amazon… nice… I picked up some more stuff for Aimee and the kids… yeah, I snuck in a book for me too.

Finally… personal mail from my core ‘Inner Circle’… family and close personal online and offline friends. Cool christmas cards and other holiday wishes… I love it. Time to reconnect with folks, many I’ve not spoken to in months. That’s what I’ve been looking for… the good stuff.

Maybe times haven’t changed all that much.

I still look forward to getting mail that makes me smile…

In fact, I’m pretty happy right about now…

I know your Inbox is a lot like mine… crowded, full, and at times overwhelming.

And you chose to open my message and read these words… that means a lot to me. I want to thank you and wish you all the best for the holidays.

I’m sure you’ve got 1001 and things to do today…

So let’s remember what this time of the year means… spread love and cheer.

Be happy now… no assembly or batteries required.

Even if your faith doesn’t celebrate these holidays or if you choose to ignore the whole thing… we all benefit from such a large group of people feeling warm and fuzzy at the same time. The energy is contagious if you let it in… and the kids love it.

It’s a week before Christmas, the whole world is caught up in a whirlwind of a whole lot of stuff… so here’s an animated Christmas e-Card that my wife Aimee hand painted….

I bet it will put a smile on your face (you’ll need Macromedia Flash to see it though)…

Turn up your speakers!

It’s at… http://www.aimeeperrine.com/?page_id=11

Happy Holidays… times may have changed, but the people you love haven’t.

Craig

If you’ve been online for even 30 days you’ve no doubt been invited to a seminar or workshop. I’ve spoken at some of the best in our industry and am a strong advocate of getting out of the house and going to one for the specialized, cutting edge content and networking — plus, you can have a lot more fun than staring at your computer all the time.

But let’s take a look at Seminars (and workshops, bootcamps, etc.) from behind the scenes for a moment…

(Go here for an in depth behind the scenes look at the seminar business)

In the "Internet Marketing" niche tickets for these events usually are at least $500. I’ve spoken at several workshops that were $5,000 a seat, and also at Big Seminar, which is $1,997 and sells out every time (we’re talking 400 to 500 people, depending on the hotel size).

Others will put hundreds or even a thousand people in a room for free or like $97… and some will sell out exclusive events for $10,000 or more (this is especially true in investing and real estate niche markets).

Just play with your calculator and see what the potential windfall is for putting on a successful seminar. And then realize that at these events the speakers often sell something and the promoter of the event normally gets up to 50% of that money, too.

People gladly pay to go to live events like this because they know it’s one of the few ways to actually get to interract with experts in their field and network with potential Joint Venture partners. For all the money the promoter gets, savvy attendees ink deals in between sessions, in the hallways, and in the bar that far exceed the ticket price.

And there are seminars of some kind in just about any market you can name…

So, now you’re starting to see that seminars themselves are a business… a very, very lucrative business with windfall paydays in over just a few days when done right.

Let me give you just a glimpse of the different profit centers…

1) ticket sales (I’ve already shown you the numbers possible earlier…)

2) profit sharing with speakers ‘back of the room’ sales (this can turn even a free or $97 seminar into a huge pay day)

3) product creation (each seminar can be recorded and turned into a high perceived value home study course… John Reese’s Traffic Secrets was based on a $4500 workshop… and was the first ‘Million Dollar Day’ product launch)

And that’s just the beginning…

But, there’s a catch… I’ve personally watched several friends put on events, even small workshops, and go through a steep learning curve to pull off and profit from them. I’ve heard others tell horror stories of how they paid out the nose learning by ‘trial by fire’.

Here’s an example: perhaps your biggest variable is your cost for the location. If you don’t know what you are asking for, I can tell you from personal experience that the hotel you want to use WILL take every penny that they can out of your wallet.

If you know what cities to host events in, what terms to look for, and what NEVER to do, you can pay a WHOLE lot less than someone who just bumbles through it.

As with anything, you can be profitable your first time out if you follow a proven system. That’s because you let whoever developed the system make all the mistakes first

Let me give you a prime example…

I’ve been to 7 Big Seminars and other events hosted by my friend Armand Morin and they run like a Swiss watch… from the promotion leading up to the event down to the pens and pads on each attendees table when they sit down to each session.

Over those 7 Big Seminars I’ve watched Armand and his incredible team perfect the system… and the reason I’m writing you this today is that he’s doing a free teleseminar training on how to profit from the Seminar marketing business.

I’m excited about this… there is really no one better to show you behind the scenes how it all works.

Check it out…

http://www.maverickmarketer.com/seminartraining

Make no mistake, you don’t just announce an event your first time and have people magically flock to your door… unless you know what you’re doing.

The details of the system are what make the difference between making a lot of money and risking a huge disaster.

So here’s my suggestion… take a close look at the opportunities seminar marketing offers as an extension of your business, or perhaps a new business in and of itself.

Sign up for Armand’s free teleseminar Wednesday December 13th — even if you can’t make it live — because those who are registered will get the replay of the call.

This is the first time Armand has put his system into a course… and along with Heather Seitz, Debra Thompson and Robin Thompson, there is no better team to learn from.

I’ve been to their events, I’ve spoken at several, and I myself am studying their system for my first event (which I’ll announce in 2007).

Take a second to register for the call tomorrow and check out what they’ve got to offer… it’s everything you’ll need to put on a profitable event your first time whether it’s a ten person workshop or a 1000 person mega seminar.

http://www.maverickmarketer.com/seminartraining

I don’t know if putting on a seminar or workshop is for you or not, but in the information marketing business, it’s a next logical step for many who formerly had no idea they’d ever do such a thing. Check it out…

See you there,

Craig Perrine

I’ve got exciting news today…

Last time I asked you to tell me "What was holding you back from your dream business".

Sure enough, I got a flood of survey responses that were personal, heartfelt, and in some cases, brutally honest.

I said last time that I had been hitting a nerve with this Inner Game stuff… and even that didn’t prepare me for what amounted to a huge cry for help.

Here’s a sample of what I got back… see if you relate to these repeating themes in what’s holding folks back…

"Not sure what to do… don’t know exactly what the dream business is"

"So man opportunities, not sure which to focus on"

"Procrastination…"

"Info overload… "

"Not good at selling…"

"Fear of rejection… "

"Lack of money to get started…"

"Lack of creativity or skills to do jobs required…"

"Juggling job and business…"

"Afraid can’t really make business successful enough to count on full time"

"Friends or family members unsupportive of dream…"

"Afraid there is already too much competition… "

"Putting it out there for the public to see… fear of criticism"

"Don’t know why…"

"Implementation and basic skills…"

"Slow results…"

"Lack of focus…"

Sound familiar?

I could relate to a lot of it… at one point or another I’ve faced most if not all of those issues. I’d never be where I am today if I hadn’t broken through those Inner blocks to success, that’s for sure.

So I got to talking with my friend and mastermind member Pat O’Bryan about "The Inner Game" responses to my survey. He’s a former blues guitarist turned internet success story… so he knows all about the Inner Game and he’s a great example, too, because since he got his "Inner Game" dialed in, he’s been unstoppable.

One day recently we sat down for almost 4 hours and he interviewed me and I covered pretty much every issue that’s holding you back from your dream business. Pat switched on the video camera and recorded the whole thing… We’re calling the videos "Inner Game TV" because it captures the raw and live nature of the unscripted footage. We had a blast… but we were dead serious about helping you get unstuck, too.

As we were talking about what we wanted to do with the videos, I brought up a testimonial I got from David Perdew recently.

According to David, one comment I made to him during an Inner Game session he attended sent him on fire… he literally went from being on the edge of giving up to making his first $1,200 week online.

So Pat and I decided to create a product out of the videos and launch them ASAP (you can see them at http://www.innergametv.com).

We rushed because we wanted you to have enough time over the holidays to watch them and get you set to have a great 2007.

So today, I’m proud to announce that Pat’s got the video (and audio) produced and ready to go… so we’re launching today.

If you are stuck or going around in a circles online (or just are seriously ready to get out of your own way…) go get check out what we did… and get yourself a copy of these videos at http://www.innergametv.com.

Part of being a Maverick is telling you how I see things… especially when everyone else is saying something different.

And the truth is that I love marketing ‘how to’ stuff and will always love to teach others how to get more customers for their business with powerful marketing. Everyone is always launching products teaching you this technique or that strategy… and that’s fine. I buy many of them myself and make money with what I learn.

But if you didn’t get the results you wanted in 2006 you’ve got to take a look at The Inner Game you’re playing before you try to learn more marketing secrets.

Today I’m launching the first product to really talk in depth about "The Inner Game of Info Marketing"…

I’m not sure how many copies are in the first run at the fulfillment house… but it’s not hundreds, that’s for sure. I do know Pat O’Bryan and Dr.Joe Vitale are announcing Inner Game TV videos to their lists today, so I’m sure whatever we do have will sell out quickly.

Go take a look right now and grab yourself a set.

Here’s to winning your Inner Game and making 2007 your best year yet!

In fact, if you check out http://www.innergametv.com you’ll see I’m betting $100 on your success in 2007.

- Craig