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Jay Abraham and Icy Hot

by Samuel P.
8 replies
I was reading the "Enterpeneur Emergency" ebook by Rich Shefern (excellent by the way) and there was a blurb there by Jay Abraham talking about how he got local radio stations to use their unused advertising space to sell icy hot on a commission. He did a ridiculous amount of sales with no advertising budget.

It was funny because I had always personally thought about the idea of paying for advertising with commissions rather than cash.

The tricky part is getting a major company to agree to such a unique arrangement so I read on with great anticipation because I never realized this is how he did so many sales with Icy Hot.

In the book Abraham says that he wasn't having success until some mentor told him he was "asking the wrong question".

Now this is to test your guru trivia knowledge and also just because I really want to know.

How was Jay asking the question the wrong way? And what was the RIGHT way to ask the question that got them to agree to the deal?

I'm hoping one of you Abraham fans has the answer so feel free to jump in.
#abraham #hot #icy #jay
  • Profile picture of the author MommyEnterprises
    Sounds like one of those situations where it never hurt to ask. In this case they got lucky. You just never know.
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    Mommy Enterprises
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    • Profile picture of the author John Ritz
      Going from memory, but something like this.

      Jay originally asked, "You guys don't do any barter arrangements, do you?"

      The answer was always "no."

      But when he changed it to present the benefits (again the exact wording escapes me, I'd have to look it up), everything changed for the better.
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      • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
        I think it's important to note that in this deal the Icy Hot supplier did put out significantly and stood to lose some money.

        # They gave away the full commission on the first sale to the radio station doing the advertising.

        # They supplied product to the radio station at Icy Hot's expense so if people coming in wanting the product or having a problem with the product the radio station could just give them another one.

        # They took care of any refunds themselves.

        # From memory they paid for shipping themselves.


        So potentially with every new sale Icy Hot lost money.

        They could only make money if a high enough percentage of buyers continued to buy.

        Jay was aware of this of course and devised the strategy knowing the average buyer continued to purchase for an average of 11 months or more.

        He also spent a lot of time making a deal that was VERY appealing to the radio stations and removing all their objections with the list above giving them product etc.

        Kindest regards,
        Andrew Cavanagh
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        Old School Copy Like This Is BACK & Converting Like Crazy!
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnB23
    I would try to get Jay's "Protege Mentor Training course" from 1990. In it, he explains his past, all of his business dealings, he goes over a lot of word for word transcripts that he used. That course is a goldmine of information. Esp specific scripts.

    -Like when he did consulting in the late 70's or early 80's, he would look in the newspaper, or trade journals, magazines for ads he thought were terrible. He'd write a letter to them saying...(in effect). "I saw your ad in X. It probably didn't work. I know why. If you'd like to find the answer, and in a way with no risk to you, give me a call". Paraphrasing, but really killer stuff.

    Icy Hot I dont remember exactly. It might be in his "my life in advertising" video set. That was a part, taken from his protege mentor training course.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      John,
      Icy Hot I dont remember exactly. It might be in his "my life in advertising" video set.
      Wasn't that "My Life in Marketing?" Yeah, I think that's where I first heard that story.

      It's probably in "Mr X," too. Not sure on that one. That book is ridiculously valuable in terms of the methods it teaches.


      Paul

      PS: The real title of "Mr X" is "Money-making secrets of marketing genius Jay Abraham and other marketing wizards."
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnB23
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        John,Wasn't that "My Life in Marketing?" Yeah, I think that's where I first heard that story.

        It's probably in "Mr X," too. Not sure on that one. That book is ridiculously valuable in terms of the methods it teaches.


        Paul

        PS: The real title of "Mr X" is "Money-making secrets of marketing genius Jay Abraham and other marketing wizards."
        Yep, "My life in marketing". I think he patterned it after claude hopkins, "my life in advertising".
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  • Profile picture of the author theory expert
    Banned
    Seems Andrew took away the sex appeal of JV's made easy.

    To the OP I heard the story in a joint venture tape when Jay was setting up his JV mentorship with gordon bizaar. John Ritz answered your trivia question.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Commission is NOT barter! Barter is when you give a product/service for another product/service. Commission is commission. I was lead to believe a LONG time ago that some advertising WAS solely on commission. I doubt VERY much that it was not the case. There is ALSO adsharing and product tieins. The first works well if you don't have a big buget and you can cover your message in a hort period. The second works well if one product helps to sell the other. AND, of course, there is a SIMILAR idea of product placement, which has been going on as long as TV itself , and perhaps movies themselves. HECK, ever see the movie evolution? The savior of the day, and final scenes were HEAD AND SHOULDERS! Of course, if you watched a game show, you might notice all the company logos, names flying around, and the final credits.

    They aren't idiots, a lot of stuff IM people make sound like a brand new original idea is stuff they have been doing for who knows how long.

    Steve
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