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I have a World Class Pianist, and I need your opinion. Prize given.

by Terry M.
4 replies
Hi Warriors, I am bartering your top class knowledge
with some of my top class products.

This is my situation, I have had success in a few
different niches, health, dating, martial arts etc...

Some of which are products created by myself
with intimate knowledge in the niche, some are
PLR with heavy editing.

Anyhow, I find it extremely time consuming working
this way, if I only manage one niche, that's fine, but
if I was to dominate various niches, then I should change
my way, instead of me managing the product and
content creation, I will find an expert in that niche.

And I had recently met a World Class pianist
who has absolutely no knowledge in marketing.

I was amazed at how hard even it is for him
to just find new students for such a low amount
(almost pathetic amount) of 1 on 1 tuition fee.

With someone of his level, he could've easily
charged 10 times the money PLUS not having
enough time to fit in all students for his teaching
schedule.

So as a previous offline marketer (now online),
I know how to promote his piano on the internet.

It's obvious, I will be the one doing all the
work, he only does one thing, that's "product
creation" (he doesn't know this at this stage,
and I will also have to teach him how to create
consumable information products, at least for
the initial phrase.).

So here's my question, I am not going into
partnership with him, as I will be the one
investing in everything.

Things like: Domain name, web hosting,
web site design, product graphic design,
hiring of staff to manage the site, software
programmer for all necessary software to
promote the piano course.

As well as devising the entire marketing
system.

You get the picture. We are not getting
into a partnership, rather, I am hiring
him to create a top-notch piano product
that I will be promoting for my company.

This is the first time I ever encountered
something like this, and there are many
stuffs (as in the "money-sharing" issues)
I am not quite sure how to go about.

My main issue is: Should I hire him and
mention up-front that I want him to
create a piano product that my company
owns 100% copyright to?

Or should I pay him nothing up-front
and share the revenue by X% from
generated sales of the product?

My gut instinct tells me I should choose
the second option, instead of paying
him one off to create the product, I
should let him share X% of my revenue.

This is, though, obvious, not beneficial
for myself, because once the product
is done, he will have very little work (or none)
to do, he can still keep on his 1 on 1
teaching with his students, at the same
time gain the fame by mentioning his
product is being sold on the net, thus
potentially able to ask for a higher
tuition fee from his students. Plus,
I will be the one that have to keep
managing the business. Although lots of
automation will be induced, but still.

But I also thought that if I only pay
him a one-off fee, he might have
a financial crisis later on, and I would
feel sorry for him.

Does anyone have previous knowledge
in this? Which route would you recommend
me to go?

Oh, by the way, it may interest you guys
to know that, I met his guy from another
country, so I won't be targeting the English
speaking world, as he doesn't speak English
and it's not humanly feasible to make him
speak in the video in English (It will be a
multi-media DVD course, as this is the effective
way to teach piano, versus just plain
written text). So this will be marketed in
his home country.

And, oh yeh, the prize.

I currently have a few top-notch internet
marketing products.

If you provide me with some top-notch advise,
I will reward you with any of the (or all of the)
products below of your choice, all of them
are products that I am proud of selling:

Guaranteed Traffic System ($47)
The Ultimate Internet Entrepreneur ($67)
Back-end Marketing Secrets ($37)
Info-Product Creation Exposed ($27)
Internet Copy Writing ($67)

If my products don't interest you, I am
sorry, but I would still hope you can
share your wisdom with me, and hopefully
we will be able to work something out
in the long-term future to compensate
you.

Kind Regards,

Terry
#class #opinion #pianist #prize #world
  • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
    A few thoughts on this are that as a business owner you should definitely hire him under a "work for hire" agreement in which he is paid to perform a specific duty (create a product).

    It's the same as if you were to hire someone to write an article for you, they don't get royalties, or recurring income from that, you hire them for a one time gig, under a work for hire, and you own the copyright.

    Now, if he's at all savvy, he'll realize that most people that make money as artists license their work. That's better for him, not so much for you.. but if it's good enough work, it could be beneficial to pursue.

    there are plenty of people using Mickey Mouse, and they're paying royalties to Disney every time they do... but it's worth it, because it sells.



    As far as advice to you though, I would say that you should try for a "work for hire" agreement. Present him with a contract that specifically states copyright ownership and other terms and conditions and reach a one time fee..
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    • Profile picture of the author raiko
      Hiring him sounds like a better option to me.

      You will be happy because:

      1. You'll have 100% control over the product as opposed to a partnership of any type.

      2. You'll know your costs up front.

      3. You'll avoid any dispute in the future over ownership of the product.

      4. You're marketing savvy will have precedent over his technical savvy in product decision making.

      He'll be happy because:

      1. He will get paid for his work up front as opposed to waiting.

      2. His pay will not be contingent upon your success at marketing the product.

      3. The product should help him build his teaching business.

      Besides, if you pay him up front and later, down the line, the product becomes extremely successful you can always pay him more for future products he produces. Or, you could always pay him a bonus later on out of the profit from your product sales.

      Lots of ways to structure a win-win but I would definitely prefer to have control over everything.
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      • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
        Terry

        Follow your gut instinct.

        I don't know you or the pianist but I can tell you that if you pay him an upfront fee and he doesn't share in the future profits, either him or somebody in his family will cause trouble. And you will be fighting them in the legal system of their country. He doesn't speak any English so what language will the contract be in? Which court will have jurisdiction in the event of a dispute?

        OK. That the worst case scenario. Let's look at the best case scenario.

        The product takes off. It's a best seller. He's a national celebrity. People can't get enough of him.

        "More products! More products!" people cry.

        "Of course", says the pianist. "My friend Terry and me will be happy to make another $250,000 each."

        You could work it like a record company where he gets an advance against future royalties. That way he gets money up front and a share in future profits. Win-win for him. And you have a clear conscience and become very rich.

        I think you have to work on him raising his prices. He needs to become more exclusive. 25 years ago, my flatmate paid $50 for 15 minutes with a world class voice coach. How did he feel about splashing out all that money?
        "I was so lucky he could fit me into his schedule."

        so I won't be targeting the English
        speaking world, as he doesn't speak English
        and it's not humanly feasible to make him
        speak in the video in English
        I don't believe this! You're not leaving money on the table - you're leaving a goldmine!

        Subtitles!!!!

        So, let's say I'm Japanese and I want to be a marketer. I don't speak English. What will I do? Find a Jay Abraham video with subtitles!
        (Now, there's a massive market for Kevin Riley )

        Another option.

        On the Les Miserables - Complete Symphonic Recording album, Eponine was played by Kaho Shimada and she didn't speak a word of English. She learnt her lines phonetically.


        Another option.

        Does he have to speak to the camera?

        As he plays/demonstrates there is a voiceover by somebody who speaks English with the accent of the pianist's country. Who's to know if it's his voice or not? Did Audrey Hepburn sing all the songs in My Fair Lady?

        Just my initial thoughts. Hope they help.

        Martin
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        • Profile picture of the author Kat Bartone
          Hi Terry,

          I think that the seed of your answer lies within your question. You have a great deal of compassion for his situation, and you want to do this in a way that is helpful to him, profitable for you, and which preserves your sense of integrity.

          Hiring him up front will put money in his pocket at a time when he needs it, and you still control the product creation process. You can integrate an incentive by also paying him X% of the net proceeds of the project. If the project does well, you can increase that amount - which will serve to keep him on board, continue to motivate him, and help you feel good about the integrity of the relationship.

          However, there's one element that occurs to me as a teacher (not of piano) for 23 years and an amateur pianist for longer than that. It's worth remembering that someone can have an expert-level knowledgebase and skill set at something - and not know how to communicate that knowledge effectively.

          We know from what you've described that he is an excellent pianist, but we don't know if he's a good teacher. Let's assume that he is. Can he communicate as well in writing, in the creation of your info product? Will the information flow easily for the reader? Will it make sense? Will it be well-organized? Accurate?

          And the second question behind this is this: are you able to mediate this process yourself, or is there a gap that will need to be filled by someone with a knowledge of the piano? Someone who can double check it for accuracy and reasonableness?

          If you can't do this yourself, make sure you have a mechanism for filling in this gap.

          Hope this helps,

          - Kat Bartone
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