"Videos On Spec" bonanza

NOTE: I'm presenting the following WITHOUT checking for "English-errors"
("was" when it should be "is") and typing in MY WAY of emphasizing! So...for those who want "perfecto-English" and don't like MY WAY of wrtiting....don't read any further!

I'm presenting the following "In The Spirit of GIVING" and NOT trying to "sell" anything" so....please don't ask for more details. I'm presenting this as a way of showing how I GET MONEY-MAKING IDEAS and maybe this will provide some insight into how I discover MY programs. YOU will have to "Fill In The Blanks" as I had to;

Waay baack in July of 2009, I had just finished an "Advertising Program" for restaurants where I provided a free "ScrapBook" to hotels. This "scrapbook" had Menus and Photos of the INTERIORS of restaurants.

As I was delivering my "Menu Books" I showed the Front Desk Staff at one of the hotels what the book contained and...as they were flipping thru the pages...I kept hearing comments about the INTERIORS of some of the restaurants.

They were "oooing and ahhing" about some of the fancy restaurants they had never visited.....saying how BEAUTIFUL or WONDROUS or CLASSY...some of the INTERIORS appeared.

I suddenly got one of my "HOT-Flashes"! I thought, "Holy Camoly! People can't see the INTERIORS....UNTIL they're INSIDE!

So...at that time I was "experimenting" with a free program in my pc called "Windows Movie-Maker" and one from Microsoft called "Photo-Story 3".

These programs allowed me to CREATE A "VIDEO" from "Still" photos. Not a "Real" Video as you see on TV but something that "Appears" to have movement by moving across the photos or zooming in or out...with a cool way of going from one photo to another. AND...with Music playing in the background to add a "Mood"....depending on the type of Cuisine.

My first one was AWESOME (to me) because the MUSIC added EMOTION to what I was watching. (Click the link below and pay attention to the Music and see if YOU are "moved" as the photos are flipped!)


NOTE: For some reason my You-Tube Video was "disabled"....so....go to www.youtube.com and type in "Ambrosia Restaurant, Eugene, OR"

So....I posted the "Video" on youtube...burned a DVD and bought a Portable DVD Player to play it on and...went to show it to the restaurant owner.

I knew he usually ate lunch at his bar around 2pm so I waited till 2:30 and went in and sure nuff...there he was sitting at the end of his bar. I put the Portable DVD Player next to him and turned it on!

To say he was "AWE-STRUCK" would be an understatement. He went absolutely GA-GA!....calling over some of his staff to see. The Video also...BLEW THEM AWAY!

The owner then put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Don! I DON'T CARE what the cost is....I GOTTA HAVE IT! However...be Gentle with me!"

So...I quoted a figure and he responded with, "SOLD!"

So....when I got back home I made DVD's of the rest of the restaurants (I had 20 restaurants in each town I did the "MENU BOOK"! (I did this in 5 towns so I had 100 restaurants)

And...many of the restaurants wanted more "stuff" so this turned into a VERY Lucrative thing.

I'm now putting together a "Restaurant Directory" for each town so that the Videos can get more exposure for them AND....this past weekend, when I showed my "Directory of Restaurant Videos" to a buddy....his first reaction was, "Don! Why don't you include Videos of OTHER businesses? I'm a Roofer and I'd LOVE to have you make a Video for me!"

I call my Videos, "PREVIEW VIDEOS" and they don't last more than 2 min.

I call this project, "VIDEOS-ON-SPEC"! ("Spec" is short for "Speculation")

So....I'm off and running on another project. Got 2 sales yesterday and 2 today! Biz owners LOVE THE IDEA of a short Video of their biz....giving a PREVIEW of their biz!

OK...I'll tell you how I get biz with this;

(See 2nd photo below) I walk into a biz...ask to see the owner...meet the owner and tell him I'd like to SHOW HIM SOMETHING (without saying another word) I plunk the portable DVD down on a flat surface and click "ON".

When the video finishes I tell him I'd like to make a Video for his biz...AT ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION! All I need to do is take some digital photos and swing by in a day or 2 and show him what I've come up with.

No Problemo! They ALL said, "Sure! Go ahead!" So...I snapped some pix and went home and made some DVDs...went back and showed the boss.

4 sales out of 5 thus far (One guy wanted to wait until his contract with his web tech ran out)

"PREVIEW VIDEOS" and "VIDEOS ON SPEC" are....WINNAHS!

Go get a Camera, DVD burning software and a Portable DVD Player...make a Sample Demo and GO SEE SOME PEOPLE WHO CAN WRITE A CHECK TO YOU!

Note: THIS is NOT for "Remote-Selling"! You can't PHONE biznesses and try to get appointments! It WON'T WORK! This MUST be shown to biz owners....IN-PERSON!

Thanks for reading,

Don Alm....Entroopeneer

Note: Photo is me holding my Portable DVD Player.

Note: Here's link to someone who....a year later, in 2010.... has done what I presented here, with MORE DETAIL. Take a gander;

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-marketing-discussions/234372-2-months-21-clients-each-paying-189-month-heres-offline-business-you.html

If the link doesn't work, type in "mikemac1" into the Search Box. It's how a guy has done what I've just presented and collects $189 A MONTH for starters for his "Preview Videos".