Anybody sell offline products that you've created?

Do you mean selling a training program to anyone with a phone?

If this product is an exercise program, you may have a little luck if you buy a list of people who just bought a treadmill or other equipment. Maybe.

But if you are planning on cold calling residential lists...you'll talk to thousands without a sale.

If you want to sell this over the phone, first get the phone number through Facebook ads, or opt-in squeeze pages. Then you can call them and you'll have some success..maybe.

Convincing random people that they need an exercise or nutritional program? At any price? Good luck

Your enthusiasm is admirable. But you need to find someone who is already doing what you want to do...and copy them.

It's a matter of relative value.

A training course or similar product will be judged compared to other often cheaper products. While in person training and services are judged compared to other often higher priced services and training.

So a $500 training series will seem expensive from a relatively "unknown" while that same person might be able to sell multiple tickets to a $500 weekend training retreat very easy since that price seems value priced compared to what others charge.

If you are selling products I truly believe you need to watch how the gurus do it. They use low priced and even free items like books to draw you in and upgrade you to DVDs, CDs, courses, and finally seminars, retreats, and etc. The margins grow as they go up the ladder. But the first sale is not normallly the multi-hundred one but in the end the buyer might be spending tens of thousands a year with the guru.

Let's say a service costs $1000. Would you rather pay me $1000 to do it for you or would you rather pay $100 for the training DVD set to teach you?

OK so let's say that IS the price point for a local commercial. The people who will make it for you have little knowledge about selling.

Does anyone know who you are? Have you sold this product before?

My point is that you have a high likelihood of spending that money, and not making it back. Let's say you spend the $20k...a HUGE success would be to make back $40k in revenue.

I STILL believe you would be far better off testing this as a service first. If you can't sell it as a class or face to face, you don't stand a chance on TV.

You can get started for way, way less than $20k, and you can easily make much more than $40k revenue in return.

It all comes down to an ROI equation. The equation is much better on the service side. Switching to a product makes sense only when you have a proven winner.

I deal with companies daily who are trying to raise VC money and investors will NOT invest in a service. They only want a product because they are playing at the very advanced high level of things.

But the VC universe is a totally alternate reality to your day to day businesses. In the regular world, you are much better off beginning as a service. AFTER you prove the service is highly in demand, you can launch a product from it.

The problems with infomercials are plenty.
You are showing your infomercial to a crowd where the vast vast majority have no interest in your product, or even in the product category.
Infomercials (on local stations) are made by people who don't sell anything. They are more like graphic designers.

You can't test an infomercial until you have created the entire infomercial. In other words, you cannot test as you go.

Several years ago, a friend called me to his house to watch an infomercial he just had produced. I didn't know he was going to have all the people who invested in the infomercial there.

The infomercial was beautiful. It showed a $600 water purifier.

At the end, everyone clapped....everyone but me.

My friend asked me what I thought. And, because I thought he really wanted to know, I told him. I didn't know he just wanted me to cheer him on.

I asked how much it cost. "$100,000. And it was created by a guy that worked on (some famous movie), so it was professionally done"

I asked if the movie was selling anything? No. "So the person who put this together has never sold anything. Never produced a successful infomercial. Am I right?"

"Yeah, but everyone loves it."

"No. Everyone in this room loves it."

"But Julius sells these water purifiers in his store" (Julius is my friend that put this together).
Me- "Yup, but Julius isn't selling here. a movie is. Do you have a back end?"

Julius "Yes, the call center sells magazine subscriptions. we get $2 each time one is sold"

Me "So your upsell is something you make $2 on?"

(The room is getting a little quiet by now. I still didn't know that these were his investors)

Me; "Do you offer payments? I didn't see it in the infomercial"

Julius: "Why would we offer payments?"

Me "Because no product has ever been successfully sold by infomercial for $600 without accepting monthly payments. Never" I was actually getting a little angry, because I realized I was called there as his backup...and I wasn't told.

Woman who invested a lot of money; "But, the video is beautiful! It proves that this is the best water purifier out there!"

Claude the Merciless "Yes. But it doesn't prove that the person watching needs a water purifier. This video is going to be seen by thousands of people that have no idea that they have bad water. Nobody will think this will solve their problem"

Her "Well, they should know!"

Me "And you are expecting people to do what you think they should do?" (she shut up, in a huff. And now it hits the fan!)

Guy "We all invested $100,000 in this infomercial. We were told that it would make a huge profit. Are you saying were were ripped off?"

(NOW I knew what was happening. Julius was still my friend, and I needed to save his ass)

Me "No. Not at all. Almost no infomercial makes money on the first try. It's a learning experience. I just gave my opinion. But what do I know?"

They spent the next 15 minutes or so convincing themselves that this was still a great idea. Julius and I had a quick word as I was leaving (no longer interested in this at all). I told him the infomercial would not get a single sale, and that he needed to prepare his investors for that possibility. But he was so sold on the idea himself...it didn't stick.

A month or so later, he called me to tell me the good news. $30,000 in ad buys, and no sales. Not one. He said "Like I expected, this one was a dry run. We worked out all the bugs, and the next one will work."


This was several years ago. Since then, Julius had brought us the Edenpure heater (Yup, the one you see in every magazine), and the Amish heaters.

We're still friends, but I wonder if he's still friends with the people that were in that room that night.

This story is real and accurate to the best of my recollections.
Enthusiasm is fun to watch, but it isn't a replacement for knowledge and accurate thinking. Research into what has worked before is never a waste of time.