The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

In my last article I explained how my son and I were developing a product based on the old Gary Halbert principal: Work as if someone had a gun at your head and they were going to pull the trigger, unless you came up with a saleable product within 72 hours. I have been training my son for business since he was 12 years old on how to have several specialities. These guarantee him he will have something unique to sell. His specialities come from his academics, his hobbies and his elite sporting life.

A lot of people think there is nothing special about them; they’re wrong. Almost all of us know something that other people want to learn. For example, I’m amazed at how many of my college students don’t cook, both male and female, yet there are few people who are out there offering to coach them on how to cook. Another challenge is people only think of their local market. The product my son and I worked on involves teaching people how to use the tactics Obama used to win the election for your business. A global product conceived of in the Bahamas.

Like Obama, our marketing system involves the use of Facebook, Google Adwords, direct mail, newspaper advertising, texting campaigns, radio and TV advertising and written newsletters. If you want to see how we’re doing it, drop me a line and I’ll send you the links. When you realise that a 22 year-old kid, along with some sage advice from me, did the majority of this work, and it was done in 72 hours, you may be shocked.

I’m convinced this marketing kit and the way we are selling it will really take off. But then again I am an eternal optimist, and I always think my ideas are going to work. The real key to selling success is finding a hot market that is able to, and willing, to buy what you are selling. This, more than anything else, is the surest guarantee of success. To convince someone to buy is challenging. To sell to someone who is already buying is less of a challenge, although it still is not easy.

So, how are we doing? The verdict is still out. We got some sales immediately, which means the guy holding the gun would not have pulled the trigger. I had an existing list that responded to what I was offering. Direct Response marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, says: “Take away my wealth and leave me with my customer list, and I will be back in no time flat.” However, my list is a relatively small one compared to what is needed to drive numbers that make any sense. So we need to grow the list. And how to grow a list is the subject of my next article.

NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds a Masters of Management from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://DArcyRahming.com or contact him directly at darcyrahmingsr@gmail.com