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Michael: Hi Greg, this is Mike Senoff out here in San Diego. Is this a good time for you?

Greg: Sure, it’s fine.

Michael: How did you hear about me?

Greg: I was looking on the web and came across your website.

Michael: Where were you searching?

Greg: I was looking for some Protégé tapes, and I saw the auction that you had.

Michael: You saw the auction on the counterfeit thing?

Greg: Right.

Michael: Did you fill out that little form?

Greg: No, I didn’t.

Michael: That’s all right.

Greg: I did sign up for your email alert.

Michael: Did you go to my site, the Hard to Find Seminar site?

Greg: Yes, I went to your site and saw what you have. There are quite a few Jay Abraham tapes. What got my interest in Jay Abraham is I just got “Your Secret Wealth.” I have the book; it’s a really awesome book. I wanted to find out a little bit more about him.

Michael: He is good. You know I’m from Atlanta.

Greg: Oh, are you really?

Michael: I grew up in Atlanta for 18 years in Sandy Springs.

Greg: That’s where I live. I live in Dinwiddie.

Michael: You do?

Greg: Yes, I do.

Michael: I grew up right off River Shore Estates, right off of Riverside Drive.

Greg: I know exactly where you’re talking about.

Michael: That’s my hometown! The summers were too hot, and I said I’m getting the hell out of here!

Greg: So you are in San Diego now?

Michael: Yes, I’ve been here for about eight years.

Greg: It’s beautiful out there. I like it.

Michael: What do you do, Greg?

Greg: Right now, I’m working for Delta. I just graduated from college.

Michael: Where did you go to school?

Greg: I went to Clark Atlanta University. I graduated in June. I also manufacture air fresheners that I sell to quite a few stores around the city.

Michael: Hey, that’s great!

Greg: So I’m really trying to get out of working just a typical job. I’m trying to do something on my own.

Michael: What are you doing with Delta?

Greg: I’m working on the ramp.

Michael: How did you get into the air fresheners?

Greg: My father used to own some service stations, like convenience stores. I came across somebody who was selling air fresheners. They were selling for a wholesaler.

Michael: Okay.

Greg: I started doing that and there wasn’t really a lot of money because I was getting it from somebody else that was getting it from somebody else. Then I found someone who could actually make the air fresheners.

Michael: Are these the kind that come in plastic and you hang them on your rear view mirror?

Greg: No, this is the kind that comes in a bottle.

Michael: Little tiny bottles?

Greg: Right. It does pretty good. It’s okay.

Michael: All right, what do you do? You open up the bottles and what?

Greg: You take the top off and you spray, like a spray bottle.

Michael: Do you use it for your car or use it anywhere?

Greg: You can use it anywhere.

Michael: And it’s got how many different flavors?

Greg: Probably about 30 or 40.

Michael: Really? So where are you selling them, at convenience stores?

Greg: Convenience stores all over the city. I probably have about a hundred stores here in Atlanta.

Michael: That’s great. How is it going? Are they moving the product?

Greg: They’re moving real well.

Michael: What do they retail for?

Greg: Anywhere between $3.29 and $3.49.

Michael: What do they wholesale for?

Greg: About $2.00.

Michael: Okay, and what does it cost you to make one?

Greg: Probably a little over a dollar.

Michael: So you’d say you’re making about a dollar apiece.

Greg: That’s about right.

Michael: When you sell to a store, how many are you selling at a time?

Greg: I try to get them to take fifty.

Michael: Out of a hundred accounts, how many are reordering?

Greg: Everybody!

Michael: Everybody? You’ve got a great business!

Greg: I’m really trying.

Michael: I do something very similar. I have a pen manufacturing business.

Greg: Oh, do you really?

Michael: I manufacture a pen that removes red eye from photographs. You know when you get pictures that have red eyes?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: I manufacture a pen; I have a widget like you have a widget. I sell wholesale to photo labs and camera shops all over the country.

Greg: Do you really?

Michael: Yes, when I wholesale a box of my pens, I try to get them to take a hundred. Sometimes they take fifty. They set them on the counter, and when they sell out, they reorder.

Greg: Right, that’s what they do with me.

Michael: The reorders let me tell you, are where the money is.

Greg: Exactly, you have to have repeat.

Michael: Okay, so I’m on the same page with you. That’s great!

Greg: That is good.

Michael: You want to build your business.

Greg: That’s what I’m trying to do.

Michael: Well, I’m telling you that if you have a hundred accounts and they’re all reordering, you have a gold mine. You’re making it work on a small scale; you can make it work on a large scale. Are you doing everything through the mail?

Greg: No, I’m driving everywhere, Mike.

Michael: All right, you have to cut that shit out.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Everything needs to be done through the mail.

Greg: Really?

Michael: Yes, there is no reason you have to drive out there, is there?

Greg: No, not really. If there’s another way, then I’m willing to do it.

Michael: Then let me tell you, the name of the game is time. Quit doing bullshit that you don’t have to do. You have to use the U.S. mail; they’re going to be your employees. They’re going to ship your products to your customers. You don’t have the time to drive all over the city delivering your products.

Greg: That’s right.

Michael: You have a computer obviously.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Do you have all of your customers entered into a database?

Greg: I just bought Act on Monday, and I’ve put everybody in there.

Michael: Did you find Act on eBay?

Greg: Actually, I didn’t.

Michael: I just found Act on eBay for $15 for the 2000 version, swear to God!

Greg: Really?

Michael: I just heard about it. I don’t have it yet. Okay, so you just got Act and you entered everybody into the database, right?

Greg: Right.

Michael: Let me ask you, when you go to deliver are they paying you right on the spot or are you billing them?

Greg: Cash and carry, man!

Michael: You like the cash and carry?

Greg: I will work with them if it benefits. The people I work with are willing to pay up front so I take it.

Michael: Because they know that your product is moving.

Greg: Exactly.

Michael: When you go in do they leave it up to you? I mean how many different flavors are you putting on their counter?

Greg: This is how I work it out when I go into a store. When I first go in, if I have a little resistance, and I got this from Jay Abraham as a matter of fact, I’ll offer it to them for free.

Michael: Excellent!

Greg: The very first order is only 24 bottles, so I don’t have a lot on the line if I give them 24 bottles.

Michael: That’s right.

Greg: So I give it to them free and if it starts moving, I come back and I up their order.

Michael: Okay.

Greg: I never charge them again for what they had. I establish a relationship in the beginning. Once I do that, I try to get them a good assortment. If they get a hundred bottles, it’s easy for me to give them a full assortment and not just the top-selling fragrances.

Michael: What are the top-selling ones? Have you identified them?

Greg: Mango, pineapple, baby powder, then strawberry and cherry. But mango, pineapple and baby powder are my three top sellers.

Michael: How many different flavors are you offering?

Greg: When I go in initially?

Michael: Well, you know what your top flavors; how many do you carry total?

Greg: A little bit over forty.

Michael: I would cut that down. I would just sell five to ten flavors.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Identify the top-selling flavors and that’s it. Don’t offer them forty different ones. If you know what the top sellers are, that will make it easier for you. Then you’re not screwing around with inventory and thirty other flavors that you’re not really moving that great. You know what I mean?

Greg: That makes sense.

Michael: Okay, so you want to learn more about marketing?

Greg: Definitely.

Michael: Did you listen to any of the audio clips on my site?

Greg: My computer doesn’t do audio.

Michael: Okay, you have no audio yet. Did you read my story?

Greg: Yes, I did.

Michael: Do you know what I do?

Greg: I do. You made it so interesting. I commend you on what you do.

Michael: Well thank you. I like helping people out. I love marketing and just like I was trying to look for things that were inexpensive, it’s turned into a nice little fun business. I can help you because I’m doing exactly what you’re doing; I just have a different widget. You know what I’m saying?

Greg: Do you do pretty well with that?

Michael: Yes, I’ve been doing the pens since 1996. Do you have any kids?

Greg: No, I don’t have any kids.

Michael: How old are you?

Greg: I’m 31.

Michael: I’m 36, I’m married, and I have a 2-year-old kid. I haven’t worked for anyone for ages. I can’t remember the last time I had a job! I’ve been an entrepreneur, but this pen business is great. I work out of my home. I have a garage that’s been converted into a beautiful office. I’m able to be home with my kid. I can support my family in a pretty decent lifestyle. I’m no millionaire, and let me tell you my needs aren’t real great. I don’t need fancy cars and a big house. I make a comfortable living, I have no stress, and it’s all due to the pen business.

Greg: Wow, that’s excellent!

Michael: It’s a little widget, you know? Sometimes they are better to sell than informational products. Let me tell you, you are sitting on a gold mine! If your reorders are that good and you have a mass market, you need to get set up properly. It’s a lot of work to get set up and getting your database set up. I can show you how to get labor to do all of the bullshit typing very inexpensively. I can show you how to do that. How skilled are you on the Internet?

Greg: I’m pretty proficient.

Michael: Say you want to farm everything out. You want to work on the business, and that’s the marking part, and you have to do a lot of work setting everything up. Then you can farm everything out, farm all the busy work out. Let me give you an example of what I did to build my red-eye pen business. I used fax broadcasting. Do you know what that is?

Greg: Where they broadcast faxes out to a lot of people.

Michael: I get a list of all the photo labs around the country. Then I send out a fax that tells them how to get free red-eye pens. Then I go into a story, where everyone says, “Why is this crazy pen manufacturer giving away a free box of red-eye pens?” “Well, it’s a bribe to get you to try my pens, and I know that once you try them and see how fast they sell, you’ll want to order more. And if you do, I’ll guarantee you the lowest price and blah, blah, blah. Fill out this form to get your free pens.” Just like what you did with the air fresheners, but I did it all automatically. You’re doing it the hard way.

Greg: Right.

Michael: I blast out 3,000 faxes and then I have a hundred replies, so a hundred people what my free red-eye pens. I have a hundred boxes ready to go out. Maybe it costs me $10 for the price of the display and the pens and the shipping and everything. But I know without a doubt that out of those hundred accounts, as time goes by those pens are going to run low, they are going to sell because I know they sell just like you know your product sells, and they are going to reorder. And I ask myself “What is the lifetime value of my customer?” And I know a good pen customer of mine is worth $1,000 - $1,500.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Can I invest $10 in giving out a box of pens if there is a potential that they can become a $1,500 customer? And that’s what you can do. You can send out a fax instantly through eFax, which is a fax broadcasting service, for 6 cents apiece.

Greg: Wow!

Michael: Get a list of your best market. Let’s say it’s convenience stores, okay? If you send out 1,000 faxes for $60 for a free offer of your fragrances and you do a nice letter that’s enticing, and all they do is fax it back with the form and say “Okay, I’m willing to give it a try,” then you mail them their fragrances. When those fragrances start running low, they have your name to call for reorders. Or you can follow up with them automatically with a fax telling them that they are going to be running out soon, and would they like to go ahead and reorder. You see, it’s all automatic. You want to set up everything automatically.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Then you can go on and build another business. All right, I’ve been talking too much!

Greg: Hey, man, keep on talking because you have me hyped!

Michael: I’m telling you right now, you are financially independent because you’ve done the most important thing. You have a proven product that you know sells and has high reorders. My reorders on the red-eye pen on a good account, out of ten, I might get two or three good accounts. A lot of them won’t reorder. But if you’re getting at least half of these people to reorder, you’re there, Buddy.

Greg: Yes, and I can get half. I’m doing okay. I’m making almost as much money as I make on my job. I really need to concentrate on leaving my job so I can concentrate on my business. That’s what I’m trying to get into now.

Michael: Are you ready to do it?

Greg: Yes, definitely.

Michael: You’ve just got to take the plunge, Buddy. Go give them your notice and then get to work!

Greg: Right.

Michael: I think you know what you need to do; well you may not know exactly what you need to do. I can outline a plan for you of the steps of exactly what you need to do. You’re going to have to do the work and get it all set up.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Do you have a tape player in your car?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: You should constantly be studying these Jay Abraham tapes because from that material you’re going to learn really how to work a business differently like you probably already have learned. I have the marketing materials, the Jay Abraham Protégé Training that was a $20,000 seminar. People paid him $20,000 to learn to be a marketing consultant. But really, it’s the most intensive training I’ve seen of his. It teaches you how to look at a business, and it gives you a different mindset. You have 200 people from all different businesses, and you get to see how these concepts can be implemented in the businesses. It opens your eyes like that one idea that you got about letting them try your product risk free.

Greg: Right.

Michael: What do they have to lose? You take all the risk away. You can’t give them the air fresheners and then say, “Okay, give me my money.” They’re not going to do it. You have to say “Look, I know this shit will sell. I’m willing to let you set it up here. I’ll prove it to you first, and if it sells, you are going to reorder, right? Because it’s new money for your business”. And you offered them one hundred percent double the money back guarantee. You know what I mean?

Greg: Yes. Where do you get your lists when you send out the faxes?

Michael: There are list brokers. If you have all the time in the world, where would you go to sell your fragrances? Which stores, from what you know from your business already, which of the stores are most likely to buy and to reorder?

Greg: The independent convenience stores.

Michael: Okay, you go to a list broker; look in the Yellow Pages under “List Broker.” A list broker is someone in the list business. Tell them what you’re doing and that you’re looking for a list of independent convenience stores. That’s one idea. Another idea is to search on the Internet. Do you use a search engine?

Greg: Yes, I use Google.

Michael: Good. In Google type in “Lists of Independent Convenience Stores” and see what comes up. Number three is the SRDS. Have you heard of that?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: You need a copy of the SRDS. On my website, I’m going to be putting up how to get a free subscription to the SRDS. Basically, what I did was pay $575 to have the SRDS of all the direct mail lists, and within that list there are lists of independent convenience stores, and these people own the lists but they rent them out. So you can rent a list of the independent convenience stores and you can get fax numbers. What I did, they send you six copies a year of the books, and I put them up on eBay. I paid $575 and I’ve resold three of the copies for about $150 a copy. So I almost have my subscription paid for.

Greg: You’re right.

Michael: So there’s a list broker. You can search on the Internet for exactly what you’re looking for. There are trade publications. If you want to, search on the Internet for convenience store trade organizations. In the convenience store business, there are probably a number of trade organizations. You should call a convenience store and say “Hi, what kind of trade organizations are there for the convenience store industry?” And then go to their website. Many of these trade organizations have lists already that you can rent or they will lead you in the right direction. So you need to go to the trade organization for the people in the convenience store industry. Are you with me?

Greg: Yes, I’m with you.

Michael: You can also find other people in the industry already selling to convenience stores and you can contact them and say, “Let’s do a joint venture.”

Greg: That’s right.

Michael: You can present yourself as a manufacturer and find someone that has a big distribution of his or her product in your same market and say, “I’m a manufacturer, and I have a proven product. I can prove it to you. Here are my numbers; let me show you this and this. How would you like an exclusive in this area on my product”?

Greg: Wow!

Michael: That’s another idea. Then you can save yourself from having all the work and just let someone else pick it up. You’ve already got a proven product, right?

Greg: That’s right.

Michael: So there are several ways you can do it. You may want to take just 50 cents on each bottle and turn everything over to someone else and give them an exclusive.

Greg: That’s the first thing that came to my mind.

Michael: All right, then you can build routes and sell licenses in different cities, or zip codes or area codes, however you want to slice it. I’m sure there are a ton of convenience stores.

Greg: Oh, yes.

Michael: There’s another source called Info USA.

Greg: That’s the source I’m familiar with.

Michael: They’re expensive.

Greg: Right, right.

Michael: You don’t want to mail through these people. It’s too expensive. You’re going to pay 40 or 50 cents a letter to mail. You want to use faxes, at 6 cents compared to 40 or 50 cents.

Greg: You can’t beat that.

Michael: You can get ten faxes out for the price of one letter.

Greg: And it’s faster.

Michael: It’s faster, instant. You know what I’m saying?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: I’ve done a lot of talking and I hope I’ve helped you out with some ideas.

Greg: Unbelievably! Yes, you have.

Michael: It seems like a lot, it seems overwhelming, but the way I get things done, I make a list on a yellow pad. I have it in my computer and as I get ideas, I put them into the computer and they’re all one under the other. You need to write a list of all the things you need to do and you need to constantly keep working on it. Each little item, once you finish it, get it off the list. Then you’re going to have new things that come up. That’s the way you’re going to get things done. If you want to do it, it doesn’t sound like you have the money to hire anyone right now, so you’re probably going to have to do it yourself. I’d take the plunge if you can afford it. Quit that damn job and put your time into building your business.

Greg: That’s right. I like you, Michael, you’re all right man!

Michael: Well, look, I hope it works for you. Do you want to invest in some more marketing material?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: Let me ask you a question and be totally honest with me. What kind of budget do you want to put into more education? What can you afford right now? Can you spend $100? Do you have $500 to put into it? You just tell me. I’m not trying to give you a hard sell or anything. You tell me what you’re comfortable with and I’ll set something up for you.

Greg: I’m probably comfortable, Michael, spending $300 - $400.

Michael: Okay, let me ask you this. How do you like to learn? Are you a reader, or an audio person or a video person?

Greg: Audio.

Michael: You like audio tapes because you’re in the car so much, right?

Greg: Right.

Michael: Okay, so you have listened to “Your Secret Wealth,” the 6-tape thing?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: You have the book, right?

Greg: Right.

Michael: Okay, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I have Jay Abraham’s “Boot Camp” tapes. It’s not the whole Protégé Training, but this is twenty-eight audio tapes of preliminary information that Jay sent out to all of his students before they went to the $20,000 seminar. It’s a lot more detailed than “Your Secret Wealth” you studied. That’s very generic and vague. But the twenty-eight Boot Camp tapes are his more fundamental marketing principles. I’ll set you up with that. That will keep you busy for a while! Really start laying the foundation for the way to think about business and marketing. You’ll probably get a ton of ideas and understand you don’t need all of these ideas to be successful. You can build your business just on the one idea with the free box of fragrances. You could build a national business that way. You can choose which way you want to go and you’ll certainly get a lot of ideas and a mindset of how to look at your business. I can set you up with that. I’ll also add a lot of other bonus material for free. I’ll give you enough marketing material that you really won’t need to spend any more money on it.

Greg: Okay.

Michael: For $300, and it’ll cost about $10 to get it from me to you. If you trust me to put a package together for you, I’ll offer you a one hundred percent money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with what I send you, I’ll refund your money. You’ll also get me as a consultant so any time you need to, pick up the phone, if you want advice, you say, “Hey Mike, I’m looking for this or I’m looking for this.” Or email me. You’re my customer and I’ll help you out. I’ve got lots of knowledge; I’ve listened to most of this material, and I can save you time and effort and I can certainly save you money on materials.

Greg: Okay, sounds good Michael. Let me ask you one more thing.

Michael: Okay.

Greg: I have a friend who promotes a pretty large party in Atlanta. He’s had write-ups in a few magazines here. He has a mailing list and he’s not utilizing it. Will this show me how to also put together something for him?

Michael: Absolutely. Let me ask you, how big is the mailing list?

Greg: He has 7,000 people on it.

Michael: What kind of parties are they? Are they rave parties?

Greg: No, not rave parties. He’s had a lot of celebrities perform at his parties, and he has a pretty large following. When he throws a party, about 2,500 or 3,000 people show up.

Michael: Do they pay to get in?

Greg: Right, they pay $25 to get in.

Michael: So what does he make on a party like that in profit?

Greg: He makes about $30,000.

Michael: Okay, so what’s he doing? Does he have any more parties planned?

Greg: Yes, he has parties planned, but the thing is he isn’t utilizing his mailing list. He uses it basically to let people know about his parties.

Michael: Do you have an idea of what these people like? We know they like going to parties. Are you thinking of using it to sell them something else?

Greg: Right, he has full demographics on them.

Michael: Okay, I got you.

Greg: I don’t think it would be a problem finding products that they are interested in. We already know they are interested in music.

Michael: You know what? Let’s go with what’s obvious. We know these people like to party, sell them another party. Do you know how to put together a party? Why isn’t he putting together more parties? I mean, I don’t know, what’s he like? Does he have another party planned?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: Okay, I’m going to give you a blockbuster idea. He charges $25 per person per party?

Greg: Right.

Michael: How many parties does he do a year?

Greg: Six or seven.

Michael: Do you think that most of these people come to all of the parties?

Greg: Yes, he has a good repeat of business, but he has a lot of new people that come in. It’s probably about half-and-half, Mike.

Michael: All right, here we go. What you want to do is to put a package together,

a membership to his party organization. And you want to sell these people on a yearly membership fee for $100. And what does that get them? Instead of paying $25 per party, they only pay $10. They also get this, they also get this, and they also get this. Do you see what I’m saying? It’s a recurring yearly membership. You can make it really enticing. You can actually prepay a year’s worth of parties; they’re going to pay $150 a year to go to his parties, right?

Greg: Right.

Michael: You can say, “How would you like to go to his parties for free? If you join our party membership for $100 a year, then you basically don’t have to pay $25 to go into the party.” So you have pre-sold the parties whether they come or not, and you have all the money up front and the capital before you even get there.

Greg: He does something similar to that. He sells cards to the party, and I think he sells them for either $100 or $125.

Michael: Okay, so he has that going on.

Greg: Right.

Michael: Okay.

Greg: What I was looking at was doing a joint venture with a website where he sells music or CD’s or something.

Michael: You know what, Greg? Stick to your business. You have a good business. It’s so easy to get diverted. You’ve got something that works. You need to build your business. Selling them CD’s, all you know about these people is that they like to party, I just don’t think that’s a good idea, unless you’re selling them more parties or something related to parties.

Greg: Okay, I understand.

Michael: I’d stick to your product. I really would. You could smoke him in the amount of money you make. All you have to do is add zeroes to the end of your numbers. You have 100 stores. What would 1,000, ten times the stores, mean to you?

Greg: At least $5,000 to $6,000 a week.

Michael: That’s $20,000 a month. Once it’s all automatic, once you’re making that kind of money, you could hire me to set it all up for you where you are not doing any of the work. Do you see what I’m saying?

Greg: Yes, completely.

Michael: Ten times what you’re doing is not that hard when you use the technology and when you leverage yourself, and that’s what you’re going to learn on these tapes.

Greg: Wow!

Michael: What’s your email address?

Greg: gregchain@hotmail.com . How much are you charging for the other Protégé tapes, the whole set?

Michael: I charge $500 for the other ones.

Greg: Really?

Michael: Yes, that’s the $20,000 seminar. I charge $500 for that.

Greg: Well, I’ll tell you what. I think I might just go ahead and try that one.

Michael: All right, we can do that. That’s fine. Actually, right now, I’m out of them but I have a set coming in. I’ll probably have them in two or three days and I’ll put your name on them. If you want them, they’re yours. And I’ll throw in a bunch of free stuff for you too.

Greg: Okay, that’s good.

Michael: I’ll set you up with a lot of really good material, and the best part is you get to call me any time you need something.

Greg: Okay, that’s fine. On your website, do you carry the contract package?

Michael: The Contract Guide?

Greg: Yes.

Michael: Yes, the Contract Guide. Did you read about that?

Greg: I did.

Michael: That runs $200.

Greg: Really?

Michael: Yes. It’s worth it if you need legal agreements and good backbones for legal agreements and contracts. I don’t think you need it yet.

Greg: I’ll wait on that then.

Michael: Yes, why don’t you wait on that?

Greg: Okay, I appreciate it Mike.

Michael: Why don’t you start educating yourself, and get your mindset a little differently. It sounds like you’re on the right track. I’m not giving you a bunch of bullshit. You have a good little business, I’m telling you.

Greg: Thanks, Mike.

Michael: You just need to do it, man!

Greg: That’s the thing.

Michael: You have to take the plunge.

Greg: Okay, right.

Michael: Have you ever bought anything over the Internet? Have you used Pay Pal before?

Greg: Right, I have.

Michael: What you can do is, I’ll shoot you an email at gregchain@hotmail.com outlining what you’re going to get from me, and the total, and you can Pay Pal me the money or you can mail me a money order, whatever you want to do. But you’ll have all the information in an email and I’ll wait to hear from you.

Greg: That’ll work. You should hear from me either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Thanks a lot, Mike. You’ve been really, really helpful.

Michael: Okay, sounds good, Greg. Take care.

Greg: Okay, Man.