Here is a short consultation that I did with a gentleman named Peter who has become a representative for an MLM company that sells food and vitamin supplements to promote better health.

The reason Peter called was because he wanted to know quicker, better ways to promote his MLM business – things seemed to be moving too slow for his needs. He had discovered a company that, for a handsome price, would not only show him the secrets to successful MLM marketing, but guarantee his success as well.

Now, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Peter called me and asked what I thought and I gave him my opinion about this company’s offer to sell him secrets. I also gave him my strong advice about the MLM industry.

My reviews about MLM opportunities are less than stellar, to put it mildly.

I, like most successful markers, began my career in an MLM organization. I believe that an MLM can be great training for the future entrepreneur. However, the truth is that very few people are successful enough to tout MLM’s as the “end-all” to success beyond your wildest dreams.
I invite you to listen to this consultation and put yourself in Peter’s place as I advise him about the pro’s and con’s of MLM’s as well as the best alternative that I can think of for earning an honest dollar – namely, creating an information product that you, yourself, own and control.

So, after digesting this consultation with Peter, you will never need to ask me what I think about an MLM opportunity. You can assure yourself that I will simply tell you exactly what I told Peter. This recording is 15 minutes. back to index

The information product that would be most profitable for John was how to seal asphalt driveways
Listen in as I give John step-by-step instructions about how to develop and market his driveway sealing information product.

The steps that I outline for John can be applied to just about any information product that you can think of.

The second reason that I encourage you to listen is that you will realize how the steps to success are many and that they can become confusing in terms of what each step consists of and the order in which they should be executed.

There’s a ton of great information in store for you in this recording so let’s get started! This flash consultation is 55 minutes. back to index

The problem is that Beth doesn’t know what kind of business she could develop and make successful. She saw my web site, www.hardtofindseminars.com, and my offer for a free 15-minute consultation. She cast her fate to the wind and called me – never expecting that I would return her call. Of course I returned her call, and you are about to listen to my consultation with Beth.

You will hear how I ask questions about her business experience, her personal goals and the income she feels she would need. I then begin to probe about her specific business skills. Beth has been in the business world for many years and has many exceptional skills. However, a few of her skills set off some bells for me:

• She loves to teach people.
• She loves to learn new software packages forwards and backwards.
• She is an expert in the use of Microsoft Excel’s spread sheet product.

Beth uses Excel in every part of her life. She uses it both at home (for budgets, credit and expense tracking) as well as at her job where she has created Excel spread sheets to track everything about a grant that the school system received from the state. Beth has left no stone unturned in the gathering of state and federally mandated information reporting for state grants.

Beth doesn’t believe she is an expert in the use of Excel – but she really is! What’s even better is that she is passionate about using Excel to improve efficiency both in her home and at her job.

My solution was for Beth to claim herself as an Excel expert and to create an information product that would teach people better ways to use this powerful software product. She could actually train people over the phone from the comfort of her own home. I gave her some ideas of tools available that would help her to do this professionally and effectively.

Sounds great – but how would Beth introduce herself to prospects who might have a need for her service? There is always cold calling, but like most people, Beth doesn’t like the idea of cold calling. She would like prospects to call her instead.

1. Do research on where the needs for her services are. Determine where the hungry market is.
2. Find case studies, perhaps on the MS Excel site itself or in a MS Excel online forum, to discover what types of typical problems people are having when trying to figure out how to accomplish a task using Excel.
3. Look at the indices of books already written by other Excel experts to develop an outline for her information product.
4. Use Google to research the potential markets for her product and service.
5. Put the frustrations with Excel into a specific format for a sales letter.
6. I offered to help her create an audio interview, perhaps with some video or at least screen shots, that would be part of her sales letter package.
7. Write her biography and explain why she is the expert that can best help people to solve their problems with the use of Excel. Within this, I advised Beth to come up with a “catchy” name for herself that people would remember – something like “The Excel Queen.”

Beth promised to work on the steps I advised her to do before we went on to create the audio interview portion of her sales message. I’m really looking forward to hearing from her again.
The advice that I gave Beth could be used to create any information product so I invite you to not only listen to this consultation, but to pay close attention to the steps I have outlined. You only need to have the passion and a niche product or service to get started. Good luck and perhaps one day I will be interviewing you on your success! This flash recording is 50 minutes. back to index

We discussed a few information product ideas that Curtis has. His ideas are sound and you’ll hear me give my best advice about ways to make his information products special and unique and why this is of the utmost importance.

One of Curtis’ other questions had been about my invisible ink pen manufacturing business opportunity. If you haven’t seen it yet on my web site or listened to the audios I have on the subject, you may want to take the time to absorb the information I have available. Like I advise Curtis, the market is still wide open and in this consultation you’ll hear more on the subject as well as some insider information about some new opportunities to sell thousands of these invisible ink pens.

Now comes the fun part! Earlier in the interview, Curtis and I were talking about some of the barbeque shows shown on television. Apparently, Curtis and I share a common passion for barbequing. All of this talk got me thinking about the creation of an information product containing interviews with up to twenty of the top barbeque “pit masters” and some of their best barbeque secrets.

Curtis loved the idea! You’ll hear my advice about ways to get interviews with the top pit masters, different methods to market and promote the product, and even some joint venture ideas that I came up with to work with Curtis on this mouth-watering opportunity. You’ll even hear a short audio at the end where Curtis updates me on his progress toward making this idea into a reality along with my advice about how to prepare for great interviews. As always, my advice can be applied to any information product so, if you want a fun audio to learn from, this would be the one for you! back to index

I was impressed that Jeremy was so intent on learning JV’s and becoming successful so I talked with him and gave him my personal recommendations about ways that he could enter this type of enterprise.

We discussed why it is so very important to negotiate JV’s so that when you create your own information product, it is totally under your control.
Jeremy expressed his interest in creating an information product containing interviews of the top sellers on Ebay. I thought this was a great idea, probed further, and gave my recommendations of how to entice these top Ebay sellers and negotiate JV deals with them. Basically, the sky is the limit once you have your product in hand. Getting the interview is the easy part!

I talk about how I am moving to downloadable digital media products myself to make life easier. We also discuss how a novice interviewer, like I once was, can quickly overcome nervousness and how audio files can be edited to make the interview extremely professional and both parties sound like senior members of the Toastmasters Club.

Finally, Jeremy and I touch upon different audio interview packaging options once you have the products.

• Sell one or sell all at once.
• Have an audio “club” where customers buy a subscription to receive one or more new audios every month.
• Creating upsells.
• Selling the resale rights to your audios and my recommendations of what should be included in those audios to bring some customers back home to you, the original source.

This conversation runs the gambit from how to approach businesses with your product or service to specific marketing techniques for you to try. It is one of my “Shoot the Shit” series and as always the information you’ll hear is unrehearsed and undeniably potent. Because conversations like this are so down-to-earth and real they will motivate you to try out new ideas and give you the confidence to market your product or service with authority and conviction.

The power of hearing first hand what someone else is doing to successfully market their product is unequivocal, and it will undoubtedly fire you up and inspire you to market effectively and profitably. This recording is 28 minutes. back to index

This is an audio consisting of telephone calls that I had with a gentleman named Avery Manco. Avery had been in the professional printing and marketing consulting business for fifteen years. He offered marketing consulting services to small businesses. Avery was looking to expand his consulting business.

Avery had done a great deal of research into many other consulting opportunities like Y2 Marketing, Topline Business Solutions, Y Squared and others when he found information on the HMA system at www.hardtofindseminars.com.

Intrigued by what he heard, Avery made his first call to me. We discussed his current business, his future plans, and some of the questions that he had about the HMA system.

Avery calls me back that very day (the second call on this audio) after listening to a Question and Answer Session that Richard and I did using questions sent by many people wanting more information about the HMA system.

Now, I’m not calling Avery the “king” of skeptics but you will hear him ask me very pointed, candid questions about the HMA business opportunity. Since he had been using his own methods in marketing consulting and had been successful, he wanted to make sure that the HMA system would fit in with the way that he conducted his business and help him to structure and grow the consulting side of his business.

Avery’s first comment about the Q & A Session he had listened to was that the questions that were asked were very, very basic. As he put it, it was like the questions were from people with almost no business experience at all! I explained that the list of questions were directly from my subscribers who were interested in the HMA system.

Avery was skeptical about the simplicity of the questions but he was still intrigued by the HMA system. He began asking questions about how the training worked. He really liked the descriptions of the seminar content he had seen.

I told him that there were many more resources available after I received a non-disclosure agreement from him. You will also hear me describe some of the valuable resources available to HMA consultants in the HMA University.

Avery still thought the HMA system was pretty basic but I promised him that there was a lot more he hadn’t seen yet. He promised to email me the agreement after he listened to another audio with Richard so he could have access to more detail about the HMA system.

Avery called me back and told me he had been listening to the other audio recordings. He told me he liked what he heard. The HMA System seems to be just what he had been looking for to intensify his printing and consulting business.

However, Avery did make a point that he was a bit leery about me as well as the HMA system. After all, I was three thousand miles away. I suggested he look at a few of the testimonials on my site and to visit the about me pages on my site for proof of my dedication and sincerity.

What it all boiled down to was this: Was I someone that Avery could trust?

During our next telephone conversation, it was apparent that Avery was very serious about finding out the truth about me and the HMA System. He had been listening to more of the audios that I had recommended and had been going through my web site with a fine-tooth comb.

Avery complained he could not find any of the people on my web site when he did searches for them on Google. I could not explain why he had been unsuccessful with his searches but I assured him there were no fictitious people in any of the site’s content.

I soon learned Avery had been looking very closely at many of my competitors. Most of them had much higher prices and did not offer the depth of content or services I offer. I again explain and reassured him how I am always available to assist my HMA Consultants.

Avery apologizes and admits he is still skeptical. Was I trustworthy enough for him?

After more research, Avery finally believed what I had been telling him and told me he was going to sign up for the HMA program the very next day.

True to his word, he did. In the final call, Avery has signed up to be an HMA Consultant and was very concerned about a few gaps he had found between the HMA audio series and the videos. I explained the audio content had been taken directly from the video and assured him he had not missed anything.

Avery was already jazzed about the whole concept of the HMA System. In fact, he had already started to use it in his current business – especially finding his clients’ hidden marketing assets. Avery had developed a strategy how he was going to roll the HMA System into his business. He was very excited.

After all of Avery’s skepticism and nitpicking, I came away from this conversation confident that all of the components of the HMA System would come together for Avery as he completed his training. And, of course, I will assist him with any questions or difficulties he experiences as he augments his business with the HMA system. Below is a note Avery sent over to me recently on September 24th 2005.

I am writing to let you know how thoroughly satisfied I am that I purchased the HMA program. You might recall that during our first conversation, I told you that I am a marketing consultant and that I was looking for an “out of the box” marketing seminar. I went on to tell you that I was looking for a resource to provide me with a marketing system.

I researched your product and several others. I spoke to a marketing consulting franchise system. I dug and I dug and I dug. I literally spent 60 hours on the internet researching. I called you so many times and asked you so many questions – I really tortured you because I was skeptical. Sorry about that, but I wanted to be sure I purchased the right product.

After comparing all the options, I decided to invest in your product. Here are my reasons:
1. The HMA product is a winner. I was able to plug some of the principles into my current marketing consulting practice immediately and my clients realized results. The principles make total sense and are pretty easy to implement.

2. I realized I got more than what I was initially looking for: I had you. Y