Marketing Examples: International Media Holdings (IMH) and Success Development International (SDI)
SDI/IMH produced training and information for real estate entrepreneurs. The company offered everythng from free events to the $49 "Cash-Flow Generator" (see below) to generate new leads. The back-end sales ranged from $297 courses to $9,995 "Boot Camps," a name the company coined that has since become standard in the industry for many intensive multi-day seminars.
To generate new customers to fuel 1500% growth, Emerson Brantley grew SDI's marketing from a few small mailings in 1993 to thousands of direct marketing campaigns by 1996. He creatively used multiple approaches to deliver the same message again and again.
SDI/IMH produced and marketed dozens of various training courses, seminars and national "SuperConferences" for real estate entrepreneurs. Emerson Brantley managed all of the company's marketing planning and execution from 1993-2000.IMH assets were acquired by Russ Whitney in 2003.
Emerson successfully utilized every available media, writing and producing profitable mail, email, print, short- and long-form radio, as well as short- and long-form Television campaigns. It is rare for long-form radio to be profitable, but even these shows were extremely successful, airing in as many as 120 radio markets across the country for two years. He also spearheaded the development of the company's first online marketing in 1993, produced their first website in 1996 (832 pages!), and saw Internet sales grow to produce tens of thousands of dollars each month.
More often than not, companies charge too little for their products and services. In the face of conventional wisdom, undercharging and discounting usually costs sales. In the early 1990's the average price of a three-day seminar was $995, virtually unchanged for over a decade. Through systematic and highly-creative marketing efforts, these "Boot Camps" (a term coined by SDI) events were increased in price from $995 in 1993 to $4,995 by 1997 -- a price increase of 500% -- while steadily increasing attendance and number of events.
The full-page Newspaper Advertorial on the left sold a $3,495 version of one Boot Camp, and was a variation on Emerson's earlier Boot Camp letter. After it appeared in print, he ordered tens of thousands of tearsheets which he used in direct mailings with a hand-written post-it note to increase response. Alternating mailings such as this with sales letters, postcards, email and other methods, kept the marketing fresh and kept the 1500% growth curve going for over three years.
This Workshop Sales Letter on the right was used from 1994-2003, was also reproduced in a variety of forms as well, including as a brochure and tearsheet. The offer changed over the years (testing various prices or free, different bonuses, etc.) but the basic 8-page letter remained the same. In this version, the "Cash Flow Generator" Kit is the incentive gift attendees received.
Over ten million letters were sent out to thousands of mailing lists, with constant tracking and tweaking. Workships like this were held in every major city in America, and were one more way Emerson "filled the funnel" with new prospects. Consistently attended by tens of thousands new prospects each year, millions of dollars in room sales resulted.
The Cash Flow Generator
Emerson's most famous camapign for SDI/IMH was Cash Flow Generator, a "Special Report" he first wrote in 1993 (also known as "America's Perfect Home Based Business), a salespiece that was never beaten as a control. This Report is actually a carefully-crafted sales letter, containing some actual "how-to" material, but leading the reader to a compelling sale of the company's keystone course. Featured in FOUR national infomercials, in its first three years alone the "CFG"generated over $2.4 million in direct front end sales... AND an incredible $1952 in average back end purchases for each and every CFG purchaser! Because it broke the rule and actually made money on every lead it generated (an average earnings ratio of $1.28 for every $1 of media purchased), the CFG infomercial was acquired in 2003 by Russ Whitney's WIN (Whitney International Network; RUSS.PK). Increasing the show's media buy, WIN generated $9.5 million in front-end sales in the first seven months from the CFG alone.
Greg Rice & John Rice
"The World's Smallest Twins"
Hosts Of The Cash Flow Generator InfomercialThis was significant enough to be reported as a separate item in their 10K Annual Report filed with the SEC. Their earlier 8K filing also projected 120,000 new customers from the show in the following year, based on 10,000 new customers per month during their first six month's testing. WIN continues to use the incredibly effective CFG, making it the longest-running profitable lead-generating infomercial in history.
Click Here For Specific CFG Campaign Results Numbers
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