Employing the AB Split

Yesterday I sat down with a young man who asked for a little mentoring from me.  He had started writing a novel and wanted some coaching as to how he could get a publisher and or a literary agent.  I explained to him, first of all, how tough it was to get a publisher.  There are over 200,000 new books published every year and probably 10 times that many books that try to get published but are turned down.  I told him how I eventually got my first book published and how that didn’t happen until I had sold several hundred thousand copies by myself. Of course, he wanted to know how I did that. What I told him is something that can help anyone to achieve great success with almost any venture they are interested in pursuing.

Many years ago one of my mentors introduced me to a very simple but very powerful method of marketing.  In simple terms it’s called an AB split—it’s an easy way to measure anything from what price is the best price to charge to what words in an advertisement, book title, product name or anything else will be the best to use to grab people’s attention.

You can test two prices in a newspaper ad, for instance, by spending just a few extra bucks to have one ad show a $25 price printed in half the newspapers, then list a $45 price in the other half of the print run.  After looking at the orders you receive, you will know which price your customers preferred by simply counting up the orders you received for each price listed. The same AB split can be used with snail mailings or internet marketing, radio, TV or phone solicitations. And that’s just the beginning.  You can test what title would be best for a new book, or the best headline for an advertisement or the best words and story to tell in the body copy of a lengthy ad.

When I couldn’t get a publisher to take on my first book I began using the AB split method and quickly and quite inexpensively found out that the “How to Wake up the Financial Genius Inside You” title of the book and the headline in my advertisements was far superior to the headline “How to Become a Millionaire”.  I then used the AB split to discover what price was best, using newspapers, mailings and TV ads.  Wow, once I found the best price and the best headlines and body copy to use, things went crazy as I began advertising just about everywhere, in newspapers, radio, TV and mass mailings.  The orders came rolling in by the thousands and eventually that money led me to publish a newsletter that morphed into a magazine with over 50,000 subscribers.  All of that, plus some, coming primarily from the use of the AB split method.

I don’t know what the young man who wants to be a big time novelist will do with what I told him but if he applies the AB concept to getting his book out there and sticks with it, I’m pretty sure he’ll soon see huge numbers for his book along with many lifetime rewards and a ton of satisfaction.

The Story of a Millionaire Goal

Last week I posted the front page story that was written about me and my plight when I was a poor 21 year old and how that wonderful couple Phil and Addie DiBenedetto took me into their house and let me sleep in their basement even though they had just met me.  This all happened when I was working construction in Rockford Illinois back in 1965.  I was very lucky to meet the DiBenedettos not only because they gave me a place to stay and feed me for free as well but maybe even more importantly, they seemed to really believe in me.
Re-reading that article reminded me that even as a very young man I had set my sights on becoming a millionaire.  I must admit that I had a tough time staying focused on that huge million dollar number when I was physically working myself to the bone at a measly $4.50 an hour. I do remember that I tried very hard to make every single day count by continuing to search, in what little spare time I had, for the “million dollar secret”.

I don’t think the DiBenedettos, even though they believed in me, ever really thought I could reach the “millionaire status or level”.  In fact years later as quoted in the newspaper story when they visited me in Denver, Phil and Addie said they “still remember Haroldsen and his wife lived in a broken down house. Finally, the young man ended up in Salt Lake City, where he was eventually fired from his job and on his way to making his first million.”

I loved the next part of the newspaper story. “When Addie and Phil visited Haroldsen for the first time in Salt Lake City, they had no idea he had fulfilled his dream of becoming a wealthy man.” In fact they were even worried that I couldn’t afford the long distance calls that I had been making to them prior to their arrival.  The best part was how blown away they both were when I drove them through the gate and into the long driveway of my home. It wasn’t a huge mansion but it was close, with over three tree-lined acres surrounding it.  They were so very proud of me and I had always been so very grateful to them for their willingness to reach out and help a young man who needed a place to stay but even more so for their very kind, loving and friendly support of his dream.

Those 5,840 days (16 years) between my meeting the DiBenedettos and the publishing of that article, were used to search out and discover the financial formula that can lift an ordinary person from being a meager wage earner to being a millionaire and, yes, even a multi-millionaire.  What is the secret?

Well, first it’s setting your mind firmly on your goal and never giving up on your objective and then working your tail off–or I should say, working your brain off since physical work and an hourly wage will never get you to the big numbers.  Hitting millions and multi millions is done by using financial leverage and people leverage. If you are not sure what that is, you should go back and read some of my earlier blogs that address that specifically and in detail. The secrets are all here:

http://ignitemylifenow.com/2013/01/11/the-power-of-leverage-and-compounding/

http://ignitemylifenow.com/2014/06/14/the-final-step-to-wealth/

http://ignitemylifenow.com/2014/07/25/the-simple-wealth-formula/

http://ignitemylifenow.com/2014/11/07/leverage-to-lift-your-profits/

 

Sensational Free Publicity

I have a few more thoughts on the idea of “Free Publicity”. I have this incredible story of how I ended up on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer nearly for free due to a simple marketing gimmick. That front page article got me a huge boost in sales for the book I was promoting then showing just how impactful media exposure can be for your business.

This all started when I talked my way on to a small radio show for a very short interview. Before this though, I had come up with a unique way to market my book. It was simple and very effective but not nearly as effective as when I had that radio audience.  Being on that radio program for even the short time I was turned my marketing trick into a much bigger push than I ever imagined I’d have from it.

On the air, I said that the next day I would be at the main downtown square of Philadelphia giving away money! That’s right I told the listeners that there would be “free money” given away the next day at noon. You see, what I had done previously with mediocre results was to put a one dollar bill in an envelope with the words “take this 1 dollar bill and add 9 dollars to it and buy my book How to Wake Up the Financial Genius Inside You from your local book store or via mail”. Prior to my Philadelphia experience I had limited results with this little gimmicky marketing idea but that all changed the day after the interview.

When I got to the town square I was shocked to see something like 600 or 800 people jammed into that small space. Nevertheless, I began handing out the envelopes, which caused a huge rush toward me, so much so that I was scared that I might be crushed. I then began throwing 5 or 10 envelopes at a time as far from me as I could. It all turned into a mad circus and then suddenly I was being escorted by 2 policemen into a retail store and out the back door. The policemen were very nice and explained that I was causing a near riot and they were afraid someone would get hurt.

I was very upset and went back to my hotel thinking that I had failed, since I had only given away maybe 200-300 envelopes which would not help my book sales by much. But the next morning I was shocked  and elated to see my picture on the front page with me in the middle of that huge crowd as I was flinging the dollar filled envelopes into the air. Wow! My book sales spiked and I was a very happy camper.

I got all that publicity and that huge bump in books sales for a truly tiny amount of cash. And all that came from some pretty simple steps. Bottom line lesson here is, if you want free publicity, use your creative brain to come up with unique stories or ways to approach the media and/or your marketing methods. In this age of viral videos and social networking, it isn’t too hard to get something exciting to make the rounds. You just need to be sensational and unique so as to grab the public’s attention and imagination. What do think that would be for what you want to promote?

BE YOUR OWN PR AGENT–How To Easily Get Free Publicity

On my June 7th blog entitled “Write your way to Credibility” I talk about how writing a simple book and using that book as a business card gives you instant credibility and believe me that has worked wonders for me for many years.  There is another easy “trick” that anyone can use to get tons of free publicity. I learned this lesson from my father, Dr. Edwin O. Haroldsen, who was a great man that came off a farm in Idaho to not only get his PhD but went on to be a big time newspaper man and editor of the national magazine U.S. News and World Report.

I began to learn this “trick” (or lesson) when I was just a kid.  I would go with him to his newspaper office frequently and observe all the hustle and bustle of the writers and editor as they worked away with the noise of the teletype machines in the background.  It was during these times he told me that editors and writers of newspapers, magazines, T.V. and Radio were always on the lookout for good stories and like most people they would like these stories done the quickest and easiest way possible.  He then told me about the “publicity people” that are hired by big companies and celebrities and very wealthy people, but he then said you really don’t need these people because you can do the job yourself.  You do just what they do–you write up a story, your story of success or what’s happening around you that is interesting and unique, and you send it to the media—papers, magazines, TV and radio.  In other words you help out those writers and editors by doing some of their work for them and delivering the story all packaged up and ready to run.  Editors love a good unique, interesting and well written story because it saves them a ton of time.  If it’s a good story they only need to make a few edits to then, bingo, your story appears in print or on the air!

“Really?” you say, “It’s that easy?” Yes, I am saying exactly that!  No, it doesn’t work every time so it’s smart to send to multiple newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations. But, most importantly you better have a good intriguing, well written story. This can take some time as a well written story will take some time and re-writing.  Re-write it over and over until it’s not only exciting and appealing to you but will also be for other people. Find a few people whose opinion you trust and ask them for their honest feedback—if they find it exciting, editors will too.

I’ve used what my dad taught me many times and had my business and personal stories on the front page of local and national newspapers and yes, even on national TV! These stories increased my credibility but also my business and profits by huge numbers and all that for free. You can do the same thing to enhance and increase your business, a new invention or idea of a product you may have or for your family or your favorite charity. Give it a try!