LeoSaraceni.Net – Weird Marketing Thoughts

How Can You Profit From The Droppings of Your Cash Cow?

You know how inspiration comes from the weirdest places?

Today, my muse came from a small cow pasture. I live in such a small town (Manteo, NC) that I get to drive by that small pasture every day, and trust me, I was never excited about it.

As I drove by, I noticed a gentleman shoveling the manure into these huge bags, and it took me an instant to realize what was his purpose – I’m no farmer, and know nothing about gardening.

Finally, it struck me: he was collecting manure to sell as fertilizer! Darn if I’m not a city boy –

Even though my gardening skills are none, my business mind started working immediately. That farmer was about to turn a profit out of (pardon my French) CRAP! Of course, his business was not devoted to selling fertilizer, he sells milk and delicious homemade cheeses in the local farmers’ market. Nonetheless, he’d found an alternative source of income from excrements!

I believe until I noticed that I had never fully understood why Seth Godin developed the Cash Cow concept, but it made complete sense: cheese, milk, meat (ugh!), leather (blehh!)*, even the cow’s poop is profitable.

To make the transition to network marketing, relate the manure alternative income to what a Funded Proposal offer is: it’s a secondary income stream derived from your main Cash Cow. It originates from your primary business, it is an important source of income, but it should not require much of your attention. Like any real source of income, a funded proposal works passively, in the background.

Let’s keep the manure analogy going: whether the farmer profits from the manure, the droppings will naturally happen; this is exactly how any funded proposal offer works. Examine the entire operation:

In network marketing, visitors arrive at your website and are presented with the opportunity to join you in your enterprise – that is your Cash Cow. Since we all know the sponsoring process takes more than just a single visit to your website, while you’re building trust and credibility with your prospects, there are certain areas where a funded proposal comes in handy, and most importantly – highly beneficial to your prospects.

The most effective way to present any offer lies within your regular Cash Cow operations:

• a test-drive of your opportunity: a how-to guide, an initial procedures document – a “taste”

• bonus training: “before you start, you can learn a lot from this course” – either yours or somebody else’s – that’s when subtle affiliate promotions work best

• a step above: advanced training, recommended readings, Joint-Ventures, cross-marketing – a “plus” to boost your prospects business.

Now, with or without manure, DON’T OFFER CRAP! The consequences of offering too much, or pushing a low-grade product, involve losing your prospect! You might even make a $20 or $30 commission, but is that really worth losing your prospect?

* I’m a vegetarian, by the way.

So, Chris Brogan (chrisbrogan.com) twitted about Seth Godin’s post on Pricing. Funny how this post came to be.

What can an internet marketer apply to pricing? How can you benefit from product pricing, if you’re just promoting somebody else’s product? There’s nothing you can do, right?

Wrong!

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