Yesterday I introduced Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans concept of supporting yourself comfortably with a relatively small collection of avid followers. The idea has both skeptics and cheerleaders, there are valid arguments on both sides, and Alexandria Brown is proof that it’s possible. Also, I admitted I can be a Hater, explained why writing this series is critical to my business karma, and noted these are not sponsored posts.
You might want to read the series intro first if you haven’t already.
cc Ian Muttoo, courtesy of Flickr
“The proof of the pudding is in the eating” and I had plenty to nibble on when evaluating straight-from-the-source info that Alexandria Brown earned $2,000,000 in 2007. This post assembles details from her current sales pages and my notes from her Top 10 for 2008 teleseminar to demonstrate how a solopreneur can make $1 million USD with fewer than 1000 True Fans.
My figurings revealed big money in selling information (no surprise there), the mad cash that comes from selling access to information, and the potential in leveraging vendor access to subscribers…those last two caught me off guard.
Selling information
Ali has built up a small but mighty product portfolio in the past 7 years. Best that I can tell, she’s trimmed away six or seven of her products in the past year, and now offers only five:
- Power and Soul ($20)
- Think to Grow Rich ($297)
- Boost Business with Your Own Ezine ($497)
- Workshop Marketing Secrets ($997)
- Online Success Blueprint Workshop ($1,497)
I’ll start with what I know for sure: the sales page for the Online Success Blueprint Workshop says only 147 copies are for sale…and they’re sold out. Assuming everyone paid full price:
147 copies of Online Success Blueprint Workshop
@ $1,497 each = $220,059
Well, hell. That’s a nice step toward a million, ain’t it? And that’s the least Ali could have earned on that product. Here’s what happens when I apply the same limits and assumptions to her other items.
147 copies of Workshop Marketing Secrets @ $997 each = $146,559
147 copies of Boost Business with Your Own Ezine
@ $497 each = $73,059
Note: A safe assumption, since a recent seminar follow-up
mentioned 300 copies were sold between Mar 24 and Mar 27
147 copies of Think to Grow Rich @ $297 each = $43,659
147 copies of the Power and Soul @ $20 each = $2,940
Product Sales Total: $486,276
This is my best guess, because the sales pages for these other four products disclosed neither a sales limit nor a number of sales. However, if there are 147 folks willing to buy Ali’s most expensive product, it’s probably safe to assume the less expensive items are selling equally well. However, I won’t assume more sales just because they’re less expensive.
Even if I had an actual number of products sold, it would be impossible to tell how many customers these sales represent. If Ali’s marketing funnel is working as it should, at least some of the folks who bought her most expensive item also purchased at least one less expensive product first. But even if there were no repeat sales, that’s still only 735 unique customers for almost half a million dollars in revenue.
But these Customers don’t qualify as True Fans anyway. Kelly defines a True Fan as “someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce,” and the case for these product sales is crippled by the repeat sales question. One purchase does not a True Fan make.
But…
Does someone who continually invests in you by paying month after month for a subscription-based membership qualify as a True Fan? I’d say so. And based on the cost of her coaching program memberships, Ali doesn’t need even 100 subscribing Fans to equal her products sales.
Selling access to information
Funny thing about toll roads…regardless of where you enter or where you get off, the toll gets paid. Some toll roads have a flat fee you pay when entering or exiting, while other toll roads charge more the farther you travel. Ali’s product sales are like a flat fee toll, while her group coaching programs are the other kind:
- Silver Mastermind Group ($47/month)
- Marketing Mastery 12-Month Program ($279/month)
Note: During her teleseminar, it was offered at a monthly rate, currently available at a one time $2,970. This may need to be reclassified to the VIP category
- Private Platinum Mastermind Group ($15,000/year)
Note: Best that I can tell, this is an annual fee. If not, it would also get reclassified to the VIP category.
All of these programs offer live coaching/training calls, digital and printed transcripts, and exclusive group membership—and the farther you’re willing go, the more you’ll need to pay. Fee increases translate to smaller groups and increasing levels of direct access to Ali.
As an example, the Silver Mastermind group has monthly live coaching calls, but the more expensive Marketing Mastery group has open Q & A calls each month AND quarterly “laser” consultations—which are first come, first served, 10-minute 1-on-1 calls with Ali. The most pricey Platinum Mastermind group gets much of the same, plus resort weekend workshops, and it’s the only group that has regular 1:1 time with Ali throughout the year.
The Marketing Mastery and Platinum Mastermind headcounts are listed on her site, but I’m relying on my memory for the number of members in her Silver Mastermind program. I recall hearing in a teleseminar that her Silver Mastermind group has 450** people in it. If someone knows different, please let me know and I’ll update. In the meantime, I’ll cut my undocumented count in half, just to be conservative. With that in mind, here’s how the membership fees add up:
225** Silver Mastermind fees @ $47/month = $10,575/month
$10,575 x 12 months = $126,900/year
**Jun 8, 2008 Update: Ali just announced there are 750 members
69 Marketing Mastery fees @ $279/month = $19,251/month
$19,251 x 12 months = $231,012/year
17 Private Platinum fees @ $15,000/year = $255,000/year
True Fan Memberships Total = $612,912
Even if I dropped the Silver Mastermind group completely because of my undocumented headcount, we’d still be almost halfway to a million with nowhere near half of our allotted 1000 Fans.
Note: If I included revenue from her products, the running subtotal would be at $1,099,188
Leveraging vendor access to subscribers
In addition to her bevy of paying members, Ali has a a bunch of freeloaders (like me) who read her free weekly ezine and attend her free teleseminars. Some of us are working our way to her paid products, others are just hanging out, and there are 22,000 28,000+ of us, according to her ezine advertisement sales page.
Assuming her last five issues represent the entire year, there are 5 advertisements run each week. They usually cost $250 each, but she offers a “Buy 3 Get 1 Free” ad special for $500. To be conservative, I’ll assume that everyone takes her up on the discounted price:
5 ezine ads x $167 = $835
$835 x 52 weeks = $43,420
That’s small potatoes compared to the membership fees, but it’s darn good money for publishing the same number of articles in a month that many bloggers post in a week. It’s also wincingly close to my annual salary at my last office job. But we’re looking for True Fans here, and free ezine subscribers aren’t necessarily product or membership buyers. While the ad revenue improves our image of Ali’s income, it won’t count toward the $1 million goal.
Ali’s partnerships won’t factor in either, because I know nothing about their volume and/or terms. The ezine always mentions Silver Mastermind guest speakers, and I’ve listened in on free teleseminars where she was co-hosting or interviewing someone. I suspect that even her well-attended free events involve joint ventures. Also, Ali often mentions income from affiliate product sales. I imagine the Silver Mastermind group’s “Million Dollar Resource Rolodex” of her preferred tools and resources has at least a few items that pay her a commission.
While I don’t have numbers for any of Ali’s probable partnerships, they’re worth mentioning in addition to advertising because they’re all revenue derived from third-party access to her pool of followers. To continue the highway analogy: not only is Ali collecting a toll from the travelers AND earning revenue for the highway billboards, but she’s also probably getting a cut of the rest stop sales ;)
Note: If I included ezine advertising, the running subtotal would be at $1,142,608
Om nom nom*
Whew! That’s plenty for y’all to chew on for one day, and hopefully two. This post was a long write, and likely a long read, so I’m taking a break from blogging tomorrow. We’ll meet back here on Friday to pair more facts with more reasonable assumptions and try to account for the remaining $387,088.
For today, remember that I ignored all but one of Ali’s income streams because I’m sticking to the spirit and definition of a True Fan, and I don’t have any numbers for a couple of them. But that one valid income stream yields $612,912. Each year.
For a taste of Friday’s post, here’s a hint:
The three keys to big-ticket VIP earnings are:
exclusivity, __________, and _________.
[The answer is available now at Part 2: Big-Ticket VIP Access for a Few]
If Friday is looking busy for you, subscribe to my full feed or sign up for my email service to stay in the loop…
Et tu? Are you imagining the possibilities for your business, or are you thoroughly unconvinced? Lemme know down below…
*Happy chomping noises appropriately (and regularly) iterated by Georgene [ @Giania ] in loving homage to the worthy CM.
