Apr
23
Making a Million With 1000 True Fans: Be a Toll Booth on the Information Highway
by Crystal Clayton, filed under In General, Keep In Touch
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.
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- Making a Million With 1000 True Fans Case Study: Table of Contents
- Making A Million With 1000 True Fans Update [MiniPost]
- Making A Million With 1000 True Fans: Case Study Intro
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26 Responses to “Making a Million With 1000 True Fans: Be a Toll Booth on the Information Highway”
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Whew! Taking a short break from blogging, folks. More posts coming soon. Thanks for your patience!
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Crystal,
Thank you for these words today. You are right, it definitely appeals to my “engineer brain” and it really does make this seem achievable.
Some luck is required, but you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get.
-Brett
Crystal,
OK, got that chicken in hand and I am chewing, chewing…
For starters, the six years I was in Real Estate, I went from Newbie rookie to Top Producer Lickity-split and stayed there.
The single biggest reason for this success was that I signed up for and LISTENED and OBEYED to the largest and most successful Real Estate coach there is. He/They ( He is now huge) are awesome, but by the time I left the business I was paying 5K per year for coaching, which entitled me to-yes- one of everything- and twice a month coaching calls and extra seminars, and spent additional money to go to an Annual huge seminar that had thousands of the top producing and want-to-be- top-producing Realtors all packed in.
Total cost per year, an estimated seven grand from just little old me, one of his thousands of followers.
That was a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the value I got from it and if I ever go back in, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Yes, he hob-nobbed with some huge motivational speakers and I was blessed to hear and met some of the greats. Of which I am sure he made even more selling us their stuff too.
This stuff absolutly can be done. The key is credibility, sustainability and value.
We followed like sheep because we got VALUE with a capital V.
Now, interestingly enough, right out of the box your girl makes me slightly suspicious. Knowing NOTHING about her, the title of the second thing she is sold out of sounds very similiar to Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. I would hope she has something original to say because his very worthy wealth of information is avaliable for $7.99 on Amazon.
While I have had huge success with this in the past, I also know a lot of people who have been seriously ripped off by cons in this game.
Color me intriqued and waiting for Friday.
Sorry to blog your blog, but your post was fascinating!
Recent blog post from Wendi Kelly: Blowing out Candles
Crystal,
Like Wendi, I am listening, but I too noticed the Think and Grow Rich “resemblance,” which means I’ve got one eyebrow up more than I did with the last post…
Having said that, I love it when anyone breaks down the possibilities into bite-sized chunks. You did the om nom nom well here.
Regards,
Kelly
Recent blog post from Kelly: Naomi Dunford’s "I Never Called It a Meme," Meme
Well, looking at the product descriptions in their short form, the Think to Grow Rich audio program is a shared project with her mastermind colleagues (not students), so no telling who named it. But since Ali is a True Fan of Sir Hill (she’s how I found out about him) I wouldn’t be surprised if she had an effect on that. The realllly long sales page has more info than I was willing to read this week, but surely sheds some light.
I’ve got a few posts left to write on this, and you’ve already run out of eyebrows
Update! Sorry, I forgot the link to that absurdly long, but apparently effective, typical info marketer sales page
Also a point of interest, the Mastermind concept is a key Hill concept. It is his theory of gathering like-minded people to have as a brainstorming and core-project group.
That doesn’t make her a bad guy. A long as she is giving credit where credit is due and teaching his principles I guess in an easier to follow format?? I don’t know..
It’s going to be interesting.
Recent blog post from Wendi Kelly: Blowing out Candles
Hehehe.
It’s like a cheap facelift. I’ll get that Joan Crawford look.
I don’t know if that’s such a good thing…
Recent blog post from Kelly: Naomi Dunford’s "I Never Called It a Meme," Meme
Hi Wendi
Danngggg, you Kellys are tough cookies!
Ya know, in the 6-7 years that she’s been busily building something absurdly profitable and apparently effective, I’ve done…what? Read her emails and said , “Hey…that’s a nifty idea. I should try that” and NOT tried it. I’ve been listening to and learning from her for a long time (the lack of follow through was all me), and only recently had a lightbulb moment on how/if I could earn the things I want. That’s likely why I’m slow to criticize her motives and quick to analyze her methods.
From what I’ve read, she gives the same value to her clients/students as your real estate coaching fellow, and in the same way. What an amazingly effective system these business coaches have! Help people make money and they’ll step right up for an opportunity to give you even more money to—wait for it—tell them how to make even more money
Clever stuff.
When I think of how many businesses make the big money on the recurring payments setup? It’s not hard to sell people on the idea of being more productive, having more money, being thinner, or being prettier…and if you can get them to pay repeatedly for the info/product/service? For example—
More productive: Covey and his proprietary planner,
More money: Business coaches like Ali and your mentor,
Thinner/Healthier: Any gym membership,
Prettier/More popular: Proactive
And yes, I’ve found she has many original things to say, and like I was telling Kelly, she’s a True Fan of Napoleon Hill’s to the bone, and credits her success to following his methods. I’m sure you’d recognize a lot of him in what she says, and how she says it. Isn’t it amazing how that man’s book sells and sells and sells?
And you are always welcome to blog on my blog! Just ask Kelly E.
I’m just glad I can share something worth talking about. Friday is VIP day, and you will recognize your high-end coaching experience in the events, but hopefully I’ll have a surprise or two…
Well, my eyebrows are staying where they are (it’s the botox) until Friday
While I do have a questioning attitude (*shudder* they say that where I work - ack, I’ve been brainwashed!), I can’t wait to see where this series will go…
(plus I’ve had a couple of beers tonight, I’m easy)
-Brett
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: do something crazy.
Howdy Wendi,
Don’t get too tied up on that one title, it’s not even something she authored on her own. For a picture of what she’s about, check out the Boost Your Own Business Ezine kit, or the Online Blueprint Workshop. She’s really about the marketing and copywriting, not teaching Hill’s methods. She has plenty of original content, and you can find it all around the Web, especially guru.com and ezinearticles.com
Ali is NOT like Science of Getting Rich.NET where someone wrapped an entire business around a book in the public domain.
~CW
Howdy Brett! Where it’s going is: VIP events on Friday, then I’ll work on her automation and delegation setup, her outgoing expenses (based on obseration only, of course), the challenges of her setup, and the benefits of her setup.
I only intended for this to be three posts, but the more I look, the more I see…
Thanks for hanging in there with me
Crystal,
You are welcome - I want to see how this turns out! I mean, I know I could try this formula and it might not get me to these levels of income - but I would expect it to work on some level, so I’m curious
I think it’s going to be great!
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: do something crazy.
Howdy Back at ya Crystal!
I just spent the last half hour at her site sucking it all up. Very cool.
I had to chuckle that the majority of her mastermind group have Real Estate Background. There is no Doubt that people who know how to make a LOT of money in Real Estate have to have a certian mind set. The work is too darn hard and scary otherwise and it will plow you under fast. It’s not for the faint of heart. I would trust them to know a thing or two about positive attitude!
It does look a lot like the concepts from my coaches. In fact when she was saying “find out this and find out that” I was thinking the answers in my head. It would be interesting to know how close the answers I learned would be to hers. All in all, it looks good from the packaging!
Recent blog post from Wendi Kelly: Blowing out Candles
I had this open in my browser all day so I could make sure to get to it. I’m glad I did, you wrote a great article Crystal.
I don’t have any eyebrows up, as I think it’s great when someone can achieve this level of ‘followers’ and make money from it. It’s not an easy thing to do - there are alot of factors that come into play to make it all work. You’re not (often) going to see someone at Ali’s level - if she was just simply regurgitating and making easier to read Napoleon Hill’s great book.
I grew up knowing that book - when we played a game with my family last year and people secretly put who’d they’d most like to meet - I knew right away my dad would put Napoleon Hill. It’s a wonderful book.
And Crystal - I greatly respect your upfrontness with saying it’s your own doing for not taking the bull by the horns and moving forward on what you’e being taught. I work with a fellow who teaches the concept of being a Joint Venture broker. Great, fantastic information. But the thing is, it’s so ‘different’ from the normal way of earning a living that most people LOVE it and then never do it. And then they just say ‘Joint Ventures don’t work’. I know for a fact they do - but they take a certain style and mindset that I myself find hard to keep up (but have a few friends who thrive with them). He’s a genius - but marketing what he teaches is damn hard.
My point is - hmm, what is my point? I guess it’s that if people are getting something out of it, then all the power to them and the person providing the service. If it’s succeeding then it’s doing somethign right.
I thought exactly what you did too Crystal - it’s not like Science of Getting rich - when that thing went public domain ALOT of ‘guru’s and non guru’s started trying to use that as their incentive piece - she just turned it into a business.
Okay, i’ll shut up,
Shawn
THANK YOU, Brett! That’s what I was hoping someone would get out of this
The Kellys’ skepticism is valuable because in standing up for the strategy, I see how strongly I feel about it. But it’s a relief to hear the posts are being read as they were intended: Here’s something worth trying…it’s working for someone, and the same thing could work for all of us to some extent. That’s what I get out of case study/analysis, and why I put these out here for everyone to look over.
Because for me, I’m not a Blank Page person. I need a jump start or a formula or a “blueprint” to get things going. Something with some structure. Like NaNoWriMo for instance. After reading about it in your comments, doing a little time at Mahalo, and finding worksheets and the brick-by-brick Snowflake Method for novel writing, I’m all for it! (see what you started? lol)
All to say, sorting out the strategies of successful businesses is my way of developing a template. I don’t have the cash to participate in Ali’s stuff, so observation and analysis will have to do. It takes longer, and I’m not getting all the details, but it’s a start. And it sounds like you’re getting something to work with, too. Which is way cool.
But then, I should have known that someone who flies to New Zealand to be a muddy gerbil would be up for anything, eh?
Hi Wendi, I know we’re on to the next post, but wanted to say that I’m glad you got a moment to check out her site. I feel that her sales pages get a little hype-y, but hey, apparently it’s working
I would expect your answers to be dead on with what she’s got packaged up, wouldn’t you think? If business growth strategies went stale over time, then Napoleon Hill’s book would have faded long ago. Instead, the principles still hold water 60-70 years later, and are apparently applicable over various markets and niches.
All in all, I’m glad you found something you liked out there!
Crystal,
You are welcome! I’m about to stop back over at the latest installation to comment, I already had a peek and it’s looking good.
The reality is, this is possible. It may just take a lot of work, and some luck. We won’t know unless we try it.
And (from something I sent to Kelly, one point from a motivational list whose source I’ve forgotten), “if one person can do something, anyone can learn to do it”.
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: why blogging for profit is like collecting underpants.
Howdy Shawn
Very glad you got to the post, and thanks for making the extra effort to make sure it got “got to”.
Because of you and your Dad, I just plucked Sir Hill off the shelf for a long overdue re-read. How very cool that you grew up knowing it, it’s relatively new to me (a year or two). What does your Dad like about it?
And no, gathering followers is not an easy thing to do. At ALL. But I believe it’s easier for a certain personality type. Other people implement a the exact same formula, but lack charisma, stamina, whatever, to pull it off. Like you said about the JV folks…it takes a special style and mindset.
And I appreciate what you said about it being hard to keep up that mindset. Like, I couldn’t do much of what Ali does because IRL I’m especially shy in groups. It would be so hard for me that I truly wouldn’t bother. I’m up for a challenge, but not a struggle! I’d rather work strategies that play to my strengths. I admire your ability to plug away at it regardless.
As for not moving forward, it’s so easy (and common) to believe a method is great and never follow through on it. And it’s totally okay to let some stuff slip by…but then 3-4-5 years slip by while “shopping” for the right thing. At that point, it’s time to stop “dating” business models…time to choose something to commit to and marry it lol
And oh golly, speaking of SOGR, did you see the payment options? She has this great sales letter validating the value of her product, then sends you to a cart where you get to pick your own price. And the default isn’t the most expensive, either. It defaults to $97 (I think) but you can pay as little as $10 or as much as $197 (I think). I do appreciate that she really lives what he wrote and what she teaches, but what an impossible model to replicate. Can you imagine? Step 1: Find a really great book in the public domain that hasn’t been beaten to death… …and there’s no call for a Step 2 ’cause Project Gutenberg has been raked over
One notable about the public domain thing, though. If you’re a proofer, you have inside, pre-release access to every incoming text. It’s possible to monitor every book at every stage, even those not yet in the pipe. Proofers choose the books they want to work on, and it would be possible to read the entire book a month or more before public release, leaving plenty of time to build a website around it. Hey wait, I don’t think I thought of that before just now. Hmmm…
This is why I love it when you don’t shut up
Thanks for coming over and adding your piece
CW
Brett: Exactly and absolutely. On everything you said.
One thing to add to work and luck: an eye for excellent implementation. I’ve come across poor execution of great business models lately.
Sharing the links would be hurtful, so I’m not going to, but trust me when I say that anyone CAN learn to do it, but everyone won’t get the same results.
Crystal,
Yes, that is also true. You can give 3 cabinetmakers the same sets of tools and the same wood, and you’ll end up with 3 different cabinets. One will stand out, because of how well the one cabinetmaker used the tools.
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: why blogging for profit is like collecting underpants.
Ha - I never saw the payment options, I think those were implemented after I had discovered her site. That’s really odd - i wonder how well it works?
Shawn
@Shawn re: changing course income — Well, it can’t be doing badly? She’s kept it for at least the 4 years I’ve known about her, and that was before all the additional content she has now.
[...] starts with an introduction to the 1000 True Fans concept and solopreneur Alexandria Brown. The first part demonstrates the hundreds of thousands of dollars that can come from a handful of manageable online [...]
[...] I gave Joan the most valuable thing I can offer an information marketer—my email address. Like I found with Alexandria Brown’s ezine, Joan can leverage access to me for advertising revenue, earning much even if she never sold me a [...]
Heads up! Just heard word that Ali’s Silver Mastermind Group has 750+ members. In the article above, I conservatively estimated that she had 225 members paying her $47 each month, totalling: $126,900/year
So 750 members @ $47/month = $35,250 PER MONTH
Annual revenue: $35,250 x 12 months = $423,000 PER YEAR
[...] So anyway, this post is an extension of Part 1’s “Selling access to information”. If you missed the series or want a refresher, read: Making a Million With 1000 True Fans: Be a Toll Booth on the Information Highway. [...]
[...] Part 1: Be a Toll Booth on the Information Highway [...]