Lesson Learned from Inventor/Direct Response Marketer McIntosh on Keeping Up
Here are 10 key factors Rick McIntosh follows to ensure you’re successful in direct response marketing: Market to what people want to buy, not what you think they should have! Rick talked about how early he had an invention that he invested over $17,000 in that went nowhere. He actually says that ONE of the 150 products he analyzes has the potential to go national.
Make sure the product you have is demonstrable, which means it can be demonstrated and has a wow factor that makes people want to buy it!
The simpler and more direct the USVP, the better! When marketing a product, you need a one line unique selling value proposition or a simple.com name that gets the message across quickly and easily.
Don’t hang out with the Cry Babies!!! Rick has many contemporaries in the business cry that the economy is tough and there is no money to be made. He quickly made the decision not to be part of that group and moved on. He now has the number 1 product in the country with fushigiball.com.
It’s not often that an invention Rick creates is inspired by another invention. For example, in the case of the Snuggie, he created the Dreamie. So don’t be afraid to take inspiration from other ideas and create a variation that meets the needs of the consumer.
The Changing Effect of the Internet: Rick markets his products on television. However, it is not unusual for products to go viral on the Internet generating higher profitability than originally thought. Such is the case with the Fushigi Ball. You literally cannot supply enough to meet the demand!
Different Distribution Channels – For every item sold through TV direct marketing, Rick and other direct response marketers get 6 sales through places like Walgreens, CVS, Target, Walmart, etc. Different distribution channels increase profits exponentially.
Focus on what you know: Rick was asked why he doesn’t sell information products (ebooks, etc.) and his answer is that he is focusing on what he knows.
To make money in the direct response marketing industry, you need to have a 6 time frame to make a profit with a price of $19.99.
Rick will always test any product to see if it really is a winner. In one case, he had children call his sales hotline and hang up, costing him thousands of dollars in call center fees! This has allowed her to change the marketing message to warn of this potential career-ending disaster for him!
Lesson: Meet the needs that people want, not what you think they want, and focus on your core business relentlessly. Rick credits Deepak Chopra’s book 7 Spiritual Laws of Success as one of his guides to success.