Outdoor Events & Advance Ticket Sales

Have you heard of “The Secret”?
For those not familiar with “The Secret” it is a feature movie and book focusing on the law of attraction for creating a better life.  Learn more about the Secret.

During my visit to a local bookstore I overheard a discussion regarding “The Secret.” There was a woman at the customer service desk asking for information regarding “The Secret.”  The customer service person responded with “we don’t have anything left, no books, no audio, nothing.  It’s all sold out!”  The Secret was recently featured on Oprah. If you go to Amazon.com “The Secret” is a best seller. There have been a few conversations where I’ve overheard people discussing the secret.  Two bookstore employees were baffled by The Secret’s sudden success.

The creators of The Secret smartly leveraged the Internet. They use the Internet to position their product and create a tremendous amount of buzz. Anyone can utilize the marketing process that made The Secret a tremendous success.

When I First Discovered The Secret
Back in late 2005, I stumbled across a web site and trailer advertising “What is The Secret.” In typical internet marketing fashion they asked for your email address to get more information. To satiate my curiosity I entered my email.  Every once in a while I would receive another clue or morsel of information.  When ever an email came through it was always something interested.  You were never spammed.

The Secret was originally suppose to air on network television, but was deemed unmarketable.  The television station was so convinced that The Secret wasn’t going to be successful that they gave up their rights.  With no network to broadcast, The Secret debuted online in 2006 and was available on DVD. Since its release last year the program has generated over $22 million USD in revenue. (Source: Not a Secret for long, The Age.) This is more than four times the cost to produce the movie.  This doesn’t include any of the ancillary products.  What was suppose to have been a bust turned into a bang.

Use The Secret’s Marketing Methodology
Whoever created the marketing plan for the Secret deserves a great deal of credit.  They used curiosity and a high quality product to create a fire storm of interest. If you check out the Alexa rankings for the site it shot up vertically from nowhere after the Secret debuted online. You can use a similar methodology for your own purposes of marketing a product via the Internet.  Focus on building product anticipation and delivering a high quality product.

Build Product Anticipation
Anticipation is probably one of the biggest reasons the Secret enjoyed so much success. The creators utilized an email marketing to build a tremendous amount of buzz.  Not only did I get emails directly from the Secret site, but also from some of the experts who contributed and endorsed The Secret.  If you have a product you are looking to launch use the web to build anticipation. The Secret’s hook was curiosity. Can you think of a way to build curiosity for your product?

Create a High Quality Product
The production cost of “the Secret” was millions of dollars.  Obviously we all don’t have that type of investment capital.  But that shouldn’t stop us from creating a high quality product. Use your web site to test your product before it’s released.  Surveys and user feedback are great ways to get people excited about what you have coming and allow you to make product improvements. The Secret was segmented into books, audio, and video. If you have an information product how many different ways can it be delivered?  Are there opportunities for ancillary products?

The Internet is a great way to build product anticipation and make improvements.  There are a number of successful models you can emulate.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Go online and find one today.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Choosing the Right Online Market
• Tracking Your Advertising, Old School
• Watch Your Pay Per Click Advertising
• Building Trust and Credibility with Follow Up
• Web Centric Marketing and Marketing Leverage
• Get Your Marketing Message Across
• Do You Test Your Web Site Often Enough?

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training