You know it’s going to be an interesting post when I start off recounting a gambling story.  But, there you go.  That’s what this one will be.  Years and years ago my parents visited me in Reno, NV.  I took them out to a casino because, well, face it, that’s what you do in Reno.  My mom found a slot machine that she just couldn’t lose on.  And she found another that she couldn’t win on.  It was the funniest thing.  And, I know all the mathematicians out there will say it’s impossible.  But it was absolutely true.  She won every single time on one and lost every single time on the other.

So, what did she do?  She would go to the winner and get a bucket full of quarters and then go to the one she lost on to spend them all.  When she ran out of quarters, she went to the winning machine and got another bucket.  ”What are you doing?” I asked.  ”Do you realize you keep losing on that one and you keep winning on the other?”

“Of course,” she said. “It’s more fun to play that game though.  So I just make enough on the other one to get my money for the other machine.”

That memory has stuck with me for many years now.  I see it repeated with small business owners again and again.  I think I’m doing it here a little too.  We’ve tried landing pages, new sites, and amazing technology.  But, I haven’t cracked the code here for BusinessToInvestment.  I haven’t found how to create that million dollars using a purely technology path.

But, I’ve learned some amazing things about marketing for my existing accounting and tax business.   DKTaxServices is hitting on the top page for many different Google searches.  I think tax season this year will be very good for us.  We’re already getting media hits from people finding us through the searches to this relatively new site.  I’m getting much better at tagging blogs for long-tail key word searches.  In fact, we’re picking up community members just based on that.

And, at a time when EVERY SINGLE seminar/website knowledge product is way, way down.  We’ve hit something that is blowing the doors off.  There is a reason that I, and most of the other people who do free teleseminars, limit to 200.  That’s the upper limit for the conference call lines we use, without having to pay ourselves.  And we don’t want to pay because we are doing free teleseminars.  The business model is to use the free teleseminars to generate good will and upsell to other products and services.  Some others in the business would hit the hard sell right out of the gate, my approach is a slower build. I want to offer solutions, not cram a BUY NOW! offer down someone’s throat.  

Most campaigns are 3 emails, at a minimum, to try to fill the 200 limit.  And here’s a secret. They are rarely ever full.  Most people will advertise “only 47 left” or whatever simply to create the illusion of scarcity and social proof.  If there are only a few spaces left, people will feel compelled to sign up.   

The last three I’ve done have filled up in just a matter of days.  And the number for each is growing.  This last one, just 3 business days after ONE (not 3) email, I have 700 people clamoring for 200 spots. The first one got about 500 people, the second had 650 and this one will probably be close to 800 by Saturday.  So, the number who want on is growing.  

I don’t want to be like my mom and take that outrageous success and put it into something that doesn’t work, but I haven’t quite figured this market out yet.  Is it a need for positive community?  Is it the whole branding of “Business Builder” calls?  What exactly does this community want?  How can I help them get it?

At a time when the seminar business is largely dead (I just heard of another CPA who cut his price from $1997 to $199 for a seminar, and then only sold a total of  1 ticket for a tax seminar), our seminars are still drawing.  And the teleseminars are setting record numbers.  I don’t know what to make of it yet.  It means something, just not sure what!