Success Manifesto

It is weird, but only 24 hours ago, I sat here wondering what the results of over a month of work (from many people) would be. I knew that I had never worked on a project where I worked so hard and so long with so much uncertainty of whether the goal had been achieved so close to the end. However, I knew one thing was certain. All of the orders had been made and there was nothing I could do, but enter them into Amazon and wait.

As I sat here, I remember thinking:

1. "What if it were to fail?" Would it make us lose credibility to the thousands of people that knew we had been working so hard towards the goal? What would the people who had been asking, "So how is the bestseller campaign going?" every time I saw them, think?
   
2. Similarly, I wondered, "What if it were to succeed?" How would our lives change? How would life of the company change?

When I had this realization, I looked over at Sheena who was also diligently entering in the orders, and said, "Well hun, I don't think we're going to make it." I tried to make it sound like, "Oh well, we can get them next time," but I was still disappointed.

Amazon's sales rank system doesn't update automatically after each order is entered, but instead does so ever hour. Therefore, after we entered in all the orders, we just had to wait and refresh the browser button intermittently, hoping for a big jump.

That jump came in the early afternoon today and the book officially became a bestseller! In retrospect, I learned quite a large amount from the process that I will share in a near future entry.

Now that the campaign is over, it is back to blogging and for that matter life as "normal". Hope you had a good weekend.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (37)

With about 180 books being sold thus far, 100 or more books need to be sold to reach the bestseller list on Saturday, November 22^nd. All the work that various people have done on this project comes down to this week. At this point it is really all or nothing. Either The Student Success Manifesto becomes a bestseller or it doesn't!

Only time will tell.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 01:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (14)

I got back home to our apartment in Brooklyn yesterday at around 3:00am after four intense, but energetic days of Extreme Entrepreneurship (literally). Surpisingly, I was not tired and I randomly decided to read Life Is Love, Enjoy It Lately, I've been more introspective and have started asking basic life questions like 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?' again.

Yesterday's talk went very well in terms of the delivery. The room was fairly full so I would guess that there was about 300 students in the audience. Sheena and I spent all day preparing logistically and mentally. The video-recording, which I haven't watched yet should be pretty good.

I decided to start off the talk with a twist that I've never used. I started off by asking the audience how many people had started a business. 5% of the people raised their hand. I then nodded my head in approval of the 95% and said, "I want to share with you two conclusions I've come to based on research I've been doing very recently." I then went to the flip chart and revealed the two conclusions:

1. You must have a business degree to start a business.
   
2. You must have at least four years of real world experience.

• No money
  
• No time
  
• No ideas
  
• No experience
  
• etc.

You will hear all of these reasons and more from your friends, your mentors, your parents, your advisors, and many other loved ones who only have the best intentions for you.

But before you take these reasons to heart, I ask to you to think for a second….What would have happened if somebody had told these arguments to and convinced:

1. Bill Gates who left Harvard to start Microsoft
   
2. Michael Dell who left the University of Texas to start Dell
   
3. Shawn Fanning who left Northeastern University to start Napster
   
4. Milton Hershey who opened his first candy shop when he was 18-years-old
   
5. Fred Smith who while attending Yale received “C” on the Fedex business plan and still decided to start his business.
   
6. Steve Jobs who left Reed University to start Apple.
   
7. William Hewlett and David Packard who started HP out of a garage after graduating Stanford.
   
8. Or the thousands of other youth who have started a business and been successful in some way.

Imagine the potential that would have been stifled if these visionaries had not started businesses when they were young! Imagine how our world would have been different without an HP, a Napster, a Dell, a Microsoft, a Fedex, a Hersheys, or an Apple.

The downside of the talk is that is started late and I felt rushed. I think this came across in the talk. In addition, I really didn't have enough time to talk about the Amazon offer as much as I would have liked. As a result, only about five people purchased the book, which was definitely disconcerting. I definitely have to get better at selling, especially when it is stuff that I believe in so strongly.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (12)

The past week has been controlled chaos with extreme focus on reaching the Amazon.com bestseller goal. We are expecting a minimum of 400 purchases and hoping for over 1,000.

Many people have offered to help. Thank you! Sheena and I are both really psyched at the potential of the message being spread to so many people. It just feels really good to pursue a goal where our company can profit, but at the same time make a large impact.

As we grow, we're going to be thinking more about the specific outcomes we want to create and how we're going to measure them. Right now, our main outcome is for students to create a life plan (like a business plan, but for an individual) and then follow their plan. We really think that if students asked themselves simple, but important questions like entrepreneurs do when starting a business, they could make much better decisions about life and set the foundation for creating a life of passion, purpose, and prosperity. The book and over $1,600 in gifts for purchasing the book are all aimed to this end.

As I do when I pursue most of my goals, I'm erasing any doubt I have in my mind that the goal will be reached (at least theoretically). Sometimes, I'll be riding the subway or walking somewhere at the end of the day and I'll think to myself, "What the hell are you doing? You're wasting you're time." But 99% of the time, I've just been super-motivated lately.

Progress Update

1. Revised Strategy. We are now using a revised pre-order strategy to achieve the bestseller goal. Instead of trying to get all of the orders from Amazon on November 15th, we're going to collect orders from people through our web site and then key them in on the 15th.
   
2. Finalized over $1,600 in give aways.
   
3. Created a sales letter.
   
4. Set up PayPal e-commerce system
   
5. Created a database of:
   • 50 invidual supporters
     
   • 60 list-owners (some who we know and some who we don't)
     
   • 71 collegiate entrepreneurship clubs
     
   • 250 entrepreneurship teachers
     
   • 25 potential bulk purchasers that we know

1. Contacting these people in our database.
   
2. Finalizing the delivery of some of the give aways.
   
3. Planning the PR for when the goal is reached.

$1,600+ in Give Aways

1. Autographed Copy of The Student Success Manifesto: Buy one copy of the book, and get another one signed. This offer is only valid for the first 100 purchases. ($14.95 value, yours free!)
   
2. Mentoring for One Year: Gain direct access to Michael Simmons, author of The Student Success Manifesto, with your questions via his home phone line. ($395 value, yours free!)
   
3. Summer 2004 Self-Development Conference: Network with motivated students from across the country and learn from the authors of The Student Success Manifesto and other exceptional speakers both young and old. This event promises to be a life-changing experience. ($695 value, yours free!)
   
4. Internship and Entrepreneurship Resource Guides: Save hours of your time combing the Internet, by getting hundreds of the very best internship and entrepreneurship resources at your finger tips. ($24.95 value, yours free!)
   
5. Michael Simmons' Extreme Entrepreneurship Video: A keynote talk from the 2003 national Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization conference. ($19.95 value, yours free!)
   
   
6. Extreme Entrepreneurship University: Craft your own life plan (like a business plan, but for an individual) with word-by-word, in-depth guidance from the founders of Extreme Entrepreneurship. The course utilizes insightful assignments, which each receive detailed feedback and advice. When it's done, each student will have everything they need to go forth and pursue a life of passion, purpose, and prosperity. ($495 value, yours free!)
   
7. Desktop Background & Screen Saver: Empower yourself with a "Be the Change You Want to See" screen saver and background ($9.95 value, yours free!)
   
8. Zero to One Million eBook: Zero to One Million is a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs that explains how to build a company to one million dollars in sales written by Ryan Allis, an author who did just that by the time he was 17. ($15.95 value, yours free!)
   
9. The Student Success Manifesto eBook: Read the electronic version of The Student Success Manifesto with video clips with the founders of Monster.com, Dell, Barnes & Noble, and Nantucket Nectars. ($14.95 value, yours free!)

1. Buy one copy of the book for yourself (if you haven't already) and copies for your friends or others who you think would enjoy it as a holiday gift.
   
2. Tell organizations, who have an email list or who might be interested in making a bulk purchase, about the book.
   
3. If you have an email list and would like to mention The Student Success Manifesto, please contact me.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 08:27 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (5)

The over $10,000 in accounts receivable (money coming in) still hasn't arrived yet, which has been very difficult. Although, I've always heard that cash flow was the #1 reason businesses fail, I couldn't fully grasp the concept until now. We're lucky we have low overhead (operating costs) and small cash needs.

Thanks to Doug Evans, a mentor and CEO of Servador, we found a new potential book printer,RJ Communications, that gave us a great quote of $3,540 for 2000 books. With the print on demand company we've been using, Lightning Source, the price would have been $7,541.50 for the same amount. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to call RJ Communications and see if they can get us the books by November 15th (Amazon.com Bestseller Day) and whether they will allow us to pay the full amount when the books are shipped, instead of 50% upfront.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 10:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (2)

Today, I had the great opportunity to have an hour and forty-five minute lunch with an editor at a major publishing house, who happens to be the wife of one of my mentors from the NYU Alumni Mentor Connections Program. The meeting was more of an informational interview than a meeting to talk about the book. Due to a combination of her personality, the personal connection, and the fact that my book didn't fit into the types of books she specializes in, I got some really candid advice about the publishing industry that is extremely helpful in choosing how to go forward! I will go into more detail about my full thoughts on the publishing industry and what I've learned in a future entry or "special report".

Sheena and I still have to meet to make a decision (surprisingly hard to do even though we live with each other), but two possible paths we can take at this point are:

1. Become an Amazon.com bestseller on November 15th. Use this a leverage to go for a major publishing contract.
   
2. Become an Amazon.com bestseller on November 15th. Use this as leverage to get a distributor to get into major book stores and launch a major press campaign.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 04:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (10)

Today, The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) ordered 100 books for a speaking engagement I am doing to NFTE students in Florida on November 5th.

Thank you NFTE!

Posted by Michael Simmons at 10:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (4)

Individual sales have been slow since the launch of the book. Most of our 1,000 purchases have come from bulk purchases. On the one hand I think it is great to get so many bulk purchases from organizations and conferences because these purchases can potentially be repeated as new students come in. It wouldn't be a bad thing if we had thousands/tens of thousands of books being sold to high schools, colleges, organizations, and conferences yearly. At the same time, I was really picturing the book spreading more through word-of-mouth among students.

Moving forward, we're really going to have to think about how we can get more students to do two things:

1. Purchase the book
   
2. Read the book

1. Why do people who are aware of the book choose not to purchase it? How can we influence these people to do so?
   
2. Why don't more people who purchase and download the book read it right away? How can we influence them do so?
   
3. What readers like the content of the book the most? How can they be targeted?
   
4. How can I get feedback from people who've read the book, but just think it's o.k. or don't really like it?

Posted by Michael Simmons at 01:37 PM | Permalink

I've spent the past day learning a lot about how the Amazon.com bestseller system works and how to get to the top of it. So far I've read Turn Your Book Into An Amazon Best-Seller and How ANY Book Can Become An Amazon Bestseller!. This post will help you learn about how bestsellers are determined, how to become one, and my thoughts on how book buyers are being misled.

The basic strategy is to:

1. Pick a date and time. Amazon.com determines its bestsellers every hour and its bestseller list includes 100 books. So, there theoretically could be 2,400 bestsellers every day. I've decided I would like to become an Amazon.com Bestseller on my birthday, November 15th.
   
2. Create value boosters. Create give-aways (ebooks, online video & audio, articles, online courses, etc.) that are worth hundreds of dollars that people receive when they purchase your book at the day and time you've chosen. Make most of the value boosters electronic so that the cost to distribute them is $0. This essentially gives a lot of value to the consumer at no cost to you.
   
3. Create a sales letter. Create a sales letter that convinces people to buy the book at the hour and day you've chosen.
   
4. Contact email list owners. Convince opt-in email list owners with lists related to your book topic to send a special email to their list with your sales letter.
   
5. Automate the Process. Set up your web site for automation so that people can input their Amazon.com receipt and then be forwarded to a web site for the free gifts.
   
6. Wait and See. Get only a few hundred purchases in the hour you've chosen and, voila, you're a best-selling author. get a few thousand and you could be the #1 bestseller!

1. Michael Litman
   
2. Brian Tracy
   
3. Randy Gilbert
   
4. Joe Vitale

The bestseller lists seem to measure marketing tactics more than the quality of the books. A book that was on the bestseller list for one hour receives the same credential as a book that has grown through word-of-mouth, had constant sales, and been on the bestseller list for a few weeks. I think it is very misleading to consumers who look at the "bestseller" seal and say, "If so many people liked it, then it must be a good book." Is this just the way it is? Should authors not try to game the system ? Should consumers become more aware of how bestsellers are determined? Should companies that publish bestseller lists change loopholes in the system, even if they are profiting handsomely just the way they are?

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Key word: internships
Doorway page: http://www.successmanifesto.com/internships.html
Number of links to doorway page: N/A
Rank on Google for keyword: N/A

Implementer: Patricia Hudak, Intern
Online Marketing Mentor: Ryan Allis
Software: Arelis

Strategy

1. Keyword-Rich doorway page.
   
2. Create thousands of link partners (web pages who link to doorway page).
   
3. Work with popular link partners who rank highly on Google for "internships" keyword.
   
4. Have incoming links be large,bold and high on the page (ideally).
   
5. Work with link partners who have relevant content to "internships".

Posted by Michael Simmons at 03:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Total Number of Subscribers: 411 (9/28)
Total Number of Subscribers: 768 (11/14)
Total Number of Subscribers: 1187 (5/11)

Posted by Michael Simmons at 03:31 AM | Permalink

998 books sold so far. Who will take away the pain?

Posted by Michael Simmons at 11:18 PM | Permalink

The book can now be found on Amazon.com, which is very exciting! Some information still needs to be updated. Surprisingly, the Advantage program is not very user friendly, which is different than the rest of their site. Contrary to what most people think, it is actually very easy to get listed on Amazon.com. Their Advantage program only costs $29/year.

If you've read the book, it would be highly appreciated if you could be one of the first to review it on Amazon.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What
Sheena and I set up a table with flyers, a newsletter sign up form, a poster, and books. We had planned to table during orientation week, but the date was pushed back due to complications communicating with residence hall managers.

Goals

1. Sell books
   
2. Get newsletter sign ups

Where
Third Avenue North dormitory outside front entrance

Statistics

• 600+ people walked by
  
• 12 people stopped by and asked questions
  
• 0 people bought the book
  
• 1 person signed up for the newsletter

Ruminations/Lessons Learned

• Many NYU students don't like business. When I mentioned "business" or "entrepreneur" many students showed mild to strong dislike. Their faces looked like they had just eaten something bad when they heard the words. With one student, I just mentioned the word "entrepreneur" and he literally gave me the hand and walked away. Do people not realize that they will probably either create or work in an organization in the future?
  
• While I was walking to set up the table, my bag broke and 20 books fell on to the street. The student right next to me kept on walking and pretended like it didn't happen. Then a gentlemen crouched down and helped me pick them up saying, "Don't worry son, things could be worse." After he helped me, he asked if I wanted a free copy of the new testament. I politely declined.
  
• Almost everybody avoided eye contact with me and Sheena when walking by. However, almost everybody did look at the table and poster. I wonder what they thought when they looked at it and kept on walking. What would have made them check it out more? I'm going to look for articles about how to succeed with tabling.
  
• Spreading your message to a targeted audience when they are ready for it is crucial. Speaking may be a much better way to spread the message for the book because the event planners have already marketed the event and the people in attendance are already interested in hearing the message.
  
• Selling definitely isn't a strength. Sheena and I should shadow somebody who's really good at selling to learn how to do it better.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today we went over 900 in total books sold. We're definitely learning how important cash flow is. To give an idea, we have over $7,000 we're expecting in (accounts receivable) during the next few weeks. Because we weren't expecting to buy so many books so quickly, finding money to buy books has been difficult.

Sheena spent about 3 hours converting everything to QuickBooks today. This will help us manage our finances better moving forward.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today, the Stern School of Business at NYU purchased 600 copies of my book for the alumni connections program , a program where recent alumni mentor students. The book will serve as a gift for mentees and mentors. I went through this program last year and loved it! Chances are that nobody from the NYU administration reads my blog (not yet at least), but thank you!

I really hope that the book is able to infiltrate the Stern culture and influence students to take more risks and follow their passion.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today Sheena and I had a nice meeting with the VP of Student Affairs at all of NYU, who is just starting at NYU after leaving Stanford as the Dean of Students. Basically, we introduced our company to him and expressed interest in NYU purchasing copies for students.

Even though it was a short meeting, we spent about 5 hours preparing. We gave him a book and a folder with our bios, press, flyers, business cards, and testimonials. The next step is to drop off about 30 books in his office on Tuesday, which he will distribute to various deans, administrators, and university leaders. If he likes the book, he will recommend it to these opinion influencers and see how it can fit in his programs. If he doesn't he will just show it to them as something a NYU student has done. Hopefully he likes it :)

Again, the more I meet people at the top level at NYU, the more I'm impressed. NYU has had incredible momentum as a school over the past decade and I really think it is going incredible places.

As for other parts of NYU marketing:

• I made the mistake of giving the bookstore 250 flyers, which cost $.25 each. I gave it to the manager when she was really busy and she probably didn't notice me. While I saw that they had hung up posters, I didn't see the flyers anywhere. I have a feeling that they are in the trash. I feel like it is unprofessional to ask if they still have them and if they do whether I can have the ones that they didn't use back. I probably should still make the phone call though!!
  
• Posters have been hung up in all freshman dorms to my knowledge.
  
• We have had difficulty getting in touch with contacts at specific dorms so we will probably have to table in a week or two. In retrospect, we should have done planning earlier in the summer!

Posted by Michael Simmons at 01:23 AM | Permalink

I hope to make an entry two weeks from now with the same title, but with an exclamation point instead of a question mark. Below are some recent developments:

• Today the NYU book store bought 15 copies of my book. We gave the purchaser this document along with a book and media kit.
  
• In the past week, two organizations have expressed interest in buying 500+ copies. They are both tentative, but the possibility is very exciting none-the-less.
  
• There are also two other large, but even more tentative, orders in the works.
  
• Next week is going to be freshman orientation with thousands of freshman on NYU's campus and we couldn't be more ready for them.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 05:32 PM | Permalink

Today I spoke at the Lead America session at Bentley College for the second time. This time I did two sessions (one for middle school students and one for high school students). On three and a half hours of sleep, I delivered possibly my best presentations ever. I've been consistently been doing B+/A- speaking, but I feel like this was an A . I sold out of books and a lot of students came up afterwords, which really made me feel like I had made a difference.

Sheena and I are on a roll together with the business and the relationship. We really inspire each other. Working with other people on a partner/partner or boss/employee level has always been difficult for me, but it is really on the up and up.

While I ate fairly healthy last week, I probably ate the most I ever had in a one week period in my entire life time (as a result of the fast). While I was able to will-power through it, I noticed indigestion, fatigue, and head ache. In the future, I need to be more balanced instead of having ups and downs.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 11:15 PM | Permalink

Many people I speak with say that they would like to get a book published some day. Having just gone through the process of self-publishing, I have to say that it was much easier and less expensive than I had expected. Below are the costs for producing a book through Lightning Source (LSI):

Startup Costs (It is possible to do a lot of these yourself depending on the quality you want and how good you are at them)

• Illustrations - varies
  
• Editing - varies
  
• Cover Design - varies
  
• Layout (can be done in MS Word) - varies
  
• ISBN #: $225
  
• Incorporation (optional) - $500
  
• LSI Title Set Up - $80
  
• Copyright: $20

• Padded Envelope - $.50
  
• Shipping - $2.67
  
• Print-on-Demand 212-Page Book from LSI - $4.08

Of course, marketing is a whole other story, but that's another blog entry.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today I got a shipment of 75 books into my house. They arrive just in time for my first (post-book) speaking engagement. It will be in Boston at a Lead America seminar for about 80 high school students. I have a few butterflies, probably a combination of the audience size and my lack of preparation thus far.

I am now in the 3rd week of the 4 week ejuva cleanse program. For the first week, one starts off with 3 meals a day; in the second week, 2 meals a day; and starting today just one meal a day. Surprisingly, today was one of my most productive days of the year with constant, high-energy. I also realized that after each meal, I pretty much fast for 24 hours until the next meal. This is daunting especially since I've never fasted for a full 24 hours before and I have the speaking engagement.

Since I've gone raw, I've gone from 185 to 177lbs. Once I finish the ejuva I should go back up to 185. The past week, I've noticed a fairly large increase in energy.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 09:17 PM | Permalink

For the past week, I've been waiting to receive a proof of my book from Lightning Source. As I'm self-publishing for the first time, I was nervous that the book would look unprofessional in print form or that something else would go wrong.

This morning I received a package that I thought was from Amazon.com. To my surprise, when I opened the package I saw the first copy of my book! It is difficult to describe the feeling that went through me, but it felt like a combination of laughing out loud and crying. There's something incredible about holding the first, finished copy of the book in my hand. I feel like it validates how I've been spending my time for the past year (See mom, taking a semester off wasn't a bad idea!).

Full steam ahead!

Posted by Michael Simmons at 04:43 PM | Permalink

It's official! The Student Success Manifesto (SSM) has received an endorsement from Stephen Covey, author of best-seller 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His book is one of the best-selling books in history having sold over 10 million copies since being published in 1990. This is a big step in terms of adding credibility to the SSM.

Unfortunately, I have no networking connection to Stephen Covey. So here's how I got his endorsment:

1. Created a testimonial request package from the advice of The Self-Publishing Manual.
   
2. Got his address from the FranklinCovey web site.
   
3. Sent out the package.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've spent the last 12 hours planning the marketing campaign for The Student Success Manifesto (SSM). So far I've done so-so in terms of marketing. 60 people have downloaded free previews, 15 people have bought the book, and a little over 300 people are subscribed to the newsletter. Some milestones are:

1. July - Print paperback book using Lightning Source POD (me).
   
2. July - Finish the workbook (Sheena; biz partner/girl friend).
   
3. August - Complete planning system (me).
   
4. Summer - Publicize, learn, and improve ebook features (me).
   
5. Summer - Sell memberships to entrepreneurship clubs and teachers (Andrew Swan; Marekting/Membership Director)
   
6. Fall - Tour schools in NYC (Sheena and I).
   
7. Spring and on - Tour schools nationallly (Sheena and I).
   
8. Spring and on - Start (e)publishing other works by young adults for young adults on topics related to Extreme Entrepreneurship.
   

I invite your honest comments on anything that comes to mind or the following...

1. What are your thoughts on the book's concept?
   
2. What major hook do you think I could use to sell the book to high school and college students?
   
3. What are your thoughts on the sub-title of the SSM?
   
4. What are your thoughts on the web site?

   Posted by Michael Simmons at 10:39 PM | Permalink