Producing How-TO CD’s

The CD is entitled: “This CD Can Make You Filthy Rich”, and It’s about producing how-to CDs – a concept whose time has come. At $15 each, plus $3 shipping & handling, the producer of CD will gross $18,000 selling 1,000 CDs.

Minimum Start-Up: $2,500
Average Start-Up: $5,000
Revenue: $12,000
One Person Business: Yes

The production cost is quite small. The audio program was written by the producer who brought the script to a “Narration House” where a professional announcer does the voice recording using a professional studio.

NARRATION HOUSES

You can order radio commercials as well as other “voice” recorded programs to be produced by so-called “narration houses”.

This business is usually run by a professional announcer who owns or has access to a professional recording studio.

Just send your script to a narration house and have thim record it for you. The amount you are charged depends on the length of your material and the type of tape on which you want your “master copy” recorded. A 30-minute material may cost you $450.

THE INTERVIEW FORMAT

Another popular format for a How-To CD is what we call the “Interview” format.

This is where the author or producer of the CD is interviewed on a subject in which he or she is an expert.

Since this format is prepared on a “question and answer” basis, it is relatively easy to structure, allowing for a more logical presentation of the ideas the author wants to cover.

With this format, the author can prepare 30 to 50 questions which, together with the answers, can be edited down to a 30 to 40 minute program.

Depending on where the interview is produced, this format may cost less than a straight presentation where the bulk of the work uses the voice of a professional narrator.

YOUR MARKET

In a “How-To” project, it is always recommended that you select your topics based on your expertise or access to information.

From a marketing standpoint, it is equally beneficial for you to be familiar with the market to which you expect to market your How-To CD.

If your topic is very selective, use direct mail to market your CDs. If it is an extremely popular topic that can be promoted on TV, use 60-second TV spots or print ads.

Making Money With Voice Mail

Although this money-making is continuously being marketed as “a way to make money with your answering machine”, new technology has actually rendered this idea obsolete.

With the proliferation of voice mail, fax-back service, and very inexpensive computerized voice processing systems, the answering machine, with its limited one-call-at-a-time capacity, is no longer ideal for making money.

With the advent of this new technology, the concept has also expanded to a variety of processes which you can use to make money.

PEOPLE MUST CALL

With answering machines, the only way you can make money is when people call you up. Since an answering machine is hooked up to a specific phone number, and since it does not advertise on its own, you will have to establish ways to attract people to call your phone number so that people can listen to the message recorded on your answering machine.

THE MESSAGE IS THE KEY

The message recorded on your answering machine is the key to your ability to make money.

The message can instruct people to send money for information about any subject matter, or instruct callers to leave their name and address so you can send them a sales brochure. The information you have recorded on your machine should be encouraging and convincing enough to motivate the caller to do what you have instructed.

THE 1-MINUTE SPIEL

Think of your recording as a radio commercial. Since callers have short attention span, used to hearing radio and TV spots that are not more than 1 minute long it is advisable that you limit the length of your message to about 1 minute, 2 minutes tops!

GETTING THE CALL & COLLECTING PAYMENT

Whatever it is you are selling, and by which you are using your answering machine or service, your primary challenge will be in two areas:

1. How you can advertise and make your telephone number known to as many people as possible.
2. How you are going to collect payment for whatever it is you are selling.

SELLING THE INFORMATION

One of the most popular topics sold on “answering machine schemes” is information about how people can make money with their answering machine.

This is worn out and very unimaginative. More than likely, your caller will feel insulted and not order whatever literature, report or booklet you want them to order.

Remember, if you want to have a recorded sales message over the telephone, use a voice mail service, which may cost you around $8 a month.

Producing Newsletters On CD

Brandel Communications is currently developing a newsletter that will be released on Compact Discs, mailed to you once every two months.

The subscription rate is $195 a year. (Our production cost: around $3 per CD. With 6 CDs a year, our total cost is $18 per subscriber.)

Instead of print or video, we have decided to tap the CD market, the fastest growing communications media.

Minimum Start-Up: $2,500
Average Start-Up: 10,000
Profit Margins: 50% to 75%
One Person Business: Yes

OPPORTUNITY SEEKERS

To offer a subscription to this (still unnamed) newsletter, we are running full page ads in opportunities magazines, as well as implement a direct mail campaign.

Our initial marketing thrust will be directed at individuals seeking to start their own business, or a second source of revenue.

The Biz Opp market is at a strategic crossroads where new economic opportunities intersect with our growing disenchantment with conventional employment.

This market thinks! And it is quick at recognizing new opportunities. This is why we decided that the growth of How-To CDs depend on the variety of titles available.

WE CAN REPRESENT & SELL YOUR CD TITLES

While we are selling subscription to our newsletter, we offer customers the opportunity to purchase other CD titles.

We also have a regular New Titles ad which lists new Power Guides and How-To CDs available.

Every time we send out a newsletter and a catalogue, we include your CD on our title list and orders are sent directly to you. We do not take a commission or a percentage of your sales.

Your customer’s orders and payments come directly to you. You fulfill the orders and keep the money. We will design and print your ad for you.

CREATE YOUR OWN NEWSLETTER

We will accept advertising from those of you who plan to produce your own CD newsletter.

Producing a newsletter on CD allows you to collect subscriptions in advance, which is extremely helpful in generating cash flow during your start-up stages.

Producing a newsletter gives you a continuing link with a market that shares your common interests. Consider also the interest factor for a newsletter in CD form is quite high.