June 2007

After the last post, I felt a bit stupid not knowing what my phone call with “Incredible Discoveries” was going to about.  All I knew was that it was going to be real estate information and infomercial related.  Not exactly a mix I was overly excited about.

Having seen many education product infomercials over the years, I found most of them sleazy, unrealistic, and simply pandering to what people want to hear.  And most people associated with an infomercial came out the other side with their reputation and credibility somewhat bruised.

In fact, I tried to contact the person who called me and wanted clarification before speaking to the Senior Director.  And if I couldn’t get some clarity or an answer, I certainly wasn’t going to waste their time or my time having a discussion.  I didn’t hear anything, so I simply canceled the call.

Well, I have to give “Incredible Discoveries” credit for persistence.  The Senior Director of New Product Development called me on my cell phone anyway while I was with Wes Weaver, my biz partner, and Nathan, our intern, touring our vacant properties and handling various issues.  And so, I had to politely put him off since I was in no position to concentrate and talk with him at that moment.  I told him I would try to call him back before the day ended.

Around 4:30pm, it was clear my day was not going to end early and would continue into the evening.  However, I wanted to keep my promise so I called the Director back and asked him for a basic overview of what he was interested in and, most importantly, why.

I have to give him credit.  He was not at all the person I had expected.  He was careful in his words and the expectations he was setting with me.  I think he had a hint, my approach is very matter-of-fact and not always talking about sunshine.  I tell both the good side and bad side.  None of the pie-in-the-sky nonsense that is so common in the real estate courses and seminar circuit.

I made a point to politely let him know my biases against most infomercials and many of the real estate education materials I see today.  Surprisingly, he took it well and acknowledged my concerns.

He made a reference that he knew of my involvement with The Investors Roundtable.  He mentioned how I seemed to focus on “independent-minded investors” (which indicates he visited my real estate investing publication website, TurnKeyInvesting.com.  He remembered that I had left Corporate America and wrote a book on it (The Intrepid Way).

I have to admit, he impressed me with those 4 references.  It showed me that he had done some research on me and what I do.  He did enough homework to let me know he was paying attention to details.

In any case, I still have many questions.  However, my questions are moot at this point.  The biggest thing on my mind right now is that infomercials have to cater to the general public.  That generally means a presentation has to be hyped up and dumbed down a bit to cater to the masses.  I tend to believe (from a marketing point of view) when you try to please everyone, you please no one.  With every project I launch, I am careful to think about who I want to target, not simply pop out a generic product that excites no one.

We are supposed to get back together by phone next week.  I have to admit I was not very interested to the point I canceled the first phone appointment.  But now, I am intrigued to find out more what is on their mind.

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