Marketing Reality
By: Lisa Picarille
Author Joel Comm takes on reality TV.
Joel Comm has been building websites for
over 12 years. He sold his first business to
Yahoo in 1997 and it became Yahoo Games.
Comm is the author of several best-selling
e-books, as well as The AdSense Code, a New
York Times best seller. His next venture is as
the creator and producer of the online reality
show "The Next Internet Millionaire." The show,
which is an "Apprentice"-type reality show
being filmed in Loveland, Co., will air only online.
The show features 12 contestants vying for a
$25,000 prize and chance to start a business
with Comm. It began taping in late July and
started airing on the Web in mid-August.
There will be 12 episodes and the winner will
be announced in November. Comm spoke with
Revenue Editor-in-Chief Lisa Picarille about the
stigma of e-books, why the time is right for an
online-only reality show and why viewers find
marketing as compelling as he does.
LISA PICARILLE: Given the success of your books, are you
making most of your money as an online marketer or as an
author?
JOEL COMM: Many people got caught with their pants down
when the bubble burst in 2000. I learned my lesson and have
become a believer in multiple revenue streams. I now generate
revenue through books, affiliate programs, courses, content
sites, public speaking and advertising. The more you can position
yourself as an authority, the more options become available
for monetizing your brand.
LP: How do you get your books noticed with all the noise out
there?
JC: I think it's important to stand out from the rest of the crowd
by creating a product that is more than another "me too" book.
You have to give people original content and deliver it in a way
that makes it accessible to a larger portion of the population.
Of course, it never hurts to have great affiliate partners who
believe in you and are eager to promote your products.
LP: Also, there is somewhat of a negative stigma associated
with e-books as get-rich-quick schemes. What do you do to
combat that image?
JC: There have always been snake-oil salesmen. There will always
be snake-oil salesmen. Just like the television preachers
who make legitimate evangelists look bad, there are so-called
marketers who use legitimate techniques for illegitimate business
models. People can frequently see through the game of the
charlatans. I would hope the public would not throw out the
baby with the bathwater. The best I, and other legitimate infopreneurs,
can do is provide quality products that really help
people. That's one reason I post testimonials on my pages with
full names, and audio when possible. It lets people know that
there are others who are really succeeding with my material.
LP: Just curious … there are many people who sort of bash the
'gurus.' What you think about people out there like RichJerk.
com?
JC: It's all just a show for those guys. I don't care for RJ's style of
marketing. I guess there is money in condescending to people,
but I sure wouldn't want to have that as my claim to fame. If
what I do doesn't have a positive influence on people's lives, I
should probably be doing something else.
LP: You have a coaching club. Explain exactly how it works and
what prompted you to start it.
JC: Once people have my book or course, they sometimes request
assistance consuming the material. Having a coaching
club where members can receive new material and teaching
on an ongoing basis can make a huge difference in whether or
not they succeed. It's one thing to have information that can
make you money. It's another to implement what you have
learned and take action on it. The same thing that attracts many
people to making money online is the thing that can become
one of the biggest obstacles to success. In other words, we want
to be able to work at home in our pajamas, but it is difficult to
stay motivated and disciplined when you have no one to answer
to but yourself ... in your pajamas. A coaching club and other
continuity programs help people stay on track so they can reach
their goals faster and with greater efficiency.
LP: Your newest venture is 'The Next Internet Millionaire.' How did the idea come about?
JC: Early this year, I began playing with the concept of producing my own reality show. As a
reality TV fan, I realized that no one had attempted to do a competitive show on the Internet.
As I spoke with my joint venture partner, Eric Holmlund, I discovered that he had a desire to
get into video production. Our discussions led to planning, and here we are with the world's
very first competitive Internet reality show.
LP: Why do you think the time is right for this show right now?
JC: Reality shows are a cultural phenomenon. Video on the Internet is all the rage. And regular
people are looking for ways to leverage the power of the Internet to bring in some extra cash.
It's a perfect storm whose time has come.
LP: Do you think that having the show air only online negates some of the legitimacy? If it is
a good idea, why not try and get broadcast TV to pick it up?
JC: Broadcast TV is losing viewers faster than you can say dot.com. The Internet is the new
medium of choice, and one of my goals is to prove that there is a significant audience who
is eager to embrace original programming on the Web, provided it is compelling and professionally
produced. I don't believe that anyone has created a production solely for the Web that
is of the scale that this project is. If the TV networks want to pick up the series in
syndication,
I'd be interested in speaking with them, but I've never considered selling the show to a
network out of the gate. I guess you could say that I am on a mission to prove that the time is
right for this concept.
LP: OK, I hate to admit it but I'm a reality show junkie. I'm also a marketing junkie. Continued on Page 2...
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