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- 1 That is the text about smoke that sparked a Fire Sale.
- 2 With a little help from your friends – and a prayer ;)
- 3 We alerted my affiliates & launched on the 15th.
- 4 By midnight on the 31st we sold 299 packages.
- 5 We’d like to say thanks again to our Fire Sale Partners:
- 6 Why do marketers participate in Fire Sales like this one?
- 7 Tishia received ALL profits from the Fire Sale.
- 8 P.S. I just remembered to tell you one last part of the story.
“I’m having a horrible time in this apartment with my landlord & her boyfriend smoking… I don’t know what the deal is but it’s been so bad lately (the smell of it) it’s like they are in my apartment smoking. I can taste it, it’s that bad.”
That is the text about smoke that sparked a Fire Sale.
It was December 29th and the text came from Tishia Lee, my friend who lived up in northern Michigan in the cutest little overly drafty apartment ever.
I say ‘lived’ – because she doesn’t live there anymore.
Deciding it was time to make a move, she looked around for awhile and ended up finding a great house with a welcoming landlord – but then reality hit. She’d just sunk over a thousand dollars into her car and with Christmas just behind, she had exactly nothing to work with in the cash department. She’s a busy VA with a fairly full client load. It’s not like she can just multiply her time overnight and take on a bunch of new work.
How do you get a new place when you’re tapped out? How do you pay a security deposit and first months rent?
With a little help from your friends – and a prayer ;)
The day after she found the house I woke up thinking about it. I had to just ask, ‘God, what can be done here?’. And there it was, the idea of having a Fire Sale popped into my head.
It’s ok if you think prayer is hokey – I just couldn’t tell the story without including that part and giving Him credit.
I jumped up and contacted Tishia. She loved the idea. She’d never ran a Fire Sale before- neither had I, but we decided to go for it.
On January 12th we started the process on the forum at Solo Masterminds, sharing her situation and the goal. As usual, the member there stepped up like family and we had our initial package ready to roll in three days.
We decided to run the Fire Sale through my Solo Smarts system so that my affiliates could participate and help make it a success. Tishia needed $1400 so we priced the package at $14 and imagining that a LOT of the sales would come through affiliates, set a goal to sell 200 packages. If we met that goal, even after paying affiliates, she’d have what she needed. We created some affiliate tools. Graphics, emails, text ads, tweets. etc.
We alerted my affiliates & launched on the 15th.
Sales started to come in. Both Tishia and I reached out to other friends about joining in as Fire Sale Partners and the package started to grow. From $250 in value to $400 to $500 – soon other friends were volunteering their items and the value went all the way up to $750! As the package grew, so did the sales.
By the 18th we had enough cash for Tishia to put down the deposit on the new house. Her landlord gave her the keys and told her she could move in anytime and just pay rent on the first of February.
Then I rolled out an Affiliate Competition. I wanted to inspire our new Fire Sale customers to jump in and act as an affiliate so I broke my affiliates up into teams based on their experience level with the Solo Smarts affiliate program. No sales = Beginner. A few sales = Intermediate. Many sales = Pro. This turned out to be a very good decision. Newbies felt like they could go ahead and compete since they wouldn’t have to compare themselves to those with more experience.
Sales started to really rock. On the 28th we sold our 201st package in the early morning. Goal met!
Our affiliates really got into the competition. Clear leaders became obvious around the 28th of the month and they held their top spots all the way to the end. Stacey Myers for the Beginners, Connie Ragen Green for the Intermediates and Alice Seba for the Pros.
By midnight on the 31st we sold 299 packages.
Wow… not a big enough word, right?
Tishia says:
I’m so amazed at the success of the Fire Sale – not just all the people that stepped up and so graciously donated products, but also all the people that helped support me by purchasing the package. My goal was met and then some! I turned the keys into the landlord of my old place on Monday and it’s been amazing waking up every day since in my new smoke free home :-) It’s really hard to put into words all the appreciation I have for the wonderful community that came together to support me in making this move a reality – the best way I can say it is THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
We’d like to say thanks again to our Fire Sale Partners:
- Lynette Chandler
- Sharon McMillan
- Cindy Bidar
- Melissa Ingold
- Connie Ragen Green
- Kristen Eckstein
- Kim Phoenix
- Courtney Chowning
- Nicole Dean
- David Perdew
- Celene Harrelson
- Anita Hampl,
- Crissy Herron
- Jenny Munn
- Geoff Hoff
- Alice Seba
- Heather Robinson
- Susanne Myers
You all rock!
Why do marketers participate in Fire Sales like this one?
This question was asked a few times and I think now’s a great time to answer it.
Our Fire Sale Partners gave us real products that have sold or are selling at the stated value. (Graphics Mojo will cost $27 if you go buy it right now, etc.) Our Partners gave us information products, access to membership sites and some gave us ‘perishable/limited resource’ items like PLR. Why would they give something away like that – especially to 299 people?
Basically they have confidence in the quality of their product and they believe that this Fire Sale reached their Target Market. They know when they give a full version product away to their Target Market – they’ll win repeat business. In this case, potential Partners knew that many of the other Partners were going to be promoting the Fire Sale, so their ‘reach’ would be quite large. That means reaching NEW people in Target Market. That is a very good thing.
Participating in a Fire Sale is a once in awhile thing. It’s a ‘for a good reason’ thing. If we ran around giving our full product away every day, people would start to think that we don’t place value in them and that would work against us. So the key, if you think you’d like to partner on someone else’s Fire Sale sometime in the future, is picking your opportunities carefully. Give away a product that gives people a great introduction to you, delivers on it’s promise and which hopefully leads well into other products that you have to offer them.
So, being part of Fire Sale like this one is both a generous act and a strategic one. Some people are bothered by the mix of the two. They want generosity to be altruistic in every way. I’m very happy to report that we can do really kind, helpful things for another person AND experience a positive impact on our business.
Tishia received ALL profits from the Fire Sale.
Solo Smarts kept nothing. We calculated sales, we deducted payment fees, we paid our affiliates and with Tishia’s full support we budgeted out a small amount for affiliate competition gifts and Tishia received every dime left in the kiddie. (And all those final dimes made her eyes pop out LOL! I enjoyed that part.)
I’m not walking away with nothing. I’ve enjoyed myself. Tishia texted me today, so proud to get her son after school and take him home to the new place. That was a payday. From one single mom to another, I know how awesome it feels to be able to show your son what you’ve done and accomplished.
I’ve fired up my affiliates. I’ve welcomed a bunch of new customers to Solo Smarts – I’m already getting great feedback from all of the newcomers who are digging into Smart Blogging Skills. I’m going to see long lasting positive ripples from this experience. So even though it wasn’t about the money for me – I’ll profit.
There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s darned smart!
P.S. I just remembered to tell you one last part of the story.
When we brainstormed out how we would run the Fire Sale, I told Tishia I didn’t want this to just be a fundraiser. I wanted her to make the most of the exposure and opportunity. We decided to promote a webinar on the sales page and use that to supplement her mailing list. The webinar went great and was well attended. She added over a hundred new people to her list and she has plans to turn our webinar recording and transcript into her first low cost information product. By venturing into the world of info marketing she can build new income streams that fosters a better financial future for her and her son. THAT makes me happy indeed :)
Twitter: tishialee
says:
I am still in awe over how well everything went – the fire sale was bigger than I ever imagined (both product wise and sales!). It’s 12:41am and my son and I just got done unpacking my office, the living and kitchen…who knew that we’d get so motivated to get so much done at 10pm at night and work for almost 3 straight hours? LOL As I sit looking at the house (that is finally starting to look like one now that boxes are unpacked & not stacked in the living room) I’m once again so full of emotion and gratitude for how this all fell into place!
Twitter: TheHappypreneur
says:
It was an honor to be a part of the fire sale. I’m so glad it was such a success! May God bless you in your new home Tishia. Kelly we know the Biblical law of Sowing and Reaping so we know you will be blessed indeed! Thanks for allowing me to participate.
Celene Harrelson | The Happypreneur recently posted..Stretch Yourself And Watch What Happens + Friday Wrap Up
Twitter: tishialee
says:
Thank you so much Celene for being a part of the Fire Sale.