Tuesday, December 26, 2006

BookWise Update

OK, here is a "global" answer to the question that some of you have been asking me lately: "How is BookWise going for you so far?"

The short answer is...that it's going well, but slower than I'd like. The longer answer follows.

To give some quick stats. So far I have received 2 free books and my first check paid for more than half of my initial sign up fee. However, the residual income aspect is needing some help because one of my members decided to cancel out, so I need to work to replace him and to continue to grow. BookWise itself is planning a formal/official "Launch" on January 27.

I blame my slow growth on two things.
First, I've been fairly busy with school and family such that the only real "marketing" I've done is some fairly innocuous "spamming" of friends and family with email invites to look at the website. While this can work (and has led to the minimal growth I've had so far), it's definitely not the optimal method.
Secondly, in Utah (and possibly through large portions of America), there is a bad opinion of MLMs that has to be overcome during recruitment. I have been a member of 2 MLMs in the past and been close friends with people in half a dozen others...so I've seen the pain of trying to sell someone on the concept. The first I joined with pure naivette, just liking the concept myself but not knowing what to look for as far as what makes a company better than another. The second I joined because I absolutely loved the concept (it was a travel MLM) of being an independent travel agent and making money selling travel and getting travel discounts/comps. I left the first one because of frustration...and the second one because the CEO was a crook and the thing got shut down (I did make a little money off of it...and more importantly, I got some "free" travel...I actually wrote off my honeymoon. *grin*).
Anyway, I understand the pain, and I can honestly say that, even though at first glance, the model for BookWise is the same as "all others", it does address some valid concerns with MLMs. For me, the price point is good...not too expensive. The product is good...if you've seen the front foyer in my house, you know we buy books. And the model for making money isn't terribly convoluted or difficult. My previous MLM ventures cost over a hundred dollars to join and required buying high priced products in order to maintain "status." With BookWise, the initial and monthly investment is $40...and you get a nice book out of it. I figured that even if I don't make up the $40/month in income right away, I know I will eventually, and in the meantime, I'm paying a little extra for books I would buy anyway.
I've had some people tell me that they'll sign up once they see my check for 5 figures. Well...that's a Catch-22...it'll be much easier for me to make that 5 figure check once all of you sign up. ;)

So....to my current "pitch." I want everybody who reads this to browse to www.bookwise.com and click into the "What Is Bookwise" presentation. You can skip around the presentation "pages" as you like, but it should give you a quick overview of the company.

Beyond the web based pitch, I am planning a meeting right now that will take place just around the corner from me in Bountiful. I am coordinating with Doug Osmond to try and get him to come and present the program and answer any questions you may have. My hope is to get this meeting scheduled for the first week in January. I hope to see you all there. :)

Anyway, that's the bookwise update.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I seriously believe in this program and look forward to having my friends and family with me as we make it a success.

4 comments:

Mark Fuller Downline said...

Okay, Richard Paul Evans is a STUD! But it seems funny to me that he is doing MLM. Don't know, just seems a little below him? Anyway, as long as his company doesn't mirror the new MLM Comedy Believe The Movie, I don't care.

PS Check out the video clips on the site...VERY FUNNY!!

Okie said...

That looks hilarious Ryan. Thanks for the link. :)

Anonymous said...

I gotta say, I'm excited for that movie Ryan posted. Believe The Movie We need more understanding. I won't say that I am completely against MLM but there are definitely people out there that go crazy about it. I did go to a lecture by Richard a couple weeks ago at UVSC. he did a great job, told it how it was, wasn't afraid to show his beliefs etc..

Those Mark Fuller instructional vidoes are great. Here is the YouTube link. Mark Fuller Instructional Video: Honesty

Okie said...

I hear ya Jason. I've had some serious angst against MLMs over the past experiences. With Richard Paul Evans at the helm, I'm hoping BookWise turns out to be "different."

At the very least, I can actually be passionate about the product (easier to get excited about books than soap or vitamins...plus I'm an English major). Beyond that, I'm stoked about some of the cool differences between this one and others (I actually spent 8 months working for a company that did work for tons of different MLMs, so I had a day to day job of scrutinizing a ton of them...and there are definitely some that are just trash)