Enlightenment-by-Email,
or, How
to Make Your Great
TUT Come True
Mike Dooley didn't know what he was going to do. He quit his
job at Price Waterhouse. He left the company, his security, and his
home. He went to Orlando and sat there, lost, confused, waiting for
direction. None came.
Meanwhile, his brother was making some money from royalties
on a few t-shirts he had designed. So Mike, his brother, and later
their mother, went into the T-shirt business. They called their
business TUT, for Totally Unique T-shirts. Everyone from Disney to
Macy's bought and sold them. Within ten years they sold more than
one million shirts. Life was good.
As the market began to change, and major buyers began to
make their own T-shirts, the family decided to stop business. The
artistic brother began a career as an actor and improv comic. The
enterprising mother, who had already written two books, began a
full-time career as a writer. Mike decided to buy out the family
business --- which by that time had come to be known as "Totally
Unique Thoughts" --- and run it himself.
"Our most popular T-shirts had always been the ones with
inspiring or spiritual sayings written on them," Mike told me over
the phone one day. "So I decided to offer a Monday Morning
Motivator by E-Mail to our loyal list of followers."
The Monday memos were usually poems. And his small band
of followers at the time amounted to 1,000 names. Instead of writing
to these people with an opening that said, "Dear loyal T-shirt
customer...," Mike decided on a more unique approach.
"I created an Adventure's Club and invited them to be a member
for the sum of only $36 a year," Mike explained. "They would get
weekly and even daily messages from me, all of an inspiring,
motivational and/or spiritual nature."
Did it work?
"No. Almost no one paid for it. So I naturally decided to offer it
for free, knowing I would somehow figure out how to make money
from it down the road."
Mike's Monday Morning Memos caught on. People loved the
inspiring weekly poetry. Eventually he gathered the courage to add
his own insightful commentaries that would accompany each poem.
His subscriber base grew to 3,000 names.
"About this time I had a friend of mine who was making
$15,000 every month from banner ads on his e-cards," says Mike.
"So I put all my energy into making free e-cards that people could
sponsor click-through ads on. I used the old T-shirt art I had and
added some commentary to make the e-cards unique."
But that didn't work out, either.
"Within six months advertisers quit taking ads on e-cards. My
friend stopped making $15,000 a month. I never made more than
$100 from my e-cards. But I'm still glad I did them."
Why is he glad?
"They have become a viral marketing campaign," Mike
explains. "People send them to others and suddenly my website is
known to potentially millions of people. Those e-cards are still a
popular feature on my website."
Around this time --- in 2001 --- Mike decided to take the
biggest leap of faith of all.
"I recorded 12 audiotapes, packaged them, and called them
Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams. They are a
combination of my weekly e-memos, old talks I had given, and
entirely fresh material."
That tape set became a turning point for Mike's online business.
"People would get an e-card from someone, see a link at the
bottom for my tapes, and make an impulse buy right then and there."
Mike sells 40 to 60 tape sets every month, at a retail price of
$125 for either cassettes or CDs.
While he's never asked for a single testimonial for his tapes, he
has at this point collected an overwhelming amount of them. You
can see them at http://www.tut.com/auwc.htm
Here are three quick ones:
"Riveting. Inspiring. Even miraculous. Rarely have I heard such
wisdom, such mind-stretching beauty, such practical inspiration and
proven advice."
"I was blown away! I squealed with delight!"
"I'm listening to the tapes repeatedly... EXCELLENT material,
endless new perspectives, spin-offs...your words have set me in
motion!"
While Mike has added a daily e-memo to his weekly ones, he
has never advertised, done any publicity, or implemented any
marketing. His tape sales come from word-of-mouth sharing. His
database is currently 5,000 hot names, and growing. He plans to use
pay-for-click services to build his database. Next he'll focus on his
affiliate program, which he just added to his site.
In short, Mike went from a company drop-out with no mission
to a man with a giant mission. And he uses the Internet as his
primary vehicle to help people go for their dreams. His main
marketing tool is his "Enlightenment-by-E-mail" daily and weekly
inspiring messages, which continue to be free.
What's his advice for building a successful business and making
your own TUT---totally unique thoughts---come true?
"As clearly as possible define the end result of what you want in
emotional terms," he advises. "Get into that emotion now, even
before you start working for the dream or even quitting your job.
Having the end result firmly in mind now will help you weather any
setbacks that may occur later."
"And don't worry about how you will get to that end result," he
adds. "There are a million ways to achieve fame or wealth, or
whatever you want. Don't tie the hands of the universe by thinking it
has to come in one certain way. The universe has 'Infinite
Possibilities' at its beck and call. Trust it."
Finally, I asked Mike if he would offer a "totally unique
thought" specifically for you, the reader of this book. Here's what he
sent:
"Success in the world, business or otherwise, is far more a
function of how well you engage the Universe and its magic, than it
is of how well you manipulate the time and space around you. This
is every tycoon's secret - whether they know it or not.
"Your job is NOT to out-maneuver the competition, to play into
the hands of future clients and customers, or to reinvent the wheel.
Your job is to define your dream, to imagine the end result, and to
move with your hunches and instincts - that's it. The rest will
automatically and effortlessly fall into place...a brilliant marketing
strategy, the best "location," the "clutch" idea, and perfect timing
between them. The Universe is ALIVE in the unseen, and active in
all of your affairs. Learn how to use it."
And here's another very relevant quote from Mike:
"GIVING tells the Universe that you believe YOU are provided
for. For even as you empty your purse you fear not, demonstrating
faith that you will remain whole, that your coffers will be
replenished, and that your love for whomever you gave, is what's
most important. Verily, as you believe these things to be true, you will
experience such truths, and abundance shall be showered upon you as if the
heavens had opened up."
You'll note that a large degree of Mike's success came from
giving --- he gave away (and still gives away) e-cards, and he still
writes and gives away his inspiring daily and weekly memos.
Total sales, plus speaking fees, and revenues from new books in
the mill (Notes from the Universe, Totally Unique Thoughts, More
Reminders Of Life's Everyday Magic, etc,) should top $250,000 this
year, and Mike projects $1,000,000 in 2004!
Mike says, "None of this would have happened if I hadn't
offered all my mailings, and club membership for free, though at the
time I had no idea of where it would take me, nor of how I would
eventually profit. It just felt right, people were grateful, and I was
loving my 'job.'
"Sometimes the Universe doesn't always respond in kind, or by
throwing dollars at you, but instead, it returns to you confidence,
dreams, and inspiration...which is even better than bucks, because
it's like learning to fish (as opposed to being given a fish). You then know how
to go get more."
|
启发觉悟的电子邮件，或，
如何实现你自己伟大的 TUT
Mike Dooley 不知道下一步要做什么。他辞掉了在 Price Waterhouse
会计事务所的工作。他离开公司，放弃生活保障，离开家。他来到奥兰多，一个人坐在那里，失落，迷惑，等待这上天的指示。但什么也没等到。
与此同时，他的兄弟从设计T恤衫的版税中挣了一些钱，所以 Mike、他的兄弟和他们的母亲先后都加入了T恤衫生意。他们把这项生意称作
TUT —— “完全独特的T恤衫”。从迪士尼到 Macy's
百货公司，到处都在卖他们的T恤衫。十年里，他们总共销售了100多万件。生活很美好。
随着市场的变化，大客户们开始做他们自己的T恤衫，Mike 一家决定停止经营家族企业。有艺术天份的兄弟开始了演员生涯，并参与即兴表演。富有事业心的母亲已经写了两本书，开始了专职作家生涯。Mike
决定买下原有的家族企业 —— 并将 TUT 的意义改为“完全独特的思想” ——
由他自己来运营。
“我们的T恤衫中，最受欢迎是印有励志和心灵修行的名言的那些，”一天Mike
在电话中告诉我，“所以我决定向我们的忠实追随者们定期发送‘星期一清晨励志’电子邮件”。
星期一的励志邮件通常是一些诗句。他的小小的追随者队伍当时总共大约有1000人。Mike
没有这样写：“亲爱的忠实的T恤衫顾客...”，而是决定用更为独特的方式给这些人写信。
“我创建了一个奇遇俱乐部，邀请他们成为俱乐部的成员，每年只收取$36的年费，”麦克解释道。“他们每周甚至每天都可以收到我的信息，所有的信息都是有关成功、励志、和(或)心灵修行的。
”
这行得通吗？
“不行。几乎没有人买。因此很自然地我决定免费提供这项服务，我想反正以后我会想出办法从这里赚到钱的。”
Mike
的“星期一清晨励志”流行起来了。人们很喜爱这些每周一刊的励志诗句。后来他鼓足勇气把自己的真知灼见加入到诗中。他的订户增长到3000人。
“大约是那个时候，我的一个朋友从他的电子贺卡的横幅广告中，每月赚取$15,000美元，”Mike说。
“所以我把我的全部精力投入到制作免费电子贺卡上，人们可以在这些电子贺卡上做广告。我把原来用于制作T恤衫的技术，加上一些解说词，来制作独特的电子贺卡。”
但这仍然行不通。
“不到六个月，广告商们渐渐不再在电子贺卡上做广告了；我的朋友也不再有每月$15,000的收入。通过电子贺卡，我的收入从来没有超过$100，但是我仍然很高兴我
制做了这些贺卡。”
他为什么高兴?
“这些贺卡已经发展成为一个‘病毒式营销’活动了，”麦克解释说。“人们把这些电子贺卡发送给其他人 ——
突然之间，我的网站已经拥有上百万人的潜在用户。现在这些电子贺卡仍然还是我网站上很受欢迎的一个特色。”
大约在这个时候 —— 也就是2001年 —— Mike 决定迈出他信念的最大一步。
“我录制了12盘录音磁带，打包在一起，并命名为‘无限可能性：实现梦想生活的艺术’。它们包括我的励志电子周刊、我以前的演讲，并及其他一些新鲜内容。”
这些音带成为Mike的网上业务的一个转折点。
“人们可能会从别人那里收到一个电子贺卡，看到贺卡的下部有一个到我的磁带的链接，然后可能立即决定购买。”
Mike 每个月卖40-60套磁带，每盒磁带或CD的零售价是$125。
虽然他从来没有要求过哪位客户为他的音带写推荐书，但此时他收到的“推荐书”却已经非常多了，您可以上网浏览：http://www.tut.com/auwc.htm。
下面是其中三个较为简短的：
“太吸引人了，太激励人了，简直可以说是奇迹。我很少能听到如此睿智、美丽而开阔思路的，实用的励志名言和已被证明有效的建议。”
“我被震撼了！我高兴地大叫！”
“我反复地听这些磁带...极好的内容，不断有新观点、新思维...您的话推动着我！”
虽然 Mike
在他的电子周刊的基础上，又新增了日刊，但他从来不作广告，不作任何宣传或市场。他的磁带的销售来自口碑分享。他的数据库中现在有5000多名常客，而且还在增加。他计划使用点击付费的方式来建立数据库。下一步他将重点运作他刚刚加到网站上的联署营销（Affiliate Program）。
总之，Mike 从一个半途而废无事可干的糟糕职员，变成一个付有重要使命人物。他以互联网为主要手段，帮助人们追求自己的梦想。他的主要营销工具就是他每天和每周发送的励志信息 —— “启发觉悟的电子邮件”，而这还将继续免费发送。
那么他对建立一个成功的企业，实现自己的 TUT —— 完全独特的思想 —— 有什么建议呢？
“尽可能地使用情感性的词汇明确定义出你的终极目标，”他建议。“融入到这种情感中；在你开始为你的梦想而工作甚或辞掉现有的工作之前，
就要这样做。将你的终极目标坚实的印在你的意识中，会帮助你应对以后可能发生挫折。”
“不要担心你如何才能实现那个终极目标，”他又说。“有上百万种途径可以让你拥有名声和财富，或者你想要的任何其他东西。不要以为事情只能按照某一种方式发展，而束缚宇宙之手。宇宙有召之即来的‘无限的可能’。
你必须要相信这一点。”
（译者注：这一点非常重要！当你布施的时候，你已经在成就你的理想了。结果一定会来到你的面前，但不一定来自你自认为理所当然的那个方向。）
最后，我问 Mike 是否可以特别为您（本书的读者）提供一个“完全独特的思想”，下面是他的回答：
“不论是在商业界或其他任何领域的成功，都更多的是依赖于你和宇宙及其无限法力之间的融洽程度，而不是依赖于你如何完美的操纵你周围的时间和空间。这是每一个大亨的秘密
—— 不论他们意识到这点没有。
“你应该做的事，不是要绞尽脑汁超过你的对手，也不是要尽量讨好你未来的客户和消费者，更不是要重新发明轮子（做出力不讨好的创新）。你的工作，是要定义你的梦想，想象你的终极目标，然后根据你的灵感和本能而动
——
如此而已。余下的事情会自动而毫不费力的就位 —— 非凡的营销策略，最佳的位置，最好的主意，以及最适合的时间，都会自动出现。宇宙在你无法看到的地方充满活力，并活跃于你所从事的所有事务中。要学会使用它的力量。”
下面是引自 Mike 的另外一句于此相关的话：
“通过布施，你告诉宇宙：你相信
那早已为你准备好的东西。即使你倾其囊中所有的钱财，你也毫无畏惧；你展现着对自己的纯粹和完整的信心，你坚信你的库藏必将充盈；你也坚信，最重要的是你对受施者的爱。以你对此宇宙实相的坚固信心，你必将亲证此实相，富足也将如雨而下，正如天堂已为你打开。”
Mike 的成功大部分来自布施 —— 他送出免费的电子贺卡（还在继续），同时也在继续写作和发行他的免费励志周刊和日刊。
他的总销售，加上演讲费和新出版的书的收入（包括《来自宇宙的短笺》、《完全独特的思想》、《再论每日奇迹》等），今年大约是$250,000，而
Mick 计划在2004年达到$1,000,000！
Mike 说，“如果不是当初免费提供我的邮件，免费提供俱乐部会员资格，那今天所有的成就都是不可能发生的。虽然那时我根本不知道这些免费的服务会将我带到哪里，也不知道我会从哪个角度才能赢利。我只是感觉，这是‘正确’的事情，人们对我很感激，我也很喜欢自己的‘工作’。
“宇宙对你的回应有时可能并不总是友好的，或向你抛洒金钱；它可能会给你信心、梦想和激励，这些东西都比金钱更好，因为这就象学钓鱼一样
，如果直接给你一条鱼反而显得无趣。你随后就会知道怎样才能钓到更多。”
|