lue of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing.

Marketing is magic. Now, the magic in marketing is to get it all done before you even have a product. That was the advice I got when I first started out in business.

The person who told it to me was an old friend of my family. He was a magician by profession and he was also a multimillionaire marketer. He created more than a dozen businesses, built them up into money-makers and sold them.

Along with all his magic tricks, he had one shortcut up his sleeve that, he maintained, helped him more than anything. Using this shortcut, he was able to launch his product faster than anyone else.

Here is the shortcut: Write your sales letter before you find your product.

To me, this sounded like putting the cart before the horse. But he assured me that it made life much simpler. Once he showed me how well it worked, I never looked back. It saves me a lot of time and wasted effort.

Here are the 3 steps the magician used:

1) Decide who is going to buy your product. This helps you determine the area in which to specialize. For instance, owners of small businesses, cosmetic surgeons and golfers are three highly motivated groups. My magician friend marketed to two of them. He found them excellent customers who bought from him again and again.

In another one of my friend’s businesses, he decided to market to parents of young children. He said they were open minded and often gave him new product ideas. His advice to me was to get to know some of your prospective buyers and spend time with them. Often, they will tell you what your next product is.

2) Once you choose your buyers, make a list of their wishes. In working with parents of young children, my friend said that some of their wishes included more free time, ways to save money and personalized products. My friend created a product that answered two of those wishes and he was able to make m0ney for himself as well.

3) Determine the value of your product. It should be of higher value than the price the customer pays for it. Compare your product to similar items on the market and show how yours is a better buy. Consider adding on another product to increase value.

Value is almost always more important than price. Price comes into play only when it looks like the value of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing.

t faster than anyone else.

Here is the shortcut: Write your sales letter before you find your product.

To me, this sounded like putting the cart before the horse. But he assured me that it made life much simpler. Once he showed me how well it worked, I never looked back. It saves me a lot of time and wasted effort.

Here are the 3 steps the magician used:

1) Decide who is going to buy your product. This helps you determine the area in which to specialize. For instance, owners of small businesses, cosmetic surgeons and golfers are three highly motivated groups. My magician friend marketed to two of them. He found them excellent customers who bought from him again and again.

In another one of my friend’s businesses, he decided to market to parents of young children. He said they were open minded and often gave him new product ideas. His advice to me was to get to know some of your prospective buyers and spend time with them. Often, they will tell you what your next product is.

2) Once you choose your buyers, make a list of their wishes. In working with parents of young children, my friend said that some of their wishes included more free time, ways to save money and personalized products. My friend created a product that answered two of those wishes and he was able to make m0ney for himself as well.

3) Determine the value of your product. It should be of higher value than the price the customer pays for it. Compare your product to similar items on the market and show how yours is a better buy. Consider adding on another product to increase value.

Value is almost always more important than price. Price comes into play only when it looks like the value of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing.

vated groups. My magician friend marketed to two of them. He found them excellent customers who bought from him again and again.

In another one of my friend’s businesses, he decided to market to parents of young children. He said they were open minded and often gave him new product ideas. His advice to me was to get to know some of your prospective buyers and spend time with them. Often, they will tell you what your next product is.

2) Once you choose your buyers, make a list of their wishes. In working with parents of young children, my friend said that some of their wishes included more free time, ways to save money and personalized products. My friend created a product that answered two of those wishes and he was able to make m0ney for himself as well.

3) Determine the value of your product. It should be of higher value than the price the customer pays for it. Compare your product to similar items on the market and show how yours is a better buy. Consider adding on another product to increase value.

Value is almost always more important than price. Price comes into play only when it looks like the value of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing.

me of their wishes included more free time, ways to save money and personalized products. My friend created a product that answered two of those wishes and he was able to make m0ney for himself as well.

3) Determine the value of your product. It should be of higher value than the price the customer pays for it. Compare your product to similar items on the market and show how yours is a better buy. Consider adding on another product to increase value.

Value is almost always more important than price. Price comes into play only when it looks like the value of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing.

lue of your product and those of your competitors looks the same. A buyer will then opt for the cheapest one.

Good customer service, by the way, carries a very high value in the customer’s mind.

Armed with information from the above three steps, my friend wrote a sales letter about an imaginary product he did not yet have. He even gave it a name. He wrote classified ads, articles, press releases and direct mail pieces. He then searched out a product or created one that fit his demands. He usually found more than one product.

You can do the same thing. By the time you find a product, you will be ready to launch it almost immediately. And, your marketing will be ready and waiting.