As you enjoy the extreme creativity of the people who shot the ads, you may share my view that Amazon has truly wasted its money on them:

The reason for the futile attempt? Here’s just ONE reason out of many:

See how rich and moving the experience really is with an iPad?

At $499 for the 16GB iPad which does a zillion things in full blazing color, which is just $10 more than the Kindle DX which only lets you read ebooks in black and white, would you bet on the Kindle being around much longer, in its current form?

With over 2.5 million users having bought the Kindle over the past 2 years it’s available just to read books on a black and white screen – what’s your guess that there will be millions more who’ll prefer the iPad over the Kindle for reading as well, from this point onward?

Amazon should save its money on ads and funnel all of it into developing an IMPROVED Kindle that is better than the iPad in terms of looks, feel and experience (not just MATCH the iPad – because what’s the point?).

But it’s an uphill battle because Apple has set the bar so high that it’s really difficult to see how much better ANY other tablet can be.

And even assuming that Amazon can create a “better iPad” – by the time it could come up with that alternative, it really wouldn’t matter much anymore.

So the EASIEST AND LEAST RISKY strategy for Amazon to ensure that the Kindle still has a role to play is to simply slash its price.

Even making a loss from each unit of Kindle sold (* gasp *) – so that it can earn from the increased sales of its ebooks (as more users will now own a Kindle due to its cheaper price).

Or Amazon can let it die a natural death and rely on its just-released Kindle for the iPad app that iPad users can use to purchase books from its ebookstore.

At least until Apple decides to only allow ebooks to be purchased from its iBookstore only – assuming this isn’t against any anti-competitive laws in existence…

Sen Ze

In the current economic downturn, some businesses are downsizing. I’m doing the exact opposite.

It’s amazing what can be possible when you set your mind on achieving the “impossible” goals you’ve set for yourself. There will always be the naysayers who say it can’t be done. They’re right – they can’t do it because they say they can’t, so they don’t even try.

I say I can – and so I try. In so doing, whole new worlds of possibilities open up to me when they never did before (or they did, but I didn’t notice). This is my RAS (short for Reticular Activation System) at work.

And lo and behold – I could achieve my goals, just like I said I would.

Like magic.

So go ahead. Say you can’t do it. And you’ll be proven right just by doing nothing. Easy.

But that’s nothing to be proud of.

But go ahead and say you can do it – and find the ways to get it done. And you’ll be proven right again.

Except it’ll take some time and effort. But it’ll be well worth it.

There’s much to tell…

But right now I have much to do. And you have much to gain.

For now, I’ve having the time of my life becoming much more efficient AND much more effective. The two are not the same.

Things get done faster, with less effort, and at a lower cost. Most of all, everybody’s happy – and soon, YOU will be very happy too as I roll out my new suite of products and services that WILL make you money.

Faster, Simpler and More Effective Than Ever.

In the meantime, if you’re a Twitter fan (I’m slowly becoming one, although it’s a long process to get totally immersed with it with so many things happening around me), you need to check out this top-quality video below.

It provoked an almost violent reaction in my gut, resulting in a long fit of uncontrolled laughter. The more you understand what Twitter is and what it can do for you – the louder will be your laughter.

If you don’t quite get it – I highly recommend you get going with Twitter now, by following me there –> http://twitter.com/senze. Get an account, “follow me” and whoever you wish, so that you can be notified via Twitter.com on our updates.

Play around with it for a while, post your updates to it for your own followers to be notified. Twitter is like a mini-blog, except that you only have 140 characters to say your piece, and you’ll get it sooner or later.

Then re-visit this video once more – and your uncontrolled laughing fit will come as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.

Trust me on this.

And oh – the “creators” of this video also managed to market their web site at the same time…

Sen Ze

Technorati Tags: twitter, video marketing, marketing with videos, business downsizing, business upsizing, downsizing, upsizing

You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://SenZe.com/business-blog/twitter/downsize-or-upsize-your-business.htm

My 2nd son arrived safe and sound on February 18th 2008!

He’s 10 days early. He’s supposed to arrive on the 28th, the same day as my birthday – but I guess he prefers not to share his birthday with his proud Dad!

He popped out via natural delivery which meant a quick healing process for Jasmin. Both baby and mother got discharged the very next morning.

Here’s a photo of him at just a few hours old:

We are still thinking of a nice name for him…

Now his arrival is also good news for you because…

I’m holding my first-ever sale of 3 of the products that I have on this site to celebrate the occasion!

I’ve never held a sale before, and I don’t know if I’ll ever do this again – but do take advantage of it before I change my mind!

You get a whopping 40% (forty percent) off the following products:

Bob Serling’s “Power Copywriting For The Internet”
==================================

Discover how to write killer sales letters for your products so that they can sell on auto-pilot, as new Prospects can be sold to again and again via the exact same sales letter set up on your web site!

When you can use words to sell anything, you need never go hungry ever again. In fact, sales personnel are some of the highest paid people in the world – so you will truly benefit from mastering this skill.

You’ll soon discover some of the deepest secrets of how expert web site copywriters craft their messages to ensure that they’re able to suck cash out of their Prospects’ wallet within minutes – even though they’ve never met and will never ever meet!

This product normally sells for $97. However, for the next few days, you can get it for only $58.20. You save a whopping $38.80!

Go to http://www.SenZe.com/copywriting to buy it. Ignore the $97 price and click on the “Buy” button. You’ll immediately see the reduced price on the order form.

Bob Serling’s “How To Market Your Way To A Million-Dollar Professional Services Practice”
=======================================

If you’re a Service Provider (like Consultants, financial professionals, accountants, computer professionals, baseball and basketball coaches, professional speakers, investment counselors, heating and air conditioning service companies, insurance agents, mortgage brokers, marketing consultants, sales trainers, motivational trainers, web site designers, physical therapists, chiropractors, seminar presenters, graphic artists – ANY Service Provider at all), you’ll discover how to create a super-successful professional service practice by using Reverse Marketing techniques.

With these techniques, your Prospects will call on YOU to buy your services!

How often does this happen to you, where you’re likely the one doing all the work in getting your Prospects to even listen to you? Your practice will never be the same ever again!

This product normally sells for $147. Get it for only $88.20 during the next few days! You save a whopping $58.80!

Go to http://www.SenZe.com/service to buy it. Ignore the $147 price and click on the “Buy” button. You’ll immediately see the reduced price on the order form.

Paul Hartunian’s “Million-Dollar Publicity Kit”
================================

Discover how to get newspapers, radio and TV stations to feature you and your business for free, from one of the world’s foremost experts in this area. You need never pay for advertising again!

I’ve had my fair share of free publicity in the media which includes radio stations, all the major newspapers and all the TV stations in my country. I’ve even appeared on CNN News at one time, which was seen worldwide!

The total value to me in terms of publicity for my business and cause was in the millions of dollars.

You’ll discover some of the most treasured secrets of getting the media to love you and what you do – and turn this love into big money for yourself!

There are 2 versions of this Kit:

The Basic version normally sells for $497. Get it for only $298.20 during the next few days. You save a whopping $198.80!

The Deluxe version normally sells for $697. Get it for only $418.20 during the next few days. You save a whopping $278.80!

Go to http://www.SenZe.com/media to buy it. Ignore the $497 and $697 prices and click on the appropriate purchase link.

You’ll immediately see the reduced price on the order form.

I’ve thrown in some bonuses of my own, so you’ll get some of my perspective on this topic as well.

TAKE NOTE

This sale ends this Sunday, February 24th 2008 if you’re in the US, or Monday February 25th 2008 if you’re in Asia.

After this date, all discounted products revert back to their usual prices. If you’ve always wanted to get the above products at their lowest prices ever – now’s the time!

You’re probably aware that I’ve never held any sales event for the products I carry because of their exceptional value to you even at their regular prices.

However, I’ll make a rare exception in this case because it isn’t every day that I have a new baby joining the family.

So go grab your deals right now before the prices go up again!

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://SenZe.com/business-blog/sale/Sen-Zes-1st-ever-sale.htm

Software for Internet Businesses help you do things better and faster like a Web Site Creator, which helps you create web sites quickly and without any HTML or programming knowledge.

Software also do the things you don’t want to do, like sending out a “welcome” e-mail for those who join your mailing list. You can do this manually, but a piece of software called “Autoresponder” can help you do this automatically and save you a lot of time and effort, so that you can better spend your time on marketing activities.

Software to run your Internet Business can be installed on your server where your web site is being hosted. This is typically a one-off purchase to own the software outright.

Or the software can be hosted by a third party on their server, and they charge you a fee to use it for your Internet Business. This fee can be based on time, like monthly or yearly. Or it can be based on access where they charge you every time you access it. Or it can be based on every transaction you make using the software.

So which option is better?

Install software on your own web server and pay a one-off fee or use a 3rd party’s and pay a fee for as long as you’re using their software?

I’ve done both – and you’ll soon see which one I prefer.

To do that, you need to understand the 3 main issues that are related to software:

1. Installation

2. Maintenance

3. Upgrades

Installation of software
================

Depending on the complexity of the software and how well the software creator has programmed it for easy installation, this can be done easily, or you may need someone to install it for you.

If you’re technically adept, you could install it on your own.

If you’re not, like most people, you’ll likely need to hire somebody to install it for you. This will add to your cost, but it’s a one-off fee.

Installation can take a few minutes or a few hours. Booking someone to install it for you can take a day or two or more, depending on when he’s free to do your job.

With hosted 3rd party programs, there’s no installation required on your part. The software is already installed, and you can get going in minutes.

Maintenance
=======

Software needs to be maintained to ensure that it’s working properly, or fixed when it’s not.

The more complex the software, the more maintenace it will likely need. If you’re not technically skilled (and most people are not), you’ll need to get someone who is to help you check on your software performance. This will add to your cost.

With hosted software on a 3rd party’s server where they charge you on a continuous basis, maintenance is already provided for whatever fee you’re paying.

And because the hosted 3rd party software is shared by other clients, the maintenance cost is also shared, so the total fee that includes the use of the software and maintenance is usually a very reasonable amount.

Upgrades
======

Software are constantly being improved on so that it can perform better, faster, more effectively, or simply to fix bugs that are almost certain to appear in more complex pieces of software.

Thus new versions of them are constantly being released – and it’s then up to you to decide whether you would like to upgrade to the newer version.

Frequently, however, you don’t have a choice because a critical bug has been discovered that will make your software not work well in certain circumstances.

If you’ve installed software on your server, and you decided to upgrade for better performance, or where you have no choice, you’ll need to either install the upgrade module, or re-install the latest version of the software.

Either way, this can be a pain, and will cost you some downtime, and more money. I’ve done this a few times and I can tell you that it can be a frustrating process.

Software running on a 3rd party’s server will automatically be upgraded without any need for you to do anything on your part, since the server isn’t yours, and the software provider would want to use the best software it can develop for it to have an edge over its competitors. The modest fee that they’re charging you usually includes all future upgrades at no additional cost.

You get the best software to use for your Internet Business, and you can rest easy knowing that all technical matters are taken care of.

The Verdict
========

If you’ve read this far, you’ll know that I’m a bigger fan of software hosted by reputable 3rd party companies instead of installing them on my own server.

While you may be paying more for hosted 3rd party software, it usually isn’t a lot more since the software provider can profit by having more clients all sharing the same software, maintenance and upgrade efforts.

So don’t discount software hosted by 3rd parties. In many cases, they’re what you SHOULD be using for your Internet Business.

Not only that, they can actually cost less than the software installed on your server, overall.

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://SenZe.com/business-blog/software/software-for-your-internet-business.htm

Technorati Tags: Software, Internet Business, Internet Business Software

There are many types of complexities in business.

There is technical complexity.

There is conceptual complexity.

There is implementation complexity.

There is management complexity.

Just to name a few.

They’re bad because by being complex, it’s hard for you as the business owner to start a business that has them for company.

They’ll cost you a lot more money, time and effort than a simpler business that you can do.

And as with any business, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to overcome them all.

Complexity is bad.

But then again, if you’re looking at a business full of complexities that you would like to emulate but couldn’t because of all the hurdles you must go through – one thing start to come to mind.

Complexity is good.

It’s good because if you’ve gone out to overcome those hurdles from the beginning and you succeed, you will have few, to NO competitors.

Just like Boeing and Airbus - the world’s 2 main competitors for commercial airplanes.

Between the 2 of them, they get the lion’s share of all aircraft orders from around the word – totalling trillions of dollars.

Just like Intel and AMD - the world’s top 2 main competitors for computer chips.

And Search Engines, like Google and Yahoo.

Google’s algorithm is very complex and it gets more and more complex by the day.

Google’s quest to return very accurate search results to keep its users happy means that it’ll need to add all variables that will affect the accuracy of those results.

And there are hundreds of such variables, with many more being discovered and added all the time.

Even Yahoo isn’t quite close to Google in terms of the complexity of its search algorithm – thus you’ve seen how Google has slowly but surely pulled itself away from the pack.

Complexity is good in ensuring you get to protect your turf for a much longer period of time – sometimes for decades – before you need to share any customers with another competitor.

And if you constantly innovate and add even more value after having been successful with complexities in your business, you’ll be sitting on your throne literally forever.

Complexity is good.

Here’s the “business holy grail”:

Complexity in implementation and creation of a SIMPLE product that your Customer can easily understand, use and want is the best combination of all.

You’ll have lots of Customers and few to no competitors, for a long time to come.

Just like Walt Disney experienced with his hand-drawn animated full-length cartoon movies – before computers came along and made the process more accessible to his competitors.

But he was the king of animation for DECADES before Pixar Animation, Dreamworks and the others could even try to compete.

And what about IKEA - the furniture retailer?

Without knowing exactly what’s involved – you can SEE the sheer complexity of their operations and business in selling you flat-packed furniture with modern, functional designs that don’t cost you an arm and a leg to get.

Even thinking about being their possible competitor hurts.

Right?

Complexity is good.

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/complexity/complexity-is-bad.htm

Technorati Tags: business, business complexity, Airbus, Boeing, Intel, AMD, Yahoo, Google, Search Algorithm, business implementation, Walt Disney, cartoons, IKEA

Prince is currently doing 21 days in London alone!

And most of those dates have been sold out. In fact, at one point his tickets were selling at 1,000 per minute!

Why?

Because Prince:

1. Is a musical genius
He composes all his songs, writes the lyrics to all of them, sings them as lead vocal AND backing vocals and plays all the musical instruments used for those songs (up to 25 different instruments for one song)!

2. Is a prolific composer
He has composed hundreds of songs in his entire career, including hits for Celine Dion, Sheena Easton and The Bangles. He has released some of those songs on 46 albums so far – with many more yet unheard!!

3. Sells records
He has many hits from his albums and he has sold millions of them all over the world. The Purple Rain album alone (released in 1984) sold 20 million copies worldwide.

4. Is a great performer
If you’ve seen his Superbowl XLI halftime performance, you would have experienced an unforgettable musical performance.

I’m not a fan of Prince, by the way. Not of his music, nor his style – but I do appreciate genius when I see one.

His London concerts were originally supposed to run for 7 nights but when all 140,000 tickets for them at 31.21 pounds sterling (about $63) sold out in 20 minutes (!), he extended it to 15 days.

And when tickets to those extra 8 days started selling out, he extended it a further 6 days – making a total of 21 days!

He grosses an average of $1.2 million per concert ($63 x 20,000 seats) for this current tour if all tickets are sold out. By the time it’s all over, he would have grossed $1.2 million x 21 days = $25.2 million.

Give or take a few million.

Not bad for less than a month’s work.

And there’s still the US Tour to come.

How did this 21-date London concert come to be?

Here’s a combination of factors:

1. Prince’s an established music star whose concerts are a great spectacle
There’s plenty to see and hear. Prince is known for his flashy performances and he’s backed by some of the most talented musicians in the world, all hand-picked by him.

2. It’s summer time in London
Summertime means time out in the park, and concerts to attend!

3. London is home to about 8 million people
The bigger the population, the bigger is Prince’s number of prospects interested in his songs. 8 million is a big number for a city by any means.

4. London is a popular tourist destination
Millions of people visit London every year. Tour companies usually offer special packages that include free concert tickets as well. Prince’s audience will definitely include many foreigners especially when he’s not performing outside of the US and UK.

5. He has announced that this Planet Earth Tour is “The End” of his live concerts
There’ll be no more Prince in person after this, so this is his fans’ last chance to watch him live. Well, there may be a “Comeback Tour” or “Encore Tour” many years later but they don’t know for sure. In case he isn’t planning any in the future, this is all they have.

6. His latest album, “Planet Earth”, was given away for free by the UK’s Mail On Sunday
They distributed 3 million copies of it on July 15 2007 alone. The newspaper paid Prince a rumored 300,000 pounds for the rights to do this. This generated lots of additional publicity for his upcoming concerts in August 2007 (and sold lots of extra newspapers).

7. All ticket holders get a copy of his latest album, “Planet Earth” as well
This makes his 31.21 pounds ticket price a real bargain since the album sells for about 10 pounds in stores. Not only that, the distribution of CDs in this manner counts towards his final album sales as well – which will help it in music charts tracking album sales.

Since there are music lovers who buy albums according to their ranking in the music charts – this will help push sales of the album further.

8. He’s opening up his songs vault to present 150 of them during his London run
Yep, that’s right. He’ll be playing over 150 songs over the course of his 21-date London concerts. He performs only about 23 songs at each concert, which would leave plenty left over for the remaining dates.

Thus many of his hard-core fans will show up for the concerts multiple times over the next few nights just to hear more of those songs, many of which they’ve never heard before!

How’s that for repeat business?

You can do that only if you’re as prolific a composer as Prince…

The combination of all of the above factors – but especially “The End” of Prince’s live tours – makes for an irresistible series of events that hard-core Prince fans find hard to resist.

The US Tour should be even better. There should be one, because Prince grossed over $87 million the last time he had one in 2004 with the Musicology Tour that went on a run of 96 performances.

Talk soon.

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/prince/prince-and-the-new-marketing-generation.htm

Technorati Tags: Prince, Planet Earth Tour, Earth Tour, UK Earth Tour, London UK Earth Tour, music industry, music, tours, innovative marketing, marketing, Mail On Sunday, business profitability, recording industry

I went to a bookstore about 2 months ago and bought 2 books that I had no intention of reading anytime soon.

They’re still on my table and I still haven’t found the time or urge to go through them yet.

I’m not saying those 2 books aren’t worthy of my time. They’re both updated and revised editions, which means that they’ve already gone past their initial print runs, and therefore are doing very well indeed.

The reason for my lack of “involvement” with those 2 books is simple.

I was finishing up on another book of mine with my co-author that would complement the 2 books I’ve found perfectly.

Buying those 2 books simply spurred me on to finish the endless scanning of the text for mistakes so that it could be published.

Otherwise I could go on forever, trying to make a good book as perfect as it could be.

Thus after about 8 months or so from the time the idea was conceived with my publisher and co-author, it’s finally published!

Here’s the third book in the “series”. No prizes for guessing which 2 books have been sitting on my table unread, and which one has been taking up my time for the past few months:

Yep, “The AirAsia Story” is my 3rd book in print format. It’s a book that had been begging to be written for quite a while.

And together with my wonderful co-author Jayne Ng, it’s finally done.

I was involved in almost every aspect of its production including coming up with the title and sub-title, back cover description, conceptualizing the cover design, overseeing the layout, discussing with Jayne on the content we would like to present, proof-reading and editing – in addition to writing parts of it.

We have an Editor to edit our work too, but there were quite a few last-minute additions that we simply had to fit in that resulted in some editing being done on our own as well.

It isn’t the way other publishing companies would follow – but it is ours’. Our publisher, Adrian (of Kanyin Books) gave us full creative control with some awesome ideas of his own to boot – and the result is a book we’re proud to be associated with.

We timed it to coincide with the launch of the last Harry Potter book 2 Saturdays ago (this is another Pajamas marketing lesson for you), but some last-minute delays ensured that it was not to be.

Nevertheless, it hit the bookstores just a few days ago.

And word has it that its sales are making Adrian a very happy puppy.

Here’s what the back cover says:

Since bursting onto the scene in 2002, AirAsia has become one of the most successful budget airlines in Asia today.

The book traces AirAsia’s eventful history from its humble beginnings as a small-time player with only two aircraft to its credit and $40 million in debt from Day 1 of its operations, to its present-day success as THE trendsetter among Asian low-cost airlines. It now carries millions of passengers every year, making millions in net profits in the process.

This happened in the aftermath of 9/11 and despite very stiff competition from many other budget airlines in the region as well as leadership from a CEO who was unfamiliar with the airlines industry.

Yet AirAsia’s journey to success has been anything but smooth.

This book reveals its challenges, hurdles, bumps and how it overcame them all in more detail for you to have a fuller understanding of just how remarkable its achievement really is.

Get ready to be blown away by the resilience, daring and imagination of its founders who all bravely took on the brutal circumstances they were in (and still are) that resulted in AirAsia becoming THE brand on the lips of budget air travellers all over Asia in just a few short years.

You’ll also discover some of the people behind AirAsia who you don’t normally hear of, and what their roles are. It’s a fascinating read that takes you into the realm of a real business with real challenges.

AirAsia fully practices Pajamas business and marketing principles to reap its millions of dollars in revenue every year – starting from year 1 of its operations.

It’s a sexy overnight success story that is quite irresistible to not just me, but anybody who has been exposed to parts of the AirAsia story these past few years.

Go to any major bookstore if you’re in Malaysia and look for it.

If you’re living outside Malaysia, click below to order it and have it delivered directly to your doorsteps within a few weeks:

Quantity 2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by All Net Profits Center.

Postage and handling costs have already been included in the price. While this will cost you more than if you were to buy from a bookstore, I’ll make it up to you by giving you a head start over everybody else with a NEW, yet-to-be-released Special Report of mine that covers some of the most interesting and profitable online business models you may have come across without realizing their significance in terms of generating millions of dollars in revenue – with the least amount of work possible.

It’s a brand new Special Report, but you’ll get it first even before I officially announce it to my list.

Completion of this Speical Report is only a few weeks away at most (probably within 2 weeks or so).

This Special Report may make you a millionaire many times over as it will generate BIG money-making ideas for you that you will never be able to come up with on your own. Those business models certainly have made their owners very rich indeed. Put your own twists on them, or combine a few together…

This Special Report is different from my classic Mini-Encyclopedia Of Low-Cost, High-Profit Internet Business Models that has been selling very well over the past few years now. There are an additional 20 examples of just ONE type of Internet Business Model which I have not included in the Mini-E yet (the Mini-E itself contains 19 other different Internet Business Models with numerous examples of their applications in the real world. It’s a MUST for your Internet Business and Internet Marketing library!).

Some of those 20 examples require sophisticated programming and infrastructure capabilities, while others are so simple you’ll laugh yourself silly as to why you didn’t think of them or do them on your own first.

To get the new Special Report (when it’s ready) before everybody else does, order “The AirAsia Story” from the link above.

Now that this is done, there are quite a number of other print and electronic books in my head that I need to give life to in the months ahead, some of which will absolutely delight you.

For sure.

Talk soon!

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/AirAsia/the-flying-trilogy-of-profits.htm

Technorati Tags: Air Asia, Tony Fernandes, Ryanair, Easyjet, MAS, airlines, aircraft, travelling, Kanyin books, profitable business model, internet business models, internet marketing, Sen Ze’s Mini-Encyclopedia Of Low-Cost, High-Profit Internet Business Models, Mini-E

But regardless – what could J.K. Rowling do to make even more money now that her boy wizard’s adventures have been systematically put to rest in her last book in the series? (She’s worth over $1 billion right now, which will soon increase.)

Well, there are still 2 more movies to go – ending with “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows” in a few years from now (probably in 4 years’ time).

She earns royalties from them and the other 5 movies made so far.

The movies in the series are reproduced on DVDs after they’ve finished their run in the cinemas and another serious round of money-making takes place.

Her books will continue to sell during that time and beyond.

All in all, expect to see a few hundred million dollars more to be added to her bank account by the time it’s all over.

And then, in terms of milking things for all they’re worth – what else could she do?

Have a “comeback” book/movie of sorts, of course.

And why not?

The British Band, “Take That” came back after having broken up in the 1990s.

The Spice Girls are planning a “Reunion Tour”.

Bruce Willis came back with “Die Hard 4.0″.

Arnold Schwarzenegger came back in “Terminator 3″ after having been melted down in Terminator 2.

And some top Hong Kong singers retired for 10 years or so and then made a comeback with their respective “Comeback Tour”.

(Some would say they actually planned the “Comeback Tour” before they retired.)

When you make a comeback, there’s another round of money-making right there because you’ll have a hungry base of fans who were looking for more of you when you retired but couldn’t get any – until now.

The key is to ensure that you come back before your fan base grow too old to remember who you were. (And you must have been a hit before you retired, of course.)

In the case of a fictional character like Harry Potter – if he is dead now – he could be resurrected somehow (like Sigourney Weaver was in “Aliens 4″) which isn’t that big a deal considering that he’s a wizard.

Alternatively you could always do a “Prequel” like the “Batman Begins“, “Superman Returns” and the first 3 episodes of the “Star Wars” series…

There are many possibilities, and they’re all very logical…

It’s good to know that sometimes “The End” isn’t really the end, especially when the potential for profit is still very much in existence.

However, “The End” can be used to make a whole bunch of money this time (because there’s an end to it all – there’s no more to come), and set up the “Comeback” many years later (hey – there’s more to come after all!) for another whole bunch of money.

The very disappointing “Star Wars” prequels could do with another “Comeback” by virtue of how disappointing those 3 episodes were.

One possibility is to present 3 ALTERNATIVE episodes for the Prequels with the same core characters but totally different story lines, but ending with Darth Vader becoming Darth Vader anyhow.

And I’ll bet the 3 Alternative Episodes would break box office records since there are so many Star Wars fans out there.

Think this isn’t possible?

It has been done before on the hit TV series, “Dallas” in the early 1980s where one very disappointing season (story-wise) was aired (about 22 episodes) and then explained away in the next season as nothing more than one main character’s “bad dream” – leaving the production team to continue from the season before that dream with an alternative (and better) storyline for the new season, as if that bad dream season never existed!

But this would mean having George Lucas admit that his current 3 Prequel episodes are bad – which he wouldn’t do.

Swallow your pride, George – and remake them with better scripts and better actors. Then hear your cash register ringing all the way from the planet Tatooine…

Not only will you get richer from the experience, it’s the right thing to do…

Plus the fans want to pay you for a better experience – so give it to them!

(I’m not a fan, by the way – even of the original Star Wars.)

And then you have the comics kingdom where a main character can exist in many different universes SIMULTANEOUSLY, with different characters surrounding the main character and storylines that don’t cross each universe.

The “Spiderman” series of comic books are done this way. There’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” title, and “The Sensational Spider-Man” title, “The Spectacular Spider-Man” title, “Web Of Spider-Man” title, “Ultimate Spider-Man” title and other titles involving this character, all appearing at the same time at one time or another – as if the stories on the other series don’t exist!

What’s more…

You can also create one single universe for one concept but with different characters in different backgrounds!

After all, we have CSI:Vegas, CSI:Miami and CSI:New York all being shown at the same time, don’t we?

Not only that – you may run into broadcasts where one episode from each CSI series is shown back to back! You get a total of 6 murders in 3 hours, solved by 3 different CSI Teams!

Best of all, Horatio of CSI:Miami sometimes makes an appearance in CSI:New York to talk to Mac Taylor on a case that involves their “mutual” victims…

Whether it’s the world of fiction or otherwise – you can print money again and again if only you want them badly enough.

All that is required is your own desire and plenty of creativity.

Both of which human beings have in abundance – as you can see above.

Right?

Talk soon.

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/business-profitability/profits-rising-from-ashes-and-different-bodies.htm

Technorati Tags: Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Spiderman, Spider-man, CSI:Miami, CSI:New York, CSI, CSI:Vegas, Star Wars, Die Hard 4.0, Spice Girls, Take That, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sigourney Weaver, Aliens 4, George Lucas, Business Profitability, Authors, Entertainers

At $34.99 per book, the total sales is a whopping $290,417,000.00 (that’s $290 million big ones).

In just 24 hours.

And only in the US.

Incredible.

There is no bigger author than Rowling in the entire world today – and I’m happy to be able to witness her influence on Pottermaniacs’ wallets.

Truth be told, I have never liked Harry’s stories as depicted in the movies.

And I’ve never been inclined to pick up a copy of any one of his 7 adventures to start reading them either.

I simply couldn’t understand what all the fuss is about – although I do have a good imagination myself.

But this isn’t about me – but all of Rowling’s adoring fans out there.

And their parents who are probably like me (if they’re not a Potterhead themselves).

The difference is that they have to buy the books for their kids and take them to the cinema for another experience of the same stories.

My son’s less than 2 years old so I’m spared the “expenses” here. Lol.

(But he would be about the right age in a few years’ time – just in time for the movie version of “Hallows” – and I would have to buy all of Harry’s adventures on DVDs starting from Book No.1 – 6 for him to make sense of No.7!)

But what makes this last novel the most successful of all the 7?

In one concept:

Closure.

In 2 concepts:

Closure, and Rowling says she’ll never write another one.

In 3 concepts:

Closure, Rowling says she’ll never write another one, and some beloved characters meet their end in this final novel.

In 4 concepts:

Closure, Rowling says she’ll never write another one, some beloved characters meet their end in this final novel, and everything will only be revealed on July 21st 2007.

Of course, there’s a “5th concept” - the series themselves must be a succesful one leading to the final novel.

So put them all together – and the blockbuster launch was imminent for MONTHS before it even happened.

So is Harry one of them who dies?

I still don’t know because those I’ve asked haven’t finished with the book yet – but I truly don’t care as I’m far from going insane if I don’t find out soon enough.

The only reason I asked is simply because of all the speculation on his end, by others who do.

And they’re all dealing with me every single day.

So all I want is a list of all the characters who did die – so that if I were to meet any Pottermaniac nearby, I could just blabber the dead names out and he’ll think I’m another Pottermaniac – never mind that I have no idea what the last story covers.

I’ll instantly become “one of them”.

And you know what happens when you’re one of them?

Right – they’ll instantly become more comfortable with you.

And what happens when this happens?

Miracles happen when people like you.

But I’ll talk about this another day.

Anyway…

Here are the “Marketing In Your Pajamas” lessons that you may be able to twist and then incorporate into your own product, if appropriate:

1. Kill off some characters in your final book, but don’t mention who they are other than the fact that their deaths will “shock” everyone (this is great for the fiction category – what would be a shocker for your own?);

2. Declare you will never write another book in the series again (this is a limitation factor in play, although there is no limit to the number of books being sold in the series – what would be a limitation factor in your case?).

3. Play them all into a launch date.

Notice how the launch is going to happen anyway – exactly like it had for all the other 6 books in the series?

So all Rowling has done now for the 7th is to declare 1 and 2 above – and then make sure she fulfills her promise.

And her profits exploded beyond the stratosphere.

The downside, of course, is that she ends at book No.7, especially if Harry dies.

And when the movie version finishes, she has shut off her profit pipelines using Harry for good.

Or has she?

Of course not.

Because when the money’s right – miracles do happen.

All you need is a couple of additional Pajamas Marketing concepts and a whole planetload of money get printed again, from scratch.

Talk soon.

Sen Ze

P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/harry-porter/harry-potter-and-pottermaniacs.htm

Technorati Tags: Harry Porter, Potterheads, Pottermaniacs, Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows, fiction, book launch, J.K. Rowling, JK Rowling, book publishing, authors

It’s a “technique” that gets you what you want by making people around you like you.

If fact, it makes you an IMMEDIATE HIT with your Prospects.

Not only will they like you, they will REMEMBER you.

Not only that, they CANNOT forget you, no matter what happens.

Even YEARS later, when you yourself have forgotten their names or how they even look like!

Best of all – when they call out to you on the street (remember, they wouldn’t be able to forget you even if they wanted to), you will IMMEDIATELY remember their own names!

Now which of your Prospects don’t like to be remembered (fondly) by others?

But let’s get back to YOU, as this technique is about you first, although it’s also about your Prospects.

When you’re liked (and remembered – which goes hand in hand with likeability), you increase the chances of getting what you want, significantly.

Now imagine the effect this powerful concept will have on your business and personal life.

It’s something worth thinking about.

And all you need to know is what to say to the people you would like to do business with.

It involves the following questions:

1. What’s the sweetest sound in the universe to any person?

2. Why is that the sweetest sound in the universe to that person?

Here are the answers that form the basis of this awesome technique.

The sweetest sound in the world to any person, of course, is his own NAME.

This is a FACT.

(Check out Dale Carnegie’s classic book, “How To Win Friends And Influence People” that has a chapter or two on this).

There are minor exceptions (as always), but the vast majority of people LOVE to hear the sound of their own names.

Why?

I mentioned this before, and I’ll say it again.

We LOVE ourselves.

This is the reason why we can look in the mirror every day and feel sad that a wrinkle is appearing, or the hairline is receding or the waistline is expanding.

Otherwise we couldn’t care less.

And our names is a shortcut to everything that’s us. We use our own names to refer to ourselves.

This fact gives you a very potent tool to get ahead in your careers or businesses.

So how do you apply this knowledge?

Simple.

It’ll work only when you’re meeting somebody for the very first time. There are other conditions, but I’ll get to them soon enough.

So okay, both of you don’t know each other’s names and have never met before.

You think he may be a good Prospect for your business.

This is what you do.

Ask him for his name.

Let’s just say he says his name is “Paul Jones“.

Okay. Now this is EXTREMELY important.

You respond with the following:

“What? That’s TOTALLY AMAZING.”

Then you wait for his response.

He’ll say, “Why is that?”

And you say (this is EVEN MORE important – listen up):

“Because my name is PAUL JONES too!”

“Isn’t that amazing?”

(Of course it is. I’m in shock even as I write this.)

Do you see what you’re doing?

WHATEVER name he calls out, you respond with the SAME EXACT NAME!

Now tell me this.

How soon do you think he’ll forget your “name” after that meeting?

Right. NEVER .

Because it’s his name too and he, of course, NEVER forgets his own name.

Think about it. How many people in the past have you met that have the same exact name as you do?

Right.

NONE.

And because it never happens, we take full notice of our namesake when it does.

Your Prospect will be doing exactly this, to you.

Since he absolutely likes to hear the sound of his own name, some of that liking will transfer over to you as well – and you don’t have to do much to earn it, apart from repeating his name back to him

Powerful, no?

But that isn’t the only benefit with this technique.

Once you’ve repeated his name back to him, YOU can IMMEDIATELY FORGET it from that point on, and you will IMMEDIATELY be able to RECALL his name even years later when you see him again.

How?

Because when you share the same exact name with somebody else, he’ll be affected more by this than you because it really isn’t your real name, but it is his.

So when he sees you walking down the street one day – you can bet that last dollar you have that HE’LL GREET YOU FIRST by calling out his name to you (and probably laughing as well), because he thinks that’s also YOUR NAME!

And what happens when this happens?

RIGHT!

YOU NOW KNOW HIS NAME AS SOON AS HE HAS GREETED YOU!!

You need never, ever be caught not knowing someone’s name again.

Brilliant, no?

This works equally as well for the opposite sex.

How?

For example, she says her name is “Georgia Smith“.

You say, “That’s TOTALLY AMAZING! Because my name’s George Smith!”

She says “Christine Langton“.

You say “REALLY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. I’m Chris Langton!”

She says “Pauline Zega“.

You say “I DON’T BELIEVE THIS. I’m Paul Zega!”

Heck, it works even when you’re of a different race.

Let’s say you’re a male Caucasian.

He says his name is “Kareem Abdul Jaabar“.

You say, “THAT’S TOTALLY AMAZING! My name’s Kareem Abdul Jaabar too!”

He says his name is “Hiroshi Hiratha“.

You say, “YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS. I’m HIROSHI HIRATHA too!”

Of course, you’ll have a great time too telling the story of how you got that name.

And here’s AN EXPLOSIVE mix of race and gender, and you don’t have the male equivalent of her name:

She says her name is “May Lin“.

You say “ARE THE STARS ALIGNED TODAY? My name’s May Lin too!”.

In fact, the more different you are to your name (as in you’re of a different race and gender) which is also the other person’s name, the STRONGER the effect will be on him or her.

Try it – it works like crazy!!!!

Here’s another variation of this powerful concept that is equally as important to you in your personal and business life.

What’s the next thing after a person’s name that she will NEVER EVER FORGET and treat equally as important?

Right.

Her birthday, of course.

So if you want to remember another person’s birthday, all you have to do is to ask her, and whatever date it is, you say…

Well, what do you say?

Of course.

“Oh, that’s totally AMAZING. That’s MY birthday too!”

(You’re such a quick learner…I’m so proud of you.)

So when her birthday comes, you can bet she’ll be thinking about you. And if she calls to wish you a happy birthday (on the day it isn’t), you KNOW it’s her birthday, and you can wish her back!

Can you imagine how happy she would be – even though she’s the one who actually reminded you of her birthday?

NOTE:

The above methods work best under the following conditions:

1. You are in a one-to-one meeting with the Subject
You can’t do this in front of people who know you’re not “Paris Hilton” and your birthday isn’t on the 29th February. You just can’t, and you shouldn’t, you hear me?

2. You appear totally amazed and excited
You must be happy that you’re sharing the same exact name/birthday with someone else, because in real life, you would be.

3. You must be able to lie convincingly
Yep, you’ll be throwing your ethics/morals out of the window. It absolutely won’t work if you feel guilty or nervous when you’re talking to them.

If you can do all of the above, you’re all set.

Sen Ze

P.S. Do I use this “Name” technique? Are you crazy? Of course not. Can’t you see my name in your browser?

P.P.S. The logic behind this technique is very sound, even though the morals/ethics behind it are not. I don’t actually use it and you shouldn’t either. It’s a joke, so lighten up.

This “technique” is shown to you so that you realize just how important our names are to ourselves and others – so if you don’t already have a Personal Domain Name that is made up of your actual name, click below and get one now:

Personal Domain Name Plan

P.P.P.S. A buddy of mine ACTUALLY uses the “Birthday” technique! I know because some lady called him up on his cellphone and wished him a happy birthday when we were talking, and he wished her back – in front of a confused me, because he had celebrated his birthday 2 months before with a bunch of us!

P.P.P.P.S. In the OMINICITI Personal Domain Names Directory (which has 700+ listings of websites with Personal Domain Names now), there are two “Susan Isaacs“.

One Susan Issacs is found at www.SusanIsaacs.com, and the other one is found at www.SusanIsaacs.net (if you can’t get the dotcom version of your name, get the dotnet version, or whatever version you can get your hands on because once they’re gone, they’re likely gone forever).

Both are totally different people doing different things. One’s an Author, the other’s an Actress. If you put them together at a party, you can bet neither will forget the other and what she does and show she looks, for as long as they live! Check their sites out – you’ll see how different they are in all aspects even though they share the same name.

P.P.P.P.P.S. You can link to this post with the following URL:

http://www.SenZe.com/business-blog/names/how-to-make-others-like-you.htm

Technorati Tags: networking, business networking, dale carnegie, how to win friends and influence people, name, names, business introduction, remembering names, how to remember names, positioning, business positioning, personal domain name, domain name, SOLOBIS, Project SEGO