Sen Ze’s Business In Your Pajamas! Blog

I did something I’ve never done before in my entire life.

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

It’s now Wednesday and I now know if Harry survived.

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

J.K. Rowling’s latest novel, “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows” broke all book sales record by selling 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale in the United States last weekend, according to Scholastic Inc.

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