Timothy Ferriss - The 4-Hour Workweek - Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Expanded and Updated

These companies, unlike options in the last chapter, specialize in not only processing credit cards but interacting with fulfillment on your behalf, removing you from the flowchart.

TransFirst Payment Processing (www.transfirst.com)

Chase Paymentech (www.paymentech.com)

Trust Commerce (www.trustcommerce.com)

PowerPay (www.powerpay.biz)

One of the Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Process credit cards from your iPhone and more.

Affiliate Program Software

My Affiliate Program (www.myaffiliateprogram.com)

Also see the affiliate programs listed in the “Tools and Tricks” at the end of Chapter 9.

Discount Media Buying Agencies

If you go to a magazine, radio station, or TV channel and pay rate card—the “retail” pricing first given—you will never make it big. To save a lot of headache and expense, consider using ad agencies that negotiate discounts of up to 90% in their chosen media.

Manhattan Media (Print) (www.manhmedia.com)

Great agency with fast turnaround. I’ve used them since the beginning.

Novus Media (Print) (www.novusprintmedia.com)

Relationships with 1,400+ magazine and newspaper publishers with an average of 80% of rate card. Clients include Sharper Image and Office Depot.

Mercury Media (TV) (www.mercurymedia.com)

Largest private DR media agency in the U.S. Specialists in TV but can also handle radio and print. Offer full tracking and reporting to determine ROI.

Euro RSCG (Cross Media) (http://www.eurorscgedge.com/)

One of the worldwide leaders in DRTV media across all platforms.

Canella Media Response Television (TV) (http://www.drtv.com)

Uses the innovative P/I (per inquiry) model for compensation, where you split order profits instead of paying for time upfront. This is more expensive per order if you have a successful campaign, but it lowers upfront investment in media.

Marketing Architects (Radio) (www.marketingarchitects.com)

The de facto leaders in radio DR but a bit on the expensive side. Almost all of the most successful DR products—Carlton Sheets No Money Down, Tony Robbins, etc.—have used them.

Radio Direct Response (Radio) (www.radiodirect.com)

Mark Lipsky has put together a great firm, with clients ranging from small direct marketers to Travel Channel and Wells Fargo.

Online Marketing and Research Firms (PPC campaign management, etc.)

Starting Small—Find a Local Individual to Help

SEMPO (www.sempo.org;see the member directory )

Excellent Mid-Size Firms

Clicks 2 Customers (www.clicks2customers.com)

Working Planet (www.workingplanet.com)

The Hard-Hitting Pros—Small Campaigns Start at Several Thousand Dollars

Marketing Experiments (www.marketingexperiments.com)This is my team.

Did It (www.did-it.com)

ROIRevolution (www.roirevolution.com)

Cost is determined by a percentage above monthly PPC spend.

iProspect (www.iprospect.com)

Full-Service Infomercial Producers

These are the companies that made Oreck Direct, Nutrisystem, Nordic-Track, and Hooked on Phonics household names. The first has an excellent DRTV glossary and both sites offer excellent resources. Don’t call unless you can budget at least $15,000 for a short-form commercial or $50,000+ for a long-form infomercial.

Cesari Direct (http://www.cesaridirect.com/)

Hawthorne Direct (www.hawthornedirect.com)

Script-to-Screen (www.scripttoscreen.com)

Retail and International Product Distribution

Want to get your product on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Costco, Nordstrom, or the leading department store in Japan? Sometimes it pays to have experts with relationships get you there.

Tristar Products (http://www.tristarproductsinc.com)

Behind the PowerJuicer and other hits. Tristar also owns their own production studio and can therefore offer end-to-end services in addition to retail distribution.

BJ Direct (International) (www.bjgd.com)

Celebrity Brokers

Want a celebrity to endorse your product or be a spokesperson? It can cost a lot less than you think, if you do it right. I know of one clothing endorsement deal with the best pitcher in Major League Baseball that cost just $20,000 per year. Here are the brokers who can make it happen:

Celeb Brokers (www.celebbrokers.com)

President Jack King was the one who first turned me on to this fascinating world. He knows it all inside and out.

Celebrity Endorsement Network (www.celebrityendorsement.com)

Celebrity Finding

Contact Any Celebrity (www.contactanycelebrity.com)

It is possible to do it yourself, as I have done many times. This online directory and its helpful staff will help you find any celebrity in the world.

LIFESTYLE DESIGN IN ACTION

After I read the section on outsourcing, I thought it sounded like a novel idea but would never work for me. However, since the rest of the book was “spot on,” I decided to try it. Rather than ship my money overseas, I opted to keep it in the U.S. and use my niece in college, with skills on computers I can’t even fathom, to test the theory. Turns out it has been a great experience and timesaver for me, as well as moneymaker for her. It seems I have all of the positives of out sourcing but none of the hassles of language and such…. Being able to mold a young mind for the better ties in well with the rest of your book …

—KEN D .

Hey Tim, You mentioned www.weebly.com a few months ago, and I’ve been using that to build all my muse sites and think it’s great! Also, Facebook groups has (almost) every niche imaginable. So what I have found success in doing is: (1) Finding a niche group that would buy my muse, (2) sending a message to each admin telling them how my muse will help their group members. Then politely asking them to put a blurb in the “Recent News” section of the group. This makes it more trustworthy than a wall post, and it stays up there (free advertising) until the admin removes it. One hundred times better than a wall post. In one case, the admin purchased my muse, posted my note for me on the groups’ “Recent News” section, then e-mailed the entire group telling them they have to check out my site.

—GAVIN

50. Richard Tedlow, Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built (2001; reprint, HarperBusiness, 2003).

51. This is adapted from “The Remote Control CEO,” Inc . magazine, October 2005.

52. Actually, I’m the ghost in new machines now, as I sold BrainQUICKEN in 2009 to a private equity firm.

53. “Contract outsourcing companies” can be as simple as dependable web-based services. Don’t let the term intimidate you.

54. Sample e-mail responses for fulfillment purposes can be found at www.fourhourblog.com.

55 Joseph Sugarman, Advertising Secrets of the Written Word (DelStar Books, 1998).

56 Depending on whose math is used (number of cars vs. gross sales), some claim the original Volkswagen Beetle holds the record.

57. For the benefit of the customer and to capitalize on universal laziness (me included), provide as much time as possible to consider or forget the product. Ginsu knives offered a 50-year guarantee. Can you offer a 60-, 90-, or even 365-day guarantee? Gauge average return percentages with a 30- or 60-day guarantee first (for budgeting calculations and cash-flow projections) and then extend it.