If you run in IM (Internet Marketing) circles at all (take that literally or figuratively, it works either way), you’ve probably heard Mike Filsaime is releasing his Butterfly Marketing Script to Open Source. What’s that all about? Is it genius or stupidity?
Butterfly Marketing was a huge product for Mike. I can’t tell you all about it. Not because I’m sworn to secrecy but because I never bought it. Lots of folks did though and lots of folks made some good money using it. Lots more never made a dime. But that’s not Mike’s fault.
In any case, I wanted to take a moment to examine what he’s doing NOW with a product that is well past it’s prime. He’s giving it away. Does that mean it is now worthless? Not at all. As far as I know the system works as well as the day it was launched. So is Mike foolish for giving it away? It’s not the first foolish thing Mike has done. I know that for a fact.
Several years ago Mike was struggling to make a decision – whether to quit his job to pursue IM full time. He was making more in IM than his job paid but he loved his work. And his job was a pretty good one. He was a sales manager for a large auto dealer and also ran the co-op marketing program for a dealer association. But there was a price.
He was commuting several hours a day on top of working something like 60 hours a week and THEN working in IM in his “spare” time. He asked folks in the Warrior Forum if he should quit his day job. Not being one to hold back my opinion, I sent him an email and cut loose.
I thought he was being foolish and I told him so. My point was not so much that he should quit his day job, though IMHO he should have, but of all the time he was spending working. I know he was married. I wasn’t sure about kids, but come on… there’s more to life than work. Even for me!
Anyway he did quit. We’ve emailed back and forth a few times on different subjects but I daresay he wouldn’t know me from Adam should I call him today. I say that just so you don’t think I’m putting on airs about “who I know”. So what about offering his flagship Butterfly Marketing for free?
Not so foolish as far as I’m concerned. As a matter of fact there are some valuable lessons to be learned from this.
Sure, Mike is giving this away free. And yes, it IS valuable, at least to those who will take action. But don’t you think for a minute, Mike will give this to you without an offer. And this is where his genius shines.
After you give Mike your name and email (he has mine 2-3 times over) he’ll add you to a list and send you to a special offer page. There you will have a chance to join his development group and adds a huge bundle of bonus items all for $200. I said “not thanks”. And here’s an obvious twist I’ve never seen before…
Mike takes you to a second page with a reduced price offer. Nothing special here, I HATE marketers hawking a markdown after I refuse full price. But Mike did something I thought was smart…
He cut some item out of the bonus as well as the price cut. Not only that but he also showed you what you were missing. Genius. And it makes you wonder why you never thought of doing that. I do it all the time with copywriting quotes.
I never quote a price and then offer a lower price for the same work. Why should I do that? When I price something, I price it fairly (in my eyes) and offer good value. If I were to offer, say a 10% reduction for the same deal, I might as well say my quote was overpriced. So what do I do?
If you don’t like my price, I offer less for less money. And that is what Mike does here. He sticks by the original value he offered but made something less pricey available for cost conscious marketers. Good stuff.
Now it’s my turn to do something “foolish”.
I’m still not buying. Why?
Because I do not need the distraction of the Butterfly Marketing stuff. My focus right now is on building my copywriting business. To that end I am not even offering a link to the script. I’m sure if you pop Mike’s name and Butterfly Marketing in Google, you’ll find it.
God bless,
Andy
P.S. I’m putting the finishing touches on my Case Study Primer. I wanted to have it done by now but alas, it was not to be. If you want both the new report and my current one on web site mistakes at no charge, subscribe to my blog alerts now.
P.P.S. And if you need a quote, feel free to contact me, I still have openings on my schedule but you need to allow a minimum of two weeks in advance. Use the contact form to the right or call me directly at 443-254–3703.
