When you get tired of watching
the markets collapse, go check out www.mousedriverchronicles.com/newsletter/newsletter.htm.
We've posted all of the past Insiders on-line...please
pass on the link to anyone that might be interested.
Lessons
Learned
Sometimes, when you're already
taking a risk, taking more risks just seems natural. Anybody
who's experienced the pleasures of a casino should know
what we're talking about. Over the last 9 months, we've
tried to share our MouseDriver risk-taking experience
with all of you by putting together and distributing The
Insider. Now, in an effort to generate more "buzz" around
the product (and to allow others to share in our experience),
we are opening up The Insiders to anybody interested.
The way we see it, there's nothing in the past Insiders
that can really effect our current business...we're too
far down the line. I mean, who cares if a major distributor
reads that we were working out of our kitchen...right?
So, all of the past Insiders can be found at www.mousedriverchronicles.com/newsletter/newsletter.htm.
Feel free to pass this link on to all of your friends,
family, work colleagues and anyone else who you think
might be interested in our gig. We'll keep tabs and let
you know how this viral marketing campaign develops.
As part of our marketing campaign,
we've set up a web affiliate program for MouseDriver.
Affiliate programs allow other websites to sell MouseDriver
without having to deal with processing the order, holding
inventory, shipping product, billing, collecting, etc.
An affiliate just puts a picture of MouseDriver on their
website that says "Buy Me" and when a visitor clicks on
the picture, they are directed to MouseDriver.com. We're
hoping that the affiliate program will help to spread
the MouseDriver name, generate more brand awareness and
increase sales. The only problem with all of this stuff
is that we have to manually approve each website that
wants to sell MouseDriver. Otherwise, MouseDriver ends
up being sold on random sites that sell stuff like guns
and logo'd condoms.
MouseDriver has been generating
a ton of interest overseas. While we would love to introduce
the product to the whole world, we're a little hesitant
in fulfilling the 10,000 unit order sent to us by a Chinese
golf ball manufacturer. Call it a fear of knock-offs,
but sacrificing the cash flow right now to maintain our
product positioning is well worth it. We're still sticking
with our strategy of finding US distribution first, outsourcing
all of the fulfillment crap and focusing on selling/marketing
this thing in North America. Not to say that we won't
entertain overseas distribution inquiries (in fact, we
have sold very small quantities to European distributors),
just want to make sure we focus on the strategy that we
set way back in the Summer. Keep the product high-end,
maintain the price point and help "pull" the product through
the retail channels.
On a more personal note: We are
putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to make this MouseDriver
gig work. Since graduating from Wharton in May, two of
our classmates have already sold their .com company's
($68m and $30M respectively). Every time we hear something
like this, we tend to question what we are doing...especially
from a financial standpoint. Recently, we've fielded a
number of questions from friends asking us "Why would
you manufacture a computer mouse shaped as the head of
a golf driver when everyone else is going into ecommerce
and making millions of dollars?" It's a very thought provoking
question and the only real way that we can answer it lies
in the quote below:
"If you want to make your dreams
come true, you must sacrifice the need to follow."
What We've
Done
- Signed up with Commission Junction
to help us manage our affiliate program.
- Collected on all of our PGA Show sales
as well as our outstanding account receivable.
- Spent 2 hours being interviewed by
a major business publication/magazine. Hopefully, if
the story does run, we won't come out of it looking
like complete jackasses.
- Added zip code search functionality
and The MouseDriver Insiders to our website. Retailers
like the zip code thing because it tells on-line customers
where they can purchase off-line.
Priority Goals
- Initiate a PR campaign that is focused
more on business rather than golf publications.
- Continue to find distributors in other
MouseDriver market segments.
- Find larger office space (preferably
for less than the $70/square foot that we're being quoted
out here in the Bay Area).
- Launch a massive viral marketing campaign.
Mood
Meter: Hungry and Motivated
Questions, comments, or criticisms
about the Insider? Email us at info@mousedriverchronicles.com.
© 2000 Platinum Concepts,
Inc.
