2002 - September Issue

Once I understood how much (how very much) a new client was worth to them, I came up with a great idea! I said they should get some paper money from each of those Pacific Rim countries. Then they should take a bill from each of those countries and put them all together in a stack and wrap a rubber band around them. Then they should scotch-tape each of those stacks of money to the first page of a sales letter and send the whole mess by Fed Ex or DHL to all their prospective clients... and then... follow-up with a person-to-person phone call.

Imagine: You're a top dog exec in a big fish company, you get a Fed Ex package with a letter with a packet of actual money from various Pacific Rim countries scotch-taped to the first page of a letter like this:

Top Dog Exec

c/o Big Fish, Inc.

123 Elm St.

Massillon, OH 44646

Dear Mr. Top Dog Exec:

I am writing to ask of you a small favor.

All I want is for you to take the rubber band off the packet of money attached to this letter and look carefully at each of the bills. They are all real. Each one of these bills is an official government banknote from a different Pacific Rim country.

Why am I sending you all this money? The answer is simple: You see, your company, Big Fish, Inc., manufactures a line of products that would sell like crazy in every one of the Pacific Rim countries from which I have sent you a sample banknote. This could be a brand new profit center for Big Fish, Inc. which, in fact, could turn out to be... even bigger... then the domestic market for your widgets here in the U.S.

In truth, selling your product line in these countries could become a dream come true for Big Fish, Inc. It has the realistic potential of tripling your corporate profits.

On the other hand, attempting to market in these countries can become a nightmare for an American corporation if they don't have the right connections and are not aware of local business customs and all the other inside secrets that makes everything go smoothly and profitably.