

Ask HN: How to monetize & market Get In Anyway - eriksanchez

Hey guys (and the few girls on here too), Similar to the Fat Ninja Hot Sauce, my startup is also a little different from those normally submitted on here. I'm selling a physical product - my 'Get In Anyway' (GIA) guide. It's a step-by-step guide on how anyone can earn a Harvard degree, taking mostly online classes, and for about the same tuition as your state school.
Initially, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity for myself. But after realizing how few people were aware of this degree-seeking program, I decided to take it upon myself to let would-be students know that they have a second shot at education from a prestigious institution.<p>I decided to go physical to circumvent any and all piracy issues. Currently, I have everything setup to print/bind at FedEx office and ship via USPS to every country that ClickBank (CB) supports. Oh yea, I was recently approved as a CB vendor. And, yes, they now accept physical products. I also have an Amazon payments button commented out on my pages. But I recently noticed it's still showing up on some browsers. Anyway, back to monetization &#38; marketing...<p>One monetization option I'm considering in lieu of selling a physical book is lead generation. i.e., I'd make the contents of the guide available (section by section) online and generate leads for relevant offers.<p>This article made lead generation appear wonderfully lucrative: http://blog.mediadroit.com/2009/11/14/what-is-the-ideal-way-to-monetize-lead-generation/<p>And on marketing, I'm wide open to suggestions. Although I'd love to hear something crazy with the potential to put GIA on the map.<p>So I'd love to hear your ideas as to how you think I should monetize &#38; market this guide.<p>This is my site: http://www.getinanyway.com<p>Thanks!<p>P.S. I submitted this in the afternoon to see if that made a difference in the response I get.
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anigbrowl
I presume you're talking about Harvard's extension school and their distance
learning options: <http://www.extension.harvard.edu/DistanceEd/>

I'm put off by the $49.95 price, which immediately reminds of of 'Make Money
Fast with this AMAZING Secret Technique' courses - you know, the kind that
start 'Dear Reader, a few years ago, I was just like you....'. You actually
seem to be offering something more serious and less snake-oily, but as with
every other 'secrets of...' pitch I've ever seen, it seems to be a repackaging
of information that's fairly easily available already.

I personally think you'd be better to lowering the price to that of an impulse
purchase (eg $14.99), selling it via Amazon and accepting the revenue split in
their favor with CreateSpace products, and then sending out a few press
releases, along with complimentary copies to a few key education writers
(perhaps timed for a slow part of the academic news calendar). This is a bit
old-fashioned, but OTOH the whole cachet of a Harvard degree depends on its
institutional antiquity so you want the pixie dust only a serious endorsement
can provide.

~~~
JacobAldridge
Curious as to whether the target market is students choosing a college,
parents supporting their kids, or individuals later in life (after first
degree or even later).

If it's parents, and maybe even individuals with some life experience after
high school, then $49.95 may not be much. Everything else you say makes great
sense, especially the endorsements.

