I'm Interested, but...

I still have some lingering questions.

What an amazing response! I knew that our industry was screaming out for an event like this, but even I was shocked by the incredible response this program has created.

But many of you have lingering questions. I have answered many of them individually over the past year and so I will share with you some of the questions I’ve gotten about this unique event.

I've attended these "boot camps" in the past, and it seems like I'm just paying money to have a bunch of people stand up and try to sell me something. Who all is going to be speaking, and what are they going to try and sell me?
I actually like to attend the "pitch-fest" gatherings that you are talking about. But this is NOT one of those. There will be a very limited amount of certain props that we obtain at wholesale and pass on to those who have purchased the performance rights to the show, but this is done as a service and will only be available to those who purchase the full program. If you are just attending the Marketing Workshop, you will have an opportunity to purchase show licenses, but you do NOT need to purchase anything to be able to take this system and begin raking in revenue. If you are really interested in finding out what happened at the conference, you might want to read an article written by Tim Sonefelt and published in the KIDabra Journal in their Jan/Feb 2007 issue. Tim has granted me permission to reprint that article in it's entirety for you HERE.

Will there be ANYTHING for sale?
I put forth such an effort to avoid any hint of a workshop that was designed to sell product that I had several complaints after the 2008 workshop from attendees who felt that having SOME product available (but not heavily promoted) would have increased the value of the workshop. We are considering having a small "store" on the last day, in a separate room for those who would find value in this, but it will not be heavily promoted. The primary purpose of the workshop is to GIVE you what you need to be successful. There will be nothing that you need to buy in order to make the program work.

Who are the speakers?
One of the changes that we made in 2008 (based on the feedback we got in 2007) was to introduce some guest speakers. The positive feed back we got this year from the guest speakers means that this will be something that we will be expanding for 2009. Included next year will be my wife Andrea who handles all the office end of things. There was also some very real interest in hearing from other past attendees of the workshop who have taken their business to new levels. Their talks won't be case studies, but rather their perspective on some of the core curricula that is part of the workshop. I have also arranged to have actual clients come in and speak to the group about what we do from THEIR perspective as this was clearly a highlight of the 2008 conference.

While a speaking line-up is subject to change at any time, you can expect to hear from professional business consultants and accountants about setting up your business and record keeping systems, professional actors to share how they quickly learn new scripts, writers about how they create effective programs, teachers about what they want from assembly programs, etc.

When is the event?
January 2 - 6, 2009. Plan on flying in on January 1 as we start early each day (8 am) and run the full day, usually breaking for dinner just before 6 pm. There are scheduled breaks throughout the day as well as a 90 minute lunch hour. Your starter kit will include more detailed travel information and will be sent to you in the fall of 2008 after you register.

If you are doing so well, why would you give away all your secrets for an amount equal to what you make in just a day or two of school shows?
This is one of the best questions I got, even though it was framed in a different way. Still, I think it deserves an answer, so here it is: If you visit my past schedule (http://julianfranklin.com/schedule2.htm) you will notice two things: One, I am very busy. And Two, I perform almost exclusively within about 250 miles of my home.

For a while I considered how I was going to exit this business (a thought that EVERY business person should consider). I wanted to ultimately be able to sell the business and began to contemplate how I might eventually do so. The idea occurred to me that I could sell the business and keep it too!

I still protect my market area, just as ardently as I protect YOURS (see some of the other questions about performance rights later on). I share my information, my systems, my marketing methods, my shows, my scripts, and even a team of professionals to help you develop your business, and I do it because it has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on MY LOCAL MARKET!

I literally get to have my cake and eat YOURS too!

Of course, I’m not the only one to benefit. You get a turn-key business, with limited e-mail coaching and consulting for a fee that is less than half of what you will make doing a week of school shows. You get to learn every aspect of my business from the outbound marketing, to the phone calls, to the booking, through the performance, even into the follow-up, the re-booking, and how I stimulate loyal and satisfied customers to spread the word of mouth.

The school kids in your market benefit because they get an Educationally Significant program that makes a difference. Your local teachers will thank you, your local parents will thank you, and your local school districts with thank you.

The only people who don’t benefit are competitors in your market area who want to take advantage of the offer, but linger and wait as they find excuses to put it off for one more year. They will be the only ones to kick themselves about this event once the opportunity slips away once and for all.

FIRST: Due to overwhelming demand we have decided to release additional shows this year so that more people from a given area can join the program with a proven show. This is why we are having a "Blow Out" final year. Rather than releasing the shows one-per-year as we have for the first few years, we are releasing EVERY show this year so that there is no excuse for anyone not to succeed.

SECOND: Even if you choose not to learn another show, you can still learn ALL the marketing systems and learn how to sell a show of your own in a market area determined by YOUR own needs and desires. The training in this workshop is literally changing the way school shows are performed and the sooner you jump on board, the less likely you are to fall behind the curve. I know it sounds like hype, but visit my schedule, re-read the testimonials from past attendees and decide for yourself. If it isn't everything I've promised you can get all your money back, but there is a reason why an average of 72% of all attendees return the following year. You do NOT want to miss this event.

What has changed from this upcoming event compared to what you did in the last few years?
Originally only one person per market area was allowed to attend. However, after discussing this with the attendees, everyone is in agreement, that others in the market area doing BETTER shows, only improves the marketplace for everyone. For this reason I have opened up the event to others in a market area to learn:

How to write, script, and structure an educational assembly program that will GET BOOKED!
How to market the show in a way that will result in almost instant and widespread word of mouth
How to perform your show in such a way as to create two, three, five, or even ten additional bookings from each show you perform.
What words to use in your promotional materials that will magnetically attract buyers, and which words to avoid
How to re-think your business and stop hunting for shows one at a time. Learn how to book shows in huge blocks.
How to work with other like-minded performers as a TEAM so that your competitors become allies and everyone works more.
Realizing how important it can be to have your spouse or business partner involved in these systems, we have waived the spouse's tuition. We used to charge a very modest $495 for additional team members, but for 2009 spouses and bona fide business partners can attend for FREE.

So this year I have opened up the event by offering multiple shows to choose from as well as offering instruction on how to create your own unique educational assembly program. If you already have a marketable assembly program, then you are miles ahead. You will learn a few techniques you may want to implement with your show and then prepare to market it in a way that WILL revolutionize your business. If you own someone else's "show-in-a-box" you will learn how to modify it in a way that it will become unique and will actually become a viable, marketable show.

I've also put page numbers AND tab dividers in the manuals! (inside joke).

Where is the event held?
Houston, Texas.

The exact details of the hotel and conference center information will be provided upon your confirmed registration.

Can I bring a friend?
You can bring a spouse or bona fide business partner at no additional cost. I want you to be able to succeed and I think that if you have the support of everyone on your team it is easier to implement and take action. This is why we have completely waived the spouse tutaction. This is a new policy for 2009 and one that I think everyone will benefit from.

You cannot bring in someone from an area outside of where you perform for reasons explained later on in the question about performance rights. You are also not allowed to bring in a compeer (i.e. someone not directly involved in the operation of your business) as an associate. You will share a single set of classroom materials.

I tried to sign up on-line and your shopping cart charged me a shipping and handling fee. Why would I get a shipping and handling fee on an event where I am flying in to attend?
When you first register you will be sent a starter packet. The postage alone on this monster package is what you are paying for. I am paying for everything inside, including all the workbooks, and lists and schedules and such. I’m paying for the packaging. The shipping fee covers the postage to get these items to you.

Are the shows you are selling REALLY that marketable? I thought "Bullying" was the hot topic?
For reasons you will learn when you arrive, the shows we sell are unbelievably profitable and marketable. There are a great number of myths circulating about getting booked in schools. Unfortunately most of these myths are perpetuated by performers who might perform 25 or 50 school assembly programs in a year, and many are spread by marketing "experts" who simply re-cycle the ineffective strategies and tactics from some other marketing "expert" who never did more than 8 school shows in a month.

I do as many as 100 school shows in a single MONTH. I work an average of 4.7 weekdays per week when school is in session (NO WEEKENDS!!) and an average of 3.9 weekdays per week during the summer (NO WEEKENDS!!). I assure you, I know how to sell programs and I know what schools are buying. Your eyes will be opened and you will go home laughing at your competition (or they will come home laughing at you).

One of the attendees of the 2007 session, upon hearing how I combine my shows and my marketing in the way that I do said "That's not even fair!" I admit it. It really isn't. It isn't fair if one competitor has such a huge advantage that there is no competition at all. But you can bemoan the fact or you can learn the advantage and use it to best interest.

In 2007 we offered a show on Geography and once the attendees learned HOW I sell the show, people scrambled to buy performance rights for states they didn't even live in, just because they were still open and they (at that point) saw the value in writing a show the way that I do. In fact, one of the returning attendees had already sold the Geography show to the tune of $12,000 worth of performances before he even attended the January workshop. By using the tools we learned in 2006 he was able to sell his 2007 show before he had even learned it!

You'll learn these same things when you attend and you can either purchase a viable show, or easily write your own. If you understand the MARKETING then selling the show becomes the EASY part.

Do we get the performance rights?
If you are attending the Full workshop, then Yes. You get exclusive performance rights to a copyrighted production for an area stretching out starting at your state lines, but incorporating other nearby states until you have a market population of about ten million people. That's a very large market area, but I wanted NO excuses for failure. I expect everyone who attends to double their business within twelve months and double it again within an additional twelve months. In order to maintain the integrity of these performance areas if another performer from your area attends the workshop they will be learning a completely different show.

Remember, regardless of whether or not you purchase performance rights, EVERYONE can still attend the marketing portion where you can learn to sell your own show using these proven systems.

Who else gets the rights to this show in my area?
No one. Not now, not ever. This show will be taught and shared only once. During these established dates. No one, at any time, will be able to purchase the performance rights to this show in your market area as long as you are performing it.

What is this "Marketing Workday" option?
Each night, starting right after the dinner break, and all day on the final day of the workshop, we are going to have a host of professionals offering their services for one flat fee of $495. So far we have the following services that we expect to be offered:

Web site domain registration
Web site design and construction
Digital promotional photography including a variety of costumes, props, and backgrounds
Photoshop work if needed
Consulting with a professional accountant on tax issues and business structure
Help finding showcases and performances in your area
Help developing mailing lists and finding phone numbers of key people to call
Help making phone calls if you need it
A collection of supplies to create simple props and promotional items based on the ideas covered in the workshop
Videography of short promotional videos
Help with comedy writing
Puppetry and Ventriloquism coaching
Private Marketing coaching

What do I need to bring with me?
Once you register you will be sent a starter packet with a work book, itineraries, schedules, and other information, including a list of stuff you may want to bring. But ultimately, it comes down to bringing a passionate desire to learn and grow your business, and a willingness to open your mind to a new way of thinking about everything you do.

You may want to bring a notebook, but everything you see will either be inside your manual or you can request a copy and we will print you one on the spot. Everything in my office and business is yours for the asking at this event, so you don’t need to bring much.

What is included with my registration?
Complete access to me and my business for the duration of the workshop. More importantly you will learn how we integrate every aspect of your business in such a way that the shows sell themselves. You will learn how to make phone calls, but you will also learn how to never need to make them.

Everyone gets access to my systems, my suppliers, my staff, and my experience. You get to ask me ANY question about the business you want and you get the expectation of an honest and candid answer.

You get to learn the ins and outs of exactly how I create a show that is so remarkably different from anything else on the market that it practically sells itself. If you already have a school assembly program you will learn how to modify it so that it will sell like it should have from the beginning. You also get a starter pack that includes workbooks, schedules, itineraries, and other items that will be sent out a month or so before your scheduled arrival.

Upon arrival in Houston you get a thick notebook full of forms, contracts, guidelines, and scripts of systems I use to keep my office running with a minimum of hassles and a maximum of profits.

You also get a marketing manual, which contains color copies of marketing materials, sales letters, and actual print outs of real e-mails I have sent out, as well as e-mails my clients have sent to me, and e-mails my clients have sent on my behalf in order to book shows for me. You will earn exactly how to get them to do this for you as well. If, at any time you want additional information and it has not been provided, I will print copies at my expense and provide them for you.

My business is your open book.

Can I pay on multiple credit cards?
If you don't have available credit on one card for the whole purchase, you can pay in different formats. Example: $XX on Mastercard #1, $XX on PayPal, $XX on Visa #1, $XX on Visa #2, etc. I want you to be able to attend if this is something that will benefit you. Whatever it takes to make it happen, I'm willing to work with you. We accept Visa, MC, Amex, Discover, PayPal, personal checks, money orders, Diners Club, cash and barter with certain forms of livestock.

Of course, I'm just kidding...we don't actually accept Diners Club.

I hope you are ready to make 2009 THE year for you and your business. I also hope that I am able to help in some way. If you have any questions that are lingering (no matter how big or how small) please drop me an e-mail at julian @ julianfranklin . com and let me know.

I look forward to helping you grow your business this coming year.

Give me a Business!
I want to learn how to create a program that sells, then learn exactly how to sell it over and over almost on autopilot and create exponential growth in my business. I want to learn the systems used to make the business run on autopilot so I can focus on doing what I love: performing. Please sign me up for the Marketing Only portion of the workshop to be held January 2-6, 2009. Just $1,497 (Does NOT include licensed show)

I also want to attend the Marketing Workdays!
I want to attend this amazing workshop where I leave with a turn-key business, and I want to hit the ground running. I'd be crazy not to attend the Marketing Workdays where I have unfettered access to CPAs, professional comedians, professional web designers, professional photographers and videographers, professional copywriters, Photoshop experts, puppetry coaches, and others all ready and willing to work for me to get my business off the ground before I even leave the workshop! This is just $495 which brings my total for the Marketing Workshop and the Marketing Workdays to just $1,992 (Does NOT include licensed show)

Give me a Business! And put it on a SILVER PLATTER!
I want it ALL! I want to learn how to create a program, but I also want to get started with an already proven program, complete with marketing materials and script. I want to be able to return home and IMMEDIATELY begin booking shows with a PROVEN, POLISHED program. Most of all, I want to learn how to take these ideas and build systems that result in a steady stream of repeat, referral, and spin-off business that keeps me as busy as I care to be, earning the fees I deserve. Just $1,997

I also want to attend the Marketing Workdays, so serve mine on a GOLD PLATTER!
I want to attend this amazing workshop where I leave with a turn-key business, and I want to hit the ground running. I'd be crazy not to attend the Marketing Workdays where I have unfettered access to accountants, professional comedians, web designers, photographers and videographers, professional copywriters, Photoshop experts, puppetry coaches, and others all ready and willing to work for me to get my business off the ground before I even leave the workshop! This is just $495 which brings my total for the Entire Workshop and the Marketing Workdays PLUS a proven program to just $2,492

NOTE: You WILL be charged a shipping fee for the starter kit we will be sending you. This has the information you will need in order to make preparations for this life-changing event. All bonus gifts will be given upon your arrival at the event.