- Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale 2019
- Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale Book
- Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale Event
- Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sales
- Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale 2020
There are so many different ways to get traffic, build sites, and pick products to promote when starting your online business, as Ryan Lee an entrepreneur and success coach shares with us yesterday in part 2.
It is used when the original salesperson is unable to close the sale and he will “Turn Over” the prospect to another representative. The other use for the “T.O.” is when the original salesperson HAS closed the sale but there are potential add-on products or services that are best presented by a specialist. Sales is something you have to commit to on an ongoing basis. You can’t just try it for 30 days! It takes persistence, energy and focus. Think of the sales process in terms of bike riding. When you ride a bike you have to gain momentum. When you first start to pedal, it takes extra energy to get the bike to move.
Ryan is the author of 2 books “The Millionaire Workout” and “Turn Your Passion to Profits”. Today, lets take an inside glance at some of his suggestions to making your first online sale.
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Craig: Right, fantastic. Something that that guy said, he said he spent three months doing his product and I hear that all the time from people. It’s a huge mistake, even if you’re creating the right product. So why don’t you talk about how quickly people should be able to create a product, get it out there, and make that first sale.
Ryan: Well, I’m like you. Depending obviously on the product and how much research is involved, there are obviously different things at play, but I personally don’t think there’s any reason why it should take more than a week to create a product, especially if it’s something you know pretty well.
One of the easiest way I do it, I like multimedia products. You can create a multimedia product just using something like PowerPoint. What I recommend is you create a presentation of the product in PowerPoint. You have all the different slides and the handouts and all the different screenshots. If it’s fitness, you do the pictures of exercises and all that kind of stuff in PowerPoint. You record it right through your computer as you’re giving the presentation. You could use a screen capture video program like Screen Flow or Camtasia, and now you’ve got video.
You can then get a program that can take the audio right off of that so now you’ve got MP3s you can give out. And then you take all those handouts of the PowerPoints, you turn them into a PDF file, and now you’ve got handouts. You could even go a step further and then have the whole thing transcribed and now you’ve got more text.
So you’ve got audio for the aural learners, you’ve got the video, and you’ve got the text for the people who like to read and the handouts. You’re getting all the learning styles. You can get it done in one day and there you go. You get the product out. It doesn’t have to be perfect but you start testing it. You start testing the market to see what‘s working and what’s not. I’ll give you a little trick, not really a little trick but a little piece of advice.
If you put the product out and you’re not sure it’s going to sell, here’s what I recommend you do. Put it out and offer it as, “Hey, I just created this new product. We’re going to be selling it soon but I need some feedback. So I’ll be giving it away to the first 50 people who email me and tell me why they want a review copy. But in exchange for you having this program, you have to promise to give me some type of review, good or bad, whatever. What that’s going to do is a few things. It’s going to give you really good feedback to make your product even better and here’s what it really does. If you can’t give away 50 copies of your product for free, how the heck are you going to sell it?
Craig: Right, great point.
Ryan: If you can’t give it away for free, you’re not going to be able to sell it. If you find you’re like oh my god, I have this greatest program, it’s called Stop Sweating 101, people are going to love it, and you can’t give away 50 copies, there’s no way you’re going to be able to sell a thousand or ten thousand of them. That’s what I recommend.
Craig: That’s really great. I’m absolutely with you. You can create a product really fast. You should be creating a product on something you already know and people just want great content. It was really amazing how you walked through delivering it in every learning style. The other tip that I would throw in is that one thing that you’re doing with the live seminars, you put money on the line. You can’t back out. And I found that doing that, a different version of the method you use, where you actually go and you hire a videographer and you film a seminar, even if it’s just you in a hotel conference room, you’re at least on the hook for a couple of hundred bucks, and you’re going to get the content ready, and it’s actually going to get done by that deadline day when you booked the videographer. So that’s another way to light the fire under someone’s butt to actually get it done.
Ryan: It’s funny because I do talk about that a lot, about setting external deadlines. I’m a huge proponent of that. When I did my first fitness DVD, that’s what I did. The first thing I did was hire the videographer. Even with this event, the first thing I did, the very first thing I did was open my calendar saying here’s the date I want. If I’m going to kind of run you through the process, that was I had the idea, I let it kind of roll around in my head for about 24 hours, I always want to sleep on it. Sometimes it sounds really good today, and tomorrow I’m like what the hell was I thinking? But I don’t let it sit for more than that. I let it sit for 24 hours.
First thing I did was say okay, I want to do this live event. I open the calendar. “Okay, what kind of date and timing is going to work? I didn’t overthink it. I didn’t look at every single holiday in every country. Well, it’s beer day in Germany, I can’t do it. Enough with the excuses. Obviously, you don’t want to launch it on Super Bowl but besides that, just roll with it. I got it in the calendar then immediately I found the space. I called three to four different spaces, I drove around, I looked at all the space and I found the one space that’s going to work. I negotiated, I locked in the space and then I got the videographer. So now you’re right. I was on the hook. I had that external deadline and come hell or high water, I’m putting it together because I have no choice. You have to.
It’s almost like when I used to have a job where you would work and you knew at Friday at 5 o’clock, you’re going on vacation and you had something to get done. You’re going to get that thing done by vacation and you’re going to work like a mad man to get it done. I’m with you 100%, setting those external deadlines and even putting some money in it. Knowing you have to get it done is a great motivator.
Craig: Absolutely. Now what about the next step of having like an upsell or a back end product, where does the beginner-intermediate go with their next level?
Ryan: So obviously, you want to try to have some thought about it, sitting down first and looking at kind of what’s going to be your mix of products. Essentially, you’ll want to divide it. If you want to get really kind of the most simple version of it, you want to have some type of front end and some type of back end.
The front end is going to be that first product people usually buy. I’m saying usually because I had people come in and the first thing they’d buy is a thousand dollar workshop with me. It used to be more the rule when it was direct mail and you’d just mail someone and they’d buy that first thing, but essentially, people are really going to buy maybe a $40 or $50 or maybe a $100-type product, usually under $50, and that’s just to get your buyer.
From there is where the big money is made and that’s the back end. Then there’s going to be products anywhere from $99 to like $500. That’s what I call kind of the mid-range products and the bulk of your sales is going to be there and that could be combinations of home study kits and webinar programs and training and multimedia courses. So that’s again between the $100 and $500. Then for $500 and up is going to be usually be more coaching-type programs, inner circles, the more expensive continuity programs.
So you want to look at it as a little bit like a funnel. People call it the marketing funnel although I don’t necessarily think it has to be a funnel. But the thing is, the most difficult thing to make is that first time sale. The person who doesn’t know you, getting them to your site and buying is the toughest thing to do. But once they’re in, once they’ve purchased and assuming they have a good experience, you deliver what you promised, they see that you really care about them, then selling future products is simple. You barely even have to rely on sales copy.
Now I’m not saying your sales copy should be terrible, it should still try to be good, but you really don’t have to work that hard. You can probably do it, Craig, and I could do it. Once you have someone in and they’re buying, you can easily then do a $200 or $300 product with one page of sales copy or even a short video. I’ve done a videos sitting at my pool with my kids, talking for two or three minutes and selling a multi-hundred or multi-thousand dollar product. Just concentrate really two things, the front end, low priced, get them in as a buyer.
Then you’ve got the back end stuff.
Craig: That’s awesome, man, really great. Now what about when somebody comes to you and just joins your free list. What approach do you take to help them see that there’s more value in your products? Do you do autoresponders? Do you get into webinars? What’s your best way doing things there?
Ryan: You know, I’ve gone back and forth with so many different things. I’ve gone the whole autoresponder out, I understand the power and I know they work. However, what I’ve been doing lately? I stopped my auto-responders and all I do is once someone subscribes, because I am prolific and I’m always putting out new content, once they subscribe, they’re just in my daily updates. Almost every day, I send new content. It’s always fresh. It’s always topical. That way, right in, they kind of get the voice of what I’m saying. I send them to my blog, they comment, they start interacting. So for me, right off the bat, I get them into the content funnel, essentially.
Craig: But then how do you communicate with people? Is it mostly written words still? Are you doing half and half with video? Or mostly video?
Ryan: It’s s still mostly written. For a long time, I was doing almost all video and I know video works really well. The only reason I stated doing written is because I started working from Starbucks more because I just find I’m more creative when I’m working at a coffee shop and it’s really hard to do a video in a coffee shop. Even though it might not be that loud, it picks up, the camera and the audio picks up everything and it’s really loud. So that’s why I started doing written and I just find that people really like the written. They could read it anywhere. They could read it at work. I am going to be doing some more video. I’m going to be doing some more audio but for now, it’s mostly written.
Craig: Yeah, when it comes to your products though, it changes, right?
Ryan: Yeah, my products are mostly, they’re usually multimedia. Like I was saying before, it’s audio, video, and text so I get all the different learning styles. And the sales process of the products, I’m always trying different things. One time it could be a video sales letter. Another time, like I said, it could be me sitting at the pool. If you look at WorkAnywhereLIVE.com, depending when you go, if you go there now, it’s a video of me in my home office, it’s like three minutes long and that’s it. I’m always trying to change it up. I don’t want them to ever, always say, “Okay, here’s Ryan. Here’s what you’re going to do. Here’s how’s he’s going to sell me.” I want to keep them kind of guessing and keep it fun and fresh as well.
Craig: Yeah, I mean that’s one thing about you. You’re just like a really super fun guy and that’s your personality. That’s your approach that comes out here. Now what do you teach people who are a little less extroverted? What do you teach them and how do you guide them towards having success through their personality?
Ryan: That’s fine. I don’t expect everyone to be like me, always joking around and having fun. There are people who are successful who are definitely more introverted. You’ve just got to find your voice and if you’re really bad on video then don’t do video. Then just stay with written word. If you have a terrible voice and no enthusiasm, then stay away from audio as well and stick with the written. It’s also tough because if you’re building a whole brand around, let’s say—just because we know fitness so well—let’s say you’re fitness guy and you’re whole brand is you know hey, I’m a boot camp guy and I’m going to kick your butt and blah, blah, blah and you’re like, “Hi, my name is Jonathan,” and you’re like dry as toast, there’s a real disconnect between what you’re saying and what you’re doing.
As long as there’s continuity between your message and you then I think it’s okay. If you’re a financial analyst, people want you to kind of be a little bit more serious and if that’s the tone. You just have to make sure the tone matches. If you’re reading my emails and you’re reading my blog posts and then you see me on video and you hear me on an interview, I’m the same guy. It’s the same voice. It’s the same words. It all kind of connects and it makes sense. It’s congruent essentially, as opposed to me being up one time and really serious in an email and then joking around. It just feels kind of goofy. I hope that makes sense, Craig.
Craig: It totally does. Being yourself is really what it comes down to and being around Ryan Lee is something that a lot of people want to enjoy every day. That’s one thing that’s really great and you’ve done a great job of leveraging your personality.
We’ll be back more tomorrow with more tips on how to make money online.
To your success,
Craig Ballantyne
Craig Ballantyne
If you want to double your income, work less, and become the ambitious millionaire you've always wanted to be... Craig Ballantyne is the coach who will help you do it. With more than 20-years of experience as an entrepreneur and five 7-figure businesses under his belt, he specializes in helping 'struckling' entrepreneurs get out of the mud and build the business of their dreams. To see if you qualify for Craig's 'Millionaire Coaching Program' send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line 'Millionaire'.
While first sale for export (First Sale) has been eliminated from the EU, with full effect from December 31, 2017,1 it is still alive in the United States. As a result, it is worthwhile to revisit First Sale and to refresh recollections about how it works. It still has the potential to deliver significant savings to the importer.First Sale for Export Doctrine
The doctrine derives from the statutory definition of Transaction Value, which is the preferred basis of appraisement for articles imported into the United States.2Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale 2019
It is based on the price actually paid or payable when the goods are sold for export to the US. Thus, customs valuation in over 95% of imports is based on a qualifying “sale for export” to the US. But what if there is more than one potential sale, as when an importer buys goods from a foreign vendor who, in turn, buys goods from another party to fill the US customer’s order? In essence, there are back-to-back sales. Which of the sales can—or must—be used as the basis for setting transaction value? With the application of the First Sale doctrine, even though the importer pays the vendor for the goods, if there is an earlier qualifying sale, the importer can elect to pay duty on that earlier sale. In essence, the markup of the vendor, who is the middleman in a chain of sales, is taken out of the tax basis for the imported goods. What is anomalous is that the importer is not a party to the first sale, between the middleman and the factory or other seller of the goods.All of this seems a dream for the importer and, indeed, First Sale can deliver big savings IF the strict conditions for its application are met. Make no mistake, the rules allowing the use of an earlier sale are clear and unambiguous. Moreover, the burden of establishing eligibility for First Sale is squarely on the shoulders of the importer. As a result, the burden on Customs and Border Protection is actually quite manageable. In the US, the conditions under which customs valuation might be based upon an earlier sale in successive sales were formulated in two court cases, Nissho Iwai American Corp. v. United States,3 and Synergy Sport International, Ltd. v. United States.4 Administrative guidance took the form of a Treasury Decision issued by the US Customs Service, CBP’s predecessor, on 13 December 1996 (“TD 96-87”).5
To be clear, CBP begins the customs valuation process with a rebuttable presumption that the price paid or payable by the importer is the basis for the transaction value. This presumption can be rebutted by any importer who would furnish an earlier sale as the qualifying “sale for export” on which to base transaction value. An aspiring importer must prove that, at the time of this earlier sale transaction, the goods were “clearly destined for the USA” and that the sale price in that transaction was an arm’s length price. Thus, amongst the information that the importer must provide is the following:
- The roles of all parties in the successive transactions must be described in detail and documents provided for each transaction that was involved in the exportation of the goods to the US. Such documentation would include purchase orders, invoices, contracts, proof of payment and additional documents (e.g., correspondence) that demonstrate how the parties dealt with each other. These documents must support the claim that the goods were clearly destined for the US (direct shipment, US specifications or labeling, etc.).
- Any information on the so-called “statutory additions” to transaction value should be provided (packing costs, selling commissions, assists, royalties / license fees and proceeds of subsequent resale)6 for the subject transaction.
Over the course of more than twenty years, CBP has issued scores of published rulings which amplify its administrative guidance and demonstrate the pervasive use of First Sale.
As an example of a losing importer effort, one might refer to ruling no. 547155 (Mar. 22, 2001) where the claim for first sale was rejected for insufficient information. In a 2012 ruling, no. H221835 (Aug. 13, 2012) an importer’s claim for first sale was also rejected. The conclusion points to the process employed by CBP:
Although [the importer] satisfied two tiers of the Nissho Iwai test for three out of the four protests, i.e., its goods were clearly destined for the United States and the transactions were at “arm’s length,” the available evidence for all four protests does not establish that the transactions between [the factory] and [the middleman] were bona fide sales. Therefore, the merchandise should be appraised based on the prices paid by BMC.
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There is insufficient and inconsistent evidence to substantiate a bona fide sale between [the factory] and [the middleman]. As such, the merchandise cannot be appraised based on the “first sale” price.8
If First Sale still looks attractive, it may be helpful to look at some questions that come up when considering First Sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How hard is it to obtain First Sale status?A. Obtaining First Sale is neither a “walk in the park” as some would suggest nor an impossibility as others would maintain. Instead, it is safe to say that it is an exercise that may be worthwhile but will require a lot of preparation. Before embarking down the path, an importer should conduct a rigorous review to determine whether the expected savings are worth the effort and whether the information and supporting documentation will be available. A fully cooperative vendor and sometimes a fully cooperative factory are essential factors for success.
Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale Book
Q. Can the middleman buyer/reseller be a U.S. company?
A. As explained fully below, there is no reason why a US-based company cannot act as a bona fide middleman (buyer/reseller) in a valid FSFE appraisement.There is no legal reason why an importer could not use First Sale with US-based middleman supplier. Such a factual occurrence is somewhat atypical but it is not at all unheard of. There is no ruling which I have studied in which CBP has stated that First Sale is not available because the middleman was based in the US. Nor have there been any rulings in which CBP has expressly cited to US residence as a positive factor in First Sale. But I can cite to rulings in which First Sale was discussed with a US-based middleman, which creates the inference that it is permitted. In ruling no. 545612 (5/25/95), for example, First Sale was successfully claimed by Sears Roebuck on luggage imports from China, Thailand and Taiwan where the middleman was York Luggage, a New Jersey company. In ruling no. 546316 (5/29/95) the importer of Absolut Vodka was a US company, Delaware Importer, the middleman was the House of Seagram, which was termed the “US Supplier,” and the foreign supplier was V&S Vin and Spirits, a Swedish company that was termed the “foreign seller.” CBP determined that First Sale applied to the price paid by the US supplier to the foreign seller.
Similarly, in ruling no. 545804 (2/27/96) the middleman was the US subsidiary of a Japanese company, and one of the questions was whether the documentation supported the premise that the US importer placed an order on the middleman or on the Japanese parent company. In ruling no. 546253 (7/9/97) the middleman was a US distributor. In ruling no. 547436 (8/10/00) the recitation of facts suggests that the middleman was a US-based company. This is because the middleman was a marketer and distributor of various types of products, implying a US presence, and the facts refer to the “foreign supplier.” Other rulings in which the middleman is implicitly US-based include ruling nos. 547642 and 547643 (12/1302) (middleman is AMC, described as a “US apparel sourcing company,” deals with “foreign vendors”), 548526 (1/5/05) (middleman deals with a “foreign manufacturer”) and 548494 (1/26/05).
In ruling no. H050895 (12/6/10), CBP had to consider whether Pro Line, a Wayne, New Jersey company, acted as a buying agent or as a middleman in an First Sale claim asserted by Bass Pro. CBP actually determined that the New Jersey company was neither a buying agent nor a verifiable buyer/reseller. But the important point is that CBP actually examined the facts and circumstances. Had the fact that the company was based in New Jersey been a disqualifying factor for First Sale, CBP would doubtless have made that point without expending any time on an examination of the facts. CBP’s silence on the point tells us that there is no such hard and fast rule against a US company playing a middleman role in First Sale.
As stated, none of the rulings ever make a point of addressing the country of residence or of business operations of these presumptively US-based companies beyond merely setting forth the factual recitations. My own belief is that the prerequisite for a valid middleman sales transaction in a First Sale context is that it must qualify as a “bona fide sale for export.” As there is no statutory or administrative qualification that the seller in a qualifying sale for export must be a foreign party, nor is there a rule against a US entity playing that role, a discussion of the seller’s residence is similarly misplaced in an First Sale appraisement.
Q. What is “flash title” and why should I care?
A. Flash title refers to a circumstance in which back-to-back sales show the same sales terms, such as “FOB Shanghai.” As an example, the factory-to-middleman sale is FOB Shanghai and the middleman-to-importer sale is also FOB Shanghai. If CBP sees a flash title scenario, they are likely to conclude that there are not two qualifying sales because the middleman has not definitely taken title and assumed risk of loss for the goods for a defined period of time. The middleman has taken title and assumed risk for an instant only. While there are some rulings in which CBP has accepted a flash title in the context of a First Sale claim9 their more usual approach is to deny that there were two qualifying sales for export.10 Absent special circumstances which would validate a “flash title” as not being inconsistent with a qualifying sale, importers are advised to steer clear of fact patterns where they will surface. This usually requires a change to the sales terms, so that there are differences between those supporting the two sales, and we must be mindful that there may reluctance to any such change.
Q. What about Section 1059A; does that cause a problem for an importer/taxpayer who claims First Sale?
A. Section 1059A normally sets a ceiling on the value at which goods imported by a related party taxpayer may be carried in its inventory. While this would normally preclude the affected importer from paying duty on a First Sale basis and then claiming its actual price paid to the middleman in accounting for its taxes, the IRS has held that there is no problem caused by Section 1059A.11
Q. Is there a problem if the factory and the middleman are related?
A. Yes. When the factory and the middleman are not related parties, the sale price is presumed to be at arm’s length. By contrast, a factory/middleman relationship creates an additional burden for the importer to meet, specifically, to not only show that there has been a bona fide sale but also to show that the first sale price has not been influenced by the relationship. In these efforts, the importer must rely on all of the devices which would be employed in a related party pricing scenario. These include transfer pricing studies to meet the circumstances of sale proofs. Of course, the complicating factor is that the sales transaction is a foreign-to-foreign sale.12
Q. How hard is it to show the goods were clearly destined for the US?
A. Normally it is not difficult to arrange the purchase so that it could be demonstrated that the goods that were the subject of the first sale were destined irrevocably for the US. Importers will normally look to track model or style numbers, quantities and other particulars in the POs and invoices, and will also insist on a drop shipment of the goods from the factory to the importer’s facility in the US. If it can be shown that the goods are made to US specifications and sizing and/or that the labels, hang tags and packaging are for designed for the importer, then that will help demonstrate the goods are destined for the US. As another planning point, not inspecting the goods after they leave the factory then that will show CBP that the goods cannot possibly be diverted from delivery to the US. One final point—if goods are delivered to a foreign trade zone (FTZ) in the US, then the importer must organize the movement with great care because CBP might conclude that the goods admitted into the FTZ might not be entered into the US upon their withdrawal. Such a diversion would disqualify the goods from First Sale treatment.
Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale Event
Q. What about an alternative to First Sale? Are there any alternatives in which the importer can make use of a middleman sourcing strategy?
A. As an alternative to First Sale, the importer could make use of a buying agency structure. In the latter approach, the importer would rely on an agency to coordinate its purchases from foreign vendors. The buying agent would earn a nondutiable commission and that is obviously a worthwhile benefit. The downside is that the commission rate, which would be subject to the same IRS transfer pricing scrutiny as the profit earned by a buyer/reseller middleman, will generally generate a lower compensation for the middleman than the profit that might be earned by a buyer/reseller (think functions, assets and risks).
Conclusion
Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sales
Regardless of contrary developments in the EU or the WCO, it is important to remember that First Sale remains a valid option for importers into the US.Turn That First Sale Into The Next Sale 2020
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