Welcome to today’s VidTao Blog Post, your one-stop destination for all the latest in Direct Response video advertising.
Today’s briefing is a 4 minute read:
- 🎸💜 Prince’s Pioneering $3M/month online DTC business
- 📺 💰 Direct Response Product launch secrets from the founder of “As Seen on TV”
- 🏎️💨 How to apply “Money Loves Speed” to your Direct Response campaigns
Let's dive into the content...
Direct Response Wisdom from Prince
Let's talk about Prince. 🎸💜
Yes, Prince is one of the top-selling artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide.
But did you know Prince was also a Pioneer in the Direct to Consumer online business?
Back in 2001, Prince launched the NPG Music Club, a pioneering online direct-to-consumer platform that gave his fans access to exclusive music, videos, ticket access and more.
Screenshot of Prince's NPG Music Club website from 2001. Sourcer
And get this:
At its peak, NPG Music Club had around 400,000 members…
…Bringing in an estimated $3 million + in MONTHLY revenue.
Remember this was back in 2001, back when Spotify or Shopify didn’t exist and back when Amazon was still mostly selling books…
2001 Jef Bezos before/after (source)
Most of that revenue went directly into Prince’s pocket, thanks to his groundbreaking approach to owning the rights and distribution of his material.
(which is an incredible story for another day…)
Prince pioneered (and killed it) in the “creator economy”, 20 years ahead of schedule:
…Raking in millions every month by connecting directly with his fans and delivering exclusive content they couldn't get anywhere else.
The man was a visionary, in both music and in online business too.
But what was the secret sauce behind Prince's unparalleled success?
It all boils down to his incredible CREATIVITY.
And what was Prince’s secret to creativity?
This amazing video from “make art not content” breaks down 6 creativity lessons extracted from Prince’s life’s work:
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/@makeartnotcontent
Definitely check it out 👆
And while watching this video, it was interesting to see the parallels between what made Prince such a prolific creative genius…
(Possibly the most creative output from an artist, ever)
…And what’s made the best Direct Response marketers so successful.
(including one Direct Response TV legend we’re going to talk about today…)
So let’s get into it.
Today we’re going to dive into the first Creativity Lesson from Prince, and how you can apply it to Direct Response marketing…
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Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/@makeartnotcontent
Prince Lesson 1: Work Fast
Prince was a speed demon in the studio.
He maximized his time by working quickly, often showing up to the studio with a few rough notes like this:
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/@makeartnotcontent
…And then completing multiple, album-ready songs in a single day, playing all instruments & recording all vocals himself.
He created a culture of speed in the studio as well:
Engineers who couldn't keep up were shown the door.
Insane speed in creation = Insane creative output
And the result?
💰 Prince is one of the top selling artists of all time by volume.
And that number is no doubt going to continue increase over time…
Because inside Prince’s "vault” he has over 8000+ unreleased songs & 50+ fully produced but never-seen music videos:
View inside Prince’s Vault with 8000+ finished songs, never before heard. Source
All of which will probably get released at some point & add to his total sales numbers.
So how can you apply Prince’s “Work Fast” approach to massively increase your output (and results) as a Direct Response marketer?
Let’s take a closer look…
📺 How This Direct Response TV Legend Applies Prince’s #1 Rule…
You’ve heard it before:
Money loves speed. 💰❤️🏎️💨
And it’s true:
💰The faster you launch an offer and get market feedback, the quicker you can optimize and scale winners…
Or, if the offer doesn’t work out of the gate?…
🤔 You can fail fast, tweak your approach & re-launch (or scrap it entirely & pursue a new offer / opportunity)
How to Apply “Money Loves Speed” with AJ Khubani
AJ Khubani is a Direct Response TV pioneer, and he invented the “As Seen on TV” line of products.
(more on him & his approach to Direct Response in upcoming emails…)
Telebrands Founder AJ Khubani
You’ve probably seen some of his legendary Direct Response products like Ambervision sunglasses (which sold over 20 million units)
Watch the full ad here: https://youtu.be/eKCKA6evXec
Or PedEgg at-home pedicure kit (over 40 million units sold)
Watch the full ad here: https://youtu.be/eA8wLuO-H9Q
These are just 2 of the hundreds of products AJ has launched & scaled via Direct Response ads on TV.
Direct Response YouTube Ads Brainstorm Session (free)
Want help scaling your Direct Response offer/product on YouTube, Connected TV and other Direct Response Video Ad Platforms?
Schedule a FREE Brainstorm Call with Inceptly, the team behind $950M in Direct Response revenue here:
👉👉 https://inceptly.com/call
One of AJ’s biggest secrets to successfully launching new products?
It’s this:
Launch Fast. Fail Fast. And Don’t Get Attached.
🚀 Launch Fast
❌ Fail Fast
🙅♂️💍🙅♂️ Don’t Get Attached
Here’s AJ going into more detail on this:
“The most important thing is being able to fail - and I would say fail quickly… I'm in a business where we fail 95% of the time. 95% everything we test fails. We make money on the 5% but we fail quickly. The moment we see something's not working we punt and we move on to the next item. The biggest mistake I see is people fall in love with one idea and they just don't let go. Try to figure out if an idea is viable. If not? Move on. That’s the biggest piece of advice I can give.” - AJ Khubani (source)
Did you catch that?
- 🏎️💨 Move fast & find the 5% of offers that are going to make you money
- ❌❌ Cut the other 95% as quickly & ruthlessly as possible
Wrapping Up + Next Steps...
Prince's approach to creativity and AJ Khubani's "fail fast" philosophy both highlight just how important it is to MOVE FAST when it comes to Direct Response marketing.
By rapidly launching offers, getting market feedback, and optimizing or moving on, you can dramatically increase your output and results.
So take a page from Prince and AJ's playbook:
✅ Work fast
✅ Fail fast
✅ And keep creating & launching until you find that winning 5% of offers that make you millions.
…And then do it all again!
Your Direct Response success story starts with speed.
Good luck!
The VidTao Team
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Have a nice day!
The VidTao Team