| Project Challenges |
| Numerous challenges were identified and overcome to successfully launch phase 1 of this project for Element Press and the VentureMIND authors. With the authors working on their next book in the series, the mindpoint.net outsource team had to capitalize on the precious little time available with the authors to learn as much about their needs and target audience as possible. The challenges resided mostly in the areas of marketing the events nationwide to the correct audience, and then managing the registration, confirmation, and setup process for the attendees. Details such as the venue types, catering, material management, and equipment logistics all had to be handled by mindpoint.net in a professional, timely and cost effective manner. Other challenges that would present themselves came in the form of converting the book and all associated materials very quickly into formats readily accessible over Internet Learning Channels. |
| The Result | ||
| At this stage the seminar series launched by mindpoint.net for Element Press, and the VentureMIND authors, has had great success. When compared to previous seminar efforts launched by Element Press the mindpoint.net solution scored very well in all aspects of the effort saving them money, decreasing their time-to-market, and representing them in a highly professional efficient manner leading to better profitability in this seminar venture. Seminar attendee feedback has been enormously favorable and we look forward to building on that momentum as we launch their Internet Learning Channel slated for July of 2010.
With phase 1 successfully launched the mindpoint.net team is in the early stages now of converting the book, handouts, and recorded audio and video of the authors into a high-impact Internet Learning Channel complete with communities, blogs, downloadable area, interactive video channel, and a Podcast schedule. |
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| The Solution |
The solution to this two-part set of challenges had itself a two-part solution from mindpoint.net. The first set of challenges regarding the turnkey setup of a seminar revenue engine was handled by the training program outsource team at mindpoint.net. This team is fully equipped to handle all aspects of building and marketing live training sessions both in real world venues and the digital world of web-conferencing. Element Press was able to leverage economies of scale with mindpoint.net's infrastructure gaining significant cost savings and decreased time to market in the following areas: 1) Material publishing costs 2) Material delivery costs 3) Operational logistics including travel for the seminar speakers 4) Venue selection, setup and cost 5) Catering 6) Equipment management and setup 7) Interactive Learning Elements embedded in MS PowerPoint or Flash formats to act as powerful seminar enhancing visual aids 8) Attendee management including: marketing, registration, confirmation, billing, feedback, opt-in online communications, and problem resolution. The second part of the solution involved the building of an Internet Learning Channel and broadcast on mindpoint.net. Using the eMERSIVMEDIA content production group Element Press is currently underway in the process of building a state-of-the-art online educational portal to extend the VentureMIND franchise brand into a global business community and expanding the revenues significantly. The bottom line is mindpoint.net took the hassle factor out of the equation for Element Press, Wes, and Alex and allowed all parties to focus their attention on future success. |
| Case Study Categories |
| Authors | ||
The authoring team of Wes Merkana and Alex Speicher had enjoyed much success in the publishing of their VentureMIND series of books. In conjunction with their publisher, Element Press, Wes and Alex decided to extend the reach and scope of the VentureMIND book series and launch a two-part growth plan: Seminars and an online educational venture targeting busy executives that couldn’t make the seminars, but wanted to build on the knowledge acquired by reading VentureMIND. |
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| While Wes and Alex wanted to capitalize on the ability to gain significant incremental revenues from the expansion, they remained vigilant in not letting this new direction distract them from their main focus: More VentureMIND books and the growth of their consulting practice. |  |
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| They viewed the seminars and the online educational venture as important sources of additional revenue, and a great vehicle to extend brand awareness of their book series and consulting practice. To accomplish this they selected mindpoint.net to launch and manage their seminar events and when appropriate start the construction of the VentureMIND Executive Internet Learning Channel. |
| Project Goal | ||||
To launch a nationwide seminar series that would augment revenue to the VentureMIND franchise without drastically impacting day-to-day operations. When successful the seminar series will be converted to a self-paced web based training with live instructor interaction periodically for an online seminar experience. Success metrics and milestones were outlined by the authors' business objectives. |
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