I'm at Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City, getting ready to make the trek home to Colorado after a week of visiting with family and friends. I've had some time to reflect on the year and would like to take a stroll down memory lane.
The year started with a crazy idea. I knew that others had dabbled with the idea of doing an Internet reality show, but no one had really taken the concept by the horns and pulled it off. I thought it would be interesting to combine the reality show idea with Internet marketing, and "The Next Internet Millionaire" was born.
In February, I moved my family and two of my employees to Loveland, Colorado. I have spent the first 42 years of my life in Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma, so it was time to move somewhere that wasn't flat and boring to look at. We have found the front range of the Colorado Rockies to be just what the doctor ordered.
By April, Eric Holmlund and I had begun the casting call for the show, with a debut of the trailer video at Armand Morin's Big Seminar. I had the opportunity to present from the platform at the conference and people were wowed by the new project. We had something like 300 people submit an audition video for the show, and in a first, we invited the public to vote on who they would like to see compete.
In May and June, I traveled to Orlando and Los Angeles to speak at Harv Eker's Never Work Again seminar. Both events were packed with approximately 1000 people and I can't recall ever having so much fun teaching from the platform!
By July, we had selected the twelve contestants for the reality show and the web was all abuzz with talk of the show. You can check Google to see some of the things people were saying.
July also provided the opportunity to come out with a new product. Since 7/7/07 only happens once in our lifetime, Eric and I launched the 777 Firesale. It gave people a chance to pick up our Instant AdSense Templates starter kit for a bargain price. We sold out in a matter of days.
At the end of July, our contestants were brought on location for the reality show shoot, and one of the greatest experiences of my life began.
Eric and I scouted out a location, and with the help of Micah Stover and Fletcher Groeneman, turned the 8000 square foot warehouse into a real set ready for filming the world's first competitive Internet reality show.
I need to give proper credit to the people who really made this show happen.
Without Eric Holmlund, the show never would have been the professional production that it was. I like to say that I was just the monkey in the suit with the microphone. Eric was the true mastermind behind the project.
Without Fletcher Groeneman, the show would not have had the artistic flair. His talent with Adobe After Effects and the visuals that resulted truly gave the show a style that could compete with any network television program.
Without Jay Stocker, the show would have been without music and sound effects. I believe that music really drives the story, and Jay brought pure hollywood magic to our story.
And without the countless others who ran cameras, held boom mics, chaperoned our contestants and guest speakers, brought meals and managed my wardrobe, this production would have never happened. I am truly grateful and indebted to every single person who gave their time and talents to make The Next Internet Millionaire a success!
The two weeks we spent shooting the show was like a fairytale dream. Getting to meet the contestants face-to-face, spending time with my friends and associates and watching the competition take form was a fantastic experience. Eric and I were constantly surprised at the twists and turns that took place, and the storybook ending was better than we could have scripted.
I want to say a special thank you to Carly, Debbie, Steve, Laura, Big Jason, Nico, Alisande, Jason M, Thor, Charles, Jaime and Christine. You were a great cast and I can't wait to see the things that you are going to do in the future. :-)
The show wrapped on August 4th, and episode one was live on the web by August 17th. In retrospect, Eric and his team took on an insane task. With most reality programming, the post-production team has several months to produce the show before airing the first episode. We gave ourselves TWO weeks! What a learning experience for everyone.
Week after week, the team pumped out another episode. And the show just kept getting better and better!
I turned down about a dozen speaking engagements this year because I wanted to stay close to home in case I was needed for something show-related. I am looking forward to getting out more in 2008, though. :-)
Week after week, the drama unfolded, both in the show and off the show. I regularly received calls for interviews related to the show. Revenue Magazine and The Denver Post did great pieces, as did many other publications and media outlets.
Episode 12 revealed that our two finalists both had the opportunity to do a joint venture with me. So Charles Trippy created Viral Video Fever, while Jaime Luchuck released her book, From Cubicle Slave to the Next Internet Millionaire. Both launches were a resounding success!
The show concluded with episode 13 in early November, and Eric and I were ready for our major product launch by the middle of the month. During the filming of the show, the contestants learned from our twelve teachers, and they received up to two hours of teaching each day. However, viewers of the show only saw three or four minutes of the teaching in each episode. We regularly heard the demand for more of the teaching, and that led to the release of The Secret Classroom, which has been very well received.
It's been a very exciting year, to say the least.
What have I got in the works for 2008? Stay tuned. Things are just starting to get interesting. :-)
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
