If you’d like to know the whole story, check out the video I just recorded (seen below).  Now as I mention in the video, there are some important marketing lessons learned from a Christmas tree that falls not just once, and messes up all of the lights, but later falls again and shatters 30-40 glass bulbs, breaks limbs, and nearly gives my dog a heart attack.

So without further ado, here’s what I learned starting from when we first purchased this Christmas Disaster tree…

Fallen Christmas Tree Lessons

Lesson 1: When someone is trying to sell you something, bigger is not always better.

When talking to the Christmas tree dude at Home Depot, we discussed the size of the tree we needed.  The conversation lead to how high our ceiling is and how great it would look to have this massive tree in our living room.  Before we knew it, we left with one of the tallest trees they had.

When it comes to purchasing “how-to” marketing products online, sometimes buying the biggest course you can find on the subject matter you’re interested in isn’t the best move.  Some of the best information comes in easy-to-swallow bits of information via ebooks, videos, blogs, etc.  And of course, when it comes to Christmas trees, sometimes bigger isn’t always better.

Lesson 2: If a product launch fails once, find the problem fix it, then try again.

When the Christmas tree fell the first time, (just after I had spent a couple of hours stringing 14 or so strings of lights almost perfectly and hiding all the wires) I realized the tree must have not been as secure in the base as I had thought it was.  I had to pick up the tree and really work hard to secure the tree in the base so it’ll stay in there for good.

If your product or business launch fails (or falls) on the first try, pick it up, and do whatever is needed to build a more solid foundation (think Christmas tree stand), such as recruiting more affiliates and JV Partners, ensuring the copy on your website is top-notch, etc.

Lesson 3: If your entire business crashes and things break, you may have set up the wrong foundation.

Once we spent another couple of hours hanging countless boxes of red and gold glass bulbs on the tree, we finally got a chance to take a step back and awe our work.  We had our Christmas tree.  Finally after multiple trips to Garden Ridge, Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores, the frustration, dealing with Christmas tree lights that contained lead, and many other factors, it was all worth it.

An hour later, I was up in my office and heard a loud CRASH, SMASH, BANG, and pops from the glass bulbs shattering on our tile floor.  I knew the tree had fallen… I just didn’t know how bad it was.  Glass was everywhere.  About a gallon of water was everywhere on the floor.  It was a mess.

I was amazed to see that the Christmas tree was still connected to the stand and that the whole tree, stand and all had tipped over.

This makes me think about the many product launches we’ve seen where servers crash on launch day.  The proper foundations were not set up to handle the traffic to their site and the servers and site crashed and burned.  As you learned in # 2, having a secure foundation on the marketing side is important. But here, you also want to have the proper foundation (servers), not to mention the right size (bandwidth) foundation in place before you launch a new website/business.

Lesson 4: If all else fails, toss it aside in your backyard and move on.

After 5-rolls of waterlogged paper towels, 3 shopping bags full of glass, and a garbage back full of hundreds of pine needles and branches, it was time to throw in the towel.  We removed the few bulbs that remained on the tree, ripped the lights off, and then I carried the tree corpse to it’s current resting place… our backyard.

How did all this happen?  I did not do my proper research when looking at tree stands.  Although the box said that it could support up to a 10-foot tree, they must have only tested it with a small, skinny 10-foot tree.  I should have went with a stand that could support up to a 15-foot tree, just to be on the safe side.

Do your research before setting up a Christmas tree and of course, before you launch your business/website.  Too many people dive right into a niche without doing their homework.  Research the niche, then set up your foundations both on the marketing and technical side to ensure your business (tree) stands tall.

Sometimes we get excited about an opportunity, dive right in, only to crash and burn a few days, weeks, or months later.  I’ve been there and done that many, many times back in the day.  If for whatever reason that opportunity or business crashes, get out the broom, pick up the mess, then seek out a new opportunity or market that you’ll do our due diligence on.

Lesson 5: Opportunities often arise after a crash.

One example here is the economy.  We’re in a recession which is one of, if not THE best times to launch a new business.

Now take my Christmas tree incident here.  I was able to find an opportunity to build my business a little because of the crash.  I posted some comments on Facebook, Twitter, and of course, here on my blog about our mishap.  I tried to make what would normally be a frustrating time a little amusing for others at my own expense.

And because of that, over the last couple of days I have exposed myself and my blog to many new people, and the number of new viewers is growing every minute.  Even as I write this I see an email has just come in letting me know someone new is following me on Twitter.  How cool is that!?

—> By the way, you can follow me on twitter by going to: http://twitter.com/whackedout

Lesson 6: It’s the Holiday Season and it’s time for me to launch…

“The Limited Edition WhackedOut Holiday Sales Letter And Consulting Super Saver Special!”

Need a sales letter for a new product you’re working on or recently completed?  

Well you’re in for a treat! For the month of December, I’ve decided to take on three or so new clients at a totally WhackedOut discounted price for a sales letter.

I’ve written many salesletters over the years and had some big homeruns recently that allowed one of my clients to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in pure profit thanks to the sales letter I wrote for him. The conversion rates have been crazy.  You wouldn’t believe me even if I posted them here.

Over the years I’ve written sales letters for myself and my clients that have brought in over a million dollars, over $700,000 in the first week, over $300,000 the first week, and many others that generated numbers into the six-figures, along with many smaller small niche salesletters that generate thousands of dollars fo my clients.

Anyway, contact me and I’ll show you samples of my copywriting.  Let me know what you need, when you need it, and I’ll offer you my WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discounted price.

Need some consulting for your product or business launch?  

I’m known as the “Idea Guy” in a few marketing circles I frequent.  My consulting services are also included in the WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discount I’m running this month.  Contact me and we can discuss your needs.

Until next time!