REVIEW - Confidential Internet Intelligence Manuscript Vol. II
The structure of the book:
The main subject of the Confidential Internet Intelligence Manuscript is what Mark calls the IPPLM-process for developing a business plan. IPPLM stand for:
- The Idea Generation Phase
- The Product Creation Phase
- The Pre-Launch Phase
- The Launch Phase
- The Maintenance Phase
Quote from the book:
The 5-Step Business Development Plan is something I developed for my consulting clients in order to assist them in the start up of any business.
Most of the people for whom I consult want to make the Internet the center of their business, so as such this plan has a clear Internet-focus.
This plan can be used by anyone in any business, whether online or off. The same principles will apply, but obviously if you’re starting an off-line retail business, for example, there are a great many other factors you’ll need to consider before you dive into launching your company.
Further, this plan is not just for start-up enterprises. If you’re already knee-deep in your business you should look through the plan to see if there is anything vital you’ve skipped and if not, at the very least you can apply the Maintenance Phase tactics continuously throughout the life of your business. Chances are, there are some very important steps here you’ve overlooked, so you would be wise to go through each of these steps and as you read, make a list of “to do” items for your business.
Don’t just write them down. For God’s sake do them!
For example, if you’ve never coordinated a concerted “launch” for your product, it’s never too late to do so – even if you’ve been selling the same product for years. You can always create a new and improved version, add some new features, or whatever your imagination can cook up as a good excuse for a brand new launch.
Another way to use this: If you are already an established company, but are launching a brand new product, you should still use this plan almost to the letter.
Yet another approach: If you are an affiliate or network marketeer, you could use this plan to launch an informational website that serves as a conduit for the products you’re selling.
As you can see, it’s really quite flexible if you just look at it the right way.
Pre-IPPLM
There are two main areas covered in the discussion of pre-IPPLM:
- The Gut Check
- Exit Strategies
The Gut Check
This chapter is one of the major reasons for why I like CIIM-2 so much. It’s is related to my off-line work as a Heart Focus coach and trainer and this is in essence similar to what I teach about how important it is to follow your heart in any major decision you make.
The gut check is geared towards making the decision whether you should actually get involved in having your own business. Many people *think* they should for a bunch of reasons their heads come up with - but if they’d take the effort to really listen within to what’s important for them, they’d learn that they’d be starting something which hasn’t got their hearts.
Now Mark is more like a cowboy perhaps in how he describes this - I’d be all soft of course and make die-hard marketeers perhaps puke with disgust about my approach - however it’s the same. And I happen to know from both my own and client experiences how extremely valuable this is. If you make wrong decisions - especially the major ones - you’ll be harassed by stress before you know it and this will bring you both short-term and long-term troubles.
I thought it was pretty courageous of Mark to make this such a large part of his book. He also encourages people who don’t ‘pass’ the test, to ask for a re-fund.
Exit Strategies
Quote from the book:
So many business start-ups today walk in blindly with their eye on future profits. They don’t ever stop to consider that at some point they will have to stop working for one reason or another.
- You could get sick.
- You could get sick of working.
- You could wake up and suddenly realize that you’re not living your life the way you want to.
- You could reach retirement age.
- Heck, you could even die.
What’s going to happen to your business when you reach any of these points? Well, there are a number of ways it could go down, and you should start with the best end in mind and prepare for the worst.
Here are the different strategies beginning with the best and ending with the worst.
- The Big Sell-Out
- The Managed Legacy
- The Family Legacy
- The Motivated Bargain Sell-Off
- The Disappearing Act
The names for these strategies are my own and are not any sort of industry standard, so don’t expect people to know what you’re talking about right away unless they read this report.
Making a Statement
After my first read - I got a pre-sales copy several weeks before launch - I contacted Mark with a couple of ideas I had about some software applications which could be created to take CIIM-2 from reading to action. Because there is a moment when you need to stop reading all the marketing books around and actually start on your business.
Unfortunately there are some issues with publishing rights which cannot be solved on such short notice - the book is pulled of the market again by March 31st and even I 
need time to compile programs. Mark will be implementing some of these ideas as server side services at his own website. However, there was one program which could me made fairly easy and this I can offer you now!
It’s called Making a Statement and it goes with the last part of the Idea Generating Phase, though it’s also firmly rooted in the Gut Check. Making a Statement is a program to help you keep your focus on your main business goals. However, I designed it so that you can basically use it for any goal you set in your life. Be it personal or business related.
I happen to be a person who gets very easily distracted and this helps me enormously.
I set up a special page for this software:
http://letsmakesoftware.com/blogs/2005/03/20/making-a-statement
The rest of the book goes into details about IPPLM and is really a step-by-step guide on all the processes you go through once you have pre-IPPLM covered. Basically it’s a very concise, clear written reference guide which I will be pulling from my shelf (I made a print) regularly. I’ve read a great deal of marketing books over the past year - ever since I went on-line - and I really wish I would have had the opportunity to read this one when I started out. I won’t state it’s all new and unique information; it is new to me in the sense that I’ve never before seen this mix of ingredients pulled together.
There you have it! I hope this explains a bit more.
Confidential Internet Intelligence Manuscript Vol. II
I really recommend this book for everyone in business, whether it’s on-line or off-line. If you’re contemplating starting one, follow Mark’s advice: get yourself a copy, do the gut check and if you don’t pass the test - ask for the refund!
Happy marketing,
Patricia Ritsema van Eck
P.S.
As from July 1st 2005 this ebook is available again!