Rest assured, Insanity Unveiled: Part 2 is on the way…

But first, I wanted to share with you an experiment that is actually making me money. It’s said that when you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, work doesn’t seem like work. It’s play.

And this all-too-important “mind-shift” is what it really takes to be successful. Love what you do, and get paid for it. Alright… well, I must admit that sometimes the “internet marketing scene” isn’t all fun and games. Sometimes it can get downright stressful. This is true with just about any business.

However, what if there was a way to do or learn marketing while having a great time?

I love video games. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend quality time with my family & friends.

The only problem is that the more time spent playing video games, is time that isn’t being used to make money, or build a business. So for the longest time, I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow myself to waste time playing those silly multiplayer games on MySpace, like Mobsters & Mafia Wars (two very popular multiplayer games on MySpace right now)…

I’d get tons of invites, but ignored them all… until I had an epiphany.

“What if I could create or license a product that could tie in directly to these games in such a way that I could cleverly make money and build my customer database while PLAYING?”

I told myself, If I could find a way to make real money from these games, it would be worth my time and energy to play them. I’d feel much better about playing games if I could monetize my time while playing.

I obtained a license for a high-quality product called Mafioso Marketing, which is essentially an in-depth training guide that shows anyone how to grow their business using “cut-throat” tactics for instant cash payouts. After reading through the product, pouring over the reports and watching the videos included in the Mafioso Marketing package, I was hooked… this would be the perfect compliment to these games!

It didn’t take long… I revised the sales letter, added my own spice, had my wife modify the web design, modified the thank you page, uploaded my files, tested my links and prepared for an official release…

SPOILER WARNING: Here’s where I’m going to be completely honest and totally transparent. After all, this is my live journal, and since you’re reading this, you deserve to know the whole story…

I didn’t immediately start marketing the product on MySpace.

I wanted to hit my “warm list” first and see how the product would do to a slightly more open audience.

So, I sent out a total of two emails to my most loyal subscribers telling them about my new product.

Once I got some solid numbers from “testing the waters” I decided this was a golden ticket. The sales letter alone (that’s right, no squeeze page this time) converted at 6.67% SALES from my warm list. And it wasn’t even targeting the MySpace Mafia crowd yet. Awesome. Time for phase 2…

My original intent from the get-go was to somehow monetize my time playing Mobsters & Mafia Wars… all my friends were joining and asking me to play, and I denied them… until now.

Next, came the official MySpace page and a character invention… Rob the Mobster.

Rather than just putting an ad to check out my new RobTheMafia release on my regular myspace page, I decided that Rob deserved his own. So, I created an entire MySpace page dedicated to Rob The Mafia.

This shows that I’m not just interested in making money… I’m also interested in playing the game.

My bulletins didn’t advertise my sales page, they linked directly to Rob’s MySpace profile and simply invited others to join my Mob and play the game. Once I got them into the game, I could show them how to do exactly what I was doing and make real money while mobbing their friends. And, it worked.

(Side note: within the game Mobsters, once you’ve begun building your mob and doing missions to rake in some dough (in the game) you can pay $500 (game cash) to send out a comment to your entire team, within the game. So once I get them into playing the game, I can tell them about Rob The Mafia!)

At first, I didn’t have any friends. So, I used MySpace’s own inviter script to invite my entire address book.

Next, I searched for as many groups as I could find using the keyword “Mobsters” and “Mafia Wars.”

It kind of startled me to find out within ten minutes, my inbox was FILLED with new friend requests as a direct result of simply joining these MySpace groups! Wow, this was almost too easy…

So easy, it should be illegal.

Here’s another tip: These MySpace games thrive on Viral Marketing. The apps are created in such a way as to encourage and inscentivize every player to invite as many people as they can find to join their team. The funny thing is, 99% of these players have no idea they’re MARKETING to get more members!

They’re spending all their time finding new and creative ways to grow their team, and they’re not getting paid a dime (in the real world). Now with Rob The Mafia, that has all changed.

So if you’ve received an email from me promoting the new Rob The Mafia product and perhaps thought (ok, Jason must have really lost his mind this time — how could he possibly be talking about creating peace among mankind in one post, and in another he’s “robbing the mafia!?” — Now, you know.

I discovered a problem shared within a particular audience (people playing games and not making real money from their time playing them) and spotted a golden opportunity to provide a solution. Of course these players aren’t going around saying, “man I wish I could be making real money from this game” — but when presented with a real opportunity, the problem is brought to their awareness and the solution is provided in the same breath. Win/Win!

Today’s lesson: Be on the lookout for opportunities to monetize what you enjoy doing. When you enjoy it, it isn’t work - it’s play. I hope this inspires you to find new ways to think creatively and “out of the box” to make more money and grow your business.