What have your fellow Maverick Members been up to? Check out some exciting things happening in the lives of a few of them below.
Udo Gollub – Maverick Member #180 – Online Media World
Note from the editor (Rose Ayers-Etherington): I had a blast in Vegas. Not only did I get to enjoy the signature sounds and sights of the infamous city, I also found myself spending time getting to know certain Maverick members on a deeper level. One of those members just so happened to be Udo Gollub; our Maverick “international extraordinaire” from Munich, Germany. Udo brought me up to date on the exciting things happening within his companies, the innovative new methods he is using to engage and excite his employees, and the unique ways he keeps his family in his #1 life spot. Allow me to share our conversation – perhaps we can all learn a little something from Udo.
To start, here is a recap of who Udo is and what it is he does. Udo is the Founder and CEO of Online Media World. They develop and sell language courses (software) in 80 different languages. They use a unique long-term memory learning method developed according to latest findings from research done on learning methods.Udo’s clients are able to retain their new found knowledge permanently in their long term memory. Udo is also the Founder and CEO of 17 Minute Languages: A completely new language learning method that enables you to speak a new language fluently in just 6 months by spending just 17 minutes a day with their program.
And now, about his business:
I started my first company 16 years ago in 1997. Around the same time, I also started an affiliate network. I was in my first year at the university and I was not happy. According to some people at the time (such as my parents) I made a bad decision in dropping out. The internet was relatively new and education was was a measure of success and was esteemed above all else. Now I look back and know that I made the right decision. Those who made fun of me do not tease anymore! There was nothing else affiliate-wise around so I had to just figure it out on my own. In 2002, I founded Online Media World: an online language learning course that offers 80 different languages. We offer any language from Arabic to Swahili to Hindi to Chinese….any major language. I speak 4 languages – mostly German, English and French (my wife is french so we speak it often) and a little bit of Spanish. What works for me and what I would recommend to those wanting to brush up or learn a language is, learn just a couple of words of a language, Then, go buy one of your favorite TV shows in that language. I recommend the popular sitcom Friends. Watch it first in the language you are trying to learn with English sub-titles. Then watch it in English with subtitles in the language you want to learn. Finally, watch in your new language with subtitles in that same language. Using media is a quick way to learn a new language. Comedy series are the best I think.
Since 1997, things have changed with Online Media World. At the moment, everything is available in German only. I am about to make this program available in English, French and 50 other languages. It is a huge process, but will be so beneficial on many levels. It will remain an online entity because I am currently the only company offering this service to several countries. For example, If you live in Sweden and you want to learn Swahili, we are your only source. This enables us to be the first to pop up in organic Google searches. What is in our future? Right now I am just focusing on creating this “thing.” It is called “17 Minute Languages,” and it will enable you to learn a new language within one year just by practicing for 17 minutes a day. What differentiates me from Rosetta Stone? Speed. Rosetta Stone is a game. You have to click on pictures and go here and there and find different links – it takes up unnecessary time. With my program, you use only the essentials to learn your new language. The method is called The Long Term Memory Learning Method. You have to repeat the new word at least 5 times and the breaks in between the repetitions will be doubled. If you don’t know the first word by the third day you have to go back to the beginning and start again. My demographics fall into two groups” 14 – 27 and 35 – 75. Both groups are equal in size. Why the gap between 27-35? No one is learning a language at these ages. In Germany, most get out of the University by age 27. They do not want to learn anything else at that point. They start a job, spend lots of time in that job – their energy is depleted. By age 35, people start to realize that they need something new – a change in their lives. A new language is the perfect thing. We find that the peak for learning a new language is at age 50. When you get past age 75 it tapers off because most people in this age group do not use the internet.
Now lets talk about my affiliate network. When I first started as an entrepreneur, all of my revenue came from my affiliate network. I focused on growing all of my other company channels over the years, but did not pay any attention to my affiliates, because it was running itself. This last spring it was making only 25% of my revenue, so I decided to try something new based on all of the potential I saw within my group of affiliates. There are currently 6,000 affiliates, 200 of which are making great money. So I started a Facebook group for my affiliate network. Right away, 120 people joined. I set a bar to join the group, that being you had to have earned more then 100 euro in commission, which is not hard. The group has been an instant success! My affiliates are asking me all sorts of good questions and I am learning about what I can do to improve how things are run and what I can change to make their lives easier. I also started the first of several contests I will be running for them. It started 3 months ago and will run through October. Affiliates will get 50% or more depending on their commission ranking (they are currently getting up to 40%) so they could get 60% instead. Numbers 1 – 10 will get 50%, 11 – 20 will get 40% and so on. In addition to this, I will give 5,000 euros in additional bonuses to highest ranks. My goal is to rally my affiliates while learning from them. According to my revenue, things are working. In the spring, we were averaging 900 euros a day in revenue, today we are averaging 1,400 euros a day in revenue. Because this was such a success, I already have more contests on the horizon. My next contest will focus on signing up new affiliates. So each affiliate will get paid up to 400% more (according to the ranking) for each new affiliate they sign up. Rather then waiting until the end of the competition to find out what your ranking is, I will “cash everyone out” at the end of each day. I believe that this will create more of a competitive edge and will keep people excited. People thrive on incentive and enjoy seeing the fruits of their labor. The third competition will be the same, except it will include daily payouts according to the affiliates ranking. I will also raise the weekly commission rates. This competition will last 18 months. Most of my affiliates are in Germany Some will be found in Sweden, Austria, Italy and even Thailand. It is really cool because I have a couple of affiliates who have been with me for 15 years and have been somewhat dormant. Now, they are popping up out of the wood work and are getting involved!
So as you can see, Udo is rocking it in more ways than one. A couple of days after the 3X Multiplier in Vegas, I received the following email from Udo. I thought it was so special, I just had to share it…
“Here is a great insight I got in Chicago (at the Lifebook session):
I wanted to have more adventure in my relationship with my wife Jennifer, Maverick style. So we now have a babysitter every weekend for one evening, and I am organizing something exciting for us for these date nights. It can be going to a concert, a theater, for a dance; sometimes we “just” go to a restaurant or to the cinema. And I don’t tell her anything about it before. She even has no clue were we are going on the bike ride to the location of what we are doing. I only tell here what kind of clothes she has to wear and if she has to eat before we leave. And the weekend after that, it’s her turn to organize something for us:-) It’s always great fun and we both always look forward for the next date night.”
Way to be AWESOME Udo! Do you have any thoughts or questions you would like to pass on to Udo? Feel free to catch him at udo@gollub.de.
