As with all projects I involve myself in, I enjoy taking a step back periodically and sharing the progress that’s been made. The following progress coverage is on Abdullah Puppet from a marketing stand point.
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Initial Challenge
In November 2009 my wife wanted to produce a children’s program targeted toward Muslim families in North America. The last known success of such a program was “Adam’s World” by Sound Vision which was nearly a decade ago. I told her to go ahead and that I’ll support her.
As a marketer, my first recommendation was to start off by doing some preliminary research. We spend several weeks planning and researching to decide whether or not we were going to commit to this.
We started with a competitive analysis looking at each brand that was either active in the past or is currently active and seeing what their strengths and weaknesses were in the Muslim market as well as what strengths and weaknesses we had based on available resources and in what ways we could position ourselves in an effective manner.
After completing the research, we weren’t able conclude whether a venture such as this would be profitable for us or not. We decided to test the market with a pilot-program on as light of a budget as possible and dedicate any and all resources toward garnering social-capital through the use of social media and marketable publicity.
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Tasked Responsibility
We put fort a set of objectives which were fundamentally measured by sales. The success of a business venture is determined by whether or not it meets sales objectives. All else is commentary.
We also put forth a set of values that we were going to operate under:
- In keeping with sharia principles, content produced would not have any score produced with sounds that were sourced from musical instruments.
- Content that was sold was to be produced at the highest production quality that the budget would allow
- Videos had to be educationally entertaining to the point where kids and adults would sit down for the an entire episode at least three times.
- The values and ideas that would be expressed would be aligned with Islamic principles
- We want people to relate to and like the characters on screen.
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Approach
We realized that since were operating on a shoestring budget, our approach had to be much different from what all the others were doing.
Upon completing our initial research we realized that the success of this pilot program will depend on the level of publicity and publicity for children’s programs are usually driven by event marketing in key locations.
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Results Report
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First Marketing Step – YouTube
We decided that the initial marketing approach will be via the production of social media content.
My wife decided that she was going to make her own puppet using supplies from a local arts and crafts store. That night my wife went to work making the puppet while I went to bed. In the middle of the night I was woken up to the scariest, most poorly made looking puppet I’d ever seen.
Out of her excitement, she wanted me to help her make a short video for YouTube introducing the puppet. I was a bit cranky being woken up to this puppet and decided I’d express it in the character of the puppet impromptu.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Later we decided to make a second video the same way while working on a theme song for the program.
Click here to view the embedded video.
We left those two videos up online to marinate into the search engine indexes for the next month and watched the comments and views come in. Based on the overall vibe of the comments and emails we got, we decided it was time to call Milo Productions, the producer of “Hurray for Baba Ali”.
I had met AbdurRahman Milo – the main man behind Milo Productions – at a DiscoverU seminar I attended in Toronto in March 2009. I figured he’d have some good lessons to share from his experience of producing and marketing the “Hurray for Baba Ali” DVDs.
The main advice he shared with us was to minimize production cost and concentrate on event marketing.
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Second Marketing Step – Free Full Episode & Email Marketing
We set our sights on completing first the pilot DVD, getting the content aired on Muslim targeted satellite TV channels and then using event marketing to promote the show.
The DVD was targeted to have two or three 15-minute episodes of following Abdullah in an adventure and extra educational content for kids to follow along with.
One of the things we had found in our initial research was the content other Islamic kids’ shows had was either mostly educational with very little entertainment value or mostly entertainment with very little educational value.
We wanted to strike the balance of “edu-tainment” while approaching the delivery in a theme based story. Each story would be an adventure that the viewers would follow Abdullah – the main character – as he learns different lessons that propel him forward in the story.
In addition to the delivery form, we figured it would add to the marketability of the show if we included guest appearances by known personalities from the North American Muslim community.
Upon release of the first episode in the first month we gathered about 1000 email addresses and close to 600 fans.
If you haven’t seen the full episode yet, click the image below:
Website: http://www.abdullahpuppet.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/abdullahkidshow
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Third Marketing Step – Website & Social Media Integration
With the ICNA convention approaching an opportunity presented itself to us where we could share a bazaar booth with an individual. Prior to the start of the ICNA convention, we launched the Abdullah Puppet Website.
We used the convention as a means of getting more people aware of Abdullah Puppet by interviewing people as well as passing out business cards with a web address link to the website. But more as an opportunity to record content to syndicate over social media to drive traffic to the website which in turn would continue to grow the list of email database subscribers.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
We figured this step would also allow us to also give more life to the Abdullah Puppet character where he can have his own voice outside of his TV show adventures.
At this point in time we also had a review about the first episode’s release published by MuslimMatters.org:
http://muslimmatters.org/2010/06/08/review-abdullah-kids-show/
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Fourth Marketing Step – Complementary Book
One of the challenges we had yet to address was how to do events with a puppet. I’m am not the best puppet master when it comes to being in front of people nor do we have the budget for a Barney like mascot.
As part of my wife’s vision for a kid’s show, she wants to have complementary merchandise such as toys and books that would help drive the sales and marketing of the project.
Her first attempt was entertaining – read about it here:
http://egyptiangumbo.com/writing-for-kids-isnt-easy-picture-book-fail-555.htm
Her second attempt turned out a little bit more appealing.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Ideally we’d like to get the book published via a publisher, but we haven’t found one that has found the book to be in line with the publisher’s M.O. (For those who don’t know, it means “Modus Operandi” which is Latin for “method of operating”). We used Lulu, an on-demand book printing service – to publish the book online and on Amazon.com
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Fifth Marketing Step – Search Engine Marketing
This step hasn’t begun yet. The next month will be spent settinging up tweaking SEM (Search Engine Marketing) tactics to drive targeted traffic to AbdullahPuppet.com to continue to grow the email database, social media engagement and sell books.
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Sixth Marketing Step – Community Events
We’re thinking the main driver of marketing “Aliyah’s First Ramadan” will be young-family geared community events at masajid across North America.
Not many Muslim communities across North America have implemented the concept of “story time” for children as a means of bringing people to the masjid. Currently most young-families bring their children to the local library for such outings.
We believe that in theory this “story time” event approach will allow for many more people to become aware of the book as well as Abdullah Puppet. At the moment we’re still developing the event marketing process that would go into systematizing this from community to community.
More news to come as we make more progress. Do share your thoughts and suggestions here.
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]]>After four months of work, the book is finally complete.
Read along with Abdullah Puppet as he tells the story of Aliyah, a little Muslim girl fasting her first Ramadan. Complications ensue when her teacher says, “Snack time!”
I believe my wife would make an excellent corporate manager.
After having written the book back in March, she managed and oversaw the artistic development, compilation of the manuscript, setting up of the on-demand printing and the development of the marketing material.
Important Business Lessons For Me:
Focus on your strengths. Delegate everything else. It’s best you spend your energy on that which you do best and get others to do that which they do best. Projects are a team effort and every team needs to be lead.
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Action Item: support this project. Click the image below to get your copy of the book so you can read along with a young loved one.
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]]>Muhammad Alshareef recalls a story from his childhood about skateboarding.
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]]>This is a first of a series of videos I'll be posting. This video is all about the concept of the gondola and how it can help you achieve your goals six times faster.
This clip is actually an outtake from the Vancouver trip movie I’m giving away as a bonus with the Millionaire who went to Jannah video seminar.
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]]>As you can see, Millionaire Who Went to Jannah is LIVE. I’ve got some special news for you.
For everyone who buys from me, I’m giving away over $100 dollars in bonuses.
BONUS #1
Access to Secrets of Video Production via MessageMastery.com
It launched at $197.00. Today it’s $97.00. But with the Millionaire who went to Jannah, its yours free.
BONUS #2
Exclusive documentary movie with Muhammad Alshareef, the man behind it all. The following is just a screen capture from the movie – trailer coming soon!
It’s basically our story of spending time in Vancouver, Canada – one of the most beautiful places on earth. This documentary is a not a public YouTube release. See the man himself, when he’s not teaching!
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Not only will you get the benefit of learning how to master your money, but you’ll also be able to use video and marketing tools as taught in Message Mastery to promote your business. At the same time, the movie above lays down some real important principals when it comes to getting what you want to achieve. as well as an insight to who Muhammad Alshareef is.
All of the above for $247
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]]>Here's the trailer video we put up just now. I'm confident you'll enjoy the video!
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]]>Round this time last year I completed principal photography of the DiscoverU event “The Millioniare Who Went to Jannah.”
About two weeks ago I completed the final cut of the seminar editing. In 10 days you’re about to witness the worldwide release of the entire program.
To keep updated on the program itself, click the image below:
The concepts taught in the program are the same concepts laid down to me when I first took coaching with Sensei. Those principals helped me establish Leechon and the projects I’m involved in. Except now its laid down in seminar form and easy to follow practical steps.
STORY BEHIND THE PRODUCTION
FEB 2009 -
Producing the video for this program was a bit of a challenge. Not only was I attending, I was also producing the videos for it. There was no way I was going to be able to attend, take notes and manage a three camera shoot, all at the same time.
I had a number of production challenges that I needed to over come:
- (1) I didn’t know any trained professionals that would be up for helping with the shoot.
- (2) The HD camera I borrowed didn’t have a power cable with it.
- (3) I had prepared a camera dolly for the shoot, but I didn’t build the track yet.
- (4) I was going to be shooting in a location that I hadn’t had the opportunity to really scout before the event. Therefore I only had a rough idea as to how I’d light the room for shooting.
I called a contact who knew people well in Toronto. They were able to make a few calls for me. Within the week I had enough people to man each of the cameras as well as assist with the management of the footage – all of it shot on solid state media. Canon HG10 + two Canon HF100.
I recorded a training video to get the volunteers familiar with the process of shooting and principals they need to follow.
Once the human resource was taken care of, I went on trekking through downtown Toronto with my host from one camera electronic shop to another. We came across Harvey’s Photo and Video (I think that’s the name). They were literally the ONLY electronics store that had the Canon HG 10 power adapter.
Afterward, my host took me to the local hardware store where I bought a few PVC pipes to work as the dolly track. After some quick measuring and handy dandy saw, I had my dolly track ready to roll.
Finally the evening before the event, we went out to Vistek (rental store) and picked up the lights I had made a reservation for prior to flying into Toronto. We spent the better part of the night setting up and making sure everything was the way we wanted it for shooting.
After the first day, volunteers had a hang of what they needed to do exactly and I was able to simply sit back, relax and attend the seminar.
Here are some pics from the seminar itself:
NOV 2009 -
It had been about 9 months since the production of the seminar had taken place. There was no initial urgency for delivering the content so I pretty much sat on the recording until folks over at DiscoverU said that they want to release it. Thus, post production began.
FEB 2010 -
Editing a seminar is a pain in the butt. It’s not a creative venture. It’s a matter of understanding the process and repeating it over and over until the whole thing is done (something I cover in secrets to video production).
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Certification!
The DiscoverU Coaching Certification followed the Millionaire event. Now I have the behemoth of a seminar to edit. 90 hrs of content. Yikes!
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The weekend was spent filming an episode of with Ghetto Abdullah with the help of Wisam Sharieff of Bayyinah as well as Sameer Sarmast and Uzair Sarmast of Qabeelat Durbah’s Simply Act.
Special thanks to Omer Farooq for letting me borrow his Sony Z1U camera for the weekend.
We’ve created a Facebook Page for Abdullah so you can follow along on this adventures and videos. Click the image to go there now.
After we did the two online videos for fun a little while back just to see where this goes, we found that support for Abdullah had been growing. We got emails, comments and messages from people to continue it.
Mind you, we’ve been looking into this project for a while and trying to see where the demand for something like this can go. We actually spent some time on market analysis and looking at the potential for a Islamically themed kids show.
My wife came up with the concept of presenting Abdullah in a theme based series of episodes. Each episode will consist of a story revolving around a specific theme with Abdullah as the central character. Audience will be joining Abdullah on his journey.
The following are some production stills shot from this weekend:
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]]>You’ve probably heard about the unfortunate news of the recent bombing attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airline jet on Christmas Day by Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Turns out, in one of the news coverage videos they played the trailer I produced for AlMaghrib back in December 2007. The trailer plays from 2:00 – 2:26
Click here to view the embedded video.
You can find out more on the new coverage on Houston’s local ABC-13 website: Terror Suspect Attended Classes in Houston
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I hope that this doesn’t affect the good work that people at AlMaghrib and the students are doing.
Seriously, I don’t understand what people like Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab are thinking. They’re not helping the Muslims or society. They’re simply making lives as Muslims harder.
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]]>Click here to view the embedded video.
(I didn’t make the above video)
The above promo is a sneak peak at the content of the series.
The first DiscoverU workshop that I ever attended was “Live Your Dreams” back in April 2006. This was just after I had completed my 1-on1 coaching sessions with Muhammad Alshareef – which resulted in a chain of actions that led to Leechon being born.
In June 2009 I got the opportunity to share the benefit of the experience with others by helping produce the workshop in an online video series format. Producing this particular video series was quite a challenge, mainly because the person who had shot the video delivered it in a very peculiar format, making the post-production more difficult than expected.
The other challenge was getting the video’s to interface properly with the current members area design. After a few hrs of tinkering this morning, I was able to get the layout to accept the videos. All I have to say is I love CSS when it comes to site design. It makes design very flexible.
The good news is that the project is done and this seminar is being launched online in video form. Inside you’ll find 12 Chapters that consist of over 480 minutes of video content. For those people who purchase this online video set, I pray that you benefit.
I wish my coach and mentor the best of success in this life and the next. He’s inspired myself and many others. May Allah-swt bless him to share in the reward that others make as a result of his inspiration. Ameen.
I’d love to hear back from you letting me know how you benefited.