Sneezers
to critical mass
Let’s make internet history…
- The numbers are on our side
- What’s a Sneezer?
- Cubic Images
- Ideas you can spread
- Final word
The numbers are on our side
And now some good news… It may feel like selling a million pixels is a Herculean task, but once you look at the numbers behind that it’s actually not that hard - it only seems that way. Here’s the big secret I’m sharing with you…
If this site can make 280 sales of one or more 10 x 10 5 x 5 pixel blocks,
it’ll end up earning $1,000,000. And you’ll have helped make internet history, again!
Here’s how…
There may be 1 million pixels in the cube, but because the minimum purchase is 10 x 10 pixels there are only 10 thousand blocks available to buy.
It gets better…
Because people can buy (and already have) more than one block in order to have a larger image on the home page, the number of sales required is a lot less than the theoretical maximum of 10 thousand blocks.
If you look at the original MillionDollarHomePage.com (sold out!), you’ll find that half of Alex’s sales were of two or more blocks, so that he actually only had to make 2,800 sales in order to sell out of pixels! Everybody missed that figure, because it makes what he did look less extraordinary, but I’ve analysed what he did in some detail and you should remember that number - 2,800. So, to this point we’ve gone from a mountainous 1,000,000 pixels to sell, to only needing 2,800 sales — a fairly steep reduction.
But we can go further still.
The way this works, I need to capture the imagination of the media at some point — e.g. “Aussie guy has stupid idea, sells pixels in tiny cube, bastard set to earn $1,000,000!” It doesn’t have to be on the front page of the newspaper. Any page will do, or any major website.
Once that happens, it kicks off a feedback cycle whereby media coverage generates more sales, which in turn generates wider site awareness, which generates more sales, which … you get the idea.
So what’s the threshold of sales for gaining that initial small-scale media attention? I’m estimating 10% of sales. If this site can make 280 sales in the first couple of months, that will be newsworthy. And even if the media doesn’t catch on at that point, the blogging world will. Which in turn will draw the media in to the story.
So I need to find 280 people willing to take a punt that this will take off. World Wide. Well, admittedly the first world. But if you apply the concept of the long tail to people, I don’t need to have the Coca Cola company advertising on the MillionDollarCu.be in order to succeed. I just need 280 people wanting to boost traffic to their website, or get their shiny new logo in front of people’s eyes, or who respect this attempt at beating the nay-sayers.
280. That’s the target for critical mass.
to critical mass
Common wisdom says that while the original million pixel page raised $1M, it can’t be repeated, ever. Let’s prove them wrong, and generate lots of traffic for the clients.
Let’s make internet history, again!
What’s a Sneezer?
Seth Godin has explained in several of his books that sneezers are enthusiastic early adopters of an idea, who spread word of it. That’s where viral marketing comes in, and viral marketing is nothing to sneeze at. It basically means having a idea interesting enough that a percentage of the population talks or writes about it, ‘infecting’ others with that idea too. All you have to do is tell others about this site. Whether in person or by email — it doesn’t matter.
But things really kick into high gear if we start leveraging the power of the internet — by posting some of the Cube of 100 images to relevant websites that are visited by thousands of people (see below), suddenly we’re talking about a quantum leap in our ability to spread the word.
Cubic Images
These can be posted to blogs, bulletin boards, and best of all, Geeky websites that collect and discuss ideas over the internet. e.g. Slashdot.org, ffffound.com, Fark.com, etc. See also the new page of tags.
e.g. 
(Please don’t post them where they’re unlikely to be appreciated)
Pop-culture or internet-culture visual puns…
More to come shortly.
Ideas you can spread
Mix and match whatever you think will work for you
- The Cube of 100 — LOOK AT THE SIZE OF IT. Isn’t it incredible that a million pixels fit in such a small and simple shape?
- Once it gains momentum, the cube will attract the curious, it will generate comment and it will be keenly viewed for some years to come.
- That this will be the first site ever to repeat the success of the original million dollar site. It’s a win-win — clients will get a surge in traffic, and I get to pocket some change.
- That unlike the rash of lame copy-cat sites that followed hot on the heels of the original site, this site:
- is an original and fun new spin on the idea of selling a million pixels.
- isn’t a design eye-sore. There’s polished content here, with a long shelf-life.
- has let the copy-cat fever burn itself out. None of the copy-cat sites succeeded because they were all derivative and competing with each other. As a result, people haven’t tried this idea seriously in years. Accepted wisdom is ripe for being challenged!
- has a bit of style and flair, with a pinch of humor. (Is that so hard? Apparently.)
- There’s also the true and unusual story of the second guy at the train station.
Final word
to critical mass
Okay, this may be stating the obvious, but buying pixels is where the rubber hits the road. Help bring down the count. Early buy-in will have a huge impact on the success of this site.
If you have a website needing traffic, there’s nothing more to say. Go.
Then again, maybe you should just get up from your computer, make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and go find somewhere sunny to sit? Please don’t take this site too seriously.
MillionDollarCu.be © 2010 Robert Black.