The history of the Holy Land

January 23, 2008

THE JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE

Filed under: Holy Land — admin @ 3:09 pm

On 21 March 2000, Pope John Paul II arrived in the Holy Land, to commemorate the second millennium of the birth of Jesus Christ, as well as to realize a life-long wish to visit personally the sites of the Gospelג€”in his words: “To come here and to pray in the most important places which, from ancient times, have seen God’s interventions, the wonders he has done.”

“The Chronicle of Pilgrimage to the Holy Land”

Filed under: Holy Land — admin @ 3:04 pm

For over 2000 years the Holy Land has been the locus of the most significant historic events known to man ג€“ certainly for Christianity but also influencing humanity worldwide.

How would such monumental occurrences be reported by modern-day media? How would the headlines and coverage of the New York Times or the London Times look on the next morning of these important historic developments? The Chronicle of Pilgrimage to the Holy Land takes upon itself to tackle this challenge: to provide lively and colorful journalistic reports “on location”, rather than as dry historical analysis of these events.

The Chronicle of Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the fruit of over seven years of labor. Numerous archives and private collections were perused for ancient scrolls and historic testimonies; antique photographs and artwork were computer-analyzed and renewed for first-ever display, and historic sites were brought alive by vibrant contemporary photography. Each historic event has been detailed by historians for factual accuracy, and then edited by acting newspaper editors as they would today: deciding which “story” will enter the “front page” and with what often sensational headline to top it with - to present the happening in a contemporary, concise and authentic fashion.

The result is a spectacular album of 256 chromo pages, enriched with over 1100 (!) color photographs, depicting the events from year 0 to 2006. Using headlines, brief reports and multiple pictures and illustrations, history comes to life in a light, live-coverage-like, sensational newspaper style. The reader finds himself actually living the period, fighting within the Crusader ranks, becoming energized and excited by the pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the encounter with the historic and holy places.

The Album was further examined by authorative clergy and heads of the various church denominations, and was praised enthusiastically to be both an authentic report, as well as a fresh, unique and enjoyable historical account.

Join this vivid and enthralling report of an ongoing adventure over 2000 years old.

It took us 8 years to come out with this album

Filed under: Holy Land — admin @ 3:04 pm

Following 8 years of development, scholarly input and considerable investment, the album is now available for distribution. Codenamed “The Chronicle Book”?® (with a growing online following at www.thechroniclebook.com), it has been heralded as an artistic masterpiece by top book editors and Christian leaders alike.

The album presents the history of Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land in a journalistic format, reporting the dramatic events of this unique region as they would have appeared on the front page of the New York Times or a special edition of National Geographic. A story spanning over two millennia comes alive in this concise and colorful report, as if you were reading about these events as they would occur today.

As a quality memento (such as a coffee-table book), The Chronicle of Pilgrimage to the Holy Land becomes a significant spiritual and aesthetic value. The passion and hard work invested in the album project strikes an emotional chord in our growing readership. Just a few seconds of leafing through it is all it takes to grip and rivet readers from all walks of life.

Everything about the album speaks from the heart and soul of the Holy Land, and is treated with great reverence.

I hope you find it as inspiring as I have ג€“ both as a story of human interest and a valuable business tool.

El ??lbum de la peregrinaci?³n

Filed under: Holy Land — admin @ 3:03 pm

una idea

Un grupo de empresarios que apoyaba a un editor experimentado concibi?³ en 1998 la idea de publicar un ??lbum art?­stico y cuasi-period?­stico que brindara testimonio de la historia de la peregrinaci?³n cristiana a Tierra Santa en los dos mil a?±os transcurridos desde el nacimiento de Jes?÷s hasta principios del siglo XXI.

El p?÷blico de destino potencial eran cientos de millones de creyentes cristianos en el mundo entero que se interesan por los Santos Lugares y sue?±an con visitarlos, as?­ como aficionados a la historia y el arte de Tierra Santa.

Para no convertir el relato hist?³rico en un texto acad?©mico que s?³lo interesara a un p?÷blico relativamente reducido, se pens?³ en un formato especial: los relatos hist?³ricos se expondr?­an en forma de art?­culos period?­sticos, ya que la mayor parte de la gente lee diarios. Es decir, las Cruzadas se presentar?­an como una noticia period?­stica, tal como se describi?³ la visita del entonces presidente de los EE.UU., Bill Clinton, a Bel?©n.

Tal como se acostumbra en el periodismo, el art?­culo debe acompa?±arse con fotos; pero como se trataba de acontecimientos ocurridos muchos siglos atr??s, obviamente los archivos no contaban con fotos, por lo cual las notas se ilustran con dibujos y obras de arte relacionadas con los temas expuestos.

En la primera etapa, los promotores de la idea tomaron contacto con personalidades religiosas cristianas para saber qu?© opinaban sobre el proyecto y para descartar la posibilidad de que ya existiera un ??lbum similar en el mercado mundial. En Israel se realizaron con dignatarios franciscanos, la orden designada por el Vaticano como “custodia de las llaves de la peregrinaci?³n cristiana”. Los franciscanos expresaron su benepl??cito; los estudios realizados demostraron que no exist?­an productos similares y que se pod?­a empezar a trabajar.

La existencia de diversas denominaciones cristianas (cat?³licos, protestantes, evangelistas, ortodoxos, etc.) llev?³ a la decisi?³n de no presentar los acontecimientos desde una ?³ptica religiosa, sino hist?³rico-est?©tica, para que todos pudieran identificarse con el contenido sin que surgieran pol?©micas entre las distintas vertientes. Tambi?©n se hizo hincapi?© en las expresiones est?©ticas de las peregrinaciones, creadas por los artistas m??s famosos de todos los tiempos.

El texto

En esa etapa el proyecto deb?­a pasar a la fase operativa: se mantuvieron encuentros con numerosos acad?©micos y te?³logos, y se incorporaron expertos en cristianismo para que orientaran el trabajo. Se recopil?³ material de diversas fuentes, que fue reelaborado en forma de art?­culos period?­sticos. El producto final alcanzaba las 550 p??ginas.

Paralelamente, se empez?³ a fotografiar obras de arte. Fue una tarea ardua y prolongada, que implic?³ contactos con museos y coleccionistas privados. Si se quiere reproducir fotos de obras de m??s de 70 a?±os que se encuentran en instituciones p?÷blicas como museos o los archivos del Vaticano, no se deben pagar derechos; pero en el caso de fotos de obras que forman parte de colecciones privadas, el coleccionista puede pedir un pago. Los promotores del proyecto compraron derechos de autor y recopilaron 3.000 fotos; m??s de 1.100 se incluyeron en el libro.

La inversi?³n realizada fue considerable: en un principio se estim?³ que llegar?­a a US$ 400.000; de hecho, se duplic?³ y a?÷n m??s.

El trabajo se prolong?³ m??s de ocho a?±os. En 2000 se public?³ una edici?³n reducida, para estudiar la respuesta del mercado. En las ferias y exposiciones en las que se la present?³ el ??lbum se recibieron respuestas entusiastas, pero la principal poblaci?³n de destino, los miembros de las diversas denominaciones cristianas, corrobor?³ los temores de los promotores ante las dificultades para adecuar el texto a las concepciones de las diferentes corrientes, aunque el ??lbum se focaliza en motivos hist?³ricos y no precisamente religiosos. Por ejemplo: los ortodoxos rusos quer?­an modificar decenas de p??ginas y hacer m??s hincapi?© en sus actividades; los evangelistas no creen en el relato de la Anunciaci?³n: para ellos, la historia de las peregrinaciones empieza en el siglo XI.

Surgieron tambi?©n dilemas de comercializaci?³n: los ejecutivos de la afamada editorial norteamericana Barnes & Noble se?±alaron que la cruz que aparece en la tapa del libro le confiere una connotaci?³n demasiado religiosa.

Como era previsible, hubo que corregir el libro y mejorarlo. Una tercera parte del material de la edici?³n piloto fue modificada; asimismo, por la gran inversi?³n econ?³mica realizada, los promotores decidieron incorporar nuevos asociados.

Creaci?³n de una compa?±?­a y reclutamiento de inversores

A mediados de 2006, uno de los promotores decidi?³ reanudar las actividades con br?­os renovados. As?­ fue como compr?³ los derechos de los socios fundadores y emprendi?³ la b?÷squeda de nuevos inversores bien posicionados en el ??rea de la comercializaci?³n. El ??lbum estaba casi concluido; si bien hac?­an falta algunas adecuaciones y a?±adidos, la mayor parte del material estaba traducido a siete idiomas: ingl?©s, espa?±ol, ruso, alem??n, italiano, portugu?©s y franc?©s.

El promotor no ve?­a el proyecto s?³lo como un ??lbum u otro producto comercializable, sino como un todo empresarial, que no difiere de una start-up; s?³lo que en este caso se trataba de un producto terminado, por lo cual la principal actividad empresarial deb?­a centrarse en la difusi?³n y comercializaci?³n en el mundo entero. As?­, tom?³ contacto con “Brooks-Keret”, un grupo de gesti?³n financiera que tambi?©n se ocupa de reclutar inversores y cuya experiencia se focaliza b??sicamente en hi-tech. Brooks-Keret se asoci?³ a la empresa de comercializaci?³n creada para difundir el ??lbum. Se design?³ a Nimrod Alamish, socio y director de desarrollo, como representante del proyecto y se increment?³ el ritmo de las actividades destinadas a recaudar fondos, incorporar asociados y designar a las personas adecuadas en los cargos correspondientes.

Se cre?³ entonces una nueva compa?±?­a llamada “RMC Publishing”, a la que se integraron varios inversores estrat?©gicos que aportan no s?³lo su dinero, sino tambi?©n sus conocimientos, contactos y experiencia. As?­ se reforz?³ notoriamente el sistema de comercializaci?³n de RMC, sin gastos fijos suplementarios.

Como ejemplos se puede se?±alar que uno de los nuevos socios/inversores tiene contactos en Singapur y ya se ha concretado una primera venta all?­; otro est?? interesado en asumir las actividades en Polonia; un tercero hizo contactos con un experto en relaciones p?÷blicas de los EE.UU.; otro desarrolla las actividades en Brasil, etc.

No obstante, los directivos entienden la diferencia entre la disposici?³n a invertir tiempo y recursos de un gran accionista y la de uno peque?±o. Por eso se ha estipulado que si un inversionista “peque?±o” aporta directamente a la rentabilidad del proyecto, recibir?? una retribuci?³n por ello; es decir, obtendr?? no s?³lo los dividendos por su inversi?³n sino tambi?©n una comisi?³n por su aporte.

Los inversores fueron convocados a trav?©s del club de inversores de Brooks-Keret. Para los socios era importante que se tratara de personas dispuestas a colaborar y con quienes resultara grato trabajar. Se form?³ as?­ una especie de “club de ??ngeles”, conocido en el ??rea de las inversiones en hi-tech (el “??ngel” es el primer inversor del grupo, que da el impulso financiero inicial. Generalmente se trata de personas privadas y no de fundaciones o instituciones; por eso no es casual que se lo llame “el ??ngel”), al que los inversores incorporaban a su vez a otros inversores amigos.

Reclutamiento de un inversor - CEO

Los socios se dispusieron a buscar un CEO que promoviera la compa?±?­a. No quer?­an que viniera precisamente del ??rea editorial, sino de la de hi-tech. En primer lugar, porque las actividades de la nueva compa?±?­a se desarrollan en el mercado mundial (a diferencia del mercado de libros, que es b??sicamente local y orientado a un idoma determinado), como las de hi-tech; y porque sab?­an que en el mundo en general, y en los EE.UU. en particular, la mayor parte de los libros se venden a trav?©s de Internet. Examinaron los datos existentes y comprobaron que aproximadamente un 70% de las decenas de millones de ejemplares de El c?³digo da Vinci se vendi?³ por Internet (no fue casualidad que se eligiera ese libro, cuyo argumento se inspira en el cristianismo); y que un 80% del nuevo libro de Harry Potter se vendi?³ por Internet.

Este libro es un ejemplo cl??sico de venta por Internet. No es un producto sofisticado que puede estropearse con el env?­o o con el uso, casos en los que resulta dif?­cil detectar al vendedor para que compense al comprador. En este caso, el comprador sabe exactamente qu?© recibe, sin sorpresas. Asimismo, se trata de un producto poco costoso, por lo que la venta en l?­nea resulta psicol?³gicamente m??s f??cil.

Los socios buscaban un CEO que tambi?©n fuera un inversor significativo, porque supon?­an que gestionar?­a con prudencia el dinero de los otros inversores y les generar?­a confianza, ya que sus propios intereses eran id?©nticos a los de ellos. M??s a?÷n: en algunas ocasiones surgen intereses contradictorios entre un CEO rentado, que quiere que la sociedad retenga el dinero acumulado para desarrollarla, y los inversores que quieren recuperar sus inversiones lo mas r??pidamente posible, en forma de dividendos.

El CEO elegido fue Amos Talmor (http://www.linkedin.com/in/amostalmor), un director de experiencia internacional en compa?±?­as de hi-tech, que hace algunos a?±os abandon?³ sus actividades como CEO rentado para invertir en compa?±?­as de hi-tech, y que se especializa en la comercializaci?³n internacional.

Actividades de comercializaci?³n. El modelo empresarial

Se decidi?³ centrar la comercializaci?³n en ventas concentradas a organizaciones y a trav?©s de Internet. La venta a clientes particulares se realizar?? a trav?©s de distribuidores locales. En t?©rminos generales, el modelo empresarial ve a las librer?­as como un factor importante pero no fundamental, tomando en cuenta los datos antes mencionados con respecto a los alcances de las ventas por Internet.

Las compras concentradas pueden realizarse de diversas maneras, como una empresa grande que compra un ??lbum como ?©ste para decenas de miles de empleados antes de Navidad, y en la primera p??gina se imprime un pr?³logo de su director general; o sacerdotes y predicadores que compran grandes cantidades y venden los ??lbumes a los miembros de sus congregaciones. Se puede a?±adir la historia de la iglesia, o un fragmento de alguna pr?©dica importante.

Por ejemplo, una de las personas interesadas era miembro de la Iglesia de Si?³n, que cuenta con 1.680 templos en los EE.UU.

Concesionarios:

El sistema de comercializaci?³n mundial ser?? gestionado por concesionarios, a excepci?³n de los EE.UU., un mercado central en el que habr?? distribuidores locales.

Un ejemplo del modelo de comunicaci?³n con un concesionario: en la primera etapa deber?? encargar 10.000 ??lbumes; despu?©s de un lapso a convenir deber?? encargar el doble de esa cantidad. El cumplimiento de estas cantidades justificar?? el otorgamiento de la distribuci?³n exclusiva en un pa?­s determinado. Por supuesto, el concesionario potencial obtendr?? ganancias de las ventas de ??lbumes que comprara al principio, en la etapa de “demostraci?³n” de su seriedad comercial.

Los cupos diferir??n de pa?­s en pa?­s, de acuerdo con las respectivas poblaciones. Naturalmente, las cantidades que el concesionario alem??n deber?? comprar y comercializar ser??n mucho mayores que las del concesionario holand?©s.

El precio de lista del ??lbum en los EE.UU. ser?? de US$ 49,95. Si bien se trata de un precio relativamente bajo para un producto tan especial, se consider?³ que debe ser lo m??s “accesible” posible para no disuadir a nadie de la compra. En otros pa?­ses, como Brasil, el concesionario podr?? fijar el precio de lista. En todos los casos, los costos para el concesionario se basar??n en un precio b??sico promedio de US$ 22.

Internet:

Los directivos de RMC consideraron que “quien no est?? en Internet, no existe”. En esa fase se cre?³ un sitio informativo en Internet; la pr?³xima etapa (julio de 2007) consistir?? en la creaci?³n de un sitio de presentaci?³n de alta calidad; m??s adelante se crear?? tambi?©n un sitio de comercializaci?³n.

En el sitio de presentaci?³n se exponen prospectos que describen el libro en los siete idiomas a los que fue traducido. Asimismo, se reproducen algunos fragmentos. El comprador potencial ser?? derivado al sitio en Internet del concesionario que opera en su pa?­s.

La actividad en Internet se relaciona tambi?©n con la venta de productos secundarios. En el sitio se podr??n incluir art?­culos reelaborados y corregidos para la preparaci?³n del libro; otros productos acompa?±antes pueden ser tarjetas postales, p?³sters y almanaques. El concesionario podr?? tomar contacto con emprsas de publicidad locales para ofrecerles el uso de d?­chos productos.

Otra idea de comercializaci?³n: se puede enviar un saludo de cumplea?±os a un tel?©fono m?³vil, por medio de un SMS al que se adjunte alguna ilustraci?³n reproducida en el sitio.

Actualmente se promueve intensamente el sitio en Google, MSN y Yahoo, para que palabras como “cristianismo”, “peregrinaci?³n” o “Tierra Santa”, que producen millones de resultados, hagan aparecer este sitio en la primera p??gina del motor de b?÷squeda.

Relaciones p?÷blicas:

Una actividad de comercializaci?³n de estas caracter?­sticas no puede llevarse a cabo sin relaciones p?÷blicas. Uno de los inversores de la sociedad ya ha realizado los primeros contactos con expertos en relaciones p?÷blicas en los EE.UU.

Hasta ahora, el mayor logro en este rubro tuvo lugar a fines de mayo de 2007: el CEO de la sociedad, Amos Talmor, mantuvo un encuentro con el Papa en el Vaticano, y le entreg?³ una copia del ??lbum. El encuentro fue filmado, hecho de gran importancia para la comercializaci?³n y que nos enorgullece a todos.

El camino hascia la Santa Sede se abri?³ con el env?­o de un ejemplar del ??lbum al Vaticano, para su examen y evaluaci?³n. El representante de RMC fue invitado a un encuentro personal con el Papa. No caben dudas de que dicho encuentro tiene un valor incalculable a nivel de relaciones p?÷blicas.

Munidos de este logro, los directivos de la compa?±?­a emprendieron una gira de difusi?³n y comercializaci?³n que empez?³ en la exposici?³n CBA en Atlanta, el marco m??s importante para el mundo cristiano. All?­ se estableci?³ el contacto con una sociedad local que representar?? a RMC Publishing en los EE.UU. Paralelamente se realizan otras actividades, como el inicio de la venta de la edici?³n en espa?±ol en librer?­as en Espa?±a.

Las oficinas de la sociedad, que se encuentran en la ciudad de Raanana, en la calle Hamasger 1, of. 103, tel. 972-77-2120067, cuentan con modernos sistemas computarizados.

Para m??s informaci?³n sobre el proyecto, tenga a bien tomar contacto con nosotros.

Atte.,

Amos Talmor

Amos Talmor

CEO & Cofounder

1 Hamasger Street - Suite 103

Raanana 43652 ג€“ Israel - The Holy-Land

Mobile: 972-54-5392121

Email: Amos@RMC-Publishing.com

Tel: 972-9-7483411; 972-77-2120067

Fax: 972-2120068

Web: www.thechroniclebook.com

ISBN# 978-965-7240007 & 978-965-7244014

How the idea for this book was born?

Filed under: Holy Land — admin @ 3:02 pm

In 1998, a group of entrepreneurs backing an experienced publisher had a unique idea: to produce an artistic news album that would document the history of Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land over the 2000 years from the start of the Common Era to the beginning of the 21st century.

The potential target audience that they saw was hundreds of millions of Christian believers around the world, dreaming of visiting Christianity’s holy places and interested in these places; and all those interested in the history and art of the Holy Land.

In order not to make the historic story into a purely academic product likely to interest only a relatively small number of people, they thought up a unique format for the book: the history would be presented to the reader in the form of newspaper articles, since the majority of people read newspapers. In other words, the Crusades would be documented as a report in the newspaper just as the visit to Bethlehem by then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, was described at the time.

As befitting journalism, accompanying pictures would be required. But since we are talking about events that took place hundreds of years ago, naturally there are no contemporary archival photographs and therefore the articles are accompanied by illustrations and works of art relevant to the subject.

Initially, the initiators of the idea met with Christian religious leaders in order to hear their opinion of the venture, and to rule out the existence of an album with a similar concept in the world market.

Such a meeting was held, for example, with the heads of the Franciscan church in Israel. This church was given responsibility by the Vatican for pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and its members “hold the keys to Christian pilgrimage”. The Franciscans gave their blessing to the venture. Investigation also showed that there was no similar product and the project could get underway.

Because of the different streams in Christianity, such as Catholics, Protestants, Evangelists and Provoslavs, it was decided that the story would be presented not from a

religious viewpoint, but rather from a historical and artistic position, so that each group

could identify with the content of the articles without provoking objections from any of the believers. The accent was also on representations of pilgrimage over the generations by the great artists.

The work

Now the initiators had to get down to the work in practice. They met with many academics and theologians, and their ranks were joined by experts on the subject of Christianity, who led the project. A great deal of material was collected from different sources, and reworked in the form of journalistic coverage. The finished project included over 550 articles.

At the same time, preparations were underway to photograph the works of art. This was a wide-ranging and time-consuming task. It included many contacts with museums and owners of private collections. It is not necessary to pay for the use of photographs of works of art that are more than 70 years old and are found in public institutions, such as museums or the Vatican basements. But with regard to photographs of works of art of any age in private collections, the owners are entitled to ask for payment. The initiators of the idea purchased rights and gathered some 3000 photographs. Over 1100 of them found their way onto the pages of the book.

A considerable sum of money was invested in the venture. The initial estimate was around $400,000. In practice, the cost was twice as much, or more.

Work on the project lasted more than eight years. In 2000, a limited version of the album was published, a kind of pilot to check out the response to the product in the market.

There was an enthusiastic reaction at the exhibitions and fairs where the album was exhibited, but the main target audience, members of the different churches, confirmed the fears of the initiators that it would be difficult to adapt the text to the world view of the different streams of Christianity, even if the focus of the album was on the historic rather than the religious motifs. The Provoslavs, for example, wanted dozens of pages to be changed so as to give greater emphasis to their activities. The Evangelists do not believe at all in the story of the Annunciation. The history of pilgrimage begins, as far as they are concerned, in the year 1000 CE.

Marketing dilemmas also arose. For example, the big American publishing house Barnes & Noble said that the book’s cover, adorned with a large cross, was too religious in its connotation.

As anticipated, the book had to be improved and made more sophisticated. About a third of the material contained in the pilot edition underwent changes. In addition, because of the heavy financial investment involved in the project, the initiators decided to bring in more partners.

Setting up a company and enlisting investors

In mid-2006 one of the initiators decided to set about the work with renewed vigor. He purchased the rights of the other founding partners and set out to find new investors whose strengths lay in the field of marketing. The album itself was almost ready. Although a considerable number of changes and additions were required, most of the raw material was already translated into seven languages: English, Spanish, Russian, German, Italian, Portuguese, and French.

The entrepreneur did not see the project as an album or as another product to market, but as an entire commercial business. A business that was no different from a start-up, except that in this case there was already a finished product. Therefore, most of the business activity had to focus on marketing it throughout the world.

The entrepreneur came to the offices of Brooks Keret, a financial management company mainly engaged in enlisting investors in the world of high-tech. Brooks Keret came in as a partner in the marketing company set up in order to market the album; Nimrod Elmish, a partner and business development manager, was appointed as its representative in the project, and work started apace under his management to raise the finance, partners, and officeholders required by the company.

A new company was set up, called RMC Publishing. A number of strategic investors were brought in, who not only brought money into the company, but also contributed their knowledge, their contacts, and their experience. In this way RMC’s marketing network was considerably strengthened without any additional fixed costs.

Examples of how the partner/investors have contributed: one of them has contacts in Singapore, through whom an initial purchase has already been made; one wants to

undertake activities in Poland; a third has made contact with a person in public relations in the United States; another partner has undertaken to develop activities in Brazil, and so on.

At the same time, the company management understood that there is a difference between willingness to invest time and resources on the part of someone with a substantial holding in the company, and such willingness on the part of someone with a small stake. It was therefore decided that if a “small” investor contributed directly to profitability, he would be remunerated for it. In other words, not only would he enjoy a dividend on his investment, but also a commission for any other relevant contribution.

The investors were recruited through the Brooks Keret investors club. It was important for the partners that these should be people who were willing to cooperate and with whom it would be pleasant to work. According to the partners, a kind of mini Angels club was formed, familiar mostly from the field of investment in high-tech, with the investors bringing other people into the investment. (An angel is an initial investor in a company, giving it a first financial push. These are usually private individuals, not funds or institutions, and for this reason the entrepreneurs call them angels.)

Recruiting an investor to be CEO

The partners prepared to recruit a CEO, the person who would drive the company.

They were looking for someone who did not necessarily come from the publishing field, but from the world of high-tech. First of all, because the arena for the new companyג€™s activities is the global market, as it is for high-tech (unlike the book market, which is local and language-oriented in character); and also because it had become clear to them that around the world, especially in the United States, most books are sold today through the Internet. They looked at the figures and found, for example, that some 70% of the tens of millions of copies of The Da Vinci Code that have been sold were sold through the Internet (this particular book was not chosen at random, since its story draws inspiration from the world of Christianity). They also found that 80% of the new Harry Potter book sales were through the Internet.

Books are a classic product for selling over the Internet. The book is not a sophisticated product that can be damaged in transit or use, where it is sometimes difficult to track

down the seller to compensate the buyer. The buyer knows exactly what he is getting, there are no surprises. It is also a cheap product, which makes it psychologically easier to purchase online.

The partners wanted a CEO who would also be one of the investors, with a significant investment. Such a person, they assumed, would be extra cautious with the investors’ money, and would also create a sense of trust among the other investors, because his interests were wholly in line with theirs. There can sometimes be natural conflicts of interest between a salaried manager, who wants to leave money in the company in order to develop it, and investors, who want to receive the fastest possible return on their investment in the form of a dividend.

The CEO appointed by the company is Amos Talmor, a man with international experience in sales and marketing in high-tech companies, who retired from his work as a salaried manager a number of years ago, and in recent years has invested in several high-tech companies. His main occupation and specialization is in international marketing.

Marketing - the business model

It was decided that marketing would focus mainly on centralized sales to organizations and sale over the Internet. Sales to individual customers would be through local distributors. As a rule, the business model sees bookshops as important but not the main player, in light of the above findings with regard to Internet sales.

Centralized purchases can take place in a variety of ways. For example, a large company might purchase such an album for tens of thousands of its employees before Christmas. An introductory letter from the CEO can be printed on the first page.

Another example: priests and preachers purchasing a large number of albums and selling them to members of their congregation. The story of the Church or the text of an important sermon can be attached to the album.

For example, one of the interested parties contacting the company was the Church of Zion, which has 1680 churches across the United States.

Concessionaires:

The global marketing network will be operated by concessionaires, other than the main market - the United States - where it will be managed by local distributors.

An example of the model of engagement with the concessionaire: initially, the concessionaire will be required to order 10,000 albums. After an agreed period, he will be required to order twice this quantity. Meeting these quotas will justify giving the concessionaire exclusive distribution rights in a particular country. Obviously, the potential concessionaire will make a profit from selling the albums he has acquired at the outset, at the stage of proving his seriousness.

The quotas will vary from one country to another, relative to the size of the population in the country. In the nature of things, the quantities that the concessionaire in Germany will be asked to acquire and distribute will be greater than those set for the Dutch concessionaire.

The catalogue price of the album in the United States will be $49.95. Although this is a relatively low price for such a unique product, the consideration is that the price should be as popular as possible so as not to deter people from buying the album. In the United States, as well as in Brazil, for example, the concessionaire will be able to decide the catalogue price. In any event, the cost to the concessionaire will be the base price, on average $22.

Internet:

In the view of the RMC management, “if you are not on the Internet you do not exist”. At this stage, the company has an informative website. The next stage (in July 2007) is to create a top quality image website. This will be followed by a website that will also serve as a marketing tool.

The image site contains prospectuses describing the book in the seven languages in which it is distributed. It also has excerpts from the album. If anyone wants to buy it, he will be referred to the website of the concessionaire in the country of the potential purchaser.

The Internet activity also relates to the sale of supplementary products. On the website, it will be possible to bring up most of the articles drawn up and written when preparing the book. Other supplementary products could be postcards, posters and calendars with the pictures.

Concessionaires will be able to engage with local advertising agencies and offer them the use of these products.

Another marketing idea is to send people SMS birthday greetings along with one of the pictures illustrated on the site.

Today, intensive work is taking place to promote the website on Google, MSN and Yahoo. The aim is for words such as Christianity, pilgrimage, or holy land, which yields millions of results, to bring up the website on the first page of the search engine.

Public relations:

There can be no marketing activity of this kind without public relations. Initial contacts have already been made with a public relations agency in the United States, through one of the investors in the company.

The jewel in the crown to date came at the end of May. The CEO of the company, Amos Talmor, met with the Pope in the Vatican and presented him with a copy of the album. The meeting was documented on film and is a valuable marketing tool that everyone is very proud of.

The way to the meeting with the Holy See was paved when the album was sent to the Vatican for its opinion, resulting in a personal invitation for a representative of RMC to meet with the Pope. The film documenting this meeting undoubtedly has incomparable public relations value.

Equipped with this, the company’s managers set out on a marketing and distribution trip, starting with the CBA fair in Atlanta - the most important fair for marketing to the Christian world.

As a result, contacts were made with a local company that will represent RMC Publishing in the United States. Other marketing activities have been carried out in parallel, such as beginning to sell the Spanish edition in bookshops in Spain.

The company operates today from its offices at 1 Hamasger St., room 103, Raanana, tel: 077-2120067, where an advanced computer system is installed.

Further details can be provided on request.

Sincerely,

Amos Talmor

CEO & Cofounder

Email: Amos@RMC-Publishing.com

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