1-900
toll-number to famous people
Copyright 1991
They
make money. They sign up.
They choose their rates. The
phone service earns money by taking a small percentage (from 1% to 10%).
Free-market
economics: If someone wants too
much money/minute, they won't get many calls.
How much would you pay (per minute) to speak with so-and-so??
Free-market rules... If you charge too much, you won't get many
calls...
How
it works:
First:
advertise the service to famous people, who can sign up for free;
they choose their own rates; all
they have to do is give us a phone #, where callers can leave a message (when to
call them back). (Obviously, the
famous people are not expected to answer the phone, or to return calls, except
at their leisure).
Second:
the 1-900 service is advertised nationally (by AT&T, who has bought
this business idea from us). People
call up 1-900-YOR-HERO, for example.
This call costs $1/minute, and is charged on their phone bill, usually
taking several minutes to listen to the recording, and access the famous
person's phone number. (Or, they
may order our directory - which contains the names and numbers of thousands of
famous people - which is available by mail, fax, or via on-line computer
service).
A
recorded message comes on, asking the caller to punch-in the name of the person,
whose phone number he/she wants to get (using the keys on the touch-tone phone,
last name first). For example,
A=21, B=22, C=23, D=31, E=32, F=33, G=41, H=42, I=43, etc...
Prior to this, they may wish to order the directory of names &
numbers by mail, fax, or on-line computer service.
We're
on the road to the "information superhighway."
To
get the phone number of your famous person, then punch the keys (with a 1, 2, or
3 afterwards, to specify 1st, 2nd, or 3rd letter on the same key as the number)
on your touch tone phone, last name first.
The code for Madonna, for example is:
61 21 31 63 62 62 21. Of
course, Madonna will be cross-indexed under her real name, Louise Ciccione (Ciccione,
Louise: 23 43 23 23 43 63 62 32 53
63 82 43 73 32).
As
an alternative, the recorded message may have name recognition, and if the
caller says "Madonna", the message gives back her phone #, where the
caller may call and leave a message for Madonna to call back.
Madonna's rate will be expensive (part of which she may donate to her
favorite charity); but you can see
how even a person like Madonna may want to sign-up.
How about Al Gore @ $200/minute: as a fund-raiser for a good cause, even
if he only returns calls for 20 minutes/day!!
Thousands of celebrities will be available through this service: sports
figures, entertainers, newsmakers, etc.
The recorded message
explains that "these are very busy people, and that we should leave them a
short message when to call us back, briefly describe the topic, and about how
long you wish to speak to them. There is no guarantee that they will call you back;
however, they will be making quite a bit of money by doing so; so they
are motivated to call you back; and
if you are polite and courteous, and explain that you would like to talk about a
topic that they are also interested in, it is very likely they will call you
back." (This is on the first recorded message).
For
example, someone may want to speak in person with Carl Sagan,
and he may charge $20/minute (?), but another astronomer who would like
to get his ear, may be delighted to pay $200 for a 10-minute talk with Sagan.
Also, each famous person is encouraged to donate a percentage of their
proceeds to a charity of their choice [which is described on their message
machine, or in our 900-directory] which may be tax-deductible to the caller;
so there are motivations for all.
Then
the message asks you to enter your VISA number, to charge the call (from the
famous person). (This is only
charged when and if the call is returned).
The
initial call to the 1-900 # is a toll-call (at about $1/minute) (goes on
caller's phone bill). Within a few
minutes, the caller can access the phone number (which may be a 900#) for any
famous person, where the caller can leave a brief message when to call back, the
general topic to talk about (if any), and about how long they want to talk to
the person: this could be either a
direct call, charged to the caller's home phone, or possibly it could also be a
1-900 toll-call (to the famous person or their answering machine).
So you see, this business incorporates three different pay-calls, all of
which are charged to the caller.
Along
the way, the caller has left his or her VISA number, to which the more expensive
charges will be billed; but not charged until the famous person actually returns
the call. The service may
offer some guarantee, for example, such as there will be no charge if a call is
not returned within 10 days after leaving a message.
Who
needs this service? Both the
celebrities, as well as their fans. This
service will be of value to both, and both will benefit.
Obviously, even some famous people are still interested in making more
money, or would simply like an opportunity to speak with their fans, or get new
ideas from people who will pay money to speak with them.
The beauty is that none of the celebrities have to return any calls (or
even listen to them) if they don't want to, but real money is exchanged when
they do.
Callers
who need this service: everyone
knows that people pay money on their phone bills to speak with girls and
astrologers, but how about a one-on-one with the celebrity of your choice, at
any level of power, fame, or insider-information:
Sports
heros
Financial
advisors:
Scientists:
Psychiatrists,
Doctors:
Writers,
Columnists
Politicians
Ex-Presidents:
Music
stars:
Film
Stars
Odds-makers
in Las Vegas:
Comedians:
Famous
people in prison:
News-makers:
Heads
of Corporations:
(even)
famous astrologers:
Every
(or any) famous person can sign up for free and make money.
There
are thousands of famous people, and most all of them may be contacted through
their agents -- we already have a list of the names and contact numbers of more
than 3,000 celebrities! (And of
course there are thousands of others).
The
service is offered around the world to famous people, who can sign up for free
just by offering a telephone number where they can receive in-coming messages.
(If that is also a 1-900 #, then there's a small charge to the caller
just to leave a message on the famous person's answering machine;
but the famous person is motivated to call back and actually talk with
some of the callers, because then there's real communication, and also it will
generate income for the celebrity (depending on the rates charged).
A few celebrities will want to appear non-mercenary, so their phone
numbers will be free-of-charge. However,
even with those customers, our 900-service will still earn money through the
initial toll-call, even if a few celebrities offer free access.
This
is also a gift idea for all occasions: birthdays,
anniversaries, celebrations & parties of all types:
turn on the speaker phone, and let a whole group of people speak with the
celebrity.
This
can be a billion-dollar business; but
it needs major financial and media backing;
that's why AT&T (or another big media company - or the screen actor's
guild) should take the initiative and buy the business plan from us for a
reasonable fee and some royalties.
Bob
Silverstein