July 21, 2003
—Featuring Testimonies, Tips & How-To's!
FSM 146 (FN 255) DO
Articles Written & Contributed Directly by Missionaries on the Field!
Copyright: October 1989 By Family Services, Zurich, Switzerland
Dear Family,
God bless you! We love you dearly & are so thankful for all that you are accomplishing for His Kingdom! We re-joice with you when hearing of the many victories gained as you continue to pioneer & make progress! PTL!
This FSM features the exciting new Video Ministry! Aren't the new GP Videos terrific?! God bless our faithful & inspired Video production crew! We are already seeing the fruitfulness of the Kiddie Viddies, & the reactions from the public are thrilling!
Considering the shortness of time, Dad & Mama have expressed concern that we do all we can now to learn to promote & sell these new GP Videos. It is their hope that the Video distribution can be well underway worldwide in time to make this year's Christmas Season a tremendous witness with the powerful new Christmas Kiddie Viddie!
If we pioneer & experiment now we can discover successful selling methods & learn what works best in order to take full advantage of whatever time we have left before the World System crashes.We therefore want to encourage an emphasis on video distribution. Please make a concerted pioneer effort to help keep this new ministry soaring! You've already done so well with tape & Poster distribution, follow-up & provisioning etc., but to keep progressing we need to wholeheartedly embrace this newest outreach revolution with everything that is within us, applying ourselves aggressively & with determination to make it work.
The Lord has miraculously supplied for this new ministry—personnel, equipment, finances, talent & vision. Many hours of "blood, sweat & tears" have been invested by our Video Production Crew to produce these wonderful tools in record time! They have worked day & night scripting, practicing, filming, editing & shipping to make it possible, but it won't accomplish His purposes unless we get them to the people! Where God guides He provides—& where God provides He also guides. We believe He would not have allowed us to produce these GP Videos unless He knew that we do have sufficient time & means to make them a tremendous worldwide witness!
Some have found that it takes more time to sell Videos than tapes or Posters. Since videos are more expensive, people may think twice before buying them, so it takes more effort to explain how important the Videos are, why they need the Videos & why they are worth the extra cost (as compared to the lower cost of Posters & tapes). It might be a little difficult when learning to sell the Videos if you find that in the time you sell a couple of Videos you could have sold more tapes & Posters & possibly brought in more funds to cover the expenses of your Home. However, we would like to encourage you that, although it may take a little more time to sell Videos than tapes or Posters, if we do invest that time & are faithful with follow-up, we can gain many souls, lasting friends & supporters through our Video witness. The Videos have already been drawing the net on many of our contacts, bringing them much closer to the Family & strengthening their convictions to help us. So the time spent is well worth it as we will reap in the long run with long-term friends & supporters who will stick with us & continue to supply our needs as World conditions worsen.
We have had many reminders in the Word about the need for faithful friends & supporters. As Dad says, "We've been advising you along this line for a long time. You've branched into other ministries & diversified more, & I've been glad to hear it. You're not just a one or two-product Family. You're branching out into other ministries that are more apt to survive & be able to keep going than just tapes & Posters. When the day comes & you're forced off the streets, God helping you, we hope you'll have built up your other more private ministries & outreaches, DFs, friends, kings, converts & whatever. Amen?" (ML#2498:91,92) So please use this powerful new witnessing tool to the full & pursue the follow-up of your contacts, friends & supporters while you still have time to win their lasting friendship & their continued support for the difficult times to come.
This FSM includes tips & testimonies which offer a wide variety of ideas about where & how to sell the Videos. Also you will find a sample "sales pitch" for the Videos with some helpful hints to open the door when selling. These sample presentations just offer guidelines.—Each situation is different & field conditions vary greatly from country to country, so please experiment & find what works best for you personally! (For more ideas & tips for selling see "How to Love", pages 312-330.)
Much of what we have already learned in tape & Poster distribution can be applied to selling Videos as well, such as the following guidelines:
* Samples sell sermons. Your personal enthusiasm & conviction will be one of your greatest selling factors. If you are sold, you can sell them.
* Never underestimate the power of the personal touch. Reach out & relate to the individual. Show personal concern for them & how the Video can help them personally.
* Just as we try to get the people to listen to the music of the DTD tapes, try to have them watch the Videos! They are irresistible!
Many Homes have written that referrals are very effective! Encourage your satisfied customers to refer you to their friends, relatives & business associates—especially fruitful if they offer their personal recommendation. Some have received recommendations from top school officials which have opened the door for sales to all the schools in the area! When going to schools many have offered the attractive "Special Children's Package" of a Kiddie Viddie & an assortment of children's tapes. Also offering the English Kiddie Viddie with the corresponding local language tape is a good combination for those who want to learn English. Please don't forget to record the specifics of each sale in order to follow-up with the next Video in the series!
You will also be receiving four black & white promotional flyers to help with your Video distribution.—We've pro-duced two versions of each flyer, one designed for Christmas & the holiday period, & the other version for the rest of the year. (Please feel free to print the flyers in a different colour if you prefer.) In order to make the most of these flyers, we wanted to offer a few tips about how to use them effectively.
The flyers can be used in conjunction with your sales presentation, but please remember that since people can't both read the flyer & listen to you talk at the same time, these flyers could detract from your presentation if not used wisely. Likewise with the colour Kiddie Viddie brochure which you have probably already received. For example, if you hand your customer a flyer or brochure & then talk about points not directly related to the flyer, chances are they will tune out whatever you are saying while they tune into the flyer.We believe the proper use of these flyers & brochures could greatly enhance your sales presentation if you refer directly to them after you give them to your customers, by pointing out the beautiful pictures, reading the catchy captions or reading portions together. This way the flyers & brochure serve to reinforce, rather than compete with your sales pitch.
You can leave these black & white promotional flyers with people who are undecided about whether they want to purchase a video. This way they can read about the videos at their leisure or share the information with their husband/wife & then contact you if they want to see you again or if they decide to buy a video at a later date.
Similarly, when going OTO you can leave the flyers at offices where no one is available to talk to you, & then when you return they will already have read the flyer & be familiar with your product.
You may want to go to neighbourhoods before you do any knocking on doors & saturate the neighbourhoods with the black & white flyers (where legally permissable), & then a day or two later go back and knock on the doors. This could possibly make your sales much easier because people would then feel like they already know you in a way, they've had a chance to read about what you're selling & it's almost like an old friend coming around.
It would be helpful to also leave a flyer with everybody who buys Videos from you, since the flyers explain that other Videos are available—this way they will be able to contact you when they would like to purchase their next Video.
Friends & supporters who are inter-ested in promoting the Videos may also find these flyers very helpful. If they are shy or not so familiar with our sales tech-niques, they may appreciate having something in print to "beef up" their explanation & sales pitch to their relatives, friends or colleagues.
Obviously, it would be best to use the flyers designed for the Christmas season first, since these upcoming weeks are a time when many people are searching for "just the right gift" for their family or friends.
It seems it could greatly increase sales of the Teen Videos ("S.O.S" & "20 Minutes To Go!") during the Christmas season & be a lot faster & easier if, rather than trying to sell parents with the idea of "an alternative to rock music", you simply present them with a "great new Christmas gift idea". People are always wondering what to give their kids for Christmas & they probably dread long hours of searching through crowded department stores, so if we can bring a new & exciting Christmas gift right to their doors they will surely be thrilled & thankful.
We would like to point out that the flyers & the Kiddie Viddie colour brochure are directed to adults. They are designed to appeal to parents, teachers etc. rather than to children or teens. We are now working on producing a colour brochure advertising the Teen Videos which will be mainly geared toward teens & not adults. However, the colour Teen Video brochure could still be used in conjunction with the flyers when selling to adults by saying, "Look, these are beautiful scenes from the Videos!" This way they can see the beautiful pictures at a glance without even needing to read anything. (In most cases, we wouldn't usually recommend that the adults take a lot of time reading the teen text of the colour Teen Video brochure as it will be in teen language & probably wouldn't appeal that much to parents.)
We also wouldn't recommend that the colour Kiddie Viddie or Teen Video brochures be given out wholesale because of the expense of the colour printing. Perhaps our Family salesmen could just take a small stack of colour brochures with them to show to prospective customers & give to selected people. It should be enough to just show the Teen Video colour brochure to teens. However, if you have a very prospective customer who's not quite ready to buy the Video yet, or if they have a lot of other friends they want to show it to, or you want to leave it on a college or high school bulletin board or with teen teachers, or in cases where you have real hot leads & good customers, then the colour brochure can be given out sparingly, but not mass distributed.
We pray that these promotional materials will be a blessing & help you present the Kiddie Viddies & the Teen Videos in a concise & convincing manner. PTL!
We love you & pray for your progress with this exciting new ministry. Please send in reactions from the public & your lessons, tips & testimonies so we can publish them for the benefit of all! PTL! We look forward to even greater victories in the months to come! God bless & keep you!
Much love, Your WS Staff
The following "sales pitch" offers some ideas about how to present the Kiddie Viddies or Teen Videos. This sales pitch is a detailed explanation with many different selling points—you wouldn't necessarily mention all the points brought out in the paragraphs below, but rather you could choose suitable points to weave into your witness. How you present the Videos would therefore vary, depending on your individual situation & the leading of the Spirit with each "customer". In other words, we wouldn't expect you to just blurt out this whole sales pitch verbatim, but just use these selling points in your witness as you so desire.
We would like to emphasise that a key point in selling OTO or DTD is to get in the door & try to put the Video on so people can see for themselves! Please don't try to rush through your whole presentation while standing at the reception desk of the office or on the front porch of their home. If you are actually invited to enter the office or home & can sit down & have a relaxed, personal conversation, your percentage of sales will increase. One point that will help people feel more at ease & more willing to invite you into their offices & homes is if your OTO & DTD teams are either couples or two girls if safe (with or without children, as preferred), not two brothers. This encourages people to open their doors more readily, as two women or a couple is less frightening or intimidating, especially when going DTD.
And one last reminder, even if you are having a delightful time witnessing & presenting the Videos, you would still need to be sensitive to how much time the person is willing to give you as most businessmen & mothers are very busy & it doesn't usually help your sale to overstay your welcome.
* Good morning! My name is Mr. Shiner & I represent Kiddie Viddie Productions. We're here to talk to you about Kiddie Viddie, a popular & exciting new children's Video, an alternative to the drugs, violence & crime in today's television. I'm from (country, if you're a foreigner). [Or: I just returned from (country, if you're a returning missionary)]. (Your partner introduces himself & hopefully the person offers his name in return, otherwise you can sweetly inquire:) What is your name? It's nice to meet you! Do you have a few minutes?—We'd like to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind. Do you have children? Grandchildren? Oh my, you look so young to have grandchildren! How old are they? Do you have a chance to see them often?
* Do you ever worry about your children watching television with so much violence & crime portrayed? It was this very concern of many of us that prompted the founding of Kiddie Viddie Productions. We have developed a series of Videos especially designed for children & teens that offers an alternative to today's television programs which promote so much violence, drugs, alcohol etc.
* Please take a look at this Video. This is only one in a series of unique educational music Videos. (Show them the cover of the Video.—It's best if they take the Video box into their own hands. Encourage them to read the description written in their local language on the back of the Video box.)
* My children just love Kiddie Viddie! It's fast-moving, action-packed & lots of fun! It contains lively, happy songs. They are choreographed in beautiful colour with zest & imagination.—And the "stars" of this Video are children which is always a real hit with children! The music isn't just for entertainment, but also to teach such qualities as good manners, courtesy, obedience, determination & helpfulness, which will make your job as a parent easier. The children who sing & dance on the Video offer positive "role models" for young audiences because the lessons are presented in such a fun & challenging way that your children will want to be & do the same!
* We have found that you can take advantage of your child's natural attraction to television &, instead of it being a detriment, you can turn it into an advantage. The Kiddie Viddie is entertainment & education all wrapped up in one Video! It's not like a cartoon or a movie that they see once & then get bored with, children enjoy watching it over & over & even learn the words of the songs & soon begin to imitate & practice the lessons taught in the songs. Some parents have even found Kiddie Viddie to be effective pre-school education, helping young children to mature & preparing them to enter school.
* We're happy to bring an exciting new Christmas gift idea right to your door! This will save you the trouble of trying to find a new & unique gift for your kids, plus think of the hours of shopping in crowded & confusing department stores that you will avoid! There is also a Christmas Kiddie Viddie that will bring the magic & warmth of this special occasion into your home & hearts like nothing you have ever seen before. This is an ideal Christmas present which will be enjoyed by the whole family.
* Are your children rambunctious sometimes? I know it can be very frustrating to just keep nagging your kids. We have had tremendous results with hyperactive & hard-to-handle children. Many parents have just raved about the positive results that the Kiddie Viddie has had on their children!
* Did you know that the average pre-teen watches 28 hours of TV weekly, & by the time he is 16 he will have viewed 20,000 hours of television, including 200,000 acts of violence—50,000 of which are murders! Television violence has risen 100% since 1980, with about 14 acts of violence per prime-time hour.
* Rock music videos are becoming such a popular pastime, with teenagers now watching an average of two hours of rock music videos per day. A popular rock singer named Sting says, "Rock music in its highest form is more like a death cult!" Many rock songs have open references to Satan worship, pornography & violence, & today's rock music videos average about 17 acts of violence every hour. The American Academy of Pediatrics (36,000 pediatricians) recently made an official statement, that rock videos may be harmful to teenagers' health as they contain "an excess of sexism, violence, substance abuse, suicide & sexual behaviour".
* These Videos have been tested on a wide variety of children in private schools around the World, & the results have been so phenomenal that we have recently made them available to the public. We are selling these Videos on a personal basis for a donation of ______. These donations cover the production costs of the Videos & make our continued research possible. It is a worthwhile investment—it may even save your child's life or mental health, as this Video has been appropriately referred to as the antidote to the poison of today's television. (Rather than asking for a set price for the Videos, you may want to ask for a minimum donation for your Work—which should be the minimum price you would charge for the Video—and offer the Video as a free gift. At any rate, when using the Videos to raise support please act according to your own faith & use the method you find most effective in your particular situation.)
* (If the person doesn't have children:) Since you don't have young children or grandchildren personally, would you consider sponsoring the Kiddie Viddie? In other words, would you like to offer your financial support by purchasing Videos which can be donated to schools & pre-schools or orphanages? If children are important to you, this would be a wise investment for the future!
* The Kiddie Viddie is a wonderful baby sitter! You can just put the video on & it will keep your children occupied for hours & you won't have to worry! Why don't we put this sample video on right now & let's see how your children like it!
* (If the person doesn't have a video player:) Oh, you say you don't have a video player? Many people have purchased the Video for their children to watch it with their friends who do have players. Also others have purchased the Video & donated it to the school that their children attend & it has thus benefited the entire class!
We pray these tips will be a help. Once again, please remember that these are just guidelines & we trust that you will adapt what will work on your field & in your particular situation. You may even have better ideas. Please share them with us! We believe that after some experimentation you will find that the GP Videos will catch the interest of people of all walks of life—businessmen, mothers, grandparents, students or school officials. We pray they will be a great boost to your witnessing & a rich source of support as well! PTL! GBY!
By John Caravan, Latin America
The Lord opened a door for us to set up our own booth at the 40th Annual Domestic Utilities Exposition held here at the largest convention center of its type in Latin America! After hearing about this major upcoming exposition we set out to pioneer the possibilities of setting up a booth. At the convention center we met the owner's right-hand woman who became the key who the Lord used to miraculously open the door! Stepping out of a busy meeting to talk with us, she was very business-like at first, but was soon moved to tears upon listening to one of the children's tapes. She vowed to help us, & help us she did! She eventually set up a personal meeting with the owner of the convention center, who was interested in our Work & bought a collection of children's tapes & our newly released Kiddie Viddie! He then said he'd do what he could.
A few days later we called him & he raved about the Video exclaiming how much he & his children loved it, & he promised to find a space in the exposition for us to promote our tapes & Videos. He set us up in a prime location in the center which normally would have been very costly & would have required a reservation for a year in advance! He even built our booth & supplied everything we needed to make a beautiful display!
Our little booth was definitely a bright light in an otherwise totally materialistic atmosphere. It was a tremendous testimony & very fruitful as we sold lots of tapes & Videos! The Lord is opening some mighty doors to get out His Message while there's still time! TYJ!
From Miguel & Maria, Latin America
We set up a stand in a fair & the Lord did many miracles to help us distribute His Word. Every day we put on the Kiddie Viddie for those passing by to view & we soon noticed that an 18-year-old girl would come every single day & watch the Kiddie Viddie for several hours. We witnessed to her & gave her "How to Win!" The next day she was back & told us that the tape had made her cry. She was so overwhelmed by the Spirit that she told us she didn't want to leave nor go back to the Mormon temple that she used to attend. She is now a live-out member who is hungry for the Words of David. She is fruit of the Kiddie Viddie!
From Jordan & Praise Belen, Latin America
Fisher has begun to present special showings of the Kiddie Viddie in schools. The show lasts 30 minutes & he charges admission per child. This month he was able to give nine shows with 150 children in each show & 800 souls were saved.
(Editor: Some Homes have organised such showings of the Video for a small admission fee per child & the funds collected cover the school's purchase of their copy of Kiddie Viddie.)
From Lily, SEA
One of our DTD contacts used the Kiddie Viddie in a meeting where she had to give a presentation for 50 salesgirls working under her to inspire them to be enthusiastic & take initiative & be friendly.
From John & Rose, SEA
Our sponsor & his family flipped over the Kiddie Viddie show! As a result of seeing the Video he asked us to compile an article on the bad effects of modern music on youth, which he wants to submit to the government minister he works with.
From Bohan & Paloma, Latin America
We sold a Video to a Jewish family who didn't believe in God. However, after watching the Video, they came over to visit us as they were so impressed by the way God is presented in the Video. They mentioned that after listening to the song, "Where Would We Be Without Love?", their children began asking questions about God & as a result their children are now sharing their toys & being more loving!
From Pedro & Maria, Latin America
This past month we were able to participate in a fair where we set up a booth & played the Kiddie Viddie constantly. People of all ages spent hours at our stand watching the Video, talking with us & buying our materials! Many Videos were sold even after the fair was over, as we had some pending orders from the people we had met!
At the end of the fair, we were given a plaque, the award given to "the ones who treated the public the best"! PTL! What a testimony!
From Laz, Pacific
Going hotel-to-hotel (small pensions) at resort areas has been very fruitful for selling the Kiddie Viddies. We spend a little extra time with the manager explaining our Work, showing our School brochure & even having the children sing a song & this really softens his heart & makes the sale easier! PTL!
From Kristia, SEA
While going DTD we met a woman & her brother. She was a cook in a childcare center & he was a plumber. They didn't speak much English & there were no children in their home, so it looked like a closed door for selling any Videos. But we introduced our Work & showed them our materials anyway. She recognised the Video & started raving about it, explaining how the kids in her school love it! They wanted to buy everything we had shown them—four tapes & a Kiddie Viddie. Judging outwardly I didn't think they understood how much we were asking, but they generously handed us $100 & sweetly asked if that was enough. They explained that they'd been wanting to give that money back to God, so they felt they should give it to us! It was a lesson for us on not judging by outward appearances—sometimes the most unexpected people can be your best "customers"!
From Job, Pacific
When we go out Videoing we sell the English & Japanese Kiddie Viddies as a set. We ask $250 for this set of two Videos & company presidents have all agreed that this is a good price ("normal" for Japan). When I first began to get out the Videos, I thought I would need a video machine with me to show the Video, but so far, out of the 52 Videos I have sold, only one person has asked to see it. There is such a vacuum for our Videos that people are just gobbling them up!
From James & Maria, Pacific
We mobilized our JETTs & OC's for a Video Attack!—We taught them an extensive set of new phrases in the local language & launched out with the children leading the presentation, & the victory was immediate! On the first full day of our attack our team got out 10 Videos for over $500 and the wonderful thing was...it was so easy! The adults had difficulty convincing these businessmen to buy the Kiddie Viddies, but a sharp presentation by the children caught their attention & touched their hearts! TTL!
From Daniel Mountain, Pacific
A friend showed us an animated video for children that his son had helped produce. We sat through 20 minutes about the Shinto religion which, despite ending with some good morals, included eight-headed dragons & other uninspiring footage. Then our friend saw the Kiddie Viddie for the first time & he said, "That was tremendous! Your Video wins hands down! My son should be ashamed." He thought the Kiddie Viddie would be an encouragement to his son & grandchildren so he gave a good donation to the Work & we gave him Kiddie Viddie #1 & #2. He said, "I really like the way your Video gets out a message, while at the same time it's not pushy! I feel if I were to meet those children I could immediately have a lot of fun with them!"
From Dan & Tender, SEA
The new Video Ministry, instead of detracting from the follow-up ministry or tape distribution, has actually enhanced it. With each new Video that has come out, we first went back to see those who had gotten Kiddie Viddie #1 (usually at their request!) & as a result we were able to establish better links with many friends, both old & new!
From John, Mercy & Sharon, SEA
The new Kiddie Viddies have been a super boost to our outreach & they have already had an impact on the foreign community with many people referring us to their friends. They seem to want to get one, no matter what, they just insist on having it—even if they have to fork out their last penny!
From Stephen & Joy, Latin America
The brothers went DTD at the nearby gold mines. The owners of the mines gave them permission to witness to their employees. These men loved the Kiddie Viddie—and paid for their purchases in gold!
From Kristia, SEA
We've had very encouraging responses from the childcare centers about "Happy All the Time". One center reported that the kids don't want to leave with their parents if they come to pick them up during "Kiddie Viddie Time". They also said the kids are actually selling the parents on the Videos because they're asking to see "Happy All the Time" at home, so some parents are putting in their orders for Kiddie Viddie at the centers. A couple of children even asked to go back to school on Sunday because they wanted to watch the Kiddie Viddie! Another center enlarged the song book so the children can all see it, sing along & at the same time learn to read.
From Johannes & Joanna, Pacific
We are pioneering the Video Ministry with a totally new approach—new name, new PR books, new business cards etc. We got a special map that shows all the offices & all the kindergartens & nursery schools in this area so that we can systematically visit them all. First we tried calling to make appointments, but in our situation that just didn't work. People were either very busy or just weren't interested, so it was too easy for them to say "no" on the phone. So we changed our tactics. We formed teams of one national, one foreigner & two children to visit them & it seems to work much better! Children really help to break the ice, otherwise it is much more business-like. We offer a "Special Package Deal" of a four-pack of children's tapes & a Kiddie Viddie for $150 or more. It works! PTL!
From Martin, Pacific
We found that selling the Videos is much more fun if every person on the team from the smallest to the tallest has a part in the witness. Letting the children do most of the presentation is usually most effective. We found that the early morning hours are the best as we sell most of our Videos before noon when company managers & presidents are more available! By offering the Video for a donation of from $40 to $80 we were amazed at how many people would give larger donations than the minimum—so our average donation has been $60 per Video. PTL! We have found that the Videos sell even better than the tapes!
From Jonas, Pacific
We wanted to consolidate our gains, strengthen our friends & promote the new Kiddie Viddie so we decided to send monthly newsletters. In the newsletter we share the progress the students have made in school, a list of the many items God supplied through other interested donors, a story from the Good Thots, a request for a pledge of monthly support & we advertise the Kiddie Viddie.
A week after sending the newsletter, our secretaries phoned our friends for their reactions, pledges & Kiddie Viddie orders! The first two days of follow-up we sold many Kiddie Viddies to recent donors. Kiddie Viddie fever is spreading & it's only the beginning!
From Abel Firstfruits, Pacific
This month we had some people order Kiddie Viddies for their friends so we're starting to pass out "Order Forms" with every Video we sell.
From Titus Firstlove, Pacific
We found that with the Kiddie Viddie we needed to get away from the old methods we used in OTO tapenessing. Instead, we tried using a survey to address the issue of today's music videos & TV programs & their effect on the youth. We found that the problem of today's rock music videos is on the minds of most of the people we've contacted thus far. So in our "TV survey" we ask people if their children watch television, & if so, what kind of programs & how do they feel about the programs.—This opens the door for further discussion & a good witness.
From Tim of Cheerful, SEA
When we received the Kiddie Viddies, Dan & I gathered all the name cards we could dig up & hit the streets with the Videos & we sold 22 Videos in only five hours! Some of these people whose name cards we had were met three to five years ago, no specific information about the previous contact with them was recorded on many of the cards & we weren't even sure who they were. (We are trying to avoid that now!) But as we went the Lord did it! The average gift we received for each Video was twice the suggested amount! TYJ! We're completely sold on this new witnessing tool!
From Markus, SEA
Sometimes we mention that the Kiddie Viddie was produced in Japan which really boosts its value as quality stands high in Japanese goods. Bringing up the point that Kiddie Viddie is a series seems to be an important selling feature, telling them that as soon as the next in the series comes out we will call them & deliver it if they like. Then everyone is glad to give their card, which can be used for thank-you letters & follow-up. The Video can also be offered as an English teaching tool by offering the English Video with the local language audio tape.
From Kristia, SEA
Besides going DTD with the Kiddie Viddie we started tapping the potential of over 100 childcare centers here. To date, every center we have approached has bought a Video! We first call on the phone to make an appointment. We try to sound professional & say we have an educational music Video for children. When we visit the center we suggest they gather the children to actually view the Video & see how they like it. During the viewing we mention little guidelines at the start of some songs such as, "Oh, this is a song about obedience" or "This song will help the children be more loving".—Not too much, just a subtle promotion of a good product! If they are not able to view it, we use the songbook to highlight the many valuable lessons the children can learn.
From David & Dove, Europe
I have found while distributing Videos if I play them the song, "Magic of Love", that it greatly helps sell the Video. After listening to that song, it helps them to appreciate how professional the Videos are. Of course, it's even better if you can show them a Video, but there is not always a player handy, so I've found this helpful.
From Jesse, Pacific
Video distribution tip! Have one of your friends arrange a Kiddie Viddie Party! This is similar to the Tupperware parties which are popular with housewives and mothers. One of our friends, a doctor's wife, invited her friends to get together in her home to view our children's educational Videos and to hear our presentation. After previewing the Videos, we discussed the need for edifying educational Videos, & then we took orders for Kiddie Viddie. You might want to help the hostess in preparing the refreshments, unless for some reason they may prefer to do it themselves.
From Juan David & Maria Victoria, Europe
You can find local TV stations everywhere in Europe! We found out that they're desperate for programs for children. We're going town to town & city to city, making contacts with all such local TV stations. We've been able to sell the Kiddie Viddie to 18 of these TV stations which are reaching as many as 40 different towns & cities in this area. They liked it so much that they are asking for the whole set. TYJ!
(Editor: If the opportunity arises for you to have the Kiddie Viddies broadcast on local television stations, we suggest you be sure to make arrangements for the stations to air your address at the end of the Video in the form of a short blurb that says something like the following: "If you are interested in purchasing `Kiddie Viddie' children's music videos or if you would like more information, please write to Kiddie Viddie Productions at the following address..." If you do not wish to broadcast your address in such a GP manner, another possibility would be to make arrangements with the television station for you to use their address, & then you could go by regularly & pick up any mail that they have received for you in response to the Kiddie Viddie showings. It would be advisable to have a short written agreement with the stations stating that they agree to put your address—or their address, depending on your arrangement—at the end of the Kiddie Viddie every time they air it or any portion of it.
You may also want to consider appearing personally on television talk shows to promote the Videos. You could even play clips of the Videos on such programs for advertising, if you are willing to be that open in your witness & if you have a GP address or phone number through which interested people could order the Videos.—Or again, you can make arrangements with the station to use their address.
Since television stations who buy the Kiddie Viddies will most likely be airing them regularly & will perhaps even use them to sell advertising spots, they should be willing to pay considerably more for them. It's important to realise that stations pay for just about all the shows they air, & those shows don't come cheap. For the System to produce a half-hour show like our Kiddie Viddie costs hundreds of thousands of Dollars!—And in order to recoup this investment, they charge the stations plenty. Thank the Lord, our Videos did not cost that much to produce, yet their value is even greater. So if a station wants to put them on the air, they should be willing to pay at least well above what you normally sell them for.)
From Byron & Meekness, Latin America
A local government organisation bought 45 children's music tapes for their childcare centers all over our state! They also bought four Videos for the personal use of the officials in charge & have ordered 13 more to be distributed to the different centers!
From Joel & Ana, Latin America
While going DTD we met a wealthy upper class young woman with three children. She received Jesus & bought all the children's tapes & the Kiddie Viddie. The Video bore such good fruit in the lives of her children that she now does not want her children to watch commercial videos any longer as even Walt Disney cartoons like "Dumbo" seem too violent to her now! Her children watch Kiddie Viddie eight times a day & have happily ordered the next in the series!
Wanting to help us, she made a long list of all her friends & relatives whom we then visited & they bought 100 tapes & 30 Videos! Thanks to her, we got to meet the very top people of the city & we're already ministering to them regularly!
From Cristina & Josu, Latin America
Sometimes it is not possible for people to see a sample of the Kiddie Viddie before buying it. To help remedy this problem we are collecting comments from respected people of position like directors of schools or owners of corporations who have already bought the Video, verifying their high quality & the thorough enjoyment these Videos provide! (Editor: Please send these reactions in to the FSM so the entire Family may benefit!)It makes it easier to sell the Videos as people trust the reactions of these professional people & therefore they have more confidence to buy the Kiddie Viddie for themselves even if they haven't seen it yet. (But make sure you have permission from the people you quote that they agree to you using their name & comments.)
From David & Claire, Pacific
We've been approaching different video shops about the Kiddie Viddies & most of them have been willing to display them & sell them for a small commission (10-20%), but we hadn't had any success with selling them the Kiddie Viddies as rental Videos. But then we met the manager of the largest chain of video stores on our Island who agreed to buy 17 English Videos & 17 Japanese Videos to display as rental videos in each of their 17 branch video shops around the Island.—If they are popular they will also put them up for sale. Our live-out disciple who is a commercial artist drew a poster to advertise the Kiddie Viddie. We were able to provision 20 colour photocopies of it so each of these 17 video shops displays this colour poster as well.
From Trust, SEA
We met a woman judge who is very concerned about the youth of this country. She bought the Kiddie Viddie right away & took us around to her friends to introduce the Video. She phoned a friend at a big school, & he said, "Well, if she got one they must be good, & I want one too!" Since then she has seen us again to give us the money for two more Videos she sold, & has introduced us to another of her friends at the university who also took a Video & said she wanted to call her friends about it too!
From Agustin & Paloma, Latin America
A woman from the Cultural Center of the area was very impressed with the "Little Things" children's tape, saying, "It portrayed true Christianity in its purest form." She cried when she saw the Kiddie Viddie, & to help us distribute more she gave us a list of all the schools & kindergartens in this area & is making it possible for us to give a demonstration of our material in the Cultural Center to the kindergarten teachers of the area. She is writing a formal letter of recommendation to present our Work to the area's schools!
From John, Latin America
We met our friend at a Catholic University & we were able to sell a large quantity of tapes & Kiddie Viddies to the priests who were very thankful for such high quality educational material for children. One priest, when he heard the recommendation of our friend, bought 14 tapes & the new Kiddie Viddie even though there was no video player available at that moment to preview the Video. The next day we met this same priest & he was so impressed with the Kiddie Viddie that he drove us around to meet other local priests so they could purchase the Video also. He raved about the Video saying, "It was so beautiful, the realization of a dream to have such wonderful material for children. It was well worth the investment!"
From Clay & Brook, Latin America
A director of a school bought a Kiddie Viddie & a set of 10 tapes. She gave us a list of her friends to visit & each person on the list bought the Kiddie Viddie also! When we visited her later she said that her children had recently been sick in bed but they weren't bored because they watched the KV over & over & over again!
From Dan & Tender, SEA
A team followed up on a secretary in a factory who introduced us to two of her friends. They each bought a Kiddie Viddie & 20 Posters. Then she got on the phone & made a few more sales for us. When she saw the tapes she exclaimed, "Oh, you have tapes! Why didn't you tell me you had tapes too! You should be better salesmen!" She then called a factory down the road & the manager sent a car to pick us up. He was quite interested & got a Video & four pack & gave us a large donation. Sometimes a secretary can turn out to be a priceless jewel!
From Andre & Magdalena, Latin America
On a faith trip Magdalena sold a Kiddie Viddie to the owner of a school who was also the owner of a video shop. This woman rented the video to her clients. The following week Magdalena returned & the woman said that her clients were phoning each other commenting about how good the Kiddie Viddie was & how they would like to have their own copy. The shop owner then gave Magdalena several addresses to follow up on. As a result, we sold four more Videos immediately & still have more leads to follow up on. PTL!
From Johnny Servant, Pacific
Our friend who distributes educational videos & is the sole agent for BBC videos in our country commented: "Just seeing these children in Kiddie Viddie, I know that what you are telling me about your School & life must be true. These children are not like any other children! This Video is very well produced, top quality, very potential commercially."
From Paul Eveready, Pacific
We showed the Video to two friends of ours who produce & market commercial films & they were very impressed with the Video! One of them said that some of the filming technology & techniques weren't even available here in this country.
From Bohan & Paloma, Latin America
We offered the Kiddie Viddie to the director of a school so he put it on for a little boy & a girl to watch so he could see their reaction. Upon seeing them so still, quiet & absorbed by it he said: "If these children, the rowdiest ones in the whole class, are this quiet then the Video must be good!" They then brought in all the children to watch the Video & bought a copy!
From John & Stephen, SEA
A company president said when his children come home from school they only want to watch the Kiddie Viddie, so he uses it as an incentive for the children to do their homework first.
From Michael Christian, Pacific
We met a lady from Kenya who got saved & saw the Kiddie Viddie. She said that watching the Video made her want to have children, which she hadn't wanted for nine years! PTL!
From Ivan & Ester, Europe
A friend of the Family said: "My daughters have watched the Kiddie Viddie more than one hundred times! In addition to being educational, inspiring & entertaining, it's bearing lots of good fruit in their lives. I've learned a lot through seeing it also!"
From Francisco, Latin America
Our friend who is a professional photographer said: "Kiddie Viddie is the best thing ever made for children. I tried to video children once & it just seemed impossible! Kiddie Viddie is a miracle!"
From Ina, Pacific
A lady who bought the Kiddie Viddie for her little daughter told us that the little girl likes it so much that at bedtime she puts it under her pillow stating, "This is my Video."
From Dan & Tender, SEA
One of the professors of a leading university saw the video & said it was one of the best things she'd ever seen for children!
From Aaron & Maria, Latin America
We had duped 100 copies of the "S.O.S." Video & to our surprise, upon picking up the copies, two young men who work at the dupers ran up to us & asked us to please sell them a copy of the Video. We explained to them that we didn't have the covers for the boxes yet but they didn't care. They had seen the Video while duping it & were so fascinated by it that they wanted to have their own copy right away! The production manager also told us that he liked it very much. When we explained to him that this Video was especially geared for teens he emphatically replied, "No! That Video isn't just for teens!—I believe it is very good for us older people as well!"
From Steven & Emily, Pacific
We've shown the "S.O.S." Video to a few of our friends & it has left them awestruck, almost speechless...& in all cases it enabled us to follow up with a heavy witness on the Endtime & the "666" message. We are very excited about the potential of this Video.
From Magda, East Bloc
The "S.O.S." Video is fantastic! What a message! "Mother Let Me Live" is so powerful! The ones about the Endtime & the Tribulation are fantastic, full of excitement and just thrilling!
From John, Ruby & Abigail, East Bloc
We were so thrilled to see the "S.O.S." Video. What a powerful tool, so well-produced with our whole message. What a way to feed sheep! These tools are just getting better & better. It was like watching a movie, only better, because it's all fact & no fiction!
From John David (age 14), Europe
The new Teen Video "S.O.S." was so inspiring! It was a real privilege to see it. As soon as it was done I wanted to see it again. I especially liked "Kathy Don't Go" & "He's Coming Soon". They were so inspiring & made me look forward to the Tribulation & Jesus' return. Sometimes before I had a bit of a fear of the Tribulation & all of the hardships & persecution & martyrdom it was going to bring, but watching this Video gave me real faith & made me look forward to it & the glorious ending of it all when Jesus returns! PTL!
From Peter & Leah, Europe
The "S.O.S." Video is absolutely fantastic. God bless everyone involved in its production. It's a real life-changer. We can't wait to give it to the New Bottles.
From Gideon, Europe
"S.O.S."—What a tremendous Video! What a fantastic & anointed message it has for the teens in this Endtime. These Videos just keep getting better & better! TYJ!
From Teen Ruthie, SEA Teen School
"S.O.S." is fantastic! It has so many beautiful messages about love, marriage & children that the teens of the World need today! The Endtime message was powerfully portrayed! I believe this Video will have a terrific impact on many thousands, hopefully millions, of people! Once they've seen the clearly portrayed message about the AC & the Mark, it will help many people make the right decision when that time comes. I have a real burden to get this Video out! GB the Family for producing this marvellous tool!
Copyright 1996 The Family