If DeviceNet Boot Camp can save you…

K N O W L E D G E

You simply cannot afford to learn from your own mistakes. You need to learn from someone who’s a master. Learn from DBI, the most experienced fieldbus integrator in the United States.

C O M P E T I T I O N

Any controls engineer, system integrator or OEM must have a strategy for using fieldbus and open architecture, or risk losing business to competitors.

S A T I S F A C T I O N

If by noon, the second day of this course, you are not absolutely satisfied that you are being armed with the knowledge and skills to successfully integrate DeviceNet, to use more of its capabilities, reduce downtime, waste, installation and startup time; if you do not feel that you have become considerably more savvy than you were before you came, we will cheerfully refund your money.

Ordinary people learn from experience.

Wise people learn from OTHER peoples’ experience.

-one day on a start-up, prevents

-one unhappy customer, or gives you a competitive edge on

-one single project, then this Seminar will pay for itself in many times over!

Here’s what we have planned.

Pay close attention — you won’t want to miss this!

Day 1 / PLC Session

How to maintain DeviceNet with your existing electricians:

How to avoid getting a controls engineer out of bed for help at 3AM…

DeviceNet Overview

1. Design Considerations

2. Vital Statistics

3. Cabling Methods

4. Emergency Stop Tricks

PLC Scanner

1. AB SLC500 DeviceNet Scanner Hardware

2. How to maximize data transfer speed

3. DeviceNet Manager/RSNetworX Software

a) Tour Through The Package · Files and Structure · Module and Channel Configuration

b) Editing Project and Network, Device Info and Scan List

Build Project from scratch using an architectural Layout

How to Startup a Network

DAY 2 / PC, Diagnostic Tools and Protocol Session

-Interfacing fieldbus systems to the PC environment

-Using Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Tools with DeviceNet

-Configuration of a live network

-Stability issues: Common problems in Windows and how to avoid them

-Special Diagnostic Tools for fast troubleshooting; Symptoms of the 10 most common problems

-In-Depth discussion of DeviceNet Protocol and Theory

Day 3 / Technology and Business

-How to use open architecture as a central OEM design & commercial strategy

-How to know when DeviceNet is not the best network choice

-A little-known design contingency which, if not specifically planned for, could send you hunting for elusive, intermittent error messages for weeks!

-Power Supply Distribution and specific problem solvers

-David vs. Goliath: How an independent integrator took on an industry giant – and won!

-Strategies for specific industries: Material Handling/Conveyor Systems,

-Packaging, Assembly Machines, Welding & Automotive, Process Control

-Comparisons to Other Networks: Ethernet, ControlNet, AS-I and Interbus; Remote I/O, DH+ and Modbus Plus

Can a Course Pay For Itself

In Less Than 1 Day?

If all this course does is save you ONE day on a start-up, it will pay for itself many times over!

What does ONE hour of downtime cost your firm?

DeviceNet Day 3

Matt Blair

Senior Controls Engineer, Device Bus Integration

Few engineers have seen the range of DeviceNet applications, tricky situations and deadlines that Matt Blair has. From Toronto to Singapore, Matt has personally engineered over 100 DeviceNet installations, with a 100% success rate. At Device Bus Integration, the first integration company to be entirely based on open architecture systems, Matt has earned a sterling reputation for performance when it matters most. A major equipment manufacturer was so impressed with DBI’s performance on the early projects that they contracted him to guarantee that all of their customers had successful experiences with DeviceNet. His efforts were a major contributor to their success story!

Over 300 DeviceNet installations later, DBI holds the record in North America and quite literally knows things about DeviceNet that nobody else knows. After you’ve been through our DeviceNet Bootcamp, you’ll walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of realworld, street-level experience that you can take home and put to work.

What You Get

The tuition for the Boot Camp includes lunch for both days and course materials. All necessary equipment: PLC’s, PC’s, I/O, cabling, software and tools will be provided. However, you are welcome to bring your own devices to the class if you wish, as they may enhance the value of this course for you.

What You Will Avoid—Mistakes That Would Cost You Money

Despite the successes, the fact is many people have had difficulty installing it, and even more trouble with training and maintenance.

Here are some problems that BOOT CAMP will address:

-Some plants have actually reverted back to older methods after installing it, because their electricians could not diagnose problems and maintain equipment.

-Start-ups budgeted to take days that actually took weeks!

-Finger-Pointing contests between vendors.

-Poor installation planning and/or scheduling.

-Confusion over software compatibility etc.

-Product Design flaws that weren’t been worked out prior to product release.

-PLC problems mistakenly blamed on the network.

-Devices that are not truly compatible with others, either because of poor design, or manufacturers secretly using “proprietary” tactics within the network model.

Many technical and business workshops re-work an entire process or business strategy, sometimes scrapping existing plans and starting from scratch. They can take months to pay for themselves. You’ve probably taken classes that are so ponderous and theoretical, they’re practically useless! This course, however, is different. You can immediately put the knowledge you acquire to work and avoid costly mistakes. But at the same time, you’ll have a clear vision of the open-architecture future that DeviceNet and Profibus represent, and a decisive plan for using it to your advantage, long term.

Space is Limited!

If it were just up to me, I’d cram 150 people in a lecture hall so they could all take this class. But we decided that the maximum class size would be 12 people for DeviceNet, and only 8 people for Profibus!. We want every student to have ready access to all the gear and have plenty of opportunities to get every question answered.

So even though we’ll have to turn some people away, the students who enroll early will get a real treat.

So please don’t wait. Fax back the enclosed registration application right now and secure your place in our DeviceNet Boot Camp or Profibus Boot Camp. I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Perry Marshall

Director of Educational Systems

Synergetic Micro Systems, Inc.

This comprehensive 3-Day course is designed for . . .

Controls Engineers—at manufacturing facilities who are considering fieldbuses and have no margin for error.

Electricians—and those who must train maintenance staff to keep their equipment running.

System Integrators—who want to use open-architecture technologies like DeviceNet and Profibus to dramatically extend the range of services they offer to their customers.

Machine builders who must minimize wiring time, incorporate modularity, extract diagnostic info, and put preventative maintenance features on their equipment.

Users, Integrators or OEMs—who are experimenting with or using PC-Based Control and wish to use the latest technology: Real-Time Operating Systems, Open Networking and ERP

Anyone who makes fieldbus-compatible devices or equipment—and must support customers who use it or diffuse their customers’ fears and apprehensions.

SYNERGETIC

FieldBus Communications Technology

Any Hardware.

Any Software.

Any Fieldbus!

Don’t ever forget how the Internet itself has changed people’s expectations! You can be sure of one thing: Your customers expect more connectivity, more productivity, and more performance. You have no choice but to deliver it!

Master Design, Installation, Start-up & Maintenance with the #1 Fieldbus Integrator in America, Device Bus Integration

Note: custom, on-site classes available. Call (800)600-0598 for details.

January 30-February 1, 2001, Detroit, Michigan

March 27-29, 2001, San Jose, California

Dear Controls Engineer,

If you’re like me, you’re incredibly busy. Tight deadlines. Multiple conflicting priorities. Demanding customers. Technology that feverishly, relentlessly races forward. Five hours of sleep last night, more overtime finishing up an already-late project. (As I write this, it’s 12:11A.M., the crickets are more awake than I am, and this letter I’m writing to you right now is one of my late projects…)

Certainly you’ve got no time to take 2-3 days out of an already overbooked schedule to go to some seminar. (Unless, of course, those 2-3 days of learning save you weeks of heartache and last minute fixes.)

As a matter of fact, wouldn’t it be well worth it, if it just keeps a Monday morning startup from taking until Tuesday?

If DeviceNet is a technology that is relentlessly racing into your world, I’m very proud to tell you about a unique opportunity to learn and master it from someone who has uncovered every potential hurdle, who knows all the shortcuts and back roads. Our Boot Camp will leverage your time and energy like never before, because there’s nothing that will save you time and frustration like a thorough preparation.

After our Boot Camp, you will be able to navigate the technology landscape effortlessly.

But you’ll also know where the opportunities lie. You’ll be the one who leads your organization to the next wave of technology.

DeviceNet is a remarkable standard that has proven itself in thousands of installations all over the world. It’s being used by General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford and Saturn.

The entire Semiconductor Fabrication industry has adopted it as a de facto standard. 300+ control vendors support it, and it’s the #1 open network in the US today.

The potential benefits are tremendous: easier wiring, modularity, powerful diagnostics, and open architecture keeps vendors competitive.

You simply cannot afford to learn from your own mistakes. You need to learn from someone who’s mastered it! That’s why I persuaded the most successful DeviceNet integrator in the United States, DBI, combined with Synergetic’s Product Developers, to come and teach this course! You don’t want to learn from your experience. You want to follow the lessons learned by this team. He will hold nothing back, giving you maximum information, packed into a session you won’t want to miss.

“Must I really embrace the latest and greatest to stay competitive?”

Maybe you’re thinking, “We don’t have to be state-of-the-art to stay competitive. We just need to be steady and dependable like we always have been.” Well, that’s what a lot of bookstores thought—just before Amazon.com came along and ran them out of business. (Coming up next: MP3 and RealAudio via the Web are about to uproot the record companies! Is a paradigm shift just around the corner in your business?) Things are changing fast.

Having DeviceNet expertise may mean the difference between next year being a year of growth for you and your company, or a year of struggle, chasing competitors who have gone on ahead of you.

DeviceNet Boot Camp FAX-In Enrollment Form

Synergetic’s DeviceNet Boot Camp is an intense, 3-Day hands-on experience that will arm you with the technical, maintenance and business strategies you need to make DeviceNet a powerful weapon in your ‘bag of tricks’.

· Hands-On, real-world training using both SLC-500 and PC-based DeviceNet control systems

· Mark Stremmel, the country’s top DeviceNet integrator, candidly relates his 6 years of experience from over 300 installations and start-ups

· Mike Justice, Open DeviceNet Vendor Association board member and the “Father of the Soft PLC,” discusses real world strategies for DeviceNet and tells you how to work cooperatively with vendors for maximum results

When: July 21-23 or August 18-20, 1999

Where: Naperville, Illinois (exact location TBA)

Tuition: $1495 USD, $300 discount for groups of 3 or more from the same company

Methods of Payment: Purchase Orders, Visa, MasterCard, with multiple payment options

o Please enroll me in the July 21-23 DeviceNet Boot Camp.

o Please enroll me in the August 18-20 DeviceNet Boot Camp.

I understand that this course is 100% satisfaction guaranteed and if I am not satisfied that I am getting more than full value from this course by noon of the second day, I will receive a cheerful and courteous refund. (I also understand that attendance is strictly limited to 20 people, and Synergetic has the right to refuse any application submitted after these 20 seats have been filled.)

o Please call me to schedule a customized DeviceNet Boot Camp on-site at my company.

Name_______________________________________________________________________

Names of additional students ($300 per student discount for 3 or more)________________________________________________________________________________________________

Address______________________________________________________________________

City_____________________________________State_______________Zip______________

Phone___________________________________Fax_________________________________

o Payment Option #1: Purchase Order Number______________________________________

(Please submit credit references. Invoice will be sent immediately upon receipt of order.)

o Payment Option #2: Visa/MasterCard Number________________________Expires___/___

o Payment Option #3: Split billing between two cards ($747.50 ea.)

Card #1____________________________________Expires___/___

Card #2____________________________________Expires___/___

To avoid the class filling up to the 20 person capacity before you claim your seat, fill this out immediately and

FAX to (630) 434-1987 or call (800) 600-0598.

Absolute Satisfaction Money-Back Guarantee

If, by Noon of Day 2 of this course, you are not absolutely satisfied that you are being armed with the knowledge and skills to successfully integrate DeviceNet, to use more of its capabilities, reduce downtime, waste, installation and startup time; If you have not learned significant strategies that will help you crush your competition; If you do not feel that you have become considerably more DeviceNet Savvy than you were before you came, we will cheerfully refund your money.

DeviceNet & Profibus Boot Camp

2506 Wisconsin Avenue

Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

www.synergetic.com/education

(800) 600-0598

What former students are saying about this powerful seminar: “Both (instructors) have “been there” and done it!

The only way they could have been better would be to show up with greasy blue jeans! Very worthwhile to get the “whole picture.”

-Jerry Patzner, ALKAR, Lodi, Wisconsin

“Excellent – a good balance between Mark’s practical, in-the-field examples and Mike’s technical details.”

-Rick Pyke, PPT Vision, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Powerful!

To:

SYNERGETIC

FieldBus Communications Technology

. ™

DeviceNet Boot Camp

You Will Receive, Real-Time Experience, Acquired From

300+ Installations & Start-ups:

Dozens Of Shortcuts, Diagnostic Techniques And Potential Obstacles Exposed

Case Studies Of Actual Projects: Failures, Successes And The Bottom Line

Tactics for OEMs, Machine Builders and System Integrators

Hands-On PLC and PC Training With Popular, Real-World Automation Gear

Boot Camp Is the fastest, most economical way to learn this critical technology. If you’re serious about DeviceNet or Profibus, you can’t afford to miss this event!

Ordinary people learn from experience. Wise people learn from other peoples’ experience

Mark Stremmel, for the most part, did not learn from other people’s mistakes. That’s because most of the time, he was the first to do it. He learned from his own mistakes. I asked him: “Mark, how much did it cost you to learn DeviceNet the hard way?” His response: “Probably $1 million . And maybe five years of my life. We’ve made every mistake you can make. But we fixed each one and moved on to the next challenge.”

You do not have to repeat his mistakes! You’ll skate past them when you know what he knows. You’ll know what he knows after you come to our DeviceNet Boot Camp!

“Must I Really Embrace The Latest And Greatest To Stay Competitive?”

Maybe you’re thinking, “We don’t have to be state-of-the-art to stay competitive. We just need to be steady and dependable like we always have been.” Well, that’s what a lot of bookstores thought— just before Amazon.com came along and ran them out of business. (Coming up next: MP3 and RealAudio via the Web are about to uproot the record companies! Is a paradigm shift just around the corner in your business?) Things are changing fast.

Day 1 / PLC Session — Hosted by Matt Blair

• How to maintain DeviceNet with your existing electricians, not relying on a controls engineer for help

• DeviceNet Overview

1. Design Considerations

2. DeviceNet Vital Statistics

3. Cable Goodies

4. Emergency Stop Tricks

5. DeviceNet Diagnostics

• PLC Scanner

1. AB 1771-SDN

· Hardware

· Diagnostics

· Dip Switches

· Block Transfers

2. AB 1747-SDN

3. How to interface to AB SLC500 PLC’s and maximize data transfer speed

· Hardware

· Diagnostics

4. DeviceNet Manager/RSNetworX Software

· Tour Through The Package

· Files and Structure

· Module and Channel Configuration

· Scan List Editor

· Editing Project and Network

· Editing Device Info and Scan List

· Edit Mapping

• Build Project from scratch using an architectural Layout

• Download and Upload to SDN

• How to Startup a Devicenet Network

DAY 2 / PC Session — Hosted by Mike Justice

• Using PC Control, Real Time Operating Systems, and selecting software for specific applications

• Interfacing with SCADA and HMI packages

• Using DDE, OPC and Windows Tools with DeviceNet

• Building a PC-Based DeviceNet System

• Diagnostics

• Configuration

• Mapping I/O points to tags in control software

• Stability issues: Common problems in Windows and how to avoid them

• Using common tools like Visual Basic to control DeviceNet

Mark Stremmel

President, Device Bus Integration

Six years ago, Mark was a SeniorElectrical Controls Engineer at Hershey in Pennsylvania, as in Chocolate Bars. Hershey has a state-ofthe-art operation. Mark had worked there for eight years and was instrumental in bringing several major new technologies to Hershey. He brought in Motion Control, and later, DeviceNet. At the time, DeviceNet was not yet even released by Allen-Bradley, but the installation was successful.

Mark was involved with DeviceNet from the very beginning, and word quickly spread about his accomplishments. Eventually he started Device Bus Integration, the first integration company to be entirely based on open architecture systems. A major equipment manufacturer was so impressed with his performance on the Hershey projects that they contracted him to guarantee that all of their customers had successful experiences with DeviceNet. His efforts were a major contributor to their success story! Over 300 DeviceNet installations later, Mark holds the record in North America and quite literally knows things about DeviceNet that nobody else knows. And after you’ve been through our DeviceNet Bootcamp, you’ll walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of real-world, street-level experience that you can take home and put to work.

A little education is worth a lot.

HANDS-ON PROJECT

HANDS-ON PROJECT

DAY 3 — Technology and Business

Hosted by Mark Stremmel of Device Bus Integration

• How to know when DeviceNet is not the best network choice

• A little-known design contingency which, if not specifically planned for, could send you hunting for elusive, intermittent error messages for weeks!

• Diagnostic Tools for fast troubleshooting

• Using DeviceNet’s flexibility to adapt system architecture to various priorities:

1. Optimizing for fastest response time

2. Optimizing for repeatability in data flow

3. Maximizing distance capability

4. Minimizing hardware cost

5. Minimizing installation time

6. Taking full advantage of diagnostics

• Gateways to other networks

• Profiles for Drives, Barcode Readers, Temperature Controllers, etc.(Demonstration)

• Power Supply Distribution and specific problem solvers

• Strategies for specific industries:

1. Material Handling/Conveyor Systems

2. Packaging Machines

3. Assembly Machines

4. Welding and Automotive

• David vs. Goliath: How a small integrator fought an industry giant in Detroit—and won!

• “How to make a living in fieldbus without eating baloney sandwiches and Ramen soup”

• Open Architecture’s Future: The next Generation Control Infrastructure

Special Guest Speaker:

Mike Justice

“The Father of SoftPLC”

Michael B. Justice is on the Board of Directors of Open DeviceNet Vendor Association, President of Industrial Ethernet Association, former President of the Interbus Club, and is President and CEO of Synergetic Micro Systems and Factory Comm.

After a stint at Intel, Mike wrote the Venerable “Ladder 86” Program at Wizdom Systems. He founded Synergetic in 1984 and quickly got involved in projects for Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Grayhill, Opto22, GE Medical, GE Transportation, Mitsubishi, Phoenix Contact, Honeywell and General Motors, and acquired a reputation within the controls industry for versatility, innovation and resourcefulness in industrial communication.

In recent years, his company has become a key portal for major European Fieldbus technology companies to service the North American Marketplace.

Topics Mike will address:

· Implications of open architecture and what the future holds

· Specific PC based control strategies

· How to reckon with the reality of multiple bus standards

· How to use Open Architecture to improve your market position

This comprehensive 3-Day course is designed for . . .

4Controls Engineers at manufacturing facilities who are considering DeviceNet and have no margin for error.

4Those who use DeviceNet and must train maintenance staff to keep their equipment running.

4Those who have become comfortable with DeviceNet and now want to take it to the “next level” of performance.

4System Integrators who want to use open-architecture technologies like DeviceNet to dramatically extend the range of services they offer to their customers.

4Machine builders who must minimize wiring time, incorporate modularity, extract diagnostic info, and put preventative maintenance features on their equipment.

4Anyone who makes DeviceNet-compatible devices or equipment and must support customers who use it.

4Anyone who markets DeviceNet-compatible products and needs to diffuse their customers’ fears and apprehensions.

4Users, Integrators or OEMs who are experimenting with or using PC-Based Control and wish to use the latest technology: Real-Time Operating Systems, OPC and OLE, Ethernet, Windows NT and CE.

4Companies who want an opportunity to “get the jump” on their competitors by staying technically ahead.

Don’t ever forget how the Internet itself has changed people’s expectations! You can be sure of one thing: Your customers expect more connectivity, more productivity, and more performance. You have no choice but to deliver it!

Can a Course Pay For Itself In Less Than 1 Day?

If all this course does is save you one day on a startup, it will pay for itself many times over! What does one hour of downtime cost your firm?

SELL SMART

DAY 3 Extra: Mike Justice, Open DeviceNet Vendor Association Board Member, Will Speak On:

• Purchasing Strategies: How to align yourself with your manufacturers and distributors to secure maximum support, preferred pricing, and referrals of new customers

• How to work with trade organizations (like ODVA) to create publicity for your business

• Using “shared risk” partnering to minimize the downside on new opportunities

• How to remain profitable in the transition from proprietary technology to open architecture

• DeviceNet vs. Other Networks: Ethernet, ControlNet, Profibus, AS-I and Interbus; Remote I/O, DH+ and Modbus Plus

What You Get

The tuition for the DeviceNet Boot Camp includes breakfast and lunch for all 3 days and course materials. All necessary equipment: PLC’s, PC’s, I/O, cabling, software and tools will be provided. However, you are welcome to bring your own devices to the class if you wish, as they may enhance the value of this course for you.

What You Will Avoid — Mistakes That Would Cost You Money

Despite the successes, the fact is many people have had difficulty installing it, and even more trouble with training and maintenance. Here are some problems that BOOT CAMP will address:

· Some plants have actually reverted back to older methods after installing DeviceNet, because their electricians could not diagnose problems and maintain equipment

· Start-ups budgeted to take days that actually took weeks!

· Finger-Pointing contests between vendors

· Poor installation planning and/or scheduling

· Confusion over software compatibility etc.

· Product Design flaws that weren’t been worked out prior to product release

· PLC problems mistakenly blamed on the network

· Devices that are not truly compatible with others, either because of poor design, or manufacturers secretly using “proprietary” tactics within the DeviceNet model

Many technical and business workshops re-work an entire process or business strategy, sometimes scrapping existing plans and starting from scratch. They can take months to pay for themselves. You’ve probably taken classes that are so ponderous and theoretical, they’re practically useless!

This course, however, is different. You can immediately put the knowledge you acquire to work and avoid costly mistakes. But at the same time, you’ll have a clear vision of the open-architecture future that DeviceNet represents, and a decisive plan for using it to your advantage, long term.

Space is Limited!

If it were just up to me, I’d cram 150 people in a lecture hall so they could all take this class. But Mark said, “Absolutely not. Twenty people max. I want every student to have ready access to all the gear and have plenty of opportunities to get every question answered.” So even though we’ll have to turn some people away, the students who enroll early will get a real treat.

So please don’t wait. Fax back the enclosed registration application right now and secure your place in our DeviceNet Boot Camp. I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Perry Marshall, Technical Sales Director

Synergetic Microsystems, Inc.

(800) 600-0598

2506 Wisconsin Ave. — Downers Grove, IL 60515

Any Hardware.

Any Software.

Any Fieldbus!

SYNERGETIC

FieldBus Communications Technology

FAX

630-434-1987

How much is a little education worth to your company?

EXPECTATIONS

Your customers expect more connectivity, more productivity, and more performance. You have no choice but to deliver it!

P O T E N T I A L

If you use DeviceNet to its full potential you will eat your competition alive.

S A V I N G S

If this course saves you one day on startup, it will pay for itself many times over.

K N O W L E D G E

You simply cannot afford to learn from your own mistakes. You need to learn from someone who’s a master. Learn from Mark Stremmel, the most successful integrator in the United States, together with one of his most experienced engineers, Matt Blair.

COMPETITION

Any controls engineer, system integrator or OEM must have a strategy for using DeviceNet and open architecture, or risk losing business to competitors.

SATISFACTION

If by noon, the second day of this course, you are not absolutely satisfied that you are being armed with the knowledge and skills to successfully integrate DeviceNet, to use more of its capabilities, reduce downtime, waste, installation and startup time; if you do not feel that you have become considerably more DeviceNet savvy than you were before you came, we will cheerfully refund your money.

SYNERGETIC

FieldBus Communications Technology

DeviceNet Boot Camp

Now, for the first time ever . . .

DeviceNet Boot Camp

The Ultimate Intensive, Hands-on, Network Success Course You.ve Been Waiting For

July 21-23 and August 18-20 in Naperville, Illinois

Mark Stremmel, The #1 DeviceNet Integrator In America, Reveals Six Years of DeviceNet Street Smarts, Acquired From Over 300 Installations & Startups:

• Dozens Of Shortcuts, Diagnostic Techniques And Potential Obstacles Exposed

• Case Studies Of Actual Projects: Failures, Successes And The Bottom Line

• Tactics for OEMs, Machine Builders and System Integrators: How To Beat the Competition By Using DeviceNet As Your Business Strategy

Dear Controls Engineer,

You may have heard the old adage: I’m proud to tell you about a unique opportunity to learn and master DeviceNet from someone who has uncovered every potential hurdle, who knows all the shortcuts and back roads. You do not need to re-draw the map — you just need to follow the leader. After our DeviceNet Boot Camp, you will be able to navigate the landscape effortlessly as well. But you’ll also know where the opportunities lie. You’ll be the one who leads your organization to the next wave of technology.

DeviceNet is a remarkable standard that has proven itself in thousands of installations all over the world. It’s being used by General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford and Saturn. The entire Semiconductor Fabrication industry has adopted it as a de facto standard. 300+ control vendors support it, and it’s the #1 open network in the US today. The potential benefits are tremendous: easier wiring, modularity, powerful diagnostics, and open architecture keeps vendors competitive.

You simply cannot afford to learn from your own mistakes. You need to learn from someone who’s mastered it! That’s why I persuaded the most successful DeviceNet integrator in the United States, Mark Stremmel, and one of his most experienced Engineers, Matt Blair, to come to Chicago and teach this course! You don’t want to learn from your experience. You want to follow the lessons learned by Mark and Matt. They will hold nothing back, giving you maximum information, packed into a session you won’t want to miss.

Taking the Big Scary Plunge

Leaving the “secure” life of a salaried employee and launching a new business is a sizable challenge. Not for the faint of heart. This was a month after September 11, and my co-workers thought I was nuts.

Don’t forget – if it’s a bad business practice to “chase customers” when you’re selling a product, it’s even worse to do so when you’re selling advice. In reality, it’s almost impossible to “sell” consulting. It must be positioned, rather than sold.

That being the case, it’s doubly scary to walk out of a salary and into a consulting practice, because if you find your back against the wall as a consultant, then pounding the phone for new business is unlikely to yield any results at all.

And of all people, a marketing consultant who has to make cold calls for a living surely is a phony, right?

My first year as a consultant went remarkably well – my income went up and my stress level actually went down. And I can tell you that the #1 thing that made it easy to get clients was publicity.

1. The Power of Publicity. During my last year at the company, my job description shifted from being national sales manager to being inside sales, marketing and publicity manager. In 2001 I published like a madman – over 100 pages of press releases and magazine articles in a single year – and not only did it bring enormous exposure for Synergetic Micro Systems, it made me a “micro celebrity” in my industry.

Publicity melts sales resistance like few other things. And it was the #1 thing that made it easy to get new clients. It was clear that if I could do this for others, I could do it for them too. My phone started ringing the same day I left the company.

Publicity is not nearly as predictable as paid forms of advertising, especially from a revenue point of view. However make no mistake about its long-term value. You should view publicity as a replacement for “image advertising” that’s far more effective and valuable – and less expensive.

2) The Force of Intuition. When I left my job, I did not have a detailed business plan written down. I just knew there were many things I could do for other companies that were worth more to them than I needed to charge. (Heck, if I wrote them a 2-3 page magazine article for a few thousand bucks, surely that was a better deal than one page of paid advertising for ten grand, right?) So I had a lot of things to figure out.

Every night I would have lots of dreams. They didn’t make any more sense than yours do, but for a couple of months they were vivid and almost constant.

What was going on?

The “other part of my brain” was figuring out what to do next.

In the classic book Psycho Cybernetics, author Maxwell Maltz discusses in detail the hidden power of the subconscious mind to solve huge problems. Put that power to work and you have a massive advantage over people who only use the “logical” part of their mind. But how do you access that power?

Information from that mysterious part of your mind comes to you in the form of gut feelings.

Intuition. Hunches. (Not logic.) It’s those quiet but undeniable feelings about situations – your inner sense of direction that tells you whether you’re making the right move or not. These feelings are dangerously easy to ignore or overrule. But rather than dismissing them, you must make them your friend.

I can think of a half dozen very successful people who deliberately give themselves instructions before they go to bed at night. They say to themselves, “Self, figure out how we’re going to double our customer base in the next six months.” And in time, the answer comes together.

Two examples: Years ago, Napoleon Hill could not come up with a title for his new book. His publisher wanted to call it Make a Noodle With Your Caboodle. (Arrrrrgggghhh!)

He instructed his subconscious to produce a great title. At 2:00 A.M. that night, he awoke with a phrase in his mind: Think and Grow Rich. It became one of the best selling business books of all time.

My friend Yanik Silver (who wrote a few of the chapters in my marketing system) used the same process to come up with the name of his highly successful digital publishing website.

Yanik brings in over half a million dollars a year selling e-books, with only himself and his wife running the business.

Yanik’s profit margins make Amazon.com with all of its experts and consultants look like an incompetent army of rank amateurs.

Yanik told himself to come up with a million dollar name for a website, and he awoke in the night just like Napoleon Hill did, with the name “InstantSalesLetters.com.” He got out of bed, registered the URL, and the rest is history. Less than 3 years later, Yanik has ten websites and he is one of the most successful sellers of e-books in the world today.

Your dreams, your intuition and your subconscious mind are powerful tools. Recognize them and use them.

3) The Power of Walking Away. You play the role of consultant in some way – whether as a product sales person or as an actual seller of advice. And the #1 thing that gives you value is your apparent willingness to walk away from a deal.

When I left that job, the phone started ringing immediately. I had two serious new job opportunities seeking me out within 24 hours. You know what I said?

Very important:

“My back’s not against the wall, I’ve got some time to decide what I want to do here, so rather than rush into some kind of long-term commitment, let’s just work on a project and get to know each other better in the process.”

This was a polite way of saying “I’ve got money and I’m not desperate for yours, so let’s not rush this.”

It instantly gave me the upper hand in the negotiation.

(Yes, I did have money – stock options on the sale of the old company – but not yet. I wasn’t going to see any of it for at least two more months. Didn’t change the fact that I had to let people know who the boss was right up front, though. Getting a consulting gig is like asking for a loan: If they think you really need their money, they won’t give it to you.)

Folks, you have to take that stance whether you’ve got the money or not. Even if you just spent your last dime buying lunch at Burger King. The hardest thing to do in hard times is to not chase the next opportunity through the parking lot. Resist that temptation.

That’s the problem with the typical sales manager. He desperately pounds his sales people during the last 5 days of every month. “Hey guys, you need to get the distributors to put in a stocking order before the 30th.” He forces them to erode their positioning with their customers.

Short-term gain. Permanent loss.

4) Walking Through Every Open Door. You never want to depend on any one thing for your success. Not any one source of customers, or any one vendor. For me, this translated into taking every opportunity seriously and seeing where the rabbit hole took me. I grabbed every little project that came up, and met with every person who wanted to meet with me. Not that I was “an easy mark,” but my ears were always open.

I also started spending money on marketing almost immediately – driving traffic to my website, speaking at seminars, writing a book, publishing magazine articles, sending out sales material in the mail – all the things I used to do to sell products.

5) Investing in Education. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when a business strategy has worked for me, it’s because I learned it from somebody else instead of figuring it out by myself. The school of hard knocks is a horrible place to get educated.

I spend very liberally when it comes to being sharp about what I do. This year I’ve spent significantly more on personal education than our entire family spent on groceries. That’s right – somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 on seminars, newsletters, coaching relationships and learning tools – from people who are top professionals, working in the trenches every day.

People with much more experience in their various fields than me.

6) The Advantage of Prayer. I don’t think any entrepreneur who’s truly honest with himself can deny this one. If you’re not feeling the need to pray very often, you’re not blazing new trails as hard as you should.

My favorite professor in college, Dr. Knoll, used to stand in front of a roomful of cocky college freshmen, point his finger at us and proclaim: “Half your battles were won for you before you were ever born.”

He meant that if you were born into an educated, middle class American family, your life was destined to be a cakewalk, at least compared to half the other people in the world. You and I could have been pounding manioc roots in Mozambique or sniffing glue in Sao Paulo today, instead of chasing the American Dream. So don’t forget to return thanks.

The end result of all this was that I had a full-time consulting assignment by the first of November, and the business was already taking shape.

OK, so why am I telling you this? Did I figure you just wanted to hear about me today?

Not at all. Actually I’m extremely thankful, and if you hear me griping, slap me. But I’m telling you this because the five principles I just gave you apply to any business situation, not just mine.

The Power of Publicity, The Force of Intuition, Willingness to Walk Away, Walking Through Open Doors, Investing in Education, and The Advantage of Prayer. All powerful weapons in your quest to be the best that you can be.

I wish you the very best of success as you apply this month’s ideas to your business!

As usual, I look forward to hearing your questions and comments.

Yours,

Perry S. Marshall

news@perrymarshall.com

Subscription information: The Perry Marshall Marketing Letter is $97/year for 10 issues a year.

Fax credit card information to (708)788-4599 or mail to 1508 Ridgeland Ave., Berwyn IL 60402 USA.

Taking Boot Camp to the Next Level

Shortly after we launched this boot camp, the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (The official trade organization behind DeviceNet) decided that training might be a great way to generate more revenue. They put out a bid request for vendors who wanted to do this training.

Because we were first, we had an undeniable advantage over everybody else. This was a very small market, and there simply wasn’t room for a bunch of people to be in the DeviceNet training business.

Since we had a business model, a track record, testimonials from happy customers, and equipment, it was a slam-dunk. We got the contract and now in addition to our own DeviceNet Boot Camp, we had “DeviceNet University” being sold by a very credible trade organization. This added to our sales more than it cannibalized them.

Our competitors were not happy about this, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. This whole story underscores the power of positioning over prospecting, and the fact that you can charge money for things that others give away for free. All you need to do is cause perception to match the value that’s already there.

OK. On to the next story:

“32-Year-Old Geek Leaves Dilbert Cube to Start Business – And Completely Replaces His Income in 19 Days”

After years of steep learning curves, flim flam men, failures, dead ends and brick walls, it’s actually hard to believe that headline is actually about me. But yes, that’s exactly what happened to me one year ago this week. On October 12, 2001, I abandoned my corporate “Dilbert Cube” for the life of an independent consultant.

It’s been a fun, challenging, and absolutely fascinating change in my life. And many of the personal business lessons I’ve learned this year are just as applicable to you, regardless of your situation.

Lessons learned In and Out of the Dilbert Cube

Hey Gang,

The theme for this month’s newsletter is “Lessons learned In and Out of the Dilbert Cube.”

Today I’m going to disclose a lot of details and never-before discussed information on two projects I’ve been intimately involved with:

1) You’ll learn exactly how I took something that my company couldn’t give away for free and started selling it for $1500 – turning it into a runaway success.

2) You’ll find out how a 32-year-old geek escaped the Dilbert Cube and started a business that replaced his income in only 19 days.

Sound interesting? Let’s get started.

First the inside scoop on “DeviceNet Boot Camp” – a story never before told except between friends over a beer. This was a concept we came up with when I was National Sales Manager at Synergetic Micro Systems, an industrial networking company. This Boot Camp class was an enormously successful positioning strategy for Synergetic within our industry.

Most of you would have no reason to be familiar with DeviceNet, so let me explain. DeviceNet was a network for manufacturing, which was introduced in 1995 and very slowly grew and became a major force in the automation industry. DeviceNet was developed by the largest US automation company, Rockwell / Allen-Bradley, then made available to the rest of the industry via a trade organization. Therefore it was a little bit like a PC: Anybody who wants to can make it and sell it.

It was obvious that DeviceNet would inevitably become popular – the writing was on the wall, so to speak. So hundreds of companies jumped in and started making DeviceNet compatible products – much faster than users were willing to adopt DeviceNet in the first place.

It created a situation where very few people were making money with DeviceNet at all, because it was becoming a commodity even before large numbers of people were using it. Very bad.

Prior to Synergetic, when I was a manufacturer’s rep, I’d been trying (mostly in vain) to sell DeviceNet via free seminars and “lunch & learns.” They’d file in, consume my pizza, listen apathetically to the presentation, and file out. They’d go back to their cubicles, I’d go back to my office, and they wouldn’t spend a single dime on anything. The whole situation really sucked.

One summer we had a distributor and rep in Atlanta who put together a $75 seminar that was held at a country club – started in the morning and culminated with lunch. Golf was optional for people who wanted to stick around for the afternoon.

The place was packed. There was something like 150 who showed up. It was the most successful “lunch & learn” I’d seen to date – charging $75 for the lunch! It really got me thinking – people don’t want to go to a free seminar. They want to go to a special event.

I’d heard about a guy named Jeff Paul in the financial planning field. As you know, financial planners make a list of their 3000 closest friends and start chasing them down the street, hoping to become their financial guru.

Jeff recognized that the whole marketing concept in financial planning was fundamentally flawed. Here’s what Jeff did: He used low cost advertising and direct mail to get people to fork over real money to come to his tax seminar. Then he charged them another fee if they wanted to meet with him for a private “consultation.” On top of that, he got paid the usual commissions on the financial products he sold them.

Not only did he make money every step of the way, he closed twice as many sales as he did before, and his customers followed his financial plans more carefully. He built an enormously successful practice, because he was positioned as the expert that he truly was, instead of a peddler.

Then, over a period of eight years, he helped over ten thousand financial planners get the cold calling monkey off their back. Jeff turned his entire industry on its ear!

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? “What if that could work for me???”

I carefully studied Jeff’s business model and put together a 3-day, $1500 training course called “DeviceNet Boot Camp.” Two months later we had Fortune 500 companies sending their employees to our classes, learning how to use our equipment, and paying for information that formerly I couldn’t give away with free pizza.

A major trade organization even licensed our new course and started selling it to their entire membership. We were getting paid to teach prospective customers how to use our products. Our competitors were hacked off.

I’ve enclosed the sales letter we used to sell this seminar, with notes all over the place to explain the thinking behind each paragraph. Every word on that sales letter is there for a reason and serves a specific purpose. You can learn a lot about copywriting just by studying this. (Special thanks goes to my old boss Mike Justice for letting me provide you with this information and a copy of this sales letter.)

You can probably do something similar in your business. It’s a lot easier than you might think.

And your competitors will be really mad at you, too.

Here’s what really made DeviceNet Boot Camp work:

 We Borrowed Credibility. We were a product manufacturer, and in order to pull this off, we teamed up with an integration, service and installation company called DBI. DBI had 1) a great track record and a great story to tell with DeviceNet, 2) people who had done training before, and 3) the equipment needed to do the training. If you want to do something like this, you should seriously consider a partnership. For us, this was especially important because it involved a lot of expensive equipment – about $30,000 worth.

 We had a mailing list (carefully accumulated in our database from several years of doing business in this market) and the marketing capability (the ability to write a good sales letter and handle the business details); they had the equipment and the installation experience.

 An interesting story, or hook. DBI had actually done more DeviceNet installations than any other company in America – a great thing to be able to tell people – and I saw that as an enormously powerful component of a sales story. They were extremely positive about this. So here’s the hook: “The product manufacturer will teach you the theory, and the guy in greasy blue jeans who’s done 300 installations will give you real, factual experience.”

 Tons of information. MUCH more than we ever attempted to give at those free lunch & learns. This was a full 3-day class, not just a few hours. It was a genuine attempt to compress 5 years of knowledge into a hard-hitting, powerful hands-on experience.

 Sold via direct mail with a self-mailing, 11×17 folded sheet of paper, which is included here, plus an order form. I have added comments to explain why each element exists in the copy. I’m not at liberty to discuss the numbers, but we sold this class profitably about 8 times a year for a year and a half, essentially mailing to the same list.

 Carefully scripted enrollment form. Every word on this form is also chosen very carefully.

 This class filled an important need in the marketplace: People didn’t need a ½ day seminar to tell them how great DeviceNet was. They needed a class to show them how to use it successfully. We were the first to recognize this.

 The sales letter tells the entire marketing story. It pretty much gives you every reason to come to this class that we could possibly think of, and crams it all into four pages.

 This sales letter actually sold the class better than a person could. Our distributors and reps would sometimes call their customers and invite them to this class, but it was better to just send them this sales letter. Somehow a sales person always ended up sounding like a recruiter, but the sales letter didn’t. That’s right – sometimes a piece of paper can do a better sales job than a person can.

 Why was a sales letter more effective than a sales person? Because a sales letter tells the entire story and doesn’t leave anything out. A person can only remember part of it, and runs out of things to say after 2 minutes.

 If a deadline was approaching and the class wasn’t full enough, we’d send out a 1-page fax blast to make up the difference. It usually worked. Email was also used, but very sparingly.

 Testimonials: We got them from the evaluation forms that were filled out at the end of the class. The forms had a “Can we use your comments in our literature?” check box.

 Logistics: shipping $30,000 of equipment to various locations around the country was admittedly a pain in the butt. If you can do seminars with no equipment, that is an advantage.

 Training Budget: We discovered that most mid- to large-size companies have a training budget that’s separate from other parts of their business. If they have excess money in that budget, and if you can just make somebody want to go, then that money is yours. On the other hand, if they don’t have any budget money for training, you might be trying to squeeze blood out of a rock.

Beware that when budgets get chopped, training may be the first thing to get tossed out.

Very important psychological / sales notes:

 This kind of sales letter is pretty unusual in just about any kind of B2B sales. That’s one of the reason it worked. This thing looked pretty conspicuous in a typical pile of corporate mail.

And it was fun to read.

 The people who received this mailer were mostly engineers. You have to be very careful about “hype” when you’re selling to engineers, because they have very sensitive BS detectors.

Notice that the copy in this sales letter pushes the “hype” envelope right up to the allowable limits – but no further.

 Everything is stated somewhat outlandishly, but it’s all provable and ultimately believable, backed up by testimonials and precise details. The stronger your evidence, the more outrageously you can communicate your message, even with a very conservative audience.

 Most importantly, this sales letter gets their blood pumping about a learning experience and keys in on their natural curiosity. Engineers hate not knowing something that seems important. Notice that every paragraph in this letter pushes some emotional hot button.

What I’ve just described is a complete business and marketing model for selling your knowledge for what it’s actually worth. Obviously your own “boot camp” will be different and unique, but you can certainly apply most of these elements in your business too.

Maybe you don’t want to charge $1500 for your training. Some of you should charge a lot more; some should charge a lot less. Maybe it’s not 3 days, maybe it’s only an afternoon or one day.

What’s important is that you’re getting people out of their familiar environment and putting them in your environment where you can teach them how to see the world your way. Such that they perceive that the information has real value.

Now you’re at least acquiring new customers at a break-even, instead of spending thousands of dollars chasing them and trying to give your information away for free. Deliver quality information and you will be perceived as “the expert.”

Accelerate Your Business With Expert Marketing Services by Perry S. Marshall & Associates

Website Development: Why do most companies’ investment in their websites never pay off? Because a website is not a glorified brochure, it’s a direct response sales and marketing tool. It must have a very focused objective, driven by good copy, compelling offers, and plenty of visitors. We can help you achieve that.

Website Traffic Generation is crucial. It doesn’t matter how good your website is if nobody gets there! We have five years of experience in search engine placement and a profitable track record in the powerful but complex new “Pay Per Click” strategies.

Website Traffic Conversion is equally important. It doesn’t matter how many people visit your website if they don’t do what you want them to do once they’re there! Our potent combination of information marketing, development of compelling offers and response mechanisms, and good copywriting makes your web traffic profitable.

Copywriting: Good advertising copy is without doubt one of the most underestimated business power tools. A skillfully crafted and integrated sales message – via web, direct mail, or print advertising – can transform your business literally overnight, and reliably generate sales for you for years. Good copy is THE overriding factor that determines whether your advertising works for you, or if it’s just wasted money.

The true test of a good copywriter is always in the numbers. Do his ads, sales letters and web projects make the telephone and cash register ring? What kind of Return On Investment do they produce? Perry Marshall has a proven track record in writing results-accountable direct response copy for business-to-business marketing, both for direct sales and lead generation.

White Papers are often the centerpiece of highly effective, low-cost lead generation for technical companies. A well written one is worth its weight in gold. White papers are often passed around in a company and read by decision makers you don’t otherwise have access to.

Well-written and effectively marketed white papers are a cornerstone of the Perry Marshall Marketing System.

Perry S. Marshall & Associates can design an integrated approach for you, writing and/or editing white papers for you, then designing marketing campaigns around them for highly effective, low cost lead generation.

Publicity is an indispensable ingredient for any successful business, and information about your company in the press is an “implied endorsement” and that has credibility that cannot be bought at any price.

The key to getting publicity is understanding what media people really want – what the rules are, what you can and can’t “get away with,” and in developing ongoing relationships with editors.

We can help you design marketing campaigns with publicity in mind at the outset, write press releases that get results, and distribute them to over 15,000 media contacts.

Contact us with your requirements.

Advertising, especially when combined with publicity, can completely eliminate cold calling for your sales people and position you as an authority in your field.

Skillful advertising can differentiate you from every competitor and make you a formidable opponent in the marketplace.

From lead generation with multi-step marketing campaigns to one-step direct marketing campaigns, we can create an advertising mix that reliably and profitably brings you business with minimal investment and “manual labor” sales grunt work.

Direct Mail is totally unique in its ability to target prospective customers with laser precision, and deliver a complete and compelling sales message to them at very low cost. With direct mail you can establish a solid presence in your prospects’ or customers’ mind and consistently generate orders for $1 per month.

Perry Marshall has designed direct mail campaigns that reliably bring $20 of sales for every $1 spent on postage. Is that a good investment? Sure beats the stock market lately! Contact us to discuss your project in detail.

The Perry Marshall “Marketing System In A Box” is a Do-It-Yourself template for skillfully developing every ingredient discussed on this sheet, so you can build your own marketing turbocharger for your business. It comes with consulting time and assistance in developing your marketing materials and message.

“Guerilla Marketing for Hi-Tech Sales People” lays down 21 rock-solid principles of high-impact, low cost marketing, covering Internet marketing, publicity, direct mail, print advertising, and sales message development – every topic on this page, and more.

This audio program is an outstanding introduction to Perry’s Marshall’s work and will give you ideas you can put to use right away! Call (708)788-4461 or email system@perrymarshall.com to request a FREE copy.

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Perry S. Marshall & Associates

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Berwyn, IL 60402 USA

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