Priceless Legacy to "Hibernate"

This is the communication that I never hoped nor planned to write. After a year of planning and another year and a half of execution, I have decided to shut down (or hibernate) Priceless Legacy. In simplest terms I have simply failed to create a replicable, scalable and effective process for selling our Life Story products. We figured out a lot of the operations side of the puzzle but without an effective sales “machine” the business does not work.

To the extent possible, we will manage the wind-down in a professional and honest way so that none of the people who believed in us will be harmed or left with a sour taste.

From the start, our vision was to build a company dedicated to helping people preserve their life stories and lessons for the benefit of current and future generations. Our plan was to build an organic direct selling organization (like a Tupperware or Mary Kay) of part-time Legacy Consultants who would evangelize and spread the word regarding the importance of life story preservation and the PLC solution. Virtually everyone I encountered in the planning, launch and execution phases underscored the intrinsic value in the product and concept. Indeed, we joked internally that those who did not endorse the idea clearly “lacked a soul.”

We knew the economy was tough (“worst in 75 years . . .”) but I was confident that the inherent “pricelessness” of the product was so attractive as to compel some level of market support. Initially, our beta test Legacy Consultants had good luck in selling the basic Life Story package for $899 – an unprofitable price that we adopted to get orders in the door so we could develop processes. By month five, we were ahead of plan in both LC recruiting and Life Story sales. Then our growth stalled. We sought advice in better recruiting, engagement and retention, but were unable develop a consistent volume of sales from our LCs. Most LCs would talk to a few friends and then give up forever. There were notable exceptions, but an “interested core” of four or five could not “move the needle” and second level recruiting never took hold meaningfully.

All the while, I personally continued to sell Life Stories on a consistent and almost effortless manner. This caused us to question whether perhaps the issue was just getting in front of more people with a professionally crafted sales message. That insight led to the infomercial direct marketing strategy which was, quite explicitly, a “bet the company play.”

The infomercial we tested in October was a critical success and presented the company well. Unfortunately a $14,000 media investment yielded 253 phone calls and only one sale. I listened to every single call and learned that price was indeed an issue and that these regular American households could not afford four payments of $379.

Ancestry.com was watching the commercial (and had been aware of our efforts due to outreach on my part). We crafted a web affiliate test with them that has been running since December 4. We have had about 800 visitors to our site since that time. Surprisingly, not one single sale has resulted. During most of that time, the price point presented was $299 for our new Personal Biography concept (“Life Story Lite”) which is designed to be more affordable.

Finally, in a fourth iteration of a strategy to sell this product during December and early January, I tried to line up one or more retail partners. Through discussions with a number of retailers, I learned that people like the concept but generally think the price point too high for their base (even at $299)

Some investors have generously offered additional capital to continue to execute our plans. I cannot, in good faith, accept such investment when I no longer believe in the viability of our offering. In short, I had thought sales would be comparatively easy and operations the real challenge. In fact, we figured out the operations but never did develop a replicable marketing process.

As such, I am taking steps to put the company into hibernation.

Thank you again for your support of this company and timeless and important mission. Not all good ideas are good businesses and this is a lesson I have taken to heart. Someday someone will figure this market out. It is simply too important a cause to lie dormant forever. Perhaps Disney was wrong, dreams don’t always come true; but they are still worth chasing.