So would you like to know how he did it?

Yes, I thought so!

I'll explain Max's success process in a minute. But first, I'd like you to play along with me and do this little puzzle ...

Suppose you and I are each going to open a new restaurant in the same street. We're going to be competitors, and we are desperate to outdo one another.

The night before opening night, the Hospitality Genie appears to you and offers to grant you one wish. But this is a very special wish. The Genie says, "I know that you and Gihan are both going to open your restaurant tomorrow night. I'm going to give you ONE ADVANTAGE that Gihan isn't going to have in his restaurant. You can choose what that is. But choose quickly, because I'm going to visit him in five minutes to make him the same offer."

Hmmm ... What will you choose? Would you like the best chef in town? The spectacular ocean views from every window? A glowing report from a world-famous food critic? Nationwide exposure on a reality TV show?

OK, did you make a choice? Well, here's what I choose for MY restaurant: A crowd of hungry people.

Simple, huh? Everything else - and I mean EVERYTHING - is secondary. I'm willing to bet you that if you chose something else, my restaurant would do better than yours.

The most important criterion for success is a crowd of qualified customers who are eager to buy from you.

OK, let's get back to Max's e-book ...

Some years ago, Max had a printed book with the same title. When the print run ended, he decided to re-write it in e-book format. But he didn't just wake up and make that decision some day, just because he had run out of print copies.

No, he had a much better idea.

You see, when he asked people to subscribe to his weekly e-zine he also offered them the chance to enter a monthly competition, and he asked them which of his products they would like to win as a prize.

What we discovered over a period of months was that almost everybody was asking for the "365 Marketing Ideas" book.

At first he thought it was just because it was the first one in the list, so we moved it around ... and the results were the same.

Talk about a crowd of hungry people!

That's why Max put so much time into producing the e-book, and gave that priority over all his other products.

And sure enough, the proof of the pudding was when he finally released it for sale last week, and sales shot through the roof.

How can you apply this same principle in YOUR business?

Easy. All you have to do is to ask your customers what they want. And give them an incentive for replying, like an entry in a competition, or a free e-book, or a gift voucher, or whatever works for you.