How To Deal With Requests For Reciprocal Links

On each of my other blogs,
I get at least a request a day from sites
asking for reciprocal links
or mentions
or offering me “free” posts.

I prefer not to link to strangers.
I prefer not to post guest pieces from strangers.

So what do I do?
I ask if they’re interested in completing
a short interview (3-5 questions)
via email.
I then post their answers,
linking back to them,
using them as “experts”
(everyone is an expert in something).

But wait, isn’t this a lot of work?
It would be if everyone said yes.
Fortunately for me,
only about 24% say “yes, send me the questions.”
And then 46% of those don’t bother answering them.

What You Do

Was reading though Scott’s extensive article listing
on HelloMyNameIsScott.com and
loved his thoughts on describing what you do.

“When people ask you,
“So, what do you do?”
make your answer memorable, valuable and unique.
If their response isn’t
“Hmm, that’s interesting…” or “Cool!”
you need to rework your answer.
Remember, even the most boring jobs can be
explained in an UNFORGETTABLE way.”

We’re all experts on something and
when that expertise is combined with passion,
that’s when magic happens. 

I once listened to an environmentalist
talk for a half hour about
the re-uses for styrofoam containers
…at a party
…and there was a crowd around him. 

He was THAT passionate,
that interesting.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

The Goal Of Marketing

I was talking to a friend
in the early stages of
a company start up.
She has been busy, busy, busy
sampling her product.
She must have given out a thousand samples.

When asked,
she’ll tell you that her marketing is working.

Its not.
The true test of whether marketing
is working is in the sales.
She hasn’t sold a single product
and she is quickly becoming known as the sample lady.

Unless your product is marketing,
marketing is not the goal,
sales are.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Daytime Emmy Thank You’s

Last night, during the Daytime Emmys,
you heard cast members of
The Guiding Light,
the longest running soap opera on American television,
thank Proctor & Gamble.  

P&G owns a soap opera?  

No, they don’t just own the show,
they helped create it.

Soap operas are called that
because of their sponsorship by soap companies. 
And P&G has been affiliated with The Guiding Light
since that first radio broadcast in 1937. 

A marketer’s dream. 
A campaign lasting 70 years. 

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Stephen King And Passion

Stephen King’s goal is
to create passion for the product
(in this case, the stories). 

Recently,
he compared his stories to heavy metal music. 

Metal music’s message is…
“I’m going to clear out your head.”
“Don’t you be talking about sh** when I’m playing.”

His writing… “I want you to burn dinner.”  

Are users so passionate about your product
that they burn dinner?

The Secondary Market For Father’s Day Cards

Who buys Father’s Day cards? 

Children, right? 
A no-brainer. 

Or is it? 
According to Greetingcard.org,
15% of all Father’s Day cards are bought
by wives for their husbands. 

This is a huge secondary market
and should not be ignored. 

As with any secondary market,
target the primary market (the kids)
but ensure that the product is suitable
for the secondary (the wives).

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Pre-Launch Reaction

Guy Kawasaki did a 360 on his Truemors launch,
including the total price tag ($12,107.09).  

What really interested me was the comments. 

Most were unsupportive/borderline hostile. 
He spent too much money,
they didn’t like the product
(even though they were not the target audience),
it could have been launched faster,
the success is unsustainable.   

Now crank up the hostility
due to you not having Kawasaki’s history of success
and you get a pretty good idea
of what the reaction to your own ideas will be.

I’ve launched product successes,
I’ve launched product failures,
the negativity around each pre-launch
has been the same.

The Crocodile Hunter’s Succession Plan

If you were to leave this earth tomorrow,
would your business carry on? 

In Steve Irwin’s case,
it has. 
A year after his death,
the Australia Zoo has continued. 
The Crocodile Hunter brand has continued. 

This is no fluke. 

When he passed away, 
Irwin had a detailed 10 year plan in place
and his widow and business partner Terri Irwin
has stuck to that plan. 

She says that its as though
he is still there with them. 
She finds herself saying
“Gotta get this project done. 
Steve would have wanted it done by now.”

Published
Categorized as General

How Keith Urban Increases Concert Sales

When asked how he decides
on the song list for a concert tour,
country singer Keith Urban  
states that he doesn’t. 

He doesn’t have one song list. 

Why? 
Because by offering different songs
in each show,
he encourages his crazy monkeys
(the name for his die hard fans)
to go to more than one. 

Multiple purchases by the same customer.