January 2013 – Page 3

Start Small

My first stories were published
in a single format (eBook)
in a single subgenre of romance.
This allowed me to focus
on one area.
I figured out what worked,
what was successful.
I built a readership
and THEN,
having that small win under my belt,
I expanded into other subgenres,
other formats.

Dolf van den Brink,
president and chief executive
of Heineken USA,
shares

“We were losing
so much market share
every month,
and the problem seemed so big,
but we started small.
We focused on one neighborhood
and tried to conquer 20 outlets
rather than worrying about 20,000.
We were able to do that,
and that started to build our confidence.
You have to make people believe
that they can win again.”

Start small.
Focus on one segment,
one product, one challenge.

Projecting Confidence

When selling
products, yourself, anything,
confidence is key.
If you’re nervous and unsure,
your prospect will be nervous and unsure.
Nervous and unsure prospects
don’t buy.

How do you project confidence?
Hold eye contact
for three to five seconds.

Cara Hale Alter,
author of
The Credibility Code,
shares*
“Eye contact is
a key indicator of confidence.
Yet there is a difference
between making eye contact
and holding eye contact.
Duration is critical.
In the Western world,
holding eye contact for
three to five seconds
is optimal.”

Look your prospects
in the eyes.

*The Costco Connection
January/February 2013

The Decision Maker

Seth Godin has a great post
on how decisions are the products
we now make.

“You don’t run a punch press
or haul iron ore.
Your job is to make decisions.”

As with any other skill,
it takes time and practice
to learn how to make good, solid decisions.

At first, you’ll make some bad decisions.
That should be expected,
almost embraced.
Hell, I lost a company a million dollars once
’cause I made a bad decision.

But the funny thing is
even if you make bad decisions,
you will become more marketable
than the many, MANY people making no decisions.
I’ve landed jobs with one simple sentence.
“I make decisions.”

Making decisions
is definitely a task
you can only truly learn by doing
so grab any opportunity to make decisions.

If coworkers are discussing where to go for lunch,
make that decision.
If your spouse is debating
which brand of toothpaste to buy,
make that decision.

Make decisions today.

Tire Kickers

I went with a loved one
to a car dealership.
The car dealership offered a $50 gift certificate
to anyone test driving a car.
My loved one was interested in buying a car
and used the gift certificate to bribe me
into going to the dealership with him.

When we arrived at the dealership,
the salesman asked us
if we were interested in the gift certificate.
We, of course, said ‘yes’.
He gave us the gift certificate
and walked away.
We had to ask for the test drive.
We had to ask for details on the car
(even though my loved one rattled off specs on the car,
having clearly done his research).

The salesman assumed we weren’t there to buy
because we were interested in
the gift certificate.

We had arrived expecting to buy
but by the end of the encounter,
we had no interest in doing business
with that salesman.

My point is…
we should do our best ALWAYS.
The tire kickers
or the freebie seekers
could be customers in disguise.

Ice Bars In St. Thomas

Looking at the diffusion of innovations chart,
there are innovators, early adopters,
and then the majority of people are followers.
The followers are often
where the sweet spot is
and there are different ways to get to that spot.

Ask any bar or restaurant owner
and they will tell you
that one of the best ways to attract people
is to already have a crowd or line
around the bar/restaurant.

There are different ways to achieve this.
Some bars pay people to stand in line.
Some bars give out free cover charges/merchandise.
Some bars artificially slow/stop the line.

At Magic Ice
in St. Thomas,
they offer free Wi-Fi.
For the cost of a service
they already have to provide
to patrons
(to remain competitive),
they create buzz around their attraction.
They post the code on the door
(where they want people to linger)
and a crowd forms.

There are many ways
to promote to the majority.
If one way doesn’t work
or isn’t cost-effective,
explore other options.

Gimmicks Vs Branding

With so many advertisers
vying for the attention of prospects,
some companies have resorted to gimmicks.

The word ‘gimmick’ has a negative connotation.
According to Wikipedia
“In marketing language,
a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature
that makes something “stand out”
from its contemporaries.
However, the special feature
is typically thought to be
of little relevance or use.”

A bad gimmick can damage a brand.
So how do we use quirky or unique special features
to snag attention
yet minimize the possible downside?

We ensure that
the ‘gimmick’ reflects the brand.

In one of Nicki Minaj’s recent music videos,
there are images of unicorns.
This is unique and quirky,
especially for a hip hop video.
It always grabs my attention.

And it fits the brand perfectly.

Nicki Minaj’s branding is playful.
I expect fantasy and quirkiness
from one of her videos.
I expect unicorns
(or something equivalent).

Ensure that your quirky, original marketing idea
fits with your brand.

Making Lemonade

Recently, one of my publishers moved
to a new website.
It was a challenging move,
fraught with issues
and to compound the problems,
one of my stories released
in the middle of the change.

Some of the other release writers
bellyached about how it would hurt sales.
I wasn’t thrilled
but I knew bellyaching about it
wasn’t going to sell more books.

So the optimists (including myself)
banded together
and we made a game out of the site change.
We highlighted new features
and we found creative uses for them.

I made my cover models dance.
Another writer had fun with the zoom feature.
We created crazy reminders for workarounds to bugs.
“Do this first for a smooth sexy purchase”
or “Failure to do this first will result in alien abduction.”
It was silly
but it was memorable
and it sold books,
retaining readers.

With the right attitude,
even a website roll out disaster can be fun.

What Abilities Must A Leader Have?

What abilities must a leader have?

Bill McBean,
author of
The Facts of Business Life:
What Every Successful Business Owner
Knows that You Don’t
shares

“First, a leader has to have the ability
to visualize what success looks like;
meaning that leaders must be able
to define their organization’s success destination,
describe what the organization will look like
when it gets there,
and determine how long
it will take to achieve those goals.

Secondly, leaders have to have the ability
to understand where their organization’s
weaknesses and strengths are,
and then they must have
the character and courage
to move the organization
from where it is today
to where they want it to be tomorrow
— the destination.”

Do you know what success looks like
for your business?

Give Graciously

Bruna Martinuzzi asks

“Do you bend over backward
to please demanding clients
by giving them discounts
and special treatment,
but then include veiled complaints
in the bargain?
Do you under price yourself
and often remind the client of this?
Do you help a colleague
but find opportunities to let
that person know of your reluctance
to do so?”

If the answer is “Yes”
then your lack of graciousness
is dampening
the impact
of your good deeds.

As Maya Angelou said,
“I’ve learned that
people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but
people will never forget
how you made them feel.”

Give graciously
or don’t give at all.

Cause And Effect And Motivation

Recently,
a writer posted that she was banning
a reader from winning her contests.
(which is illegal
but that’s an entirely different post)

Why?

Because the reader wins
too many contests.
The writer determined that
this reader was a contest hound,
someone only interested
in winning free stuff.

I know this reader is an influential
(she blogs and reviews
under different names).

I also know this reader often wins blog contests
because she comments on a lot of blogs,
whether there is a contest or not.
The winning is a side effect of the commenting.

Now, we might scoff
and call this writer a dumb ass,
but we ALL do this.

We see an effect
(she wins a lot of contests),
we find a ’cause’
(she enters a lot of contests),
and we assume the motivation.
(she must only be interested in winning the contest).

And these assumptions
can lead to very wrong, business damaging decisions.
Don’t assume motivations
based upon actions.