Complaints And Human Resources

Twenty years ago,
people didn’t complain about everything.
Today,
the world has changed.
If you do ANYTHING,
you are likely to receive a complaint
on it.

One of my top selling salesman friends
receives complaints
because he spends too much time
on the phone
speaking with clients.

He’s called into Human Resources
every time he receives one of these complaints
and has to spend valuable time
justifying his actions.
This not only decreases his sales
but it decreases his love
for the company.

Your innovators,
your marketers,
your salespeople
are going to receive complaints.
LOTS of complaints
(because they’re doing sh*t
and, that in itself,
will offend people).

Train your human resources department
on what is and isn’t a valid complaint.
If you don’t,
the doers will leave
and you’ll have a company staffed
with complainers.

Focus On A Niche

In the writing world,
it is all about niche.
There are over 4,500 books
loaded to Amazon every day.
To make an impact,
writers usually take a small niche
and own it.

Focusing on a niche
also helps you master
that small part of the world.

I know more about my romance niches
than almost anyone.
That gives me a strategic advantage
other writers don’t have.

Designer
Steven Alan
shares

“You learn so much
when you figure out your niche
and focus on one small thing.
If you do that one small thing
really well,
you learn transferable skills
that help you grow.”

Focus on a niche.

40/40/20 Rule

Many companies are following
the 40/40/20 rule with marketing.

What is the 40/40/20 rule?

Canada Post shares

“40% Targeting:
Find the customers
who are most likely
to buy your product.
Know who they are,
what they like and
how they behave.
Shape the tone and content
of your messaging
to appeal to their tastes.

40% Offer:
No one likes to miss out
on a good deal.
Give people a reason to buy
– a discount, a trial, an exclusive.
The offer is the key
to nudging someone
from considering a purchase
to making one.

20% Design and messaging:
Make an emotional connection
and a lasting impression.
If you don’t get noticed,
you won’t be heard.
Look professional
and sound credible.
People buy more from brands
they like and trust.”

Are you incorporating
all three of these factors
into your marketing?

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Causes Vs Symptoms

UK Movies Group
listed 9 tell-tale signs that
a film will be a flop.

#1 was Bad Buzz.

If everyone hates your product,
sales will be low.

How is that helpful?

The answer
— it isn’t.

Anyone can predict
the success of our products
AFTER the product is completed
and in the market.

The more valuable skill is being able
to predict the success of products
before money and time is spent
developing them.

When completing a post launch analysis,
ensure that you’re looking at causes
and not symptoms.

Being Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving
in the U.S.,
a day to appreciate
the people in our lives
and
all that we have.

Even if you’re working today
(as I am),
take a minute or two
to realize how very lucky
you are.

Simply being able to read this post
gives you reasons to be grateful.
You have the means
(a computer, the ability to read,
access to unlimited information)
to take advantage
of almost unlimited opportunities.

Some of these opportunities
won’t work for you.
That’s okay.
Because one of them will
and that’s all you really need
— one great idea,
one great business.

Take a moment today
and be thankful.

Is Your Product Interesting?

Seth Godin
shares

“An interesting person
is interesting to us
because she combines two things:
Truth and surprise.

The truth:
Not necessarily a law of physics,
not necessarily a measurable truth
in nature,
but merely the truth of experience.
“I believe this,”
or “I see that.”

And surprise.
Note that surprise is always local.
Surprising to me, the audience.
That’s one reason that it’s said
that interesting people are interested
—they are empathetic enough
to realize about what might be surprising
to the person in the room,
and they care enough
to deliver on that insight.”

This is true of products also.
I’m currently adding Game of Thrones like twists
to stories in one of my romance series.
Because these twists are new
to romance readers,
they find them interesting.
If my readership read/watched
Game of Thrones,
they might not find the twists
as interesting.

A toy in a cereal box
isn’t interesting.
A toy taped to a juice box
might be.

Is your product interesting?

Steve Jobs And Always Selling

I use social media strictly to sell.
Readers don’t think I do.
They think I’m chatting with them,
with no other purpose.

But when I ask what they’re reading,
I know someone will almost always post
that they’re reading one of my books.

When I talk about a movie,
it almost always connects
to one of my recent books.

When I post a joke,
it makes readers happy
and happy people buy books.

Seth Godin
shares

“Have you thought
about the fact that
just about every time
Steve Jobs appeared in public,
he was selling us something?

And yet few rolled their eyes
and said,
“oh, here comes
another sales pitch.””

It is okay to always be selling.
It isn’t as okay for people
to recognize your sales pitches.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Adam Levine And Mistakes

My most recent release
has mistakes in it.
It has typos and grammar issues.
It has repeated sentences.
Not one reader has mentioned the mistakes.
Why?
Because what was done right
in the book
compensates for the mistakes.

On a recent episode of The Voice,
rock star
Adam Levine
shared

“It’s not about
whether or not you make mistakes.
You WILL make mistakes.
It is about how you recover.”

Your product, marketing copy,
whatever you’re working on,
will never be perfect.
It will have mistakes.
That’s guaranteed.
What you want is to recover
or compensate for those mistakes.

Expect mistakes.

5 Stars or 1 Stars?

Bestselling novels usually polarize people.
People love them
or they hate them.
They give these stories 5 stars
or 1 stars
on reviews.

I know many writers
who are deathly afraid
of 1 star reviews.
They prefer to write average stories
that don’t offend anyone.
These writers will never be super successful
and, if they’re happy with that,
that’s okay.

But if you want to be super successful,
you have to tolerate the 1 star reviews
to get the 5 five reviews.

Seth Godin
shares

“Are you working
to make it more likely
that the 5 star reviews are
more intense, more numerous
and more truthful than ever,

or…

Are you working
to minimize the number
of 1 star reviews?

Very hard to obsess about both,
since they tend to happen together.”

Which are you concentrating on?

The Popular Answer

The popular answer
to your business question
is almost always wrong.

Why?

Because it panders
to what people want to hear.
As the average person
is lazy,
it is often the easiest action.
Or it might be politically correct
bull sh*t.

The issue with the popular answer
is…
well…
it’s popular.
Someone, usually a talker,
not a doer,
and definitely not a successful doer,
will suggest it
and everyone else will support it.

It is then
very difficult for someone
to suggest a less popular
yet usually more realistic answer.
If she does,
treat this answer with respect.
Investigate it.
Ask her for more information.
Odds are…
it is the most helpful answer
you’ve received.

An answer isn’t right
simply because it is popular.