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Another Man’s Weakness

The copywriter I posted about yesterday
specializes in radio.
He’s great at what he does
and excels in a competitive business.

He is also blind.
This is NOT a handicap,
this is a strength.

Being blind,
focusing in 100% on the spoken,
each word, each nuance,
has helped make him one of the best.

I have a terrible memory.
I help launch new products.
Project manager buddies get worn down
by the high failure rate.
Not me.
I promptly forget my last failure
(I have a binder tracking lessons learned)
and continue on.

Every weakness is also a strength.
You simply have to find the right game
to compete in.

Coupon Codes For Radio

I was chatting with a copywriter
specializing in radio
about tracking the effectiveness of marketing.

The easiest way with radio promotions
is to add a coupon code.
As listeners are often driving,
they won’t write down this code.
It has to be remembered.

How to achieve that?

Make the code visual.
Instead of using 3956,
use apple,
a word listeners can picture.

He also asked me to remind readers
that if they are NOT a professional copywriter,
do NOT write their own copy.
Include the cost of copy
in with the media buy.

A Great Product Is…

Guy Kawasaki has a post
on what a great product is.

One of his specifications?

A great product is deep.
“It doesn’t run out of
features and functions
after only a few weeks of use.”

An author once told me
that every novel
should leave the reader
with questions
the author never posed.
It should be deep.
It should live on in the reader’s brain
after the last page is done.
That is why Fan Fiction exists.

Does your product have layers?

Post Show Follow Up

I went to the
Consumer Electronics Show
in January
armed with stacks of business cards.
I gave all of them away.
I’ve received calls/emails
from two vendors.
Two.

Is this surprising
after the businesses worked so hard
to get my contact information?

No.

In the superb
yet poorly titled book
Instant Income by Janet Switzer,
(it is about small business sales and marketing)
she shares
“It’s said that an astounding
80 percent of leads are never contacted
after a show.”

Follow up.
It IS expected.

Over-Qualified Concerns

A common concern
of management
filling short term contract work positions
is that temporary employees are over-qualified.

That’s not their real concern.

They expect employees to be over-qualified.
My speciality is
M&A, new product development,
and system implementations.
No single contract position is going to have all three.

No, their real concern
is the employee will leave
before the contract is finished.

If you hear yourself labeled
as over-qualified,
your professionalism needs to be stressed.
Talk about the pride of finishing projects.

Selfish Networking

I’m organizing a promotion
for fiction authors
(romance heavy).
I have 61 spots to fill.

I know many, many authors,
most of them very nice people.
The authors I’m asking though,
are also promo bunnies.

They have helped me with promos
or I’ve seen them working the promos hard.
I know they will do the same
to make this promotion a success.

Brian Tracy posts
“One of the biggest mistakes
people make when they begin networking
is scattering their time and energy indiscriminately,
and spending their time
with people who can be of no help at all.”

If you want to be in
a quality network,
be helpful.

If you want success,
fill your network
with people who can help you.

How To Find Experienced Salespeople

It always amazes me
when companies advertise
for ‘experienced salespeople.’

Experienced salespeople have both
initiative
and
connections.
They don’t wait for job postings.

How to find a great salesperson?
Allow them to pitch to you.
Take sales calls.
Speak with telemarketers.
Allow yourself to be stopped in shopping malls.

Counter-offer the best
with an interview.

Conflicts Of Interest

Seth Godin had a great post
about only linking to good ideas.
He admits to minor conflicts of interest.

I’ll admit to major conflicts of interest.
I link and promote people and products
I know and like.

I’ll read a great book
but before I mention that book to others,
I’ll contact the author.
If the author responses nicely,
I’ll promote her.
If she is nasty or doesn’t respond,
I won’t
(unless she is dead).

Does her response change the book?
No
but there are plenty of great books out there,
I want to like the people or businesses
I promote.

Offensive Marketing

An author cautioned
loop members
that using humor in marketing
can offend people.

Okay.

All marketing offends someone,
especially marketing that gets remembered.

Your business is not to make
everyone happy.
Your business is to make
your customer happy.

If your customer is everyone,
THEN you have a challenge.

Sales Bait

Duct Tape Marketer John Jantsch
explains in Entrepreneur
how to never cold call again.

He suggests using free reports or articles
as ‘bait.’
The equivalent of product sampling
for professionals,
free reports are
a non-threatening first prospect contact.
It eases them into
a relationship.